'broken dishes'

Remember earlier in the week, when I had a little pile of old 'broken dishes' blocks that I was having a spot of trouble with? Thanks for your +ve comments, you all gave me lots to think about.

So just how to move forward with this WiP?
I did recall my original idea ages ago was simply to join them all up together, and I started thinking that {sigh} maybe some of these blocks would be happier sans sashing after all.

After leaving things to ruminate for a few days, I decided to separate the blocks out and make two quilts. This first one is the 'vintage version' it's scrappy, made up of large blocks with similar combinations. It's busy & happy, with a certain confused quality that I'm finding appealing just now.

Finished quilt top measures 150cms x 120cms.

Another one to add to the growing pile of quilts needing to be quilted !
Linking up this week with Em for 'moving it forward' over here

And it seems I might have a bit of a thing for 'broken dishes' blocks
- pop over here to see what I mean !

a bit more #60

I just noticed that, sadly, NZ Quilter magazine is finishing up very soon.
After 25 years of publishing, it will finish with issue 100, last copy due out in July 2017.

- it will be sorely missed

'sew stitch snap SHARE' #4

Hello again

Thank you all for stopping by, reading and linking up to 'Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE' 
and it's great to meet some new-to-me quilters too.

What have I been busy doing?
Lots of sewing & lots of reverse sewing too!

I had a little pile of big 18" 'broken dishes' blocks that I had made some time ago and a great floral that I really wanted to team up with them. Inspiration came from a few places - I've been following Ann from fretnotyourself progress with her sashing decisions for her 'coin' quilt, and I love Nettie Youngs 'stacked bricks' here and also a recent finish by Monica at Lakeview Stitching.

But there's been a bit of a hiccup in the master plan - as I began to join my blocks up I discovered that I didn't like them at all. It was scrappy yes, but it looked way, way too busy, I hadn't planned my colours well, and really, it felt like this little 'vintage' quilt was just trying too hard.

It's been a well spent few days figuring out just why this wasn't working for me.

Still wanting a happy clash-y mix of vintage and new - so it's back to the drawing board for now

It's time now for 'Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE'

My pick from last time was this "Long Time Gone" quilt by Katy from lethargiclass

So much yummy scrappy colour

- pop on over to her blog to see lots more inspiration

And what are you working on right now?

Whatever you're sewing or stitching, you can link it up here.

Just follow these simple guidelines:

1. Link up from any post from the past week that features something you have been sewing or stitching. You can write as much or as little about your project as you like, or simply let your photos do the talking.
2. Somewhere in your post, please link back to this post.
3. Please comment on a couple of the other Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE links - its fun to receive comments from new people, and we are trying to encourage people to read blogs and keep blogging too.

Thanks for joining us again, we can't wait to see what you have all been creating,
Julie & Linda

different day different scraps

The other day I pulled out a little pile of  'Broken Dishes' blocks that I had tucked away in a basket, they had been in there for simply ages. They are in unconventional colours, a bit scrappy, a bit different, and a bit quirky . . .  but I couldn't just throw them out.
I spread them out on my table, wondering just what to do next with them. They happened to be right beside my latest new floral, Sharon Holland's 'bountiful perennial' fabric, and suddenly {insert happy dance} this old WiP had grabbed my fullest attention.

Loving this different scrappy mix of vintage and new. And there's also something very pleasurable about working on a WiP that's been sitting around for ages. Linking up with Myra for 'finished or not Friday' over here.

a bit more #59
Inspiration
Lately I've been following Jennifer Twitchett-Hyland from A Piece of Cloth in Australia.
She puts 'daily quilt inspiration' pics up on her instagram feed
- lots of wonderful old quilts, well worth having a peep.
I also stumbled across another quilt while reading a post by Ann from fretnotyourself
- Nettie Youngs 'stacked bricks' here I love it!

ebay on point {a finished quilt top}

Well, last time I posted I had my quilt pieces all out on the family room floor. The way the colours are placed gives the impression that this quilt is pieced in vertical columns, but it is actually all joined diagonally. One quiet day this week, I moved my sewing machine into the family room too and started carefully joining up all the squares & HST's . . .

. . .  one row at a time. I laid out the pieces along my long wide ruler and then lifted the ruler up off the floor to my sewing machine so I could join them.
Once they were all stitched together, I attached all the rows of strips using safety pins onto the correct ends of my already larger completed piece. And then I moved the whole thing up to the machine again to sew it all into a quilt top.

There is one quirky column, which I love.

It's a mix of colour quite different to how the other rows are put together, just because.

It's a simple layout with lots of scrappy surprises to explore. I've used a great eclectic mix of fabrics from my scrap baskets - Kaffes, spots, checks & stripes, AMH, lots of other little bits of Amy B., Jen Kingwell, Denyse Schmidt, outback wife, and some small scale reproduction fabrics. I do love a good scrap buster, don't you?

