Tail Feathers Quilt top is finished.

Tail Feathers top all done! The sun is shining, but there is a little breeze, so the photo isn't the best.


Some closer shots....

.......and even closer...

I really enjoyed making this quilt. Especially all the embroidery. I can't believe it is done!!!

In the garden my roses are just starting to bloom.

Just Joey above and below, my favourite red rose Red Velvet.

Just a short post

I have finished the 4 corner blocks for Tail Feathers, so I plan to sew the rest of the top together today.

These 4 Civil War Quilt blocks bring my total to 42 completed. I am now up to date.




Some hand applique has been happening too. My 2nd Roseville Album block is about half finished.
I have also cut out some fabrics for my 2nd Friends of Baltimore block.
 

The next post should be my complete Tailfeathers top!!

Two quilt tops finished!!

I'm on a roll! I have finished 2 quilt tops!!

This afternoon I finished stitching all the diamonds together! (sorry the photo is sideways!) After being inspired by seeing Wanda have her top completed and Melissa (who was in the Kaffe and Brandon class too) get her quilt all finished, I decided to get my diamonds out and get them all together.
It is all machine stitched, so it didn't take long to sew up. I am quite happy with how it turned out. My favourite block is the one with the bird.
Now to choose a binding and backing fabric.

The next quilt is much smaller and has been a UFO for even longer! Remember Midnight Stars???
I started the blocks waaay back in January. I wasn't happy with my piecing (I still need lots of practice at machine piecing tiny pieces of fabric!) so I put it away.
A little later the blocks came out again. Then I procrastinated about the setting fabric!!
Finally, a couple of weeks ago it was third time lucky for this little quilt.

It is still a bit wonky, but I hope with some quilting (and not looking too closely!) it will end up OK.
I have backing and binding fabric chosen, so hopefully this little one will be a finished quilt soon.

I have started embroidering the owl corner blocks for Tailfeathers (oh it feels good to be hand stitching again! :)), so I hope to have another finished top soon!

I must admit I still prefer to hand stitch rather than piece on the machine. Hand work may be much slower, but I find it much more relaxing. (and I find I am more accurate too).
Do you prefer hand stitching or machine work?

I have another new button on my side bar. It is for Janet's  Trailing Vines Quilt Along. Janet is making a quilt inspired by Susan McCord's Vine quilt and she has kindly offered to share her pattern with anyone who is interested. The quilt has panels of vines with pieced leaves that are all appliqued. It is an amazing quilt!  Will you be joining in?

Have a great weekend, everyone!

Blogger's BOM, a win and some good news.

I have joined in with Jackie of Canton Village Quilt Works and many other bloggers in the Bloggers Block of the Month Quilt Along.  Jackie has invited some talented bloggers to design a different block each month for 12 months. If you click on the icon on the right it will take you to all the details on Jackie's blog.

I couldn't make up my mind which style of fabrics to use, so I decided to go with fabric designs from two different eras.

 Repros in cheddar and red and Kaffe Fassett/Brandon Mably/Philip Jacobs fabrics.















Here are my first 2 blocks. They measure 8 inches. This block was designed by Sherri Mc Connell of A Quilting Life.

Since my last post I have also finished 2 more Civil War quilt blocks.

Confederate Rose (well, Lily in my case Lol) and Ohio Star. I have more than 30 blocks finished now.


Recently Anna from Thimbleanna had a giveaway which I was lucky enough to win. :)
The package arrived during the week.

All tied up with string and a cute little note! Thank you Anna!!!


Here is what was inside:

Look at all those string colours!   The Ruby charm pack contains some great fabric designs and colours.  I have a pattern in mind to use it with.


During the week I also got out a project from earlier this year that I had almost all cut out so I could do some machine sewing (and work towards finally finishing a WIP!!)

So far only 3 diamonds are sewn together.

Now for the good news. I have been given the green light to hand sew again! Woohooo!!!!


It has been a loooong time!   


Right next to me is the partially finished second block of the Roseville Album quilt. For the next couple of hours I am going to enjoy some hand stitching while watching the AFL grand final on the TV. My team was defeated last week, so I am just hoping for a close and exciting game. So far it is living up to expectations. May the best team (on the day) win!!!

Tail Feathers progress

My arm is staring to feel better now, so I got out a machine pieced project.

Yesterday I joined together all the blocks for my Tail Feathers quilt and added the white border.

The next border for this quilt is a series of log cabin blocks, All the fabric came as pre cut strips, so I have been able to sew them all up too.

Last time I tried to make log cabin blocks they were a disaster!!! This time I used LOTS of spray starch!!

24 much better log cabin blocks!

