FMQ baby wholecloth finished.

I finished my FMQ quilt started at the workshop I attended with Jan Foster from Red Shed Quilting.

It was lots of fun to do and I'm looking forward to starting another one, but the calendar is fast filling up and I think it will have to go on the wish list for 2016.

I love the texture FMQ creates.

Linking up with Amanada Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts for Finifh It Up Friday.

Middlebrook Retreat

We had a great time last weekend and met some lovely new friends. 

Here are some photos from the retreat held at Middlebrook...

Googy Girl made this lovely table runner...

Susan brought along a cute litter of puppies...

Kylie worked on her first ever hand piecing project...

Karleen joined us for the first time...

Julie started her 'Gravity' quilt...

Jenny worked on her Christmas embroidery...

And Fiona was very busy on a mission to finish lots of projects. She definitely won the prize for the most finishes. I thought that Susan could graciously donate this gorgeous mini she finished quilting while she was there.

Strangely enough she was not keen to part with it.

 So, Fiona will have to go with the alternate prize...

the pleasure of our company :) 

I worked on my FMQ project from the Jan Foster workshop I attended recently. Also a little bit on my felt cushion from the Wendy Williams workshop I went to during the holidays.

We missed seeing some good friends from last year, hopefully they will be able to join in the fun again next year. 

Friday Night With Friends

At Middlebrook in the Hunter Valley sewing with friends Friday night and all weekend. Watch this space for an update. The morning after the night before, back into it already...

Jenny

Julie

Susan hiding behind her mini. Watch this space.

Another Block Holder and Violet Washed Successfully!!

I made this block holder for me friend Kylie who celebrated her birthday last week.

It is made with fabrics from the Miss Kate range designed by Bonnie and Camille one of her favourite designers.

So I have five finishes for OPAM for the month of October, equalling my 2015 record from January.  Not a bad effort considering it is school holidays during January. Two quilts, two block holders and a costume in one month. 

I expect to return to my one finish per month average for the rest of 2015.

Finally, great news!!

I washed Violet and I am SO excited. The Colour Catchers performed their magic and the dye did not run into the rest of the quilt!

 

You  might remember the problem I had when the dye ran after trying to remove the water soluble blue marker lines while quilting around the flower above. This photo does not show how dark the colour run was.

I took this flower off before washing and replaced it with the one at the top in the picture below. 

I decided to leave the brown one, use lots of colour catchers and hope for the best. I have a front loading washing machine. I sat on the floor of the laundry like a child whose mum had just thrown their favourite teddy bear in for a wash and watched with baited breath....for and hour!

Slowly the colour catchers turned pale pink...pink... mauve...and then purple. 

BUT, the background fabric stayed cream.

The best part was, the dye that had stained the background fabric around those flowers also washed out. I was SO happy with the result.

Hope you have had a relaxing weekend.

A Legacy From Violet is Done !!

Drum roll please!

Cue trumpets...

Daa,daa, daa, da,da,da, DAAAAAA!!!!!

 My first EPP project measuring about 94" x 97". My friend Julie and I started our own 'Violet' quilts together. We decided not to let the size of a project dampen our enthusiasm for starting something new. That was ten years ago, and it is finally done. It's hot and windy here today, so I had to coax a few quilt holders to with help me with this photo session.

I hand quilted this on my Grace Hand Quilting frame.

So I'm building up the courage to wash it. Anyone who follows this blog will know about the little problem I had with some colour run after squirting water onto some border flowers to remove the water soluble texta lines.

This is where it will be during Summer. So I'm linking up to CrazyMom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday and Monday Morning Star Count at Life Under Quilts.

If anyone has a suggestion as to be a better app for my iPad for posting other than Blogger, I would love to know. Posting from the iPad today due to a really bad computer virus affecting my laptop. Blogger seems to make my photos a bit blurry and I find posting from my laptop gives more options with photo size, font etc.

Enjoy the weekend.

Finish It Up Friday

I forgot to show you a finish from the previous week. DS No. 3 and his girlfriend were invited to a fancy dress 18th birthday party. So they decided to go as Syndrome and Mirage from the movie 'The Incredibles'.

DS 3 has just enough ginger in his hair, although the photo does not show this.

The outfit was made after a couple of trips to the op shop. I purchased a black skivvy and removed the turtle neck, then appliqued a large 'S' on the front after cutting up a white A-line skirt (also from the op shop). The super villain underpants were made from the same skirt. The cape from royal blue lining fabric.

This is the effect we were aiming for.

The boots were the tricky part. I had to make a pattern for these, working in three dimensions is challenging. I lined white cotton fabric with bag wadding. The boots fit over his shoes and attach with a big strip of velcro up the back.

'Mirage' was able to shop on-line for her dress and wig. Being a teenage girl, she had stilettoes in stock.

I was hoping to show you my 'Violet' quilt complete. I am so close. I did finish quilting it on Thursday, so it's sort of a finish. My frame is now empty and I am thinking I might quilt my French General Lumiere quilt next.

The final stitches were made around this flower.

The back.

Another backing shot.

A peak at the front.

Hopefully I can show you the finished item next week.

So I'm linking up with Amanda Jean at CrazyMom Quilts for Finish It Up Friday.

Have a great weekend.

I'm on a roll!

I'm so excited that for two months in a row I have actually finished more than one item in a month. Peg and Chris who organise OPAM will be shocked and amazed!!

My first finish is this block holder. A gift for my good friend Caron who recently celebrated her birthday. I couldn't show you earlier because I know she checks out my blog from time to time.

It is made with Tilda fabrics that I thought she might like.

My other finish is a quilt for a special person celebrating her 21st birthday this month. Just needs a label so I can wrap it up for her. The design is a giant log cabin.

I'm really happy with the clam shell quilting Meredith did for me at The Quilting House.

It is backed with a brushed cotton as the recipient feels the cold and I thought it might be snugglier (is that a real word?). Anyway, you know what I mean.

So I am also linking up to Finish It Up Friday with Amanda Jean as well.

Last night I joined in with Friday Night With Friends. I started with a little more free motion quilting.

And some hand quilting on my 'A Legacy from Violet' quilt. I can finally see the finish line!!

This quilt it 98" x 94" and is English Paper Pieced. I have an area 98" x 13.5" to left to quilt!! This has been a VERY long term project.

As I rolled the quilt on this week, I finally got to see the far edge of the quilt in my frame. This is pretty exciting as I started hand quilting this on the 7th June. I'm hoping it might be my finish for Finish It Up Friday next week!!

I worked on this during Friday Night With Friends.

Finally a few photos from the Wendy Williams workshop I attended at Material Obsession last Monday. Lea worked on her camel.

I started a new project called 'Wee Village Town Pillow'. This project is in Wendy's book.

 I finished one house...

 ...made a good start on a tree and attached the contrasting fabric to the cushion backing. As well as picking up a few tips as other people worked on their projects.

This is where I am up to now.

The houses and tree  are not attached yet. This is fun and fast. Love playing with felt. Could it be that I will have two finishes for OPAM this month?

I guess my progress will slow down as  the school holidays finish up on Monday. But it's been fun and full of lots of stitching get togethers with friends.