The Quilted Finish

Quilts Blocks and Quilt Tops

2012-05-22T07:29:00.001+10:00

Life has been busy and I haven't been posting very often but I have managed to get a little sewing done. I've made a couple more of these blocks.

I'm loving the fabrics in the Luna Notte range by 3 Sisters for Moda.

I also have some quilt tops waiting to be quilted. I have had a really painful elbow from a quilt I did some weeks ago. It had hours of stitch in the ditch and I've given myself a type of tennis elbow from pressing a ruler against the presser foot while keeping the needle in the ditch. So I have been resting it instead of quilting my quilts. These are some quilt tops I'd love to get quilted in the near future.

I was inspired to make this quilt top by a gorgeous book, Quilts of Provence by Kathryn Berenson. I bought the fabric quite a few (or more) years ago. I can't wait to quilt it.

This nine patch I've posted a picture of previously but now I have this rich red fabric to use for the backing. It makes me think of a red wholecloth quilt a longarm quilter made that had a name something to the effect of "Are red quilts warmer". I love red in winter so I'm very pleased with my backing fabric.

The small quilt on the right is from the book, Remembering Adelia by Kathleen Tracy. You can visit her blog A Sentimental Quilter . Here's a better photo even though I've posted a photo of this one before too.

So, as you can see I have a few quilts to finish.

Happy stitching,

Rowena

Eight Pointed Stars

2012-04-05T13:01:00.001+10:00

Around 12 years ago I bought some pretty soft coloured fabrics with great intentions...mmm, I'm sure you know what I mean. Fast forward 8 years... I started sewing these 8 pointed stars by hand from said fabrics while I watched my son have his Karate classes. I made 20 or so 8 1/2 inch blocks, now another 4 years have passed and I have been finishing off the last 6 or 7 blocks by machine. I laid them out on point over the back of an old quilt yesterday and I think it will make quite a nice quilt once it's finished. The quilting will have to be a "star" too with so much quilters muslin. Not much of anything else going on as life has been getting in the way of quilting!

The colours look a bit washed out in this picture so I took some of individual blocks.

The colours are more accurate in these pictures .

I'm looking forward to quiet Easter school holidays and some time to devote to finishing off my French Bouquet quilt top. I'm about to tackle a scalloped border for the first time and I bought

Darlene Zimmerman's Easy Scallop tool on the recommendation of Lyn from Sew n' Wild Oaks, I hope it's as easy as Lyn makes it look!

Happy Easter to you all,

Rowena

Mini /Doll Quilt and Quilt Top

2012-03-21T11:40:00.000+11:00

Earlier in the year Kathie from Inspired by Antique Quilts gave the size for the template to make this little block so other quilty bloggers could make a little quilt if they would like to. I made a Christmas coloured small quilt top and then yesterday I made this one, using some repro charm squares I've had sitting near my machine for ages. I've made this one smaller than the Christmas quilt top and I really like the size. I think this one will live on the wall above my sewing table once it's completed. I have a collection of small and mini quilts ready to be quilted, I need to find a backing fabric that will suit all of them so I can quilt them on my longarm machine.

I have finally put this top together and all it needs now is the border. I'm so pleased with how this has turned out. It's a pattern called French Bouquet by Kookaburra Cottage and I've mostly used Rural Jardin by French General which I love. So I'll get cracking and put the border on so I can get it quilted ready to put on my bed when the cooler weather sets in, not too far off.

I am really happy with the applique centre, I was a little unsure if the fabric I chose for the leaves and stems would look OK.

Happy stitching,

Rowena

Missing In Action and Longarm Quilting

2012-03-14T14:56:00.000+11:00

I can't believe how long it's been since I posted! My youngest son moved to a new school at the beginning of this term and I seem to be running back and forth to the school constantly as his bus pass hasn't come through yet. He is really loving his new school and has made new friends easily.

On the quilting front I haven't done anything much for myself however, I have had a customer quilt which has been keeping me busy! A lovely customer,Lynn, brought me this quilt which she has made as a gift for some friend's wedding. It has been a long and fiddly job as the back ground fabric has a very loose weave and as a result the quilt was very unstable. I have spent hours doing stitch in the ditch in every seam join! When I finally got all that done I was able to get on with the fun creative work!