Today I sewed together all the borders and added the 2 side borders to the quilt centre.....

....and started the 4 corner blocks.

I expect it will be several more weeks before my arm is well enough to do any hand sewing, so it will be a while before I add the embroidery to finish the corner blocks.

It did feel good to be sewing again!! :)


(Must say, I can't wait to get back to needle turn applique!!!)

Yellow banksia rose blooming in my garden.

Have a great week everyone!

Start of medallion quilt

Here is my medallion quilt so far:

Just 2 half in borders completed. The background fabric will make another half inch border after I have squared the project up with a row of triangles top and bottom.

I have also finished 3 more Civil War quilt blocks.





Just one more block to make and I will have caught up.

I have found a new fabric line that will be coming out before the end of the year. If you like Margo Krager's chintz centre panels, you will probably like this!  :)

Happy sewing. :)

Quilts in the Barn 2011

Yesterday I had a very enjoyable few hours at Quilts in the Barn.

This year the exhibition features quilts from Jo Morton from USA.

Jo was there with her DH. Jo is a very gracious lady who was very generous with her time and knowledge.

Hanging in the barn are dozens of Jo's quilts as well as many quilts made by ladies such as Linda Collins (who organises and holds Quilts in the Barn) and Dorothy Ramage.

All funds raised from the 3 days of the exhibition are donated to breast cancer research. For location and other details go here.

The weather was perfect for a cup of tea and bite to eat outside in the sun. There was a slight breeze that created a drift of apple blossom petals in the air. I saw Elyte, Di Hall (Di Ford of Sarah Morrell quilt and many others fame) and I met several new ladies. The Quilted Crow ladies also had fabric and supplies available for purchase.

All the quilts in this post were made by Jo Morton.

The quilt below was my favourite. It will be featured in a book by Jo to be released later this year.

 A couple more quilts.

It is another wonderful exhibition of quilts with funds going to a very worthy cause.








Happy Fathers Day for tomorrow to all the fathers out there.

Have a great weekend.

Hello.....is anyone there????

It has been a while since I last posted....

These 3  Barbara Brackman Civil War Quilt blocks are all the sewing I have managed in the last 3 or 4 weeks. :(


The title of this post should be "What I have been buying!".......Lol

These fabrics I found in a dress making fabric shop. (Cutting Edge (no website) on Glenferrie Rd Malvern for anyone in Melbourne)

The print on the left of the first photo is a Liberty which will be added to my collection.

The fabric on the right has 4 panels printed across the width. I think it will make an interesting quilt.

Both the fabrics in the 2nd photo are Italian. I am not sure what I will make yet, but I love the designs.
Who else buys fabric with no purpose in mind? Just because it is pretty??

After reading Kathie's recent blog posts about Betsy Chutchian's recent fabric release (Cross Roads to Texas) I caught her enthusiasm and did a bit of purchasing in several places to gather the collection above. The book, also by Betsy Chutchian, not only has patterns and instructions for many quilts, it also tells the story of Betsy's great - great grandmother, Lizzie Carpenter with excerpts from Lizzie's journals.  It made for very interesting reading and plenty of quilting inspiration too. I haven't made a Lone Star quilt before, so I think that will be the first one I make from the book.

Choosing Quilting Designs is not a new book, but still contains plenty of relevant information. At the moment I am leaning towards hand quilting my Morrell Quilt, so this book will be very useful.

Treasures From Holland by Petra Prins is a much more recent publication. It is full of amazing quilts with clear photographs and diagrams and plenty of very clear instructions. Again there are several quilts I would love to make in this book.

Since my last post about the medallion above I have added to the collection of fabrics. There is more of the fabric on the top right coming (thank you Dawn for identifying it for me)
I have also designed my first quilt using these fabrics. It will be a traditional medallion quilt.

Now to wait till my arm gets better so I can sew for more than a few minutes at a time!!!

I hope all is well with all in USA who were affected by Hurricane Irene.

Fabric identification help

If anyone could please let me know any details of manufacturer and/or line of the above fabric I would be very grateful. :)

Thank you very much to everyone who has left a comment on my Morrell Quilt top finish, or the finishes of my first Friends of Baltimore block and first Roseville Album block. Much appreciated. :)


Thank you to Dawn who identified the fabric for me! I have found the fabric and have some on the way here! Bloggers are the best!!!

First Roseville Album block finished

I finished this block last week.

Thank you for all the suggestions for the vase fabric. The red was the most popular suggestion, so I went with it.

No more sewing is going to happen here for a while. I need to keep resting my elbow.

Here are a few photos from my garden today.

Have a great week everyone! :)