The next mad sewing day...

So, where are my sewing buddies? I woke to an early alarm clock - not wanting to be late for my quilting mates for our mad sewing session... and not one of them turned up!!

That's it, next time, I'm sleeping in!!! (I know you're reading this Rosie and Andrea *wink wink*)....

A good friend from out of town did visit me, but I didn't start sewing until after lunch... well and truly after lunch!!

I cut up the rest of the Bali Pop to make Sunburnt Grass:

I've colourwashed it into sections of green and reds....

Then I went to dance class, and thought I'd better come back tonight to stitch up what I can - it can't stay on the table tomorrow!!!

Uh-oh, this is all I managed to sew. I'll be up early again in the morning...

African Dreaming

I've had these African fabrics sitting in a shoebox for 3 years I reckon...

Tonight after work, I was so tired that I went home and slept for about 1 1/2 hours... and I dreamed...
Along with theabove fabrics I had a Bali Pop - it's like a jelly roll (pack of 40 pieces 2.5 inches wide) of batik fabrics.... I woke, scribbled down the ideas that had come to me... then I had to sew... so I stayed up fairly late considering how tired I was... but this is what I've made so far...

This is the African sun in the sky...
These are the pieces I have left from the Bali Pop - these are the grass fabrics...

To be continued...

Just In Time

Just in time for Christmas... I've finished the Calendar!

This little wallhanging looks so so much better than it did in a panel. The quilting adds a lot of depth.

I decided to use little black safety pins and make them a decorative feature, rather than try to conceal the way the date medallions were attached.

Just in time for me to clock up another finish... Hmm... now that's finished...what will I start next? Maybe I should finish something else first? Noooooo..... that would be sensible! Hahahaha.

Sewing and sleeping

So... Christmas is drawing near... and today I've had a "mad sewing day" with the girls... Okay, it wasn't as mad as last Tuesday. It was very peaceful... we were all doing handwork at one point (I've sewn the binding on! YAY!!)
Oh yes, it is quite narrow...

We were all feeling rather tired - Rosie decided it was our machines that usually keep us awake.... perhaps it's the noise? I suggested it was because we were up and down to the iron when machining... Whatever the reason, we were all stitching ourselves to sleep (except Carolyn who was fusing on a tree trunk and tracing leaves)... What can I say? We were soothed and relaxed.I know that after starting to sew the little date medallions for this hanging (on the machine) I was more awake... but I'm not sure if that was the Coke spider I drank or the machine... *wink wink*

I'm not sure how I am going to attach the medallions temporarily each year - it's a perpetual calendar, so the medallions will move. I tried to stitch a safety pin on the back, but even a tiny one moves so that it is visible at times.

Carolyn suggested I make a feature of the little black safety pins by pinning through the top. Well, at the moment, they just have sewing pins on them so they don't go for a walk... Hopefully I'll finish the other medallions tomorrow... I have a quilt top I'd like to add borders to tomorrow (if I'm not on the ride-on mower)...

Before the Countdown

I'm loving Julie Paschkis' Christmas prints... I've already made the Christmas stockings - now I am making the perpetual Christmas calendar.

It comes as a panel like this. Even the binding is printed on (it's a narrow binding I can tell you!!) ...

I've completely quilted the calendar piece which will be main part of the wallhanging. Oh, I had fun... only took a couple of hours... a bit with the walking foot, and a bit with the free-motion foot.

And now that it's trimmed back, I'm thinking... Wow! That looks great!! ... Binding next....

I've started this just before the Christmas countdown at the start of December.. and hopefully it will be finished before then...! Eek!

Elly-fump

Now that doesn't happen very often these days.... not very often at all!!

Not only was this quilt top made in 2 days, but that's 2 quilt tops finished in 3 days... (okay, okay, one of them was on the go for five years.... but does that count? Really?
Here it is.. the Saggy Baggy Helephump... awww.. can't wait!! I'm asking Mum to quilt it with monsteria leaves or something similar.

The Saggy Baggy Elephant is a sample for my LQS... the panel comes with instructions on how to turn it into a book, but it was saying quilt to me. I chose batik fabrics in the colours I think African sunsets should be.

Eventually, this quilt will be for a baby due in April 2012... and...

... this will be for its identical twin.... The Poky Little Puppy. I've chosen sympathetic colours to go with the panel, but they are not African jungle/sunset.... these are softer....

Awwww.. look... these little puppies already have quilts...

I won't be starting this one in a hurry... there is another sample for my LQS to finish.... (more simple straight line sewing)... but I'm afraid I will become bored if I do just this kind of sewing... I think it's time to crack out the audio books again!!

It's a quilter thing...

I'm still sewing and sewing after yesterday's effort... Fun! Fun!

Does this ever happen to you? You suddenly sew your little fingers to the nub? Don't get me wrong... they are not hurting.. hahahaha.. It's been an absolutely wonderful frenzy!!

