the norah quilt

My latest little obsession is the Norah quilt sewalong hosted by @sunnydaysupply. I’m going for a giant log cabin rather than the off-set centre. I chose darkish colours for my centre unit, to add a bit of drama! I decided to use a wide mix of fabrics in light-medium values and am adding in a darker {or brighter} fabric now & then to help with contrast.

It started out nice & easy. However, things got just a little tricky as the strips got longer & longer. After re-reading the instructions, {wink wink} I'm now sewing slowly, pressing as I go, and letting the machine do the work {so that the fabrics are not being stretched or pulled}, all in an effort to keep it straight & square. Not perfect but sew far, sew good.

As it grew, I started to relax and have a little play. Once in a while, I popped in a fabric from my centre unit to carry that out into the quilt. And as the sides got longer, and I needed to join my strips, I used a different but similar fabric occasionally. I'm also altering my strip widths from 2"- 31/2" as I progress. Oh, and I'm keeping all my cut off strips to join up together for a scrappy binding later on.

Simple sewing and no maths to worry about, 

I think I'll keep going tomorrow for another few more rounds.

Until next time, Linda

quilts on beds

I love this, Glen @quiltswissy is sharing some quilty colour for walkers out on their daily lockdown walks to enjoy. It's day 21 of her Porch Quilt Show, her idea on how to use her quilts to bring surprise and joy to our locked down neighbourhoods. Check out her blog for more treats here.

And suz from allthegoodonesaretaken shared her quilts from 2013, the year she decided to use what she had. Such a lovely trip down memory lane. 

So, I thought I'd brighten up your day too - just a little - and share a few of my early quilts. If you are like me, memories flood back of what was going on in your life with each quilt.
When you can’t get together with your quilty friends, or you live down a long drive like me, sharing quilts virtually is the next best thing. Our weather has suddenly changed now so hanging my quilts outside isn't an option at present, but I think everyone loves . . . a quilt on a bed.

First up 'Pinwheel Rosy' quilt,

made in 2018

145cms x 145cms & machine quilted by Sandy Mayo.

1/4 Log cabin quilt
made in August 2015- my version of a vintage handkerchief quilt
machine quilted by Annette de Raat

'daisy days' quilt made back in 2016, I loved making this one

machine quilted by Annette de Raat

'Bricks' quilt

made in 2016

Why not have your own virtual quilt show and share a post or three too - it's sew interesting to look back and see our choices over the years, how we've changed and sew on and sew forth.

Hope you enjoyed this eclectic mix of finishes
kia kaha Linda

'Fresh From the Clothesline' quilt

Another one of the quilts I recently sent away to Leeanne from quiltmekiwi to add her quilty magic to was my 'square-in-a-square' quilt, aka "fresh from the clothesline' quilt. You may remember me making this one some time ago, hmm-m-m- way back in Feb 2018!

This quilt was inspired by the work of Sheena Chapman and a photo of a vintage 30's quilt, made up of florals and shirtings, in a gentle palette. I do love Sheena's work, it's improv in style, scrappy & vintage-y, she makes combining unco-ordinated fabrics look so easy, and she kindly gave me the measurements for her blocks.

I enjoyed using a combination of vintage and new fabrics to create this pretty quilt. I wanted each block to showcase one bright vintage fabric along with a variety of low-mid volume background fabrics. And you know me, I love any project that uses up my scrappy stash fabrics.

The original quilt didn't have sashings, but I decided to add four vertical rows into my version. And, of course wouldn't you know it, I didn't have enough of any one fabric to do all the sashing. So I mixed it up and used two different low volume fabrics, a Kaffe grey spot and a Jen Kingwell's 'behind the scenes' grey print.

I used that wonderful Phillip Jacobs 'tree peony' fabric for my outer border.{see back here for early details}

And many thanks to Julie from quiltdivajulie for the name suggestion, {you possibly don't remember suggesting the name!} 'Fresh From the Clothesline' ... brings to mind freshly laundered quilts out there blowing on a clothesline, using quilt designs with a nod to the past.

Fast forward to today and this quilt has now been all beautifully quilted in an edge to edge 'orange peel' pattern. I love it!
Unfortunately with the nationwide lockdown, Leeanne will have to hold off posting it home to me. Can't wait to get the binding on this quilt and hang it out there on the washing line for a real life photo shoot!

a close up of the backing . . .

and I've got my binding all ready to go . . .

Stay safe, kia kaha Linda

from my house to yours ...

Here's a little snapshot of my week

Out & about at home - Here in NZ we are all enjoying an endless summer. MrD & I are going for daily walks around the Peninsula, high tide 3.6m today, not up to the boardwalk yet!

Playing with the grandchildren -  or not! It is hard social distancing from our three grandchildren. This Easter we hid some chocolate rabbits in our garden and watched from the front deck while they ran around finding them! And then they sat on the grass to make a start on eating them! So sweet ... but {the NZgovt. rules at present}15-20 mins later ... they were gone again. It's ok, kinda, I've got these pics to keep me smiling.

In the kitchen - Like the rest of NZ I am cooking! My daughter & I are running a daily dinner lottery, texting each other with our dinner decisions, inspiring each other to keep on ... keep on cooking!
And, I must say, she has been wonderful passing on any of her succcessful leftovers, simply leaving the dish on the front deck and scuttling back to her car. And then, with me at the top bedroom window, we yell chat to each other.

