Patterns

When I go to Quilt Shows I tend to buy Patterns. They come home and sit on my sewing table for a few days, then they get moved to a shelf, then into one of those cardboard holders for magazines where I tend to put 'new' patterns whither cut from magazines, printed from the computer or bought.
I decided to see what was in there today, remind myself of what had taken my fancy a few months ago, discard or keep? I found a Bag pattern, one to be made for the weekend retreat I'm going to in August. Time to get it made and that's what I did today.

It a little bit hard to see what is what, with the cheater cloth I used ,but each side folds and is held by a button and when they are unfastened, this is what it is for.

When closed it carries my iron and when open it's an ironing pad. The silver cloth for the inside was included with the pattern. The other patterns went back into the holder for another day.

Home Sewing

Over the weekend I've been sewing my 4" blocks for the Sundial quilt together,deciding what fabric to use in the corner squares and cutting out the sashing which surrounds this centre section and runs through the corner squares.
The other half of the corner squares has applique, still to be sewn so I haven't got them pinned up. I also need to decide about the style of initials and date for the 2 empty blocks in the middle, before I sew the top and bottom section to the middle.

I also need to decide where to pin up the outer blocks as I have clearly run out of space on my display wall.

A week at home

I've been home all week with a head cold, sore throat etc. being very lazy with an afternoon snooze. Here is Block 2 of Yoko Saito's Mystery BOM. I had  almost finished it last weekend so this week I worked on Block 3. Now I need to wait for the next issue of Quiltmania, not due until July, to continue. 

oops! I've haven't put the flowers on the second tree.


A little lady in the family turned 1 yesterday, Grace Amelia. I can't believe how fast the time has gone. Below is a photo of what we gave our Grand daughter. I made a mattress, pillow and quilt for it. Seemingly she has spent the morning trying to climb into it. It should be pretty sturdy,it's all wood and made by a Swedish company, Moover.

A BOM week

This week I've had a break from my Trailing Vines and I have spent my time on the Blocks of the Month that I have on the go just now. The first picture is Block 9 from Canton Village quilt blog.

Photo No. 2 is the 1st block of Yoko Saito's mystery BOM in the Quiltmania magazine No 87. There is a video of Yoko making this block on the Quiltmania website and I am trying her method of applique where all the seam allowance is turned under before appliqueing to the background fabric. It has made the whole process faster and easier. There is quite a lot of topstitching with DMC to highlight the house, bird and tree.

I received a subscription to Quiltmania as a present for last Christmas so I have the next 2 magazines already and I'm working on the next block.                      It finishes in the Nov/Dec issue so I think there is only 6 blocks. If you've followed my blog for a while you'll know that I'm fully occupied for the next 2 weeks. Tennis is on again, the French Open and sewing too.

Biggest Morning Tea

At the Australian Quilters Assoc. today we had our Biggest Morning Tea which raises money for Breast Cancer Research. This year we had a tea cosy display and the first 2 photos are of some of the tea cosies and fancy tea pots on show.

There were 20+ tea cosies knitted in varied fancy styles for sale in a silent auction. These tea cosies were wonderful and I have 3 to show you.

We had a wonderful day with games and raffles and door prizes. I hope we raised many $$$$$$$$$$$$$$$.

Finished

I have finished Abbie's wallhanging. It won't be getting hung up until her Mum and Dad's new house is finished being built. I'll just tuck it away with her bed quilt meantime.
I bought this as a kit, Hooterville from Material Obsessions and there was more than adequate cottons and felted wools with the pattern. I did add a few more butterflies and novelty buttons of my own. 

Wintry Garden

Wintry, cold, wet days and the garden is showing Winter's colours.

                                          The Snowball tree.

Yellow, Red Hot Pokers.

The Magnolia Tree

Three more blocks for the Sundial quilt. Each block has to be made 4 times and there's plenty of variety. Not much to show but time is spent doing the preparation for these and my trailing vine, leaves.

Progress

This is April's block for the BOM from Canton Village Quilts. No. 8 already, how the time has flown.

I have now finished and attached the third vine and started on the fourth. Adding each vine and sashing seems to give me an urge to get the next one stitched because I think it looks better each time. Even finishing a branch   and being able to pick the fabrics for the next one is enjoyable. I have set aside a basket of fabrics to use and I've made sure I have a large selection to pick     from. I don't want to run out before it's finished and I don't really know how much the leaves will take.                  

Winter has certainly arrived, it has been bitterly cold and very wet. Definately the best time to stay home,keep warm and sew.

The Same but Different

Saturday was a trip to Catlemaine for the Applique Society bi-monthly meeting.It was a beautiful blue sky and sunny day. The first photo is part of the Birds of a Feather quilt, with a dark background and vibrant colours, really lovely.

The second quilt is one of Annie Downs designs, the two ladies holding it up got rather wrapped up in it trying to show it both ends of the room at the same time.