I used Matilda's Own Wool 60% Poly 40% batting and Superior's King Tut threads. These are the best I could do with photos the other day. The first photo is the quilt top before it was quilted.

Happy stitching,

Rowena

Civil War Blocks 50 & 51

2012-01-24T02:02:00.001+11:00

January just seems to have flown by without too much sewing going on. I did get these Civil War blocks done for Barbara Brackman's quilt-along, which is now finished, however the instructions will remain for a few months if you're interested. The link is the Civil War Quilts button on my sidebar.

This is block 50, Grapes of Wrath.

This next one is block 51, New York.

I have two more blocks to make and then I can put them together, it should make an interesting quilt.

I have a large quilt to do for a customer this week. I'll post some photos when I have finished.

Hope everyone is enjoying 2012 so far.

Happy stitching,

Rowena

Happy New Year and Mini Pinwheels

2012-01-03T20:04:00.001+11:00

Christmas was really special for me, I had all my children at home, which is a very rare occurence. I hope everyone had a wonderful holiday season and 2012 is a year of health and happiness for you and your loved ones.

Kathie from Inspired By Antique Quilts has been making a quilt from pinwheel blocks. She has kindly written the instructions for making mini pinwheels on her January 1st, 2012 post. I've had a lovely afternoon playing with these little pinwheels.

I used a Moda Charm Pack, Grace by 3 Sisters that I bought a while ago. Kathie's instructions made it very simple. I have a pad of 1/4 inch graph paper especially made for drafting quilt blocks. I cut out a paper template using the graph paper then glued it to the piece of cardboard on the bottom of the Charm Pack and trimmed the cardboard to size, it was simple and fun.

I don't think I have anything suitable for the border so I'll have to visit my LQS tomorrow. I was given a very generous gift voucher by some of my family for that very shop!

Go check out Kathie's quilt and her other little quilts , they're gorgeous!

Lori from Humble Quilts is starting another of her quilt-alongs, reproducing one of her small antique quilts. I'm very tempted.

The blogging quilt community are off to a great start for 2012....I can't wait to see what else these talented and extremely generous people come up with next!

Happy New Year!!
Rowena

60 Degree Diamonds Quilt Top

2011-12-16T17:39:00.000+11:00

Years ago a friend gave me some French Souleiado fabric offcuts that were left over from curtains she had made. I collected other fabrics over the years that I thought would play nicely with the offcuts. I've finally done something with them...

I'm now in the process of stitching all the rows together, carefully pinning, then machine basting to make sure all the points line up, then finally sewing them together. I hope to have this finished in the next day or so.

Meanwhile, my youngest son (11 yrs) has finished school for the year which was a mixture of sadness and joy. He is starting at a new school next year and leaving the most wonderful teacher and great friends. He will still see his best friends, just not every day.

Back to pinning and sewing.

Happy stitching,

Rowena

My First Quilt

2011-12-09T21:56:00.000+11:00

Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville had a post recently asking quilters to post a link to her blog of their first quilt. Well I missed that event but I thought I'd still post a picture of my first quilt here anyway. It was from a pattern in a patchwork quilt book put out by a craft magazine. I cut it out with scissors after marking the fabric using cardboard templates, the first couple of applique hearts were sewn on using whip stitch until the owner of my local fabric shop showed me how to do a proper invisible applique stitch. I wasn't too careful with the seam allowance and ended up having to cut the blocks down so they were all the same size so it went from a single bed quilt to a large cot quilt, lol. I made it 18 years ago. My daughter still loves it, bless her.

I did hand quilt this but never quilted the border. I finally put a label on it a few years ago.

Thankfully I've learnt a lot since then.

Happy stitching,

Rowena

Civil War Blocks Catch Up

2011-12-06T00:09:00.000+11:00

I spent some time over the weekend catching up my Civil War blocks. My momentum stumbled on Block 40 Order Number 11 where I had to applique. I have learnt to really enjoy applique over the past few years but I ended up fudging and fiddling with the size of the pieces of this block and I wasn't really happy with it so I kept putting it off. I finally bit the bullet, got on with it and so thankfully broke the stalemate. So here are the blocks I have recently completed.

