April Challenge and a Sewing Reclaim

It's been a while since I was able to complete monthly quilt challenge on time LOL!  This little quilt from Kathy at SmallQuiltTalk http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smallquilttalk/  was a doddle (Aussie for very easy!) and made up very quickly, I used a mix of machine and handquilting.

It was also the perfect shape for an old doll-crib I have had for a while.  I bought it on ebay about 2 years ago, it is a handmade wood doll cradle.  From what I gather it was made in Pennsylvania and was owned by an elderly lady who had since she was a child, so it's quite old and now looks rustic or prim, but I love it!

It came with a doll dressed in Amish clothes - there was a mattress, but it was filled with straw and Customs confiscated it because it was plant material - I haven't managed to get around to making another, however I do have the 'ticking' fabric for it - so half way there LOL!!!

This little doll has been waiting a while for her own quilt!!!  I had to reduce the size of Kathy's original pattern to make it cradle size.

I just used scraps as the 9-patch blocks finish at 3"x 3".  The finished size of the quilt is 9 1/2"x 15".

Last post you will remember I had finished my Maple Leaf quilt, it now resides on the dining room table where I can see it everyday!

This is not the only quilt I've made with blocks from a group swap.  Back in late 2008 I received 12 blocks in return for 12 I made through Carol Doak's yahoo group.   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CarolDoakQuiltingGroup/#ans

Carol's expertise is in Foundation Paper Piecing, a technique I use a lot when I want precision and have a block with odd-ball measurements.    It was a Tea Cup block swap, I received blocks from members from the US, Germany and Ireland.

After I had the blocks sitting around for a while I designed a small wall-hanging for my kitchen, but did have to add a few more small cup blocks as well as a teapot.

It was a fun swap and I really enjoyed putting this together!  Thankgoodness for EQ, as I was able to elongate the four small teacup blocks to fit the space I had at the top on either side of the teapot.  It hung on the design wall for a very long time from December 2008 till January 2010 when I finally got sick of it nagging at me!!!

Ove the past month I have been doing a lot of yard work, digging, mulching, weeding, pruning, I have a little basket in the utility room downstairs where I keep all my gardening equipment.

If you look closely you will see something that really shouldn't be there!  I am ashamed to say I had been using a pair of old dress-making scissors to prun - but no more !!!-   I hadn't given them any thought for several years, but I really took a good look at them recently and felt very guilty.   These dear old scissors are my first pairs of scissors ever, I have had them for around 30 years - and to think I relegated them to live with the gardening tools!!!!!

I took them upstairs and gave them a bit of clean and thought they'd be very blunt, but they did cut newsprint ok.  Last week I took them to my Quiltbee group and got them sharpened, and you what....they cut through fabric like new scissors, even to the tip of the blade!  Who would have thought after all that abuse!!!!  They must have been good quality!

I remembered why I ditched them - I am left handed and got myself a pair of left handed scissors, more for the comfort as any leftie will know using right handed scissors can be uncomfortable, but I have welcomed them back into the sewing room, never to live in a basket with dirty garden tools again.

They do look a bit the worse for wear, but I now appreciate them more than ever, in fact I treasure them!!!!

Thankyou for dropping by, I appreciate your visits and comments.

Take it easy,
Merilyn

Autumn Leaves and Easter

I am so loving the cooler temperatures that Autumn brings, the nights and mornings are just a delight and I'm able to enjoy working out in the garden, pruning, mulching and generally tidying up the garden for the sleepy winter months when the ground rests waiting for spring come September!

So not a lot of sewing has been happening lately, but I do have one completion!

Speaking of Autumn, I have finally finished a quilt that has been in the works since I completed the top in November 2010.   I recently took it to my longarm quilter who did a great job, it was such a joy to sew the binding on this beauty, it will now grace my dining room table for the next few months!

