Thank you so much to those of you who were waiting so patiently for me to have the pattern for my Royal Cross quilt available. You know who you are :-)
The good news is that I've finally gotten my act together and the pattern is available on my website. Go me!
Do you remember this quilt? It's my Royal Cross scrap quilt. Just this week, it has come out in the current Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine. It's Volume 16 No 12, the 2008 Annual.
The pictures are wonderful, the photography in this magazine is always fantastic, and I'll never grow tired of seeing my quilts in print.
Wow have I been motoring along on this quilt. Last night I quilted it all and attached the binding. I just need to do the hand sewing now.
For the purposes of stash reporting - last week I did have five metres of fabric come home with me, but this week I used up four metres for the back of this quilt, and about 40cms for the binding. So 60cms more, and I'm back on track :-)
The family have just come home today from three days at the sheep station, so my completely uninterrupted sewing time will draw to a close. I'll also have to give up on the mega-late nights too. I was on such a roll with the machine quilting, I didn't want to stop, and when I saw that Citizen Kane was on TV, I knew I'd be in for a late one.Ever since my wonderful friend Linda and her husband Jerry kindly took me to see Hearst Castle when I visited with them, I've wanted to see the movie. Because it's so old, it's not the kind of thing you can pick up anywhere. What serendipity that it would be on late at night when I had no time pressures. I loved it, and I'm glad I've seen it.This afternoon I just need to package up the patterns for the store, and I'm all caught up with work I needed to do by tomorrow. I still have another pattern to write up and get ready, and a lot of things I need to add to my website, but that's 'nice to do' work, rather than 'have to do' work. I'm really feeling like some pressure has lifted!
Finally, the top is finished. (It looks a little bumpy in the picture, but that's because I just didn't lay it out very well) Thank you all for your wonderful and supportive comments on my progress with this quilt. I always feel like it's not very interesting for you to see blow-by-blow pictures of my projects in progress. But I guess that's how I'm working on stuff, so you get to come along for the ride :-)I'd like to get quilting on it ASAP, but I forgot to buy batt at the quilt store, so I will have to make some time to go there soon. The back will be made from stash, and I'd like to think I'll put together a scrappy back for it ... let's see how far I go with that idea :-)
Who knew there were so many fans of Lego out there? So you can see how I've been occupying my time with Cameron, here's the city we've been working on. The picture makes it look small and not so interesting, but to give you in idea of size, that red boat to the right of the picture is around 16 inches in length.He also has a really large passenger airplane that we're dying to put together, but he has misplaced one of the crucial pieces, so I need to decide whether I order a new piece or wait for it to materialise. Lego are wonderful like that, you can get spares as easily as can be.Last night I made up some peachy goodness - 9 jars of peach conserve. I have never tried it before, but it looks and tastes just lovely. I meant to take a picture to share, but I'll do it next time. I got the recipe from the back of a packet of Fowlers Vacola Jamsetta. I will need to harvest some more peaches tonight, and perhaps this time I'll stew and bottle them. This year we lost most of our apricots to birds. Next year we must remember to net the tree. I think we may even get some oranges later in the year. We have a mini orchard happening!That's it for now ... catch you later :-)
I'm on the home stretch now with the Royal Cross quilt. I've completed the middle section of the quilt top. Now I need to select a fabric for the inner border. I'm thinking of a red coloured reproduction style fabric, what do you think? I haven't decided on the outer border fabric either, but I have an inkling I'll be using a navy blue reproduction.It almost did my head in putting all the blocks together, I'm not sure why, but toward the end I was really having to force myself to work on the quilt. Not something I've experienced a lot in the past?!?I will probably start working on the borders this evening - it will be fun to rifle thru the stash :-) Today I've spent the day quilting on a log cabin quilt for a customer. I've just now finished, and have only one more top to do, and then I'm up to date (for now) :-) Well, I should get busy, I'll check in with you all soon ... TTYL x o x
Finally I have completed the last six of the Royal Cross blocks. I can now start putting the top together. I was growing weary of the curved seams toward the end, but it's hard to be tired of a block that looks so good put together.Also another accomplishment - I'm up to date with the latest installment of the Carolina Crossroads mystery. I'm loving these blocks, and I'm thrilled with the scrappiness!While I'm posting, I should also make a note of my stash busting for this week. No fabric purchases at all. I haven't darkened the door of any quilt stores, but I will be heading to Quiltaholics tomorrow. I have used I guess around one metre of fabric. Around a fat quarter was used for the back of the placemats, another fat quarter for the binding of the placemats. Approx another half metre was used for the additional pieces for the mystery quilt, and also for the remaining pieces I needed to cut for the Royal Cross blocks. I may have used a little more, or maybe a little less, but it's used just the same. I'll really bust some stash when I add the borders and make up the back for the Royal Cross quilt - that will be a good feeling!
