And Another One - William Morris Quilt Completed

This is another quilt with a back story.

It all started back at the very first Scrub Stitchin’ in 2018.  Dale brought along some bits and bobs to destash and among them was a pile of charm squares, mainly in William Morris fabrics.  I like William Morris fabrics, so they came home with me.  

So, now that I had them, what to do with them?  I decided early on that I would like to set them with hour glass blocks, but what colour?  It turned out that at that first retreat our goodies bag was an ochre coloured paper bag and the colour looked rather good next to the fabrics.  Now, to find a similar coloured homespun.  Spotty didn’t have anything and there wasn’t really anything local.  I did have a suitable low volume cream floral fabric to go with it.  Therefore, it all waited patiently for a couple of years.  

In 2021 at Scrub Stitchin’ there were some destash fabrics from Diddles.  I gave some blue floral striped fabric a home.

Eventually, in January 2022 I found a suitable coloured homespun in Spotty, so problem solved.  I then got stuck in and made the hourglass blocks…and it sat for a little longer.

Meanwhile, the fabric from Diddles proved to be perfect for the first border in this quilt.  The outer border fabric is a William Morris print that I already had in my stash.  Like I said, I do like William Morris designs.

In 2022 I took the bits and pieces back to Scrub Stitchin’ to make into a flimsy.  It came together easily and I was very happy with the result.  I then made the binding and packed it all away until I felt confident enough to quilt it on Monique.  Well, that obviously never happened.

Now that I have Elly May, it was time to get it quilted. I wanted to try out a Baptist Fan quilting design and this looked to be an ideal candidate to try it on.  

The traditional pattern really suits the quilt.

Initially, I had planned to donate this quilt but have now decided that it will stay with us and be a couch quilt, as it suits our old club lounge beautifully.  We've had this vintage lounge suite since we bought our first house over 40 years ago.  It is affectionately called "The Sunken Lounge", but we love it.

QUILT INFORMATION

Measurements - 67" high x 57" wide

Pattern - None, just made from charm squares and hourglass blocks.

Quilting Design - Baptist Fan

Batting - Bamboo/Cotton

Backing - Cream paisley wide back from stash

Thread - Glide - Cleopatra

Binding - Ochre homespun

Mick continues to be my ever patient quilt holder.

HELP! - I Can’t Load Photos to my Blog on My iPad or iPhone

Since the latest update to my iPad and iPhone I cannot add photos.

I get this message.  I do seem to be able to add them on my desktop computer, at least.

I have gone into the settings for Safari and made sure that the “Block Cookies” is not enabled, and that seems to be the only fix I have been able to find on line.

Does anyone else have this problem, and if so, have you found a fix?

HELP!

I’m on a Roll - Secret Garden Quilt Finished

Yes, another UFO already ticked off the list for this year.  It is such a good feeling.

This is another fairly simple quilt that was started last year.  As you can see, it is still a bit breezy here, but not as bad as yesterday.

The history of it starts quite some years ago, when I bought a little pile of fat quarters at a market in a village near here.  They were from the range “Secret Garden” by Sandi Henderson.  They are a lovely quality and nice colours, but most were large scale designs, which may account for them being sold on.  Anyway, they have sat in my stash for too long, so it was time to get them used.  The sashing fabric was a destash from Brenda at the August retreat at Baradine in 2024 and seemed to pair well with the fat quarters.  The backing and binding are the from the same yardage that I used on the Five and Dime Quilt that was also a long time stash fabric.  So, this was a great stash buster.

I pieced the quilt top at Scrub Stitchin’ last year and since then it has just sat, waiting, in its tub.  This was another ideal quilt to work on while I get used to using Elly May, my long arm machine.  

I found a nice big design that suited it well.

For the life of me, I cannot get my phone to photograph the fabric colour correctly on the backing, but you can see the quilting design well here.

This shows it better.

Once again, I have to thank my patient quilt holder, seen here modelling his latest fashion accessory, as he informed me.

