Procrastination in Pink

Maybe this is what I should call this quilt? I should be constructing 2 backings for quilts to go to the quilter over the holidays.

I cut it out Monday and finished the top today (Friday). I actually did the blocks in about 2 hours, the applique and borders waited a bit due to the Brisbane family's arrival on Wednesday. This is a very old Chook Shed pattern I made in country colours many years ago and have just completed and has been displayed in The Quilt Patch. Some patterns deserve a second chance, this being one. It's now a Country Cupboard design (The Chook Shed girls having gone their separate ways). A very simple design suitable for any beginner. I am not a pale pink, green and yellow person at all, but many, many customers are and samples are sometimes the only way that many can get inspiration for a new quilt, therefore the sample is made not in my colours!

This weekend

Saturday to the Airing of the Quilts at Exeter then onto lunch at Beauty Point.

Sunday, out to historic Entally House for a Garden Festival.
I bought seed potatoes, chives, parsley and thyme - that's a potato salad!

More of my quilts

The Chook quilt is called "Fowl Play" and was made a few (well quite a few) years ago. I'd started making the chooks and sunflowers using enlaraged Chook Shed and Meme patterns in the yummy black, white, gold and reds. Then I went to Perth, WA for a SCQuilter's retreat and did a class with Jan Mullen, so I used the same fabrics. Pure laziness on my part as they were at the top of the heap and easy to grab.

This is a pizza, another challenge entry from a few years ago. I think the topic was "food". This is called "Super-supreme and Sundae" as the top is meant to be a pizza and the backing fabric has icecream sundaes on it.
I played with a Kaliedoscope ruler as I wanted it to have a "round feel" about it. Lots of tomato, onion, capsicum, mushroom, olive and pizza fabrics were used and then some precious chunky buttons from the button box.

Further to yesterday's post with the bright batiks - I have completed 30 more, now have 60. I either don't use 1 (7x7), make 4 more (8x8) or 40 more (10x10) - big decision! I think I have enough fabric to make 30 more, so maybe it will be 81 blocks (9x9).

PPS - I've just found I have 30 more squares cut - it's meant to be at least 90!

I really did want to get onto the Tasmanian Devil quilt, sigh!!!

Because I was a quilter once.....

before I became a gardener, I thought I'd better post a few pics of what I am doing.

Last year sometime new Tonga Batik fabrics arrived and I "needed to use it" so I made a small sample.

The book "Stack a New Deck" by Karla Alexander (That Patchwork Place) had recently arrived and "Cottage Quarters" appealed. I'm not using the sashing.

The sample languished on display at the shop until I needed a project for retreat a few months ago. More blocks were cut out then and nothing sewn until today. I'm not sure how big it will end up, but I don't "do" small quilts now unless they're for a child, so I will plod on until the fabric runs out or it gets to a size I like.

The quilt top on the bed is another almost finshed one. Many of the blocks came from a 9 Patch swap on SCQuilters, my Internet group.

Set with plain pansy fabric blocks it has ended up quite large - 2.1m square, backing done and waiting for quilting.

This one is an "Ami & Michelle" Oz-Dye Arts pattern from years and years ago. I hung it above the spare bed where Nic and Nancy sleep so Miss Maggie and Banjo can enjoy it while they visit in 2 weeks!
The crooked certificate is one Nic won in grade 6 for Mathematics. He took the PhD certificate to his home, wonder why he didn't take this to hang up?

The Vegie Garden

Oh Boy! Is this garden growing!!!

I know it was new soil, I know it's in a sunny warm spot against the wall, I know it has a generous half bag of good Tassie Sheep Poo on it (1.5 metres square in area!)

But I planted the plants - doesn't that count for anything?

"Inspirational" was Rob's description. I bet he wishes he was here instead of travelling around India on his pilgrimage! :-)

Inspired by the success of the first plot and the fact that I still had 3 tomatoes to put "somewhere" my helper prepared me another plot against the fence which doesn't get nearly as much sun, so we'll see. This bit has 3 tomatoes, a punnet of beans, spinach and Pak Choy and I have carrots to go in soon.

I have plans for an expanded garden next year, LOL

By the way, one of my neighbours has told me my tomatoes are too close together, sigghhh!!!!

Scatterdays - "How you see yourself"

I am into this right away - unlike previous months where I have been a slacker!

The subject "How you see yourself" made me have a think, who am I?

