A quilt finish that I forgot to post

I finally finished the binding on this quilt and completely forgot to blog about it. The pattern is called Vivid Grid, and was from the Spring edition of 2017 Quilts and More Magazine. 

I now have a massive pile of quilts to donate and it ended up in the pile without being photographed first.  I think I have said before that this block is much loved by me a) uses 2.5" strips and squares b) easy pattern to follow c) makes a decent size bloc and c) looks good no matter what colourway you use.

This is a variation on the original pattern though, as I added sashing and red cornerstones, so the plus signs stand out more.  I dont like excessive background fabric normally, but that is my own fault as I normally use white.  I am super pleased with this bright blue and wish I had brought more. 

The weather was ridiculously warm for a short spell August, to the point I had to wear shorts while I was gardening.  So adding a few garden photos to my post which has been sitting in draft mode for more than a month, apologies, full time work and family (plus domestic drudge, gardening and a bit of sewing) have been taking priority.

 

Happy quilting Sue.

Falling charms finished in red and Spider-man!

Another one of my kids charity kit quilts that someone else sewed up.  There is a small mistake in the pattern in one corner, but its such a lovely quilt that I am sure nobody will mind.  

 

I had no hand in making this fabulous Spider man quilt, but wanted to show you how easy and fun kids quilts can be with a bit of homespun and a panel.  I have no idea why I need to convince you, because its me with the panel collection!! LOL I will get around to them one day!

This was a kit from my stash (still regretting the dark purple strip) using a pastel pink background and backing donated from my mothers stash, sewn by a member of our quilting group Pam, then quilted and bound by another member Denise.  I am very pleased by the result, but not this photo - it was a very dark cold winters day and the colours are not this dark.
Quilt photos are very rare at my place now as the pile of charity quilts to finish dwindles and my own sewing output is nearly zero.  I am enjoying my new job, but just not enough hours in the day to do any sewing as well.  Weekends yields a little free time that I have ended to spend in the garden when the weather was nice - I am blaming being cooped up inside non stop!
Happy quilting Sue

Winding ways to blue and white quilts.

I splashed out months ago and purchased a new die - Winding ways for my Go cutter.  I hadn't used it, but  a cold blustery day drove me into spending the day inside rather than gardening.

   I used a scrap of old navy blue fabric with some gorgeous shirting yardage.  It was less then ideal (block was too small), so I tried a different setting on my needle and another scrap of blue - Voile it worked perfectly!  Piecing curves used to scare me, but not any more!  Getting the centre perfect is going to require some unpicking, but thats OK as the rest of the block goes together fairly easily.

So now the production lines commences and a new quilt is in progress!

Blue and white quilts has been on my mind for awhile - as images were popping up online and I was sewing miles of binding on these two beauties.

I have made this pattern, in this colour combination before, as well as a autumn toned version.  Its a great scrap quilt pattern and easy to sew.  But I just had this fixation that I had to get rid of those pre cut 5" squares and 5 x 2.5" rectangles. .  

So when the larger sized quilt was finished and there was still a pile of squares and rectangles, I just kept sewing!  There was a whole lot of searching through scrap bins for  neutrals, to get it finished, but I got there in the end.  Simple quilting, scrappy binding and using up some much loved backing resulted in a great finish, I am really happy to donate these as teenage quilts for a children's charity.  

Happy quilting Sue.

Pink HST and Australian baby birds

Rummaging through the orphan bin I found lots of scraps but very few orphan blocks.   The find that excited me the most was a bag of pink half square triangles.  Some were made and others were still in pieces, but there was a decent amount, so there was the temptation to do something with them immediately!  I tried to make a pattern but there wasn't enough, so went with random scrappy layout.

The squares finished at 3", so I managed to get a 24" square finished top, which is the right size for a neo natal top.  I am very pleased, but there were left overs and I am trying to get rid of scraps!  

Sew I made a little dolls quilt 12" square and quilted it straight away.

I found a scrap of flannel for the back and pieced some wadding left overs.  These little quilts give me a lift, because they are quick, scrappy and fun!  Who doesn't love hot pink dots!

We were  away a week and came home to discover the New Holland Yellow Winged Honeyeaters had nested in my white lavender, right next to the clothes line.  The fledglings are very cute, but very close to the ground, so hoping the neighbours cat stays away.

These are fledglings of Eastern Rosella and Crimson Rosella parents (it is unusual for the two varieties to cross breed in the wild), nesting in our purpose built nesting box on the rear of our 1 acre garden.  You can see the cuts in the box and  wire on the right, so the young can pull themselves up out of the box and peer out the entrance hole.  This is purposely built high, so they are strong and feathers matured enough to learn how to fly.   Otherwise they play Superman and might not survive. their first flight  

Happy quilting Sue.

Baking and binding

I finally got this little Very Snuggly quilt quilted, simple straight lines through the blocks, stitch in the ditch around everything and stipple in the border.  When the weather was cool, I sat and hand stitched the binding at night while watching TV, which was lovely and peaceful!

We don't really have a tradition of Christmas cookies in Australia like the North Americans seem to, but I still end up baking a lot at Christmas time!   

Un cooked gingerbread people and sheep!  DS1 needed a plate for a class party and I personally have a tradition of making gingerbread with the kids.  DS1 helped with rolling and cutting, but was over it by the time it came to decorating (end of year tired), so I got to have all the fun!  No photo, but they had Go Hawks (footy team) and baa written on them!

There was a different party for the kids that competed in the HPV team.  This was a few weeks ago, and the night before I agreed to make chocolate cupcakes knowing that we had left overs for a easy and quick tea.  I then went overboard and made proper butter icing and decorated the cupcakes with the reindeer theme.  I just wished I had known about the little tubes of icing you can get, because these would have looked even cuter with a dot of brown icing in the marshmallow eyes.  Still the kids could not have cared less, all 24 were eaten on the day!

Happy quilting Sue.

I spy quilt finish

Generally when I need mindless sewing I don't quilt!  

But this quilt had been pinned for at least a month and it go the better of me.  Stitched in the ditch everywhere except the border where I stippled.  I changed my Bernina BSR foot attachment from transparent to open toe and found it much easier to see.  Plus did the stippling in the daytime, so the light was better.  

I will be donating this quilt to Very Snuggly Quilts (Victorian Quilters) program, but only after I deal with the threads on the back!

Happy quilting Sue.