Something old, something new, "Catch Me If You Can" and a win.

This year I am going to try to concentrate on finishing a few WIPs. There will be a new start or 2, but I have quite a few projects that are partly done that deserve to be finished. I finally got all my klosjes sewn together! There will be a couple of borders added to this little quilt. You will see it again soon!

The small quilt below I started last year, but left it at the point of quilting. Up until now any quilt I have finished has only had in-the-ditch, straight line quilting or meandering on it. This quilt was my first try at more "challenging for me" free motion quilting.


I outlined some doves and did pebbling around them.



I still like the look of meandering.


A view of the back.



I will keep practising my machine quilting. I have another quilt that has lots of curved lines and straight line patterns in the quilting design. If our weather stays cool enough I will be working on it next.



This WIP is from the pattern I won from Barb late last year. I love hand applique and Folk Art Fantasy is different from anything I have made before.



Still a few more pieces to applique. I have used all Dargate fabrics on this panel.



The new year has brought lots of new projects in blogland. This one is one I have decided to join in. Barbara Brackman has started a new blog to commemorate the 150th anniversary of the American Civil War. Each week there will be a true story from people of the time and a pattern for a quilt block. I thought it would be a great opportunity for me to learn some American history, and to make 52 blocks which will make a commemorative quilt.

The first block is named Catch Me If You Can, and here is mine.


The fabric I used is designed by Barbara Brackman, but it is from The Morris Workshop collection. Certainly not Civil War repro fabric, but I had this fabric on hand and I love it!


Since finding Kathleen Tracy's group specialising in small quilts I have discovered several blogs written by people who make mostly small quilts. One blog I read regularly belongs to Jeanneke. Jeanneke makes doll quilts and has made patterns for several of them. Late last year Jeanneke had a giveaway and I was lucky enough to win!!! Below is what arrived in the mail yesterday! :) Thank you for your generosity, Jeanneke!



The card has a photograph of another of Jeanneke's quilts. There is a pack of Aunt Grace fabric already cut into squares. The pattern also includes all the papers required to use English Paper Piecing to make the quilt.


I plan to have some more Josephs Coat blocks finished before my next post.

I hope 2011 brings everyone happiness, good health and lots of sewing time!

Lots of stitching....

Here is my next raw edge applique project ready to be quilted. I love all the bright, girly colours in the fabrics. Plenty of opportunities for fussy cutting in these fabrics too. This will be made into another cushion.


Below is my next Morrell quilt block. I have another appliqued block almost finished. One more pieced block to make after that and I can join all the centre section of the quilt together. I'm almost 2 thirds of the way through!!!




Yesterday I got out all my klosjes to sew them together. After laying them out I discovered I was 2 short!! Here are the 2 extras I sewed this morning.


I haven't been sewing as many JC blocks lately, but here they all are so far. I laid them all out so I could get an idea of how they look together and whether I want to make more green blocks or more blue ones. I'm not sure yet what I will do. The section in the photo may end up in the middle of the quilt.



On Saturday I went to an all day class on machine quilting with Mariya Waters. Since taking the class with Kellie a few weeks ago I now have more confidence in my ability to learn machine quilting. Saturday's class covered stitching made without marking the fabric. It was a great class and I came away eager to practice and learn more. I would love to take another class to learn the next level of quilting skills so that one day I will be as confident with my machine quilting as I am with my piecing. Hopefully, soon, those three words "quilt as desired" will not be as intimidating! lol

I have finished one more hexagon flower this week. It is the 2nd day of winter here, but we still have some sunshine this afternoon. I decided to photograph my flower outside with some other flowers. The plant on the left is a white camelia which was grown by my mother. The plant on the right is an Australian native called a Correa.


Happy sewing, everyone! :)

A little bit here, a little bit there.....

Over the last 2 or 3 weeks I have been working on several different projects. I have finally got my Morrell blocks out again and the photo above is my latest finish. I started the Morrell Quilt about this time last year and worked on it steadily through last year. This year there have been several distractions....good ones. :) We have a get together scheduled late in June to show our (hopefully!!!) completed quilts. Well..........I am sure I will not have the quilt completed, but I am determined to get quite a few more blocks finished.

Below are photos of progress on some of the above mentioned "distractions"............


These are my last 4 spool blocks. I have a total of 50 now and I have decided that is a good place to stop. Forty nine blocks will make a cute little wall hanging, with an extra block to incorporate in the label on the back.


From my previous post you will have noticed that I have joined in with the "one flower Wednesday" group, so I will be making hexies instead of klosjes now. :)


Last week I attended a class with Kellie of Don't Look Now! blog. The class is for her raw edge applique technique.

Below is my practice piece. I am quite happy with my applique.

However, my machine quilting still needs lots of practice. I have only done a very small amount of machine quilting and always using the stitch regulator on my machine. This time I tried quilting without the stitch regulator. There is a lot of variation in the size of my stitches at the moment. Lots of practice coming up for me!!



Next week we have the second class with Kellie, so I hope to have this block finished and made into a pillow and other project using the raw edge applique techinique started.

In another of Kellie's projects I am making great progress. These blocks are really enjoyable to sew. I have 11 blocks completed now. The 12th block is well on its way.


