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

Thanks for dropping by

 

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. :-)

Thanks for dropping by

At last some sewing time…

to make this little quilt for a dear friend of mine Sharon, as a Christmas exchange gift.

It is a pattern called Fanfare from Sarah Fielke’s new book ‘Quilting from little things’ and I had a lot of joy making it. I hope to make a few more little quilts this year.

This quilt is machine pieced ( not foundation) and hand appliqued and hand quilted.

We had our Family Christmas lunch last Saturday, so yipee! it’s all over rover for me. I can now just enjoy some sewing time, once we close the office on the 23rd December for 4 weeks!.

I Love it when the grandkids come. There were only 3 of them here this time, but my MIL the Matriarch at 93 was at the head of the table. She’s not sure why now, or who every-one is, but she is healthy in her body and is still enjoying her life.

  I am way behind on my Civil War Blocks – about 12 weeks I think, so that will be my next project.

Thanks for dropping by, and in case I don’t blog again before Christmas, have a wonderful time.

 

Umm! where to start

After 5 x 12hour days – 2 spent helping set up the Show and the other 3 attending and packing down, I feel I could sleep for a week, but life won’t let me! The annual quilt show – Calico Christmas 2011 was a great success once again. I have managed to take photos of a few of the 269 quilts we had on display.
I have a lot of catching up to do quilt wise. My 2 or 3 on-line projects, the wedding quilt which should have been finished 3 months ago, and the 2 x 16th birthday Grandies quilts that are needed for 2012.
Firstly though I need to catch up on some sleep, so I can tackle the wonderful weekend retreat that I am off to this coming weekend. I feel its just what the doctor ordered.   

7 days later……….Back to some sort of normality now, although at the moment we have family staying from Albany WA.  I haven’t done any sewing apart from my weekend away, so soon I’ll be having withdrawal symptoms.
Here are some photos of the show that caught my eye. Unfortunately I don’t have names for all the quiltmakers.


Best of Show – made by Colleen Burr



All Doilied Up made by Jocelyn Atkinson
Both the quilt above – Blue Rose and the quilt below  - Surfers Paradise were made by Ansa Breytenbach




This quilt ‘Lost Worlds’ was made by Ansa Breytenbach











Below ‘Kitchen Blues’ was made by Chris Behersing

 

Below – ‘A Wedding Ring at Last’ made by Donna Cumming



 
Above - Indian Rhapsody made by Hazel Foot - (President of the Auckland Patchworkers and Quilters Guild)



   
This quilt was made by the members of the APQG as a raffle quilt. I have had to crop the photo as there was a chair in front of the quilt, but the quilt was a queen size. We sold out of the raffle tickets early Sunday morning.

Thanks for dropping by

Sue

So Busy….

The last week or so has been very busy, and will be for the next 3 weeks or so. I am on a couple of Quilt Show Committees. One of them - we are starting to organise a Quilt Show for July 2012, -  this is a relatively small show. The other is arguably the largest Quilt Show in NZ and this is the first weekend in November, so its all go. I have managed to quilt a couple of quilts in the last week, but I’ll tell you more about that later, and post some photos. This post is just to let you know that I am still in the land of the living.
Bye for now
Sue

Spent a very enjoyable day….

with 12 friends, doing a One Block Wonder Quilt. This is an amazing quilt to make, as every-ones fabric turned out totally different blocks, from what you would think. My fabric was as below. I was a little apprehensive as I thought it was probably too dark. I think it would have been better with more  black background. This fabric turned out to be a bit tricky as there was no repeat across the fabric with which to line up the ruler for cutting.There is a 24" repeat going down the fabric. These have not yet been sewn together. They are just placed on a flannel wall. I have lots  more to make yet.

I photographed some of the other class participants blocks.

     

As you can see there was a wide variety of fabrics. Every-one thoroughly enjoyed the class, and as soon as I get some photos of the finished tops I’ll post them.
Thanks for dropping by

Another couple of blocks…

for my Civil War Collection. I think I have caught up, then we get a curly one, which I put in the too hard basket for another day, then before you know it, I am behind again!

Yesterdays was real easy, so I whipped it up between making the blocks for a Wedding Quilt I promised to make.

Block 38 – Ohio Star

Block 36 Kentucky Crossroads

Block 35 Star of the West

Block 33 – Indiana Puzzle

Block 29 Railroad Crossing

 

 I will post a picture of the Wedding quilt block when the batteries in my camera have recharged.

Thanks for dropping by