Firstly I made the remaining two stockings from the panel (see my previous post)... I still need to make the birds, but I want to hand-embroider names onto them, then hang them as name tags off each stocking. Then I will have to make them all again... because I am thinking these will be for my sister, and I'd like a set too. *sigh* (We always do for others first right? It's a quilter thing).

This panel was talking to me at my LQS.... I felt obliged to listen...Here it is with borders... I just need to assemble the back as it only needs a 15cm strip inserted into the back to work...

I love Olivia the little pig - these scenes of her with her family are quite touching. I also love the red and pink together: bright, fun, and it lends the bedroom decoration to include pink, red or both. After I joined the front border strips, and fell in love with it, I didn't feel like doing the quilting... the quarter inch foot is on my machine, and I'm ready to sew lots and lots of strips. Funny about that, I have a couple of quilts that need some of that.. I think I'll leave my machine threaded with this colour for a couple of days...

I'm making the Saggy Baggy Elephant for my friend who is expecting identical twins. I really wanted to make the Saggy Baggy quilt for my friend's baby, and felt torn when he said it was twins... What to do? I didn't want to make two quilts the same (not just because I would be bored, but because they will be individual people, and deserve to be treated as such)... then I found the Poky Little Puppy panel in my stash at home! Oh wow! I'm excited now!!

I shall keep you updated... so much to sew! But, now it's time to mow....

Oh, and a little update on my studio... I've been using a room in the house that is officially labelled a Disaster Zone. Today, the electrician put lights and power into a little outbuilding that I am going to turn into a super duper studio!! Yay!! A dedicated sewing space of my own... oh joy!

Mad Sewing Tuesday

It's the first of the Mad Sewing Tuesday sessions... a few of us are going to get together to sew and sew... I'm glad I started today, or I would have been mowing...then grocery shopping.. then by the time I go to dance class and yoga that would be it!! The day is gone!!

I finished something off first (well nearly.... it needs quilting)... You know, I have this rule that I need to finish something before I can start something new... so, it's almost a finish.. because it's ready to be quilted by Mum. (Thank you!)...

This is the Flower Of The Month stitchery I started in 2006. The last time I worked on it was May 2010. This how it looked then...

oh dear... It's been waiting for borders for 18 months! I just love love the colours and fabrics... I would love to keep it... but I had an idea while I was finishing it today that my gf Janelle would love it. She lost her Dad last week - he was a war veteran... with poppies quilted on this, I would name it "Rememberance".

This bunch of flowers will last a lot longer than some real ones that would fade too quickly. I'm not going to tell Janelle why she is getting this quilt. I am just going to give it to her.

My next task was to prepare for Christmas...

This Christmas stocking panel by Julie Paschkis is stunning. The prints have depth, and the colours are warm. I quilted the fronts, then quilted black pieces for the back... then added straight grain binding to the tops, stitched around the outside... and added bias binding to the sides.

Two made, two more to go... maybe next Tuesday? I think they took an average of an hour each... that's not too bad.... Still to make the birds (I want them to be name tags for the stockings).... Fun! Fun!

Raspberry Cream

There were only 2 hours between work shifts last Friday night... and I still managed to quilt this little item that had been sitting around for 2 years as a quilt top! Oh dear! Little meandering around the stitcheries, with stars here and there... There was no time for quilt-marking, so I completely free-formed it. The stripe border contains little flame shapes...the green sawtooth border has swirls, and the white sawtooth border is diagonal squiggles.

I'm loving it to bits. The binding was stitched on today... That's a Finish - now I can start something else!! Yippee!

Playtime

Oh, I'm going mad with joy over these Egyptian prints!!

These came into my LQS just at the time the Tutankhamen exhibition opened in Melbourne... Was I happy and inspired? Oh yes!! Now, when was that? Perhaps June? I really can't remember... but my fabrics were purchased immediatly... and dutifully left in the bag they were purchased in... oh my!

It's definitely playtime for me and these fabrics. This is the start: strip piecing the width of the bolt. It reminds me of the way heiroglyphics run horizontally across walls. Well, no, actually, perhaps they run vertically? However, I think it will be more pleasing to the eye if these strips run horizontally....

I've organised a sewing get-together day on Tuesday with Rosie, Andrea and Amanda. We are going to stitch our little socks off! I'm not yet sure whether this quilt will be worked on, or the new idea I have with the stunning indigenous prints in my LQS.

Ah, that's 4 days away.... let's just see what is talking to me on the day.

Birds In The Air - ready to launch

I have finished another little quilt ready to hang on the wall!!

I so enjoyed quilting this miniature piece - Birds In The Air.

The finished size is 20in x 16in. It was such a pleasure to machine quilt. It turns out that the teeny tiny "birds" (i.e. triangles) did not actually need quilting. See this close-up for quilting details.

I just scooted around the large base triangles a quarter inch away from the seam.

All that remains is to add a label, which I shall do.