Low Boredom Tolerance

Received an email from AngelCake Quilting yesterday with this picture showing the beautiful quilting on my sampler quilt.  It looks so lovely.  Jenny will be quilting "Chinoiserie" over the next day or so, then I'll pick up both quilts.

Last week the play/tummy time quilt top was finished.

Really happy with how this turned out and I'll add a couple of surprises when it comes back from quilting.  Just waiting for another piece of the backing fabric to arrive then it can be dropped off with Jenny for quilting.

My boredom tolerance has been tested while sewing up all these nine patches.  There are now 333.  12 six patches to make then cutting out 470 red spot triangles.

To relieve the boredom I've cut out some more quilts.  First up is another "Sea Glass" designed by Susan Ache.  I've made three other versions of this pattern and I love it each time.  I had quite a collection of Fig Tree scraps so used those before cutting into my "Catalina" fat quarter bundle.

The Fat Quarter Shop is hosting a sew-along with a block pattern being released each Saturday morning (our time).  I'm using solids that are in my stash - these are the big pieces I have; there may be enough in the solids scrap bag to make a couple of the blocks to add different colours.  The pattern comes with a sheet to colour in so you can work out colour placement in advance - time to break out the grandchildren's colouring pencils.

The patterns are available in three sizes:  3", 6" and 9" finished.  I'm making 6" finished because I have enough of the Moda Bella 97 left for that size quilt.

In August I bought some fabrics from an Etsy shop in USA for a "Patchwork Sky" quilt that a customer requested.  This first bundle arrived in about four weeks

and the second bundle arrived yesterday so the quilt can now be started.

Last weekend was very enjoyable - Saturday lunch with the Schoolgirls, T&H stayed overnight then we visited Mum after breakfast on Sunday and Elizabeth and Matt met us there to collect T&H.

WIP's

During this year Sarah, from Patchworks Plus in Tasmania, has been running a sew-along for the group to make Jen Kingwell's "Gypsy Wife" quilt.  I was late to the game and made most of the blocks for January-July in June and July and then this week I made the August and September blocks.

August

September

I'm using my Alison Glass stash - I think these fabrics suit Jen's designs so well.  Managed to snag some bundles of these fabrics in a de-stash sale on Instagram.

and bought a bundle from a shop in Victoria to add to the stash.

Jenni has asked me to make a play/tummy-time/floor quilt for the baby with strong colours and bold prints.  I had these in my stash

and bought a few more black and white fabrics to add variety.

I've started sewing the quilt top together and have been changing the layout as I go.

Finished off a little cardigan/bootees/bonnet set for the baby over the weekend.  

Forgot to post photos of "Chinoisserie" - which is now with Jenny (Angelcake Quilting) to be quilted.  This is a Michelle McKillop design and uses loads of large floral prints along with stripes, spots, plains, small florals etc for the block borders.

I had the gold/silver spot fabric in my stash, so was happy to be using some of it up for the outer borders.

This was a fun quilt to put together - all the blocks need to be laid out before sewing together so that the borders all work out correctly.

I found this FigTree fabric for the backing at a really good price at HobbySew.

There has been a lot of iso-shopping but all with a purpose in mind (well, that's my justification).

Another quilt that has gone to AngelCake Quilting is my first-ever proper quilt, which was made in classes with Dianne Gibson in 2000.  Dianne taught us everything we need to know about making patchwork blocks from scratch:  drawing up the block on graph paper, making templates, hand-piecing, needle-turn applique, curved piecing etc.  These blocks were all 12" finished but are huge when turned on point.  The idea was to make 11 blocks and choose our favourite 9 for a queen-size quilt.  I didn't want to keep 2 aside, so I made a 12th block.  The quilt was basted ready for hand-quilting but that never happened, then somehow, years ago, a bit of water was spilled on the dark red and it ran in a few places.  The quilt was washed with colour-catchers and then put aside because two of the seams had come apart for a few inches.  A month or so ago I repaired the seams.  Definitely looking forward to seeing this quilt on a bed.

Another quilt with slow progress is "Ring Cycles" - this photo is of 200 of the 332 nine patches needed for the quilt.  There will also be 12 six patch blocks.

I've come across so many old favourite fabrics.

The plan (hope) was to use all fabrics from my scrap drawers and not include any Bonnie and Camille or FigTree fabrics (a few snuck in) but I ran out of scraps, so raided the Bonnie and Camille drawer and have enough for another 60 or so.

The backing for "Santa in the Trees" finally arrived from Spoonflower - it is so very cute.  This is a quilt for a customer and she ordered this fabric.  I think she saw the fabric first and then chose a quilt to go with it.

She also wants a cushion to go on the bed.

Pretty pleased with the join in the backing fabric - the way it's printed allows for good joins.

The quilt, cushion and little wallhanging I made from the extra trees I cut out, are all with Karen (Quilting on the Coast) for quilting.  I'm still auditioning red/white stripes for binding.  It's so hard to find a red/white stripe with pure white not off-white or cream.

The weekend of socialising was fantastic but exhausting - it's been a long while since I've had a full calendar on the weekend.  The best part was having all the family together for dinner on Sunday night.  I just love sitting at the table and listening to everyone chatting away.

Cakewalk

When making the Sweet Treasures donation quilts I cut out way too many 3-1/2" squares, so I cut a ute load more and made another "Cakewalk" quilt.  

This is a great quilt to make when you need a quilt in a hurry - it goes together easily and can be made in a variety of sizes.

I asked Karen to choose the quilting design - this one is called "Rodeo" and works really well with all the squares.

One of my iso-shopping buy was quilt labels.

Very social weekend coming up - trivia team is coming for dinner (and trivia) tonight.  Going to Mittagong tomorrow for lunch with Lynell, Robyn and Wendy.  Then on Sunday the family is coming for dinner - Elizabeth's birthday is on Monday.

Gelato

This quilt was put aside for a few weeks while I was diverted by stripes, big florals and spots.  Only the last round of Sawtooth Stars needed to be added and all the stars were made.  Then, after it was quilted, I was diverted by knitting and baby sewing.  Sewed down the binding while watching tv this week.

Quiet weekend coming up, I think.  Plenty to do around the house and it looks like the weather is going to be really nice.

Some Sewing, Some Knitting

A very exciting time for our family. 

Jenni and Kurt are expecting their first baby in early March 2021 and we couldn't be more thrilled for them.

I have known for a few weeks and have been sewing and started knitting for this special baby.  Jenni and Kurt don't plan to find out if they're having a baby girl or baby boy but that may change along the way.

My old Knitwit patterns and the embroidery machine come in very handy.

"Santa in the Trees" is together and will be sent off for quilting as soon as the backing fabric arrives.

The quilt is going to sit nicely on a bed.

"Cakewalk" arrived back from Karen yesterday - she used a new-to-me design and it looks wonderful.

Last night I finished stitching down the binding on "Gelato".

Still working from home but I'll be going to the office for a couple of days this week.  Had a lovely few days off last week visiting Jenni and Kurt and spending time with my other children and the grandchildren.

Alfie's Quilt

A month or so ago another of Jenni's friends had a a baby boy, so Jenni asked me to make a quilt for him.

I used some of my favourite "Guess How Much I Love You" fabric along with other stash fabrics to make a zig-zag quilt.

Karen used our favourite Cloud Nine quilting pattern and Mum finished off the binding last weekend.

I've had a few days on leave this week.  Went up to Sydney on Wednesday to visit Jenni for her birthday and stayed overnight.  Enjoyed having a look around her classroom and school.

Back up to Jenni's tomorrow for a family bbq.  We are very fortunate that we are able to spend time together.