Little Bit of This 'n That

The trend of all things romantic and sweet is kind of following me around at the moment!!!
I forgot to add a sneak peak of another vintage romantic style quilt I was completing in my last post, anyway it is now finished and making itself at home on the back of one of my lounge chairs!

I was given a charm pack of Butterscotch and Roses quite some time ago, I wasn't sure what to do with them, but decided to just sew them together fairly randomly.  I then went in search of two fabrics to get some yardage, for a border and binding.  I was lucky enough to find the fabrics I had chosen, although I would have been grateful to have used any of the others, as the line had been out for a while, and sometimes what you are looking for is not always available.

Again, not a line of fabric I would have chosen, but sometimes it is good to get out of your comfort zone, and make the best of a thoughtful gift!

I actually made a boo-boo when cutting out the borders, (I cut the top and bottom pieces just a tad too short) so had to get creative and make a cornstone block and included some of the binding fabric!  I think I got away with it alright!!!!!

It's called an Economy Block, which I found on EQ.

My local longarm quilter did a great job as always!!

The quilt measures 38" x 41 1/2".

As most of you who read my blog know I belong to Kathy Tracy's online SmallQuiltTalk yahoo group.

Kathy designs small quilt patterns which you can find here:  http://www.countrylanequilts.com

I recently purchased a few of her patterns and they came in the mail last week.

There was one in particular that really caught my imagination!  The Scrappy Hourglass quilt.  Kathy added a few pieces of reproduction farbic to the pattern, I then scoured through my scraps to add to them and spent two wonderful sewing sessions putting it together!!

Just loved putting those little hourglass blocks together, transforming scraps into something pretty!!!



Love the mosiac effect!

I used an old Jo Morton for the outer border after searching for just the right brown for the inner border!

I'm really happy with the way this turned out!   Still to decide on the fabric for the binding after I get it quilted!!!

I usually always have a cup of tea with me in the sewing room as I listen to classical music and sew, and shamefully have used a piece of cardboard as a coaster for my hot cup.  How disgraceful for a sewer with a room full of fabric LOL!! So I decided to make up a small coaster/mugrug using some of my smaller scraps, and Insul-Bright as the wadding!! 

It mesures 3 1/2" x 3 1/2".

Much better don't you think!!!

The beginning of another month means of course another Block from Barbara Brackman's Dixie Diary quilt project!  I'm still trying to get my head around such large pieces of fabric for one block after working with tiny pieces most of the time. 

These blocks look a bit bare, but I've yet to applique hearts/stars onto them until I work out my layout for the quilt once all the blocks are completed.  I still love the fabric line here, they are quite sumptuious!!!

This months' BOM is called 'Asylum'.

We're definitely into Autumn now, which is quite a lovely time of year, with cooler days and evenings, it means that I can now snuggle under my feather doona at night, it also means that most of my flowering plants have offered their last sprays of colour and fragrance for the year. 

I have a wonderful large bushy shrub with Orange scented flowers just outside my kitchen, it flowered a couple of times just recently, but this was the final spray it offered before it rests for the winter months.

Their fragrance is really gentle and orangey, not too sweet, I planted it several years ago and it never disappoints.  The photo is taken from my back verandah and looks down onto the garden, it is a little wild and carefree, but I like it that way,  magic happens in a slightly wild garden I always think.......

Thankyou for dropping by, hope where ever you are, life is treating you well, and that you can make time to sew!!

Take it easy,
Merilyn





A little Vintage Romance

It's always good to have a few finishes, especially if they are projects that have taken a while to complete.

I don't have a tendency toward chabby chic as such, although somewhere in the back of my girl brain there is something soothing about roses and pretty prints.  Something I know my grandmother would have loved!!!!

A few years ago on my Small Quilt Talk group Kathy put it to us to create a romantic themed quilt using a small star block.  We could do whatever we wanted, be it small quilt, table-runner, candle mat etc. Here is a link to Kathy's online group  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smallquilttalk/ 

I scanned the fabrics at my old LQS and there were lots of lovely dreamy romantic fabrics that I never really noticed before - this time they just jumped off the shelf and I brought home a small collection to make a small romantic quilt!! 

