Pow Wow

This week I was supposed to be working on a secret project I started a while ago but I got sidetracked making a quilt using Cluck Cluck Sew's Pow Wow pattern.

I have wanted to make this quilt for some time and last week whilst rearranging some fabric I looked at my hoard of Marmalade fabrics by Bonnie & Camille and right then on the spot I decided to use some of it. Pow Wow was the perfect project.

The units went together very quickly.

And before I knew it I had a quilt top.  It was super fast and I love the result.

I still have to put a small white border on and once I do the top will measure approx 68" x 55" which is a nice throw size but I am toying with adding a scrappy Marmalade border to increase the size. What do you think - leave it as is or add a border?

This quilt yielded 240 bonus HST's.  I have assembled half into a mini chevron quilt top.  The other half will be used in a future project (another mini quilt).

In other sewing news, I finished another paper pieced star to add to my collection.

I'm not loving this one but I think it will blend with the others so I will reserve my judgement.

And finally, I completed one more block of my super secret project - here's just a little sneak peek.

Until next time.

Sue

Wonky Week

I have spent the majority of my sewing time this week making a wall hanging for a friend's housewarming.

It didn't start out as a wall hanging, that was a bit of an after thought.  Initially I made some improv wonky houses as a test for a bee swap.

Then I remembered I had a housewarming party to attend so I quickly utilised my test blocks and turned them into this.

It sort of grew as I went along.  Once I had the houses made I decided I needed some trees, then I thought a few flowers might look pretty. Then I decided to add clouds and birds and butterflies etc. etc. I kept adding embellishments until I thought it looked finished.

Some free motion quilting finished it off nicely and I managed to finish the binding about 2 hours before I had to leave for the party!

I loved the freedom of improv piecing and I am really happy with how it turned out but more importantly my girlfriend loved it so mission accomplished.

Here are a couple of close ups of each house.

Also this week I fulfilled my July bee obligations with these blocks.

And I got my next project cut up and ready to start.

I am using some of my precious Bonnie & Camille Marmalade fabric.  I decided to use it rather than hoard it!

But the highlight of my week was my no. 2 son's Deb Ball so I will leave you with a picture of my baby all grown up and looking handsome.

Until next time.

Sue

Sneak Peek

A sneak peek at my next project, another string quilt.  Cant give too much away yet but I have made lots of string sets in black/white and hot pink.

Which will be turned into diamond blocks like this.

I will share more on this on the coming weeks as the quilt top progresses.

Apart from strings I have been working feverishly to catch up on my bee obligations for this month.

I made 2 paper pieced stars using the same pattern.  One for Queen Kelly in rainbow colours.

And one for me in my own colourway (green, grey and white).

And in another bee group Queen Rose requested black/red/white granny square blocks.

I had to make these blocks twice.  Thought I was clever and knew how to make Granny blocks.  When I finished I discovered our queen wanted four rounds.  Of course I made blocks with three rounds so had to start again.  Note to self.....always, always, always read the instructions before starting a block!

And finally, I finished Round 2 Supernova block.  It was my partners turn to chose our inspiration colour this month and she chose green.  I am so glad she did because I love green and have heaps of in in my stash.

I just hope my block is not too green.  I probably should have put a bit more contrast in this but l love it and I think it will go nicely with the lilac block from last month.  I can't wait to get my partner's block to see how they all play together.

Until next time.

Sue

Back in the string of things

After a leave of absence (illness and family commitments) I am back in the string of things.

I literally mean stings because that is predominately what I have been working with for the last 4 weeks.
It's no secret that l love scrappy quilts.  I love the informality and 'homely' feel of them and scrappy works with my current goal of using what I have in my stash to create something with a modern aesthetic.

So here is my latest creation....to be named either Square Dance or Hip to be Square.

This is the second quilt I have made from my favourite quilty book "Sunday Morning Quilts" by Amanda Jean Nyberg and Cheryl Arkison.  It measures 72 x 72 and this quilt is for me. Winter is here in my part of the world and I can't wait to curl up on the couch with this bright and fresh quilt.  Because it is a busy top I quilted it with a simple loopy loop design which gives the quilt a lovely texture.

And for the back I used a pretty coloured fabric I found on sale at my local Spotlight store.

The store was very crowded with sale shoppers and someone was hovering around this bolt of fabric so I quickly swooped in and stole it before anyone else had a chance to fall in love with it.  Good thing I did because as I waited in line to be served (which took like FOREVER) a couple of people commented on the fabric and wanted it after me.  I played nice and left some for them!

