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Sunday 18 June 2017

Connecting love

I often find that when I begin a quilt I don't necessarily know who it might be for. Instead, as I continue to create it, a person comes to mind for whom the quilt seems appropriate.
I don't often name quilts either, but I thought this one needed a name. I have a friend who has been a minister (now retired) and was a great source of support, resource and voice of experience to many other ministers. So when I thought this quilt might be for him and his wife, it seemed fitting that I did most of the quilt on the 'cross' that appeared when the blocks were joined. He has connected with so many people across Australia and beyond, that the connecting shapes seemed appropriate too. But cross connections doesn't seem like a great name for a quilt. And I think its really concern or love for others that is at the heart of this man's ministry. His wife has final stages of cancer, and so 'Connecting Love' also seemed appropriate on that score.

I managed to get a shot of the quilt just as the light was dimming. You need to get a close up to see the quilting. I did have fun doing various things in the cross sections. 
The back tends to look as though its puckering, but I think that's more the way its draped over the balcony. It seems to sit nice and flat when its horizontal. 

So just binding and label to add tonight and then I hope to mail it off tomorrow. 

Quilt Stats:

Size: 52½" x 62½"
Wadding: Cotton/poly blend
Thread: Rasant 

Until next time,
Lynn


Monday 12 June 2017

What's Up Pussycat?

I've heard it said that people are either dog people or cat people. I guess if that's so, then I'm a dog person. My sister-in-law, however, does not fit the saying - she has 2 dogs and 3 cats. So when I saw some Michael Miller fabric with cats on it, I thought of her, with her birthday this month.

These were fun to make. I had the other fabrics in my stash and the organic (sounds so much better than free-range or wandering which is what I think of) quilting works well for placemats. I began by thinking I might go around the cats - as cats prefer people to do! But in the end the lines won over.
While the fabric calls these Siamese cats, I think my sister-in-law's may be Burmese. When I look after my niece (a very cute 18 month old) one of the cats comes and sits beside me as I read and my niece naps. So I wonder if the cat doesn't realise I'm a dog person):

I realised that I don't often use the varied stitches that are available on my machine - its mostly a hard working piecing and quilting machine. So I thought on the binding I'd try one of the many shapes. I chose hearts (because my sister-in-law will like those) but once on I thought they looked a little like cats paws or even cats ears. I also used a thin flange (?) or piping around the binding - mostly because I was concerned I would run out of the black, but also because it does tie in with the light brown that I'd used in the mats.
The backing is just a light beige - could be a change from the cats.
So now I'm looking forward to passing then on as a gift on Wednesday. One squirrel less to chase.

Until next time,
Lynn

Thursday 8 June 2017

Quilting in progress

Our small craft group (around a dozen women who began a couple of years ago with pretty much NO sewing experience and are now making quilts) went to our State's annual Craft show and thoroughly enjoyed seeing the beautiful quilts on show, as well as the various stalls, machine displays etc.

One of the workshops had someone speaking about free-motion quilting and giving some great tips. One that I took away was to put 2 small door wedges beneath my machine to tilt it to give better vision of what is beneath the needle. While she suggested putting the wedges at the back of the machine, I found it more helpful to put mine at the front as that helped with the arm of my machine being a little bulky. I love my Janome S3 for free-motion and the tilting just gives me that bit of extra vision.

So I'm working on this one:

While this photo shows the quilt more generally, the parts that I have quilted are the cross type shapes in the background/neutral fabric. 
This closer up of a couple shows more clearly what I'm doing - having fun once I've drawn around a template I made up. Its shadowing one half inch in from the 'in the ditch' sewn first of all. 


I'm doing various patterns - triangles, some ribbon candy, simple stipple etc in some of the half inch sections and leaving a couple vacant so that they stand out. 
I always take some time to figure out how or what to quilt on a quilt and this one has been waiting for a while as I considered various options. This one is a good mixture of manageable and fun to do. 
It's likely to be a gift for someone I know who is sadly in final stages of cancer. I hope that it brings some small comfort to her and her husband as they face life's journey. 

I intend to get it finished within the next week at most and mail it off. 
Then on to others that are waiting in the wings. 

Until next time,
Lynn