The Kiwi Bushfire Quilt

I am absolutely chuffed with the way this Kiwi Quilt turned out. I used almost every skerrick of fabric (3.5 metres). I bought the Kiwi prints from a lady on buy swap sell....

The batting was mostly reclaimed from the cot bumpers I had made for my son's bed a few years ago.

This is all that's left, ready for another bushfire scrap quilt!

I made the back from pieces of a cotton doona cover from H&M for $5.

It's so amazing to have created something beautiful from something that wasn't wanted. I hope this one goes to someone who feels connected to the Land of the Long White Cloud.

Kiwi quilt update

I am (im)patiently awaiting the arrival of my next batch of batting in the mail... the centre of the Kiwi quilt is made, but I still need to add the borders.

I really hope it arrives tomorrow (Friday) or I can dash away hopes of finishing 8 quilts before posting out to Oz Comfort Quilts for the bushfire quilt drive.

Fingers crossed!!

Witches Gathering

Every now and then it's great to insert a fast finish.. like one of my altar cloths. These are about 40cm square and help to create a sacred space for contemplation, reflection or ritual in the home.

 This one is the Witches Gathering. I do love freemotion quilting. It's great to get my own time to do create in the cool. 

It's been a huge start to the year with our young man at kindergarden. So many changes.

I have cut 6.5 inch squares to make four patches with the kiwi fabrics to make the next bushfire comfort quilt. This keeps the details in the fabric at a size to appreciate.

QAYG cupcakes and allsorts

Well, doesn't this look smashing when you step back to take a look?

It's the cupcakes quilt as you go (QAYG) quilt.

I used a charcoal fabric for the sashing and binding, and boy, does it make the colour scheme ping!

Now I see the blocks like this, I see licorice allsorts. Anyone else?

And the back is also interesting. 

I've been using a wool/cotton blend batting from Matilda's Own and it's my new favourite. Not too lofty, feels soft, and doesn't beard.

Most of the blocks feature the cupcake fabric, and the others are all scraps. What a great design it is for using up scraps.

This is my #4 quilt for Oz Comfort Quilts bushfire quilt drive (find the group on facebook). Jan will want to distribute these soon, I just hope I can make some more quilts before she needs them.

The satisfying bit

Without a doubt, I am enjoying machine stitching down this part on the quilts. This, and machine stitching the binding are the most satisfying bits!

The bobbin winder on my Janome 6500 shown in this image still needs to be fixed, but I am not quite prepared to be without it.... I will have to check that the second hand machine I bought as a backup works first.

As I have almost finished the cupcake quilt, I have pulled out the next fabrics. Some gorgeous Kiwi prints.

I bought 3.5 metres of fabric from a lady on Buy Swap Sell for AUD$30, which is a bargain! And I have calculated how to make it into a quilt as you go maximising the use of the prints and not losing a lot of fabric in the seams.

It's fun to be excited about the next quilt as well!

22 cupcake blocks

Well, I worked hard at quilting group this morning and now have a total of 22 cupcake blocks completed for the 4th bushfire comfort quilt.

Yesterday I went to the local H & M shop to buy single doona covers at $5 and $10. This soft cotton fabric is perfect for backings, sashings, bindings and it works out at $1.25 per metre or $2.50 per metre. 

This is how the first pieces joined, and I don't normally use black, but it works really well with these blocks.

And this pretty print arrived in the mail. It was a preorder fabric, and now I have time to make something in time for Easter.

And lastly, here is our second kinder painting. What do you see?

Busy week!

It's been my son's first week in kindergarden, and what does a mother do to distract herself from the separation, especially when he is the one with separation anxiety at morning dropoff?

She joins quilt group for the second day in a row. A different store today, I cut out batting, and basted backing onto the back of 22 blocks (need backing for another 13 squares).

It was raining hard, and I needed to stay in town in case the road was cut off from home to the kinder. At least I could pick up my 4yo, even if we couldn't get back home.

But no worries, it did not turn into the monsoon we had last year.

These were the first 2 blocks. Finished and trimmed, and then suddenly it was time to pack up. Unbeknownst to me, the shop was closing at 12 noon, Dang it! I was settling into a full day of sewing!

So i sat down in a shopping centre coffee shop with some hand stitching working on this Raven block.

The first one is not quite finished yet. It just needs berries. These blocks are huge, about 50cm square, so they are coming together quite quickly because they are so large.

And at night I sat and stitched a whack of cupcake blocks. This is what they look like untrimmed.

The cupcake fabric is being used in most blocks (if not all), and is the one that will tie these scrappy blocks together.

And finally, here is my boy's first kinder painting. What do you see?