Market Season

I've been away from my blog for a while.  I only participate in markets at Christmas time because they seem to take over all my spare time and energy.  I love them, and I do make a few dollars for Christmas from them, but most other things get put on hold until I finish them.

Quilts for sale.

This was at the Art Show market, I had a great time with the other stall holders.

A few pouches and Santas.

Everything is cuter with a bird!

The pillow didn't sell, I'm going to gift it to my daughter.

These came home with me but I sold some at another market.  I'm always tempted to 'reinvest' the money in more fabric, but I've been good this time!

Happy Swapper!

How happy was I to receive my Mouthy Stitches 2 tote!  It is so me, my partner did a wonderful job!

I was able to get outside and take some photos this morning.  You can't really tell from the photos (I'm afraid it was a very bright day so photos are a bit ordinary) but the pink background is actually a gorgeous upholstery weight fabric, it gives the bag fabulous texture.  The actual postage stamp patchwork is so cute, it includes a sweet Heather Ross mermaid and a green Kerchief girl (one of the colours I haven't got!).  

The lining is this adorable spotty fabric and my partner has even sewn in one of her own labels.  Ceri, or Mish Mash Mama put so much work into my tote, I am so happy with it and I've been using it already!

We also included a key fob, and have a look at this.  It's a little macaroon purse with a clip for keys!  It's too cute for me to attach to my keys, I'm sure I'd wreck it so I'm going to attach it to something else when I've stopped picking it up and admiring it every few hours!

Thanks so much Ceri!

Mouthy Stitches 2 Flickr Swap

I have loved being part of the Mouthy Stitches 2 swap over on Flickr!  We all had to make the same simple tote bag but piece/applique/quilt at least one panel to our partner's tastes.  

According to my partner's lovely mosaic, she liked scrappy and 'quilt as you go'.  So this is what I made.

I tried to take an arty photo with my extremely non arty clothes line in the background.

The reverse of the tote.

The pattern is for a reversible tote, so I chose this gorgeous Prince Charming Spotlight drill for the lining.  I've also made my daughter a pair of pj pants out of this print.

I received an email today to say that Ceri (Inspired By Felix) has received her tote and that she loves it!  I am so pleased!  We also made a key ring but I forgot to take a photo of it.

I've received my fabulous tote, and as soon as I get some nice weather I'll take some photos.  I really love it!  So glad I signed up for this wonderful swap.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Amy's inspiring Blogger's Quilt Festival is happening again!

Great timing for me because my fabulously creative niece Evie, who is 12 years old, and her friend Maya took some really nice photos of my Tangerine and Lime Wonky Cross Quilt.  We were all at the local Art Show last weekend where Maya's mum Tina and I both had booths in the Maker's Market.

They took off with my quilt and got busy.  These two photos are on the stairs leading to the stage.  They show off the wonky cross blocks and the bright colours of the quilt in such a great way.  When I started this quilt it was orange, grey and had a little bit of black in it - the Denyse Schmidt Greenfield Hill fabrics.  These colours looked fine but I thought it was lacking something.  My quilty friends recommended adding either aqua or lime.  I loved both of these suggestions but ultimately decided on lime - probably because I knew I had some nice lime fabrics in my stash!

This picture is my quilt hanging over the handrail of the stairs.  As well as some solids, there's some more Denyse Schmidt (some of her Spotlight/Joanne's patterns), some Aneela Hoey Sherbet Pips puppies, Patty Young's gorgeous bees from her line Flora and Fauna, and crabs from Going Coastal by Emily Herricks, as well as various fabrics from my stash.  I also made a pieced backing using some of the solids, an orange Denyse Schmidt print and the Going Coastal fabric.

This is a close up of a few of the blocks taken by me back home, showing the simple stipple quilting I sewed all over the quilt.

I love wonky cross quilts so much!  This is my third, and I think there's at least one more in my future.

I had to include one of Wombat on the quilt.  He's so cuddly and loves to bask on any quilt he can find.

Details of the quilt are:

Size is 60" x 60"
Quilted by me on my Husqvarna
Best categories are Favourite Quilt Photographer (for Evie and Maya's lovely photos) and Favourite Throw Quilt.

Art Show & Market!