This was back in July 2010.   I designed a small quilt using the star block Kathy had given us and made the top......then it just lay among the forgotten unfinished flimsys - well, a couple of weeks ago I dug it out and decided to get it quilted.

I found some backing fabric, discovered I still had enough of the pink print I used in the sashing to make up the binding and hooray!!  all done.......
The blocks in this quilt finish at 5"x 5", and the overall size is 24 1/2"x 24 1/2".
I've called this quilt "Vintage Romance".

I wanted a sweet romantic quilting design too!!!  These little hearts were just perfect!!!!!

I am really quite pleased with how this turned out, just love the romance of it.......

Another finish that has been long in the making is my 'Abundance' doll quilt. An inspiration from Lori's blog.  http://humblequilts.blogspot.com/   It is hand quilted, washed and crinkled just right!!!  This has a touch of romance about it too!!!!!

Here is a close-up of the handquiting!!!  I just played around with stright lines and a few curves!!!  The finished size of this is 12"x 12".

In my last post I showed a sneak peak of a small sampler quilt I was working on, the Schoolgirl Sampler Quilt.  It is another of Kathy Tracy's designs from her book "Prairie Children and their Quilts". Mainly handquilted, I also used a few plaids, which I have very little of in my stash.

Here are a couple of close-ups:

The blocks in this quilt finish at 4"x 4".

These were fun projects, and seemed to take ages as my leisure time is definitely at a premium, but I love the results, it all gets done in the end!!!!!

Hope you all get time to finish you projects despite a busy life!  Thankyou all for visiting and we'll catch up soon.

Take it easy,
Merilyn

Sewing in the Rain

What else can one possibly do when it's raining hard and long!  After a few necessary chores the sewing room is the one place that is dry and comforting so that's where I've spent the last couple of my weekday weekends - sometimes I work actual weekends - so I have managed to complete and start a few things.

My first completion was a long time in coming.  I made this quilt top a few years ago and then it sat forlorn until I got it longarm quilted recently.   I just couldn't decide what style of quilting it really needed, hence the delay, and then a bit longer......

I sort of knew what I wanted on the border, but the blocks themselves had me stumped, so I left it to my longarmer to come up with something. 

I was inspired when I saw the blocks of a quilt on the cover of a book by Pat Speth and Charlene Thode.    At the time I didn't have the book so had no idea what size the blocks were, so I made them 6"x 6" (they are actually 8"x 8" in the book).  I also decided to add a 1/2" sashing between the blocks.

After the longarm quilting was done I searched high and low for some more of the blue border fabric, which I knew I must have more of,  for the binding, but had no luck in locating.  It was obvious that the quilt knew what it wanted and it definitely wasn't a blue binding LOL!!!! 

I then had to locate some more of the brown - used in the four outer cornerstones  (from an old line by Barbara Brackman, 'Twelve Oaks') luckily Quiltsmith in Sydney had some http://quiltsmith.com.au/ so the quilt could finally get finished.  What a long drawn out process this was, at the end of the day I really love the brown binding as it frames the quilt better than I had expected it would.   (Quilts aren't silly!!!!)

I eventually bought Pat and Charlene's book!  It's a 1999 publication)

There are some great quilt designs in here, and all good for using up lots of scraps.

Here are a few close-ups of this stubborn little quilt!  Finished size 27 1/2" x 34".

Helen at my LQS Rainbow Patchwork thought feather wreaths would be appropriate as I had already asked for feathers for the border.   I'm just so happy this is finished and will hang it somewhere where I can see it everyday!

I decided to do another of Barbara Brackman's projects.  This year she started the Dixie Diary BOM's.
http://civilwarquilts.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/dixie-diary-1-her-flag-flying.html I figured that a block a month would not be too taxing, but then the decision of what fabric to use..... would it be scrappy or would I use a more limited palette.  After much procrastination I though I'd go with a limited palette. 

I fell in love with her new line 'Metropolitan Fair'.

The whole range is just too gorgeous, it was a hard decision, but I decided on the pinks/greys/blues.

