UFO finished

I have been very lax in updating this blog, though I must confess that I have not been fiddling much. I have been reading lots and I may blog about that later.

I wrote about the quilt top I made from nine-patch blocks which I swapped way back in 1996. I finished off the top recently by adding a couple of borders and sent it off to be quilted. A couple of weeks ago I bound it by machine, so it is finally finished. My only problem now is what to do with it. Here is a photo.

Feather Finished

I finished my thread sketched peacock feather today. I fused the painted fabric to a lightweight polyester wadding and backed it with very lightweight poplin before I started free motion stitching.


When I had finished I made an "escape hatch" binding: another layer of fabric with a strip of vliesofix and a hole slashed in it. Stitch the quilt and backing around the edges, trim the corners, turn through. Iron carefully, pulling the slit edges together. If you're really fussy, cover the slit with your label.

I am really pleased with my piece. It is intended for the Contemporary Quilt Group display at QuiltWest in May.

Followup on 'The Quilt'

When I gave daughter Helen the quilt on her birthday she was very pleased, but it didn't take long before she decided she needed/wanted some matching pillowcases. This wouldn't have been a problem if I hadn't used up almost all the fabric. What was left was in small bits and I really didn't want to piece it all together - it would have looked like leftovers, not planned patchwork.

So I googled Klimt fabric. Found some in the US that exactly matched the backing fabric I used for the quilt and another that went well with it and sent off an order in the middle of December. I had an email back in a couple of days that said it had been sent, but that US Post was experiencing long delays with international mail and it could be 6 - 8 weeks before delivery.

Not a problem - I had other things to worry about. However the fabric arrived in the first week of January (2-1/2 weeks after ordering).

Today I decided to grasp the nettle and make the pillowcases. First problem: I hadn't done any calculations on how much fabric I actually required and found that I didn't have enough to make the 4 pillowcases I had planned. But I did have all those scraps.

I have finished 2 pillowcases and almost the other 2. I had planned a photo, but I had to go to the dentist, so that is tomorrow's task: finish and document.

Tomorrow is Day 1 of the second round of chemo, starting at 1.30. I will have enough time in the morning to finish them off.

Almost recovered and quilt finished

I went to the doctor on Monday and had blood tests and had to give a poo sample. Went back on Thursday (I was still suffering from diarrhoea). Verdict: I had somehow acquired a dose of campylobacter, so antibiotics were in order. I was prescribed a superdooper one which had to be OKed by the Health Department and it has worked! Still have the occasional cramp and I am very tired still, but I am not running to the loo any more. Yay!

Also on Monday I picked up THE QUILT from the longarm quilter. I trimmed the edges and had the binding sewn on by Wednesday afternoon. Here are some pics - I had to use the clothesline because it is so big.



This quilt has been promised for at least 10 years, so it had to have a label, but I didn't want it to be too conspicuous. I digitised it, used some of the backing fabric and stitched in an almost matching colour.


Tomorrow is Helen's birthday - we plan to deliver it in the early evening.

More stuff done

As promised here is a pic of the textured bag with a length of the original fabric next to it. This is a silk velvet devore that I bought at Liz Davenport's fabric sale last year. I still have 2 metres - must find something to make with it that I can use the bag with.

After Husqvarna Club this morning I came home and sewed together and ironed the binding for the quilt. Here it is, all neatly wound up, ready to be attached next Monday.

I was worried I didn't have enough - needlessly. There is heaps.

Tonight I am going to WAFTA for the last formal meeting of the year. The next meeting is a Xmas party, but I won't be going since it is the same day as Kevin's party.

A productive day

I cooked the chicken wings - I had to sample one and they are yummy. They are now in the freezer.

I cut lots of bias strips for the quilt binding and pinned them together. I plan to sew them tomorrow - I think that I have probably only got enough to go maybe half way round. I need nearly 10 metres and even after they are joined I still have to press the finished strip in half lengthwise. It's a big job.

I made a bag from the textured fabric I did a while ago.


No photo of the bag because I forgot and then it was too dark. The flash on my camera washes out lots of colour.

I went shopping and bought some more chicken wings which are now marinating in the fridge.

I deadheaded all the roses and filled up the green bin for collection tomorrow morning. I plan to fertilise them tomorrow evening so it will be watered in on Wednesday morning when the reticulation goes on.

I am now going to have a glass of wine and start a new book - the latest in the "in Death" series by JD Robb.

What I did today

Delivered the quilt. I can pick it up on Monday 23rd. Gives me a few days to do the binding before THE birthday - I have already started cutting strips. I am going to use the scraps from the top to make a pieced binding - I only need 9 metres! A good idea since I cut a couple of strips too narrow for the quilt, but they will be fine for the binding. And, thank goodness, the pieced backing was quite acceptable.