Block 40 Order Number 11 (the beastly block that finished up satisfactorily)

Block 42 H Is For Hospital

Block 44 Union

Block 45 Port and Starboard front of block

Block 45 back of block with seams pressed open. I've been doing this quite a bit lately with blocks that contain a larger number of pieces hoping to avoid lumpy seam intersections causing problems when machine quilting.

Block 46 Apple Tree

Block 47 Dixie Tea

Block 49 Yankee Puzzle.... totally messed up here.

I think it was when I realised I was going to have to unpick this for the fourth time I thought I'd better put it away for the night! I will sort this out but I'm posting it as is, to say it's done....sort of.

I'm really not half witted!! Let me say in my defence (this is a really simple block after all) I only had my computer for a few minutes to get the measurements of the block pieces because my 11 yr old, who has recently discovered the joys of online chatting to his friends, was using it and was making it nearly impossible to take uber quick peeks at the instructions. He did ask what all the cursing was in aid of and did apologize for hogging the computer later on.

So, now I have only one block to do to be completely caught up.

I have also made a couple more of the Rosette blocks in the gorgeous Luna Notte range, love that fabric, mmmm.

As the Civil War quilt along is coming to a close in the near future I am considering a couple of projects that have been occupying quilters in blogland (Wild Geese from earlier on this year).

Farmer's Wife Sampler

Wild Geese quilt along bloominworkshop.wordpress.com

Like all quilters I have a collection of patterns and projects I plan to make "one day" and of course I'll continue to be tempted by all the eye-candy on quilter's blogs, in magazines and quilting books. What joy!!

Happy stitching,

Rowena

Luna Notte Blocks

2011-11-24T23:23:00.000+11:00

I've had a Jelly Roll and various yardage from 3 Sisters Luna Notte range for quite some time now. I just fell in love with this collection the first time I saw it. I did have a quilt in mind that I was going to make with what I had. Then yesterday I was looking through one of my Quilt Mania magazines and this pretty quilt by Fig Tree Quilts caught my eye.

This afternoon I had another look and couldn't make myself be sensible and finish off my French Bouquet quilt top that's on the design wall . No, I was transported to that wonderful place where fabric and colour and inspiration all take hold and I was cutting pieces and sewing them together, having a lovely time! I am so happy with the results. Here's the first block I completed.

Here's another, not quite finished but I had to stop sewing, time for dinner : (

I think the finished quilt will be so lovely. Here's a messy, delicious bundle of the fabrics (taken without a flash hence the yellow tone).

And here's a picture of my quilting companion, Bruiser, I inherited him from one of my sons when he moved to a house where he couldn't have dogs. I've had him for nearly 10 years. He's a Pit Bull cross and the sweetest, funniest dog and devoted to me. My Mum jokes that he'd marry me if he could!! He is my shadow and pines for me if I'm away from home for too long. Just between us, I love this dog to bits! Funny how things turn out, I would never have chosen a dog like him in a million years, but there you go.

Happy Thanksgiving for everyone in the US.

Happy stitching,

Rowena

French Bouquet Quilt Top

2011-11-21T19:54:00.000+11:00

Just a quick progress report on this quilt top made largely from Rural Jardin fabrics by French General, so pretty. I spent a while yesterday finishing all the little sashing stars and getting it ready to put it all together, nearly there.

I really would love a full size, proper, design wall but for now I make do with a piece of poly batting pinned over my wardrobe door. It's better than laying everything out on my bed, which is what I used to do : )

My 11 yr old leaves for a school camp at the beach at 5.45am tomorrow morning, he'll be away for 4 days. I'm looking forward to sleeping in a little and getting the above quilt put together and maybe even get it on my quilting machine!

Happy stitching,

Rowena

More Civil War Blocks and a Customer Quilt

2011-11-14T17:27:00.000+11:00

I've neglected my Civil War blocks lately so I thought I'd better make a start on catching up. The star block was a bit of a fiddle, I would never make one like that again!

Block 41

Block 39, Hovering Hawks went together easily.

Block 43 Right Hand of Friendship was another fairly simple construction. I've been jumping around a bit with these blocks.

I've also been quilting this for a customer, Sylvia. She had me quilt a similar quilt a couple of months ago. I did this all freehand. Always a pleasure to quilt for her.

Here are photos of the back where you can see the quilting a lot more clearly.