It measures 41"x 41" (or 104cms x 104cms).  Around the beginning of the American Fall season of 2010, I got involved in a Maple Leaf Block Swap through my online group SmallQuiltTalk http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smallquilttalk/

We were asked to make around 22 Maple Leaf blocks and then we would receive 22 in return from different members of the group.  I had a play on EQ to try and design a layout that would suit the blocks I would be getting back.  I then decided to add logcabin blocks into the design and played around until I put this layout together. 

I had to make a couple of extra Maple Leaf blocks and twelve Logcabin blocks.  All the blocks are 4 1/2"x 4 1/2" finished size. Again EQ came in very handy to print off the Foundation Paper Pieced Logcabin blocks at the size I needed.

I just love the colours in this quilt.  We were asked to use only CW reproduction fabrics, and blocks could be scrappy or not so scrappy.   I got a variety of both and sorted them out so they were fairly evenly set out.

Here are some close-ups.

Here are some of the first few blocks I made for the swap, all of mine were scrappy, I just loved playing with colour and using some precious little scraps that I'd had for such a long time!

There were some lovely projects that other members made with their blocks, it was one of the most fun swaps I have been involved in!

I love items with draws, to store precious sewing items, and other treasures - so when I saw this little stack of recycled sewing machine cabinet draws I just knew it had to come and live at my house LOL!!!!

Afterall I had a Flat Sad Iron and it's little quilt that needed to be shown off too!!!!

I bought this sewing draw set from the same old wares store that I bought my Flat Iron, there were two sets in the shop, one had a 'sold' sign on it already so I didn't hesitate to purchase the last one!  The lady in the shop said they had only been in the shop a week or so!  I have seen them around periodically and always wanted one!

A local craftsman put them together, what an ingenious way to recycle old sewing machine cabinet draws!!!

Easter is upon us this coming weekend, a nice time to relax and catch up with friends and about the only thing I have to share that is remotely egglike is another little Sewing Egg I found just recently - or rather this one is  just a Darning Egg.  Unlike my other two Sewing Eggs this one does not open up.   It is made of Xylonite which I collect pieces of.  

Since I now have three Sewing Eggs, I guess I can officially call it a collection!!!  Obtaining two in the past 12 months has been such a surprise, as I only had the clear Singer egg to start with, it belonged to my father and I remember playing with it when I was a child.  I'll keep my eye out for more!!!!

Of course Easter would not be complete without some delicious Lindt chocolate eggs!!!!

Hope you all have a wonderful and safe Easter holiday break.  Again thankyou to all my followers who leave comments, it is so nice to hear from you all, your support is most appreciated.

Until we meet again,
Take it easy,

Merilyn

A Finish or Two

It is so nice to have a couple of finishes to share as I have been busy with work work, and domestic work which all eats into my sewing time rather badly LOL, and I was desperate to have a few wins in the sewing room!

My first win is this Mourning Crosses Quilt, a design by Kathy Tracy which was the January (monthly) challenge!  It spent a couple of weeks with the long arm quilter and now it has its binding on, I'm quite pleased with how it turned out!!

The border fabric was chosen after several hours of intense deliberation at my favourite quilt shop, I just love this fabric!!!!

If you love small quilts you can join Kathy's online group here: http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smallquilttalk/
or you can check out her blog here: http://sentimentalquilter.blogspot.com/

I didn't get time to do the February challenge but I have completed the one for March.  It features little Civil War Basket blocks (4"x 4") from Kathy's book 'Remembering Adelia'.  I decided not to make the quilt exactly, but did a variation.

This was such fun to put together, I also used up lots of small off-cuts from previous projects, that's always a good thing!!!!  No fancy quilting, just stitch in the ditch, but around the handles I did do some handquilting which gives a gentler look than the machine could do!!

I had been doing a little shopping in a few of the local antiques/old wares shops in town when I spied something I have been wanting for a long time.  I simply couldn't resist it and when I got it home it told me it wanted its own little mini quilt - how could I say no to this old lady!!!

This long yearned for item is called a Flat Sad Iron!  It weighs around 3lbs, is 6 1/8" long x 4 1/4" wide and has a Steel Tube handle.  

