Garden-ing Update

I've been working.... and here is the centre of the Garden Song quilt so far.
There are still leaves to be appliqued, and I would also like to add some extra flowers, stems and leaves between the blocks. It is just a little bit empty for my liking.
Then the borders... I will keep on sewing....

11 Years ago...

This is my year 2000 quilt - I can hardly belive it was 11 years ago!! Actually, I swapped squares during the year 2000 and made my quilt the following year.

I joined an online swap - each person bundled together a "squishy" - 25 squares measuring 3in x 3in, and swapped them along with a "signature square".
Some of the fabrics were butt ugly. How was I going to turn 2000 squares of fabric into something attractive?

I didn't have an even number of light and dark prints, so I decided to colourwash them into squares. And, I love how it looks.

It made a very large quilt that would hang over my king sized bed. It was quite heavy, and consequently I didn't use it very much.

I have given it away to be loved and used.

Isn't that what any quiltmaker wants from a recipient?

Memory Lane

I am giving away some quilts I made some time ago. This made me think... Hmm... do I have a good photo of these quilts anywhere? I'd better add them onto my blog (it is my quilting journal - I have it printed annually in a hardcover book).

This quilt is shown sideways. It was the first quilt I machine pieced. (The first actual quilt I made was a sampler made with hand-piecing).


I was living in Swan Hill, and I used fabric from my (at that time) meagre stash. There was a quilt shop in town, but I didn't have a lot of disposable income. It was my first year out of Uni, and I was living on my own.

The pattern was in a magazine. I hadn't really used the rotary cutter before. It was a good learning quilt. Mind you, the cornerstones don't match up.

Yes, I labelled the quilt, but I didnt' give it a name.

This next one was made in 2000, via machine piecing and rotary cutting, combined with some applique.

The fabrics were from the "Folk Art Wedding" range - I guess it was my first start in vintage-inspired fabrics. Again, it was un-named.

I will share another quilt in my next post.

A little bit of William....

I'm happy to show a new finish!! This is a cushion I made using William Morris fabrics. The pattern is from Michele Hill's first book "William Morris In Applique".

And.... some pillowcases blendingAustralian Aboriginal fabrics and Kaffe Fasset prints.

These pillowcases will be given as wedding presents (with pillows) to my friends who have migrated to Australia to India. I felt it was a beautiful merger of fabrics as well as souls.

Keep sewing

I am preparing some handwork for Saturday. I'm off to the Willows Quilt-In at Melton with Rosie. It's been a long time since I've been to a quilt-in as a spectator. I'll wear loads of warm clothes. And sew bindings. *grin*

This is one little sucker that will be bound. This is the QAYG tablerunner I started yesterday. It needs the binding machined on.

And this is another that needs the binding machined on.

It's the French-Persian Tiles quilt. Can you see the quilting design? Thanks Mum! I love it!

And what kind of day would it be without pillowcases?

Here are some more with the gorgeous egg fabrics. Now I have 4 pillowcases - 2 of each colourway. I'll use them all on the bed at once.

But, er...

Um, no. I haven't finished the fat quarter bag. Is that okay?

I really have to put my brain into gear to modify the bag handles.

But, er.. I have something else that to show that I started today.

This is a quilter's worst habit isn't it? (starting something new before finishing something).

Is it our biggest problem? No. Our biggest problem is storing it all - started projects (UFOs and WIPs) and unstarted projects (PIGs) and even finished projects.

I have an entire couch full of quilts. Okay, they used to be all over one couch, to the point where the wasn't room to sit down. I moved the massive pile of finished quilts into another room and closed the door.

It's the same room containing all the unfinished items... and I can hardly get in the door.

Just 4 fat quarters

I've just started to make a bag as a sample for my LQS.

This pattern uses only four fat quarters - you've never found it so easy to select fabrics!!

Ok, it's cut out and I've started to stitch.

But, I want to modify the handles - I really don't like the D rings on the bag. I think they make it look erm... how can I make "skanky" sound nice? I can't!! LOL.

Time to turn my brain on. I have to think about this now.

There it goes

I totally shattered my "resolution" to make no more than one pair of pillowcases per day.

These will go with the red and green applique quilt on my bed.

The eggs don't really match anything yet, but they are sooo cute! I know it won't be long until I have a quilt they will look good with. I think I will make another pair of pillowcases with the eggs as the main fabric.

That will give me four pillowcases for my bed - just right I think!

Somehow, I don't think I will be sewing them today!!

Confession time

Yes, I will now confess that I made another two pillowcases after I posted yesterday!!

This is one pillowcase.

This is the pair. Oh... I love vintage and repro fabrics! These are made using mostly fabric from the "Greystone" range.

I think it's time to resolve not to make more than one pair of pillowcases per day. This could get ridiculous!!