The fabrics are some of the prettiest native Australian flora prints I've seen. The backing is flannel and will make this a cosy, lovely gift. I believe it's off to the UK.

I hope to get one of my own quilt tops on my quilting machine this week and finish the applique Civil War block.

Summer seems to be approaching fast in my part of the world. The kids have jumped in our pool a couple of times, still too chilly for me, but it won't be long. It seems odd thinking of snow falling on the other side of the world.

Better get off the computer and go do something about helping my son with dinner....one of the advantages of having a chef in the house is dinner is often cooked by him, yay!

Happy stitching,

Rowena

The Quilting That Took Forever

2011-11-02T17:27:00.000+11:00

Some months ago a customer quilt came to me via a LQS. I was in the process of selling my present quilting machine and buying a bigger,better one. So as to give the customer the best result I waited for my new machine to arrive and be set up before I made a start.

Nearly every quilt that comes to me to be quilted speaks to me pretty quickly with an overall idea of how I will approach it design wise. This quilt was not one of those : ( I stood and stared, I scoured quilting books and magazines and then the internet for something to spark my creative flame. I even sort out the generous help of an online machine quilters site. I finally devised a plan and onto the machine the quilt top and backing went.

Right about this time my son, Ben, who had a spinal injury, took a severe turn for worse with his back pain and required much more help and attention. So while all this was going on I grabbed whatever little bits of time I could to get this quilt done. Then Ben's surgery finally was done and he needed more support while he recovered. So after far too many interruptions and delays I have finished the quilting and passed it on to a very patient customer, I must say I am so pleased it's done. Here are some not so brilliant photos of said quilt.

The customer requested feathers so I tried to follow that brief while complementing the fabrics, there are feathers in the busy border fabric that can't be obviously seen but give a nice texture.

I now have a quite small but pretty quilt on the frame belonging to Sylvia. It's to be a gift to someone special in the UK. This will be a nice, straight forward job, most welcome.

Only a little applique to finish on the quilt from my last post and then it will all go together, yay.

Happy stitching,

Rowena

French Bouquet Quilt Progress

2011-09-26T23:04:00.000+10:00

I spent quite a few hours pottering and fiddling with this quilt in progress yesterday. Ages ago I posted an occasional update picture of the centre block applique and the star blocks when I began making them. Some time ago I decided to make a start on stitching the star blocks and sashing strips with little stars together but put it away a little frustrated. So I finally taped up a design wall of sorts and tackled the beast. I don't want to be churlish, I love this quilt design, but the pattern instructions leave a lot to be desired. I'm not mathematically minded or gifted with the ability to see the most logical and practical way to attack some problems...so there was some unpicking and a few rude words before I finally got it together. Of course once I got it right it looked so obvious and simple! I'm talking about the top left corner blocks, only four of them! If the instructions had been....well instructions... it would have taken much less time out of my afternoon and dinner wouldn't have been a thrown together pasta (so I could get outa the kitchen and back to the sewing machine). Just saying.

So here it is thus far.

It looks so straight forward, I know!

This is how the finished quilt should look.

I plan to have it looking like this in the not too distant future, lol. Truly.

Hope life is good for you, it's a happy place at my house with Ben getting stronger and better every day.

Happy stitching,

Rowena

Civil War Blocks 33-38 and Ben's Surgery a Success

2011-09-21T14:10:00.000+10:00

Firstly, thank you to all of you who sent prayers and positive thoughts for my son, Ben (24 yrs), who went in for spinal surgery a week ago. After nearly 20 months of agony and the last 2 months barely able to walk or move he had the surgery last week and it has been a wonderful success. For the first time in all these months he is pain free apart from the normal soreness from having surgery but he tells me that's nothing! He is now walking, standing straight and tall and has a smile and genuine happiness about him, does my heart good!
Thank God for modern medicine!

On the quilting front I spent yesterday catching up on my Civil War blocks from Barbara Brackman's weekly quilt-along. I've completed blocks 33 - 38. Here they are.

Block 33 Indiana Puzzle

Block 34 Rosebud

Block 35 Star of the West

Block 36 Kentucky Crossroads

Block 37 Confederate Rose

Block 38 Ohio Star

I'm off to make some more of the Kona Cotton solids stars I was working on last post. Spring weather has been lovely though the nights are still quite cool.

