The Final January Finish - Blossie Basket

I have been seeing some rather cute Blossie Baskets popping up here and there.  It is a design by Nic of Craftapalooza, a West Australian designer.

She announced that she was having a stitch along, so I decided to join in.  Why not?  It is a quick and easy project.

The hardest decision is the fabric choice.  There are so many versions out there in so many different styles.  In the end I decided to raid my 1930s fabrics.  Initially, I was going to use a variety of colours, but in the end just used a selection of pretty blues.  Then to choose the contrast fabric or fabrics.  The winner ended up being a micro dot with red and green dots.  It is actually a Christmas print, but works well here.

The next fun part was making all the hexies.  They were the ideal project to work on at my Wednesday stitching group last week.  The pattern suggested hand quilting each hexy, but I like the finish of machine sewn…….and I’m lazy.

Today, I joined them into the little lidded basket.  So sweet.

Inside, the bottom hexy is reversed.  The pattern calls for a felt needle keep under the lid.  I was also too lazy to make that, but wanted a neat finish to the elastic closure.  The mini hexy finishes it off nicely.

This is my first project that was started and finished in 2026.  Happy dance.

Wensleydale Quilt is Finished

My main goal for January was to complete the Wensleydale Quilt that I started at the beginning of November as a part of the Quilted Chicken stitch along. I finished the blocks at the end of December and then pieced it into a quilt top on New Year’s Day while joining in on a Chooky Zoom sewing day.  My goal was to have it completed, but that was dependent on whether or not I felt confident enough to quilt it on Elly May.

It had been hanging, patiently waiting, on the design curtain until Tuesday.  After successfully having quilted three largish quilts I was ready to tackle this one.

I wanted to use the Baptist Fan design, as I had done on the William Morris Quilt, but smaller.  I also got brave and used different coloured threads on the top and the bobbin.  The gold looked great on the top, but not on the backing.  The warm grey looked great on the back, but flat on the top.  As there wasn’t a great deal of contrast between them I was game to give it a try and it worked well.  Phew!

The backing I used was a fabric I had actually put aside to use on the William Morris Quilt, as it is a William Morris design from the V&A that was at Spotty many years ago.  I had bought six metres, so still have a little more left over.  Anyway, I thought I would like to use the better backing fabric on this quilt, so swapped the backings.  The next choice was the binding.  The colour of the binding on the William Morris quilt suited this one as well, and fortunately, I had bought enough at the time to be able to use that fabric here.  Win, win.

We took the quilt outside for the quilt holder, but it is actually a bit too wide to successfully display.

He still did a great job.

I’m so happy to have this quilt completed in just three months.  It had been on my wish list, but not a priority, so it is really a bonus to have it done.  Now to wait for winter to put it on our bed.

QUILT INFORMATION

Measurements - 74" high x 66" wide

Pattern - Wensleydale by Jen Kingwell.  Foundation paper pieced.

Quilt Along - Quilted Chicken, who also has a PDF cutting list for FPP.

Number of Fabrics - 300 different fabric designs in top, plus backing and binding, all from stash.

Quilting Design - Baptist Fan

Batting - Bamboo/Cotton

Backing - V&A William Morris fabric from Spotlight many years ago

Thread - Glide - Cleopatra on top and Warm Grey 4 in bobbin

Binding - Ochre Homespun left over from William Morris Quilt.

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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.

My First Finish of the Year

I can’t believe it.  I have a finish and as an extra bonus it is a UFO that has been hanging around for a while.

This was started back in November 2023 when I bought a basket of 8 ply acrylic yarn oddments.  I decided to  make a donation rug using the Spiked Granny Square pattern.

I had a lovely time over the next few months, adding to the pile of blocks.

Then I added a cream border to them all.

Before joining them all together using crochet in April 2024…..but the squares wouldn’t sit flat.  My crochet was obviously too tight.  Blast!  Not happy……

And there it sat in a box until October 2024…when all the squares were separated and put back in the box.

That is where they have sat until this week.  Every time I see the box I feel guilty about not biting the bullet and getting them finished into the rug.

Ta da!  By doing a little each day for five days it is finished.  Not perfect, but finished and ready to send off for donation, when I get around to it.  When I finish something like this I do wonder why I leave it for so long.  I am the queen of procrastination.  Oh well, better late than never.

It is a nice, cheerful little rug and do hope someone will enjoy it when the time comes. 

I’m very happy to have it done and dusted and I can now remove the box from my sewing room and start another knitting or crochet project guilt free.  Yes, I am going to try to have just one project on the go at a time…..unlike my stitching projects.  We won’t talk about how many of them are in the “To be completed” pile.

Now to work on the next project on my wish list for this month.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge for January Done and Dusted

After plenty of fiddle faddling to get lots prepped, I now have my January RSC blocks completed.

First up, were the Black and White Potato Chip blocks.

I just made four this month, as there will also be a dark blue month and an aqua/teal month.  Most months will have five blocks.  Once the scraps are cut they are quick and easy.  There are several duplicates, but once they are distributed around the quilt it won’t matter.

Next was the Crumb Block. I need three of these each month, but already had two that I had prepared previously.

This was today’s block.

Together with the others.

Finally, the Solid Fabric Crosses blocks.

These were a joy to make.  I have never made a quilt from all solid fabrics before.  Other than putting together the nine patch around the centre square, there are no seams to nest and the pressing directions that come naturally all fall in the right direction, so they don’t get caught up in the feed dogs.  The blocks will have a white sashing with grey corner stones, creating little nine patches.  I just need two blocks each month and one width of fabric strip of each colour makes the two coordinating blocks.

I’m looking forward to working on all these projects during the year.  I still have to cut some more fabrics to complete the kits for the quilts, but that can be a job for next month.

