Foundations

My most recent quilt finish is the first quilt made from a swap.  A few years ago now, a Yahoo group had a "Cobblestone Block Swap".  I took part in two months out of the twelve - Got The Blues and Japanese.  This is the quilt which started my sort of obessession with cobblestone and brick quilt blocks and the combinations which can be made from them.



Foundations - my first ever 'cobblestone' quilt.

The top for this quilt was made back in 2007 and then took a while to finish because I ran out of border fabric.  A lovely Australian lady had some of the fabric in her stash and she very kindly shared with me, therefore I was able to complete the quilt.  I still think of her kindness now some five years later.

A perfect lap size quilt, I have only quilted it during this past April, and now, in May, I have gifted it to my husbands' aunt who turned 90 recently.  The colours in the quilt when you look closely remind me of the wonderful colours in dimensional embellished china vases.

Unfortunately the photo was taken at night as a last minute thought before wrapping it up for gifting, hence the darkness.  A favourite quilt finish to be sure.

Ribbit.... Boing.... Ribbit..........

Oh Hello!

Good morning!

Look at what greeted me when I opened a surprise container from Lorraine at our sewing day earlier this week - a frog chorus!

These gorgeous little creatures are just ready to hop on out of the container, I'm surprised they were so well behaved from her house to mine as they look ready for a bit of mischief.....

After some chatting, sewing and lunch, Rosie and I discovered the delicious chocolate cake which was lurking under the green.  Mmmmmm... Yummmm....

Thank you Lorraine and Rosie for a wonderful birthday treat - sewing, lunch, girlfriends and laughter - nothing else needed.

It's a Girls Bag!

Some little girls are very girly, more so than others - therefore, when you get a birthday invitation for a little miss who is turning 3 what do you do?  Why, make a handbag of course!

Some floral fabric, spotty buttons and a bit of stiffening, gives you a very pretty bag with dimensional flower on the front.

Front of bag

 I have adapted the Evening Bag pattern from Nicole Mallalieu Design to make this fashionable little number.  So easy and so much fun to make - I want one too!

All Wrapped Up

Before Christmas 2011 - digging into my memory bank here - I wanted to make some gifts that were effective and best reflected the ladies I was making them for.  In the Moda book "Fresh Baked Treats"  I found the perfect gift to make - Jewellery Wraps.

They are beautiful.  A little bit of a fiddle, but oh so worth the effort.  I made one for my good friend Judy first...

Folded Up



Opened Out

The Outside

... then I got carried away and made them for my Mother In Law and both Sisters In Law.  I just fell in love with the colour combinations and it didn't matter what fabric choices I made, I felt that they were all fantastic.

Folded Up - Wraps for MIL, SIL1 and SIL2



The Insides



The Outsides

The best thing about these gifts, is that all four ladies are using them.  I think I hit the jackpot in gift choice - wonder what I'll make for next Christmas?

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.......

Busy with "Just Takes 2"

Since the beginning of the year, I've been following the fun over on the blog Just Takes 2 .  A new venture from Brenda at Dear Jane and Gay at Sentimental Stitches, this new project is turning out to be quite a bit of fun, well, actually, I'm loving every little part of it!  The philosophy is simple - 2 Friends and 2 Fabrics will make 2 Quilts.  The full history is on the Just Takes 2 Blog.

Here are my efforts so far this year.

Blocks 1 - 6 

 

Blocks 7 - 11




Blocks 12 - 13

I'm about a month behind at the moment, not having completed all of the March blocks due to my slowness at completing the optional Stitcheries.

Within one of the local quilt groups, there are approximately half a dozen ladies also working on 'Just Takes 2' and the variety of colours is fantastic.  You simply cannot choose a bad combination it seems when you add a cream or white to another colour.  It's so lovely to suddenly have a little group within a group to be sharing our quilt blocks - and the rest of the group is enjoying the eye candy I'm sure  :)

Tropical Dreaming

Finally something finished to post about!  Some 2 months after I publicly announced how wonderful I would be at finishing projects this year, I have had my first finish - complete with a label.

