Another one!

I am really really enjoying making quilts and laundry bags for Aussie Hero ! One more set ready to be sent off!

This quilt pattern is great, and can be found here on the Aussie hero blog.  No seams to match!

But as usual, I start off new quilting endeavours with the idea of "using the stash"....  but end up going on new fabric searches, my mission now is finding Australiana and "gender neutral" fabrics....  

Maybe I should look for more ways to use up my dozens of florals and kiddie prints!

There it is!

... and proudly hanging in the breeze on Richard's Hills Hoist.

So, one UFO finished, and not too bad, it took 6 months of being obsessed with it: "just 1 more block before dinner", etc...  then making a square foot of room on the dinner table to accomodate meals, which,  had Richard not been there to provide,  would have been second priority...  I may have lost a few kg's though!

Now for once I cant wait for the warmer nights, to whip off the thick quilt and have this one through summer.

Current UFO's:  a paperpieced boat quilt for a special little boy, the scrappy postage stamp picninc rug, the batik charm squares one, and a few more Aussie Heroes quilts and laundry bags!

Now off to Calowera to dog/cat/horse/rabbit/chook sit for a few days while DD is away at a show, but the sewing machine is in the car!

For Others

Well I  have very quickly reached saturation point in making quilts for my nearest and dearest, and for myself!  So now I am happily turning my hand, and my ever-growing fabric stash, to more quilts and blocks "for others". 
In September, this simple but effective block went off to the US, to be part of a quilt for a chap who lost everything in the Colorado fires last summer.  This was for the "Quilting for a Cause" group in Flickr.

Then, my next project, fun and also very rewarding:  Aussie Heroes  is a great online group, right here in blogspot land, which coordinates the sending of quilts and colourful laundry bags to serving members of Australia's Defence forces.

Here is my first quilt, which went off last month to a bloke on HMAS ANZAC, with an equally bright laundry bag (so it can be quickly located amongst the white navy-issue bags).

I really enjoyed this quick quilt and picture it thrown over a bed in a ship's cabin! so I have started another one, planned another couple, and...  bought more fabric of course.

The other exciting quilt news:  the Farmer's Wife Sampler quilt is back from the longarm quilter!!!!  poor Pam had so much trouble quilting it: being on point (diagonal), it stretched on the machine so she had to unpick some.....  but it is lovely, nearly bound, and off to have its photo taken today on Richard's Hills Hoist!

TWO MONTHS!

...  have gone by since my last post!  Well, it's not that I havent made/done/planned/tried anything!

A month ago, I christened my Uptown Girl blue quilt when I had my 20 year old french cousin Marie, stay with me on her first trip to Australia.
This quilt started its life as some of the fabric which I had sent to my sister's and picked up in May:

with vague plans to make this:

but I wasnt too sure, till I saw this pattern in one of my online suppliers' newsletter...  I just love this quilt, and, as R would say, it is "very me"

 and to finish this very blue post, a knitted square for australian group, knit4charity:  loved knitting this, in a knitalong, where 30 rows were given each day for 3 days.

A Twenty Year Quilt...

Mr Mauve Quilt is finally heading for his new home!

20 years ago, in another life, with a husband whose favourite colour was purple, and with a mauve wallpapered bedroom, I started this bad boy.

The top making was OK,  I got the bit between the teeth and got the sewing done quickly.

Then I made the decision to handquilt him...

AND I chose polycotton for the backing, AND dacron for the wadding.

Mauve quilt then followed me through 4 house moves and a marriage breakdown.

Every winter (coz I can only do this during the 3 cooler months of the year), I would drag mauve quilt out, do a few stitches, swear at the dacron that was shredding away at the edges, and put him away again.

20 years went by....  Last winter I made the firm resolution to deal with him.  Out he came.  Then to get more handquilting ideas I googled "quilting"...  Pandora's box opened right before my eyes: 

 online virtual Bees...  I belonged to 5 at one stage!

Youtube tutorials...

gorgeous bright fabrics to give the Paypal account a workout...

