Two weekends ago....

So, two weekends ago I was invited to a quilting retreat with some lovely and talented ladies. It was so nice to spend the weekend away from the usual chores that tend to interfere with valuable sewing time. Rather than starting a new big quilting project, I decided to work on some of those projects I have been meaning to start or finish for ages. One project had been eight years in the making!!!

 


 

The first job was start on this Christmas table runner. I even quilted it myself. I have been trying to do the odd small project to practice my quilting on. I bought this fabric earlier in the year from here and you can search for the free pattern called 'Hugs and Kisses Quilted Table Runner' from here.

 

 Then I finished these cushions. I started them...oh...about eight years ago. You won't believe that all they needed was a rectangle of felt added to the back to make it into an actual cushion!!

 The problem was the backing was never stored with the front. I would find one when looking for something but could never find the other part so the two could be joined. Obviously, they were eventually found simultaneously.

 I bought this lovely wool felt and pattern from here.
 

 

Hmmm..I wonder how long it will take me to make inserts so they can go from flat Santa to fat Santa?

 

Then I completed Block 4 in my Toes In The Sand BOM.

 

Finally, I cut out about 70 half diamonds for the border of my Violet EPP quilt.
My OPAM tally for August is now four.

Not a bad effort for one weekend.



 

Three weekends ago...

OK, so it's been a while since my last post.

 

Basically, I haven't been home much, especially on weekends. Away three out of the last four weekends and away again tomorrow.

 

The good news, I have had time to sew while I have been away.

Rather than bore you with an extremly long post. I will update you one weekend at a time. 

So...three weekends ago my parents visited and we had a lovely, quiet catch up with them. Mum and I got to do some sewing. I made this quilt to send to Cheryll. Cheryll organises the Blankets of Love. This is a very thoughtful idea of Cheryll's that supports families at a very sad time in their lives.

 

 

While quilting this I learnt how to use one of the gadgets that came with my machine. I really like how you can quilt in straight lines without marking them.

 

 

My mum made this cute bear for my nephew. She also crocheted a rug in some lovely earthy tones in a cool chevron pattern...that I forgot to take a photo of...sorry.

 

 

Next installment coming soon.

Enjoy your weekend.





A Little Bit of Quiting

It's been a while since my last post. So I thought I'd show you the little bit of progress I have achieved in the last couple of weeks on my Flannel Hexie Quilt.

All of the flowers are now quilted and I have started on the borders.

It took a while to work out exactly how to quilt the border. I had a discussion with Susan (as she is quite a clever hand quilter) when we were at Cassilis. That helped me to have something in mind before I started.

Unfortunately, the uneven,

non-symmetrical edge of the flowers did my head in a bit. Even though the borders were cut the same width, once the flowers were appliquéd on, the side borders are slightly narrower than the top and bottom ones. The space between the flowers varies between the top and bottom borders when compared to the ones down each side. 

Not only that, no two corners are the same!!

So, in the end, I made a few plastic template leaves in two different sizes and just used whatever would fit in the space. 

So on the side borders, I have just two sets of leaves in the spaces.

For top and bottom border, I was able to fit four sets, one set slightly smaller than the other.

A corner.

A view from the front.

I am half way round the border and made the binding up last night. So the end is almost in sight.

Tonight I look forward to stitching along with my Mum as my parents are visiting this weekend. I'm looking forward to a relaxing weekend with them.

Hope you have time to relax this weekend too.