The Bride is calling....

I got to one evening where I had done all I had prepared and ready for the Little Tailfeather quilt. So, I got to work on my Civil War Bride quilt block!

Here is block 7 finished (except for embroidered head feathers, feet, beak and fruit stems). This was such an easy block in comparison to some of the others!!

I also had time to trace block 2. I selected all the fabrics, traced the shapes onto freezer paper and I have made and applied the stems. I just need to stitch them.

However, I have since prepared 4 little tailfeather applique and stitcheries, so I had better work them off before I start on the next Bride block.

More little tailfeather blocks

Here are a few more blocks. I just have the centre block to go, then I have to make lots of chequerboards and log cabins. I am waiting on 4 more pink fabrics to arrive, so I will have to wait before I make all the borders.

All will soon be revealed. Can you wait that long?

Shaking my tailfeathers...

I am following the old suggestion to "get your rear into gear" and I have been shaking my tailfeathers all over the place to piece these blocks together. I appliqued the birds and completed their little stitchery details.

Most of the other stitcheries were done, just waiting for this new range of fabric to be released.

I chose these fabrics to co-ordinate with the variegated DMC thread exactly.

I think they are looking pretty and fresh.

I just love birds in quilts!!

A little break from needleturn

Unfortunately, I need to take a little break from the Civil War Bride quilt. I don't want to lose momentum, but I have a deadline to meet.

This is part of a block from the Little Tailfeather block of the month. I am using fabric from the Mill House Inn range by moda.

I have made most of the 9 centre blocks - they are all variations on this block.

Next I need to finish the centre block, then log cabin borders. The fabric is so pretty. I am enjoying working on this quilt. I would like to finish the quilt top within the next 2 weeks.

Let's see how I go, then I can "catch up" on the Civil War Bride blocks - my goal for them was one block per week. I probably won't work on them for a few days more, but I think I can catch up.. I think I can... I think I can...

No more strawberries!

Please! No more strawberry appliques! Those pointy tips are driving me spare!! This is my fourth finished block in the Civil War Bride quilt. I wanted to show you a close-up of some of the fabric.

The cherries are especially creative, they remind me of the red and yellow cherries that grow near my house.

Here are the four finished blocks together.

I like seeing all of them together - it shows the range of colours I have used so far.

Here is my fifth block started - a peacock. There are 2 peacocks on the block, I have chosen different colours for each. The embellishment will be the embroidery on top of the head when I have finished all the applique for all the blocks.

I found a UFO...

I found this UFO in a box in the shed. Don't worry, the box is plastic and therefore waterproof, dustproof and rodent proof (well to a point, obviously if they decide to chew the box I am in trouble).
This is from a Lil' Blokes pattern "Red Shoes and Twirly Skirts". I think I made this quilt top in about 2004. LOL!! Now, why did I find it? I was looking for the hexagon quilt my Mum started in the 1970s - I finished the top in the 90s. Why was this quilt top in the same box?

I will give Mum the hexagon quilt top to quilt at some stage.... but she's got plenty to do at the moment!!!

Dollhouse quilt top finished

I am so happy to achieve a goal on my list of 5. Here is the dollhouse BOM quilt top!! I can add something else to the list now! I will give this quilt top to Mum for quilting on the long-arm machine. I am sooo lucky. I get to make lots of quilts with my Mumsy quilting away!! VBG.

I am going to finish my Little Tailfeather quilt. I have finished all the stitcheries. I need to do some applique, then piece the blocks. I just searched my blog, and realised I haven't included any photos yet!! Oh dear... you will see them all too soon!

I will show you the fourth Civil War Bride quilt block next time...

Working for the bride...

Yesterday, I had a day off.. it was glorious! 25 degrees C... I sat outside, drank good coffee and read up on my holiday destination..

After my bask in the sun I spent a few hours in the garden - weeding and planting... then I worked on this garden:
Here is my third finished block for the Civil War Bride quilt. I finished it the other day. My flowers are purple - white wouldn't have shown up on my background very well.

