I've been an absent blogger of late, but I haven't been completely MIA from the media. One of my quilts is in the latest issue of Australian Patchwork and Quilting.
When the magazine contacted me to see if I had any hand quilting projects they could use, I had to cast my mind back, because I haven't been doing much 'hand anything' of late. Do you remember this tiny quilt? I made it for our guild show a couple of years back. The editor liked it, and the rest is history.It's in Australian Patchwork and Quilting, Vol 17 No 9. And as for specifics of the quilt, it's 17" square, and each individual applique block is 4" square.I'm working my way slowly through a huge pile of quilts - and I'll be back blogging more regularly soon. x o x
Last night I finished the last of the quilting on the teeny quilt. I then washed the quilt to remove all the marking lines and blocked it. I set it out to dry on a towel last night, and here you see it this morning.
The men have headed off now, so today when it's completely dry I'll add the binding. I'm so pleased to be so near completion one week earlier than expected. It means that I have extra time to work on other goals. I've actually completed one item on my goals list, and I always forget to mark it off. I'll mark it done when I mark this quilt off the list.
I'm working with the phone-camera again, as Marty has taken the d-camera with him, but I think the picture is okay ... just as long as I don't feel the need for close-ups this weekend, all will be well. Have a great day everyone!
A few people have asked to see closer pictures of my miniature quilt, and Fiona asked if I could show it with a tape measure. Well, of course I'm happy to oblige!
Here you see a couple of the blocks that I've already quilted. The basting stitches are still in place, and I haven't washed out the blue guide lines for the quilting yet.
I have quilted around the yellow part of each flower, and if I have time to do it, I'd like to quilt down the center of each leaf. Each day the deadline draws closer, so I'll do what I can in the time that I have.
Thank you to everyone for your lovely comments and encouragement regarding this quilt. It means so much!
Here is my mini quilt again, can you see the quilting lines in the picture?
Probably not ... I've been working away at it, and the top 6 blocks here are quilted, and I've started quilting on the block on the bottom right. The applique is outline stitched, and the background of the blocks is quilted in a 1/4" grid. It's slow going, but I have to get a move on, I have 2 weeks to finish it and hand it in! I'll need to get some more done today, or I predict some sleepless nights in my not too distant future!
I'm a night owl anyway, so I probably wouldn't mind!
Clearly in Australia, the onset of the hot weather is the prime time for wool and yarn shopping. I told you not so long ago about my 99c finds ... well, yesterday while out shopping, I stumbled across these little honeys for 50c per ball! Well, of course I had to have them! I would have chosen even more, but I have more than enough projects to take me through this spring clear through to next spring! The multi brown yarn is to start a scarf anew for my MIL. I'm just finding the other yarn too hard to work with on a deadline, so I'm going to put it away for now. The blue in front is for me! I'm a blue girl ... I will really appreciate a new scarf come winter netball season.In the picture at the top, you can see that I just couldn't resist starting a little of the scarf. I'm actually knitting it in a wide rib pattern, just for something a little different.
Amy was prowling around the house this morning looking for the cat, and look where she found her. I hadn't gotten to moving this quilt yet ... and Madaline is taking advantage of it! Gosh I don't like her being on the table like that, but I can't help but feel like she appreciates my quilting! *lol*
** Exciting news ... while typing up this post, I just had a call from our cabinet maker. He's just doing the last bits of our kitchen cabinets, and they're going to be installed sometime next week! How neat! I've been looking forward to more cabinet space for a long time! I'll share pictures when they're in! **
Happy Friday the 13th everyone! 13 is my lucky number, so it's sure to be a great day! x o x
Here is the better picture I promised. I won't type up a whole lot today as I've hurt my neck and left shoulder. I'm not entirely sure what I've done, but I know whatever I did woke me up from a deep sleep last night. Ouch!
The picture above is after the quilt has been pressed and the batt and backing fabric are in place, if you look carefully, you will also see the marking lines for the quilting.