Happy stitching,

Rowena

Quick Star Blocks

2011-09-06T11:28:00.000+10:00

Some months back (November 2010...I didn't think it was that far back ;) ....) I was the lucky winner of a Jelly Roll of Robert Kaufman Kona Cottons in lovely muted shades. I always knew I would make a quilt with a black background with these fabrics. I was skipping through Youtube looking at quilting videos and came across a Missouri Star Quilt Company video on star blocks from 2 1/2" strips, I was convinced these would be ideal for my Kona Jelly Roll. So over the weekend I made these.

The cornerstones are a rich purple unfortunately washed out by the flash. I'll use black for the sashing.

The blocks are 12" as they are now. I have enough for a double bed quilt. These blocks go together so quickly and easily it will take no time at all. If you are interested the video on Youtube is well worth a look, click on the link you tube Jelly Star To see a whole quilt made up, check out this video you tube Jelly Star quilt

I think this is a great pattern if you need to satisfy your "instant gratification" 21st century gene, lol.

I don't have any civil war blocks as I'm a little behind but fully intend getting them done in the next few days.

The following is not quilting related, just a warning....

I've been preoccupied as my beautiful son (24 yrs) is going in for spinal surgery in a week. He has two ruptured discs in his lower back (L4 and L5) and for nearly 2 yrs he has been in the most intolerable pain. Standing by while your brave son has tears running down his cheeks and is moaning in agony, it is so hard not being able to do anything to help. Last Monday we spent the entire day at the hospital ( Royal North Shore for those in NSW, Australia) to have all the pre-op tests, scans and X-rays done. I had to drop my son at the hospital at 6am Tuesday ready for surgery at 8am (to remove the part of the discs pressing on the sciatic nerve and free up the nerve path). We had spent a terrible night because his local Doctor has miscalculated his pain meds so he had run out on Monday, not a night either of us would ever want to repeat. There had been emergencies and he hadn't gone in for his op until 12 o'clock. I rang at 1pm to see how the op had gone, while I was on hold our call waiting started to beep, I usually ignore it but for some reason I answered, it was my son telling me they couldn't do the surgery. On Monday 10 - 12 hospital professionals had missed the fact that he hadn't had the most important scan, the MRI, which the neuro-surgeon has to have to do the surgery! He was in utter depair the poor boy, they discovered the lack of MRI at the operating theatre doors!!! I had to get in the car and drive back to Sydney and bring him home. We managed to get an emergency appointment for an MRI scan and the hospital has given him another surgery date, 13th September 2011 because they admit the dropped the ball, hah! dropped the ball alright. Poor Ben was such a mess, he has lived with such appalling pain for so long, his life has been on hold while we waited 12 months for the surgery date. He spends his life lying on the sofa propped with pillows and hot water bottles and taking pain medication that barely makes it tolerable. Sorry to moan , but I must say I feel so much better getting that off my chest, lol. Say a prayer or send positive thoughts for his operation on the 13th September, he sure needs all the positivity he can get, the poor little sod, it's been quite a nightmare.

Loving the warm weather that has been creeping up on us, 1st September being the first day of Spring for us hanging off the bottom of the world.

Happy stitching,

Rowena

Civil War Blocks 29,30,31,32, Doll Quilt in progress and Quilt Labels

2011-08-22T19:15:00.000+10:00

I've been a bit lazy with my blog but I finally have some things to post about.

First, these are the Civil War blocks I've completed recently.
29 Railroad Crossing

30 Peterson's Stars and Stripes.

I'm sure getting these applique stars down...do we need any more?

31 Empty Spools.

I had a bit of a fiddle with the set-in seams but pre-stitched with a large stitch first to make sure everything was where it should be (easier to unpick if they aren't).

32 Carolina Lily.

I really am pleased with this one but I wasn't sure if it would look OK with the other fabrics I've used in the previous blocks but when I laid them all out it looks fine.

After I had finished making the Carolina Lily block I still felt like playing with fabric so I cut some small rectangles from a pile of mixed 5" repro squares I bought a while ago. Then sewed them into these strips.

Then I had a play around with some background fabrics.

I wasn't satisfied with that so I went to my LQS, The Home Patch and had a bit more of a play.

Maybe green? I'm still fiddling but I think I like the green. I bought these 2 green fabrics.

