it's not a quilt until it's quilted

I have just picked up 3 of my quilts from Annette @ Wildcotton Ltd.
They all look great!

We chatted about what patterns to use, batting selection and what colour threads would suit each quilt.
For one of the quilts I wanted a Bapist Fan, but as this proved difficult for the long arm quilting system, we settled on a variation..........

Here is the back of my Churn Dash / low volume quilt, a light hearted sweeping floral pattern .......

and for my favourite, "A quilt for Doris"  I chose a rectangular interlocking overall design, which turned out spectacular, and looks v. modern .........

So now that all the lovely quilting is done  (thanx Annette!!!) I will need to get on with the bindings this weekend.

Hottie Project

Our Monday Modern (MM) quilt group  has got increasingly more prolific as the year has progressed.  Each month we all make a block for the next person on the list.  I have just completed this months Bee Blocks - A Wonky Log Cabin block in solids for Cris and a Square within a Square sort of block for Lousie using a Tula Pink fabric as the focus. See the Monday Modern Quilt group for latest pics.
We have also intermittently contributed to other projects like this current one, making hot water bottle covers for the children in Christchurch. If you are interested, check out these sites.....

The Hottie Project page

http://biglittletales.blogspot.co.nz/p/the-hottie-project.html

The hottie cover can be simple or decorated depending on the fabric used and is very quick to put together. I have cut up a lovely tartan woollen blanket I purchased from the local Salli Armani shop the other day.
The only question now is, what am I going to do with the rest of the blanket????

Marcelle Medallion Quilt

The Marcelle Medallion Quilt has been on my to -do- list since buying the book by Alexia Marcelle Abegg. I had a little pile of leftover old Liberties and have recently purchased some more from newer ranges - Liberty Lifestyle & Bloomsbury. I 'll add other cotton prints of course to these Liberties to get a scrappy feel, aiming for a pink/teal/grey overall look when finished.  I guess I could throw in just a wee bit of red to help give depth to the pinks, but no orange and no white fabrics as it may make it all look a bit stark. 
That's the plan anyway, but as we all know, things change/evolve as we sew !!!! 

The centre star is pieced and quite vintage looking, and then there will be ten rows of borders.
I must admit the centre block was just a bit tricky (make sure you cut accurately & mark the pattern pieces!!).   It's made in 4 quarter units so by the time I got to the third quarter unit I was easily recognising the various pieces, and  it's amazing what a bit of ironing does!!!!
I ended up with the correct size block so that was a little bonus in life!!

I blame the fabric

The "master plan" was to have a few projects in mind & a fabric stash all ready for when I retire & am not getting an income any more (!!!),  but they keep on bringing out new fabric collections!!!!!   So I keep sewing!!!!

Patchwork fabrics are certainly much more glorious & diverse than years ago and even with this very simple quilt layout, the end result will please one certain person I know that for sure!!!!  I have used a combination of Denyse Schmidt fabrics, old & new, along with matching solids & it all co - ordinates with a larger piece of Valorie Wells/ FreeSpirit that I had & will use for backing fabric. 

People often ask me what do I do with my quilts????  I must admit, I usually start out making a quilt for no other reason than I just want to play with the lovely fabric!!!!   Lately thou',  as fast as I finish a quilt, it seems to find a special home real quick!!!  (one went to a doctor at work who was having a really rough week/ one went to my neice in Motueka who got married/ one went to a collegue who wanted a quilt for her granddaughter / and of course there are always lots of new babies needing quilts!!!)

Understandably there are some quilts that you just can't part with, but this particular quilt has someone's name on it already, & it still needs to be quilted !!!!!

What do others do with all their quilts?

scrapiliciousness.

Having a few things on the go at once seems to be my thing at the moment - some would say I shouldn't have cut down my hours at work!!!!!
I came across this easy Blocks & Stripes Quilt @  http://filminthefridge.com/tutorials/     and, always on the look out for ways to use up some of my favourite scraps, I decided to have a break from the retro flowers.
Her receipe -
....Take one piece of busy multi coloured fabric for the backing fabric
....then match it with some small prints for the quilt blocks
....and throw in a selection of solid fabrics that co-ordinate
....and sew.
I hope it works!!!!  Fingers crossed.

stuck on vintage!!!!

Over the past year I have been slowly collecting mis- matched Crown Lynn plates, dessert bowls & side plates. We use them daily & just chuck them thru' the dish washer.

 My favourite so far.....

Onto patchwork............I have been wanting to make a retro flowers quilt for ages now, so I tried to draw up the pattern myself,  but it wasn't looking too good!!!

And then  (thanx to the blogging network!) I found that I could simply order THE pattern!!! 

It arrived yesterday.

This morning was busy with a trip to the zoo with my granddaughter, but once back home I thought I'd give it a go however, it wasn't quite as simple as I had hoped!!  

Read all instructions before beginning... yeah, yeah.......

......You need to cut right & left face pieces, always cut a single layer at a time  (I didn't read this bit initially!!!),  then there was some flipping of the template involved, and then sewing together was a tad tricky too  'cos I had too many of the same directional facing units!!!!!

But I got there in the end,  and I do love the finished block .

- only 39 flowers to go!!!!

very vintage

Some time ago I purchased a fat quarter bundle over the internet of "Floressence"/ Art Gallery Fabrics from the Fat Quarter Shop and once they arrived I just couldn't think what to do with them. The fabric felt lovely, the colours were ok, if just a bit too bright!!!
I wondered about combining them with other fabrics.
I wondered about throwing in some solid fabrics.
I wondered about making a scrappy trip-around-the-world quilt, about making the  "X" & "+" quilt, even about the more recently popular Retro flowers kinda quilt.
........but I couldn't decide anything, so I didn't do anything!!!!

Until today......once I stopped  looking at the fabric pile and actually started sewing, using a very simple pattern, it came together very easily.
I love the rose print and teamed up with the geometric modern prints it all seemed to  have a kind of vintagey mismatched appeal!!