I'm not sure where it was made, but they were used widely by the early settlers here in Australia.  Apparently these particular irons ranged in size from 4-9, mine is size 7.  From what I can gather the 'sad' part of their name actually means heavy, so all heavy irons are known as 'sad' irons, where they have been recorded to exist as far back as the 16th century.

So to help my little Flat Sad Iron feel much happier, she now has her own little quilt!!!!

I had a play on EQ and designed this where the CW Basket blocks are 2"x 2".  She's now smiling!!!!!!


You may remember in my previous post that I made my last CW block the wrong size at 6"x 6" (finished)instead of 8"x 8", obviously the flu had gotten into my brain as well LOL!  but with a clearer head last week I managed to get it the right size this time!!!

The tape measure is there as proof I got it right!!  You'll be pleased to hear that the 6" block has found a home!  One of my friends is doing the Farmer's Wife blocks which are all 6"x 6", she had a bit of trouble with one of hers so I offered mine as a substitute which she very happily took home to add to the blocks she has already completed.  Whew!  it's no longer an orphan!!!!

I have another near completion so this is just a sneak peek!!!

It has languished since November 2010!  oh dear!!!!!  It'll have it's binding on very soon, and then I can show you another completed UFO!!

We are starting to feel the cooler temperatures of Autumn which is quite refreshing after all the humidity and rain we've had during our rather lack lustre summer, this should give you some clue about the sneak peek!!!

Thankyou for dropping by, I hope wherever you are you are safe and well and enjoying the change of the season be it Spring or Autumn!!!

Take it easy,
Merilyn

It's Been A While.....

It certainly has been a while since I last posted.   I was struck down with a nasty chest infection around 5 weeks ago and it's grip has been quite tenacious!!!  It's still hounding me, but as each week passes I am being rid of this horrid lurgy! 

I don't usually get sick, but this event had me wrung out like a rag where fatigue and lack of concentration has been the order of the day.  I didn't even have the energy to keep up with blog reading or a couple of the online groups I am in, so time spent in the sewing room was out of the question until a couple of weeks ago!

My mojo up and left me which is a bit scarry LOL!  I would look at my sewing machine and shrug my shoulders and walk away and go and lay down like a mongrel dog (Aussie for 'sick as'....) but this past couple of weeks I made myself sit and try to encourage that lost mojo to reappear, it is now safely back where it belongs I'm pleased to say!!!!

I'm still trying to catch up with the few remaining extra blocks I need for my Barbara Brackman CW quilt.
I auditioned a few blocks from BlockBase and ticked off the ones that I thought would go with what I already have.

The first one I did was #1148, but I didn't like the four different oblong spaces on each side of the block, so I redrew them as two lines running from corner to corner, I prefered the way this looked!

Next is #2586

Blockbase #2797

Finally #4134

I still had one more to do, but I made a spectacular boo-boo!!!  Remember my concentration wasn't up to par, but I did like this block and went ahead and made it!  It was a free block pattern called "Welcoming Friends" I found on http://www.itssewemma.com/. which I had had for a while.  Well, see if you can work out what I did, or in this case didn't do......

I just made it the size it was and forgot to enlarge it, so I now I have an orphan 6" block instead of an 8" block!! (I kinda thought it went together a bit too easily, like I didn't have to divide 8 into 3 and end up with odd measurements....)   Ho-hummm.....  Because I really do like it, I will  remake it in the size it's supposed to be..........

I decided to finish up a small quilt from Kathy Tracey's online group SmallQuiltTalk, it was a challenge (#13) from last October which I just didn't get back to, I found that doing some handquilting was a nice way to encourage my mojo to return.

I've called it 'Penny Farthing', it's made from the scrap pile!

I just used some straight cross hatching with a wavy curve for the border!

I took a couple of small quilts to the longarmer a few weeks ago and I now have them back.  The first one I have the binding on is my Pink Lemonade (Lori's blog Humble Quilts), I just love this little quilt and my longarm quilter did a great job on this!

I used the same fabric for the binding that was used in the corner blocks, from Jo Morton's Cocoa range.  I thought it framed this reasonably well!

