Jan's Shawl #2

A lovely little knitted finish.  I completed this shawlette a couple of weeks ago, but held off sharing until it was gifted.

This piece has gone to Baden's Mum in the nursing home to replace the one that I had made for her 80th a few years ago that has been lost.

I used Bendigo Woollen Mills multicoloured 4ply in the "Autumn Leaves" colourway. As a former, very prolific gardener who likes red, orange and brown, it was perfect. Baden gave it to her yesterday when he visited. He said she loves it.

 

Heart project

Over the past few months, I have had the pleasure of becoming aware of the 100+ Hearts Project, started by anakiequilter .  She is one person, making waves in the push for heart disease in women to have greater recognition.  She has had to share her own story and become vulnerable to the general public.  Little did I know that when I was researching the story of one of my work colleagues, that I would have my own story.

This first heart picture, I was making for my colleague who ended up with two major surgeries and missing major life events due to a heart attack.  She was the most unlikely person, not meeting any of the "standard" criteria that normally gets associated with people having heart attacks.  

I chose the twisting spiral heart design because I feel it represents the upheaval and 'fractured' life which follows a major heart attack.  When I said this to my colleague, she agreed wholeheartedly.  A broken heart breaks lives.

The second picture, below, is to represent my own 'series of small heart attacks' that have taken place over the past few weeks.  My story is completely different because I was mostly asymptomatic except for not feeling quite right, until a significant moment of severe muscle spasms in the early hours one morning in my back and shoulders.  My story relates to the electrical circuitry of the heart.  No blocked arteries, no aorta wall splits, nothing, just the electrical signals not working properly.

Heart disease in women is much more commonplace than most people realise, yet the bulk of medical research is conducted on men.  The symptoms in women are often mis-diagnosed and can be dismissed as something else.  

I am acutely aware of how much I don't know about heart disease.  It is something that I thought would never happen to me, but it did.  Now, I need to heed the advice given to me and things will improve.  I am very blessed with my friends, colleagues and family.  As I write this, I am still in a state of disbelief, wondering if it was all a bit of a 'storm in a teacup'.  I'm told that this is a common reaction and it will pass.

Time now to get off this lightbox and go find something crafty to get stuck into!

Patterns used: Twisting Spiral Heart  and the four heart block is my own design.

 

KQ 2026 Mystery Quilt - Parts 1 & 2

This year I have decided to take part in the local quilt group mystery quilt-a-long.  As an added challenge to myself, I have decided to only use stash fabrics - you know, those bits'n'pieces that are left over from previously completed projects that we all have.

There are no fabric requirements being given out, only a finished size and what the element needs to be.  The instructions are very minimal, which I am loving because my creative muse can come out to play.

Month 1 had to include red.  Bring out a Baltimore Applique book and look at the papercuts.  I love this frame on the animal print fabric.

Animal print fabric is circa 2025 and the red is from 1998.

In the two photos below, I really love the monkey and the tiger peeking out from behind the applique.

Month 2 is curves with repeated elements.  I had ideas of circus tent stripes when I first read the prompt in the group newsletter.  It has taken me most of the month to figure out the fabrics and design while I went about my normal life.  In the end, a piece of leftover 'quilting made easy' border roll was the answer.  I cut it out along one side and then traced the pattern onto the cheddar fabric.  An afternoon of quiet hand-applique and it was done.

The green and yellow fabrics are circa 2012 or thereabouts.  It's "all the things" in this quilt.

I am excited to see what the upcoming June prompt will be.  While I wait for the next prompt, I am contemplating how to make this 'quilt as you go'.  I am not sure if it will work or not, it all depends on what I think up for the next prompt design.  Right now, my brain has plenty of ideas for quilting in and around the applique.  I will ponder this before I jump in with both feet.

Sylvia's Bridal Sampler - Post 2

And... here she is, in all of her wonderful glory!  Yes, I did have a celebratory glass of bubbles last night with Hubby to mark the completion of all 140 blocks, the paper-cut applique centre blocks and finishing the quilt top for my version of Sylvia's Bridal Sampler.

Whole quilt top.  Indoor photo on a rainy day!