This quilt is called Tropical Dreams. 

Never one to shy away from a challenge, I had a go at competing in a Jelly Roll Challenge. The theme was dreams. When I saw the Bali Pop “Spumoni”, I thought of nights in the tropics, with all the lush colours of the rainforest and waterfalls around me. So I challenged myself to come up with a pattern that would let me slip away into ‘holiday’ mode of no stress and yet allow me to make a quilt top in one day.  This quilt “Tropical Dreams” is the result.



While I got absolutely no-where with the Jelly Roll Challenge, I completed the quilt to make a wonderful lap quilt, so that I can dream of a tropical holiday in the rainforest!

 Above, the front of the quilt and, below, the back of the quilt.

And, true to form when publishing to my blog - the photos turn out sideways...  sheesh.......

I was bugged!!!

Stitching away on my Jacobean Cross Stitch, I tugged the threads thinking I had loose a knot caught in the back, but no, there was a bug! Unbelievable! How rude of that little insect to get stuck like that.... grrrr....... Here is the poor helpless creature......

I guess seeing really is believing? :)

Traditional Tuesday

It seems that I am a bit of a soft touch when it comes to making Sampler Blocks! The one over on the blog 42Quilts is no exception. Jennifer Dick, since last September has been offering weekly blocks, which can be modern or traditional. Modern Monday offers a new slant on the traditional blocks - which is very interesting and well worth considering. However, I have chosen to do the Traditional Tuesday option - which, yep, you guessed it - is very traditional.


I am using 1800s reproduction fabrics with mostly reds, murky creams and blues with a splash of green and purple/grey thrown in for good measure. The fabrics were purchased for a different project that I had intended to design myself, which I could never seem to get around to starting and then when I came across this project online, I knew that the fabrics would be perfect.

Block 1 - Crossroads

Block 2 - Log Cabin - not yet made.

Block 3 - Rail Fence

Block 4 - Churn Dash

Block 5 - Sawtooth Star

Block 6 - Mosaic

Block 7 - Mr Bones - not yet made

Block 8 - Pinwheel

Block 9 - String Block - not yet made

Block 10 - Snowball Variation

So far I have made 7 blocks out of 15. There will be more to come in the next few weeks as I catch up after the holiday madness.

Hmmm - which reminds me, I must catch up on my Just Plain Nuts and Golden Memories blocks too - samplers are just too addictive!

A New Years Eve Resolution - UFOs

Today I have listed my UFOs onto a database - 49 this year. I have sorted into "To Be Quilted", "QAYG" and the "general list" of where there is pieceing and cutting to be done. Somehow, this simple sorting, even though they are all UFOs, has freed my mind somewhat.

I have also started afresh with a smaller list of just 4 projects too. A birthday, a class working with odd blocks and a wedding shall take care of finishing those projects, with a bag project thrown in for good measure. I'm pretty sure I've made it achievable for the 8 weeks I've allocated myself to get these things done. On my personal list there is one extra UFO added to get to flimsy stage if I have time.

Also (what - there's more? :) ) A friend and I have challenged each other to complete a 'done done' UFO finish per month during 2012. This is a very accountable thing to do as it means having to physically show it to the other person in the LQS - no escape here! The way I have sorted my UFO list now, makes me think I can achieve this. On my DSM, it takes me about a week or so to complete the machine quilting of a big quilt. My biggest procrastination point is the handsewing of the binding, so if I save this for social sewing days, it should happen while chatting shouldn't it?

My gorgeous fabrics and fantastic projects will be far better off being completed and gifted or used.

So, to all of you UFO'ers out there, whether it's scrapbooking, knitting, quilting, woodworking or whatever, raise your glasses with me tonight - New Years Eve - to a toast - UFO Reduction!

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

Flimsy - unquilted quilt top

DSM - domestic sewing machine

UFO - unfinished object

LQS - local quilt shop