Chinoiserie No 2

My daughter-in-law claimed the first "Chinoiserie" quilt and I had so many floral fabrics still in my stash I cut out another one a few weeks ago.

It was finished in early December and I love how it turned out.

I asked Jenny (AngelCake Quilting) to use the same design as on the first Chinoiserie - Narnia.

Mum turned 93 on 4 December.  Quite a few of the family crammed into her unit for dinner - it was a fun, loud time and Mum loved it all. 

Beautiful flowers sent by Jenni and Kurt

"Sewcialites" Block 11 in Cheer designed by Me and My Sister:

The pile of Hourglass a Day blocks is growing

and I had to sew a nine-patch together to see how it looked.

I think I'll be making 49 nine-patches.

Orange Weekend

Last week's Sewcialites block is called "Kindred" and was designed by Bonnie Olaveson (Cotton Way and Bonnie from Bonnie and Camille).  I have a sketch of all the blocks together that I had previously coloured in showing the colours of the solid fabrics I have in my stash, so it was orange this time.

A much easier block to make than last week's.

"Chinoiserie" 2 is together and is with the quilter.

I love this Art Gallery Fabric designed by Bari J - it's the backing for Chinoiserie and it feels so lovely.  Don't think I've used black and white stripe for a binding before.

Over the years I've made a couple of orange and white quilts and have been asked to make an orange and white lap quilt so I'm making a smaller version "Picnic", a FigTree and Co design.

Four blocks done to see how it's going to look.  There are so many shades of orange.

The mottled orange is the backing and may be the outer border, the orange vine fabric is for the scallop border and the orange solid may be the outer border or the binding.

Had a pretty quiet weekend - no sleepovers, lots of housework, some sewing, some knitting and lots of election coverage on tv.

I really like house blocks and made this house from Thimble Blossoms' "Autumnville" pattern to go into my sampler.

The sampler is now together - some of the newer blocks didn't make it into the finished top but they will probably be used in the next one.  I still try to make a block in B&C fabrics from each quilt I make, so that gives me a good headstart for another sampler.

Backing fabric arrived yesterday and this pretty aqua will be the binding.

Over the last few weeks I've been cutting out fabric for a second "Chinoiserie" quilt.  Started sewing the blocks on Sunday evening and the lower four rows are together.

My "An Hourglass a Day" stack is growing.  On Sunday I started making two hourglasses a day (four blocks) - I think I'll need 400+ so it's fair enough to increase the daily number.

Sewcialites Block 6 "Devotion" - I've found this one the most difficult so far.  It's not very neat but will hopefully sit in the quilt top ok when it's all together.

Had a fun weekend catching up with The Schoolgirls for brunch on Saturday, then T & G came over on Sunday - they don't keep still and make me laugh.

Last night I started cutting out "Stroll", a new Thimble Blossoms pattern using mostly scraps (lots of cutting) and I also want to cut out Cotton Way's "Summer Days" from the B&C scrap bin.

Patchwork Sky

This is the second "Patchwork Sky" quilt I've made - this one being a special request from a customer in USA.  It was finished and posted away a week or so ago.

Little Sweetheart's dresses are finished and hanging up in her wardrobe ready for some warmer weekend weather.

Block 4 of the Sewcialites SAL.  Love making these blocks each Saturday morning.

The "Hourglass a Day" blocks are growing in number and many, many more to make.

Stitched down the "Santa in the Trees" binding last week and it is now at its new home.  I really like this quilt but the backing fabric was a nightmare to work with.

The full-size "Bradley Street" is all done and will be dropped off to the quilter later this week.

I'm ready to start another "Chinoiserie" - the first quilt has gone to Peta and Michael's home and have been working on putting together a Bonnie and Camille Sampler this week.

Had a fun weekend even with the weather turning very yukky - T&H came for the day on Saturday then I had dinner with friends - home-made wood-fired pizzas.  Sunday was a pj day - spent most of the afternoon in The Pink Room.

