Another Green Vest!

More Green!!!!  Yes, my Mother-In-Law chose green for a second time!  I suppose when you are a Gardener and Naturalist that is to be expected. 🌴  Back in late January, she and I went shopping at the Bendigo Woolen Mills and came away with a pattern and this gorgeous 12ply yarn.  We had gone there to purchase a ready knit cardigan...

We saw a vest hanging on the wall as a shop sample and she immediately fell in love with the style.  I thought - BINGO - Christmas sorted, but to her I gave a vague "oh, I'll get it done and give it to you sometime."  I already had her upcoming 80th birthday  knitting gift and cake all planned.

Front button and neck detail.

There were some nice little details around the neck and arm holes when you increase and decrease the stitches to make the shape.  Also, the bit I really loved about the pattern was the knitting of the "moss rib" bands around the base and up the centre front all in one piece with the body.

Front of Jacket

While it looks fairly non-descript against my brick wall, it is an absolutely perfect fit on her.  Neither of us could believe it fit so well when she tried it on.

Back of Jacket.

Judging by her reaction, I think it will get quite a lot of wear.  My Mother-In-Law is happy!!!

Pattern:  Bendigo Woolen Mills PT8341

Wool:  Bendigo Woolen Mills Classic in 12ply

Spring Splash

A short and sweet post for a pretty little quilt that went together very quickly and easily.    

Completed quilt top.

In progress.

Nice, easy instructions, just perfect for something quick to sew that isn't a great big project.  With simple crosshatch and straight line quilting, it's nice and soft.

     

Detail of quilting plus the cute backing print.

A quilt that I'm sure to make again when I need a quilt in a hurry!

Another quilt for donation to the Very Snuggly Quilts Program.

The free pattern for "Spring Splash" can be found here.  

Orange Knitting & Lemon Cake!

Super, super soft 4 ply yarn.  So delicate in my hands as I was knitting.  A delight to knit because it felt so good.

Lace Edge Detail

I decided to knit my sister a shawl for her 50th birthday in orange.  She loves orange, it is her favourite colour.

Blocked to open up the 'lacework'.

After starting and undoing and starting again 9 - yep 9 - times; I really got stuck into the knitting of this shawl.  I will admit to finding the outside triangles a bit hard to figure out, but once I got the stitches sorted in my mind, it was a breeze to complete.

I couldn't decide which of these two photos - above and below - to put on here as I really like the way the orange 'glows' in both the lighter and darker shots.

And, what birthday isn't complete without a cake?!  One of my favourite recipes: coconut sponge, sandwiched with lemon curd and finished off coconut/lemon butter frosting.

We were so very lucky and blessed that stay at home restrictions had lifted during the week prior to my Sister's birthday and that we could celebrate in person.  

Shawl Pattern - "Ishka" by Marleen van der Vorst of Dutch Knitting Design.

Needles - 5mm circular.

Yarn - White Gum Wool, Superfine Merino 4ply in colour Flame.

Specky Stars

The local quilt group I belong to near my home had a visiting Tutor for a day.  The lady who came run this workshop is a very clever teacher and comes up with amazing ideas. 

New fabric, new project and day of sewing with girlfriends - I was in!

I chose an 'ocean' coloured batik jelly roll and a very dark blue/black mottled batik for my background.

The blocks are assembled log cabin style.  It took a bit of thinking to figure out the construction because you made the blocks like you can see in the photo...... 

I frist blogged about Specky Stars in February when I wrote about the mistake I made and had to unpick the same piece 48 times!

...... and it's not until you lay them out that you can understand how it all goes together.

All laid out.

Once I got it all laid out, it was easy sewing.  The blocks went together like a dream.  The backing fabric was called "karneval" and has some fabulous swirls in the pattern.  The greens in the swirls are the same colours as in the blocks, even though it is predominately blue.

Backing chosen.

Then it was onto the quilting.  I used a very dark grey, not quite black thread for the quilting.  Meandering with the odd spiral and swirl for extra effect.

For the binding, I chose an emerald green which matches the brighter greens in the quilt top.  

I got the hand-sewing on the binding finished quickly.  I have to admit to getting a bit dis-illusioned with this quilt during the construction of it, but once I got it all laid out and the quilt top completed, my desire to get it finished quickly kicked in because it turned out much better than I originally thought it would.

A great not quite single bed, but bit larger than lap quilt size of 54in x 70in.  Perfect for when feeling a bit chilly.

I'm super pleased with how the backing turned out.  The added strips left over from the batik jelly roll just provide some calmness to a very busy fabric.

And.... Ta Da...... here is the finished quilt!

Specky Stars has been claimed by my 16yr old son.  
 

New Sewing Table!!!

Oh my goodness, I thought I'd share with you my new sewing table and machine, only to find that blogger has changed!  This is my first post in the new format...

In June, I purchased the Janome Continental M7 sewing machine.  With my old table and trying to 'make it work' I quilted two quilts, but not to the standard I wanted.  I found myself sitting at the machine and to reach the foot pedal required the quilt and my arms to be at shoulder height.  It seriously didn't work.

As luck would have it, I got a new job in July, which meant that I could get a custom made sewing table.

Back view of table with wadding underneath.

Pure joy is having a sewing table made just for me and my machine can sit as a flat bed and quilt piecing and machine quilting is all on a flat bed.  My table was made by a local craftsman who came to my house, chatted with me about my needs and then proceeded to make exactly what I wanted.  At 2.4m long and 1.2m wide (the size laminate sheets are made to), I have loads, upon loads of space.

Long view from one end.