Last night I put the first few quilting stitches in before I went to bed. Today I was thinking I would go to the quilt store and get a backing and batt for the 'Sunrise' quilt which needs to be quilted, it's on my list of goals. However, I don't think I'm going to be heading too far from home. Lucky for me it is hubby's day off today and he was able to drop the kids off this morning.
I have a number of questions from people I need to catch up on, so please bear with me, and I hope I can get to them tomorrow. x o x
I just couldn't wait one moment longer to share the top of the mini quilt with you. Please forgive the quality of the picture. Maybe I should have opened the blinds to eliminate the striated effect?? *s*
I've just washed the quilt, so I've laid it out to dry in the lounge. I normally wouldn't wash the entire quilt at this stage, but when I spritzed the blue washout marker away last night, a little section of the pink bled. Don't you hate it when that happens? Even after testing a snippet of the fabric! Anyway, all is now well, and when the quilt has dried off I'll give it a good press.
I finished the scallop border section last night, at 1o minutes to midnight. I just couldn't go to bed knowing that the top was so close to being finished. I'm really pleased with the way it looks, and thank you for helping me with the colour placement. I had originally thought to use the green as the sashing strips, and the pink for the outer border, but I feel like this way looks better ... good thinking girls!
When I have one, I'll share a better picture. *happy dancing*
Hooray for Blogger being back from its outage. I have a whole pile of blogs open ready for comments!
Just a quick share today, yesterday I attached the second row to my miniature. Just one row to go before I put the border on. Normally I wouldn't share such a tiny-step by tiny-step quilt progress with you, but this seems to take so long, so I wanted to let you know I'm still working away at it.
The green fabric I purchased for this quilt is so much fun, it has lots of different shading and interest across it, it adds such a lovely dimension to the leaves.
I have almost finished my 7th block today, so I hope by the end of the weekend I'll be ready to add the border. If I'm lucky, I may be able to get to some of the other items on my goal list. When I put the list together, I had no clue it would be so hard to achieve. I had so many more items on last months list, and achieved them so much faster. Amazing how life can just get in the way!
Hope you're all having a great week x o x
Thank you everyone for your help deciding which colour to use for the sashing. In my mind I had thought I'd use the green, but when I put the two together for the picture I wasn't sure. The consensus was definitely pink, so that's the way I've gone.
I really liked the suggestions of piecing a sashing also, but there is only one reason I didn't go for that. The sashing strips are only 1/4" wide finished, and playing with such tiny pieces would have done my head in! I didn't mention the size in my post yesterday, which I really should have done.
I'm glad you all swayed me toward the pink, as I really like the way it looks. I completed one more block last night, and I'm so looking forward to making up two more so I can put the next row on. The finished diameter of this quilt must not exceed 80", so as my quilt is going to be square, it must not exceed 20" square.
So, thank you all once again for your suggestions. You've all really come thru for me, I'm just super happy with the result!
No pounds lost for me this past week (too much eating out), but I still get to make some blocks *yay* I didn't get an opportunity to make my blocks from last week, so I'm looking forward to making them.
Also, I forgot to mention yesterday that I saw the Thimbleberries club projects for next year, and I really like them. I'm so flaky, I can't remember so much about it, but there are two colourways, and the one I like best is called 'Light and Bright'. The fabrics are just lovely. This year Cheryl received 5" swatches with the paperwork, so it was nice to be able to see the fabrics for real. Now, I think this is right, there is a main project, and 4 additional projects. Don't shoot me if I'm wrong, but the shop was super busy, and I was diverted chatting there. I'm going to participate in some way for sure ... whether it's as a student or a teacher I don't mind :-) If Thimbleberries is your thing, I'm sure you'll love it, so check it out!
