Square Garden

A friend of mine has a 60th birthday coming up at the end of this month and I am so pleased with myself that I have her gift all but finished (the all but is the binding which will be sewn on tonight and the all important label, which going on past record, will be attached the day I give it to her!).

It began with some left over fabric in small triangles that I just couldn't bear to throw away. So I joined them to make a square and added borders around that. Then I came across some alternate squares that I know she will really appreciate and that helped to make the central panel.

That made it quite busy, so when it came to quilting it needed something quite simple.
Orange peel seemed to fit the bill. You can see it quite clearly here on the back which was pieced in a simple print with the same cream as on the front as well.

The border though, in particular the cream, was crying out for some feathers.  So I obliged and had fun doing them too. They may not be as beautiful as others who may also have a long arm, but my Janome QC 1600P does a good job. I'm pretty sure the recipient will be happy with it and that's the main thing really.

I'm also making another quilt for the same deadline, so it's on to that one now. 

Until next time, 

I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced and Confessions of a Fabric Addict.

Teaching Sampler

A friend and I recently talked about beginning a new patchwork group for Mums at our local school who may be in need of a creative outlet and some new friendships. So to start the group off, we thought we'd begin with a sampler - not an original idea, but a great way to teach new skills for people.
Of course we needed to choose the blocks and write some instructions - that fell to me.

So here is the flimsy of the sampler. I decided to do it in quite strongly contrasting colours so that things would stand out obviously for people. I thought I'd also use it as an excuse to plan for a baby quilt - we have a number of those expected in our community.
I enjoyed the process, found it a challenge to make sure that I had all the measurements correct so that we would create raw 12 1/2" blocks, then add sashing. Anyway quite happy with the use of the fat quarter of owls as my feature print - that worked well.

We had our first class, beginning with a rail fence block, on Friday just gone. It was wonderful to see people grasping the joy of putting fabrics together. I didn't realise how much skills that I use almost daily, including using a cutter and ruler, can take a little while to grasp. The newcomers gradually got the hang of it though and so begins the wonderful adventure and journey!

This isn't one of my current working list (eight works in progress) but I have made some progress on one I hope to share later this week so I am making some gradual progress and I'm happy with that.

Until next time,
Linking up with Val's Quilting studio and other Linky parties.

Stippled Stars

I've been working for a little while now on these scrappy centred star blocks. They are fun to create, make a bit of a dent in the scrap stash, but I think I'll have to make several more before my box of scraps (plus the other small containers, zip lock bags etc) decrease substantially.

They are 10inch finished blocks so adding the sashings and borders it's a 55inch square - a lap quilt size.
I like the fact that some of my novelty fabrics have a chance to appear there, so a sheep and some spiders!

When it came to quilting I thought I'd give the star pattern a try - a simple corner to corner in the centre of the block first of all, then heading to a dot I marked with fading pen, just one inch from the centre which creates that slightly diagonal line around the centre star. It's a bit clearer on the blue star so you get the idea. 

The backing is a great pattern that picks up the quilting really well, so the recipient can always just turn the quilt over when they get tired of the stars. 

This makes one less on the original list of a dozen I created in May this year, so I'm down to 8 to go now. Two are flimsies, one I've begun quilting and 4 are 'in progress' and the eighth one is still 2 charm packs and additional fabric with the idea brewing in my mind. I know I'll get to it eventually and that's incentive to keep going on these UFOs. 

I'm linking up with Quilt Story; Freshly Pieced and Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

Happy Houses

I began making some of these cute little houses a couple of months ago. I said at the time how addictive they are. Well I have paused for the moment, and done the quilting on them too. I was keen to do the Baptist fan pattern I had seen on Bonnie Hunter's quilt so I explored how others had done the pattern free-motion quilting.

I saw one where a very specific ruler had been used, but not having one of those, thought I'd improvise. They say 'necessity is the mother of invention', well I figured a dinner plate, slightly smaller dinner plate, bread and butter plate and dessert bowl were probably the right sizes for the fans I wanted to create. So I just drew around them with a dissolvable pen and set to quilting. I don't have a long arm, just my Janome 1600P QC - it only does straight sewing, not even zig zag. 