In other news....I have joined yet another online block swap.  The Supernova Friendship Block Swap is being hosted by Stephanie at Late Night Quilter and Sandra at One Million Stitches.
Each month we make 2 identical blocks, send one to our partner and keep the other. At the end of the swap the idea is to not only have a new quilt but a new friend as well.

I am partnered with someone from Oklahoma and we have so much in common, not just quilty stuff but real life stuff too.  She is a great pen pal and I am enjoying getting to know her a little bit more with each bit of correspondence.
My partner and I decided to use a navy background for our blocks and each month we are picking a different inspiration colour. For the first round we chose lilac as our colourway.

Aren't they just beautiful?  They look like they are shimmering to me.  I can't wait for Round 2.
For some more eye candy make sure you head over to the Supernova Friendship Swap Flickr group to see some of the awesome colour combinations others are using for their blocks.

Until next time.

Sue

Do you ever find yourself in a funk?

Do you ever find yourself in a bit of a funk?

This past month I have been potting in my sewing room, playing with fabric, flicking through the hundreds of projects on my 'wish list' but I am not at all inspired.  I want to start a new project but I can't get myself into the right head space.  I think the reason is that my style is evolving and my modest stash just does not inspire me.

When I first started my quilting adventure 14 years ago I was very drawn to the country and naive style. Then my taste evolved into a more classic style but now I find myself leaning towards more of a modern style of quilting.  I hate putting labels on the different styles.  I think they all merge and I flow from one to the other with startling frequency!  But right here, right now I love the clean lines and 'minimalist' feel that often describes modern.  Although I have started to acquire modern fabrics, my stash is top heavy with more classic styles which poses a bit of dilemma for me.

So l  have set myself the challenge of trying to use my existing stash to make quilts with a modern vibe.

With that in mind I have made a wall hanging for my entry hall using improv piecing.

(excuse the picture - I took it indoors at about 9pm with terrible lighting!)

I also used a few scraps of "modernish" fabrics to make some colour coordinated fabric baskets.

These were surprisingly quick to put together and I plan to make several more so that eventually I have one in each colour to store my scraps in.

Other recent finishes include some paper pieced star blocks for a bee group and a quilt top for one of the many charity groups I am involved with.

Now to get back to the 'wish list' and settle on what I want to start next.  Or maybe before I do that I should think about tackling the ever increasing UFO pile?

Until next time.

Sue

What's in a name?

The absolute hardest part of any project for me is naming a quilt that I have made.

I love picking the colours for a new project, I love making the blocks, I like (not love) putting the blocks together to make the top, I love the quilting and I love, love, love binding my quilts but its there that the love affair stops.

Some people come up with the most inventive and unique names but when it comes time for me to name a quilt I draw a complete blank.  Every single time.

I want to think of something fun and appropriate but I never can.  I really hate this part of the process and I confess to having made and gifted many quilts that were left unnamed simply because I couldn't come up with anything.

Anyone else have this problem?

For example, I have just completed a Japanese X & + quilt for my gorgeous 7 year old niece.

It's been a week since this was bound and I still cannot come up with a name for it so it feels unfinished in my mind.

Whats wrong with me?  Why do I find it so hard to come up with anything?

Help me please.   Where does your inspiration come from when naming quilts?  Is it the colours you use in the quilt, or the style of quilt or maybe its to do with the recipient?  I try to draw on all of these elements but still I get nothing, nada, zilch!

I don't want to settle for the usual "handmade with love blah, blah, blah" so any input or inspiration you can throw my way would be very gratefully received.

Until next time.

Sue

March Musings

OK, so blogging was out the window for all of March but I did keep myself busy working on several Charity projects.  I belong to 3 online groups that make quilts for different charities.

This month I made:

Blocks to be donated and made into quilts.

Three quilt tops (but I only have a picture of 2 of them):

And one complete quilt.

Sewing for me was limited to some bee blocks for 2 different queens:

And a very spur of the moment Autumn inspired quilt top.

I was cleaning some shelves in my sewing area when I came across a pile of Autumn charms from an online swap last year.  I had recently been looking at disappearing 4 patch quilts and really wanted to try the technique so I decided to use the Autumn charms I found rather than hide them away again.

I struggled with the blocks a little.  There are many, many tutorials out there and they are all just a little bit different.  I went with what I thought was the easiest version but I still had to put my thinking cap on for each block to make sure they were all rotated the same way.

With the addition of a couple of borders the quilt top measures 56" x 56"which is the perfect size to hang on the empty wall in my dining room.

My WIP count has not lessened...in fact I have added to it!  Maybe next month I will make a small dint.

Until next time.

Sue