Pink Scraps quilt top done :)

For those of you who have been reading my blog for last little while, will have noticed lots of pink happening, and particularly pink scraps, whilst I was attempting to keep up with the Block of the Month Quilt Challenge over at Bumble Beans.

Anyway, I fell behind early in the piece (fancy that), and I decided to repeat the three blocks I had already done, three times, the deadline to show the quilts was 18th January, and I missed that as well, but no matter because now....

I am a little excited, I have just this minute finished ironing down the last border of my pink scraps quilt top, and it's looking quite fabulous! Well at least I think so....everyone else might think it's a hot mess (colour pun)!

I have used a Brandon Mably print - Regal Dapple for my sashing, I went out of my comfort zone to use this, and I am surprised how much I like it...I guess I shouldn't be that surprised I had two meters of it in the stash cupboard...so I must I have thought it was a good thing when I bought it!!

I finished the last of my blocks on Australia Day (last Thursday), so now I just have to decide how to quilt it!

Do you like this shot? I stood on top of the outdoor table for this one...lucky the table is solid wood! The quilt top is 48" square, sorry not to have a better whole quilt shot but it is very windy and overcast today, so inside, where I could hang the quilt, the photos aren't that good.

Anyway if you think this interesting, pop over to 15 Minutes Play and check out the other challenge entries, and the winners.

What I liked most about this challenge was the randomness of only using scraps for the blocks, which has given each block a different look, and the process of "making fabric"...sewing scraps together...I enjoyed and it is certainly a technique I would use again....off to play with some more scraps!

4x5 Modern Quilt Bee Wonky Stars

This quarter, for the 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee, I have sent my partners Wonky star blocks, these were fun to make but as you can see a bit on the fiddly side....

For Leila, who blogs @ Sewn by Leila, requested cardinal red and white...

For Cristina, who requested cardinal red, charcoal grey and white....

For Jennifer, who blogs here requested pink, green, grey and white....

For Eva Marie in the Netherlands, who blogs here, requested medium grey, aqua, green and white...

For Anna, who requested, citron, aqua and white...

I have received three out of my five blocks, and I know the other two are winging their way to Oz, when they get here I will do a post on them.

These blocks will be the last swap I participate in for a while, as I know 2012 will be a busy year, so I am cutting back to "core" sewing activities....i.e. sewing without deadlines!

So now I feel I am on top of my sewing commitments, all ready to get behind again :) I have been fiddling around with my pink scraps again and I hope to be able to blog about them after this weekend...what are your plans for this weekend?

Bloggers BOM Catch Up

One of the things that was on my list of things to do whilst I was on holidays, was to make blocks for the Blogger's Block of the Month quilt-a-long that is being run by Canton Village Quilts.

Some of the reasons why I thought I would do this was it's a small commitment, once a month for 12 months, one eight inch block every month...how hard can that be! And I was inspired by this blog, where the quilter is doing the Farmer's Wife quilt-a-long all in red and white, and it is looking gorgeous!

So here we go, my effort with red and white....

Block One from  A Quilting Life

Block Two from Field Trips in Fiber

Block Three from Loft Creations

Block 4 from Pat Sloan

And looking smart all together.....

So the next block will be released on the 25th, and I am all ready to go!

Just an impulse purchase!

After last weeks colour explosion using my Prints Charming scrap fabrics, I was craving using some more colour.

In December, I had the opportunity to visit the Material Obsession shop in Sydney, and under the guise of "Mummy's Santa gift", this kit found it's way into my suitcase, the quilt is about 84" square. Look at all the applique....what was I thinking!!

Anyway, not to be deterred, I decided to start with the most manageable part of the quilt, which is of course the nine patches....

So many yummy fabrics, I am going to have a lot of fun putting this quilt together.....luving these Tammis owls with the Kaffe spot....

Kaffe roman glass and Brandon Mably....

Going mad with a Brandon Mably pairing....

Kaffe Millefiore, and Brandon again...

Amy Butler, and is that Dena Designs stripe?

Amy Butler and a classic white and black spot...

I had fun pairing these up, and I thought you would enjoy the eye candy! Now I just have to decide on how to do the applique...I am thinking that machine raw edge applique might be the most achievable for me ;)

Tangerine Tango!

Did you know that Tangerine Tango has been declared "Colour of theYear" by Pantone. Check it out, its a fabulous red orange. It has taken me a little while to warm to the theme, but it is a hot colour! (Sorry, nerdy colour joke).

Firstly, this is how much I know about colour, I had heard of Pantone, but I didn't know there was a "Colour of the Year", such a big call don't you think? And Tangerine Tango, what a fabulous name, it conjures up exotic thoughts of Spanish dancing, tropical fruits, sunsets, and cocktails.

I started thinking, I don't have much orange in the stash, but then I remembered that I had bought this fabulous fabric before Christmas....

And also these...

And then I also remembered these...

These vibrant fabrics are by Prints Charming, which are designed in Australia by two talented ladies in Sydney. Last year, they were moving premises, and had bagged up a heap of scraps and off cuts, and I decided to buy some....

Now I had let the colour genie out of the bottle I had to do something with some of these fabulous fabrics...how about a big 24" floor pillow?

Very yummy...I think...

Using the Orange spot on the back and quilted in orange...

Do you like the thread? It came from here...

My Mummy bought it for my birffday...yes it's today....I am now officially closer to 50 than 40 :(

But I am happy...checkout these threads...

They are a 30 weight, and the orange looks great in this shot....channeling Red Pepper Quilts with this shot!

I can't finish the pillow today because I haven't got a zipper...hate it when that happens, but I have to run I am being taken out to dinner by my lovely family, so gotta dash....happy sewing!

