Tula Pink Butterfly

Last week my Tula Pink Butterfly quilt arrived back from Sarah (Patchworks Plus Shop) in Tasmania - Sarah has quilted a wonderful feather design all over the quilt - I love the little hearts hidden among the feathers and also how the feathers fill in the large blank spaces of the quilt.

I spent yesterday afternoon with Mum and stitched down two sides of the binding and sewed the other two sides last night while watching tv.

This is a pretty big quilt - 86" x 92" - quilting always "eats up" some of the quilt.  I love the colours in Alison Glass fabrics and they suited this pattern so well.  I belong to an on-line quilting group called "Stashbusters" - each year we make a quilt and this was last year's quilt.  An absolute joy to make.

For the backing I used a wideback called "Geo Design" - ít's a cheater patchwork design and reminds me of Jen Kingwell's "Halo" quilt.

At the moment I'm participating in Moda Fabrics' "Scrappy Celebration" sew along designed by Lissa Alexander (my favourite scrappy quilt designer) using fabrics from my Figtree & Co scrap baskets and fat quarter bundles.

Week 1 - select fabrics and cut out

Week 2 - Blocks A and B

Week 3 - Blocks C and D

Week 4 - Blocks E and F

Week 5 - Blocks G and H

We make our blocks on Mondays.  Blocks I and J to be made today then one more set of blocks next week before it's time to put the quilt top together (maybe over Easter).

I'm also working on two cot quilts for Jenni's friends - the babies are now a few months old.  Sawtooth Stars in the cute animal print Nerida Hansen fabric I used for Vinnie's pants

and a small version of "Bradley Street" (my favourite cot quilt design for a quick quilt) using two charm packs of "Delivered with Love" designed by Paper and Cloth for Moda Fabrics.

Friendship Blues

Gulli drew a beautiful picture for my Retirement Day Party and Jenni decorated the frame with resin and glitter - now hanging in The Pink Room so I can see it every time I sew.

"Friendship Blues" is a quilt designed by Lissa Alexander and was finished on New Year's Eve.  It's so great to make a quilt almost completely from my stash - I only needed to buy backing.

Karen (Quilting on the Coast) quilted it with "Whitney's Pearls"- a new design for me - the curves look great against all the straight edges.

In between my social life and child-minding, I fit in a fair bit of sewing ïn December-January.  Blocks were sewn for Thimble Blossoms' "Springville" medallion quilt.  Another stash quilt.  This was one of the bundle of quilts I cut out late last year.

Eleven months after the start of the Scrap Busters QAL for 2022, I started making Tula Pink's "Butterfly" quilt.  So many beautiful, colourful blocks in gorgeous Alison Glass fabrics.

Took me ages to find a border fabric - the Alison Glass fabric I chose has small, scattered designs on the pale aqua background colour.

Not much sewing for the little ones last Christmas - I made Nancy Halvorsen's scissor fobs as tree ornaments and machine embroidered toppers for candy canes.  The tea towel was for a friend.

Mum, my friends and I have seen a few movies lately - some I wouldn't recommend but suggest people make up their own minds about seeing ("Babylon" and "The Banshees of Inisherin") and some I've absolutely loved ("What's Love Got to Do With It?" and "Operation Fortune").  Looking forward to seeing "What's Love Got to Do With It?" again - Emma Thompson steals every scene she is in and is a superstar.

Boho Heart

I belong to an online Scrap Busters group and we've made a couple of Jen Kingwell designs as sew-alongs:  "Gypsy Wife" in 2020 and last year's quilt was "Boho Heart", designed by Jen Kingwell and Andrea Bair.  I already had the pattern - I love hearts and bought the pattern when I first came across it.

The quilt was finished earlier this week and I love it.

There were some EPP and applique blocks included in the quilt pattern but I substituted those with block designs from my other Jen Kingwell patterns.  A friend quilted Boho Heart using "Geometry" - looks so great on the quilt.

Wasn't sure what to use for binding so I went with reliable black/white stripe.

2022's quilt is Tula Pink's "Butterfly" - it another gorgeous sampler quilt and I'm hoping to start that soon.

Photo source:  Tula Pink

New Start Soon

Not much to show for the last week - I've been knitting H's jumper and am hoping to finish it in the next couple of weeks.  Halfway up the first sleeve now.

Three rows of "All Stacked Up" are together and hoping to spend a bit more time on it over the next week or so.

This year's Stash Buster Group SAL quilt is Tula Pink's "Butterfly Quilt".  Once again I'll be using my Alison Glass stash with a couple of solids added.  I think this will be a fun quilt to make and I'm looking forward to starting later next month.

Went to Sydney on Saturday to have lunch with the family.  The little ones were in fine form and enjoyed the playground at the club where we met up.  We also had a lovely afternoon tea at Jenni and Kurt's place.

After I arrived home, I picked up my knitting and joined Chookyblue's 10th Birthday celebrations for the Chookshed.  Was lovely listening to the chat and taking part.

Sunday was a big housework day - washing, cleaning bedrooms and The Pink Room etc.  Such a cold day and the chill is going to last for a while.