Here is a close-up of the quilting, I'm very pleased with it!!!

I sure hope that I don't get struck down with anymore nasties as I have missed blogging and keeping up with my projects and what everyone else is doing,  and I certainly don't want my mojo going any where else any time soon - I reckon I've earned a bit of fun for the time being!

Thankyou all for dropping by and I'll try and not be a stranger for a while!

Take it easy,
Merilyn

Second Distraction flimsy complete!

As most of you are aware there are so many wonderful distractions going on in blogland at the moment, they are hard to resist and are so darn cute!!!!

I have allowed myself a few distractions, around four - first was the 12 Days of Christmas by Temecula Quilt Co, - flimsy completed!  http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/  You can see it on a prevous post!

Then Lori's QAL, just couldn't pass that one up!  Sat up late last night and completed the top, I'm pretty pleased with how it looks!!  Here are the details:  http://humblequilts.blogspot.com/2012/01/quilt-longs-part-1.html

I will be taking this to my local longarm quilter, can't wait to have it hanging on my wall, I love the colours!!!!

My third distraction is Kathy Tracy's 'Crosses Mourning Quilt' from her book "Prairie Children and Their Quilts".  Kathy is challenging us to make one small quilt per month, this is the first one for 2012.   So far I have completed the nine blocks, next I have to sort out sashing, and already have the border fabric!!!
You can visit her here: http://sentimentalquilter.blogspot.com/

I only had a couple of black reproduction fabrics in my stash, but I soon sorted that out when I went to Brisbane recently and bought some more for this quilt!!  Not the greatest photo, it shows a little darker than they actually are, hopefully when the top is completed the next time I post, it will look a little better!

My fourth distraction was actually my first LOL, those tiny teeny little house blocks that Jeanneke has encouraged us all to make!  I decided to use the Foundation Paper pieced method and drew it up on EQ, this was my first effort!  You can find out about them here:  http://www.jeanneke.com/#home

I sent this one to Kaaren, from The Painted Quilt, (http://thepaintedquilt.blogspot.com/) as she is new to FPP and is a visual learner so what better way to try and figure it out than to have it in your hands to see how things go together!!!  I will definitely be making more of these, but not 365 LOL, probably enough for a small quilt to hang on the wall or as a table-topper!!!  I have a little box of odd small scraps which will be perfect to use for these tiny lovelies!!!

I don't know what you all listen to/watch when you are in the sewing room as a background.  I usually listen to the radio, ABC Radio National (news, current affairs, arts etc) or ABC Classic FM.   I love to read generally, but when it comes to what gets my spare time it is usually my sewing that wins out, so books don't get read.

I decided to give audio-books a try, I mean to say, we girls can do two things at once right!!!?  I am on to my second audio-book now and it is working out wonderfully.  The quality of the audio is excellent these days, and it's amazing what you take in even when you are concentrating on cutting, stitching etc.

I'm currently listening to a Geraldine Brooks' historical novel called 'Caleb's Crossing'.  It is 12 1/4 hrs listening time (10 discs), so you can imagine the size of the book, it would have taken me forever, this way it is easy peasy!

I use a small portable DVD/CD player which doesn't take up too much room!  I now have a list of books I want to (read) - listen to LOL!!!!   What do you listen to/watch when you are in your sewing room?

This past week I received an email from Barbara Brackman (http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com/).  She wants to feature 3 of my blocks from her CW BOW project in her new upcoming book!  I must say I was quite amazed that any of my blocks would warrant that sort of attention!!! 

From what I can gather she has asked a few contributors to the flickr group (http://flickr.com/groups/civilwarquilts.2011/) if they would mind if she used their blocks as examples.  So here are the blocks she wants to feature!

 #41   Red, White & Blue Pieced Star

# 42   H for Hospital

#48   West Virginia

It's amazing what other people see when they look at your work!  I wouldn't have thought these blocks were particularly interesting at all, but I guess we all see different things!!!  I'm just pleased to have been asked, it is quite an honour to feature in her book, I'm actually quite chuffed!!!!

