Sunday, February 1, 2015

New Projects for 2015, finishes and WIPs

Who can resist beginning something new for the new year?  With an enormous choice of new quilts appearing I have chosen 2 that have been around for a little while.

The first is Sweet Citrus Love, a quilt pattern available from Treehouse Textiles and designed by Emma, Sarah and Cathy.  I plan to use mostly Cotton and Steel fabrics for this quilt.

Here I have started auditioning fabrics for the first block.


I am using a mixture of fabrics from both quilting cotton collections from C & S.
Citrus Sweet Love is a great combination of both piecing and applique. I plan to make this quilt by hand.

My 2nd quilt will be La Passacaglia from a Quiltmania book by Willyn Hammerstein. It is the cover quilt in this book.  Again I will be using lots of Cotton & Steel fabrics and stitching by hand. I don't expect to finish this quilt any time soon!!! Lol I have seen lots of versions on blogs and Instagram and the colour choices I have seen are very inspiring!!!  Almost every quilt I have seen has been made using English paper piecing. However, I am going to have a go at making it just piecing.


Now for some things I have been stitching over the last few weeks.

Lots of Noah and Matilda!!

Exotic Flower:



Three Flower Stem:




Four Tulips:




And......

All the blocks completed!!!



This won't be the final arrangement of blocks. I just wanted to see them all together. Next week I will start the border blocks. It is going to take a while; there are something like 200 tiny grapes to make!!!!

I finished block 28 of CCCQ, Mary McDowell. (patterns available here)



Only 5 more blocks to go!!



Mostly I hand stitch at night after dinner. When I have time during the day I stitch on the machine.
At the end of last year one of the stitch groups I am in had a fat quarter swap. I decided to make a mini and a small pouch. I wish I had taken a photo of the original fabric, but you will just have to imagine it! Lol Here is a small peek at the mini. I am still hand quilting...



I appliqued circles from the fabric to use on the pouch:



The exterior fabrics and Cotton and Steel. For the lining I used a piece of fabric by Julie Wallace, and Australian quilter and designer, who passed away late last year.

Another machine project is something I decided to attempt after seeing a quilt on Jacquie's blog, Tallgrass Prairie Studio. Tutorial here. This will be a mini quilt of hexagons entirely pieced by machine. I am about half finished right now, but here is a photo from earlier....



I have used a mixture of Cotton and Steel and Maze and Vale fabrics.  This project has been a huge lesson for me in very accurate cutting and very accurate 1/4 inch seams!! (there has been some unpicking, trimming and re-stitching!)

My Lone Star quilt is still growing. No photos this month, but the next section is more than half done.

You may remember that last year I was lucky enough to win a very generous giveaway on Lynne's blog, Lily's Quilts., where I won 12 fat quarters of Cotton and Steel fabric a month for 12 months from Pink Castle Fabrics.  I really want to again thank Lynne, the ladies at Pink Castle and the ladies at Cotton and Steel. While I still love reproduction fabrics and recreating quilts from the past, in the last few months the direction of my sewing and quilting has been moving to more "modern" sewing. I have been inspired by these new fabrics to take a new look at the types of quilts I make. Now I need twice as many sewing hours every day!! Lol!!!!!

The latest bundle from Pink Castle's Cotton and Steel Club:


Love those butterflies! :)

Lastly, a photo of the flowering gum in our back yard.




Have  a great weekend, everyone! :)

15 comments:

  1. You have chosen two lovely projects for this year they should keep you very busy. Your Noah and Matilda blocks look just beautiful all photographed together and what a fantastic win from Lily’s Quilts.

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  2. You have laid out a fantastic plan for this coming year, filled with a couple of wonderful designs and a whole bunch of new fabrics.

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  3. I just love seeing your hand quilting, so pretty! The Applique looks great, how fun to see Noah and Matilda all laid out "in mass".
    It is relaxing to end each day with some hand sewing.

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  4. Wow you've been busy. Such beautiful hand stitching on everything too! It sounds like you have great projects lined up for 2015. Have fun!

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  5. Great projects, fabulous win! I look forward to watching them grow!

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  6. All your blocks together look wonderful.

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  7. No wonder you want to use Cotton and Steel- you have an almost endless supply coming to you every month, you lucky girl! All your projects are lovely and will certainly keep you busy over the next months!

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  8. The La Passacaglia from a Quiltmania looks incredible. I am looking forward to seeing the quilt slowly unfold. It is sure to be stunning.

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  9. Noah and Matilda look very handsome, I love the cheddar added to the red and green.

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  10. Wow, what a wonderful year of sewing you have planned. Beautiful blocks finished and lovely new fabrics to work with.

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  11. Always a pleasure to see what you are sewing Miriam but I am blown away by your N and M blocks - just stunning together aren't they?! The colours and fabrics you have selected are perfect together. Love that gum tree :)

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  12. love your blocks. I too am tempted to do La Passacaglia by hand and not EPP but I wonder if I can do it accurately - some of the pieces are so small - let me no what luck you have. I will not be started mine for several weeks still.

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  13. Interesting to see all the Noah and Matilda blocks all together. I like your cactus better than mine. I may re-do it in different fabrics.

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  14. Your appliqué is a thing of beauty, as will be your new 2015 projects. That cover quilt is crazy amazing.

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