Last weekend was the Australian Quilt Market in Melbourne.  I packed the bags and boxes and took along my Legend and Lace business, and stock of Karen Kay Buckley products.  This is a Wholesale/Trade market where business set up to sell to retailers.

 We set up on the Friday afternoon, after an eventful taxi ride from the airport.  The driver took us some place across the other side of town.....that is another story.

It was a huge event, and I am so pleased I went after all.  It had been touch and go if I went or not, as it is a huge undertaking, both financially and physically.  I was thrilled that people were actually coming to find me, instead of me having to entice customers into my booth.  There were a heap of new customers, and some old familiar faces.

 At the end of Sunday, I started taking things off the wall and selling them, instead of taking them home with me.  All I had left was this plastic bag full!  

When I got home I had to start filling the orders of those shop owners who did not take them home.  I ran out of a few things!  There are no more large Perfect Scissors, and no more of the small Perfect Scissors.  A very few of the Perfect Circles .......yes, pretty much cleaned me out!  Which is good from one point of view, but not so good that I have had to send incomplete orders. 

There is more stock on the way, and I should be all topped up within 2 weeks.  So, please be patient if you want products - it will be worth waiting for!

This is my treat for myself.  How beautiful are these fabrics?  They are the Merchants Wife range by Terry Clothier Thompson.  How about that blue??!!  just love it.  Now I have to find something nice to use it in.

one down, and 15 more to go!

 I have always been a big fan of red and black.  When I went to work I remember "power dressing" to impress, with a black suit, and a touch of red.  My fabric and clothes cupboard are still full of red and black.  Sooooo.....I went and bought some more red and black.  These are a selection of the fabrics from the Scarlet Evening range, byt Judie Rothermel.

I wanted to make the quilt for Penny's workshop on the 29th November, at McLaren Vale.  I was thinking I would use Kaffe fabrics, but thought I would see how these looked.  I am happy with it. The background is Moda Bella "Figtree Cream" and the cheddar is also Moda Bella.  I had these both in the cupboard left over from previous projects.  Yes, I have a little way to go yet, and might get another one made today.

If you would like to join us on the 29th, please contact Penny and book your place.

Or, if you have done a workshop with me in the past, and would like some help to finish it off, then you can also come along.  Morning and afternoon tea is provided, and bring you own lunch.

Ok,. now back to the sewing machine, and packing!  Of course, nearly forgot......tomorrow I am off to Melbourne for the Aust Quilt Market.  I am taking along all my Karen Kay Buckley products, and hope to meet some new customers.

Will post some photos once we get set up.

Edit - I just made another block, and this time I timed myself - 45 minutes to cut, sew and press.  Pretty good really.  it is nice to know how long it will take to make the whole quilt.  I used black with a red print this time.  photo is not clear, and I took it several times.  must be time for a new camera!

Pom Pom Tree Block of the Month

I am really on a roll here.  3 Days, and 3 new things to write about!

Finally, after much procrastinating, I have started to write the pattern for my Pom Pom Tree.  I made the quilt a few years back, and could not quite bring myself to writing the pattern.  One of the easy ways to do it is a block at a time, and that is what I have done.  I made it into a digital Block of the Month.  Block one is shown at the top.

There are 6 pages in the first month as there are some fabric requirements as well.  The blocks print out at 15" so you get 4 pages, that you have to stick together.  The are available as a digital download from the Legend and Lace website.  The cost is $4.95 per month.

The finished quilt size is 60" x 78" .

The original quilt I saw as a photo and loved it so much.  I depicted the trees accurately I think, but I zoomed up the sashing and border.  I saw it in one of my all time favourite books, Treasury of American Quilts.  By the way, the quilt on the cover of the book is also in the making, and has been for many years.  I have all the blocks made, and some of the border blocks, and the corners.  It has been resting for a while:-))

Time for some unfinished projects

Now that my entry to the Adelaide Quilt show is done, and entered, and the show is over, I can now get back to some neglected projects, and see what I can finish for next year.  No there are no blue ribbons, (or even red or green) to go with the Mrs Vigors, but it is on my bed already and I love it.  Will add some photos of that later.

 It does look a bit odd with the bits of leaves scattered about, but once the tree gets attached is will make more sense

 There are some lovely birds in this quilt - 2 in each corner to start with

 This is one of the side tree/bird motifs

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First thing to come out of the box is the lovely Calico Paradise from Dawn at Collector with a Needle.  I got a lot of the centre done last year, but it is now time to start working on the rest of the quilt.  You can see older posts about the progress Here and here. 

