A Nice Weekend With Friends

We had a great weekend with our friends Jo and Tony visiting from Mildura.  The last time we saw them was at Scrub Stitchin’.

They arrived on Saturday and we took them for a bit of a tour of the local area.

On Sunday the boys went up to the shed to discuss the finer details of Rosie the Suzuki Sierra and the motorcycles.  They visited the National Motor Racing Museum and went for a run in Rosie.

Meanwhile, Jo and I headed to the sewing room, where we quilted one of Jo’s quilts that has been languishing in the “To Be Quilted” pile.

It turned out fairly well.

They headed off on their adventures on Monday, as did we.

Rainbow Strippy Group Quilt

As I have previously mentioned, I have joined in with Betty’s merry band making blocks for group donation quilts each month. 

For the first half of this year the brief was slightly different, in that each month we were to make a strip in a colour of the rainbow.  

Here are mine.

Once all the coloured strips were completed and returned to Betty, she mixed them up and sent strip sets out to each of us to make into a quilt top.  Some were very creative and clever.

I finally got around to joining the strips I received into this flimsy.  Not very creative, but I think it is rather striking.

Instead of returning the quilt top to Betty for the girls down there to finish off, I have quilted and bound it here.  

I just used a gold thread for the quilting and a bright blue wideback for the backing and binding.

With Betty’s blessing, it will be donated to a local charity in Bathurst.

QUILT INFORMATION

Measurements -62" high x 64" wide

Pattern - None.  Rainbow strips for group quilts.

Fabrics - All from stash.  

Quilting Design - QCT6 - Loopmeander

Batting - Cotton/Poly

Backing - Wideback from Spotlight

Thread - Glide - Cleopatra

My Wishes for August

​Here we are in the next month already.  The last month of winter.  I really don’t know where this year is going.  Anyway, time to think about what I would like to get up to this month.

Let’s start with the stitching wishes.

MY MAIN MONTHLY WISH

As usual, I would like to use this to push myself to get something out of the way.  This time it is the Batik Fish Quilt.  I started this back at the start of 2024, so it is well and truly due to be completed.  I put the blocks out on the design curtain at the end of last month, so there is no excuse.  I really want to take this for show and tell at the end of the month.

RAINBOW SCRAP CHALLENGE

The nominated colour this month is yellow.  Yay!  I have yellow blocks prepped. No colour substitution required this month.  Also, I only need to make one crumb block, as I already have two made.  

BETTY’S GROUP PROJECTS

I have the Rainbow Strip Quilt ready to quilt.  I hope to have that done soon.  I want to take this for show and tell as well.

There will also be a new block to make this month.

USING ELLY MAY

This will be the Rainbow Strip Quilt and hopefully the Batik Fish Quilt.  Any extras will be a bonus.

KNITTING AND CROCHET

I really need to get a wriggle on with my alpaca jumper.  This month I aim to have the front and back finished, including the neckline.  That will just leave the sleeves to finish.  It should be doable.

While I’m at my stitching days I will probably work on the C2C crochet squares.  They are a nice, no brain required project.  Ideal while chatting away.  I need 28 of these, so if I make four a month I’ll have them done in seven months.  I don’t really think it will take that long.

AN AUGUST ESCAPE RETREAT AT BARADINE

This smaller, shorter retreat is happening on the last weekend of the month, so I need to prep some projects to work on:

1. I have a jelly roll that is earmarked for a quilt, that requires no prepping beforehand.  

2. There is still some of the solid fat quarters that I used in a recent quilt, so I hope to prep a smaller donation quilt with those leftovers.

3. I have some novelty print that I want to use on a kid’s quilt, so need to find a pattern and get it cut out.

4. I will probably prep another kid’s quilt as well.  

I don’t expect to get them all done, but if they are prepped I have choices and they will be prepped to work on later at home.

15 MINUTES A DAY

This is also an aim.

NON STITCHING WISHES

1. Try a new recipe.  I have one earmarked and hope to try some others as well.  I seem to be on a roll.

2. Read or listen to a book.  We’ll see how I go with this wish.  I’m not doing so well.

3. Have a fun day out. I’m sure that will happen.

4. Use our caravan.  Yes, we are going to Baradine.

5. Catch up on my blog posts.  I still have to finish our Queensland trip from June and everything since.    However, now that I have discovered an app in which I can add my photos on my iPad it is much more likely to happen.

I look forward to checking back in at the end of the month.

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.

Stitching Wrap up For June

Despite us having the first two weeks of the month away in our caravan, I still managed to get quite a bit of crafting done in June.

My main goal for June was to complete the red knitted scarf, which was a great travel project.  Tick.

My main goal for May was to complete the solid fat quarter quilt.  Well, I was a few weeks late, but it was completed in June.

I had hoped to finish the corner to corner crochet rug, but that hasn't quite crossed the finish line. The main body of the rug is completed and I am currently working on the edging.  It is just rows of half trebles.  As it is rather mindless to work on, I'm saving it for my stitching days.  I expect it to be completed by the end of this week.

The Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks have been completed, also partly done while travelling.

The little donation cot quilt was a quick and easy project to complete.

I have finally started knitting my Long Paddock jumper.  The alpaca is beautiful and soft to work with.

The last thing I worked on was a quick little running repair on a couple of Christmas ornaments that I made many years ago.  They used to hang on the bookcase door handles at our old house and our cat, Joey, decided that they would be nice to play with.  I don't have a "before" photo, but they had both lost their hangers and the star one had a missing bugle bead and the others were loose.  Fortunately, I still have the container of beads, so was able to replace it and secure the others.  Now, they can be added to our tree in future Christmases.

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