The old and the new

First of all an old quilt top made around 1989/1990, not my usual colours! It's story time below so feel free to pass by if stories are not your thing.

This top I made in NZ when we had a house full of three Irish Setters - Rufus, Chessie and Applejack -  and our cats Marmaduke and Marmalade, sadly now no longer with us. In the UK we had our two Irish Setters - Crispin and Penny and two cats Carno and Carmichael. When Chessie had her litter of pups I decided I wanted to make a quilt to remember our four legged friends from earlier times and the ones we had then. So, a star each for the Setters and four smaller ones for the cats. I drew a feathery quilting pattern on the empty spaces, pin basted and put away to quilt 'at a later date', famous last words. 

Four days ago I pulled out, from the bottom of all my quilt tops, this shockingly pin basted top with a little hand quilting in the very centre square. Pins  now removed, stitching removed, batting put aside and the backing I had hated is in the rubbish! Start again time, hopefully I can still see most of the quilting design.

Since the friends mentioned above left us we have had Seamus and Mollie  - Irish setters, a cat called Daisy - once more all sadly left us, now we just have Leila the tuxedo cat, the boss of the household! Another quilt is planned for next year celebrating the three last ones mentioned and of course Leila who we hope will continue to bring us great joy for many years to come.

A finished top for Across The Fields! I took on board the suggestion from Wanda and left it at six rows and this  will sit nicely on an empty wall in our lounge when it's quilted and no,  it won't be languishing at the bottom of a drawer, I'm going to get busy with machine quilting these medium sized tops.

Back to an old piece again. A rectangular house wall hanging, I was asked to make this particular one for a small exhibition of painters, they felt it would be something a little different. Problem - I wasn't inclined to use my very good fabrics and went with a house quilt using a quarter yard pack of one line.  Again, this was years ago and of late it's  used to cover one of the sofa arms to hide the frayed bits from Leila deciding to try some claw sharpening.

 

Excuse the fact that I didn't rotate the photo. Never liked this piece but I'm liking the look of the backing I used, it has an old fashioned look, I'm seriously considering trying to unpick the quilting and use the backing in another quilt.

Whether it is a seriously do-able task I'm not sure. There are a lot of quilting stitches!

Back to something new. There are heaps of strips in a variety of boxes in my little room here, decision made to make something simple with them. Found a design I liked, very simple and began building a selection of strips from the boxes - a few below with a jelly roll in pinks, oranges, yellows quite neatly set I thought, but after fiddling around for three hours

I ended up with more strips that I started with! Needed to cut more of a few - read a lot actually -  different prints and on and on this process went. A small jumbled pile below - more not shown.

At least two of the panels I'm pretty happy with, just a little tweaking here and there this afternoon, hopefully more tomorrow and I can be on the machine next week.

Hope those of you suffering in the heat can find a way to keep cool and enjoy playing with fabrics!

We see from TV and our newspapers that there's heck of a lot going on in the USA!

Ciao

Maureen

Almost Across the Fields and other thoughts

Well, I really can't believe one month has gone by since my last post, as you can see from the post today I was very much overly optimistic then as to what I could achieve and when I would posting again! Life happens and things don't always go to plan, but I am back once again.

Almost there with Across the Fields, I have six rows stitched two together right now, I decided I should find it easier to put together this way. The bottom two rows are works in progress but I feel happy with them.

The quilt, as you can see, is square - not feeling the love for this and would prefer rectangular but that would mean another two more rows, I really would like this off the wall to begin something new. Some thought needed tomorrow.

I've had to re-evaluate my quilting progress due to my back problems. Quilts using simple designs, easy to cut shapes with my GO or designs which mean I can work through slowly,  30 minutes standing is my limit. There will be some serious thought given to designs for quilts already intended to make, I am gathering ideas on which are more important to me and have meaning and memories, which I treasure dearly.

The fabric above is a vintage piece bought from a store here in NZ, over two metres square and is a Sanderson fabric from the 1950's era. It has a soft feel and was obviously a curtain at one time(probably lined given the faint stitching lines). I loved it soon as I spotted it. First thought was a new curtain for my sewing rom but I can see perhaps a lovely loose long summer dress or skirt and top - plenty of time to think!