I have finally stitched the binding on this quilt for one of my sons.

I transferred a label (from a book I have), coloured it with Derwent Ink Pencils then painted Textile Medium over the pencil which will be permanent now I've heat set it with a hot, dry iron. All this accomplished I have now sewn it onto the quilt back. Finished at last!

Here's the label and washing instructions.

This is another pretty label I recently did (from the same book).

This has been sewn onto a quilt I made from a FigTree pattern, Jelly Roses.

I have a quilt on the longarm that has had me procrastinating for a few weeks, I think I finally have an idea nailed down so I've made a tentative start..... I've had all the ditch work done for a while and am feeling quite pressured to get it done. Better get at it!!

Happy stitching,

Rowena

Civil War Blocks 26,27,28, Nine Patch Quilt Top and New Quilting Machine

2011-07-23T20:00:00.000+10:00

This is my nine patch, I stitched the blocks together and am now debating whether to put a border on or not. It's not the greatest photo but I'll try to get a better one once I have quilted it.

I've completed 2 more of Barbara Brackman's Civil War quilt blocks. I so love choosing the fabrics, playing with different ideas then settling on my choice and putting together another new block.
Here are the blocks .

Block 27 Irish Chain

Block 26 Barbara Frietchie Star

Block 28 Next Door Neighbor

The other really exciting news is my new quilting machine arrived and is now up and running. It's a Handi Quilter Avante with an 18" throat, fabulous stitch regulator and the best track system I've tried. As yet I've just had a practice piece on it but I have a customer quilt waiting to start. Here are a couple of photos of my new beauty!

I have a 3 week turn around on quilting and would love to quilt for you on my new machine. My quilting is all hand guided and I have 19 years experience in quiltmaking. I am happy to take orders via post.

Happy stitching,

Rowena

Civil War Blocks 23-25 and Customer Quilt

2011-07-05T05:52:00.002+10:00

I went down to the Sydney Quilt Show which I thoroughly enjoyed. So many talented quilt-makers in New South Wales. I was very restrained and only bought a couple of Layer cakes, for the CW quilt-along. I bought Collection for a Cause Hope, to supplement the fabrics from that range that I've been using for the CW blocks and I had to buy Barbara Brackman's Civil War Reunion for the same project.

Before I went to the Quilt Show I arranged to meet up with Liz from Quilterie . It was such a pleasure to meet in person after exchanging comments and emails, in blogland. Pay her a visit if you haven't before now.

A few more CW blocks have been completed. As usual I've had fun choosing the fabrics and making new (to me) blocks.

Block 23 Illinois Roads

Block 24 Ladies Aid Album

Block 25 Calico Puzzle

This is just some of my blocks so far, I don't have room for all of them on my make shift design wall (door).

I'm really delighted with how they look together. I was reading how one lady is planning on setting her blocks on point, it will be an enormous quilt set that way! I think I'll use sashing and cornerstones to finish mine

This week I finished quilting this pretty quilt (a Quilter's Companion project some time ago) for a new customer. I'm always so pleased when I hand over a quilt to a really happy customer. Sylvia is sending this over to England as a gift. The fabrics are really pretty native Australian florals. The applique was done with a machine blanket stitch.

Here are a couple of close ups of the quilting.

Such a pretty native floral print.

I've been researching and looking at Longarm Quilting machines for months and I have finally made a decision and placed an order for a new machine. I'm so excited. I will of course now be selling my current setup which is a John Watts frame with a Tin Lizzie 18 inch throat with a stitch regulator. This machine would be a great starting point for someone wanting to get into machine quilting on a frame. If at all interested please email or phone me for more details.

It's my youngest son's 11th birthday today, time really flies doesn't it. I no longer have a little boy, he's growing up, next thing he'll be a teenager!! Happy birthday Jorden!

Hope you are are all well and happily stitching,

Rowena

I Made a New Bag/Purse

2011-06-20T05:45:00.000+10:00

I've had this bag/purse pattern by Australian designer, Monica Poole, for quite a few years. I apologize for the out-of -focus photo, my camera is not working suddenly (and sadly) so my daughter took the photos with her phone.