Good morning everyone, or good afternoon or evening :-), I hope you're having a great weekend! We're having lovely weather, just perfect for being outside, so shortly I'm going to head out into the garden and do some planting.But before I do that, I have a decision to make, and I could use some help. I just can't decide which fabric to use as the sashing between my mini blocks. I'd like to put on some sashing strips this evening. I was first of all thinking that I would use the green, but now I think the pink may look prettier. Which one would you use? The final border will use a little of the pink, but will be mainly the background fabric. I look forward to hearing what you think.I have completed three blocks, done half of a fourth. All the circular wreaths are done, and most of the pieces are now cut out. It's still a lot of work to do, but I'm getting through it. I didn't think so at the time, but I didn't realise when I set my goals for this month, I'd set the bar really high! I hope I can get through them!
This picture is for Donna ... Linda's friend from CA, and now also my friend after my visit this year to the US. Linda, Donna, Karen, Liz, Gerri and I had the best time in Paducah, and I can't wait to return to see them all again. Donna requested in an email to see a picture of Cameron as I'd put one of Amy here a few days ago. This picture of Cameron was taken of Friday night. He and Marty had just finished putting together this go-kart (it's actually more of a soap box thing as it has no motor). An uncle won it ages ago and it's just never gotten assembled, and let me tell you, Cam loves this thing!
Yesterday I decided I really need to get working on my mini applique quilt. I have six weeks to finish it, so I need to get a move on!
I'm making a total of 9 blocks, and I've completed two so far, and I've appliqued the circle wreath of a further four. I love needle turn applique, so I find it's super fun to do. I don't even mind that they're tiny pieces.
These blocks will finish at four inches square. I cut the squares out at five inches, and when I've completed them, I'll press them and trim them down. There will be some sashing in between the blocks, and an applique border. I'll show you those as they're completed.
This morning was super fun, I noticed that Donna, Linda and Karen had jointly left a comment on my blog, and they were together for a class, so I surprised them with a call! I always love to chatter with Linda, and we talk often, but I hadn't talked to Donna or Karen since I saw them in the US so it was super to catch up with them! I think of them all often, and it's wonderful they're stopping by and visiting my blog! Hi girls, I know you're reading this, and I hope you had fun at your applique class ... I still can't believe it ... hand applique??
Here is my progress on the miniature block. It's starting to resemble something now :-)
I got one flower and a couple of leaves sewn on at quilt group yesterday, and not much more. That's not a lot of progress for 3.5 hours of quilt group, but we have such fun talking and laughing that I wouldn't mind if I never did anything there!
After the kids were in bed last night I did a little more, hopefully I'll finish this block today. Just a few more leaves, which are already cut out, then I'll press it and trim it back to the 4.5" that it needs to be.
I always find that after I've been working on a miniature, when I get back to regular piecing, it feels like I'm working with bed sheet size pieces. I felt that way after I'd worked on the DJ for such a long time too.
That's it from me, have a great day everyone!
Last night I started to work on my quilt for the guild show in November. I decided to enter a miniature again, and you see the start of my little quilt here. There will be 9 blocks, sashed with either quarter or half inch sashing strips and cornerstones, and then an appliqué border. I’ve put the square on my cutting mat so you can see the size and width of the wreath compared with the inch markings on my mat. I just measured the width of the circular section, and it's just on 1/8" wide.I love miniature quilts, and have been mega-lucky to have won the category for the past three years. I was blown away by the miniature quilts in the show in Paducah, they were just amazing! On the Saturday evening in Paducah, with two of my quilting buddies, we went on a walking tour through some of the homes in the downtown Paducah area. It was one of the most fascinating things I've done. At one of the homes, they were dressed up in Civil War era costumes ... fascinating ... but I digress ... In one of the last homes we visited, we bumped into Judy Day, a fellow Aussie quilter, who had placed 3rd in miniatures in the competiton in Paducah! Amazing work!
So, today at quilt group, I'll be taking along my miniature to work on, and taking along the Dancing Dolphin for show and tell. Some of my buddies there who know me so well will be amazed that it's finished!