I had a productive day yesterday, I was able to put a further six Royal Cross blocks together, which means I have only six more to make and I can assemble the top! Yay!
And as soon as I saw that the next installment of the Carolina Crossroads mystery was ready, I had to start putting a few blocks together. I've made eight so far - the next eight that I make will have brown centres, and the nine patches will have three brown squares rather than two. Does that make any sense? I hope they'll work out in the big scheme of the quilt. I'll need to do some pressing too - I was way to busy having fun piecing to move over to the ironing station!
A couple of other things ... Deb asked in comments yesterday what model sewing machine I'm working with. I have a Bernina 1080 - it's my faithful friend. Many times I've considered updating to a newer model with BSR, but I just can't do it. I adore my little buddy too much. It's a wonderful, solid machine that has been with me for so many of my favourite quilts. Our dear friend Bonnie has the exact same machine as me :-). Also ... I need to take a guess at which of my Thimbleberries Club students has been stopping by. They left a clue that they like working on big quilts ... so I'm going to choose two names ... either Dena (I hope I spelled that correctly), or Jenny S. If I'm wrong, you'll have to give me some more clues ...
I'm off to the sewing room - I hope I can be productive today too!
Here you have it. A picture of my stitching efforts while the family were away. There are additions to the pile of Royal Cross blocks. I completed parts four and five of the Carolina Crossroads mystery. There are 100 hourglass units there, and forty of the little triangle half nine patch units. I am sooooo looking forward to putting the components of this mystery together now. Super fun!I purchased a companion angle especially for Bonnie's mystery. I had never used one before, and had always used the half square triangle (line diagonally across the back - sew either side of the line and repeat) technique to make hourglass units. These came out just great using the template, and it was wonderful to be able to use stuff from my strip boxes, and not cut squares in a special size. I don't know how much yardage I used, but I'm sure I can nut it out. I got eight hourglass blocks approx from two 2" strips ... I'm feeling lazy right now ... I'll work it out when it's stash report time.
Last of all, just want to say a big HELLO to my wonderful friend Linda from San Jose. We spent 80 minutes on the phone the other day - gosh that few by. Can't wait to see you in September. *big hugs*
I'm heading into the sewing room now ... let's see what I can create today :-) x o x
Wow - our internet has been playing up, and after I typed up that last message, it took six hours before our internet was working well enough to post it!
I thought I'd quickly share how I'm going with my Royal Cross quilt. I've made twelve blocks now - thirteen to go. The blocks need to be pinned a LOT, so they are a little time consuming. Having said that, I still love working on them, and I'm loving how the design is coming together.This will be my last post for 2007 - we're heading out shortly to ring in the new year with friends. It has gotten to just over 42c (108f) today, so whatever we do, we're going to be trying to stay cool! Have a great time celebrating! x o x
Today I've been piecing some more of the Royal Cross blocks. I made four, I'd like to have made another ... but maybe later. I'm just loving the interplay between the blocks and the circle pattern that forms. I'm also loving the scrappiness of the top. It's fun using up all these smaller bits and pieces that I have.I now have seventeen more blocks to make - I really need to cut up some more dark scraps for some variety - I got bored while doing all the cutting back then, of course I wanted to get into the actual stitching!