BTW, anyone asking about the Little Sisters progress - the top is now FINISHED!  I kid you not!  I was stumped for a while, as the side bird/flower motifs were not central, so I had to work out what to do. My options were to unpick, and move them (!), put it back in the box for another year, or add a little something to balance it out.  I added an extra bird on two of the sides

This is the next quilt that will be finished.  I bought a wide back for it on the weekend, and plan to have it machine basted soon as I can.

Strawberry Jam

The other thing I like to do, as well as my sewing and knitting, is cooking.  I love to make jam.  This week it was strawberry jam.  In Australia, it is just the beginning of the strawberry season.  You can buy them pretty cheaply at the farmers markets.  I bought 3 x500g punnets for $8.  They will get cheaper.  You do not have to buy the fancy ones, the smaller ones are good for jam.

This how you make Strawberry Jam.

To each kilo of fruit, add 1 kilo of sugar.  Weigh the fruit after you cut off the green stalks.  If they are large fruit, cut in half, otherwise leave whole.  You can leave in the pot overnight and cook the next day.   The sugar will melt in the strawberry juice.  You will also need to add the juice of 1/2 a lemon or lime.

Start cooking slowly, and stirring constantly until the sugar is all melted, and it starts to boil.  Let it boil fairly rapidly for about 20 minutes.  Stir from time to time - don't let it stick. After 15 minutes, test to see if the jam is setting.  Put a teaspoon on a saucer in the fridge, and if it crinkles when you run your finger though it then it is done.  Turn off the stove.

Throw in a dob of butter, and stir it through.  You will notice that there is a scum all over the top of the jam. Yuk!  you can eat it, no problems, it just does not look so good.  Scoop it off with a spoon.

Let the jam cool about 10 minutes, and it will thicken.  Also, if you bottle it too soon the fruit will rise to the top.  So, when you are ready, ladle it into jars, put on the lids while it is still hot, and add some labels.

Yummo!  home made strawberry jam.  Something you will notice about the jam you make yourself, compared to the shop bought jam - the colour!  My jam looks scarlet, the shop jam is kind of a dark red.  Also it is a slightly different consistency.  I use no "jam setta" or added pectin, that is what the lemon juice is for.

If you come to my house we can scones, and jam and cream!

New Basket Block - Grandmother's Basket

 How organised am I??!!  I have actually had this block made for several weeks, but thought I would not put you under pressure by releasing it too soon.  I am all up to date with my commitments, so thought it time to write up the pattern for this basket.  It is now on the Legend and Lace website to be downloaded.

This is how it looks square on.  The name is Grandmother's Basket.  It is a 5 patch block, which measures 8" finished.  For those of you who do hand piecing, this is not really an issue, as you just join the templates, but for the "rotary cutting" machine girls I have had to adjust the measuremements.  They came out to odd sized which included 1/16", so I rounded these up to the next 1/8th inch, and you just have to measure the bits once you have pieced them, and cut back if necessary.  You can applique the handle in place as I have done, or you can piece it, which I did not cover in the pattern.  If you are clever enough to attempt to do that, then you won't need instructions!

If you are new to this BOM - it is FREE - but you need to register on my website as a customer.  You then "purchase" the block, but there is no charge.  Once you go through the checkout, the link will be emailed to you, and you can download the pattern.  

Happy stitching - hope you like this little basket.  I have already chosen the next one.

I wanted to make a quilt with a dark background.  This is about as dark as I could manage - it is a dark-ish shirting.  Then I wanted to just put my hand into my scrap bag and use what ever fabric I found, and use that, regardless of the colour.  I managed that ok, but I really did have to find that fabric right in the centre, as this quilt is about Feathers, Flowers and Fruit.  My hope is that I can do a feather (bird) print or shape in each block, and the same with the flowers and fruit - either a print or a shape.  I also want to make it kind of quirky and traditional all at the same time.  The inspiration once again, is my collection of books on antique quilts, and Folk Art designs.  So far I am very pleased with what has happened.  These blocks are quite large 18", and I think I will aim for 4.but it might be 6.  Will see how it goes.  I love starting something new!

This coming week is the South Australian Quilters Guild annual Exhibition.  I have entered my hand pieced and hand quilted Mrs Vigors, renamed as "Out of the Closet".  We don't enter just to win, do we? but it is nice if that happens.  I have entered something every year since I have been a member, and I almost did not make it this year.  It was right down to the wire.  I was still working on it on the Thursday before I had to hand it in on the Friday.  Also, I had a slight disaster with this quilt.  There is a colour run right in the middle.

You can not see it from a distance, but I know it is there.  A close up proves it.  I washed it again after this photo, and used the Colour Catchers again, but it is still there a bit.

Too bad, can't do any more about it, and maybe no one but me will know it is there!