I’ll be linking up with So Scrappy. 

The First Week of January

They say that how you start the year is how it will continue.  For me, I hope that means lots of stitching, as New Year’s Day was spent joining in on a Zoom sewing session with Chookyblue that went for 14 hours.

After 28 girls joining in on New Year’s Eve, there was a large number popping in and out again on New Year’s Day.  This photo was right at the end before we all signed off.

The project that I worked on was putting together the Wensleydale Quilt top.  The poor girls had to put up with lots of cursing and wingeing, as I struggled to get the points to match, as they don’t nest, due to the construction method.  Some were restitched up to five times.  However, I did get there in the end and I am satisfied with the outcome.  I know I may be a bit pedantic, but I do want it to look nice.

It will now wait patiently until I quilt some other simpler quilts before I tackle the quilting.

Next on the stitching agenda was working out what I want to make for Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  In the end I have chosen three projects.  My grand plan is to get them kitted up now, so that I can quickly make the blocks as their relevant month arrives.  I have chosen ten colours to work with for each.   That way I only have to make blocks for ten months, and will have two months to finish the quilts.   If the colours don’t quite align with the nominated colour, that’s too bad.  

Firstly, I will make a quilt with my six inch crumb blocks.  For the size I want I need three of ten colours.  I already have some made from the last couple of years, so that shouldn’t be too hard.  I decided that I will just make them into a shadow block and went ahead and worked out all the details.  It was only then that I watched  Kate at The Last Homely House and discovered she had made the exact same quilt that I intend to make, although her blocks aren’t quite as crumby.  Obviously, great minds think alike.  I have pulled the fabric for the shadows, sashings and borders, but still have to cut them out.

The second one will be a variation on the Potato Chip Block. I just found a photo on Pinterest.  I’m sorry I can’t credit the maker or designer, as I don’t know it. It will have a centre of two black and white prints, which will be surrounded by one round of the colour.  I need 48 blocks, so five for most months, but just four for two months.  I have gone ahead and cut all the black and white strips, which didn’t make much of a dent in the collection.  However, it did mean that I have now tidied up the black and white tub, which was a good outcome.  When I look at it, I really do wonder why I didn’t just use a square in the centres, but it doesn’t matter.  It will take a little while to get all the different scrappy bits cut.  I will persevere.

The third one is going to be made from solid colours.  This is therefore going to be more of a Rainbow STASH quilt rather than a Rainbow SCRAP quilt. The pattern I have chosen has a cross with two tones of the colour.  Of course, I had no trouble having enough colours.  

My once tidy sewing room became a big, colourful mess during the process.  Once again, the solids tubs had a nice tidy up when I finished cutting, which is a good feeling.  I still have to cut the white background and grey corners.

I will hopefully have some completed blocks to share in the next week.

I did have to break my wish of only using fabric that I already had.  I had plenty of the background for the two quilts, but didn’t have a suitable grey, so visited Spotlight.

Now, I have a question I would really like some feedback on.  How are the patchwork fabrics displayed in your local Spotlight?  In the Bathurst Store, they have changed their layout.  Where there used to be all the solids together, all the blenders together, the aboriginal together, the novelties together and any specific ranges together, now they are all jumbled together by colour.  It is an absolute nightmare trying to find things.  It’s like how some people arrange books on a shelf by colour rather than author.  Obviously not readers.  I digress.  I asked about it and was informed that it was instructions from higher up, and not the store.  However……..the store at Orange is arranged like they always were.  I’d be really interested to hear if it is across the board or just Bathurst.

Now back to our regular programming…….while I was in the Orange store to buy the grey homespun I noticed that their clearance table included their Liberty fabrics.  They were all designs that hadn’t been in Bathurst, so I bought up big.  The original price was $30/m, clearance was $6/m, but with their sale they were $4.80/m.  13.3metres came home with me.  That is cheaper than homespun and some will even be pretty for backings at that price.  Win, win.

Yesterday was our first day back at my Patchwork Group, so I needed some hand sewing to work on.  Yes, I have started yet another project. 

I bought this kit quite a few years ago, and having seen Lin make her version last year, was inspired to finally get it made.  

I traced all the stitcheries on Tuesday and just worked this simple one yesterday.  My next job is to prep all the appliqué and get them stitched down.  It is a fairly simple project and will be ideal to take along.

That’s all I have done in the sewing room, but I am happy to be getting everything prepped to make the rest of the year easier.

Meanwhile, Mick has been enjoying watching the Fifth Ashes Test in the cricket.  The Sydney Test is the Pink Test to raise funds for the McGrath Foundation, which provides cancer care nurses.  We always buy our “virtual tickets”.  The third day, Tuesday, is the Pink Day where everyone dresses in pink and they make special presentations.  Mick joined in, despite being in our lounge room, rather than at the cricket ground.  His shirt even has cricketers on it.

We had a quick trip to Orange to deliver some chairs Mick restored on New Year’s Day.  (Hence my visit to Spotlight up there.) His sister has an outdoor setting with wrought iron ends that the wood had rotted on.  Mick has fixed them for her.  He had to test one out once he had it put together and delivered.

Our garden has been producing plenty of veges.  I am picking and freezing about 500 grams of beans a day at the moment.  The garden doesn’t like the extreme heat we are experiencing at present, but it is doing OK.

I was surprised to see these strange mushrooms in one of our plant pots.  The spores obviously were in the potting mix.  No, we won’t be eating them.

I have tried my first new recipe for the year.  It wasn’t really all that different, but we will count it anyway.  Quiches made using a wrap instead of pastry have been popping up on Instragram, so I gave it a go.  Very simple, and they come out of the pie dish nicely.  A win, that I will probably do again.  A slice would be good to take for lunch.

And that about wraps up the week.