A Stitching Wrap Up of August

This is rather late, but I wanted to get our trip posted first up.

Let’s see how I went with my wishes for the month…..

My main wish was to have the Batik Fish Quilt finished.  I’m very happy to report that it was done.  A full post coming soon.

Then I finished off the Strippy Rainbow Quilt.

Elly May was used on both of these quilts, as well as Jo’s.

In amongst all that, I helped a friend with a baby quilt.  She purchased the kit about 20 years ago and was finally wanting to make it as a gift.  I helped her cut it out, she then pieced it.  An afternoon at our house saw it quilted with a cute butterfly pantograph.  Then I showed her how to add the binding.  

Once that was done, she used all the scraps to make two cushion fronts, which I also quilted for her.  I didn’t get a chance to see the two completed before gifting but they would have been lovely.  She is an experienced seamstress, so did precise stitching and the cute Peter Rabbit fabrics hadn’t dated at all.  A lovely gift to give.

The next thing to work on was the Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks.

Of course, Betty’s blocks had to be made as well.

My Corner to Corner crochet squares progressed nicely, with ten squares being completed.

My knitting didn’t fare so well, with no progress being made.

An August Escape was a driver during the month, with four quilts being prepped.

The Jelly Roll Quilt, which was pieced at Baradine.

The Aeroplane Quilt, which was appliqued and pieced at Baradine.

A Farmyard Quilt, that still has to be pieced.  I did work out the layout on the design curtain, but have since cut a golden yellow for the sashings instead of the blue.  It won’t take long to make, once I get to it.  There is no rush.  It may even be next year at Scrub Stitchin’.

Finally an easy strippy quilt, which will also get stitched at some stage.  No rush.

So, all in all, not a bad month.

The other thing that I did during the month was donate a pile of quilts to the domestic violence support organisation here in town.

15 MINUES A DAY

I stitched on 30 of the 31 days.  The best for the year.

YTD = 201/243 - 82.72%

While piecing the Batik Fish Quilt I managed to empty lots of bobbins and a couple of spools of thread.  It was great to be able to use up some odds and ends that were darker colours, as most quilts require something lighter.

Now, even though it is half way through the next month, I will get down my wishes for September.

My Friend’s Christmas Quilt

This was my final completed project for July.

On our recent trip to Queensland my friend produced a quilt top from a cupboard and asked if I could do anything with it for her.  Of course I could.  We didn’t unfold it at the time, but I could see that it was a Christmas themed quilt with appliqué.  

Last week I unpacked it to find a beautiful quilt top.  The appliqué was completed with satin stitch that she worked on her domestic machine.  It is so precise that I thought it must have been done using an embroidery machine.  There is foundation paper piecing and mitred corners.  When I asked if she had done it in a class her reply was that it was with “The Old Ducks” in a small town where they used to live.  That was about 30 years ago. I'm guessing that the "Old Ducks" probably weren't all that old, as she was a young mum at the time.  It was about time to get this quilt completed so that it could be displayed at Christmas.

I was given free rein to do what I thought best, as otherwise it would still be languishing in a cupboard.

The backing she had with it had a glitter type of effect added to it, so I didn’t really want to use that.  Instead, I used a fabric that Mick had bought at a garage sale while I was at Baradine two years ago.  There was plenty there.

The next thing to decide on was the pantograph.  None of the ones that came with the machine appealed, so I bought one that is an elegant swirl with some holly.  A Christmas vibe without being kitch.  The thread is a matt gold, which worked really well.

Elly May did a lovely job.

I could have left the binding for her to complete, but thought it would be nice to return a completed quilt when we see them next.  Mick took this very unflattering photo as I was hand stitching it down, while feeling under the weather with a head cold.

I’m pleased with how it turned out and hope my friend is happy with it.

QUILT INFORMATION

Measurements - 67” high x 51" wide

Pattern - Unknown - A Christmas Sampler 

Quilting Design - Rhapsody E2E - Holly by My Creative Stitches

Batting - Bamboo/Cotton

Backing - Christmas fabric from a garage sale

Thread - Glide - Cleopatra

Simply Serene Quilt is Finished

The main goal that I set myself this month was to complete the Simply Serene Quilt that I started at Scrub Stitchin’.  

All that I achieved then was to make the half square triangles, so I had a fair bit more to do this month.

I used a variety of plaids and related prints.  Some of these have been in my stash since I first started quilting in the very early 2000s, others have been thrifted or gifted to me in scrap bags.

Having the design curtain made the process so much easier.  After a bit of a fiddle, I had the lay out sorted.

Next. it was time to decide what to use for the setting triangles.  Some versions I have seen have the cream, others one constant plaid.  In the end, I decided to use a variety of the plaids.

Then, it was the tedious task of joining the blocks into rows and the rows all together.  No, I wasn’t going to attempt the webbing method for this one.  That's looking better.

