I Love Summer!

After the coldest start to summer in over 20 years, the sun is finally shining! The cicadas are chirping and the parrots are certainly doing their bit in my feijoa trees. I'm trying hard to split my time between inside activities and outdoors jobs.

I stitched up all the offcuts from Swoon (I hate the wastage that comes from flying geese) into a big pile of HSTs....now I just need to decide what to do with them.

Swoon is basted and currently residing in the machine; my plan is to have it done by Christmas so I can hand stitch the binding while I'm away on holidays. My sewing machine has been giving me lots of trouble when I free-motion quilt (the bobbin thread catches), but apparently you can stipple with the feed-dogs up, and it seems to be working so far. The middle block is always the hardest!

The garden has completely come alive; the aggies provide a nice bit of colour against my in-need-of-a-paint fence.

Those tiny little tomato seedlings I rescued and planted have turned into mammoth plants, and they seem to be competing with a self-sown oregano plant.

There are little tomatoes hiding everywhere.

After no zucchinis last year, I've already got quite a few this year (and some of them are HUGE!).

My butter beans are already covered in flowers and tiny beans...hopefully they'll be ready by Christmas day.

My poor peach tree is so laden with fruit I've had to tie the branches to the fence to prevent them snapping off.

There are little figs tucked away.

I netted the blueberries this year and I actually get to eat these yummy little morsels.

The quinces are putting on weight, so we should have a nice winter crop.

The hibiscus are also adding a nice bit of colour against all the green.

So that's what is happening in my world at the moment. It's only 19 days till Christmas and I still have three markets to get through, and a bit of baking. Ive already baked (and eaten) a batch of shortbread....

A Spoonful of Swoon

Done!

Now I just need to find my quilting mojo...

Swoon Blocks 8 & 9

Block 8; love the contrast of the blue and yellow.

Block 9: Lucky last! Was worried there wouldn't be enough contrast, but it has turned out way better than I expected.

Swoon Blocks 6 & 7

Block 6, a yellow and green combo (and that spot on the yellow near the top is just some water from the iron)




Block 7; purple and blue combo. That purple is my favourite fabric from the collection.

Swoon Block 5

Another day, another block. I really do love the purple & orange combo.




Seam-Pressing
Like a lot of patterns, Swoon doesn't have any instructions on how to press the seams. If you're an experienced quilter it's not too bad, but if your a bit of a newbie, it can be a bit daunting. These are my tips.

HSTs: For the blocks that are half colour/half white, press towards the coloured triangle. For the block that is colour 1/colour 2, press towards colour 2 (the colour of your centre star). That way your seams will go together nicely when you make the corner blocks (shown below).

This gives you an idea of how I pressed the seams, starting with the HSTs as described above. I tended to press the seams in the direction they wanted to fall which helps minimise bulk.

The other component is the unit made of of the flying geese and solid rectangle. No matter which way you press the seams, they don't fit with the corner units. So I found it easier to press them open. There is still enough bulk in the seam to allow the seams to butt up against each other fairly well, without being too bulky.

Swoon Blocks 3 & 4

Block 3; not such a striking contrast but I love it anyway.




Block 4...its so sunny!

Swoon Block 2

Another block, and I LOVE this one. I'm not usually a fan of orange but it's quite striking against the deep purple.

Do you think Bella could be any more of a sticky beak?

Swoon Block 1

Boy is this block bigger than I expected! Lots of seams, and no pressing directions, but it seems to go together pretty well.

And it looks like this is my 300th post! I see a giveaway in the future...

Colour

The bit I find hardest about quilting is choosing colour combinations, even within a line of fabric. Sometimes I think two fabrics will go together, I stitch them up, and it just doesn't work. It's hard to visualise how the fabrics will look in a particular block before you've seen it.

I'm trying to pick 18 Central Park fat quarters for Swoon, and I'm finding that I'm really drawn to the purples and blues, but not so much a fan of the greens.

This is the first combination I had, but thought it might be too much yellow.


I subbed out one of the yellows for a brown.



Thoughts? Is there too much or two little of any of the colours? Do the combinations work?


Update: my latest combination...I think this works a lot better.

Swoon

Who doesn't love Swoon? This quilt has been popping up all over the internet since the pattern was released...and it's next on my list. I've had a bundle of Central Park stashed away and I think this might just be the right combination.

Sugar Twist is all quilted up (with no thanks to my stubborn machine) and ready to be bound....the end is in sight!