Waiting In The Wings

Thursday, September 13, 2018

Springtime, The Squirrel Club and a finish

Let's go with the finish first.

The binding of this quilt below was delayed, due in no small
part to the fact that I am currently on my fourth round of antibiotics
in five weeks!
However, I summoned the energy yesterday to have a finish, no photo of the bound quilt
until next time, I've left it too late in the day to photograph outside.


I went with the AMH border fabric for the binding


and decided to forego hand stitching down on the back
and used the machine saving me quite some time.


My Squirrel project - see sidebar - is a Scrap Vortex quilt.
I had decided to work with decent size pieces of fabric to save time, but
somehow I found they were going smaller!
Excuse the 'rough and ready' photo below, the gridded flannel
needs straightening.


Much as I enjoy this quilt
there is a limit on the time I can spend working on it before
I lose control of my eyes!!
Instead of going with set size blocks I'm working as if
piecing a jigsaw in that I sew chunks and then fit them in wherever I can and cut to size
 when necessary, having said that there are a couple of 12' blocks in there.

Spring seems to finally be here for us in New Zealand, we've had a few
sunny days and the garden is coming alive again.

I have a huge clump of Clivia which put on a wonderful show
each year, sadly the snails and slugs enjoy a nightly feast on them.



 Always a harbinger of Spring is our Japanese Maple, I love
the lime green of the new leaves.


Last, but not least, the hellebores.


I have the room for two more plants in this area so a visit to the garden centre
will be on the agenda this coming weekend.
Bluebells are peeping up and should be flowering soon.

We're watching the news here of the hurricane heading for
the East coast of America and what a monster!

Thinking of all who are in the path of Florence as I write this,
keep safe.

Maureen

17 comments:

Nancy J said...

Your Clivia and Bluebells are a long way ahead of mine. Love the quilt, super fabrics, and I am the same, ages since I did a post, but tomorrow all will be revealed!!! Will it be a valid excuse, I hope so!!! A cold wind all day today, but nothing like Florence, I am hoping all our blog friends will stay safe , and all others have evacuated in time. XX to you both.

Julierose said...

Beautiful quilts, Maureen--loving how your scrap vortex is moving along...;)))
Luckily here in SE CT no hurricane warnings as yet--just high tides and lots of rainy days...these storms keep on getting bigger each year...hope you feel better soon hugs, Julierose

Linda Swanekamp said...

Quilts are looking great. Because of the eyes, I don't know if I could make a pure scrap vortex. Hope the antibiotics work at the root of the problem and you get rip-roaring healthy soon. Fall colors here, I would rather have your spring because I know what comes next!

Debbie said...

Wild vortex design....I am not sure I could work on that very long either.
Sending prayers for this round of antibiotics to work....you have had enough. Your garden shots are beautiful

cspoonquilt said...

Congrates on the finish! I love the scrappy blocks, but I know what you mean about your eyes getting tired. Thanks for the tour of your garden. We are in Fall mode so it's fun to see a little Spring! cheers!

Exuberantcolor/Wanda S Hanson said...

I love your Hellabores. My sister in law gave me a couple small ones but I'm having trouble getting them to grow. Maybe next year.

Janie said...

Good progress on your projects, the colors are beautiful.
And yes, thank you for the garden tour, I like that lime green in your Japanese maple too.
I hope you get well soon, take care of yourself.

Louise said...

Hooray for a gorgeous finish! Isn't it amazing how much faster machine binding can be? With so much vibrant color in your piece, the little bit of extra stitching from that will just disappear. And on your scrap vortex, there's so much color an entire person could disappear!! :)

Leeanne said...

Spring sure is springing....still with the odd cool spell though. Looks like you have chosen the border fabric for your binding? So pretty that fabric.
Scrap Vortex is effective but dazzling on the eyes. I hope you have a good weekend.

O'Quilts said...

Thank you for your lovely note....wind has started blowing here in Charlotte courtesy of Florence. Kids are tucked in bed and I am getting together my hand work.
I love your zig zag quilt...I just basted mine Wednesday night...It has been in my UFO pile for a few years...OMG
Sending love and healthy wishes..

Julie said...

Your garden must be looking so pretty at present. I've never machine sewn down binding - maybe one day.. I'm working Saturday so think of me while you're at the garden centre.

Ann said...

Beautiful quilts, Maureen - both the rail fence and the Vortex. It helps that you have such striking fabric. I like your choice of binding because it will blend into the border. Nothing should detract from this top. It deserves all the spotlight.
We have Japanese maples, too. So fun to see the leaves shaking in any slight breeze. And we're looking ahead to some cooler temperatures this fall.

Kaja said...

Beautiful quilts, Maureen. I love the border on the zigzags and the idea of using the same fabric for the binding is clever; sometimes you really don't need an extra element to finish things off. I like the scraps too - the top reminds me of how glorious your fabrics are, though I'm another one who could only do that sort of work in small bursts. How lovely to watch spring coming.

Linda @ kokaquilts said...

Love your vibrant 'zigzag' quilt, that border is amazing!

Kate said...

A very lively finish and a fun in the works project. You've got some lovely spring showing in your garden. The fall roses are blooming here, I'll enjoy them till we get our first frost.

Preeti said...

Congratulations on the finish. That AMH border is drool-worthy. Of course you lose control of your eyes. There is too much color and too much brightness per square inch. It is blinding. You have been overdosed on Kaffe Fassett. It is like the birthday boy who wanted to eat the entire cake on his own. I can help. I am only too happy to share your cake or the Kaffe stash :-p

audrey said...

I just love how rich looking your AMH quilt is. Really great looking quilt. And your scrap vortex is so vibrant! Wow! I can see why your eyes would start giving your fits working on that one! Going to be gorgeous!