I've put off making it because I thought it looked quite difficult. I used to be quite a confident dressmaker and would tackle tailored jackets without a worry but this bag was something out of my experience.
I really loved the style of bag it is and have bought fabric to make it twice. Well this morning I just grabbed the pattern and the gorgeous French General fabric I had bought for it a couple of months ago and went for it. You know what, it was really quite straight forward! I am so delighted with the end result, love my new bag!

It has a pocket inside for a mobile phone and a larger pocket for keys/lipstick and such with a slot on the end for a pen! How 'bout that! I even managed a magnetic clasp!

To hold the shape of the opening of the bag, the pattern called for the use of a product called Rigiline. This was simple to use as it's made so you can stitch through it so attaching it to the top of the bag was easy. I then did a line of stitching just below the Rigiline all the way around the top of the bag, this has made such a difference to the shape, without it the top of the bag would have been squished flat by the front flap.

Hope you all had a weekend filled with happy stitching,

Rowena

What's Sewing? CW Blocks and Quilting...Huge Post!

2011-06-05T14:00:00.000+10:00

My poor old laptop is sick. It really doesn't owe me anything. In computer terms it's pretty old, five years +. I've been having terrible trouble getting it started and the battery doesn't charge half of the time. So first thing tomorrow its off to the Doctor. I thought I'd get in a post before it goes to be diagnosed with who knows what! Perhaps the end of the line! :(

On the sewing front, much more fun, I've caught up my CW blocks. I really love this block 20 New England, it's so pretty. I bought some fabrics last week at my LQS and I used one of them in this block. The softer pink serpentine in the centre of the block. The colours really please me.

This next block is number 21, Underground Railroad. It reminds me of the Jacob's Ladder block. Both of the prints in this block are from the Collection for a Cause Hope range, gorgeous range of fabrics.

Lastly, I made block 22, Blockade. When I saw this I thought it was going to be a real fiddle but it went together without drama. I pinned carefully and stitched first with a large machine stitch to check everything was where it should be, points matching etc. Once I was satisfied, I put my machine back to the normal stitch size and sewed it together. I was a little nervous about introducing pink into this quilt with the previous block, but once I tried it I thought it looked fine so I went for it and added some more!

See what I mean,lol.

Way back at block 13, Little Blue Basket, I didn't put a handle on. I finally stitched a handle on my little basket block last week. Ta, da!

Here's a photo of all my CW blocks so far, I'm really pleased with them. I love going to the Flickr group for the CW quilt-along and seeing all the different fabric choices people make. There are going to be some beautiful quilts once they are all finished.

I often wonder what quilters and quilt collectors in the future will make of our quilts. With all the fabric ranges and quilt patterns available now, it will be interesting for them to discover quilts that have used whole ranges (jelly roll or layer cake quilts for example) and quilters who have made several quilts by the same designer ( I have made a couple of Fig Tree patterns and have another in the works!) Here's hoping ,of course, that my quilts survive!

I am finishing up the quilting on this quilt for my son, Nicolas, it's been a while coming.....I think he may be wondering if he'll ever get to sleep under it! With the fabrics and pattern on this quilt I have just meandered all over the centre with a variegated thread, it has greyish blues of varying depths. I just have the border to do now but I've been procrastinating over what to do in it, I'm hopeless!! I fully intend to bite the bullet and get it done this afternoon.

I'll shackle myself to this until it's finished!

I've nearly finished stitching the binding down on my Fig Tree, Jelly Rose quilt. I'm quite pleased with the quilting and can't wait to have it on my bed. Such a pretty pattern. It was so easy to put together. I have a Jelly Stars pattern ( Fig Tree) that I have made the four large stars for, it would only take an hour or so to finish. I must pull it out of the cupboard!

Well I'd better get on with it!

Hope you have all had a great weekend.

Happy stitching,

Rowena

Machine Quilting,CW Blocks and a Pile of Nine Patches

2011-05-17T23:53:00.001+10:00

I feel as though I've really accomplished some things this week. Firstly I finished a customer's quilt. Jinkers, this quilt was a LONG story. I was so stumped as to how to quilt this. I came up with a plan which required a new ruler, I ordered it online and waited for the post. When it arrived I did a sample/test piece and decided it wasn't right for the quilt after all. Back to square one! I played around with some ideas and was satisfied with my quilting plan and then I pulled a muscle in my shoulder, held up again! I eventually finished this quilt and I'm so glad, it's for the loveliest lady who never picks up her quilts without giving me fresh eggs from her chickens or her homemade jam, always a pleasure to quilt for her. So here a a couple of pics, I definitely need to improve my skills with photographing quilts!!

