March is for Donating

During March, the time of Lent, it is a time to give something up and also to think of others in their struggles.  For me, in my own personal life, there are two amazing women who do a lot of work to support very sick children.

As I've written in some previous blog posts about donating quilts, here are some quilts that I've finished over the past 12 months and they have not found homes, so I'm donating them to the Very Snuggly Quilts program, which supports long term or terminally ill children at the Royal Children's Hospital in Melbourne.
Squared Away - Green

Squared Away - Purple

Little Big Stars

Orange and Green 9 Patch

And for my beautiful friend E, who runs a Royal Children's Hospital fund-raiser each year since her daughter died, I have donated:

Blue Stars

Red and White Checkerboard

* As a side note, I took the two quilts (above) to a professional appraisal/valuation, so that their true value can be put onto the silent auction form.  A very interesting experience, if a bit nerve-wracking!  You leave your quilts and then pick them up a few hours later.  It's all in their hands and you really have no idea until you read the valuation certificate after collection.  And... my nerves were all for naught - the valuations surprised me and the ladies who are the "officials" of the day were wonderful.  A process I shall certainly take part in again.

And..., one more donation to the Lions Club of Quilters for their bushfire victims collection, I am donating "Cobblestones and Bricks", which was my very first quilt that I made a pattern for.  It now has a chance to go to a good home and be loved now that the pattern has been retired.  A good "manly" quilt this one to be sure.

With donating quilts and being asked to take part in a donations program, you know there is always someone out there who will receive a good quilt hug.

Red and White

The great thing about fabric swaps is that you always get a good variety of fabric.  I took part in a 2½in x Half WOF* fabric swap for a year.  Each month you sent off your package(s) of fabrics and received the same number of sets in return.  I was always amazed each month that no-one sent the same fabrics to anyone else - all completely different.

I started to play with the red fabrics.  Initially I was going to include pink fabrics as well and make an Irish Chain quilt.

The final "red" selection

Not being completely sure of my plans, I took the reds (and pinks) off to a sewing day at a quilt shop.  There I found a lovely, slightly off white plain fabric.  This was the cause of the pinks being dumped.  Just red and white - I found my brain whirring overtime with ideas.  In the end, the simplest idea has turned out to be the best.

I used almost all of the reds and I'm super happy with the result.

It was lovely, rhythmic piecing - red and white alternating.  First I joined each red strip to a white strip and then I cross-cut them and sewed 4 patches and the quilt top grew from there.  I had a bit of indecision with the border before deciding to make a 'solid' red frame to complete the top.

I quilted this quilt simply with cross hatch red in the red squares and white in the white squares and a white cable pattern overlapping the two border colours.  

Cable quilting on the border.

It was then finished off with a pink backing and red binding.   Oooohhh lala........

Contrasting back

So simple, yet so pleasing to make, I am super happy with my red and white checkerboard.  To be donated to a Royal Children's Hospital (Melbourne) fundraiser as one of the silent auction items.  I do hope it will reach the $$$ value given from the professional appraisal (valuation).


*  WOF = width of fabric.

Children at the Gate aka "Happy"

I didn't think it had been that long since I made the quilt top and folded it up with the backing and binding, ready for quilting, until I started to write this particular blog post.  Hmmm....  Apparently it was 3 years ago, as you can see here in this previous post!  It was a shock to me that it has been that long.

However, there are always new babies being born, so it's a perfect gift for either boy or girl and with some wool/cotton wadding, it'll be nice and snuggly for a little one.  And, true to form, at the time of pulling out this quilt to look at it, we received news that there is to be a new baby in the extended family soon.

In mid-November 2017, I attended the baby shower for my 2nd cousin and his wife.  This quit was perfect for them.  I had two quilt tops and asked Hubby which one to give, he chose this one, which I'm glad of because they loved it.

I gifted "Happy"  for their first baby, which is due Feb 2018.  We had a beautiful afternoon, outdoors on the verandah,  playing silly games and talking.

 A nice fun and happy quilt with Dr Seuss Characters, frogs, animal alphabet and bright colours to wrap up in for some snuggle time and sweet dreams.

A peak at the animal alphabet backing fabric.

Finishing at 37in x 51.5in (94cm x 131cm), it fits beautifully into the cot.  

My cousin came out into the yard and said to me "You need to go inside and see what Master 4 has done..."  Not sure what I was going to find, I discovered that he had gone inside with the quilt, took a cushion from the couch to use as a pillow and made up the cot, ready for the baby to go to bed when it comes home from hospital, which was super adorable - he melted many hearts with his thoughts and actions. 

Pattern used:  "Garden Ladder" in Australian Quilters Companion, issue 60 (Vol 12 No 2).

Six projects in 10 days!

Last post I wrote one project at a time - but I just cannot help myself.  However, lots and lots of progress has been made on 6 projects!  One simply cannot get bored....

So far, so good - here's the update:  

1.  Book It Challenge #1 - "Poppies" table runner (see previous post) all shapes are cut out and fused to the background.

Fused pieces, ready to applique.

Miscount - had two extra leaves, so have stuck them on the back.

2.  Merry Mayhem - New Year's Day Mystery - (44in x 48in) quilt top completed, with backing and binding made.  Every single thing in this quilt, top, back, binding, wadding and thread is all from stash.  It's on my UFO list because it was started before Jan 1.

