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.