So given the purchase above and having said in a previous post that I had more than enough fabric and wouldn't be buying anymore I have slipped off the wagon, especially as AnnaMaria Parry has brought out her new range Good Gracious. If you haven't seen any information about this range it's based on her trip through England and Scotland with her now husband. The colors and designs take me right back home!! Her pattern which goes along with the fabric has no applique, just simple shapes, long borders, there would be a little fussy cutting, that I can handle a little at one time. Photo of four pieces below

Just look at the colour here!! Ponies in the New Forest take me back to living by a farm and helping with the shire horses - much larger than the ones pictured here.

Many of us love to see posts of quilters gardens, I certainly do, especially in the Northern Summer  whilst we're in Winter. Wanda, Linda and Cathy have beautiful garden photos,  always a joy to see. Below is what I see presently from the window! A bare oak tree but a beautiful sky.

Sometimes I find a spot of colour, camellias are out and a few others quietly lingering. Our Japanese Maple is bare, apart from a very few crinkled brown leaves but walking around yesterday I saw this in the grass, how this leaf has kept its colour I'm not sure.

Staying with bright red here's a camellia

not fully open yet but when it is it's quite a size.

Something a little quieter - another camellia

and here a vireya

So there we have it, hooray I've actually written a post at last!

The next one will truly be much sooner - I now feel more organised and energised.

Happy stitching

Maureen

Playtime with Across The Fields

Playing with a few left over large HSTs, cutting a few more from scraps and couldn't not add a few newer fabrics. Simple pattern as shown in a previous post was Across The Fields from Rachaeldaisy, shown again below

she has used very different fabrics to the ones I work with.The diagonal strips in the original pattern were to be cut from the same fabrics used for the HSTs. Using these more subdued colours this worked very well, with my fabrics they didn't. I've gone with a single fabric - Grunge by Moda in Aqua.

Here's how the wider strip at 1" finished looks with my blocks, not sewn just placed on the design wall.

I felt the strip overpowered the block, I decided to try with a half inch finished  and was much happier with the effect.

So I began placing more of the HTS, some I had left over from other projects but I did add a few newer fabrics. Only the top row of blocks have the strip sewn in,  I'm fiddling about placing pieces and found that before the strips were added the overall effect was a huge mish mash of colour, the strips definitely make a difference.

The photo below is pretty messy because I'm playing around to try and get a good balance of colour.

You can see what I mean about a mash of colour without the strip.

Apart from the above things have been slow around here for a number of reasons, I think an improvement is happening now, thank goodness. Next post, which I do hope will be much sooner than the length between the last two, I hope to have a near finished top.

A short post I know, I'll close with a bright splash of colour from the garden, one of my Hibiscus blooms and probably the last with Winter underway, we still have a few camellias flowering.

I'm off to the kitchen now to bake Cranberry muffins and a batch of Crunchy Lemon muffins.

Enjoy stitching

Maureen

Bramble Blooms top and a squirrel popped in from Across the Fields

After much dithering around with my BB1, begun when  Audrey began the Bramble Blooms QAL, I decided to just go with my central piece of applique and then borders, I concluded that even with Audrey's very welcome encouragement,  applique was just not for me.

So here is my Bramble Blooms

still needing to trim a few stray frays and straighten the bottom corners.

I knew I wanted to have the limey green colour of the small flowers in the appliqued blooms somewhere in the border. Tried so many greens, no luck,  until I dug deep in a pile of fabrics waiting to be sorted and found the butterflies - perfect! Hand stitching to be done on the blooms then waiting in line for quilting and red spot for the binding.

The squirrel hopped in as I was cutting for Across the Fields, I had a photo in my last post,  squares, then into triangles and I was just ready to cut the 12" strips

when Fonthill came into my mind - a KF pattern which I had planned to sew when Wanda was busy with her Fonthill, mine didn't happen but fabrics were more or less ready to go, problem had been the main fabric for two borders plus a few triangles here and there. Just playing with a mock up now before cutting more fabric, lots more playtime involved. I'll have a photograph of the KF quilt in my next post.

As you can see this is my sort of fabric! Alexander Henry from 2021 I believe and this was bought from  Material Obsession.

Using this fabric for Fonthill will be time consuming I'm sure,  I need a couple of easy projects to work on at the same time. Thinking time needed over the weekend.

Lots of you are posting beautiful garden photos, thank you for that and please continue doing so, we are cold and wet here in NZ and about to get colder!  My garden blooms are mostly finished but I have a photo of one of the last blooms on my Japanese Anemone or Windflower as I believe they're sometimes called.

