Scrub Stitchin’ - Part 3 - Show and Tell

 A highlight each year is the Show and Tell on Saturday.  So many beautiful projects and talented ladies.

I had to get this photo at the end, which just shows how many quilts were shared.  Don’t you love Kylie’s shorts made from cheater fabric.

First up, let’s see the finished pouches from last year’s project.  They all turned out so well.  Mine is conspicuous in its absence.  Hopefully it will be there next year.

Secondly, the braid quilt that Chooky showed us how to do last year.  They all look so very different.  Once again, mine is missing in action.  I do have some fabric in a tub with the ruler and good intentions.  Maybe next year?????

The next comparison ones were Brenda’s and my Hexy Quilts that used the same pattern.  Brenda has completed hers, doing all the quilting on her domestic machine.  I have only completed my quilt top.  Once again quite different.

This year seemed to be the year of variations on a theme.  Miranda finished her “Confetti” top at retreat, while Jenny brought her completed quilt.  It just goes to show how one pattern can suit so many styles.

Last year, while on their annual road trip, Sue and Raewyn each bought a Sashiko bear kit and this year brought them along.  So cute.

Let’s see what else was on show.

Chooky had a few quilts this year.  Two of these are the same pattern, just one is rather large.  I’m glad I’m not having to quilt it.

Raewyn brought these tops from NZ.  The churn dash one was part of the stitch along a few years ago.

Betty.  The bottom two had special meaning, as the one on the left was made from her late husband’s shirts  and the on the right was made from waterlily fabrics that her husband bought for her.  He was a botanist who specialised in water lilies.  The top one is a variation on the quilt that she and Stephanie made from the scraps gathered at Scrub Stitchin’ last year.

Stephanie.  This is a supersized Omigosh Quilt.  The original has half inch squares in the nine patch.  These finish at one inch.  Much more achievable.  It turned out so well.

Annette.  The quilt on the left recently won champion at her local show.  Well deserved.  The one on the right was one she was struggling with the borders last year.  She was very pleased to show that it is now finished.

Jenny.  Two very different but lovely quilts.

Lianne.  The one on the left is also a show winner.

Miss Jules.  The backing of the middle quilt is really fun.

Sue.  She finally completed the quilt on the left, as the designer was visiting their guild.

Sandy.  OMG!  Her work is so beautiful.

Natasha.  The one on the right was started at a previous Scrub Stitchin’.  The one on the left was a travel project.

Kylie.  She has had fun using lots of 2 1/2” scraps.

Brenda.  This lady never fails to impress with the beautiful work she completes and all quilted on her domestic machine.  Don’t you love the fun tea cosy she has made.

Jo.  The bookcase quilt was made as part of a block swap and her hat is from selvedges of a quilt that is currently off being quilted by Jude.

Gail.  She pieced the middle quilt top this year at Scrub Stitchin’.

Maureen.  She worked on the Japanese quilt last year and the row by row was a part of a quilt along.

Linda.  The semi circular quilt was made to fit in the fanlight above a door.

Mary.  She continues to work on her Field Notes project in Liberty and has made two jelly roll race quilts out of Tilda.

Christine.  She has a definite love of Tilda fabrics.  There are 120 different Tilda fabrics in the little stitchery wall hanging.  The stitcheries are Natalie Bird’s Heart Strings.  The quilt on the right is also Tilda.

Sharmaine.  This quilt was inspired by one she saw at Scrub Stitchin’ last year and is to take on their camping trips.

Meet Tilly and Rosie.  These two gorgeous bunnies were made by Christine and Sharmaine.  On a recent trip to Melbourne they purchased wool felt to make them each a coat.  This was their project this year.  It took them twelve hours.  Such detailed and beautiful work, giving a very polished finish.  They should both be so proud of them.

Lou.  These supper cloths have special meaning.  The one on the right was completed by her Gran and gifted to Lou for her 21st.  The one Lou is holding was started by her Mum when she was eleven and Lou has just finished it…..70 years later.  So special.

Harriet.  She was adding the finishing touches to this quilt.  It looks lovely.

Di.  She has way more patience than me.  There is no way I could work such detailed crochet.

And finally me.  I bought the basket kit last spring from Deb of Coonabarabran. The quilt is still just a top.