This weekend is the Wimmera Art Show in Horsham.  Opening hours are Friday night from 6 to 10, the official opening event, then Saturday from 10 to 4 and Sunday from 10 to 3.  They have a great little market there too.  I'll be there with my quilts and other crafty creations!

There's going to be some great art on display and a few other stalls offering all sorts of fabulous stuff, including Courtney and her furniture and Pam and her jewellery.

It should be a fun weekend!  If you are in Horsham this weekend, call in to the Town Hall and say hello, I'd love to see you!

Fabric Fusion Quilt

My friend Kaye made this gorgeous FunQuilts pattern.  She used the leaders and enders method and heaps of lovely colourful scraps.  

We took some photos in her pergola on a very sunny day, so the colours here are a bit bright.  This picture shows the a little of the lovely quilting done by another friend, Vicki Jenkin.  Vicki has a long arm business and does a wonderful job.  This pattern was a simple curved zigzag.

Here's Kaye with her quilt!  She used a solid grey for the sashing and a fun stripe for the binding.  The pattern is free and called Fabric Fusion.

Kaye's other great love in life (aside from her three boys and husband!) is Ruby, her pup.  Ruby had just been to the clipper in this pic so looks shorn but she is a real sweetie.  That face is adorable!

Tonight's sewing

I finished quilting my orange, lime and grey crosses quilt tonight.  Feeling very content I popped the quilt on the couch ready to sit down with a drink and take all the pins out of the edge, and sew in the thread ends.  When I returned from getting a drink, look what I found.

Wombat is my lovely rescue cat.  He turned up at a friend's house as a tiny kitten, too young to be away from his mother really.  When my daughter saw him she simply wouldn't put him down, so he came to live with us. He had lots of health problems as a kitten, and still has regular trips to the vet.  He is such a character and has eased some of the upheaval of Indy leaving home and me living on my own.  I love that he follows me around and is always investigating anything new that he finds, including newly made quilts!  Now of course I can't move him as he looks so cosy and adorable.

I guess I'll have to find another project to work on tonight.

Blogger's BOM Catch Up

The final Blogger's BOM block has recently been posted.  I am a fair way behind but managed to make these four blocks a few weeks ago.  

This block I actually made about three months ago but hadn't posted here.  It's not my favourite block, I think I should have used fabrics with more light and dark values (instead of all medium).  It will look good once it's surrounded by the rest of the blocks I hope.  It was designed by Quilt Dad.

I really love this block.  It was provided by Amy at Diary of a Quilter.  I think a whole quilt of these would look sensational.

I like the fussy cut tortoise in the centre of this block but think the whole block may be a bit busy?  The instructions for making this one can be found at Cluck Cluck Sew.

I really like this block too, it's from Mrs Schmenkman Quilts.  That means I've made eight blocks and have five to go.  I've got a couple of markets soon, so won't be able to get back to it for a little while but I'm excited that I am over halfway!  I am looking forward to seeing how it will all go together.

I'm very tempted to join Lori Holt's Row Along, another free quilt along at Bee In My Bonnet.  I adore Lori's quilt designs and her fabrics as well (she is a designer for Riley Blake and her fabrics are so lovely).  I should really finish this quilt along before I start another though, shouldn't I?  I love quilt alongs and find them very hard to resist!   There are so many patterns and ideas that I'd love to make, I'm surprised really that I have time to go to work!  I guess I have to pay for the fabric somehow.

Modern Scrappy Bits Swap

I have been known to sign up to too many swaps and bees, and stressing myself out with deadlines and worrying about what to make for partners.  I swore off swaps for a while, but was pleased to sign up to the Modern Scrappy Bits Swap a few weeks ago over on Flickr.  It was a simple swap, we made our partners a zipper pouch or pincushion and added scraps from our own stash.

This is the pouch I made my partner.  She asked for a pouch that she could store her paper piecing in.  I loved making this fussy cut panel, and then used linen for the background.

I love this measuring tape trim on the reverse.

The pouch all ready to post, filled with some of my scraps.

The scraps I sent - I have to admit it didn't make any dent in my scrap basket!

