Let's get a sewing update!

This year, I have been doing some slow sewing in the evening, machine time seems to be a bit elusive at the moment, so I have been focussed on my Mrs Billings, inspired by my mother who has just finished hers!

Adding this hexie border really spurred me on to get the double diamond finished, it had been laying in bits for twelve months.

The diamond borders aren't attached yet, but that will happen in due course, I always thought I would finish with this border, because that final border with all the hexagons scare the heck out of me, but some how little squares and triangles have been cut out :)

And just as a break from all that pink, I busted out some other Denyse Schmidt fabrics and played around with churn dash block. Not sure what this will end up as!!

But I am loving that electric red!

          
....and in case you were wondering, I did get the French General Wife quilt finished and gifted, and it also had a little trip to Alice Springs last October for an exhibition. I kept the quilting fairly simple, with stippling around the centre, and straight line quilting for the rest of the quilt.

Happy quilting :)

OMG, is that a Quilt?

In January, my family went on holidays to Mornington Peninsula and Melbourne….great time was had by all. We found Paella in the South Melbourne Markets…

Loads of Cockatoos feeding on the deck of the house we rented….

My 13 year old daughter announcing she is officially taller than me, and I am 5' 7" (172cm)…

We also went swimming with seals at Sorrento, but sorry you can't see a picture of me in a full body wet suit!

I did some hand piecing on my Mrs Billings….yes still plugging away…

But what I know you will be really interested in, is this quilt I found on the floor of a "Antique" shop in Dromana…I was wandering around the store, touching things, as you do in these places…first, a grey bundle of cloth on the floor caught my eye, moving closer it was easy to see the bundle was quilted, once unfolded this wonderful design and colour emerged.

But gosh the quilt is in bad shape, it has a burn mark, the dye has run, it was faded unevenly in parts, the fabric has started to deteriorate, but all I could think about was the lady that sat night after night quilting this quilt.

So for a grand sum of $10 I got to provide this poor old thing with a home, with some muttering from my husband….something about "it was like going to the RSPCA and coming home with the oldest dog" :)

More Details:  Of course there is no label….80" x 75", the back is a grey blue chambray…the outside border is a cotton sateen, and the rest of the fabrics are regular cotton, with the exception of the black squares which are a drill, and the wadding appears to be wool.

I have so many questions about the quilt. How old is it? Where did it come from? Is it made in Australia? If not how did it get here? What is the name of the pattern? On the last question, I found a photo of another antique quilt made from the very same pattern at littlewelshquilts , and it is identified as Amish, so is this an Amish pattern?

I guess it is unlikely answers will be found for these questions….but for $10 I have an antique quilt that will inspire me for ages!

Quilting delay :(

In my last post I posed the question whether to quilt my lovely bluebirds quilt...

After much consideration, and I even purchased 8 yards of this yummy fabric...Kaffe Fasset Asian Circles.

I decided to NOT quilt, even now as I am typing I feel disappointed that this lovely quilt top is not going to be quilted yet, but I am going to quilt some smaller quilts to enter in the exhibition in September, and once that is past I will consider if I am ready to to do the big quilt....well I have one less barrier now...I have the backing!

So what have I been up to?

Well I tidied up my sewing room...I had so much STUFF out it was impossible to even think, let alone sew! This is my room tidy :)

I have started quilting a top.....remember this quilt...from the Becky Goldsmith and Linda Jenkins book Applique Outside the Lines with Piece O'Cake Designs.

Well it's going to be quilted soon.....I have made a good start...

And after my oh no moment with Mrs Billings in April I have fixed up my strippy borders and got my diamond border on....

And another border since these photos were taken....all hand sewing of course...

Last, but not least, Mum and I did a two day "workshop" with Karen Styles, which included a tour Karen organised of the Victoria and Albert Quilts from London, which are currently on display at the Queensland Art Gallery, so apart from the fab quilts from the V&A (more on that shortly), we got to see alot of the quilts from Somerset Patchwork and the Mrs Billings quilt again, and it was great to see what the other ladies on the tour were working on.

Our visit to the Queensland Art Gallery to see the quilts that are tour from the Victoria and Albert Museum was fabulous.....really fabulous, if you are in Brisbane between now September you MUST go....for something to whet your appetite on these quilts, check out this link, the Art Gallery has provided short videos on eleven on the quilts, describing the history of the quilts and provided close up photos....the clam shell bed hangings are amazing :)

If you have a look at the videos, remember that most of the work is whip stitched, even the most intricate appliqué....quite fascinating.

Merry Christmas

Christmas is almost upon us, the last part of this year has just flown by, particularly since my return from Houston, when you bring home an extra 20 kilos of fabric and books, it takes a while to squeeze everything into the cupboards :)

My favourites things from Houston,  that were the last to go away into the cupboard were these darling dresden plates...I have 20 of these babies...these fabrics are so cute...

Whilst in Houston there were so many stores that sold felt, and I eventually succumbed to these projects.....

I left them out for a while because I thought I might work on them for this Christmas, but alas that didn't  happen...time conspired against me...as usual ! Note gorgeous hand dyed felt!

What I have been working on is a small gift for a friend, I had been playing around with my aboriginal fabrics a little while ago and made this...

 ...and really liked how the colours came together, so I used the scraps to make this little A4 quilt, it will sit flatter once I have finished sewing the binding on.

...the stamps are really fun, I am going to try and use them again.

And of course the "small" project that gets a bit of work from time to time, is my Mrs Billings quilt, it's looking quite smart! Although a little small still :(

And as I have a couple of weeks off soon I am hoping to get some work done it, unless I get side tracked onto something else of course...but the thing I really want to say today is Merry Christmas! I hope you all have a lovely time with your family and friends.

Something a bit crazy

Last weekend I did a workshop! A two day workshop, on a completely fabulous quilt....but for me it is something of a crazy project....this will be what they call a "slow boiler"... apparently the average elapsed time for completion is 12 months!

The Mrs Billing's Coverlet, you can find the original quilt online at Britain's York Quilt Museum and Gallery, and the pattern was drafted by Karen Styles (Somerset Patchwork and Quilting, Melbourne). Darwin Patchworkers and Quilters bought her to Darwin specially for the workshops.

This quilt will be made from Denyse Schmidt fabrics, of which I have many, including the new Chicopee range.

Day 1 was spent choosing fabrics and cutting out little triangles, and sewing them together by hand.

Day 2 was spent choosing more fabrics, and making up hexagons! Yikes...tiny little 5/8" hexagons and little diamonds ! The only sewing I got done was stitching the little diamonds together in the center

It is looking very fetching I think!

Eventually the centre will look like this

I am going to do all the borders on the machine, with the obvious exception of the hexagons. I am not sure whether I am committed to do the whole quilt, it is 94"x 94", and apparently there is over 6000 pieces....starting to get the crazy part now? I would like to do the first hexagon border, so we will see how I feel about the rest of the quilt then!

Despite feeling a bit intimidated by the complexity of the quilt, the templates and instructions for the quilt are easy to use, and of course with Karen's tutelage over the two days makes you think anything is possible!

If you get an opportunity to do one of Karen's workshops go do it...go and challenge yourself, you will be surprised how a good technique can make a "complex" pattern easier!

Karen has just blogged about her visit to the Territory...check it out here!