Doors and Windows top is quilted, with organic cotton, and I think I'm going to try washing it before I bind it.I want it to shrink and look crinkly, but I don't want the binding wrinkly. So if the edge survives a dunking I'll know I can do it on future quilts. If not, I'll just trim any fraying bits off and make the border smaller.

The pieced backing in all it's motley glory. I do love the fact that this used up a pile of leftovers, and I'm busy piecing other backings together for the next lot of my tops. It's great hanging them up together all ready to go, and my shelves have empty spaces appearing, which is encouraging too.


I used a panto of Keryn's, Birdseye, at a small size, and I'm hoping this will add to the crinkly effect when it's washed. I really liked how this turned out on the front, not too girly so it's a good one for guy quilts.

I finally got the red sawtooth border on my Crossed Tulips, and then a wide cream to finish it off. I debated whether or not to put some applique in the border, but I wanted to keep the design really simple, and then add some gorgeous quilting to make it special. Not all applique quilts have to be complicated, in fact some of my favourite antique ones had this combination of a simple design with spectacular quilting.



I can't own them, so I just have to try and make some for myself.

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I've been trying to finish some of my quilts in between the customer quilts as they're building up alarmingly. But the customers have to take precedence now so we can get all the Christmas deadlines finished.

This is another donation quilt, made with 16 patches from our group. It's rather pink, but someone will like it.

And here's the Doors and Windows on the frame. I love that moment when I start winding the top on, suddenly everything looks wonderful and I can hardly wait to get started.

I pieced the back for this, and funnily enough nearly all of the material came from other quilt backs.

When we trim our finished quilts, there's sometimes a strip of fabric leftover that's quite useable, depending on how big the backing was in the first place. I had a pile of these and decided to combine them to make this backing. It's quite a hit and miss affair, and I usually start by laying the top out on the bed and then piecing strips until the length is correct. Then I use that first strip to build on, squaring everything up to that, and the process goes quite quickly.

I do like to use the 10 1/2" squares too, and I added length here at top and bottom using already cut ones from the drawer. But some of these lengths were 14" wide, and I didn't see the sense in cutting them down and wasting the 4" when I could cover the ground quicker using big chunks of fabric.


I've finished this now and I'll post the photos soon, I really love the way these scrappy backings turn out.

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We're supposed to have some relief from the heat today, it's predicted to be 28 degrees, but I'll believe it when it's happened. It was quite unbearable in the workroom, so I thought I'd quilt at night, but the lights heated the air instead. I tried turning the overhead stand lights out, but found that the machine was then a magnet for all the bugs in the place, and after nearly stitching over a few and having flying ants shedding their wings all over the customer top I gave up and turned the big lights on and the machine light off. I couldn't see as well, but at least there was no night life quilted into the top.

I spent the weekend at home with the air-conditioner on, but it was quite bearable inside until about noon. I happily pottered in my sewing room and weeded out huge piles of fabric to cut into backing squares and 2 1/2" strips for a new project. As it is impossible for me to cut unironed fabric I had to heat the room up a bit until it was all pressed, but I was determined to see it gone.This isn't all of it, some went into other projects, but that is nearly 20 metres of fabric dealt with. It doesn't look much, but four of those large squares is a fat quarter of fabric, so it does mount up. I stripped up half metres of fabric to make bindings for donation quilts, 2 metres gone there, and the strips for the new project ate up lots of nibbled at fat quarters and trimmings from quilt backings. I would like to say that I have an empty shelf, a space in the cupboard, a gap in the drawer, even an empty container, but no. I can't even see where it all came from. And Jenni wonders why we didn't buy fabric at the show!

And now for something that I've been looking forward to for a while. Long time readers will remember the first Scrap Castle, and then it took nearly a year to make the second. Keryn told me she thought it looked a little loose, and that I hadn't packed it down hard enough. Determined not to be accused of that again I've been compressing the bin enthusiastically every time it gets full, and this weekend saw it jammed solid. There wasn't a bit of 'give' and the new pile of trimmings had to overflow and rest on the floor. Finally, the time had come.....

Ta Da!!! Scrap Castle the Third, and one of my best yet I feel. But can you believe it takes me a year to fill this bin up? I think that proves how little I throw away. I cut 1 1/4" strips for a tiny log cabin, so most of the scraps are less than that. If the pieces are bigger they have poly in them, have vleisofix on them, something spilt on them, or are otherwise unuseable. I waste Nothing! (Keryn sighs and rolls her eyes heavenward...)

Is it wrong to be so taken with this? Have I invented a new art form? Compressed Fabric Sculpture perhaps?

And before someone points out the large blue strip, I have one word to say to you.... Poly. Blechh.

In the interests of scientific research I decided to weigh my little creation.
Holy moly, three kilos! Now if you concede that a metre of fabric weighs roughly 125g, then allowing for wind speed and relative humidity, that works out to ..... 24 metres of scraps!! If I choose to collage them onto a wall, which I don't care to.

Art, science, sewing, I explore it all. I must be a renaissance quilter, what an enquiring mind I have- either that or the heat has got to me!