Off the bookshelf - Yesterday I set aside some time to start re-reading this book, 'The Dry' by Jane Harper. It is so good, a real page turner. It's an Australian crime novel, which captured my attention both for its final twist and its description of a small hostile town troubled by drought.

Addit: I've just checked things out, Jane Harper has two other books "Force of Nature" and "The Lost Man"... which I shall certainly be booking at the library after all this is over.  

Loving the inpsiration over on instagram -

• I'm enjoying following along with Karyn's {almost} daily 'Running Bingo' tallies. Here's an example: walkers 17, runners three, one biker. Didn't see a car until I had run the first km.

{ pic reposted with permission}

• And while there are lots of sewalongs happening at present, my pick is the free stitch-along run by Emma from treehousetextiles. I'm enjoying all the stitchingsampler photos over on ig. I'm printing out the weekly updates and collecting a few bits & pieces to make this too, you know, for when I've made a bit of a dent in all my other WiPs. 

• Oh, and I stumbled across Lauraine Jacobs ig feed today too, she's an NZ food & wine writer. I was checking out her recipes {in particular her spicy apple cake}, but I got sidetracked listening to her morning sessions with the barefoot Murray playing the piano... turn your sound on, and have a wee listen over here @ laurainejacobs 
  

From the sewing room - And is there any patchwork happening at my place I hear you ask?

Well today, Easter Sunday, I settled in and made some progress on my fabric collage. It's my 'isolation creation' challenge that Julie from justjulielou and I are doing together. No rush, there's no deadlines to have this completed, just some quiet slow stitching hand work on a Sunday arvo, to erase all the daily tension and worry. Here's a few peeks . . .

- some kantha stitches

- a spot of organic stitching, not perfect but makes me smile :)

And finally, I was reminded recently of this line from the 'Best Marigold Hotel', 

“It will be all alright in the end, and if it’s not all alright, it’s not the end.”  

Until next time, Linda

Esplanade Quilt {an almost finish}

A month or so ago I decided I needed to have a few 'finishes' sometime this year. I think it’s great that some people are able to do beautiful work with their home sewing machine but I’m not one of them. So I sent a couple of quilts away to be quilted.

Leeanne from quiltmekiwi has just finished my first quilt. Unfortunately with the nationwide lockdown, she will have to hold off posting it ... and also hold off invoicing me too ... which gives me plenty of time to save up, yes 😀  

But I do have a couple of photos to share of my almost finished "Esplanade Quilt". See back here for earlier details. It is a very big quilt with lots of neutral space for added texture, and I chose edge to edge quilting in 'waterdrops' pattern.  

Can't wait to see it in real life!

And get the binding on. And have a real finish to share!
Linking up with Wendy for this weekends 'peacock party' over here

Stay safe, kia kaha, Linda

isolation creation

I've run out of books to read now, but so not going to start watching daytime TV 📺. Instead, it's back to 'zhooshing up' - Julie's phrase - a couple of areas of my #lockdownapplique project with embroidery.

I'm a little bit out of my comfort zone with embroidery, not having really focused on it ever for any length of time. When I relooked at my blackbird this morning, those stitches were annoying me.
The actual AMH bird fabric has little wonky cross stitches all over it, which I was following on my blackbird.

But something suddenly twigged in the back of my mind... and I realised I should have only used 3 strands of the DCM floss. So, I carefully unpicked my earlier stitches and redid them... very pleased now.

I'm finding the fabrics give me heaps of clues as to what's required next

and, a blanket stitch is proving very useful for securing down all those raw edges. 

I also consulted with Julie about the differences between using perle 8 and stranded DCM floss, and other decorative stitches that I could add to my repertoire. She forwarded a link for me to explore for more ideas too - MaryCorbet  on youtube, she is an embroidery stitch whizz!

And before I go, a few people have asked me what I'm going to make with this flower bouquet. My panel measures approx 20" x 17". I don't often make cushions, or wall hangings, or framed hoops so I plan on adding borders to make it up to a nice throw size quilt.

I'm thinking either logcabin-Housetop style {first photo} or courthouse step style {last photo} similer, I guess, to what Kathy from #matobsgirl does with her organic applique projects. Check out this link here to see my inspiration.
It'll all depend on what fabrics I have here at the time and, of course, I've still got lots more hand stitching to do before I get to that point!

Until next time, stay safe, Linda

making masks

Busy morning *making masks today, even a homemade mask can be partially protective. I used the tutorial made by Holly DeGroot, here at bijoulovely and it can also be found here at Suzy from suzyquilts.

It's extremely quick & easy to make and uses limited materials. I adapted it slightly to make three smaller ones too for our grandchildren - cutting out smaller rectangles and having two pleats each side instead of four - to wear when they are out & about in their neighbourhood walking.

- bugs in jars fabric!

🐛🐞🐛🐞

Well, Johnny loves his mask, Evie more inclined to share with her one earred unicorn! 

*This mask is not a PPE mask, as it only offers a minimal physical barrier. 
Here's an interesting video #masks4all

Until next time, Linda