I really enjoyed completing these tops, and that was evident because I didn't let them sit in the cupboard for ages. I have so many projects awaiting decisions on borders that I think I must have some sort of problem, but I never lost interest in these two. The only real decision I made was which one would have the piano key border and which the checkerboard. 

The eagle eyed among you may notice this top is longer than the last photo of it. I had already decided to finish it at that size and added the final border of two inch squares but it really was too short. So I pieced another row of stars and sixteen patches and added the row of two inch squares to get it to this size. I like the way the top row of stars seems to float in the squares, if I make another top like this I'll bear it in mind.

Another thing that made finishing these easy was the way I constructed the little black borders.

They were only 1 1/4" cut and I added them to blocks of the pieced sections, piano key or four patches, in increments of 2"( the finished size of the pieces).  There are actually two black fabrics and I alternated them in random lengths, 12 1/2", 8 1/2" 6 1/2" as needed to get things to fit. It was very simple to make the borders the exact size they needed to be and there were handy seams on the body of the top to align everything exactly. A very painless way of putting two borders on indeed.

I have a collection of pale blue and purple fabrics, and now I'm wondering if I could do another version of stars in those colours. Hmm, or maybe I should put a few borders on those other projects
that are waiting...

Read more...

I thought I might have enough pink and black scraps for one top but they've proved very persistent and I made a second set of blocks  with the pieces leftover from the first. I've put borders on both of them now but haven't managed to photograph them yet.

 Strangely I'm not sick of the sawtooth stars or the pink and black scraps even now, but I have other projects demanding my attention. I thoroughly enjoyed playing with these colours, so different to my usual choices. I'm still not sure how I managed to accumulate so much of these light pink fabrics, I certainly didn't buy it all and hopefully I won't say yes to any more that comes my way!

Read more...

I don't know how many times I've heard people say "The world has gone mad! and indeed it seems so. There are security guards standing next to the toilet paper to stop fights and checkout staff are being assaulted in the supermarket of our nearby town. I've witnessed several incidents of sheer rudeness that makes me wonder at the nature of some people. Oh well, I'm trying to be cheerful and still chat nicely to others no matter what.

My DIL and I are sewing masks for a home cleaning company that can't get proper masks and for anyone else that wants them. It can't hurt, and leaves the proper ones for the people who need it most. We have extra "help" from two enthusiastic staff, who love to be in the thick of things.

Our wonderful coffee shop has been reduced to takeaway only, so no more long chats over a Vienna or long black. We'll keep supporting them for as long as possible; I hope they don't have to shut completely.

It looks like we're in for a very long haul here but it's worth it if we can spread the infection rate out. The news from Europe and America is appalling and my heart goes out to those who have lost someone.It's hard not to be apprehensive about the future but at least as quilters we can put our sewing skills to use and help with things like masks. We're lucky to have an interest that will sustain us in the months ahead and keep our minds and hands busy. While others moan about being bored we can get on with all the projects we haven't had time for!

Read more...

 I have a bolt of white fabric that wasn't the quality I thought it was going to be when I ordered it. That's the risk you take when buying large amounts, the actual bolt may not be exactly the same as the sample you were shown, especially with staples like homespun.  I wanted to make sure that the colours wouldn't shadow through when pieced and it seemed to be fine.. The final test was the quilting, but the fabric behaved nicely so I will be happy using it for my projects now. I'm still on the lookout for the perfect white, but I'll buy it in person next time.

I'm also trying out some of Keryns   pantograph patterns to see if I can choose some to replace the Baptist fans that I want to put on everything. It seems silly not to take advantage of all the lovely designs I have at my fingertips. I think this one is Sand Spirals and it quilted up very quickly.

These are seven inch blocks and were fun to do. I have a kit of them cut out in blue and white  as a more traditional quilt, but they're on the back burner for now. So many new things to distract me, I'm having trouble stating on track these days.

Read more...

One of the groups of fabric that I want to use up are the scraps of big florals that I've used for borders or setting blocks over the years. Some of them are gorgeous indeed, but the patterns are hard to use in smaller pieces.

Included in this collection of perplexing scraps are the 5" squares from charm packs, which usually have a feature fabric of a large floral or paisley. These are just tiny snippets of an allover large design, and sometimes you can only imagine what the whole thing looks like. Small squares with random huge flowers, or parts thereof don't exactly inspire a lot of ideas.

I was looking through my saved pictures, and suddenly realised that this pattern might be  a really good way to use those awkward prints. I can't remember where I saw this- it has NY study group on it but they seem more modern now. Anyway, I started cutting the charm prints into 4 1/2" squares,  made a few connecting blocks, and I was on my way.

