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.

Moda Love Cushion

I had lots of good-sized offcuts from recent quilts I'd been making in Nantucket Summer and Dwell, so they've been made into a cushion cover

and a cot/lap quilt

The quilt is back from Karen and is now with Mum to stitch down the binding.

Two more quilts arrived home from Karen this morning:  "You Have My Heart"

and "By the Seashore" both made in Thimble Blossoms' "Dwell" range.

Life is pretty busy and I'm spending more time with Mum.  Still don't really feel like I'm retired but it is wonderful to be able to sew during the daylight hours.

Springville

"Springville" designed by Thimble Blossoms (Camille Roskelley) is another recent finish and this quilt was made almost entirely from my Bonnie and Camille scrap box with a backing offcut for the border.

I think the idea is this quilt represents a village picnic and the central block is the tablecloth.

The blocks and the quilt top come together very quickly and it's really enjoyable to make.

Karen quilted this one with "Flowers for Linda", which I used a few times and it's pretty.

In January I went to see Alan Cumming in concert - he was so entertaining and told so many wonderful stories about his life as well as singing songs that mean a lot to him.

There has also been some garment sewing for the two youngest grandsons - "Bobby Pants" designed by Style Arc Kids.

The fabrics for the pants are from Nerida Hansen.

Vinnie turned two earlier this month and I made his a reading/book cushion.

Picnic

 I cut out the fabrics for "Picnic" last October.  Most of the fabrics are from my Figtree scrap box.

The border fabrics are mostly leftovers from previous quilt backings.

I love all the borders on this quilt design, especially the scalloped border.  The original quilt in the pattern in square; I added another row so had to fudge some of  the scallops a little.  1/8" smaller here and there.

Karen quilted "Picnic" with a new design called "New Vine" - it looks lovely.

I had enough backing leftover from another quilt to fit this one.

This is such a lovely quilt design and I can see myself making it again one day (maybe a little bigger).

I'm so far behind (again) on reading and writing blog posts - seem to be busier with the family and spending more time with Mum now that I'm home full-time plus I was so far behind on uploading photos from the phone.  Hopefully I'll catch up over the next few days.