Spring has really Sprung!

Sweet Peas on the front fence.  Lovely perfume.  We can hear people stop and admire them.

Iris's - I don;t remember planting these!  Wonder where they came from?  Not complaining though.

Cornflowers - they started to fall over before the flowers were ready, so had to stake them up.

Wisteria - I remember the year my DH pruned this before it started to flower.  I could have killed him!  We had the only house in the street to not have the wisteria flower.  He is threatened with disaster if that happens again.

Scrap quilt top

Each block is made from a 12" square of fabric - cut up and placed back together randomly.  It has turned out ok, considering I did it about one day!  I am thinking of running a workshop for this idea.

It is not very big (the blocks are 8") and I suppose I could leave it there, and add a nice border....but....they are so easy to make I could do another 30 and have a good sized quilt.

They are 4" hour glass blocks - maybe I could call it "running out of time"?

New Scrap Quilt

I have no idea what this block is called.  I saw it in a magazine? book? some place.....and thought I could make this using scraps of fabrics.  I used 30  12" squares of each fabric, and cut it up to get enough to make a quilt top.  If it turns out ok, I will make up a kit with the pattern.

This is the pile of old, old fabrics, all cut and ready to go.  I chose dark, medium and lights to give a good contrast

This is the first set of 4 blocks made.  I will set them like this - alternating light and dark outers.

Snowflake Quilt

I decided to go with the striped border.  Can't resist a stripe or one way design.  I always buy them if I see them on sale. 

Beyond the Cherry Trees - Block 12

I have managed to keep up with all my committments this month, including the latest Cherry Tree Block.  It was a bit more difficult than some of the previous blocks.  So many little fingers, and ins and outs!  I got very good at those curves by the time I have finished the 20th (or what ever it was) oak leaf or flower.  So, we are just about half way done with the blocks.  I could stip now, and have something really nice to make into a quilt top, but can't wait to see what is to come!

 The first few bits on fabric placed on the front of the fabric - it looks nothing like the finished result.  Takes a while to get the idea of what is happening.  When I am teach applique th students take a while to catch on to what is happening.

The picture is all drawn on the back of the fabric.  I think you can see where some pieces are tacked in place.

Snowflake quilt top

I am desperate to use up my fabrics!  I have so much, and decided that I need to make some scrappy, easy cutting quilts.  The first one is the Snowflake, or Album Cross quilt.  

 All the blocks are finished and I sashed it with this lovely blue fabric, with a red print.  After it was done I started to think it looked awfully familiar to me.  Guess what!  My mind had remembered it from this book.

One of my favourite books for inspiration.

Now for the final border - I think I like the stripe best, but the brown, with teal and red goes with it as well.  I think I will play with it a bit more.

Now I need more inspration  -   maybe a Chinese Coin??

Quilts for Sale!

I had a visit from my cousin Rhonda yesterday.  She was over from Sydney with her husband Philip who had to attend a business meeting.  Rhonda is just starting to quilt, so I got out my bags (yes BAGS) of quilts to show her.  She asked me what I do with them.  Well, I just "have them"!  Some do go on the Trunk Show with Penny and me, but most just hang about the house.  She told me I should sell them.  No, not possible! 

Last night I was talking with DH John about it, he said why don;t you sell some?  I looked through and found some that I was not sentimentally attached to, and have listed them on my website.  All these quilts have been published in Austrlaian Patchwork and Quilting Magazine or Patchwork and Stitching.

This is the first lot to be listed.

Should anyone have any quilts they want to sell,  please get in touch with me about listing them, and we can talk about cost etc. 

First of the Spring Garden

I wait all year for the first of the Ranunculus and Pansies to appear.  They are all a bit late this year as it has been so cold.  Now, with a bit of sunshine after all the rain, it should all start happening.  I got a few photos today, and will add more when they appear.

Pansies peeking out of the weedsthis is the first Ranunculus

The sweet peas are back but not as good as previous years.  Bit more sunshine please!

The Jasmine is just outside the back door, so I get a heady whiff of perfume when I walk out in the morning.

Cover Girl!