Happy Quilting

Maureen

Tussie Mussie is now a top!

Yes, at long last I have a completed top. I'm not too happy with my stitching, there are  one or two places where the eight triangles meet, or in this case don't meet, however I'm not unpicking.

My spine has deteriorated (degenerative scoliosis) a lot now and has twisted a little so it's difficult to work at anything for long especially when loaded with strong meds, concentration lapses a little. However, that's definitely not going to stop me quilting, I can work around a few things.

I photographed outside, can't do a full on photo as the design wall is too small.

Going forward I've moved my BB1 project into my little room hoping for inspiration to strike and I can add a couple of extra borders. I'm also planning what to make a start on next week, I currently have six large project bins, Fonthill needs a few more batiks added before I make a start on that one.

It's between Sea Glass, maybe a couple more fabric will be added as I go along  but so far this is the collection

This is a shot of the pattern cover below, you can see mine won't be as blue. This is a Treehouse Textiles
pattern.

I found this little piece below in my scrap box, this just has to join the group - excuse the creases, I have yet to iron ready for cutting.

Heaps of fabric have been pulled for Across The Fields, far too many I know but it gives more choice when I begin to cut. There are darker fabrics underneath the top layer.

Across The Fields is a pattern from Rachaeldaisy Designs below.

So, decision time in a couple of days, you can see that once again my colour scheme will be different to the original in the photo.

That's all from me today, keep fingers crossed that I can settle my next border on BB!

See you again soon

Maureen 

Back to normality (fingers crossed),fabrics, quilts and machines

The post title really says it all, after a difficult few weeks it seems that all is settling down, slowly!

Today began with another beautiful sunrise -  a good omen I hope.

I feel I have achieved something since my last post by finishing up my Lego quilt top, and I'm happy with the result.

Some of the strips are wonky - no problem, I took whatever came to hand from the bag sitting by my machine.

The bright border fabric, full of delightful four legged friends, has been sitting in my "to use one day" basket, bought many years ago when Laurel Burch was at the height of her popularity.  Placed directly against the lego blocks the whole top didn't look as magical as I thought it would, luckily I remembered the quilt made by Julie who added a narrow inner border to her Dumpster Diving  12 - Confetti top - thank you Julie! Hunting around trying quite a few fabrics and Mirage Stripe was the winner.

Here's a close up, better shot of the stripe.

During the week this book arrived in the mail

from Quiltfolk.  In February decided to join Quiltfolk - Break The Rules BOM, one live stream (2 hours) each month for nine months, a variety of speakers. Yesterday along with the two presenters was Roderick Kiracofe who gave an amazing talk on the history of his quilt collecting, also in depth information on quite a few of the quilts themselves. The book was given to the first 500 folk who registered, I was one of the lucky ones. This is the second edition with additional quilts added.

Now, you may remember from my last post the first few words in the last paragraph were 'NO more fabric buying', but I did have a small package arrive this week ordered some time ago so I'm saying that this fabric doesn't count!!

A few of the fabrics from a quarter yardage pack of Trade Winds by Kathy Doughty, I have a specific quilt on my mind, more later.

The exciting finish to my week was the collecting of my Featherweight after her visit to the 'spa', such a treat to have her back and now usable after new cable and plug, sorely needed as the original (70 yrs) had perished and was dangerous. I don't usually name my machines, this one is different, she just had to have a name.  

Athena -  named after the Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare and  handicrafts. The Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens is dedicated to her and having been lucky enough in 1962  (we were sailing to New Zealand) to spend a day in Athens, explore the Acropolis and be privileged so see the Parthenon in all it's glory at sunset, the city of Athens below us, was a magical experience and still so clear in my memory today. In those days visitors could just walk along up there and explore the ruins, but now I see photos of steel steps and rails, barriers, thousands of  visitors and the creamy golden columns of the Parthenon being patched with white stone, I can understand that restoration would be needed but it does take away some of the magic.

A note here, I am happy with Athena's  association with wisdom and handicrafts - NOT the warfare. 

Happy Quilting until next time

Maureen

Having too much of a good thing

Does the post title strike a chord with any other quilters besides myself? I think it may do so. I recall a post from Julierose some time ago in which she shared the word below:

SABLE  -  Stash Accumulated Beyond Life Expectancy

I know I certainly fall into that category, this past two weeks my sewing machine has been under wraps while I sorted and tidied my fabrics which are stored in various racks, boxes and cubbies. Boy, did I have a shock with the amount, I didn't realise how much I had!