Here is a link to a pic of the adorable pouch I received from Lee, she called it 'Thar She Blows'.  If you click over to the photo you will see why - it is so lovely and I feel so lucky!  I thought I'd taken a photo myself but I haven't - I will rectify this next time the weather is good for taking photos.  I enjoyed this swap so much, and now I've signed up for another one - Mouthy Stitches 2.  We are all making the same basic reversible tote for our partners, however one side of the tote must be pieced keeping in mind our partner's mosaic and what information we can discover about our partner by stalking them on Flickr.  I can't show you my partner's mosaic as it is a secret swap but you can click the link to see my mosaic, I can't load the photo onto my blog tonight for some reason.  I am so enjoying this simple swap, working out what design to sew for my partner.  I have a few ideas and I'll be doing some sewing soon.

Scraps!

I've been wanting to make a quilt using newsprint fabric for some time but hadn't been able to decide on a pattern.  Then I read on Bonnie K Hunter's blog about her leaders and enders challenge for this year.  Spool blocks!  I couldn't get my fabric out fast enough!  

Then I read that her blocks are only 3.5".  I want to make a reasonable sized quilt, and the thought of hundreds of tiny blocks made my head spin.  I decided to make my blocks 4.5".  I'll still need heaps of them but I think this is more realistic for me!

I bought the newsprint fabric from Spotlight.  It's adorable, and not too expensive.  I've already been back and grabbed some more!

The trick to making leaders and enders quilts is to be organised and have the pieces cut out well in advance, and keep them next to the machine ready to sew.  It takes me a long time to complete one, but it is very gratifying to watch them grow as you make other quilts.

I hope to use a heap of different scraps so that my quilt is very colourful, with the background giving it some calmness.  I am not a huge fan of 'scrap vomit' quilts, I find them too busy.  Some quilters are able to make beautiful scrap quilts, I am never confident with lots of colours and different fabrics.

Here are my first few blocks.  I love traditional blocks made with modern fabric.

My friend Sue is also sewing along, she is going to make the smaller size block.   We are going to keep each other on track.  We live a long way from each other and it is so nice to be sewing along together with this project.  Quilting friends are the best friends!

A Gift And A Few Films

Every year I take a few day's off work and travel to Melbourne for the Melbourne International Film Festival (MIFF).  I see as many films as I can, usually 12 in a week.  I love movies and it is such a treat to see some international films that may never be shown on the big screen anywhere else in Australia, let alone our small country town.

I stay with a lovely friend and I like to try to take her a handmade gift.  Last year I gave her a quilt, which was also a thank you gift for helping me by looking after Indy during the floods.  I was pleased to discover that she still has it on her bed and loves using it.  This year I made her a zip pouch.

The fussy cut dog is the closest I could find to her own dog.  He is so sweet (I mean the real one, although this Heather Ross dog is cute too). 

I am loving text prints at the moment and fussy cut this little phrase.  I included a couple of coffee cups as she loves her coffee.  

The lining is a ticking that my sister found at Ballarat Patchwork.  It matches nearly everything.  I would love some more!

I had a great time, only walked out of one film and can recommend most of the others.  My favourites were The Sessions and Jayne Mansfield's Car, and both of these have Hollywood actors in them so they are fairly likely to be aired at more places.  I'm already looking forward to next year's Festival, for me it is so relaxing to disappear into a dark theatre and enjoy a good movie.

Swedish Cobblestones

How did I go last weekend with my long list of things to do?  I finished one quilt top, quilted my Step in Time quilt, started and finished a back for my wonky cross and worked on a few blocks for my mother's quilt, Improv by the Sea.  I've got quite a few blocks made for this but still seem to have a long way to go - tonight I intend to actually draw up a rough sketch to work out how many I will really need!  Yes, maybe I should have done that before I started.

The quilt top that I finished is Cobblestones from Alissa Haight Carlton's book, Modern Minimal.  I've called mine Swedish Cobblestones because I've used some Stockholm fabric by Robin Zingone in mine.  As with all the quilts in Alissa's book, the original was made using all solid fabrics.  I decided to use a few pieces of these fabulous prints.  I bought half yard pieces so I still have quite a bit left for another quilt.

Red and pink is one of my favourite colour combinations.  The improv panel in the centre was time consuming to piece but so effective.  The rich pinks are so gorgeous.