Decided to work on one of the outstanding UFOs: the sea urchin from the Innovative Stitches workshop last month. Not too much to do, but got lazy and decided to freemotion without a presser foot. BIG mistake - needle in left thumb, lots of blood and a very bent needle.

Went to my friendship sewing group. We have been meeting since 1988 and decided today that it was too late in the year to celebrate our 21st anniversary. Shame, but we can look forward to our 25th.

Two of the group have just returned from sojourns in France (not together, in different areas) and, while raving about food in general, concurred that macaroons were one of the most enjoyed sweets. Came home and googled. I will try a batch tomorrow - I have all the ingredients, and they seem like they will be a good sweet nibble for the party. If the experiments are edible I can use them at the two meetings this week where I am supposed to supply sustenance.

Finished

The quilt is all ready to deliver to the professional long-arm quilter tomorrow morning.

Yesterday morning I sat down with a copy of Quilters' Quarterly (the WAQA newsletter) and the phone, and started to ring people who had advertised. On the second call I found Sharon who has promised to finish the quilt by the end of the month. It helps that I don't want anything more than an allover pattern (maybe something like this)


I finished piecing the top Monday. Lots of frogstitching I am afraid. Today I did a computer workshop, then went to Textile Traders to buy the wadding. Unfortunately the "buy two, get one free" promotion had finished, but the Senior's discount applied, so I got a little bit off.

This afternoon I pieced the backing. I had some leftover 4-patch blocks so I have used them, plus 2 Klimt looking fabrics, neither of which were sufficient without the blocks. I hope it won't be a problem - I have always liked interesting backs that reference the front piecing. No pics - I don't have anywhere I can hang or lay out a quilt of this size

A marathon effort

I finished sewing all the squares into the large blocks of 16. Lots of pressing and the odd bit of frogstitching.

I laid it all out on our bed and decided it wasn't big enough - needed another 4 blocks to make it long enough. So I cut and stitched strips and cut out squares. They're not pressed yet, but they are ready to go. I have put the whole lot away because the intended recipient is coming to visit tomorrow.

I plan to make crab and coconut tarts and mini quiches tomorrow. More stuff to be frozen for the birthday party. And I just realised I need more distilled water for the iron.

Stitching

Finished off the top (handsewing - buttons). Made a base for my sea urchin piece and collected up the bits to finish the top.

Sewed the blocks that will be a quarter of the quilt. I have decided to make all the units the same (20" square) so I can play with them before the final assembly, so I now have 4 finished blocks. Pieced another pile of squares and they are now laid out for final adjustments. Sorted another 64 squares into piles ready for chain piecing - I am on a roll here.

Still haven't done the party organisation I need to do, but my cleanup yesterday inspired Kevin to tidy away piles of video tapes. One immaculate room - won't count how many more to go.

Quilt Underway

Today I finished cutting the squares - more than I actually need but I hope it will give me a little leeway to fiddle. The design uses a a four patch block which is then mirrored and rotated to make diamonds.

I have stitched 16 of the 4 patch blocks and laid them out on the spare bed. The colour is not true because I had to use the flash and I can see where I will need to move blocks around, but I'm pretty pleased with it over all. This represents one quarter of the planned quilt and I think I will quilt it in quarters and then join it together.

Halloween

No door knocks so far, which is just as well since I haven't bought in any supplies. Fortunately there are only a couple of children living in our cul de sac and both of them have parents who probably won't ever permit this kind of door knocking.

I HATE Halloween - it has never been an Australian tradition, and it seems like an excuse for older teens to indulge in gratuitous violence. There is a trial in progress at the moment - an 18 year old killed with a jarrah picket swung by a then 17 year old on Halloween last year. Ugly revelations of continued confrontations between groups, but they all dressed up that night before indulging in their booze fuelled activities.

As a result of my marathon cutting yesterday and more sewing and cutting today I have produced 110 5 inch squares. Not yet ironed and not enough for a queen size quilt. I think my calculations yesterday were a bit optimistic.

And I have now made a post for every day in October this year.

Friday Fiddling - AND Flowers

I have spent most of the day ironing fabric and cutting bias strips. These will magically become squares composed of two triangles - all due to a ruler I have had for years and never used. But I did test it today and it works!

The fabric is something else I have had for years. Part is a collection of Klimt inspired designs in rich reds and browns - 13 different ones. It is accompanied by some reasonably subtle maize and soft yellow prints. There are 27 fabrics in all and I had either a half yard or half metre of each, so ironing took quite a while.