The quilt will be donated.

QUILT INFORMATION

Pattern - The pattern I used was another freebie. This one is called Courtyard Quilt and appears to be found on various sites.  I found my version here.

Measurements - 76” high x 55” wide

Quilting Design - Spiral and Paisley e2e

Batting - Cotton/Poly

Backing - Fabric from stash

Thread - Glide - Cool Mint

Binding - Backing leftovers

Five and Dime - My First Finished Quilt for the Year

I’m so happy to have completed my first quilt for 2026.  It is a very simple quilt entitled “Five and Dime”,  as it is designed for five inch squares and ten inch squares.  As you can see, it is a bit breezy here today.

This quilt started out from some gifted strips of fabric.  I wanted to use them rather than just add them to the stash.  I found this simple pattern and then searched for a contrast fabric.  

The pink is left over wideback.  I chose the green, from an op shop, for the outer border, but as you can see, I didn’t end up adding it, as the quilt was already a good size.

I cut everything out and kitted it up to take to Scrub Stitchin’ last year, where I got all the pieces joined into pair and laid them out on the design wall…….and it has been sitting in a tub until last week.

I pieced the top together last Saturday, while joining in on Chooky’s Zoom session. Yes, two weekends in a row.  Happy dance.

On Thursday I prepped the backing and batting in readiness for a quilting friend’s visit on Friday.

It turns out that one of my quilting group friends has the same long arm set up as me and hasn’t been game to use it.  Therefore, she came over for the morning to get a bit of a lesson from the “expert”.  I say that very tongue in cheek, as I’m just learning.  YouTube is my friend.  Anyway, we got the quilt loaded, chose a quilting design and got it started.  She now feels much more confident to have a go with hers and has a big list of YouTube channels to watch.

Elly May played nicely.  This shows the quilting pattern well, but the colour of the fabric looks nothing like this photo.

This photo shows the true colour.  I used leftover backing fabric for the binding, which I attached by machine.  The backing fabric is some that has been lurking in a tote for many years.  It has the date 2006 on the selvedge.  I bought a heap of fabric on clearance at Spotlight not long after I started quilting. I paid $60 and came home with well over 60 metres of fabric.  It has come in handy on many projects over the years, and yes, there is still plenty of it left.

The quilt will be donated.

Anyway, here are the details of the quilt, for my information:

QUILT INFORMATION    

Pattern - Five and Dime - a free pattern by SeasonedHomemaker.com

Measurements - 71” high x 55” wide

Quilting Design - Daisy Panto Leah Day e2e

Batting - Cotton/Polyester

Backing - Fabric from stash

Thread - Glide - Pink Rose

Binding - Backing leftovers

Yep, it was a bit breezy.  Thanks Mick for your patience.

Getting Ahead

This year I have once again joined Betty and her merry band of ladies to make some group charity quilts.  Last year we made blocks using a designated fabric.  

This year there is a change of theme and we have been requested to make a row of blocks in whatever style we like in just one colour.  We have been given six colours and are to make one colour, any that we wish, each month for the first six months of the year, completing all colours during that time.

I have elected to follow the Rainbow Scrap Challenge colours, where possible, so this month I opted to make blue blocks.  The strip is to be 56” wide by anywhere from. 6” to 10” in height.

Today I decided to make a start, using only those fabrics in my scrap tubs.  The first blocks I made were string blocks.  Now, I have been quilting for well over 20 years and surprisingly have never made a string block.  Years ago I popped an old phone book on my sewing room bookshelf for this purpose and finally used it today.  I just realised I didn’t take a photo of the completed block from the front.

Anyway, I then just played with what fabrics were in the box and made blocks with rough log cabin crumb piecing, a four patch variation, and random strips.  They will do the job.

Here they all are, joined into the strip, ready to get into the post next week.

The next job is to go and tidy up the big mess I made, as I have a friend coming over to play in my sewing room tomorrow.  Wish me luck.