Blogger's Choice - Modern Red, White and Blue Basics

Now for something completely different!

Over at Quokka Quilts they are running a competition on behalf of the Fat Quarter Shop.  The idea is that you put  together a bundle of 12 prints, and 3 solids, like as if it was a fat quarter bundle you would buy, the prize is half a yard of each of the fabrics....need I say more!

Anyway here is my "small" bundle of fun, and let's call it "Modern Red,White and Blue Basics". My favourite fabric out the bundle is number 13, the navy with the red lips xxx :)

First Row

1. Michael Miller CottonCouture-SC533-PAPR-D-200  2. Michael Miller Cotton Couture-SC533-SWHT-D-200 3. Michael Miller CottonCouture-SC5333-NITE-D-200 4. Free Spirit Jane Sassaman EarlyBirds-PWJS034-STRAW-200

Second Row

5. Michael Miller Sarah Jane ChildrenatPlay-5153-RED-200 6. Michael Miller AquaRed-4834-CHERRY-200 7. Moda LittleApples-18515-11-200, 8. Lakehouse PamKittyMorning-LH11007-ROW-200

Third Row

9. Lakehouse PamKittyMorning-LH11019-ROW-200, 10. Michael Miller Weekend-SG5211-BERR-D-200, 11. Michael Miller Sarah Jane ChildrenatPlay-5151-navy-200, 12.  Michael Miller Weekend-CX4820-NAVY-D-200

Fourth Row

13. Dear Stella AnchorsAway-36-NAVY-200, 14.  Michael Miller Weekend-SG5250-DENI-D-200, 15. Free Spirit David Walker GetTogether-PWDW067-NAVYX-200

If I don't win...I might have to buy the bundle myself!

Work in Progress - 2011

What a blast 2011 was, participating in the online quilting world for the first time, but I must say some of my older projects have languished whilst I was sewing up a storm with my Japanese x and + blocks, the Farmer's Wife Blocks, the swaps, and of course my first quilt-a-long the Block-a-Plooza.

1. Pink Scrap baskets, 2. FWQAL (20) Churn Dash, 3. Japanese x and + blocks all sewn up, 4. 4x5 Modern Quilt Bee block, 5. Block-a-palooza Block 14, 6. Lily's Quilt-a-long, 7. Supernova Strips, 8. Whirly Gig, 9. Whimsical Basket, 10. Whimsical Basket, 11. Lynette Anderson - Scandinavian Christams, 12. Peppermint Sparkle

My poor Supernova quilt never got to shine...it's still in strips...is it destined to be a UFO? I did "quilting avoidance" and didn't quilt my Whimsical Basket...it's been a UFO for nearly 5 years, so what's another year?  But I am definitely going to quilt it this year!

And I got all fired up and finished my Sue Ross blocks, and was ready to do the strip setting until I realised that there is a border on four of the blocks which requires about forty circles to be appliqued on, and because I have made all the blocks by hand, I want to needle turn applique the circles...sigh...

So what's next I hear you say...first cab of the rank is to get my Modern Bee blocks finished and posted by the 16th January, and I would like to get the pink scraps quilt top done for an online showing on the 16th January, and I still want to join in on the Bloggers BOM over at Canton Quilt Works.

As I am not working for the next few weeks I will be quilting with the local guild for a few days, so I thought I would like to work on the Block-a-Palooza quilt...

and also use the space out there to pin my Peppermint Sparkle quilt...

My plans for the year include trying to be less distracted by online projects, work more on projects that really move me in a creative way, and continue to improve my hand work with the Lynette Anderson Scandinavian Christmas....so we shall see how we go...I am not very good at sticking to plans!

But you know what, as long as I am sewing I am happy!

Going out with a bang!

Happy New Year to you all! I hope you all have had a lovely break and enjoyed time with friends and family.

Here in Darwin, we have had threatening cyclones, which didn't come to pass, thank goodness, our neighbours in the Katherine region (300kms) away, were not so lucky and got a whole pile of rain from the tropical low. The Stuart Highway was cut for about three days, this highway connects Darwin to the rest of Oz,  the road is back in working order, but the railway to Darwin, which was also washed out, won't be repaired for a little while yet...the perils of living in the tropics!

Yes and now it is hot hot hot....aircon has been going on before lunch for the last couple of days...I have set up my sewing machine in the cool, and have been sewing up a storm...I decided that before I would start on anything new I needed to finish "my homework" (over due projects)....

Homework Sheet No. 1 Two twin boy quilts.

First started in September...blogged here...they have turned out quite well...despite being brown ;)

Homework Sheet No. 2 The Flurry Dresden plate quilt.

Check out the hand quilting (yes, that's right hand quilting) I did with red perle cotton...so pretty!

Homework Sheet No.3 Tammis Angel Christmas Runner

Did you know it very hard to take a photo of a 66 inch runner?

These four quilts brings my total of completed items for year to eighteen. I am very pleased with that, as  two of those quilts were a king and queen sized...had to outsource the quilting on those two!

1. Tamis Angel Christmas Runner, 2. Run up to Christmas - Christmas Checkerboard, 3. Christmas Swap, 4. Flurry Dresden Plates, 5. Bow Wow, 6. Bird Watching, 7. Red Hot Basket, 8. Pam Holland Christmas Beetle, 9. Pink Blooms, 10. Its a Girl...quilt, 11. DSC00699, 12. In Fabric Land, 13. Home Sweet Home, 14. The Letter M, 15. Botany Jelly Roll quilt, 16. So Tweet!, 17. Polka Dot Tree, 18. Its a boy...quilt

Still lots of quilts in the "Work in Progress" pile! But we will talk about those in the next post...as this one has turned out quite long....so happy sewing in 2012!