We all need a stash whether quarters, yardage, scraps and so on. Let's have a look see at my halfway mark in the sorting process. No exciting quilt photos, just boring ones of fabric accumulation so you may feel like stopping here!

Tucked into  a little space by the side of my set of wooden drawers, not photographed but  containing current projects, are five large containers containing fabrics for future projects.

By the side of the above, under the window are the sets of plastic drawers below,

the left hand side drawers were kindly sorted into large scraps (2) and small scraps (1) by my granddaughter,  the right hand side are chock full of Hoffmans from years ago. Covered with an old quilt and a soft, fluffy piece of fabric they make a lovely bed for Leila who 'helps' with my quilting and watches for birds in the camellias outside the window.

I have a small room so an immediate turn to the right brings two very large fabric tubs filled with large pieces of fabric yardage, mostly KFC and ranging from 3 metres/yards up to 5 metres/yards

and I forgot to rotate this photo! Above these I have two tall sets, one having 1/4 pieces and the other half yard pieces - all these are KFC. Also containers for strips underneath.

On my sewing table below, always with  extension up are more small cubbies having all 2metre/yard pieces of KFC fabrics

A mess of fabrics spread around ready for more sorting

more mess and two more drawer sets just peeping out by the chair.

plus my wire baskets with more KFC, Tula, Anna Maria Horner and mixed others, these are more or less in colour order - sort of.

I haven't even covered the two large boxes of batiks, there's no room left in here, they live in another part of the house.

My thinking ability was fading fast so a quick walk helped, windy and  a little rain but a view of a calm sea.

 NO more fabric buying, no spending time seeing what's happening on Instagram - worst thing I did was give permission for youngest granddaughter to set me up. Bombarded with 'sponsored' or 'you may like' and a multitude of ads. and so on. My reason for going with Instagram was that a number of the bloggers  I followed are now on that platform and no longer blog! Schedule setting for my quilting time to fit in with my usual household chores is next.

If you've made it this far then thank you for your patience!

Maureen

Getting back to normality - playing with Lego

At last the family matters mentioned a couple of posts ago are a little smoother presently, thank goodness, I can now spend time at the machine!

One of my projects begun quite a while ago is now under the needle once again, I went for a real easy-peasy one, my Lego quilt.

These blocks were randomly placed on the floor, no particular order. The sun was hitting the RH side which changes the colour a little.  Seventeen blocks so far, each to finish at 10" square. I was going with the idea that 4 x 5 blocks would be fine, but now not sure, too small a size for a throw quilt I think. A large Lego bed quilt is not for me, I doubt I would sleep well tucked in with all that colour and movement! Probably better go with 5 x 6 throw size.

Another therapy has been visits down to Cockle Bay beach, just 10 minutes away from home. 

I love to see the effect of the sun glinting on the water, looks like it's snowing.

My suitcase Guild sale, mentioned in my last post, provided me with the means to buy - yes, more fabric - only a little,  and three books!! 

Number 1

You all know that I'm a believer in colour explosion in my quilts, but this book called to me and the quilts pictured can easily be interpreted in more vibrant colours, if needed. Hopefully by the end of year I'll have one to show.

This is from the Quiltmania collection and I've never heard of, but absolutely love, the author's name of Jenny Bear.

Number 2

A stunning book written by a New Zealander - Fleur Woods - how come I have never seen her work before!! It's a New Zealand published book. The cover photo perhaps gives the impression of purely embroidery content, the words on the cover say more,  she has put her stitching to good use with collage in one chapter. The photography, the text, the quality of the heavier paper than normal, even the font is beautiful, her words - magical. Her embroidery is unbelievable.

Just a snapshot below, she loves flowers

and her stitching

Kantha style. If you can possibly find it in your library, or a bookshop nearby and have a peek at the content you will be pleasantly surprised.

Number 3

The book below says it all for me, and many, many thousands of people in New Zealand.

At this point I have read only the introduction, it's going to be one of those books which will be impossible to stop reading once begun. At least for me.

Ooops - the garden photo, almost forgot. A lonesome Zinnia flowering and such an unusual colour

Until next time, happy days, happy reading and happy quilting.

Maureen