The result may not be perfect, but I'm pretty happy with it. And the people to whom I gave it today were also quite thrilled to receive it - so win, win!

Our weather has been quite wild 'down under' so I was fortunate to grab a couple of shots before the rain came down very heavily and the wind really picked up. This is the reverse which may not be wonderfully clear, but you get the idea. 

So as I continue to make progress on my list, I'm down to 9 now, 2 of which are sandwiched, one even begun quilting, 2 tops are completed so I guess that makes it 5 still needing some piecing to complete. Variety is good and certainly keeps me busy. 

Until next time, 

Lynn

Linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict. 

A Dozen is Enough

I finally decided to write a list of what quilts I currently have on the go - before I start yet another one. It was a little scary to realize I had twelve, yes twelve works in progress. One had been a flimsy for quite a while (maybe a year?) another was a small wall hanging that was all ready to be quilted. Yet 2 others were almost completed flimsies and so it went. So what was preventing me from completing these pieces and freeing myself to begin new exciting ones? Probably just the routines of life and the focus and will to begin and tick one off.
So I did, here it is:

It's a very simple quilt, just squares and sashings, but I really like how the lemon makes it pop. And the quilting was fun - why had I put it off for so long? I did some free-motion quilting, a plain 'wiggle' in the coloured strips and some leaves in the white sashings. I don't have a long arm, just a Janome 1600QP but it does a good job!

This is the backing, a simple print for this baby quilt. And below, a closer up of some of the quilting. 

So, feel all conquering having begun the list I moved on to number 2! The wall hanging below: 

 This one is 'in situ' in the bedroom where it matches a kit I bought and made up a while ago, 'Summer in the Hamptons'. This fabric was left over and I didn't want it to go to waste just in bits in other quilts, so the wall hanging was created.

 The photos above and below highlight the swirling quilting I did al over, which matches the bed quilt as well - that was a bit too large (Queen size) for me and is the last quilt I had professionally done by someone else.

So now, having ticked 2 off my list, I'm also part way through quilting 2 more! Hope to have photos of them in the next few weeks. My goal now is to not have more than 10 on the go, hopefully less, but then some piecing is just calling to me. 

Until next time, 

Lynn

Linking up to: Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Flimsy finish and runner

I have attached the borders to the quilt begun with a fat quarter as its centre. That's the deer in the centre, now framed by geese and Barbara Fritchie stars. It took quite a bit of maths and juggling to get the spacing looking right on those larger stars, but now it's done it's worth it. That's the frustration and joy of making things up as you go along!

The question now of course, is how to quilt it? I'm happy to do the custom work on my machine, but I don't want to over quilt it. Would an all over loop work or not? Any suggestions welcome. It took a while to get the borders on, I changed my mind about purpose bought fabric (it was darker and more blue than this more golden, autumn colouring), and I'm happier with my final choice. 

I'm also pleased to have completed the table runner, again with a different fabric than I had originally tried out, this time for the binding, . Honest friends are very helpful telling you when it's just not the right shade or even colour. The binding now also goes really well with the pale green on the backing. So that's a win as well. 

Until next time,

Lynn 

I'm linking up with Confessions of a Fabric Addict

Table Runner

It's been a little while since I did some quilting rather than piecing. This of course means that I have several pieces lining up to be quilted, but I have done one today. It's not quite finished, as it still needs its binding, but the quilting was fun.

 I just did a loopy free-motion swirl all over since there were so many triangles and straight lines there it needed some softening. Here is what it looked like prior to quilting. It really changes the whole look, but then that's really what quilting is all about (as well as a beautiful way to keep the backing and wadding together).

I'm not convinced about the fabric I'm auditioning for the binding, but equally unsure about what else to try (suggestions welcome). If I had some of the dark maroon/burgundy type fabric I would probably use that, but of course I don't have enough. This was really a 'scrap' project anyway, prompted by the hot pink. It's for a friend who has chair cushions in her dining room in that hot pink - and a brown table runner that she's been meaning to replace for a while she said.  

So within the next day or so some kind of binding will be attached and the table runner find its correct place on her table. 

Then I can get on to quilting those topsy turvy houses I've been having fun with. 

Until next time,

Lynn

Linking up with: Quilt Story [quiltstory.blogspot.com]