Have a great weekend everyone. :)

I will be hunting for a piece of fabric to complete the applique on that Morrell block.

Jacob's Coat progress

Seven blocks finished!! I am having lots of fun putting these blocks together.



This afternoon I got out the rest of the petals I have cut out and started playing with arranging some more blocks.

Here is the general idea of the effect I am trying to achieve.






Eight more spool blocks this week.







My daphne has started to bloom.




Happy Birthday to my sister in law; a fellow quilter!

I have had a more productive week this week, sewing wise. These are all the klosjes I have made so far. I finished 12 more this week.



Three Jacob's Coat blocks are finished and one is almost finished. The blocks aren't sewn together yet. I will probably rearrange them when I have a few more made.


I have one other project I have been sewing. I will write about it in another post later.

My DH went to the market this morning and brought home flowers. :)




Happy Easter to all my readers!

Saturday Klosjes 2

Only 6 spool blocks finished this week. I am going to stay with these colours and I may start repeating some of the fabrics, but using a different background fabric each time.


I had a great day on Tuesday! I took a class with Kellie of Don't Look Now for her Joseph's Coat quilt. The class was well worth attending. Below is the block I started during the class.





The first Camellia flower of the season.

Klosjes Saturday.

Here are all my spool blocks to date. I managed to make 13 this week! I went through a stash of charm squares I have been collecting for a while and found a few suitable fabrics. I wasn't going to buy any more fabric for this project........well I couldn't resist............these a very addictive little blocks!! I have a dozen more blocks prepared ready to sew!



I have finally started my Josephs Coat quilt!!!! So far my first block is just pinned in place. There is still lots of fabric to be cut out, but it is fun fussy cutting Westminster fabrics! I am going to stay with mainly green and blue fabrics. On Tuesday I am going to a "catch up / get a move on" class with Kellie of Don't Look Now! I can't wait!!!





Cheddar Cheese and Crackers is basted and ready to quilt! I know I will quilt straight lines on the little coloured squares, but I haven't decided yet what I will do in the cheddar squares.





After reading Jan of Be*mused's post on some Japanese quilting I have been inspired to try something new. Nothing to show yet, but it is growing.






An azalea from my garden.

We had the good news during the week that our water restrictions are being eased. From the beginning of April we will be allowed to water our gardens for 2 hours every second morning. At the moment we are allowed to water only twice a week for 2 hours. It has been hard keeping the azaleas alive because they have a shallow root system so evaporation from the hot sun takes a lot of moisture from the soil. I have been using recycled water and collected rain water to keep my garden going.

Have a great week, everyone. Take time to smell the roses. :)

Giveaway winner......................

I wrote everyone's name on pieces of paper and placed them in a bowl.

My DH did the honours of choosing a name.....





Congratulations Kathie of Inspired By Antique Quilts!! Enjoy!

Please let me know your mailing address and your parcel will be in the mail next week.



Thank you to everyone who entered. I wish I had a prize for everyone!
I have loved visiting the new to me blogs. Lots more inspiration!




I have been bitten by the "klosje" bug! Here are my first 4!

Another top finished

I have finished this quilt top for my sister. I intend to hand quilt it. There is quite a detailed design on the pattern, so it will take a while even though the top is only about 40 inches square.


While reading blogs this week I have come across lots of interesting posts.

First of all I can't say no to a good brownie!! Anna of Thimbleanna posted about a very delicious looking brownie. After scrolling down I discovered Anna had kindly included the recipe.

I made a couple of modifications. I love walnuts, so I used walnuts instead of pecans. The recipe also calls for shortening and I believe in USA this means Crisco shortening which is a solid, white product which is 100% vegetable fat. Crisco shortening (or anything similar) is not easily available here in Australia, so I substituted butter.

I can guarantee you will get an amazing brownie using all butter!!! lol





Also this week I found a post on Michele Hill"s blog about a giveaway of a quilt pattern of hers. The pattern was several years old and Michele found 3 copies she kindly offered.
Well, Michele is a very generous lady and she posted out 20 copies of this wonderful pattern!!! :)

The style of this quilt goes perfectly with another of Michele's patterns I have.



Below is a sneak peek of the last basket blocks of the Waterloo quilt. Instead of paper piecing several small squares and triangles as shown in the pattern I decided to fussy cut some of the birds from the Rouenneries bird toile fabric Ranette sent to me.


I have 2 more baskets blocks to finish, then all I have to do is sew on the last border and I will have another top finished!! Yay!


I think I have caught the "bug". Spools!! They all began with Ingrid here....and it seems the spool bug is spreading like wildfire all around the world! Ingrid has a pattern on her blog. So far she has made over 500 and there are lots of others who join her on Saturdays to sew their own spools.

The fabric below arrived last week from here. They are only small pieces of fabric, so I hope I can keep my addiction to this very small stash!




Here is a photo of the same bromeliad from a previous post opened a little more.




A white fuchsia, just for Danielle. :)




Don't forget my giveaway!! (see previous post) You have until tomorrow (Sunday) evening AEST to enter.
Thank you to all the wonderful people who have already entered and left lots of lovely comments. Good luck to all of you!


Thunder is rumbling here and I hope we get a huge downpour. We really need the rain.

Have a great weekend everyone!!