I still have to trim the threads off my Step in Time, and bind it.  Tomorrow at our Sunday Stitchers day we are making a large overnight bag - I've cut out my fabric so I'm hoping I can sew most of it tomorrow.  I'm also still eyeing another pattern from Modern Minimal that I am itching to start.  It really is a beautiful and very practical book which I recommend for everyone interested in quilting.

A more ambitious project

I've been enjoying Katy's quiltalong on Flickr 'Swooning on a hop along', where participants post photos and offer hints and encouragement to each other as they sew three different quilts designed by Camille Roskelley.  She's an amazing designer and it's well worth a look at her website 'Simplify'.   Katy's blog also has more information.  There's another quiltalong on Flickr, 'My Precious QAL', where participants are challenged to cut into their favourite fabric and make something.  Most of us seem to have fabrics that are too 'precious' to use, but isn't it nicer to see those fabrics made up and being used than to keep them in a bundle on a shelf?  Kelby is running this QAL and you can go to her blog to read more. 

Lots of quilters are joining up to a specific pattern quiltalong, and using their precious fabrics to make that design, so combining it with the My Precious QAL.  I've decided to make Camille's 'Swoon' quilt using a fat quarter bundle of fabric that I have had for years, Chez Moi's 'Posh'.  I think it was amongst  the first fabrics I ordered from the USA.  It's so old I couldn't find any good pictures to link to.    

The blocks are large at 24", and use nearly every inch of the fat quarter they are made from.  My quilt is going to be three blocks by three blocks.

I'm so happy to be using my precious fabrics at last.  I've kept them for so long trying to find the 'perfect' pattern, and I think this is definitely it!

I've nearly finished a fourth block, so I'm almost half way.  They do take a long time to put together, and I've been doing a fair few mistakes that need re-sewing.  Some of my seams are very scant, and some of my points are less than sharp.  I don't think it will be very noticeable once the quilt is made.  It's got flaws but I'm really happy with it!

Once the blocks are made they are then sashed.  I'm starting to think about the quilting already!  

Favourite quilts revisited

Have you ever finished a quilt, loved it, and known in your own mind that you are not quite done with that pattern?

I've revisited a couple of my favourites lately and have a couple of pictures of them as they progress.

This is Kate Conklin's 'There's a Square in There', made with an off white linen/cotton blend as the background and some citron green, grey and red prints.  I've quilted it in a square meander design, and used wool batting so it has more loft than most of my quilts, which have cotton batting.  Once I've finished the hand sewing of the binding I'll get some photos of the whole quilt.

I've wanted to sew another wonky cross quilt for a long time.  I love this block!  This pile is orange, grey and green blocks.  You can see a couple of cross quilts here that I made a while ago - I'm still not sure that I won't make another in the future!  For this quilt, I've made 28 blocks and need 36 so not far to go.  It's fun to make something so simple and effective with a gorgeous stash of fabrics!  All the fabric for this came from my stash too so I'm thinking that gives me a good excuse to go shopping :)

In an effort to keep things real, yes, that is my ironing board complete with the huge hole in the cover.  I've actually bought a new one but every time I think I'll put it on the board I decide I'd rather sew.  I've started using PicMonkey for my photos as I used to use Picnik, which has closed.  I love the effects that they offer, this is 'urban' and has that Instagram look that seems to be everywhere at the moment.  Realy cool isn't it!

Mini Showcase

I belong to our local craft co-op shop, The Makers Gallery, where I sell a few purses and zipper pouches and small things.  I was lucky to be chosen to have a mini showcase of my quilts this month.  Here's a few, well, a heap of photos.

A friend gave us the gorgeous old ladders to use, they look so good with quilts on them.

 My sister and her husband helped me set it all up, I think the zig zag quilt looks so good hanging on the wall.

 I finished the Through The Trees quilt (on the trunk) just in time for the showcase, I'll blog about it soon.

Again I just really think the ladder looks amazing.

 

 A small quilt I finished a while ago.  It's another gorgeous pattern by Elizabeth Hartmann, Frames. 

Seeing all my quilts displayed in this way made me feel quite emotional.  A lot of work, time and heaps of sewing fun went into making these quilts!  Anyone who is local can visit for the month of June, The Maker's Gallery is in the library building in town.  Hope you enjoyed this little look at my showcase!