A finish.

I finished quilting and binding my nephews 18th birthday quilt today. The sun was out but it was windy so it was a bit tricky getting a good photo. It is squarer than it looks.

I am thrilled with how the straight lines of quilting have turned out. It has given the quilt a nice weight and feel.

The pattern is from Crazy Mom Quilts, and I really enjoyed making it. Great design for a gift quilt and easy to do.

I am finished a bit ahead of schedule, mainly because it's hard to do hand quilting at the last minute. This particular nephew shares his birthday with me, so it's extra special.

I hope you find some time to sew over the weekend.

Susan x

Quilting progress

After basting my nephews quilt on Saturday, I have started the hand quilting. I had planned to use a black perle but it was just too prominent, so black quilting thread it is. Thank goodness for my new Ottlite.......I can really recommend it, especially when sewing with black!

I am really pleased with how the rows look, keeping the geometric style. I will give his mum (my sister) a sneak peek tomorrow.

One thing I have learned from this quilt is that striped and pieced backings can be hard to work with lots of long, straight quilting lines. I started on one side instead of in the middle like I usually would, and so far it's going ok.

We were lucky to get 10mm of rain overnight..........not so lucky to have an invasion of very big moths, some of them were like small birds banging at the windows.

Susan x

Happy Mothers Day

If only every Sunday could be Mother's Day! I am having a lovely day being spoiled and I hope you are too. Thanks to Sharon's suggestion I will be stitching the nights away under my new Ottlite lamp....that doesn't look like a workroom lamp.

After lots of cuddles from the boys and a morning walk with hubby, we all went out for breakfast. Now I am sitting in the sun trying not to fall asleep.

Last night I pin basted my nephews quilt ready for hand quilting.

I love this card made by Mr 16.

My biggest decision for the afternoon will be when to eat the tiramisu made by Mr 11.......and how many servings to have!

I hope you are having a happy and restful Sunday too.

Susan x

FNWF

What a great night/day of stitching. I finished the top of my nephews quilt. The pattern is called Fair and Square from Crazy Mom Quilts. Sharon at Lilabelle Lane whipped up another quick quilt top from this blog last night too. It was a very easy pattern to follow.......will definitely use it again. Now I need to think about how to quilt it.

As it turns out I can show you my block for the nine patch swap, I'm just a little early. In 6 months time, 72 little nine patch blocks in a variety of reproduction fabrics will come back to me.

I also pulled out a UFO to finish for Chookyblue's quilt drive Caring With Quilts. It just needs to be quilted.

Unusually, I did not do a single stitch by hand yesterday, but I had a rather nice time with my machine. It really does speed the process up, but I guess you all know that already!

Hope you had a fun and productive night, enjoy the weekend.

Susan x

FNWF

Well here we are in February already, and time for FNWF. I am indulging in a whole day of Friday with friends, working on some different projects. You can link up at Cheryll's blog.

 

 

I started with my first set of blocks for the Traditional Nine Patch Swap. Twelve of these little babies, but they were so quick to make using strip piecing.......under wraps until the end of Feb.

 

I have finally made a start on the quilt for my nephew's 18th in August. The piecing won't take long, but the quilting might. The grey sashing is actually spotty, not plain.

 

And a little more Floral Beauty.

 

So lots to do here. Enjoy your night and the weekend.



Susan x

Works in progress

I was inspired by May Britt'spost about what projects she is working on this year. I'm sure there will be new projects and fabrics to catch my eye, but these projects are what I'm working on for now.

Finish quilting In Full Bloom before GDITC in March.

Make a start on The Simple Life fabric pack I got for Christmas.

Finish sewing down hexie border and quilt my Hexagon Star......by the end of the year.

Make a quilt for my nephew's 18th in August. Best get a move on with this one.

Floral Beauty. Loving it, and scared of all the needleturn, at the same time.

New Day stitchery.....finish by Mothers Day.

Make two runners for my new coffee table and buffet......soon.
Finish my little hexie bag before GDITC.
Stay up to date with the Traditional Nine Patch Swap.
I'm thinking about starting a clamshell quilt, but might wait until GDITC with Sue Daley.

I'll stop now, or this will become a very long list of all the projects I'd like to do.

I'm off to find a cool spot to stitch the day away.......now what should I work on first?

Susan x

Post Office Patchwork

I have wanted to visit Post Office Patchwork for a long time, and yesterday was the day. It didn't disappoint. Lots of lovely reproduction fabrics and excellent, friendly service. I was on my way to Sydney with Mr 15 for athletics so didn't have a lot of time. Still, it's amazing what you can do in 15 minutes!

Hmmmm...... the light isn't good for photos here in my "luxury suite" at the Formula One. Quite out of my comfort zone with grey, blue and black, but I think they will make a good quilt for my nephew. Don't ask about the Japanese Kofu roll I bought for that project at the Sydney craft show. Let's just say it's not happening.

Back to the shop....... I was served by the lovely Rhonda Pearce who made the Insanity quilt from 1/2" hexagons. The quilt was hanging on the wall - I didn't touch it in case I caught even more of the hexie bug. Stunning is an understatement. I got this pic from the APQ website.

I also saw the beginnings of Rhonda's Dear Jane. It is a project I have thought about starting since I bought the book a couple of years ago, but I always get stuck on what fabric to use. It was good to talk to someone who is just working on it as it comes, rather than planning out fabrics and colours for the whole quilt. Maybe........

On another shopping note, we went to the DFO at Homebush last night. Lots of great bargains, Mr 15 is kitted out for summer and I bought a complete set of beautiful Sheridan bed linen at 50% off - no bargains like that in Mudgee.

Have a great weekend.

Susan x

Just a little more.....

One of the main things on my Sydney shopping list was something to inspire a quilt for my nephews 18th next year. Fabric, a pattern, a picture, anything that would get me started. I had just about given up hope, but after going back to BeBeBold a number of times, I decided I could do something with this Kofu roll. It did come with a pattern, but I think I'll wait until I unroll it and see how it looks. Will still need to get border fabric, but that can wait for now. I made his brother a quilt using Japanese indigos, and I think they are really good for a masculine quilt. Hopefully this one will work out too.

Susan x