I made several quilts before Mr Mauve got a turn:  20 years of handquilting unpicked in 30 minutes, the Dacron shucked out, the TLC of Pam the Quilting Guru, and here he is, ready to start a new life at DD's house with, amongst its fabrics, bits of dresses I made her as a little one!:

A Bit of Assembling

Taking a bit of a break from templates and making the little blocks for the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt, by having a go at assembling.  Hopefully this will re-motivate me! 

It took longer to decide on the sashing colours than to put those 8 blocks together,  and I cant wait to put the finished quilt on my own bed, perhaps not this winter though.

One little quilt that is finished and coming in handy as a TV-watching lap quilt is this one, which I picked up from Pam the Quilting Guru since I last blogged.  It is made up of the blocks from the "3 x 6 Sampler MiniBee which I participated in last year.  It is very special as all the blocks were made by my talented Beemates.

And, very exciting, as  tomorrow I go back to Pam's to pick up THE mauve quilt! 

A few rainy days...

... a post-plane flight sore throat, and sewing, go well together.

I am now up to Number 59 in the farmer's Wife sampler Quilt, which means over half way!  

And because I would rather play with my sewing machine than my camera, here are the latest blocks:

The top right hand one is Number 56, the Maple Leaf.  But I would rather call it "Oh Canada", as I have just been there,  and to celebrate, listening to kd lang singing it...

And Thanks Richard for suggesting to use the royal blue for the sashing!

Craft projects to me are like travels, I am always thinking of the next one...

These cool fabrics came while I was away.  The repeats on the Paris Map fabric makes it confusing to work out what is where!

Bee Blocks

Amongst all the fabric I brought back from the States were these lovely 24" x 24" Carpenter's Wheel blocks from my mates at the Always Bee Learning online Bee:  it was my turn in April, and as most live in the US, they sent their blocks to my sister's to save on postage. 

Here they are!  thankyou, lovely Beemates!

In the Always Bee Learning bee, it was Michonne / Watch Meesh Run's turn in May, and she had chosen  Denyse Schmidt's Single Girl block.  A great opportunity for me to learn curved seams...  which after all were not as hard as I feared!

and to finish catching up, a Swoon block for Meredith in the Bee Connected Bee:

So now, I only have on the go: 2 quilts, a picnic rug, and 70-odd farmer's Wife blocks to do...  but I know that once I get stuck into the Farmer's Wife blocks, I will be bitten by the bug again and nothing else will be done!  Oh and I have a wonderful holiday to put into scrapbooking...  how did I ever find time to work in the past?

Travels and Fabrics

Well, it went like this:  I was taking the "On a Whim" queen size quilt to give to my sis in Davis CA.  

This one:

So, I figured I could replace at least its weight and volume in fabric...

and promptly went on a little oredering spree, the resuts of which kept arriving at my sister's place prior to my landing there late May.

Before this, a great time was had by all, as shown in the slideshow...

On a Whim went along for the ride, safely in the suitcase, under the bed in the cruise ship and in the luggage hold of the tour bus...  till it was safely delivered!  It was promptly placed on the guest bed and we enjoyed its warmth during our little stay.

Back home now, and so much fun to unpack all the goodies, and plan enough projects for the next year or 2. 

A little bit of Alaska, not sure where it will end up:

 

Some Kona and charm packs:

Fat Quarters from the Blue Eden range by Benartex, for maybe a Swoon quilt...

Some Happy Mochi Yum Yum:

and some bits and pieces for the Farmer's Wife, from the quilt shops of Davis...

 As well as some gorgeous Carpenter's Wheel blocks from my Always Bee Learning Bee,

for the next post!

Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt: Blocks 33 to 40, Postage Stamp, and a group pic

The last for a little while!  I will be back soon with heaps of new fabrics....
 33:  Farmer's Puzzle... a bit more Kaffe Fassett


34: Flock:  and more KF!!!


35: Garden Path:  a bit worried about this one, I feel the lines should cross or something...


36:  Flower Basket....  mehhhh..

37:  Flower Pot, not too unhappy with this, considering it has the dreaded Y seams...


38: Four Winds..   a bit of unpicking here to get good points!


40: Friendship Block,  happy with this one!


39:  Friendship..  easy peasy, this one!


