UFO #40 is a buggy affair...

... along with some Turtles and Paw Prints too. This is a very bright quilt. Not my usual type of colour scheme, but the Mum that it's for is a very 'colourful' person, that is, she loves colour and lots of it.
Made with an Irish Chain Pattern and some interesting fabrics, both the front and the back of the quilt look pretty good. I quilted it with an all over open stipple with a variegated thread as I knew that cross-hatch would look terrible on the back becasue it wouldn't line up with the blocks.
The quilt front (above) and the quilt back (below).Now that's 4 down and 36 to go on my UFO list! LOL!

UFO #35 - I have not been idle.......!

Ta Da.... here is another completed UFO. Yes, a baby quilt, just like the others. My gorgeous little neice now has her quilt. She has only been waiting since her arrival some 6 months ago! I am very happy with the results. It was made from half of a jelly roll, a Kaffe Fasset print and a mint leaf print. I used the "wallpaper stripes" pattern from the book "Quilt Road" by Kaffe Fasset for the centre section of the quilt.

UFO #9 is a done deal!

A short post today to let you know that another one bites the dust! Well, not literally, but at least it's a fully finished "done done" quilt. This is another baby quilt, made quite simply with Chenille Squares and 1/4 square triangles.
This first photo shows a detail of the blocks and the quilting, the second photo shows the whole quilt. This quilt was another of my own design. Who said things had to be complicated? :)

This is such a soft and cuddly quilt. I just love it! I hope the new Mum does too....

UFO #34 is off the list!

Ta Da....... Here it is! My very first UFO finish of the year, as listed in the pile of projects way back in late Dec '08. This is a cot/baby quilt, completed just yesterday for a friend whose baby was born in February. It is now a "done-deal" and packaged up ready to give away. Unfortunately the photo doesn't show the lovely variegated thread that I used for the quilting and the rose design that is all over it, but no matter, it's the overall effect that counts. And the fact that I have completed one project in the list of many. Now let's see, what will come up next on the list.......... I wonder...........

My Loyal Subjects...

Well, it arrived, and then left in a great hurry, my reign as UFO Queen on Stashbusters. While I have managed to begin and finish a few projects this year, I haven't actually completed an UFO that I listed at the start of they year. For this I had the dubious honour of being Queen of UFOs for one week. This experience has humbled me and made have to confess to a fellow Stashbuster that I have waaaayyy to many projects on the go. Hopefully I will have some photos in a few days of two completed quilts, that is "done-done" with labels and binding........

So, to my loyal subjects, from your humble queen, may your quilting projects become usable quilted objects....... :)

9 Patch Star

The above photo shows month 2 for the Land of Liberty BOM that I have started. (see the link in my previous post). It is called 9 Patch Star. It was a bit of work with all of those set in and mitred corners, but I am quite pleased with how it has worked out. The final quilt will use up quite a bit of stash and for that I am happy.

The rest of my week was spent completing 3 small quilt tops, the backings and wadding, ready to have a basting session soon. Hopefully there will be some complete "done done" finishes to post soon. I am very close to being crowned Queen of UFOs in the challenge on a group list.... hmmmm....

Stars, Cobwebs and Bags...

... were the order of my week. Last week was very productive, as these photos show. This first bag was one I started a couple of months ago and it is now finished. Cut from 4 fat quarters, plus a lining fabric, it's a great one for carrying A4 sized books, laptops and the general things you need for meetings, complete with very nifty pockets on the inside. A little time consuming to make, but well worth it. Made from aboriginal prints, hence the interesting fabric design, it's going to be a good useful bag. I will definitely be making another one or two of these as they are a great size and quite sturdy. The pattern is from Scrap Bags


Then, I looked out the window early one morning and thought rubbish had blown into our apple trees, but no, upon closer inspection, they were frozen cobwebs. Super pretty, they looked like finely spun glass when I looked through them into the rising sun. I had to change my angle of view to get them to look so clear in the photo.