And on the mystery quilt front - I've finished with step two (apart from cutting out the 3.5" squares which won't take long). I really need to cut some more 1.5" strips, I've really made quite a dent in the 1.5" strip container. Before I can tackle step three, I'll need a whole lot more lights in there, and some more blues and browns ...I didn't have much of an idea about where the mystery was heading before, but now that clue three has been posted, I have absolutely no idea whatsoever. It will be fun to see the quilt progress.There won't be much more piecing for the rest of today - I really need to get some chores done. I'm feeling a little edgy about the state of the house right now. I'd also like to get a few of the Christmas presents I've purchased wrapped up and under the tree. Best get busy ... TTYL :-)
Four blocks down - twenty one to go! I made three blocks up on Tuesday - I wonder if I can keep that up on the days I don't work. The quilt top will fly together! Don't you love the circular pattern that is already starting to appear? I'm really thrilled with how it's looking.I've cut more of the dark value pieces, so I'd say I'm 80% of the way thru the cutting for this quilt. Quite a few people were interested in how I'm cutting out the pieces, so I'll elaborate ... I made up templates from regular template plastic. I then layered up 4 or 5 fabrics with the wrong side facing me - traced the template shape on the fabric, and then used my rotary cutter to cut out all 4-5 pieces at once. Slow going on the curved pieces, but much easier and faster than tracing out each shape and cutting with scissors like I probably would have done it in the past.As I've been cruising blogs these past couple of days, I keep seeing all the wonderful results of Bonnie's mystery quilt. I'm teetering on the edge of diving in with you all. The only thing holding me back is the fact that I don't have a lot of 1.5" strips cut ... but I'm seriously contemplating just getting busy and cutting some more. Don't be surprised if you see me having a go at it ... I'm on the verge ...Today I have a couple of things I really need to do before heading to the quilt store. I MUST put up the Christmas tree and get busy decorating. And I MUST get busy with Christmas gifts. Last year (and in other years) I started in around August. Where did this year go, and why did it go there so fast??!!?? Better run, lots to do, and not much time :-) x o x
I promised in my last post that I'd start working on something for myself this past weekend, and true to my word, here is some evidence that I did.My stash-busting effort consisted of almost cutting out all the pieces for my Royal Cross quilt. I cut all 100 of the light value pie shaped pieces and triangles. Also cut are all the medium value squares, and half the medium value cross pieces. I've cut a few of the dark value pieces too.In the foreground is one block I put together, because I just can never resist the lure of the piecing. I just love it!Amazing how much more time consuming cutting out curved pieces can be. This lot took a few hours on Saturday, a few hours yesterday, and I'm still not done!Today after I get busy with some chores, I need to get back to some customer quilting. When I've finished the one quilt that is half done, then I'll allow myself to get back into some cutting. Better run - those chores won't take care of themselves! x o x
... some of my own stuff. Really, I mean it! I put together a drawing of a quilt a little while back, and I'm going to start chopping up some scraps to make it up.
This is the quilt I plan to work on, but don't think of it in terms of the colourway I'm sharing here - think of it in a really scrappy way, using reproduction fabrics in the light medium and dark colourway. I'm really excited to work on something that has curved seams. It's been a long time since I've made one of these blocks, so I hope I don't stress out too much over the curves. They're reasonably gentle. I'm sure you'll be seeing my progress.