Then I skipped, for the first time:  wanted to make Block 58, the postage stamp one, before I ran out of Ruby...  the easy way to get a nice colour scheme!

and a group pic to celebrate!

Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt: Blocks 25 to 32

Yes, I am romping ahead!  totally smitten by these lil' blocks.  If it wasnt for R cooking meals, I would fade away to a shadow (I wish...)

 Here are the latest:

 25: Cups and saucers:  I like this Moda print, just wish the background was a proper WHITE!


26: Cut Glass Dish:  happy with this one...


27:  Darting (blue) Birds


28:  Duck and Ducklings:  a bit meeeh abouy this one...

29:  Economy:  nice to have quickie blocks after all those number 13 templates

30:  End of Day:  yup, end of day, when one is  tired  and doesnt want fiddly blocks


31:  Evening Star:  yup, I like to fussy cut the new bird fabric...


32:  Farmer's daughter:  she's all bright 'n pretty!

Clearing UFO's Part 1: Scrapbuster Quilt

Amongst my easier NY2012  resolutions, were

• attacking Unfinished Objects, some as old as 20 years, that have followed me through every house move, and
• to sew exclusively from my stash...  well, a pending trip to the US has ruined that good intention, and various packages are on their way to my sister's home!

Back to the UFO's:  when I first started on my online quilting Bee binge, my first Bee was the ScrapBuster Bee on Flickr.  I made about a dozen "scrappy depression blocks", sent them in and got back a dozen wonderfully bright blocks, that were promptly relegated to the cupboard.


Then came the NY resolution,   The blocks were hauled out, I made another 12 blocks, all from the stash!!!  And here is the result:

This quilt top, along with this backing, will be sent to the lovely Suzanne of SewGenerous, to be made up as a lap size quilt for one of the children at the Oncology Unit of Sydney's Westmead Children's Hospital.


Woohoo, one UFO down, lots more to go!

Farmer's Wife sampler Quilt: Blocks 17 to 24

Well, busy busy days!  before the week-end, 4 blocks:

Clockwise from top LHS:

20:  Churn Dash, not that pale IRL, the flash washed it out a bit...  I left it too late in the day to take pics.



18:  Century of Progress:  happy with colours, but he needs a good stretch...


17:  Cats and Mice, like this one!


19: Chequerboard...  just how far is that Ruby charm pack going to go?







So... I celebrated 20 by taking a group pic:

...  still not feeling the love for the Buckwheat (the middle bottom row one).

Took a little break...  picked up the Rainbow "On a Whim" from Pam the Quilt Guru...  so happy with it (pics coming when he is all bound and finished).

Decided to finish the lap size quilt from one of my first Bees, the Scrapbuster Bee.  This one will go to Sew Generous , an online Charity Quilting Bee who makes quilts for the very special children at the Oncology Unit of the Westmead Children's Hospital in Sydney.  So the extra blocks I am making will be very bright!

Went to buy some more sewing machine light bulbs (blew one in less than 1 day...), and of course, more for the stash....  like the birds, they might look good as a block centre!

mmmm....  I am on a bit of a blue/turquoise/aqua binge, arent I?

So, with some of the new fabric,  4 more blocks were added to the tally:

24:  Country Paths... this one took me nearly all day!

23:  Country Farm, happy with the way the Ruby in the centre looks a bit 3D

21:  Contrary Wife

22:  Corn and Beans...  yeay, no Ruby in this one!


Well, I think I am FW'd out...  that Block 24 did me in and I need a break!!!

Quick, find another hat and try to install the 4 stained glass panels I have been making for the last 18 months, for the double front doors at "The Farm".

But that's another story...  a very long one!

Farmer's Wife sampler Quilt: Blocks 9 to 16

Yes, I am on a roll!  School holidays and all, 8 more blocks hot off the press:


9:   Box

10: Bowtie...  like this one!




11: Broken Dishes, a bit crinkly but didnt go as bad as I feared..

12: Broken Sugar Bowl...  like this one too!





13:  Buckwheat, think he will be replaced, he is crinkly and somehow the colour doesnt go


14:  Butterflies at the Crossroads:  not too hard, lots of starch and SCANT 1/4" really helped!


15:  Buzzard's Roost:  hope the buzzard likes this....


