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