I have to admit, I am a little awe-struck that I managed to make all of those blocks.  Some of the blocks were easy, some were very challenging, however I did enjoy the technical challenges, going back to basics, taking time and not rushing.

I am surprised by how much she weighs!  All those seams and little pieces add up to a lot of quilty patchwork goodness.

She still needs her final pressing as does her backing.  Her binding is made and coiled.  Her wadding is waiting.  It's now time to pick out the quilting thread and plan the quilting.  I'll let those quilt plan thoughts percolate over the next week or so.  Right now, I'm celebrating and enjoying her as a whole.

Sylvia's Bridal Sampler - post 1

I had very high hopes of making lots of blog posts this year and then was cursed with 'writer's block'.  I became super organised with my photos along with a schedule for posting and then each time I sat down to complete a post, I went blank.  I am hoping that I am over that now, because today I am so excited with what I am sharing! 😍

Yesterday, I completed a mammoth task - I finished the very last block for my version of Sylvia's Bridal Sampler from the book by Jennifer Chiaverini.  140 x 6in blocks total. 

There's a LOT of work in that block stack!!

Such a huge pile of blocks when stacked together!

And.... below is a photo of them all laid out.  There was no rhyme or reason to my layout, I simply plonked them down on the floor in the order that I took them off the stack.

The whole quilt so far

 I am adding in a 'papercut' block to the centre so that I can have a 12x12 block layout instead of 10x14.   As you can see, I still need to complete the hand-applique of the centre block.  This will stay on the floor overnight and I'll do some tweaking to the layout to balance it a bit better.

I started this quilt in Feb 2023 when a local quilt group - Kilmore Quilters - started this as a sew-a-long.  I kept up all through 2023 and then in 2024 I returned to tertiary study.  Sylvia was then boxed up and shelved until January this year when an option came to have the quilt ready for a group display in September.  Just the impetus I needed to pull it out and get cracking.  

It has taken me 4 full months in between working, family and social commitments to get the blocks completed, attempting a little bit each day and then some days no sewing at all.  Almost every block has been an absolute joy to work with some that had me inventing new swear words!!  

I have the sashings, cornerstones, borders, binding and backing all prepared, ready to pick up and sew.

But first - I must vacuum the floor before moving onto the next step of sewing the top together - it's full of threads and dog-ear corner snippets 😉

Irish Trip Around The World

Waaaay back in 2020 in a time of lockdowns and only being allowed to go around your own neighbourhood, I made a carer's call to an elderly friend who lives walking distance away.  She handed me a batik jelly roll.  That jelly roll sat for quite some time while I decided what to do with it.  Hot pink, bright yellow, med grey and dark greys certainly had my brain ticking over.

Fast forward to April 2021, and I was going through my bookcase, I remembered that I had been given this book from Lorraine few years earlier and thought "what if....?"

I settled on the pattern Quick and Easy Irish Trip from the book, as my first foray into combining strip piecing for quite a structured setting.

For the background, I found the perfect piece from my stash.  Then it was a case of sorting the jelly roll colours and labelling the strips into their correct positions.

Once sorted, it was a case of making strip-sets and then sewing those strip-sets in order to make the pattern.   It was actually quite easy once I got my brain into gear and understood the process and placement.  I completed the quilt top at a quilt group sewing day.

For the quilting, I cross-hatched the central panel in with YLI 'Sand' lightly variegated cotton thread and for the border I used Signature dark grey thread, following the circles in the fabric pattern.

Once quilted and bound, it was photo time!  I think the reason I was drawn the border/backing fabric was the fact that it looks like the colours of the ironbark eucalyptus trees, like you can see in the background of the photo on the right below.

In the final quilt photo below, I really like how the colours pop in the dappled late afternoon shade.

This is a finish from June 2025, where the winter weather gave me plenty of time to quilt and do other sewing things indoors.

Finished size:  43.5in x 64.5in  (111cm x 164cm), which is perfect for donating to a local quilt group for the community-in-need quilts.

** Book used:  Trip to Ireland by Elizabeth Hamby Carlson; an absolutely fabulous book about combining Irish Chain and Trip Around The World patchwork patterns.