Hope you are all having a safe and productive weekend.  

Take it easy,
Merilyn

Giveaway Winners

Thankyou all who participated in my first giveaway!!! 

I'm only sorry I couldn't make each of you a winner, but there are two lucky ladies!

Each of you were numbered as your comments came in!

I had the help of a friend to do the drawing!

First winner Number 5

Second draw:

Second Winner No. 30

Congratulations to

First:  O'faigh - Australia

Second: Vivian - USA

Would you please email me your postal addresses and I will get your giveaways sent out to you as soon as possible.

Again thankyou all for being such good sports and being a part of this!   It is my way of saying thankyou to all of you who have made this past year so much fun!

Take it easy!

Merilyn

Giveaway Closed

Just to let you all know that the GIVEAWAY is now CLOSED!

The winner will be announced soon!

Thankyou to all who have participated!

Best of luck! 

Merilyn

One Year In!

I have thoroughly enjoyed putting together the second installment of Lori's QAL mini quilt!
These pieces are the half blocks (10 are needed) and include the plaids!  I don't have a stash of plaids at all, but these ones are a start and I love them!  If you are wanting to do Lori's Quilt-a-long check it out here:
http://humblequilts.blogspot.com/2012/-1/quilt-longs-part-1.html

I also decided to use a slightly different pink print for the plaid blocks just to add a bit of interest!

This week has seen my first blog-iversary!!  It was a big step to jump into blogland, but it has been very enjoyable and I've met some lovely people in the past year!

So to celebrate I am having my first give-away!  In fact I have two give-aways, so when you leave a comment please indicate whether you would like Option A or Option B.

All comments/participants will be numbered as they come in and on Thursday 19th January I will put the numbers (on a folded up bit of paper) in a big container and pick out one, the first draw will get the Option they have asked for and the second draw will get the Option that is left!   Not being too computer savvy I have no idea how to do the computer generated number thingy, so will opt for the old fashioned way of doing things LOL!!!


Here is Option A

This pack contains a Charm Pack, 'Little Gatherings' by Primative Gatherings for Moda. A pattern with ruler again my Primitive Gatherings 'Primitive Pinwheels' for small quilt 11"x 12 3/4", some reproduction fat quarters and tape measure!


Here is Option B

This pack consists of a Charm Pack "Cattails & Clover" by Kansas Troubles Quilters for Moda.
A Quick-unpick with a handmade wooden handle made from Australian 'Myrtle' timber.  A pack of five English sewing needles for Embroidery/Redwork by Jeana Kimball, some Reproduction Fat Quarters and tape measure.

There will be a couple of extra inclusions too, but they will be a surprise!!!  Good luck to everyone!
I will ask for the winners mail address (anywhere in the world!) once the draw has been done!!!

The draw will close at 12 noon, Thursday 19th January, Australian Eastern Daylight Saving Time.

This week has been extremely hot and one afternoon I went out to the back verandah and caught Miss Mini meditating very comfortably in a plastic tub, she looked awful cute so I managed to get a photo of her before I disturbed her!

Then she saw me!, it wasn't long before she jumped out for a cuddle and some food!!!

Hope you are all having a wonderful weekend, it certainly is a lot cooler here today!!

Take it easy!!

Merilyn

Two New Distractions!

Over the past three days I have managed to steal some time in the sewing room in between chores and get a start on a couple of distractions that I simply couldn't resist!!

Firstly the '12 Days of Christmas' project put out by the Temecula Quilt Company.  I had bought a small pack of 16th's in blues which I used, and added borders from my stash!  It looks a bit monochrome but that's ok too! 

I would love to do this again using Christmas fabrics, ummmm! another distraction........

I will use left over lengths of the different blues in the binding! 

Another wonderful distraction I worked on yesterday and into the night and early this morning was Lori's QAL, which you can find here:  http://humblequilts.blogspot.com/2012/01/quilt-longs-part-1.html

I just loved the colour mix of the original little doll quilt, so I am staying as close to the original as I can!