After making a few of the Puss in the Corner blocks I realised I could also find a place for some other hard to use reproduction scraps, strange stripes and large dark florals that were big enough to be cut into the 1 1/2 by 2 1/2 " pieces I needed.  You really need yardage for some stripes to work well in borders or fussy cutting and I had scraps and odd bits that were too small for either. Even a fat quarter of something like this Jinny Beyer print isn't really useful unless you want to do some fancy cutting and tweaking.

However these stripes were exactly the right size to cut a 2 1/2" stripe, which was then cross cut into 1 1/2" slices. Likewise these stripes were chopped up and became the darks for the chain blocks.

I was so pleased to find a way to use these scraps,

and I felt even more virtuous about the fabric disappearing into this project.

In the box of border scraps were the bits from mitred corners, and wherever possible I sewed these together so that I could cut a square from them.

Most of the patterns are so busy you can't notice that seam anyway. More bits gone!

I decided I preferred it set straight instead of on point like the original, and I've sewed together about 1/4 of the blocks I'd previously cut . I was enjoying the half empty container of scraps, but then  Keryn gave me all the squares from her charm packs that she didn't want, so  I've got a lot more cutting to do!

Read more...

 I've never been one to say no to scraps when they're offered to me, nor can I pass by a bag of fabric in the op shop.  I regularly get tubs of stuff like this from Keryn who loses patience with her leftovers and is glad to see the back of them. I deal with them by steadily sorting and cutting until it's all filed away in containers, or put with groups of fabric I'm saving for certain projects.

 I boasted to Keryn late last year that I'd got all my scraps under control and that probably made the universe prick up it's ears and laugh. Within the last  two weeks I've accumulated a washing basket full of bits and pieces, from op shops and two huge bags of offcuts from the local fabric shop. Even Keryn couldn't resist two bags that contained lots of  Kaffe scraps to add to her collection.

I've spent hours happily going through all this muddle of colour and pattern, sorting it into piles and pieces to add to projects already started.

Keryn often says that I'm never going to be able to cut up my yardage because I seem to use my scraps exclusively, at least for the start of a project. I usually think I can get a few blocks from scraps, but  more often than not all them are made from the bits and pieces. It's wildly satisfying to find a place to use all these leftovers but I have a huge amount of fabric in large pieces that I need to address too. Keryn and I made a resolution this year that we would try to make inroads  into the precious yardage and use the larger cuts we've hoarded for so long.

I still fully intend to do that, after I've used this lot....

Read more...

 I seem to have several groupings of fabric that I've set aside because I want them out of my stash but I have no idea what to do with them. Such was the case with a heap of black florals from the 80's and 90's that had me completely stumped.

I was reading Monica's blog at Lakeview Stitching and there I found the perfect quilt to use them up, along with another group of material; pale florals and soft pinks and yellows. Bonus!

I had tremendous fun making the sawtooth stars and the very dated fabric seemed to take on a new charm when paired with some newer spots and stripes. It became a very pretty project which I'm anxious to finish.  I need to put the final round of sashing on and then a wider border of a fabric that Keryn declared was perfect for this. I'm hoping it will be my first finish for 2020.

Read more...

Today I got an email telling me a number of new people had subscribed to this poor neglected blog. It made me feel bad that there's been nothing new to see for so long and I often think of writing again. Keryn has been quite diligent about posting and sets herself goals to do more. I'm still having technical difficulties so that most of the time I just give it up as a bad job. Must try harder this year.

I read a quote last year- unattributed unfortunately, that said " We do not live as we would wish, but as we must"  and for me that has  meant putting my life as I knew it on hold when these two little monkeys arrived on the scene. I still spend half my day helping with them and their big sister so the rhythm of my days is nothing like it used to be. Quilting for others has taken a backseat but I still manage a few hours of piecing for myself each  day.

The twins (who as you can see are nothing alike) are two and a half and an absolute joy to be around. I'm spending my time  in 'caring for others'  mode, but I'm so grateful that I can help. I know that their need for me will lessen, and it will be playgroup and then kindy and after that school. Their big sister Isobel started school this year and I can't get over how quickly she grew up. Time with little ones, especially at my age is fleeting and I'm treasuring this opportunity to play such a big part in their lives. Quilting for others will be waiting for me when I can get back to it.

I've had very few finishes in the last two years, but a tremendous amount of piecing has happened anyway. Now I just have to put some of the blocks together instead of starting projects all the time. I've been storing up ideas and my list of "Must do"s gets longer all the time. Hopefully I can get some pictures soon.

Keryn and I often mull over how the direction of our lives has changed in the last few years. Neither of us thought we'd be where we are, doing what we're doing at our age. But we're happy and still doing our patchwork and being so involved with our grandchildren is a privilege many others would envy. So, forward into the new year, and see what it brings.....

Read more...

 Years ago Keryn gave me some scraps of a darkish pink and I kept them  together, meaning to use them all in a small quilt. Sometimes I scatter pieces throughout several projects and other times I like to keep them together.

