Up, Up and away

Guess what? Today, Mum and I are flying to the U.S. for the quilt festival in Houston...

But first we have 9 days in New York....so exciting...it's my first trip to the U.S., the woolies have been dusted off .... Mrs Billings' triangles cut...and reading glasses purchased, as sewing all those little hexagons has strained my eyes!

Last week I tried really hard to get my vintage holiday quilt finished...but with getting ready for the big trip I just couldn't get it done...but so this isn't a quilt free post I thought I would share progress...

Finally pushed through my fabric paralysis and selected a little Denyse Schmidt print for the sashing and border...

As you can see it almost done, only the top and bottom borders to go...they will have to wait now...till I get back from Houston...oh so exciting...talk to you in November :)

Vintage Holiday Quilt-a-long Blocks Done

Whoop whoop...finally finished the blocks from the Vintage Holiday quilt-a-long, I did two blocks in August then got distracted...the pieces for the remaining 10 blocks were cut out months ago.....plus the pieces for the Blogger's Block of the Month....it was driving me crazy with all these little piles of triangles and squares...and do you think I could remember the order of the blocks :( Note to self don't get over organised!

They are all quite cute!

Now I have gone into fabric paralysis over the sashing...hope to emerging from that soon!

However the decision on the outer border has been decided...see the pretty floral in the last photo...that's it!

Off to agonise over the sashing!

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!

Blogger's BOM The Big Catchup

Here we go....twelve blocks from the Blogger's BOM are all done...they are quite pretty!

Block 7 Cluck Cluck Sew

Block 8 Mrs Schmenkman

Block 9 Cabbage Quilts

Block 10 Pam Kitty Morning

These last two are my favourites, not sure if that's because they are the last two, or just because I got to use all of my favourite red prints!

Block 11 Bumble Beans

Block 12 Amy's Creative Side

And of course last but not least the "all together now" shot...not sure how to set these, but I will wait for the final post from Jackie over at Canton Village to decide.

Should I try and incorporate these seven blocks from my red and white folly earlier in the year?

They are all different sizes, so it would be an interesting challenge!!

Sunburst Orange Fun

Back to my fun I blogged about last month with my Sunburst template, I decided to run up another two blocks after the first one went so well.

The second block was very snazzy with the pink and orange stripe...really love that stripe :)

Check out the funky toile with the skeletons...sorry I can't remember the name of the fabric :( but I did get it from FabricWorm

The third block has a funky vibe as well, with the Flea Market yellow floral and the strobing black and white spikes...did a bit of "auditioning" for my center...the floral wasn't quite right...

But the orange with the yellow spot was better...

These three blocks will make a great table runner...

Or maybe one of those outdoor banners?

Just joking about the outdoor banner thing...I think I will put on narrow border and bind it a black pin stripe and a table runner it will be!

Look out real soon for a big catch up on my Blogger's block of the month!

Vintage Holiday quilt-a-long

Before a quilter can start a new quilt-a-long they should make an attempt to catch up on other quilt-a-longs they have started...right?

Remember this one? That I embraced enthusiastically late last year...the Blogger's BOM...

There are twelve blocks in total...one a month...and I have done nothing on this since the beginning of the year....block 12 is due to be posted on the 25th of this month...so a big spurt of sewing is required to  catch up...well may be a small spurt to start with would suffice :)

Block 5 "Sands of time" by QuiltDad

Block 6 Star block by Diary of a Quilter

Quite pretty together I thought...so now my homework is done I can move start on the new Quilt-a-long Vintage Holiday...blogged about here.

My fabric stack for this project looks like this...

I am not sure if I will use all of them, but it gives you the idea of the palette the quilt will be made from.

Block 1...see the scissor print, I bought that as a fat quarter from Big W(Aussie variety store)...fancy that!!

Block 2

These little christmas ornaments are going to look very cute, 2 down...10 to go!

Just for fun

The other day, after having a little day surgery done (removal of a mole from behind my ear) my mum decided I needed cheering up with a little colour, and bought me a couple of colourful fat quarters...

Nothing like a bit of yellow and orange to cheer oneself up...particularly paired with a spot and a bit of text....

So where are we going with this? Back in this post,  I mentioned that the kit for the "Sunburst" Quilt (Making Quilts ...promise of joy by Kathy Doughty), may be in my cupboard. I have been a bit scared of the all those pointy points and circular circles, so I busted out the templates from the kit and decided to have a go.

The block has come together surprisingly easy, and my points seem to be pointy!

The centre was a bit fiddly, but I am confident I can master it with better pinning, sewing the large circle into the floral background was very straight forward because it is a larger circle...

So maybe I should start on the kit!!! Sixteen blocks....it's a bit of a commitment! I might think about it for a bit more :)