A very late Christmas gift…

Finished at last. I started making a gift for my friend Carole in the USA, and because it was the weekend I started machine quilting it in a thread I wasn’t so keen on, but thought it would be O.K. Well, it wasn’t. I did half of it, put it to one side, and kept looking at it over the next week or so. DH bless him said it was fine, but what would he know.LOL! The colour was wrong, and when something annoys you like that, its very hard to pick it up again. I then decided the only way was to unpick it – what a job!!  Anyway now its finished and I am about to wrap it up and post it to her. ( hope she doesn’t read this before she gets it)

I have also finished another Civil War Block and I am very chuffed to say that Barbara Brackman  - http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/wrote and asked permission to insert one of my blocks in her up and coming book.
A lot of photos of the CW Blocks are featured here
http://flickr.com/groups/civilwarquilts.2011/

Below is the block Barbara requested.

Below is a block I have just finished
#43 The Right Hand of Friendship

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A quick post…..

to show you a gift I received from a dear friend in Maryland USA. Carole sent me these lovely fabrics which will go very well in my Civil War Quilt. Also a delightful pattern for 3 table runners.

I also finished knitting a cotton  cardi for my Grand-daughter Jenna. It seems long but she is very slim and tall, so I’m hoping it’ll do her for a year or so.
Oh look at those pink toes!

There was no wind this morning, so quickly took a photo. Of course the quilt was too big and had to drape on the lawn.


Now I can bundle it off to the Quilter. It’s so nice to get another job nearly finished.:-)
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Still Plugging away…..

On the wedding quilt, but now am running out of the cream fabric, so I think it’ll have to be a topper quilt, which I would not normally ever make. I am a bit too practical for my own good, as I feel a quilt needs to be useful, not just decorative. I am trying to get past this idea, as I have hardly any wall hangings, and need to do some just to get the quilt idea out of my system.

Now about 3 days later, I have finished the top. I put two borders on, 1 measuring 1 1/2 “ finished the other 8 “ finished, and now the quilt measures 85” square, which is good. I will try and post a photo, but I need a day with no wind ( pretty hard to find at the moment) to take a photo outside, as its too big on the floor.

I have also done a few more of my Civil War Blocks

Block # 52 – Christmas Star

Block # 47 Dixie Tea

Block # 45 Port & Starboard

Oh poo! I can see a mistake. Will have to resew! Funny how you only notice a mistake when you look at a photo!

Block # 49 Yankee Puzzle

I wasn’t so keen on my fabric choices so made another one.

Thats better!

Block #44 Union

And last but not least

Block 50 Grapes of Wrath

Well that’s all from me for now, so

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Happy New Year…

I have spent some lovely sewing time, catching up on a few things, that I have had to let slide. One is Marks Wedding Quilt ( my name ) that I resurrected after it languished in a box for about 13 years.

The story behind this quilt is, in 1998 when I was visiting a friend in California, she asked me if I would like the fabric and blocks she had started for this quilt. There were reasons she didn’t want it any more, and I said, How lovely! yes I’ll take it with pleasure. The fabric has feathers on it, and quite suits our lifestyle of Western Horses, and would have suited our house. Well…. I am a great procrastinator, and the fabrics and blocks stayed in the box.

Last year a young friend of ours in Australia, also in the same lifestyle announced he was getting married. Ah ha! I could make the quilt for him! At one of the retreats I went to last year, I took the box and started piecing. I am not used to making quilts with limited fabric choices as most of mine are scrappy, and now I know why! I have run out of the green fabric and as the young man is quite tall I wanted to make the quilt as large as I could. Fortunately I have heaps of the feather fabric -  Bonnie had bought enough to back it with also.

 
Click on the picture to enlarge!

Off I went yesterday to see what a couple of friends might have had that was near to the same. One had a 20cm piece of green, that has a small pale orange splog on it, which I think if I randomly put in I’ll get away with it. I was hoping to do a narrow border before the wider feather border, but now I can’t. The same friend had a red Moda Marble that matches the red in the feather fabric so I might use that.

DH is away today playing golf, I have the crockpot on with a piece of corned beef in it,  so, must get going and start sewing. Have to make the most of the home alone time. :-)

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