When I saw this little quilt (on ebay I think), I decided it was the perfect vehicle and I already had a number of four patches waiting to be used.

There was just enough of the pink to make thirty blocks.

I found a suitable setting fabric

and a matching pink for the borders and binding. Finally, after about twelve years, the pink scraps have found a home.

The colour is a bit cold in these photos, the setting fabric is a nice warm brown, like the original quilt.

Read more...

These blocks had been sitting in the drawer for about fifteen years, if not longer. Keryn had made a heap of them and after piecing her top  these were leftover. They were hand-pieced, which indicates how old they are, machine piecing has taken over our sewing  for many years.

Neither of us can even remember the quilt she made or what happened to it. There were only about 35 six inch blocks and I certainly didn't want to make any more of them.

In my efforts to finish old projects I set them together with an alternate block to stretch them out and made this little top. It only took a couple of nights to get it in one piece, and now it's waiting for a backing to be pieced from scraps.

I've been shifting this pile of blocks around for so long, and transported them through at least three house moves, and suddenly, they've been dealt with!  I'm always amazed how little time the actual sewing takes; the time-suck for me is deciding what to do, agonising over setting fabrics, dithering about borders. I didn't allow myself those little indulgences this time and it all went smoothly.

However I had no real investment in this project, and no previous idea for the blocks. There are tops that I'm working on now that I'm really struggling with and the questions make my brain hurt. It's only hard because I care about how they turn out and want them to stay true to some vision I had for them in the first place.

 The trouble is I can't seem to make any progress at all because of the dithering, so I might have to rethink a few of these projects or I might be stalled forever!

Read more...

I had a photo of an antique quilt that I wanted to replicate and so I started this set of blocks in January 2017, hoping it would be a  quick finish.

The blocks were quick to make but then finding the 'perfect' pink for the sashes bogged the whole thing down. I must have bought four lengths of material at different times, hoping that this would be 'it' , I shopped Keryn's stash, I looked in every shop we went  to but I was never satisfied.

Eventually I decided to just use one of the pieces I'd bought, but then I discovered there wasn't enough, and I'd have to use a different fabric as posts in between the blocks. So I had to look for a Second pink fabric that went with the first....grrr. I'd bought the end of the bolt or I would have gone back and got extra because I really liked the look of the original sashing.

I hate it when something that is supposed to be simple turns out to be a major headache. I usually put the project in time-out and work on something else but this time I was determined to see a finish. I forged ahead, even though I wasn't happy with the way it was looking.

I had my finish to cross off  my list but I still don't like the darker pink squares. I've even found myself wondering if I should find yet another pink fabric and gradually replace those bits. Would that be a bit obsessive? Or should I just take this as a lesson to not rush into finishing something just to say it's done?

Read more...

I decided last year that I would try to clear out some really long-standing projects, and if I didn't want to finish them I'd chuck them out. Brave words, and they inspired me to finish quite a few, even if not exactly to my original vision for them.

Years ago I started these Spinning Rail blocks as leader enders, using 1 1/2" by 2 1/2" bricks. I had a drawer full of precut bits and this was an easy way to get rid of them.

After making dozens  I joined them into fours, trying to use similar colours and they sat like that for even more years. I was originally going to make a large bed quilt with them set on point but somewhere along the way I realised that it wasn't going to happen.

I put the finished blocks up on the design wall and while I kept the original idea of setting them on point I decided to make a small square top, just using whatever I'd already made. I chose a setting fabric without allowing myself to agonise too much, and then a border fabric that was leftover from another quilt and in a couple of days it was all done.

 I arranged all the lighter blocks in the middle and the darker ones in the corners and it worked out miraculously, with only two little four inch blocks leftover. I couldn't have planned it any better from the start.

Amazing, and now it joins the ranks to be quilted, another list that has spiraled out of control. Perhaps this year will be the year of quilting!

Read more...

I'm trying to get my head around the technical issues that have prevented me blogging for so long but it doesn't come naturally to me. I'm far more likely to just chuck the whole thing than try to nut it all out. There seems to be enough other problems to solve and this gets pushed to the side.

Keryn mentioned a while ago that I was working on Log Cabin blocks with strips that finished at 1/2". Julie started me off on them and I've been using them as leader enders for quite a while now. I think it's a great use for the teeny tiny scraps. I don't know how I'll set them just yet but I'm having fun in the meantime.

My records show that I finished eleven tops last year  so I'll try and get photos of them posted soon.
However a lot of my time is still taken up looking after these two darlings, not that I'm complaining. Lily is the blondie on the left, Mia on the right. They are very different, in looks and personality, but both equally gorgeous. They're growing up so fast, and are such a joy to everyone.

I'm going to hit 'Publish' and hope  this works!

Read more...