I've also finished the quilting on one of my own quilts. It's a Fig Tree pattern called Jelly Roses. I used fabrics from 2 jelly rolls, one was a Fig Tree range called Fig and Plum and the other was Garden Party by Blackbird Designs. The blocks went together really well, I tried some machine applique on a couple of the leaves and stems but decided to stick with hand applique. I am always delighted to have a quilt ready to put the binding on and so close to being ready to use! Feathers, meandering and some swirls on the flowers. I used Warm and Natural cotton batting and Superior's King Tut cotton thread in an unbleached natural colour, I think it's called Papyrus.

Here are the two CW quilt-along blocks I've recently completed and a picture of my blocks so far( they're laid out on my bumpy duvet on my bed so excuse the wonky appearance).

Lastly, I've made about 30 nine patch blocks and have quite a few more cut ready to piece. I bought a fat eighth bundle of a range called Reflections from an Era Past some months ago with a nine patch quilt in mind. The setting square fabric is from the Garden Party range by Blackbird Designs and the shirtings are from Jo Morton's Attic Shirtings range. The blocks are laid out on the Garden Party fabric on my bed, I'm liking the warmth of the colours and the blocks on point.

It's been great sewing weather, cold for our Autumn. I've been very happy to be indoors in front of my machines either quilting or piecing. I plan to be doing some more nine patches tomorrow and I'm also putting a quilt on my frame to quilt for one of my sons. It's a really simple design using a jelly roll of Japanese Indigoes, I posted a picture of it on 25th March 2011.

Take care and happy stitching,

Rowena

Civil War blocks and some Quilting

2011-05-12T23:20:00.000+10:00

Suddenly it's gotten sooo cold this week, I even saw a car coming into town this morning with snow on its roof!
Great weather for staying indoors and sewing, yay. So I have managed to do a couple more CW blocks from Barbara Brackmans quilt-along. Here's blocks 17 and 16. They look a bit wonky because the piece of batting they're stuck on has a bump in it, they really are square! My "state of art" design wall is a piece of poly batting hung over a door, not ideal but it sort of works.

Another project I've been working on for quite a while now is a really pretty quilt called French Bouquet, I've just about finished the centre applique block, I've finished the blocks and I'm now working on the sashing and star cornerstones. This is the applique so far.

This is a customer's quilt I finished last week. It was this lady's first quilt and beautifully put together, nice and square and flat with beautifully pressed seams. She was so pleased with the quilting which I did freehand.

They are not the best photos because it was late afternoon and the quilt was being picked up so it was a case of now or never.

Happy stitching ,

Rowena

Pickle Dish Revisited

2011-04-25T23:43:00.000+10:00

I hope everyone has had an enjoyable Easter. I've had a very quiet weekend with my family but I did manage to get a little sewing done.

I've been working on this paper-pieced Pickle Dish for some time. I hadn't picked it up since the last class I went to, so thought I'd better get some done before the next class! This is the first paper pieced quilt I've done and I really love the easy accuracy. I don't even mind pulling all the paper off the back of the blocks. I've been working on the border as you see from the photo...not too long before it's finished... all good intentions, I swear!

Tomorrow I have a customer quilt to do and I'd love to catch up with my Civil War blocks. I have last weeks and this weekends to make, they both look fairly straight forward. I find it really fun to see the different fabrics people choose to make their blocks. I should join the Civil War Flickr group really but it's finding the time that gets in the way. This weekend I've been so busy eating chocolate....oh the pressures of modern life ;)

Happy stitching,

Rowena

Customer Quilt Finish and more Civil War Blocks

2011-04-11T10:52:00.000+10:00

I made these CW quilt-along blocks this weekend. They were pretty simple ones to make so I finished them fairly quickly. So I'm all ready for the next block. I was visiting Julia's Place and I love the setting blocks she's using with her Civil War blocks, I may do the same.

These are my blocks so far.

I also finished this quilt for a customer.

Hope you all had a great weekend.

Happy stitching,

Rowena