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I sewed the borders on my Antique Blocks, and now I'm pulling fabric for the backing. The colour in this photo isn't very true to life, it's far too pink but you get the idea.I've now got a huge pile of tops and backings ready for quilting, I'm going to have to tackle some of them soon. I can't believe how many tops I seem to have finished lately, but there's still a lot more waiting.

It's been absolutely stinking hot, more the weather we get in the middle of summer than our over-warm spring. Hopefully it will cool down a bit before summer really hits, it's not nice quilting in this heat.

The other day we were sorting out some tubs full of old projects and deciding which ones would be worth finishing. We evidently took so long that Dolly thought she'd have a little nap on Keryn's feet. She is very much like a cat, she'll curl up anywhere and go to sleep, and preferably right in the middle of what you're doing. We had to just sit and chat for a while so as not to disturb her, she looked so comfy.

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I've decided to call this quilt "Surprise Party", thanks for the idea, Pam.

It's been quilted and is in the binding pile at the moment, so it's on it's way to being finished.

The backing was made from a pile of fairly yucky fabrics, cut into 10 1/2" strips and 6 1/2" strips. I sewed them into looong lengths and cut them off as needed. It went together quickly and used up a lot of fabric, which is just what I wanted.

And remember my Leader-Ender that I refused to race ahead and finish? The centre is in one piece now, Hurrah! K eryn thinks it isn't big enough and it's not symmetrical either but that doesn't bother me.
I've loved this project, but I'm ready for a different leader-ender. I think that may only turn out to be a pieced border for this, but that's fine with me too. I'm drawing ideas out on graph paper and fiddling with measurements so that's keeping me interested and every step brings me closer to having this totally finished. It was a great pattern to sew and pressed beautifully, I love it when it goes together so neatly.

So many squares, and all of them cut individually, no strip piecing in this at all. Three lots of old dusty pinks gone from the stash and gallons of scraps, gosh it's a good feeling!

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Thankyou for all your kind wishes for Macca, he seems to have no troubles now that the thorn is gone, and the antibiotics have cleared up the infection. Staffies must have a high pain tolerance, they certainly are a tough breed.

This is a top I finished, using some orphan blocks from the bushfire quilts.
I had five 16 patch blocks leftover, and some pastel rails, so I combined them all into this low contrast design. It looks quite randomn, but is actually twelve blocks, which made construction easy. I have to piece a back for this now and quilt it and then send it off. We've still got a few donation quilts to put in a box, but most of them have all gone.
Wow that used a lot of fabric, I was really scratching to find pastels to finish this off. My stash has been thoroughly weeded out since I started making the donation quilts, and there's not a lot of 'expendable' fabric left. Most of what is left I really love, so that was an added benefit. When I open the drawers now it inspires me because it's all beautiful stuff, and not the dribs and drabs I'd saved for years.
And it makes me want to start Cutting! Time for some new projects I think, I've been very good about finishing old stuff, so I figure I deserve a little treat now.

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We had a lovely day trip with the patchwork group on Monday, lots of laughs and a few bargains gained. I haven't taken a picture of the huge bagful I bought home, and I've got no where to actually put it once I've unpacked. I need to thin the drawers out a bit I think!

This is Tricia's, the first place we stopped, and everything was so cheap I went a bit overboard. There was another aisle like this and a room full of flannels and backings and homespun, amazing.

Who can resist fat quarters at that price, instead of $5.95? Not me. We went to another shop and then to a garden centre, and didn't get home until 7 that night. A good day out.

Macca has been having trouble lately with an infected foot. We took him to the vet a fortnight ago, and they made a cut trying to find a grass-seed or something that was causing the infection, but nothing showed up. Antibiotics helped for a week, and then it swelled up again and it was obviously still infected. He's so tough that he was still racing around on it, sometimes with blood pouring out, but nothing would slow him down. Today he went back again and they put him right out and did some more surgery, and this is what they found...



An acacia thorn nearly half an inch long that had gone in between his toes and worked itself up his foot. Poor boy! As we were leaving the vet said admiringly "That's one very nice dog you've got there", and I agree. At no time has he been grumpy or touchy or nasty with the other dogs, and he must have been in pain all the time. Good old Macca! I hope that his foot heals well and that's the end of his troubles.

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My 'antique' blocks are set together and awaiting borders, but nothing jumps out of the stash as a likely candidate, so I might have to go looking for something in the shops.

These blocks were all handpieced, and I loved choosing my best fabrics for them. The sashing is a deep crimsony-pink rather than the red in the top photo, and I'm really pleased with how it turned out. It just took me about six years longer than I thought it would.
Keryn and I and the patchwork group are off on our annual excusion tomorrow, so I'm hoping to come home with a few border pieces for my problem projects. We're leaving at 7.15 in the morning, so I'm off to bed soon, no sewing for us tonight.

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The border is on the double 9-patch and a very boring top it's turned out to be. I absolutely loved making these blocks from the never-ending bags of strips from the patchwork shop, but the final result is a bit dull. Nothing to shout about, but at least it can be finished now, and probably donated to the bushfire quilt cause. But I've emptied another project box, and that IS something to celebrate!
I do plan to make another quilt using this pattern, it's so simple and satisfying to do, and the nine-patches make excellent leader-enders.