My quilt is on the front cover of the Australian Country Craft and Decorating magazine.  I knew it was going to be in the magazine this month, but I was not aware it was going to be on the cover.  Very exciting!  I was strolling through the newsagents shop when I saw it.

This is a quilt I started making from a book on Medallion Quilts, and I only got as far as the first two rounds, and put it aside.

 The Churn Dash blocks were gifts from members of the ReproFabricLovers group on Yahoo.  I had just enough to make the next round.  Then I found 4 basket blocks that did not have a home - ok - so they looked good in the corners.  What next?  Ok, yes that collection of Ohio Stars that we swapped over 12 months with the SewJanes group.  I had heaps and heaps of them.  I used those, plus some left over Puss inthe Corner blocks, and some Nine patch blocks from years ago swaps.

Before I knew it, this quilt had grown really big.  At the same time I was playing with this, the editor of the magazine emailed asking for ideas for upcoming projects.  I sent her a photo, long before it was finished, and she took it straight away.

Flying Fancy Quilt

I had an email from Jan Soules this week.  She was asking permission to enter a quilt that she had made from one of my patterns.  It was the Flying Fancy that was in Australian Patchwork and Quilting Magazine Vol 16 No. 3. 

This is Jan's version that she is entering into the Des Moines, Iowa show in October. She made it in French Fabrics.  Beautiful! She tells me she won a prize in the California State Fair last month.  I get a real kick out of seeing my patterns done by others.  Love to see how they are interpreted.

This is my orginal.  Done in Reproduction fabrics.  The quilt is based on a Blind Man's Fancy quilt in a booklet I saw about New York State Quilts.

Beyond the Cherry Trees - Block 11

I was hoping this block would be released in time for me to take to the retreat last week.  I kept stalking the Sentimental Stitches site hoping....anyway, it did appear a couple of days later, and what an ugley little block it looked!  I have no idea how Gay managed to interpret the block.  It is just about falling apart! 

I chose the prettiest basket fabric I could find in the hope it would give it new life.  There are a few more baskets to come in this quilt, and I get to use my other pretty fabrics on those I hope.  We hae only 14 blocks to go, and a whole border.  Hope I can keep up the pace.

Port Elliott Retreat

The last two years we have been invited to a retreat at Douglas Scrub, south of Adelaide.  This year we did not get an invitation, so Penny and I decided to organise our own retreat, with our own friends.  We rented Irene's beach house at Port Elliott for the weekend and invited Sheridan, Marilyn, Donna, Jan, and Cathy to join us.  We all brought along lots of food, wine, nibblies and sewing.

My plan was to get those corner fixed on my Little Sisters Quilt top - and hooray - that is done.  Tick!

My next plan was to get some hexagon's made for the English Basket Quilt.  Another tick, plus a few stars as well.  Going well I think.  I also took along a quilt to baste and started the hand quilting on that one.  Plan is to enter that one into the Adelaide Quilt show in November.

This was the only machine project I took - the Hawaii Sunset - which I will rename, but not until it is done.  Can't think of anything.  I made 4 blocks, and only 4 more to go to get it finished.  I am not making a square quilt, but a rectangle, so need less than the photo.

Sheridan thought my fabric box looked a little messy.  She was looking for cheddars and the only way to do that was to fold and sort the whole box.  What a friend, eh?  She did a great job too.  I am now a bit frightened to mess it up in case she finds out.  She invited her self over next week to tidy my other sewing boxes and look for more cheddars.....I am happy to oblige.

Dosn't it look pretty?

How about this for breakfast?  Penny treated us all to a cooked breakfast on the first morning.

Donna is learning to hand quilt and this is her first project.

Very busy ladies with their cutting and planning

This is the result.  Penny's design Fabulous Fat Quarter Quilt.  It is made of 12 fat quarters cut up and sewn back together.  Penny says it can all be done in 3 hours.......ok......

Sheridan had some success as well, and got her Spinning Charm quilt top finished.  She is very please with herself.

Wonder we got anything done - everywhere you look there is a full or empty glass of wine.

We all agreed that we need to do this again - possibly twice a year.  Think of all the UFO's we would get done.