I also started block 8 (pictured above).

I am just loving making these quilt blocks. However, I have to intersperse these with other deadlines now.

I think I need a new list of 5. This is the list I am currently working on - don't let me distracted from these!!

1. Finish dollhouse quilt top (not much to go, just the front door and some embroidery, then add the sides and grass at the bottom.

2. 1950s quilt top - I need to finish it!! (machine work)

3. Christmas belles - needs machine work

4. Civil War Bride quilt (of course)

5. Jo's Little Women baskets (machine work)

Too busy to blog?

Sometimes we have limited choices. Do I sew or blog? I'm sure I don't have to ask you what you would choose.

This means I have a few days work to show. I have been working on my blocks for The Civil War Bride quilt .

This is block 10 finished.I looove the fabrics I used in this block.This is the start of block 2. I loved the way the striped fabric worked in the strawberries block, so I used a different stripe in this block.

Here is a close-up so far...
I may have to slow down on these blocks soon - I only have a month to make the challenge quilt for One Step Further that I have been dreaming about, and I would like to make it while the inspiration is flowing!

Staying Awake...

I woke at 4am this morning with a great idea for an art quilt. The ideas developed for a few minutes then I got up and wrote them down... 40 minutes later, I was still awake. I wrote down more ideas.

More than ever I needed to sleep a bit later this morning, and I found myself getting up 30 minutes earlier than I "needed" to, because I wanted to find a few things from my stash and a UFO that was hiding in a box in the shed.

I won't share the idea until I make the quilt. I plan to enter it into the One Step Further competition hosted by VicQuilters (my local state-wide guild here in Australia). I will document the story of the quilt, but I won't publish it online until the exhibition opens.

Here is the surfy quilt with its wavy binding attached.It looks fun.. bring on the warm weather I say! It's cold here, and my heater is not working!!

Strawberry tops are bottom

Well, this is the strawberry block (so far) for the Civil War Bride Quilt (block 10).

I've got a lot of strawberry tops left to add on - they are all pointy bits!

I have a hankering for smooth curves. I think I will do the grapes block after this one.

Surfy binding

I trimmed the surfy quilt using a Wave Ruler (that's yellow in this picture). To promote movement in the quilt I wanted a wavy edge. The RuleSteady (Australian made and designed) holds any ruler in place while you cut, so I knew the ruler would not waver. (er.. that's meant to be a pun).

Then I cut the binding on the bias, and machine-stitched it on.

I hope to hand-stitch the binding down by Monday.

block 10

After finishing the Samsara quilt top in a day, I felt I could start a new block.

It's block 10 of the Civil War Bride quilt. All these stems are not sewn on yet, but I couldn't resist sewing on a couple of strawberries!!

Would you believe this stem fabric has horses on it? I would never use it whole, but it makes great stems and leaves.

I name this quilt ... Samsara

I feel like I have been finishing a lot of things... should I have started something else? Maybe not! Here is my beginning sketch - it's a traditional Amish design. Can you see my use of pythagorus' theorem on the bottom left? LOL!! It worked anyway!

I fell in love with the Samsara range of fabric. Really large prints that should not be cut into little pieces.

This Amish design would be perfect. Uncluttered.

I pieced the quilt top in a day. This was my first go at mitred corners. It wasn't difficult at all... I just needed courage to make the first cut. It does use a lot more fabric, but the effect is really worth it.

I will ask Mum to quilt it in traditional Amish style - vertical cables through the central part, then a feather border in the mitred outer border.

I name this quilt - Samsara.

The bird needs feet.

The bird needs feet (I am going to embroider them using a long and short stitch). This block looks much more attractive than it did when it was very "stemmy". Those stems just looked really weird on their own.

I am going to start block 10 next.

A bit of black

I've started working on one particular section of the Civil War Hexagon quilt - it's a large block with black dividing various areas.It looks really black at the moment. Once there are larger areas of colours it will look more colourful. This section shows about 3 night of sewing.