Sally wanted to know the proper name of the blocks I showed in the last post, but I don't know of one. I drew this on graph paper many years ago, as a variation on something else I was making. I've only ever called them my "Antique" blocks, because I wanted them to look old. I would be just as interested to know if they have a 'proper' name.

I set them into one piece this morning, and now I have to puzzle over borders. I'll take photos today and show you the results soon.

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We had a hurried trip to Adelaide to deliver the quilt on Friday, and found ourselves with half an hour to spare before setting off home. We decided to visit a well known patchwork shop and see if we could surprise a blogging friend, but alas, no luck. We forgot it was school holidays and Tazzie wouldn't be there, but at least we know the way now.

Rob and Elisa are on holidays and came for a visit yesterday, it's so lovely to see them both again. They stayed the night and are doing the rounds of friends today while we teach another workshop at the hall. (That's three in one week, plus the show quilt, we're both exhausted)

I've been trying to fit in bits of sewing in odd moments; I have an old pile of double 9 patches finally set together and waiting for borders..



Another set of old blocks nearly set into rows...

And some bindings made and put away for whenever I can get to do some quilting for myself.


We'll have an early tea with Rob and Elisa tonight and I might be able to fit in some sewing after they leave, or I might just collapse into bed!

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We've been so busy the poor blogging has suffered and I'm totally sick of the last post being up for so long. I've been doing some Big customer quilts and trying to stay within deadlines and I'm ready for a holiday right now.I can't show you the front of this quilt because it may be in a show soon, but the quilting is more obvious on the back anyway. There were quite a few 12 hour days in this, and my feet are aching at the thought of more working at the machine. This was all done freehand, including the ditch-stitching, except for a little corner motif that Keryn put in with the Statler. I had fun with the designing of the patterns, and would have enjoyed the stitching apart fom the deadline.

Now I can breathe a huge sigh of relief, get ready for the workshop we're teaching tomorrow, and then dash down to Adelaide on Thursday to deliver the quilt. It's not dull around here at least.

I know I've been doing too much stitching when I start thinking longingly of attacking the housework- right now I'd love to have a couple of hours to wash my floors and clean the bathroom. I must have really overdone it this time!!

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This has been the strangest winter, I think we've had more storms than in the past few years put together. This last one was a doozy, and a cross between a rain storm and a dust storm. The light was so weird that people were just standing in the street staring at the sky and the yellow brown clouds. I tried to take some photos just before the rain came pelting down and it was so dark the flash on my camera was going off. No time to fiddle with settings, I barely made it back inside, and then we had several leaks to deal with in the workroom.
We've had lots of rain too, so the garden should appreciate that; now if the winds would go away I'd be quite happy.

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Here is the old quilt I based my Skinny Cross on. Not much to go on really, the colours were terrible and the photo quality poor. I completely left out the brown and black blocks, they didn't add anything to the quilt in my opinion.
But sometimes you only need the tiniest spark to give you an idea for a whole quilt, and that's what happened here. I saw a way to use up all my old pale florals, and it worked. All gone now.
This quilt has been hanging around for years, and has had so many fabrics auditioned for it and rejected.
For years I've been buying madder fabrics and have enough for four more tops at a conservative estimate. Keryn's thoroughly sick of hearing me say "Oh, this fabric might go in my Madder quilt..."
But finally it's in one piece, for better or worse, and ticked off my list. Good heavens this top is big, one of the biggest I've made, and I was wracked by doubt all the way through. Why was I making it so huge? I don't know, sometimes the quilt dictates it's own dimensions, and I just have to shut up and go along with it. Not that I don't argue all the way and dig my heels in..... The quilt usually wins, so I should just go with the flow and do as I'm told, sigh.

Once again it was based on an old ebay quilt, but I think the photo is lost in the mists of time, so I can't show you.

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The doors and windows top has borders, and I have to piece a backing for it now. I have this plan to make the backing and binding as soon as I've finished piecing the top and I've been good for the last three tops. I still have to quilt them but at least everything is prepared.

This is my latest finish, a Skinny Cross based on an old quilt on ebay. It was very shabby and faded, and there were a few black blocks mixed in with the soft florals and sprigged prints. I couldn't bring myself to replicate it to that extent, so I made do with some old but pretty fabrics in my stash.

I find these old florals too busy to use in my usual style of top, so I put them all into this one. Whatever was left I cut into 9 1/2" squares and pieced the back from them. It used up every bit of them;- I was scratching at the end and had to actually piece some blocks to get enough. I weighed the top and backing afterwards, and according to that I used 8 metres of material. How wonderful to get that all out of the stash, some of it had been hanging around for nearly thirty years!
There isn't much contrast between the blocks and the setting fabric, but I liked this effect. It reminded me of soft English quilts made out of sprigged cottons, and it looks very light and airy. If I get it quilted soon it will be my summer quilt, and I have some vintage blue and white pillowcases that would go very nicely with it. I can see it already.

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