Back in the office for most of this week - lots going on and a busy time for us.

First Quilt

My first proper quilt is finished.  The sub-contractor (Mum) sewed down the binding last week and the quilt is back at my place.

I am so happy with how it's turned out and my patchwork teacher was very pleased to see it finished as well.

Each Saturday morning now I'm eager to see the pattern for the Sewcialites sew-along.  I thought that when a block has lots of little pieces, I'd make it multi-coloured using pieces from my solids scrap bag.

It's nice to use up some of those little pieces.

"Patchwork Sky" is together and is being quilted this week.

Love this backing fabric.

The pile of "An Hourglass a Day" blocks is growing.  Really enjoy making these first thing each day.  Think I need 349 to make a quilt ~60" square.  Will have to cut more 5" squares.

I picked up the play quilt from Jenny (AngelCake Quilting) last week and the binding has been sewn on for Mum to stitch down.

I think it's nice to have Mum involved in making a quilt for her 13th great-grandbaby.

The Pink Room is in a bit of a mess - lots of ongoing projects:  Ring Cycles, Hourglass a Day, summer dresses for T, pyjamas for H & G, Sea Glass, Sewcialites.

Plus I've started cutting out another Chinoiserie - need two more large blocks then I can pair up the florals and border strips.  The first Chinoiserie has been claimed by my daughter-in-law. 

When I made the last Bradley Street quilt for Peta's friend's new baby, I cut out extra squares to make another one day.  On Sunday I popped in to Spotlight and bought some more Jocelyn Proust fabrics with the beautiful Australian flora designs and the teal solid to make a full-size Bradley Street quilt one day.  I've added a square of each of the florals to the Chinoiserie pile.

After seeing the pile of UFO's I worked on Sea Glass over the weekend and it's now ready to give to Karen for quilting when she visits on the weekend.  The Stitching Girls are coming for afternoon tea on Saturday - first time we've been together since the start of the year.

Took a couple of days off last week - Mum, T and I visited Jenni and Kurt on Thursday.  So nice to just spend time with them.  Jenni's now 20 weeks pregnant and, although very tired, is keeping well and looks wonderful.

Chinoiserie

 "Chinoiserie" was finished last night.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this quilt - so much that I bought some more large florals this morning to add to the stash ready to start another one as soon as they arrive.  Michelle McKillop designs vibrant, beautiful, colourful quilts and I love her style.

Jenny, from AngelCake Quilting, quilted with a design called "Narnia" - it's lovely big flowers and leaves.

The backing is from FigTree and Company's "Aloha Girl" range and the binding is from Aneela Hooey's "Little Apples" range - it features cute tortoises.

I made the second "Sewcialites" block on Saturday morning before Gulli came to spend the day.  

We had a very busy day baking, gardening, emptying out the spare room.

I've joined another sew-along.  This one is "An Hourglass a Day" made with 5" squares.  I had a bagful of Bonnie and Camille 5" squares with some already made into half square triangles - so joining this SAL was a no brainer.

When I picked up "Chinoiserie", my original sampler quilt was also ready to be picked up.  The binding has been sewn on and is now with Mum (the sub-contractor) for stitching down.

A bit hard to believe that my oldest quilting UFO will finally be complete and on a bed.

Progress has been made on "Patchwork Sky" for a customer in USA.

Blocks A and B

Blocks C and D

The lower four rows are together.  I hope to add the top three rows and sew up the backing tonight so that I can send it all off tomorrow to Karen for quilting.

The white windmill fabric has been in my stash for quite a while to make a summer dress for T and this was cut out on the weekend, along with a couple of other dresses using fabrics I'd purchased recently.

I love using my old patterns for her - they were bought for her Mummy and Auntie.

This dress is from a new pattern.  I only had 70 cms of the turquoise fabric and needed a shift style dress.

I'm taking Thursday and Friday off this week - Mum, T and I are going to visit Jenni tomorrow and then I'll have a few days at home sewing (I hope) but will be open to fun invitations.