Can you spot my 'rogue' column?

Finished quilt top size 180cms x 145cms
For earlier details pop back here

All ready now for basting & quilting

Linking up with Beth over at 'cooking up quilts' here for 'main crush Monday'

with Lorna over at 'sew fresh quilts' here for this week's 'lets bee social'

and with Kelly here at myquiltinfatuation for 'needle and thread Thursday'

from the wall to the floor {a WiP}

My latest scrappy WiP 'ebay on point' has been up on my design wall for for. ever. But I know why I kept putting it off -  getting all the pieces down off the wall without getting my rows all muddled was looking like it could prove a bit tricky.

Finally though, this weekend I decided it really was time to get 'ebay on point' down off the wall. So I bribed asked mrD to stand up on a chair and pass the high rows down to me, one after the other. I did try to sew as fast as I could, you know, before his boredom facter settled in.

I'm using a Kaffe pattern that has always appealed to me, from his Caravan of Quilts book. The pattern is simple, however I did find to get that all important 'contrast' thing-y happening, I had to juggle bits & pieces around until I felt it was right. And I really tried hard "not to analyze the fabric for its beautiful design but rather, consider each only for its colour."

I'm loving this eclectic mix of fabrics now and it's great to be using so many bits & pieces from my scrap basket. For a few more earlier details pop back here.

Even with mrD's help though {sigh}
I did still manage to sew a couple of the HST's round the wrong way . . .

. . . but out came the quickunpick, and it didn't take long to sort them out.

This weekend I progressed from the design wall to the "design floor"
and am now working on the last four rows on the R) hand side
Here's a few nighttime pics to give you an idea of how it's looking . . .

. . . and we will all just walk around all the carefully placed pieces
until I have time to get it all together

Linking up with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here 

'sew stitch snap SHARE'

Hello hello

Julie & I are enjoying seeing all your different projects, in all their different stages
- very inspiring.

First up today, here's a little peek at what I've been busy doing . . .

I've been adding a few more blocks to my pastel version of  'candied hexagons'.

Lots of fun making lots of little scrappy fabric decisions with these little 6" hexis.

And I'm really enjoying up cycling my family embroideries.

Must admit, making that very first cut into the vintage doilies was the hardest,
the rest was easy.

It's a great project to add a few little blocks to now and then,

especially when I need a break from the more labour intensive projects.
Linking up to 'scraptastic Tuesday' over here

Head count at 50 today, yayee halfway there.
Pop over here for a wonderful alternative use for those doilies :)

Time now for 'Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE'

My pick from last time was this improv piece by Maureen from mysticquilter

'Chinese Coins' - well worth a visit to her blog if you haven't already,
to read all about her inspiration.

So what have you been working on over the past few days? 

Whatever you're sewing or stitching, you can link it up here.

Just follow these simple guidelines:

1. Link up from any post from the past week that features something you have been sewing or stitching. You can write as much or as little about your project as you like, or simply let your photos do the talking.
2. Somewhere in your post, please link back to this post.
3. Please comment on a couple of the other Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE links - its fun to receive comments from new people, and we are trying to encourage people to read blogs and keep blogging too.

Thanks for joining us again, we can't wait to see what you have all been creating,
Julie & Linda

mix and mismatch {pt 2}

As soon as I saw Jo's 'Blanket Bay' Quilt I was hooked. I downloaded the pattern and started straight away. Her quilt was inspired by beach holiday homes of the past, where furnishings were often an eclectic mix of mismatched florals, just like our bach at Waihi Beach.

The bach has been in the family for 40 years and over time we have accumlated a crazy mix of mismatched bed linen, crockery and furniture. So many carefree holidays there, so much fun.

It's a simple quilt to piece and after my initial fabric pull, I then went rummaging in my stash for something just a bit different for the borders. I ended up with this quirky floral fabric mix, including 'outback wife', 'lennox gardens' by Robert Kaufman, 'carnaby street' by Pat Bravo, Bari J. Abloome Fusion, florals from BasicGrey & Tilda, and assorted ginghams, spots and blues from my stash. Along with Kona vintage white and a Riley Blake confetti blue.

Finished quilt top measures 1.65cms x 1.50cms.

All ready now for basting & quilting.
EDIT: I found a pic here of a quilt from the Gees Bend collection, reminds me of Jo's pattern

Linking up with Kelly for 'needle and thread Thursday' over here
See you back here Wednesday 10 May for another link up to 'Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE'

Linda

mix and mismatch

centre panel all done, auditioning now for the floral borders

- love mixing it all up

Linda