Sunday 31 March 2013

Camping

Ok, so these are kind-of strange photos to take while camping... but this is what the non-drinkers do while they are camping!!! We sew!

 I've made this entire hexagon made from 3 diamonds over the Easter weekend....
And here it is with some of its friends.... ahhh...

Such a convenient project to take away with you - only needs one little ziploc bag. If you've pre-cut your fabric you don't even need scissors....

Wednesday 27 March 2013

Table manners

I've made the top layer of a little quilt to use as a tablecloth in the Caravan.

I used charm squares from the range "1974" that were lurking in my stash..... It's funky kind of retro, and I'm hoping it will make the caravan look a bit more hip than old-lady....

A light batting and simple diagonal lines for quilting I think.....

Tuesday 26 March 2013

Caravan Decor

Oh! I'd love to make an ad-lib quilt using these fabrics! What a great theme for my new home decor - I'm moving into a caravan.... I was hoping to go for the Gypsy Boho Caravan look, but the caravan I've found is in such fantastic condition that I can't mess it up....

And so, how can I make it a bit me, a bit boho and still keep the resale value in the van...... I'm going to try with this fabric... I'll take it with me.. and I'll take my sewing machine too of course... I don't need to stress out trying to have it finished before I go...

Friday 22 March 2013

Back and Forth

Ooh! the back was so big! It took quite a lot of fabric to cover this... it's about 2.5 metres x 2.3 metres. That's a large bed quilt.

I'm thinking my sister might like this quilt - she's not into floral or pretty or pink.... and she's used her last quilt for 6 years - loving it.

What do you think Mum? A new quilt for Libby?
So, that's the back of the Tumbling In Kashmir quilt, and all I can do is look ahead at the next quilt... ooh.... furnishing fabrics???? 

maybe....

Tuesday 19 March 2013

Tumblin' on

I've taken these photos with the iphone - they're not quite as good in quality as some of the others I've put on here... but I'll make do (phones with cameras are just sooo convenient!!)
This is the completed quilt top - two edges are zig zagged.... It's absolutely huge! It took quite a bit of sewing.... ooh! the back is going to be a challenge!

Friday 15 March 2013

Tumbling in Kashmir

These are super-sized tumbler blocks. I drew up a template a couple of years ago - yes - it was the end of 2010 (just checked back on the previous blog post!!)
Ok, so 3 years after I started to make the quilt, I've started sewing (it was pinned into rows - that's where all my pins were!!) and now joined 1/3 of the quilt top together. What a huge quilt it's going to be!!!
 
You just never know when you're going to put down a project that you may not pick up again for a couple of years... that's getting carried away with projects for you!
 
 

Fluttering... and away....

Here we go! Simple fairy blocks are all made, and joined...

 I think I'd like to see this with a border... Mum is going to add it, then quilt it.... and so, from my end it's finished.....

Wednesday 13 March 2013

Fluttering fairies

Mum asked me to make a baby quilt for her neice (er... she's not my relative as she's part of the family by marriage)..... Mum gave me this fairy fabric and Fossil Ferns to get started...

I thought I'd make the same design as the other fairy quilt I just made for my Fairy God-daughter.

And this is it so far!

Throw or Throw-away?

Ooh! I just found this cute little old thing (well it's a quilt UFO)... it looks great thrown on the ground and snapped.... I wonder if I have any of the "pathway" fabric left - the rest were scrappy bits...

I think I started this quilt in 1999... I worked on it for about a year, started a HUGE local hexagon craze using a technique where you don't tack through papers. Then I left everybody else with their hexagon-itis while I started to make loads of quilts of my own design that I taught in the LQS. The shop was called "Just For You Fabrics" - that was in 2000.



About a year or two later the shop relocated, then closed. At that time I started going to classes in Castlemaine where I met one of my best quilty friends Andrea.

Oh! What a trip down memory lane this has been! How wonderful to write it down while I can remember.

This blog really is a wonderful tool for recording quilt progress.... there's going to be a lot more of the past to talk about.....

I was cleaning out quilt storage (that's what you do when you've sold your house)... and couldn't decide whether to throw it away, or use it as a throw.... awwww... I'll have to keep it. It's gorgeous even as an unfinished piece....

Colour wash crochet

It's very very hot in a pop top caravan with a portable air conditioner. Too hot to have a lot of wool on one's legs, in fact. All the same I want to try to make a gift for a special person living in a much colder climate. I love these three colours together. But I am thinking an entire quilt made from just these is too much. A little bit of orange seems to go a long way.



 I've had to remind myself of the need for depth in the colour pallette of woollen blankys too. I know how to do it in quilts, why would I limit myself in any other textile adventure?

I tried some with jarring/clashing colours too, (see the purple, orange blue square), but really, a colourwash effect seems to work best.

These blocks are really very fun to make because every one of them is different. No boring repitition. 

I will make as many as I can in the next couple of months as I'd like to give it as a gift in July.