Japanese x and + blocks - All sewed up!

Look at this....36 blocks all sewn up, and it's looking good...if I had more time in my life I would be tempted to make more of these little beauties, but other projects are-a-pressing!

I have been playing around with some border ideas....

I have been finding myself very distracted lately...so many ideas, so little time! So much fabric too sew!! I have added some more fabric to my collection to add to my distractions....from my local fabric store (Dragonfly Fabrics) I pounced upon this print the other day...

I am thinking some fussy cutting might be needed for these girls... the design runs from selvedge to selvedge.

Of course they go quilt well with these lovely ladies...who have been resting in my cupboard for a while now..

They are like a grown up version of the first print.

These ladies run along one selvedge like a true border print...I noticed that DragonFly now has this print with a dark aubergine background...all very lovely...

Japanese + and x blocks...the latest and the last!

It has been so nice to get back into doing whatever I felt like doing, post my sister's wedding and the finishing the quilts for the guild exhibition....so I have been on a mission to complete eleven Japanese + and x blocks....

having fun with loads of different fabrics...

It's been great fun, but gee I make a mess matching up all the fabrics, I have scraps and piles of fabric from stash spread out everywhere! It's even driving me crazy!

 And my favourite of this set....

There are so many scraps left over from this project, I have run out of space in my scrap drawers...does that mean I need to make another scrap quilt?

Focus...next steps for this project is to get all the blocks sewn together! I am starting to think about how to do the border...Have a good weekend of sewing!

Soo Pretty dresden plate!

Just a quick mid week update...a little while ago I signed onto the 4x5 Modern Bee swap, blogged about here, and I have decided that the block I would do for everyone in my "hive" is a Dresden Plate. I have had an acrylic template to do one for a while, but was a little bit scared...so the weekend just gone was time for a dummy run, using some of my favourite colours I now have my first ever Dresden Plate.

Once trimmed up the block size will be 12.5", the blades are 4.5" wide. The centre is button holed and the plate is appliqued down with a straight stitch. To stabilised everything before sewing, I used a spot of Roxanne glue (liquid stitch) on the blade points and around the centre to keep everything nice and flat before sewing.

The block came together quite easily. The only thing that I will differently for my swap blocks is to make sure that my bobbin thread is the same colour as my top thread, because it is popping through a little on the button hole stitch.

I am thinking that this weekend I might start my christmas sewing with this pattern, using christmas fabrics of course!

Pink Blooms

As promised, a little more on the quilts I entered in the Territory Quilts 2011 exhibition, the first is my Pink Blooms...which is very pink...I can't help it, I really love pink, I try hard not to buy pink fabric, but it keeps on leaping into the shopping bag...I was going to take a photo of all my pink fabric but it's too embarrassing, and besides, then I would have to put it all away again! So Pink Blooms...

Based on a pattern in the publication Q is for Quilt by Diana McClun and Laura Nownes...this quilt was started about 4 years ago and had been languishing unfinished in the cupboard as a lonely quilt top.
About two years ago, I got it out and pinned it together for quilting, and then put it back into the cupboard, which is a bad thing to do, but here in "the tropical north of oz" it is a really bad thing to do, because the humidity makes the pins go rusty....but I was really lucky with this quilt as there was only one or two pins that got rusty and they happened to be near the edge where the rust marks would be covered by the binding!

So Pink Blooms came out of the cupboard at the beginning of this year because I knew I needed to get the pins out, and I wanted a sample quilt to practise my quilting on before I started quilting Red Hot Basket.

I had quite a bit of fun doing the free motion quilting and practising some new quilting moves, such quilt writing....

I really love the log cabin baskets in this quilt...and obviously I was so happy with the quilting I decided I could enter the quilt into the exhibition!

The other quilt I entered into the exhibition was the Pam Holland Christmas Beetle, about three years about Pam Holland came to Darwin to run a two day workshop for the Darwin Patchworkers and Quilters, what a revelation this was me, a whole new way of doing applique... free motion applique and quilting all at the same time...you gotta love that.

Pam supplied us with the picture of the beetle (actually you could choose from a variety of insects), and we brought in our own fabrics for the beetle and background...notice there is no pink in this quilt!

I really enjoyed the creative process in learning this new technique, and her work is amazing...check it out at Pam Holland Designs...I love doing workshops...you just never know what little gems of interest you will pick up! Some of it is even quilt related!!

Territory Quilts all over and done with for another year...well done to the Exhibition Coordinators (Barbara and Mum), and the Exhibition committee, for organising another successful exhibition.

Have a great week...I have been busy this weekend so there is some fun stuff to show you next time.