So far this is Part 1 of her instructions, I used a Barbara Brackman pink, the red, navy and brown are from my stash!  The cheddar will be the background or alternate blocks.   Eagerly awaiting the next step!!!!

Maybe some housework might be in order now LOL!  Hope everyone is having a great weekend!

Take it easy,

Merilyn

New Year Projects

We are well into the New Year now and there is a buzz in blogland with so many new projects to tempt one at every turn!!  The thing really is to focus on what you want to finish up or start, because if you are anything like me there are many unfinished projects/quilts looking quite forlorn and feeling very left out at this time as we allow ourselves to get caught up in all the new stuff!!!    I have caved in to a couple of 'small' projects LOL, a little indulgence is all good don't you think!!

Our final Barbara Brackman CW BOW has been put together. 
# 53 Union Shield.

The block Barbara gave us had the shield take up all of the 8"x 8" block, and like the Spool block some time ago it had rather large dimensions compared to all the other blocks, so I played around with it on EQ and reduced the size.  The shield part is 4 1/2"x 4 1/2", with a 1/2" blue border and 1 1/4" in the shirting fabric.

I am a lot happier with this arrangement, it should fit in nicely with all the other blocks.

As I am probably going to do a straight set,  8 rows of 7 blocks (56 blocks in all) I still have a few more to make, plus there were a few rather ugly ones in there too (from the beginning)  LOL, they'll need replacing, so I'm guessing I'm in for at least another 6 blocks before I start arranging them and cutting out sashing and cornerstones.

The border will have to be a well considered choice and that'll probably mean a trip to the quilt shop and a few hours there too !!!!  Not that I mind of course, any excuse to while away several hours surrounded by gorgeous fabrics!

You've probably noticed I have changed by header photo!  Time for a change and to include a few of my favourite things.  Firstly is a photo of one of my matenal great grandmothers, love her corsetted dress!

I also included some crochet my maternal grandmother did, hanging over the photo frame.   The tapestry is a project my mother started well over 50 or closer to 60 years ago, there are some unfinished patches of the background yet to do, I guess I have that job now huh!!!

The other little crochet doiley is something I made in my 20's, probably while I was on night duty as a young nurse tryng to stay awake, still have quite a few pieces like that, and yes I do use them!!!

The other little treasure in there is my little toy Singer sewing machine, I bought it on ebay a few years ago, but it doesn't  have a manual or a clamp - still looking!!!  I've included some little needle keeps and sewing cases, pincushion, favourite scissors and my unusual sewing/darning eggs.

As I said earlier I have caved in and have bought fabric for at least two new smallish projects.  The first one was way too cute to ignore!  It is called the '12 Days of Christmas' by the Temecula Quit Company.
See here if you are interested:  http://temeculaquiltco.blogspot.com/
I couldn't decide on fabrics so I opted for a no brainer and bought a little sixteenth pack of blues.

Each piece is around 10"x 10" and more than adequate for 12 little 3"x 3" blocks.  This project started over 10 days ago, so today I washed and ironed my fabric and completed 11 blocks.  The 12th one hasn't yet been posted.

It's supposed to be a mystery with a block per day, so we'll see what tomorrow brings with the final block and the layout!  It's been fun putting these tiny blocks together and satisfied the 'new project urge' I had!!!!

The next little project has been put together by Lori over at Humble Quilts, check it out here:
http://humblequilts.blogspot.com/2012/01/quilt-longs-part-1.html

I have always wanted to make a quilt with cheddar and pink and this little doll quilt really caught my attention, just perfect!  It also contains some plaids, and I have not one plaid in my collection of fabrics, so I fixed that up right away by starting with four plaids.  The rest of the quilts' requirements will come out of my stash!

Lori hasn't given the instructions yet, but they are on their way!  I'm quite looking forward to putting this one together!

What a whirlwind for the beginning of the year, I hope it doesn't keep this pace, but I have a feeling............

Until next time,

Take it easy,
Merilyn