I have cut 54 strips and I should be able to get 6 or 7 squares out of each pair, which means I will probably have almost enough for the queensize quilt I am planning. This is one I promised to make for daughter Helen years ago. It's best not to hurry these things!

We have four bauhinia trees along our boundary fence. Kevin doesn't like them because they drop leaves in winter and pointy pods in summer, but they are absolutely beautiful in spring.

Quilts by Jannie Rees

The friendship group I belong to meets on the second and fourth Wednesdays of each month with members taking it in turns to host the group.

Today it was Jannie's turn. Jannie is a well known and award winning quilter who has published several kits.

She is prolific and always has piles of new quilts to show us. I am in awe of the amount of stitching she achieves. Today there were several new quilts, all in bright colours. Some were commercial fabrics, but the quilt I liked best was made from Jannie's own hand dyes. Very simple and effective design. It looks to me like a winner for QuiltWest next year.

I had my camera with me, but didn't take any photos. STUPID!

Scquilters' Retreat Signature Squares

I have finished putting the 80 squares together into a top. I think I am going to use this as a lap quilt for the sofa.

The next task is sandwiching and then quilting. I have found some batik style flannel in my stash, so I am considering using that as a backing. I have some batting that I could use, but I think that, combined with the flannel, may make the quilt too heavy.


I will get some advice from my sewing group tomorrow. I need it - I haven't made a quilt larger than a metre square in years.

80 times 2 equals 160

Last May I participated in the siggy square swap at the SCQuilters Retreat here in Perth. I ended up with 80 squares. Here is a sample of a square (I chose this one because it has minimal information - most have full name, location and often email address of the swapper which would make for privacy problems).

The coloured triangles are actually squares, so the underneath part can be cut off. These triangles, sewn together, make up another square. I have now cut them all off and stitched them together.


All I need to do now is press them and trim to size . . . . They will be approximately 3" squares and I will have 160 of them. I am still thinking about that!

As for the siggy squares, I have chosen a layout and they are spread all over the spare bed. A bit more shuffling and I will be able to sew them together.

The Silk Scarf

The scarf was less straight forward than I had expected. The end bags were OK, but I had problems with the Spanish Hemstitch. The last time I used it, I was thrilled with the results. Yesterday I went through bout after bout of unpicking. Eventually I gave up and programmed little buttons so I could join the two parts Kayla Kennington style.
This is the final result.


I also finished another scarf. I had knitted this in various black and white yarns on a circular needle. Today I joined the ends to make a Moebius strip. This type of scarf is so easy to wear, since it sits nicely and you never need to battle with wayward ends.



A friend and I went to the opening of a quilt exhibition this evening. The quilts are made by a small group affiliated with an Anglican church in Melville and another friend is a leading light in this group. There were some very nice quilts on display, but I was most intrigued by this fringed edging.

Craft Fair

I had a lovely day today at the Craft Fair. I went with my sister Dorothy and met lots of people I knew. I had a shopping list and got everything I needed, but of course had to buy some things I didn't need - just wanted.

I fell in love with these cable needles. They are turned from dyed, laminated wood. There were also knitting needles of all sizes made the same way, but I resisted them.

Then I bought this yarn - not to knit socks, but to knit a scarf. I just happen to have a pattern for a cabled scarf - the needles will come in handy.

I am going back on Sunday. Designing Women have a display (which I helped set up yesterday) and I am rostered to look after it in the morning. I will wander and take some photos after that. The Art to Wear exhibit is great and so is the display of contemporary quilts by the Canberra group, Tactile.

Expedition to the Hills

In fact, Mundaring isn't that far away.

When my father and stepmother lived at Sawyers Valley (the next village up the highway from Mundaring) and we lived in Safety Bay (30 minutes south of where we live now) it didn't seem all that big a deal. We drove up at least every month or so.

Now I need a push to go there. The goad was applied yesterday when the Contemporary Quilt Group's meeting was an excursion to the Stitched and Bound exhibition. I carpooled with three others who live south of the river and I really enjoyed being driven rather than driving. Thanks, Stephanie.

The exhibition was interesting. As usual, I couldn't really see why some pieces had been selected, but I was most impressed by others. We were given a floor talk by the convenor and some of the artists.

Then we went to a little tearooms/restaurant a few kilometres down the road for lunch. They had been warned of the influx, but the speed of service and the quality of the food was impressive.

We arrived back in Mt Pleasant about 3pm. It had been a very pleasant day.

Accepted

My quilt "Down South" has been accepted into the My Place exhibition. I am thrilled!

Now I have to sew on a sleeve and a label and send it off. I also have to supply a photo of me. This part is really scary!