And that wraps up the formal show and tell for another year.  I wonder what beauties we will see next time.

Stitching Wrap Up For March

Blimey, March seems to have vanished in the blink of an eye.  Time to see what I managed to get up to.

I’ll start with  my one completed project for the month.  The knitted scarf, that I started so that I would have something to work on in the train coming home from Sydney at the start of the month, is now completed and ready to wear once the weather turns cold, which will happen before we know it.  That is now four I have knitted using this pattern.  I think I need to find some other simple project to knit in future, as I really don’t need any more of these.  However, they are lovely and snuggly and I wear my others frequently.

This is how much wool I had left at the end of the casting off row.  Phew!  That was close.

This time I decided to model the scarf on Victoria, rather than me.  The colour of this yarn is rather lovely.  It is a Patons Patonyle sock wool.  Maybe I should knit some socks to match?

My Rainbow Scrap Challenge was a couple of simple blocks, so took no time.  Now to wait for April’s colour.

The Chookshed Challenge was to work on the fish blocks and although I haven’t completed a quilt, the next batch of appliqué is all ready to stitch down at Scrub Stitchin’.

Speaking of Scrub Stitchin’, I have kitted up three other quilts to work on up there, if the mood takes me.

Oh, and Raewyn has requested we make a couple of blocks to contribute to a Scrub Stitchin’ charity quilt.  These are my two.

The project that was on my wish list, but not expected to be worked on, was to finish the Blue/Hope Quilt top.  I am so very happy to have managed to get it done.

I’m not sure if I’ve shared this Sashiko panel that I started working on a couple of months ago, as a fill in project for my stitching group days.  Well, I’ve continued to make a little progress this month.  There is no plan for it, but it will be good to have it completed and then work out what I will do with it.

In addition to these, there has been a little secret stitching going on.  

Also, just one solitary cotton reel was emptied, although there are some more that are oh, so close.  It’s going to take a while to fill my big jar at this rate.

As for my 15 minutes a day.  I am still keeping track, but not worrying about it too much.  I managed to meet the goal on 25 days, so not too bad. That works out at 69 days out of 90 with a success rate of 76.67%.  Considering everything else we have been up to, I am happy enough with that.

I must say, that on looking at the month as a whole, I am somewhat surprised about how much I have achieved.  Let’s hope next month is as fruitful.

At Long Last - I Finally Have a Flimsy

Whenever I have started a more detailed quilt I have given myself a two year time frame to complete it.  This has worked fairly well in the past, as once the quilt top was completed I would send it off to my long arm quilter to work her magic and then bind it.

However, my most recent more detailed quilt has been in the works for nearly three years and today, finally, it is a quilt top, so still not completed.

I bought the book shortly after it was released.  There is no date on it, but it was definitely prior to 2019, as I made a wall hanging from the book that year.  I knew I wanted to make the featured quilt and started “quarantining” blue fabrics in my stash for future use.  Natalie Bird was selling the complete set of EPP papers at the Sydney Craft Show one year, so I bought them and added them to the “kit” as well.  I bought a final few fabrics in early 2022.

I made an actual start in June 2022, in readiness to take with me on our three month caravan trip.  While travelling, I worked on the EPP hexies and the next EPP section and did some stitcheries on the appliqué blocks, even though the appliqué had not been stitched down at that stage.

Gradually, I made progress over the next little while.  The hand stitching was great to take along to the two stitching groups I had joined.  The last of the Dresden appliqué on the final border was completed in March last year.  What!  I didn’t realise it had been sitting, waiting patiently, for that long.

It was then that I hit a road block and it has taken me until now to finally get going again.  The problem was that the checkerboard and appliqué round was too long.  I had thought I could ease it and the next border, but it didn’t work.  I wondered why it was out so much, but I now realise it is because I had pressed many of the seams open, rather than to one side.

Finally, last month I removed the offending rounds and this week reduced the length of the checkerboard round. The process wasn’t as bad as I had feared. 

Yesterday, I reattached the checkerboard round with no flaring and today added the final two borders.  To say I am happy to finally get to this stage is an understatement.  It will now sit patiently again, until I work out how I am going to quilt it.

Oh, and it will suit our bed rather nicely, once it is finally completed.