Rose Garden - Block 5 - Wild Rose

Are you ready for the next block?  Yes, it is early, but I like to work ahead when I can and then I am not rushing at the last minute.

Hope you like this little block.  The leaves are a bit fiddly, but just take your time with them and they will look lovely.

I am already planning the next block.  I figure that December will be a busy month, so had better get in now while I can.  It is also getting really hot where I am, and I might not feel like much sewing in the weeks to come.  Just this week, we had a whole week of temperatures over 30C, and it is not even officially Summer yet.

Australian Quilt Market

Last week I took my friend Marilyn with me, and we went to the Australian Quilt Market in Melbourne.  I had been before as a "buyer" but this is the first time I had been as a seller.  This is Australia's quilt wholesale market - not open to the general public.

 You know that when things can go wrong, they usually do.  I placed a large order for Karen Kay Buckley Perfect Scissors and Circles ages before the event, planning on a large display.  Of course they did not arrive in time and I had to revert to Plan B - which was just use everything I could get my hands on to display.

 Everything I could lay my hands on, got pinned up on the walls














I borrowed small blocks made by one of my students, Julie M, that are a collection of circles to pin on the wall.  I also used my quilt "Pom Pom Tree" to display how you can use circles.

 On another wall I pinned the wheel blocks I have been working on

 And the final half wall, I put a few of the Cherry Tree blocks I had been working on.

We ran Karen's DVD continuously, and did demos (see the iron in the photos) most of the time, and talked to lots and lots of people.  I met some new friends and some old ones.  We had visits from Lynette Anderson, Christine Abela, Linda Collins, Janet O'Dell and Margaret Mew.  Forgive me if I missed anyone.

The shipment of scissors and circles has still not arrived, but I am confident they will be here by the end of the week.  On a brighter note, the new Perfect Curved Scissors have arrived.  They were in a seperate box, and did not get caught up with the other things.

If you have ordered any of these new scissors, they will be dispatched in the next day or two.

Pieces of the Past - Block 5 - Caesar's Crown

We are now more than half way through this project.  I have certainly learned a lot about creating PDF's and digital patterns in the last few months.  Now all I have to learn is how to do it just once, and get it right the first time!   I am always in such a rush, wanting to keep to my deadline of the 15th of the month.  Just make it by the skin of my teeth.

In this block, you get to use some of your pretty fabrics again.  I chose one for the centre of the block, and from that I chose all the other fabrics.

The pattern for this block is now available on the Legend and Lace website, along with the previous 4.  They are all still there.

Sitting in the wings, waiting

Last weekend I was invited to spend some time at a friends beach house at Port Elliott, south of Adelaide.  It was great timing, as my DH, John is out of town, and I had not other commitments.  I mentioned this to my "pester power" friend, Penny.  She thought it would be a great opportunity to work on the Little Sisters quilt.  How could I say no to that!  All the applique was done, and I just had to assemble it.

The original quilt, at the Smithsonian, had the appliqued border going right around.  I decided that I would do it in strips, and add it to the quilt like a log cabin piece, wrapped around.  I saw this done on other antique quilts and thought it looked pretty good.  Also, it eliminated all the fiddling with getting things to go around the corner properly.

Well, here it is, all assembled.  I am reasonably happy with it, but now I am trying to work out how I can unpick those bits of the border to make them flow around the corner.  Perhaps I should be happy with the tag "inspired by" rather than the "copied" label.  What do others think?

 Also, working on Calico Paradise......traced out the centre ring, and burst onto freezer paper

 transferred the freezer paper drawing onto the back of the quilt top, matching all those previous lines

 Tacked on the drawn lines, through all the layers, then cut away the large centre piece.  This can be used later for other applique shapes.

Cut away the "burst" as well

And this is what I am left with now to work with.  Much easier now that it is tacked in place.

Moving along...

 Calico Paradise, from Dawn, Collector with a Needle, is starting to take shape.  The centre cut out is all appliqued in place, and I have started on the leaves in the centre. 

Edit!!This is a much nicer photo.  If you looked last night, it was all blurred.  I took about 6 photos, and they were all blurred.  This morning it is fine.  Wonder what that was all about?  Anyway, you can see this lovely fabric now.  The blue makes all the difference.  This leaf is tacked in place waiting to be appliqued.

 This shows up the second fabric really well.  Stripes are really important in this project

Another fabric that is just perfect for some of the birds and leaves.  Don't you just love the red/rust/madder with the touches of blue?  It really sparkles.

The next big part is the get the centre "burst" in place around these shapes.  That might be tomorrow - will see how the day shapes up.