And then I made another bag. A very, very simple pattern this one was. It is very large, with stiff wadding in it to make it stand up beside my chair. I finally, after 8 months, only need to carry one bag instead of 3 to my weekly and monthly quilt group sew sessions. It was made entirely from stash, which is why it has some of the same fabric as Einkauf Tasche that I made last year. I love it. Lightweight, practical, strong, and, if it ends up grubby, then I can toss it into the washing machine. Brilliant! The pattern for this bag has come from an online site called e-patternscentral.com

Stars, stars, what stars? Oh, those down here at the very bottom of my post. Last week I had made the centre 4 stars of these 15in blocks, and now they are completed. Stars within stars in a Log Cabin setting. These 4 beauties complete month 1 of the Land of Liberty BOM. Month2 started on the weekend, but you'll have to wait one more week to see my completed block.

And then, in between all of this, I kept on plodding away at the Blue & White Cross Stitch. A very productive week was last week. Happy Sewing! xx Andrea

Blue and White with Red Stars

This week I have made quite a bit of progress on my Blue & White Toile Cross Stitch. I am very pleased with my efforts so far - vbg. I am now up to the very boring part of the border which is quite a lot of solid colour before stitching a blackwork style pattern over the top. I love how the shading in the pattern makes it seem 3 dimensional...



And..... because I can't help myself, I have just started to make the stars for the first installment of the Land of Liberty BOM which is being offered online. It's a great quilt pattern, one which is using up some of my stash, with only the creamy background colours needing to be purchased. I figure I have enough for the centre of the quilt, but am not sure about the outer borders. Those fabrics can be decided upon at a later date when I know how much fabric is required. Here are the first 4 stars (6in finished), which are the centres of much larger (15in finished) blocks....

Ahhh - DH has just put a nice coffee on the desk in front of me....... time to go and be sociable while stitching some more blue cross-stitch border.

Is Christmas Coming?

I got asked the other day if I had thought about Christmas Dinner! To which I replied "No". But apparently it's not that far away (6 months in my book is a long time - vbg) - oh dear.... Then I went shopping and had to stop by the Local Quilt Store (of course) and there was some general conversation about making Christmas presents. After I recovered from the thought of it, I realised it was a very sensible thing to be thinking of. The organised ones will not be rushing around at the last minute wondering if there is time to make one more thing or what to buy. So once again, I head for the UFO list and think about which UFO could make a present or two for someone and of course, there are a few.

The plus side of turning some UFOs - particularly the bags - into gifts for Christmas are

1. Stash Reduction
2. UFO Reduction
3. It's already paid for
4. The project becomes usable and lovable
5. I have an emtpy container for another project yet to be started
6. Satisfaction at completing something
7. Another one to show off on this blog
8. A quilting goal to focus on
9. I don't want to become an UFO Queen
10. Can't think of the 10th reason! :)

Below are a couple of pictures from a class I did in Foundation Piecing a few years ago. It was also the first thing I (domestic) machine quilted, so the edges are a bit wavy. I still, after all this time, love the tree in the middle. It was a fun project and I used all stash for it. I only had to buy the charms for the decorations.

I'm Back!

Wow - I cannot believe that I didn't blog for almost 3 months! I guess that just goes to show how busy life has been. The family moved from Germany back to our home town in Australia during January, then kids to school, hubby back to work and some of life's obstacles, both good and bad - sees 2.5 months just disappear!

For Quilting, I have completed some Cobblestone blocks for a swap and almost 2 x baby quilts. Photos of blocks when I receive the swap and photos of the baby quilts after I have given them to the respective mums-to-be.

My nice indulgent purchase at the opening of the Quilters Bazaar was these yummy fabric morsels in the following photo - the range is called Country Haven and it is just perfect for my Lori Smith Golden Memories Sampler pattern. There is no doubt about it. As we Quilters know, when you see something just right for the job, it jumps out at you. Now I have to be patient and wait for our shipping container to turn up so that I can get the pattern out of the box... Ho Hum...

And, now a few hours later, I still can't find the Camera lead - arrggh! Never-mind, I'll upload the pics tomorrow.