And here's the last two customer quilts I worked on. The one in front is the end result of a class I taught a while back. The girls made up table runners from charm packs, and this one is from the 'Roman Holiday' range, with a little yardage for the border. It's very nice.Behind is a courthouse steps quilt from a shop customer - very nice to work on and a very nice lap size. I quilted it for about an hour yesterday afternoon, and then finished it last night. I have four more quilts to work on for others - I'll space them out over the next week or so.In sporty news - Amy's school netball team had a huge win last night. In the semi-final, they had a wonderful victory against a team that has not lost a game all year. This puts Amy's team directly into the grand final in two weeks time. I imagine we'll end up playing the same team again, so let's see how we go. Go team!Have a great weekend everyone! x o x
Thank you so much to those of you who were waiting so patiently for me to have the pattern for my Royal Cross quilt available. You know who you are :-)
Do you remember this quilt? It's my Royal Cross scrap quilt. Just this week, it has come out in the current Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine. It's Volume 16 No 12, the 2008 Annual.
Wow have I been motoring along on this quilt. Last night I quilted it all and attached the binding. I just need to do the hand sewing now.
Finally, the top is finished. (It looks a little bumpy in the picture, but that's because I just didn't lay it out very well) Thank you all for your wonderful and supportive comments on my progress with this quilt. I always feel like it's not very interesting for you to see blow-by-blow pictures of my projects in progress. But I guess that's how I'm working on stuff, so you get to come along for the ride :-)
Who knew there were so many fans of Lego out there? So you can see how I've been occupying my time with Cameron, here's the city we've been working on. The picture makes it look small and not so interesting, but to give you in idea of size, that red boat to the right of the picture is around 16 inches in length.
I'm on the home stretch now with the Royal Cross quilt. I've completed the middle section of the quilt top. Now I need to select a fabric for the inner border. I'm thinking of a red coloured reproduction style fabric, what do you think? I haven't decided on the outer border fabric either, but I have an inkling I'll be using a navy blue reproduction.
Finally I have completed the last six of the Royal Cross blocks. I can now start putting the top together. I was growing weary of the curved seams toward the end, but it's hard to be tired of a block that looks so good put together.
I had a productive day yesterday, I was able to put a further six Royal Cross blocks together, which means I have only six more to make and I can assemble the top! Yay!
Here you have it. A picture of my stitching efforts while the family were away. There are additions to the pile of Royal Cross blocks. I completed parts four and five of the Carolina Crossroads mystery. There are 100 hourglass units there, and forty of the little triangle half nine patch units. I am sooooo looking forward to putting the components of this mystery together now. Super fun!
I thought I'd quickly share how I'm going with my Royal Cross quilt. I've made twelve blocks now - thirteen to go. The blocks need to be pinned a LOT, so they are a little time consuming. Having said that, I still love working on them, and I'm loving how the design is coming together.
Today I've been piecing some more of the Royal Cross blocks. I made four, I'd like to have made another ... but maybe later. I'm just loving the interplay between the blocks and the circle pattern that forms. I'm also loving the scrappiness of the top. It's fun using up all these smaller bits and pieces that I have.
And on the mystery quilt front - I've finished with step two (apart from cutting out the 3.5" squares which won't take long). I really need to cut some more 1.5" strips, I've really made quite a dent in the 1.5" strip container. Before I can tackle step three, I'll need a whole lot more lights in there, and some more blues and browns ...
Four blocks down - twenty one to go! I made three blocks up on Tuesday - I wonder if I can keep that up on the days I don't work. The quilt top will fly together! Don't you love the circular pattern that is already starting to appear? I'm really thrilled with how it's looking.
I promised in my last post that I'd start working on something for myself this past weekend, and true to my word, here is some evidence that I did.
This is the quilt I plan to work on, but don't think of it in terms of the colourway I'm sharing here - think of it in a really scrappy way, using reproduction fabrics in the light medium and dark colourway. I'm really excited to work on something that has curved seams. It's been a long time since I've made one of these blocks, so I hope I don't stress out too much over the curves. They're reasonably gentle. I'm sure you'll be seeing my progress.
And here's the last two customer quilts I worked on. The one in front is the end result of a class I taught a while back. The girls made up table runners from charm packs, and this one is from the 'Roman Holiday' range, with a little yardage for the border. It's very nice.