Red Hot Basket

Another weekend almost finished, except here in the Northern Territory, we are lucky that it is a long weekend, so we get tomorrow off too! It's the last long weekend before Christmas, so it's all work and not much play time now we are into the second half the year!

And of course, this weekend was the local guild's exhibition, it was lovely seeing everyone's quilts. As I work, I often don't see the quilts that the ladies are making, as I can't get to group sewing days, so it's fun to see the type of work that everyone does.

As some of you would have seen over the last month or two I have plugging away at quilting my Red Hot Basket quilt for the exhibiton, it's not so big at 50"x50", and I have been making it for about two years, on and off, of course.

The creation started about two years ago when I first read Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran's book Collaborative Quilting...the book encourages us quilters to break the rules in order to promote creativity. Spend less time on making our points pointier, and more time having good ideas! What a revelation!!

First the little houses were made, then the churn dashes, and nine patches, and then I thought "So what I do now?" So into the cupboard it went for some "stewing" time...and by then Gwen and Freddy 2nd book, Collaborate Again, had arrived in my bookshelf...and the basket, the flying geese, and the little half square triangle sashing were born....I was still thinking I am not sure were this is heading...so back in the cupboard it went....it wasn't until this year I decided it was time to finish it...so out it came, it was spread out all over the design wall, the floor, the lounge, until eventually it emerged fully formed!

So if you are looking for a way to have some fun with your fabrics, that makes use of all those great creative ideas you have, my recommended reading list is:

1. Collaborative Quilting by Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran
2. Collaborate Again by Gwen Marston and Freddy Moran
3. Liberated Quiltmaking II Gwen Marston
4. Last but not least House by Freddy Moran....I have always loved Freddy Moran's quilts...she treats red as a neutral colour...which means all her quilts are electrifyingly bright!

Have fun creating!

Released from Quilting Jail!

It feels good to be out....but what to do next???

My achievements since my last blog...three quilts bound, threads buried, and hanging sleeves stitched down and quilts delivered this morning! The exhibition is this weekend.

These are my lovely quilts that I will blog about over the next week...

                           1. Red Hot Basket, 2. Pam Holland Christmas Beetle, 3. Pink Blooms

One eleven year old birthday party arranged and enjoyed....

Bouquets arranged for the bride and bridemaids (no I am not a florist!)

These were some of the flowers I used, my daughter had played around on my phone and downloaded the Colour Effects app onto my iphone...I love this monochromatic background...note the patchwork books on bookcase!!

And of course one sister married and happy!

Here we are, just before we went to the church, Jess is wearing my veil, which a friend bought for me from an antique shop in the U.K. 23 years ago...I am not sure how old it is, it looked lovely on the day...I got to be a "matron of honour" although my sister kindly called me "Best Sister" in the wedding program. She is not normally that much taller than me, I am in flats...check out the shoes she wore!

And the Home Sweet Home quilt, has finally gone home, and the giving of it brought on a few tears.

So it's been a crazy couple of weeks, but personally very rewarding. I think I might have a few days of reflection before deciding what project to do next....I did get the Farmer's Wife book so I am very tempted to join in on that Quilt-a-long, I also would like to do something with my Japanese + and x blocks, and I still haven't quilted this quilt, which I had planned to put in the exhibition but ran out of time...decisions....decisions...oh yes and there is a bit of housework that probably should be done too...bah humbug ;)

Quilting Jail!!

Sigh...sometimes when a commitment has been made, you just got to put on your big girl panties and deliver the goods!

So this week I have been in Quilting Jail,  working on my three quilts that have to be ready for a guild exhibition in two weeks time, and I am very pleased to report that today I have finished all my quilting! (Applause now)

Next, will be a week of Binding Jail....nothing else but binding! I am getting good at it, having just finished my sister's monster "Home Sweet Home" house warming gift...which has now morphed into a wedding present! 412 inches of binding!! (More applause here)

Speaking of my sister's wedding which is now in 11 days (OMG I just had a panic attack!), I was released last weekend from Quilt Jail for three hours to go and make origami hearts...150 origami hearts...(applause and may be a few whistles)...

We did this with my daughter, Mum, the mother in law to be, and one of the bridesmaids...it was good fun, made nicer by the fabulous Japanese origami paper...now if this was fabric my credit card would be in trouble! Wish I could say these were fabric covered paper hexagons!

So what's else is happening? This week, Mum and I are trimming 15 table runners (don't ask), and I am organising the Hen's Party for about 30 (sigh), and my not so little girl turns 11 years old...but the most exciting news is, I have now started two weeks leave, so I think I can keep all the balls in air! And who knows I might even have some fun!

Hope you all have a great week!