This was a beautiful basket quilt with great cheddar coloured fabric and made by Fiona Lindsay

 

 

 

The next quilt I don't know the name of but as you see is absolutely lovely.*It is called Queen Daisy by Susan Smith.

Merri and I decided to show our quilts together and although basically the same pattern so different in colour. It was wonderful seeing them both together. 

After lunch we had a long visit to the patchwork shop and to finish the meeting off I won a door prize, a bundle of fabric donated by Corliss of Threadbear.

At the machine

Since finishing off my Mary Brown quilt I've spent a lovely week at the sewing machine, stitching a quilt for my GD to hang in her bedroom. I bought the pattern and kit from Material Obsessions recently and started it as soon as it arrived.

It is called Hooterville. Most of the applique is felted wool in very bright colours and the butterflies were my addition, fussy cutting them from a fabric I had in the cupboard. The owls and birds still need eyes, the flowers, birds and leaves all have material added on top along with embellishing stitches. I have machine buttonholed all the wool applique which was simple and quick and the hand sewing will be a nice change too.

We have the wettest, coldest day for a long time. I kept having a look at the thermometer which hangs outside but can be seen without having to go out. It sat on 7C for almost all of the day. I'm not a winter person.

Finished

The wind blew, the sun came out and cast shadows then a peg came undone. I need a couple of tall people to hold it up for a decent photo.  At least you get a look at my finished Mary Brown.

Yesterday

Yesterday, I went to this lovely old building,The Royal Exhibition building in Melbourne for the annual Australian Quilt Show. It was a beautiful day with the sun shining and blue skies as you can see.

Here are a few of the quilts on show. The majority of the photos are by one person and I've included the information on a couple of them so you can get an idea of what these quilts are.

and a close up of a tiny part. It is all needleturn applique. Each and every little piece of fabric, some no bigger than the head of a pin.

   

This is  just a small piece of another one.

They were all amazing.

Nearly Insane by Tara Sniedze. I have seen a few of this pattern but never made with a light coloured sashing and border. It was really lovely.

This had been made by Chris Jurd. A real eye catcher.

I bought some fabric,some felted wool, a few ready made perplex templates and a bag pattern which unfolds to be an ironing pad for the 'away from home' sewing days, and as a bag holds your iron. I think I now have a bag for everything. 

I had a request to change my heading photo by Julie. She requested my Antique Sampler quilt and I'll change it over, when I take a more recent photo of it, now that it is quilted.

A Little Bit More

Another little piece of my Mary Brown quilt. In the small border between the centre of the quilt and the outer applique blocks I asked Katrina to quilt large feathers, between my black applique feathers. I wanted to do Trapunta,
in other words, stuff them. This is a rather slow process but I have finished one side. I think the photo shows it up quite well and I'm really pleased with the effect it gives.

Just 3 more sides to go, then I'll show it .

Monthly Catch-Up

Month 7 and another block from the Canton Village Blog BOM. Now that I've done a block without green I'll have to do one without red or maybe just a hint of red and lots of green.

This is my Sundial quilt with the blocks from Month 2 completed. I like how it's coming along. It's just all pieces, I haven't sewn any of the blocks together yet. I just pin them up as I make them and I'm rapidly running out of space. 

The next block is just that. I'm making a little quilt with it and it just needs some quilting and the binding done.

 My friend and I started this one last Sunday, it's Frost on the Ferns by the Blackbird girls, Alma and Barb. My one is all blue and brown and hers is all pink.The colours give it a totally different look. I haven't sewn a stitch on it yet and as you can see the freezer paper is hiding most of it. I've been spending the evenings sewing the binding on my Mary Brown quilt but it's not ready for a reveal, yet.

Just a preview

On Thursday I picked up my Mary Brown quilt from the quilter, Katrina. I am still to sew on the binding so just a preview in this strange light to show you some of the quilting. I love the swirls.

and large circles of more swirls and feathers. It is so lovely to look at and see all the different shapes and how much it all enhances the quilt.

Autumn has arrived and the days have cooled considerably. The Cyclamen have started shooting again and the pots of bulbs have come out from under the hedge.

If I'm not blogging I must be sewing.

I have been sewing but  it's not a quick project. Vine No 2 is finished and I decided to sew on the left hand border and two of the sashings. I really wanted to see if I had the right fabric for them. It was what I wanted but would it all go together and it has. It's exactly the look I was after.

I've included a close up too.

Now for Vine No3.

New

Just back from the quilter and the binding is on. The quilt is called A Little Porch Time by Lynda Hall. I am a member of a Yahoo primitive patchwork group online and we decided to make this quilt like a BOM, showing our blocks as they were made during 2010-11. It is mainly made with Brushed Cottons with some of the applique done in felted wool. It is a large quilt, hence the reason it is lying on the floor to be photographed.

I have also made a start to Karen Cunningham's, The Marriage Quilt. I am making it with felted wool applique on a cotton background. This will be the centre block.

Autumn has arrived and the heat of last weekend has gone and it is cool and

wet. The garden was desperate for a drink. Great days for staying in and sewing.