My cutting mat goes on one end and I no longer have to keep on clearing space between cutting and piecing.  

Front of table

My old Horn chest of drawers, which houses my threads and bag making supplies nicely fits into one of the gaps and I can comfortably sit in front of the drawers to write in my notebook or hook-up with quilty friends on zoom with the laptop.  The vertical spots and shelf on the end hold my rulers, graph paper and notebooks.

I am one very lucky woman!

52 Blocks in 52 Weeks

A fun, modern and funky sew-a-long by Jackie White and the Canadian Quilters Guild.  By combining each month with the colours issued from the 'rainbow scrap challenge', I  can use this very gorgeous, just had to come home with me, indulgent splurge of the Fat Quarter pack and the white tone-on-tone print.

I thought they looked very nice all stacked up, but when I opened the pack and laid them out - oh heavens above - a very pretty rainbow.  The fabric range is called "Dashwood Ditzies".  The white is a tone-on-tone from Robert Kaufman.

The blocks are very different and far more modern than I would normally make, but they were super fun to construct.

January 2109

February 2019

March 2019

April 2019

May 2019

June 2019

I had never kept up with challenges before, but this one had me eagerly awaiting the pattern downloads each week.  Such addictive blocks to make.

July 2019

August 2019

September 2019 - oops, no photo!

October 2019

November 2019

December 2019

January 2020

During December the decision was made by the Organiser to have 54 blocks for a more even quilt layout.  I added 2 extra blocks to have 56 for a 7x8 block layout.  It's truly wonderful to have been pushed into making something so modern and not at all like anything else I've ever made.  I am certain that there are more 'modern' quilts in my quilting future.

For more quilts made using these same blocks, click here, where you can see the wonderful work by other quilters as well.  So much fun and so many setting ideas.  I truly enjoyed being pushed out of my comfort zone to try something new.

5in Squares become a Chandelier!

Starting with 2 very pretty packs of 5in Charm Squares, a pretty piece of grey fabric and a quest to try out a 'new to me' pattern, lead to this super fun quilt to make.  

The charm squares and background fabric. 
The pink fabric was later put away and not used.

The thing with Charm Square packs is that they are so pretty and gorgeous range of colours when you look at them side on.  

Such a pretty rainbow when viewed side on.

A nice, quick quilt to make, with easy cutting and chain piecing, I had the top together in no-time at all.  Since making this quilt, I have ordered 2 more charm square packs to make another one.  I just can't help myself!

A peek of the backing onto the front.

As each block only used 1.5 of each 5in square, I joined the rest of the pieces together to make a fun panel to put into the backing.  This is part of my goal to use all of the fabric in each quilt I make instead of accumulating left over scraps.

Left over pieces pieced together to make the back more interesting.

I quilted this quilt on my DSM with an all over surf-curl wave pattern, using 50wt variegated thread.  Super easy to quilt and no tension issues.  I'm pretty proud of the quilting on this one.

The finished quilt!  49in x 72in

We were having issues with the very sunny day and so the photo had to be taken under the verandah to stop it from being too blown out with the light.  An interesting quilt and a bit of break away from my 'usual' colour choices.






Chandelier Beads pattern can be found here.  I changed the pattern sizes to use 5in squares.

African Animals at Sunset

This has been a long time coming!  I had the idea in 2014 to make my uncle an African quilt in time for his retirement and 65th birthday.  My mother's family was from Africa.  I purchased the black fabrics and a background way back then.  I did not like the original background and so the project got shelved.

During 2019, I pulled out this long neglected project because my uncle's 70th birthday was approaching in 2020 - and we all know how quickly time passes.  😉

I used  evenings to trace the shapes onto fusible webbing and cut out the fabric silhouettes.  I was still unhappy with the background and the project got put away in December.  Early in January, I spied a new range "sky" ombre of fabrics in a local shop window.  BINGO!!!  I had finally found the right background.

Background fabric.

Relief.  Suddenly I could see my way forward to getting this quilt made with the vision in my mind.

Sun is inset into background.

I used a dinner plate to trace a circle on gold lamé fabric to make the sun.  I then, very, very carefully cut around the cloud pattern on the fabric and inset the sun.  Once fused in place, I appliqued around the edge of the sun and clouds with rayon threads and machine blanket stitch.  I did not want that sun to move.

Animals and tree being placed.  Not yet sewn on.

My 15yr old son arranged the animals.  The men in this house liked the bright background and the silhouettes of the tree and animals.  I think they might want a quilt like this for us.  It turned into a family affair with Mr 18 and Hubby having a say too.

The animals and tree were stitched around with a very dark navy rayon thread and a very small machine blanket stitch.

Sun detail.

I did not quilt the sun, but I did quilt sun rays and followed the pattern in the fabric to give the illusion of clouds.

Giraffes against the sky.

The quilting in the lower half of the quilt was a wavy design to represent shifting sands.  I changed the thread colours as I moved down to the darker parts of the quilt.

Rhinoceros  

I love how the backing shows up the quilting design as well.

Backing onto front.

On the Saturday before my Uncle's birthday, I got the last stitch in the label and made it to the local post office/general store right before closing. And... in  a stroke of good luck, the parcel arrived 4 days later on the actual day of his 70th birthday.  I could not have planned better.

A final photo before posting.

Uncle Ian holding up his new quilt which
arrived via post on the day of his 70th Birthday.

I am so pleased that I decided to go ahead and make this quilt.  Once I got the ball rolling, it came together easily and was a complete delight to work on.  He called me after receiving the parcel and was almost in tears with joy.  My heart is very full of love.


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NB:  For the applique shapes, I used this pattern.