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Friday 9 September 2016

Free-motion quilting

Well my September goals are still not progressed one iota, but perhaps by the end of the day they may move forward a smidgeon. Part of the reason is a beautiful quilt that I didn't do the blocks or assembly of - here below, the embroidery and assembly done by a friend.
She didn't want to do the quilting though, so I said I'd be happy to do a simple stitch in the ditch and then a loopy flower in the cornerstones and a kind of stretched figure 8 in the border.
So that's what I've been doing.

The quilt itself is just lovely - a graduation gift for her daughter. The buildings are local to Perth, Western Australia. My friend enjoys the embroidery (not really my thing on my machine) and so I was very pleased to help. 

I think the final product, once the binding is on, will be such a special graduation gift, one for her daughter to cherish over the years. So I feel quite chuffed to be a small part of it.  A little nerve wracking to begin the first stitches, since I've never done something (other than just a gift) for any one else like this before. I think she'll be happy with it though, so that's the main thing. 

Now speaking of main things, better get on with September goals!
Until next time,
Lynn


Monday 5 September 2016

September Goals

We're already five days into this month before it dawned on me that means new goals! I think I was still lingering in August.
I have been busy, just not really on the goals I thought I'd be working on.

I'm working on a couple of projects - one for a friend who is sending things off to Tanzania (blankets for babies or elderly), and another who is raising funds for Burundi- her brother works with villagesoflife.org there.
The year since I made a quilt for the Burundi effort, seems to have flown by. This year my friend suggested bags might be a good idea. So I enthusiastically began the first one, thinking I'd take it easy with a ready made print in squares.
Having done the lining, pockets and all, I was feeling quite chuffed with myself, until I realised one rather large error once I turned it all through - (having secured the handles going over them several times of course!). Here it is in all its glory.

I'm sure being astute people you all realised its upside down!! If only I'd thought to check that before I sewed the bottom and side seams and then cut the corners off to make the squared bottom. Ah well, fortunately I had another duplicate of all the fabric so I did make another one. I guess I'll just have to keep and use this one myself - and let that be a lesson to me!

So, on to September. I think this will be completed into a blanket to accompany a couple of others to Tanzania. Here's hoping I can get it done. 

Another friend (thank goodness for them, but they can create work sometimes!) asked me about making a weighted bag, just a lap size for some of the Pre-Primary students in her and a colleague's classes. The inner part of the bag goes together quite quickly, but I thought an outer bag might make the washing easier, even though it has Poly-pellets inside. 


So I added a few bits and bobs and here are a couple just lounging around on the sofa:
What amazes me is the calming effect the weight seems to have on children who are somewhere on the autism spectrum. Any shouting out, or inability to sit still for a while seems to be addressed with the weight across their lap. Very glad someone discovered this at some point. 

So, I hope to get back to the quilting soon, but since September only has 30 days, I've only 25 left already!
Until next time,
Lynn