16:  Calico Puzzle, a bit plain after the complicated ones!


I have 3 more done, about to tackle Corn and Beans (Block 22)...  lots of bits in this one.  But that's OK, using only scraps so far....  but running out of Kona White :-(

Another project: the Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt

There I go....  I resisted for a while, but I finally succumbed to the charm  The Farmer's Wife Sampler Quilt!

In 1922, The Farmer's Wife magazine posed this question to their readers: "If you had a daughter of marriageable age, would you, in light of your own experience, have her marry a farmer?" The magazine at that time had 750,000 subscribers, and received over 7,000 letters. The best answers to this question are included in this book, along with the traditional quilt blocks they inspired.

And there are 111 blocks... They are only 6 1/2" (which means some have tiny tiny pieces).... and I might WILL do them all.  I started less than a week ago, and have done 10.  Does that mean it will only take me 10 weeks?

Nah, things will happen, like life, and travels, and loss of motivation.

And the icky ones, that many in Blogland seem to have trouble with, like Number 14 "Butterfly at the Crossroads".

They have such pretty, or enigmatic names!  Anyway, here are ther first 8, I'm off to tackle "Broken Dishes" and "Broken Sugar Bowl".

Clockwise from top LHS:

1: Attic Windows

2: Autumn Tints

4: Basket Weave

3: Basket

5: Batwing

6: Big Dipper

8:  Bouquet (my fave so far)

9: Birds in the Air

and as you can see with 8 and 9, I found the Ruby charm pack I forgot I had!!!

While I wait....

for the In a Whim rainbow to be ready at Pam the Quilting Guru's, I am catching up on WIP's.

First came the 12 Blocks I received from 12 lovely quilters in the Flickr [3x6] Sampler Quilt Mini Bee.

In this Bee. quilters are divided in "Hives" of 7 who make blocks for the 6 others, using own fabrics and patterns, but to the  colours chosen by Hive members.

I participated in 2 Bees and  made these for my Beemates:

and received 12 gorgeous blocks in my chosen colours of aqua and red.  These are now sashed, assembled, bordered  and off to Pam's tomorrow:

with this, from my stash, for backing...

and whilst in a Bee mood, I really enjoyed making these Asterix blocks for Wendy, in the Flickr Bee Connected bee:

Very fun sewing Easter break!

Yeay, a quilt nearly done!

I cant beleive the "On a Whim" quilt is off to Pam of Quilting Guru tomorrow, to be quilted...  so I have actually nearly finished my second quilt!  Amazing what a deadline does to motivation....

There were many stresses in this quilt:  getting the points to match... grrr...
The red fabric that ran when stream pressed, so back to the stash for a replacement...
The sashing that was sewn on, only to discover a hole in the fabric!  back to Spotlight for another 2 metres of grey...
Anyway, progress report:

Cut the strips for the Carpenters Wheel for the Always Bee learning Bee ( and cut my fingers on my brand spanking new Olfa).

And I may have found another home for the 20 year WIP purple sampler quilt!!!!!

Another try...

...at blogging, let us hope that this time it wont be as stop and start as the rest of my craft life!

The main reason I lose motivation is thinking "no one reads this"....  so please if you can, a little comment, just to keep me going?????

Since my last post... what have I done?, well, I have delivered Eva's gorgeous log cabin quilt to its owner, made lots of Bee blocks, received lots too.  A bit of knitting here and there : a beanie warm enough for Alaska for R and 2 pairs of gloves, one of which winged its way to my sister in the US, just in case it got cold in California...

Current WIP's:

1. the famous mauve quilt....  say no more...
2. a "On a Whim" quilt of 20 blocks from Camille's pattern and to be followed in the Flickr group  Swooning on a Hopalong.  Here is the progress so far: 

1.  putting together the blocks my "Bee Connected" mates made, which are little paper-pieced boats, for a quilt for Eva's little brother
2. putting together 2 lots of gorgeous scrap blocks from online Bees, to be finished in time for our winter ( for charity)
3. the planning and sending out of 11 lots of blocks for the Always Bee Learning bee, using a modified  Carpenters Wheel pattern from Quilters' Cache

ummmm... I think/hope thats it!