Next, it was time to add the borders.  I had plenty of the cream for the first one, but not enough of the red for the second one.  A bit of a look in the stash revealed this russet brown that I had acquired somewhere along the way.  It had obviously been an offcut from a backing, as it was double width with a seam in the middle.  The border width was determined by the dividing the fabric left after cutting the binding strips by four.  It worked out perfectly, with nothing left at all.

I was liking the way it looked and thought it would need a rather blokey quilting design.  The one I used came with the software for Elly May, my quilting machine, and I think it suits it perfectly.  Cowboy bits and bobs are not something I would usually add to a quilt, so it is a nice fun design to have a play with.

The backing was made from various offcuts of a wideback from Spotlight.  The colour is a charcoal that is much darker than it is showing here.  I have used it a few times before and I also had some that came from a destash.  A great way to use them up.  I still have yardage for future quilts.

This quilt will be another donation quilt.  I hope the recipient likes it as much as I do.

And, of course, the outside photo.

Mick felt this one needed to have a photo shoot by the potting shed.

Before handing it back to me to fold up.

QUILT INFORMATION

Measurements -70" high x 50" wide

Pattern - Simply Serene by Pleasant Valley Creations.  I made it a bit smaller than the original.

Fabrics - All from stash, much thrifted.  

Quilting Design - Cowboy Essentials by QCT6

Batting - Cotton/Poly

Backing - Left over wideback from Spotlight and a destash

Thread - Glide - Warm Grey 4 on the front and Silver on the back.

A Finished Crochet Rug and Wrap With Love Knit In

I have my first finished project for July, being the crocheted Corner to Corner Rug for Wrap With Love.

I started this way back in March and have been plugging away at it ever since.  

I thought it was finished at the end of last month, but a few more rounds on the border were needed to make it wide enough.

It is good to get it finished in time for the knit in.  

As the co-ordinator is one of my neighbours, I generally give a hand with setting up.  At the last minute, a lot of squares were donated that needed to be joined and have an edging added.  I was given the job of doing the crochet on one.  It didn't take too long.

We set everything up on Monday, ready for yesterday’s Knit In.  

There ended up being just over 200 rugs ready to deliver to Sydney for distribution around Australia and the world.  Not a bad effort for a little band of women who only meet up to knit together once a year.

There was a wide variety of styles and techniques, in both knitting and crochet, as well as a vast array of colours.

There were about a dozen women who stayed most of the day with others dropping in for just a little while to just have a look at all the rugs.  

Of course, most of us brought along a plate of food, so no one went hungry.

I have started my next rug.  For me, this is just a fill in project that can be picked up when I have nothing else planned.  This time I am also using the Corner to Corner pattern, but just making ten inch squares to be joined together, as it will be a much more portable project.  I seem to have ended up with quite a few pastel yarns, in both variegated and solids, so will have a play with them.  It should be fun.

A Very Simple Little Project

While we were travelling, we stayed with some friends at Rockhampton and they have done some serious downsizing.  As a result, a few fabrics came home with me.  So that they don't just get moved from one cupboard to another, I will endeavour to use them fairly soon.  I thought I would start with the easy, obvious.

This little prequilted cot panel had been purchased probably in the 90s, or early 2000s.  All it needed was to be bound.

I had a little look in my stash and found a lemon homespun that matched well.  It came from a on shop or such at some stage. 

It didn't take long to get it done.  By the way, the lemon thread was in Mum's collection.

Therefore, really, all it took was an afternoon of my time and we have a sweet little quilt to donate.

Another June Finish

It seems that I am on a roll, already having a second finish for the month.  In my June Wishes post, I said that I would like to finish the Solid Fat Quarter Quilt and that it would take all of one day.  Well, I made that happen.

This quilt was my planned project for Scrub Stitchin', using fat quarters that I had purchased at a charity market stall and a very simple, yet effective pattern.

I managed to get the top pieced while there, which I was rather happy about.

Once we returned home, I made my Main Goal for May to have the quilt completed.  Well, sadly, that didn't happen.  

I did get it quilted, but was too distracted with other things to get the binding on.

Happily, now I can share a fully completed quilt.  It may be later than wished, but at least I can tick it off the list, and yes, it only took one day.

My quilt holder upperer did a stirling job as usual, having to balance on a stool, as the quilt is so long.  You can see the backing in this photo and I used the same fabric for the binding, which was added by machine.  

This quilt will be donated.

QUILT INFORMATION

Measurements -72" high x 47" wide

Pattern - Color Study by Kristene Peterson from Fons and Porters Scrap Quilts Magazine (Spring 2013). A very simple pattern using 2 1/2" strips.

Fabrics - Fat quarters purchased at a charity market stall

Quilting Design - Basketweave by  My Creative Stitches

Batting - Cotton/Poly

Backing - Left over wideback from Spotlight.

Thread - Glide - Medium Grey