Yesterday as the rain was pelting down I made the first two blocks - January & February.
#1 Her Flag Flying

Barbara has given cutting instructions and quilt layouts for 8"x 8" or 12'x 12" blocks.  This time I'll do the 12" blocks.   This first block looks a little bare, it'll have an applique star in the centre and the pale fabric is for the border of each of the blocks, (not sewn on yet).
#2 Checkered Allegiances

It's a bit weird working with such large pieces and large blocks, I'm so used to working with teeny tiny pieces, but I'm reasonably pleased with how they look!  Working big allows the bigger prints to really show themselves off!!!  Looking forward to next months' block which is not too far away!

I'm also slowly working my way through some handquilting.  It's a Kathy Tracy small sampler quilt.

Here is little sneak peak of one of the blocks, you can still see the fabric chalk markings here which will wash off when it's all done.

Now this is the size I'm used to working with, the blocks are all 4"x 4".  If you love working small then Kathy has an online Yahoo group.  http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smallquilttalk/ .  

Hope you all have a great weekend - the sun is shining this Saturday morning and I'm off to work this afternoon!  Thanks for dropping by and a big thankyou to all those who left comments on my last post, it was lovely to hear from you all after my several months absence!!  You made my day!!!

Take it easy,
Merilyn

Back from the Wilderness

Oh my!!!!   It's been around nine months since I last posted on my blog!  Life got pretty busy and not much sewing was happening at all which was quite frustrating.   I did try and keep up with reading others' blogs, just to stay in touch with what was happening, so many wonderful inspiring projects and busy ladies, I was really missing being one of you all!!!!!   Lately however I've been trying to make an effort to carve some time with my beloved sewing machines and play with fabric again! 

My Quiltbee group will be meeting for the first time this year on the 1st Feb, and we have a new venue too, as our other quilt shop closed down middle of last year - owners retired - I think we all lost a bit of something when that happened as we had known the owners for so many years, at least 20yrs for me.   Another quilt shop had opened up across town and I approached them, they were happy for us to have our monthly meet there!  We'll see how things pan out for this year, they have some lovely fabric lines and a long-arm service as well,  yippee!!!!

I've started this year with a couple of small projects, not yet completed but heading in the right direction!   I was inspired by Lori's new project which I simply couldn't resist. You all know Lori from Humble Quilts
http://humblequilts.blogspot.com.au/2013/01/abundance-part-2.html   she offers some wonderful little quilt projects and this one was love at first sight!!!!  If you haven't visited her before or attempted any of her projects pop over and check out her blog!!!!

I've just got to handbaste this now and will be handquilting it!!!!  I can't wait to see how other people have interpreted this little delight!!!!

Kathy Tracy's online group SmallQuiltTalk http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smallquilttalk/  continues to have monthly small quilt challenges, so I decided to use up some small scraps and make some 4" x 4" logcabin blocks to make a small quilt inspired by one she had in her book 'Prairie Children and Their Quilts'.

This is Kathy's version

I made a small variation to the size of the centres and the width of the strips to accommodate the smallest of my scrappy strips, some of which I've had just waiting their turn for over 10 years.  Here is what I started with:

This is the result:

I'll be using a single layer binding using the same fabric as I used in the centres!

A couple of completions did happen around the Festive Season, one small quilt using the whimsical line of fabric 'Christmastime' by Anni Downs of Hatched & Patched for Henry Glass

and a delightful idea from Kathy Tracy!  A Christmas present pincushion!!!

I was also delightfully surprised a couple of days before Christmas to receive a small parcel in the mail  from Barbara Brackman!!!  It is her latest publication 'Civil War Sampler'.  

What a thrill to have three of my blocks selected to include in her book!!!  It's a wonderful momento of the year of sewing these blocks, which I'm ashamed to say still sit waiting patiently to be sewn into a quilt top!!
Oh dear!!!

Aside from a bit of sewing I also decided to create some small herb garden areas, this is the first one, the plants are quite happy in their sunny position!   I just love marigolds!!!!

It feels so nice to be able to get back into some sewing, we'll see if life allows this passion to visit upon me on a more regular basis this year.........here's hoping!!!!!

Take it easy,
Merilyn

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