I changed the size of the larger background pieces to make it a good cot or lap size quilt.  I am really pleased that each block has it's own star in the centre.  A moment of serendipity with where the colours ended up does make me smile.  There's always some trepidation with a mystery quilt, but I worried needlessly with this one! :) 


3.  Flying Kids - my own design, for which I have completed the top, backing and binding.  Will have it's own post next week.


4.  AP&Q+ Stashbuster Project - Part 2 - not touched, but thought about.  Have made a decision on my choice of applique picture for center block because I don't really like the one in the magazine pattern - sun bonnets are not my thing.

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Bonus projects - oh ooops...

a) WITB* - Strippy Stars project, will be somewhat smaller than originally intended because I stole the blue fabrics from the box to make #2 above.  Opening the box caused me to re-evaluate that particular project and why I had stopped working on it.  I will not make the full original pattern, but just complete the partially made stars and then decide upon a setting. 

b) WITB* - Purple Butterflies - stopped approximately 2 years ago because I didn't like the applique thread.  What had initially seemed OK, actually was too light when stitched.  Yesterday 2 friends came for a sewing day and were asking me about the butterfly quilt - pulled it out and had a look.  Last night while watching a movie, I unpicked the applique stitching and re-pressed the top.  It is now ready for me to machine applique with new thread.

Having made progress and decisions about 6 projects is such a relief.  The thought of finished projects being visible in the near future is a great motivator!   Especially as 5 of these projects are more than a couple of years old......


+  AP&Q = Australian Patchwork and Quilting Magazine.

*  WITB = what's in the box/bag/basket - another fun little challenge to play along with

Book It!

One of the lovely ladies in a Yahoo group to which I belong is running for 2017 a "Book It" Challenge.  You need to make a project from a book or magazine or pattern which you already owned for a few years and have never gotten around to using.  Alternatively, it can be something from a book that you have already started, which is what I am doing.

OK - so I took out my first intended project for the Book It Challenge, from my long list [copious amounts of UFO projects].....

Upon pulling this project out - I had to deal with a dust cloud that had been sitting on top of the ziploc bag, several sneezes later, I could then open up the book to remember which of the two Michele Hill patterns/books I had been working from/on.

"Poppy" table runner (67" x 41") with many detailed flowers and leaves.  The pattern comes from the book More William Morris by Michele Hill - pub C&T 2012.

What I have found is:  all fabrics, all shapes traced onto vliesofix and fused to the flower and leaf fabrics, but not cut out.

In my notebook - dates say this project was started around October 2013.

And then........


From the same book - More William Morris,  I have also started "Summer Stroll" a stunning children's quilt design, made as a row by row.

Three of the five rows have been completely fused on and are waiting for stitching.  the other two rows are shapes, drawn onto vliesofix and fused to the fabrics, waiting for cutting out and sticking to their background pieces.

My notebook tells me that "Summer Stroll" was started in February 2013 as part of a monthly class.
First things first - I will work on "Poppy".  One project at a time!  Seriously, who am I kidding??

PS:  Please excuse the odd sized font - I have tried a few times to make it all the same, but to no avail.

On The Move....

Ready, set, go!  Choose your mode of transport and then you're on the move, to far away places and many adventures.

This quilt was finished and gifted way back in May, but I've only just gotten around to showing it off.

I was asked to make a quilt by a friend, who wanted a special gift for a new mum and baby.  Definitely a boy, (whose dad is a Bulldogs supporter - blue sashing, white blocks and red binding) the quilt needed to be fun and with the possibilities of adventure when his imagination gets into full swing. 

The whole quilt.

The pictures are from children's colouring pages, free on the internet from various sources.  I felt blessed when I googled images and so many free pictures were at my disposal.  I have to say a huge thank you to the people who put them up on the world wide web for the rest of us to use.

Airplane block detail

Certainly not my normal run of the mill things to applique, but, oh, so much fun to do!  I thoroughly enjoyed making this quilt and seeing the pictures come to life under my fingers.

Back of quilt.

I drew the circular quilting lines to add some movement to the quilt by tracing chalk circles around a dinner plate and then overlapping them.  I did not want the quilting to be dense, so as to keep it nice and soft for cuddles.

Simply just fun - it was nice to have a break away from my normal piecing projects.

Possum Baby Wrap

One of the nicest things I think I have ever knitted.  Soft, warm and cuddly with an incredible texture.  The raised garter stitch pattern has given the wrap an interesting look and stops it from being boring to knit.

Possum Baby Wrap.
Pattern:   from Issue 15 of YARN Magazine.
Wool:     Supreme Possum Merino (made in New Zealand)  colour - Natural
             40% Possum Fur;  50% Merino Wool;  10% Silk

Very, very soft and very light in weight (50g of 4ply  = 210m)

Opened out

And... Closed

Once I started to knit with this wool, I really could not put it down.  It was really very addictive knitting.

Several people have wanted to know how you can make knitting yarn from a possum.  I have no idea.  I think to find out will require some research, although I'm not that bothered, I just want to keep on knitting with the wool.  :)

Snuggly Jumper

When you use pure wool, you can't help but get a really snuggly jumper that was a joy to knit.  Using TeAwa Wool (from New Zealand) - colour Barrier Reef, I knitted up this basic child jumper, size 5, with Patons Classic Kids pattern.

The Jumper!

I gave this particular jumper to a friend for her son.  I had the wool for so long that my children grew too much for me to knit anything for them with the quantity that I had!  oops! 

Off to look at what else I have to knit now.......