Lots of things - they can all wait, but the most important way I see myself over the last few years is a grandmother or Nana as I am called. I love the name and when heard from the mouth of a 2 year old, sends tingles down my spine! I have a few more months before the Divine Miss. M calls me Nana, but with lots of visits she will remeber me.

Of course, I don't see myself as you see me in the picture - to me I am still 28 and slim!

Jelly Roll Quilt

There are 40 strips in a Jelly Roll ,from each 2½” strip cut 2– 4½” pieces and 2-8½” pieces

You will have about a 16” strip left.
Pair this up with another one of contrasting colour and sew together, then cut this into 4 - 2½” pieces. Sew 2 together, turning one up the other way to make 2 Four patches

You will make 40 of these ( 1 for each strip in Jelly roll)
Select another fabric (colour) from the 2– 4½” pieces and 2-8½” pieces and sew the 2– 4½” pieces to each side,
Press then sew the 2-8½” pieces to the top and bottom - press.
This should measure 8½” square.

The amount of plain 8½” squares added to the quilt is dependant on how big you want to make the quilt.

Mine is 8x8 = 64 squares (quilt is about 80” square)
40 made from the pieced Jelly Roll and 24 un-pieced squares.
You’ll need an extra 6 strips of 25cm in "blousy" florals,

cut into 8½” strips then re-cut into 25 - 8½” squares

Borders are
#1 - 2½” - buy 60 cm.
#2 - 6½” -buy 2.10 metres which will do for borders and binding. The borders are cut down the length of the fabric.
Binding is 2¾”

Norfolk Island Settlers Decendants

IMG_3687, originally uploaded by FranW.

200 years ago, the "City of Edinburgh" departed Norfolk Island bringing the ancestors of Graeme and his cousin Libby to Hobart. The rest they say is history!

Today it was celebrated by a leisurely cruise on the Derwent River aboard the replica tall ship the "Lady Nelson".
A somewhat nippy day but calm, which didn't describe my nerves when I saw Noel don his life jacket! :-)

Hobart from the river presents beautiful scenery, including Government house, Mount Wellington and Sandy Bay.

St Helens Friendship Day

IMG_3643, originally uploaded by FranW.

Heaven, I'm in heaven!!!
This is the country spread one can dream about but rarely experience!
Break 'O Day Stitchers from St Helens certainly did themselves proud with the morning tea for their Friendship Day today.
I'm only showing you the important bits, if you want to seee Show & Tell, you'll have to check the Flickr Set.

Cup Cakes

IMG_3644, originally uploaded by FranW.

I've never been up close and personal to one of these stands actually loaded with cup cakes! I had the one on the bottom left with the yellow lolly on top!

McLeod Ganj - Rob shave

McLeod Ganj - Rob shave, originally uploaded by tassyrob.

#2 Son Rob is travelling in India. He's been in Leh and is now in McLeod Ganj, Dharamsla which is the Indian home of the Dali Lama.

Here he is having a shave

Oh dear!! But then I have been to India, which helps me picture it - a bit!

Smithton Wallhanging for Emerton Park

Last weekend I went to Smithton, a rural community on the far north west coast of Tasmania for the quilting exhibition.

The start attraction was the 3 piece wall hanging the group had made for the local aged care facility - wonderful!!!

I have also posted more photos on Flickr of the show.

Scatterdays - Food

I knew I'd be able to find at least one image for this month while I was away the last few days. Whenever I go to Smithton I get at least one beautiful, sumptuous cream sponge made for me by Genavene Thorpe, country quilter and cook extra-ordinaire!

You don't see these much now - the butterfly cream filled sponge with jelly and cream on top, do you?

It tasted wonderful too - I had 3 pieces. This was Sunday's ... I won't mention Thursday night or Friday's left-overs I had to clear up, will I?

My Designs

Because I have just received a query about whether I wholesale or not, it made me realise that there are many quilts that have not been recorded on this site.

Amish Clothes Line - quilts are 5"

Michale's Menagerie - a simple design to use that special fabric.

The Picanniny Quilt - single bed 8" blocks.

There is also a wall-hanging pattern with 6" blocks and patched border

Heavenly Hoffmans - a very large quilt using the wonderful florals that Hoffmans "used" to do.

There is also a pattern using same design and "I Spy" fabrics with bright tone-on-tones for stars.

Appropriately called Heavenly I Spy

Bright Medallion designed as a round robin for a Quilt Shop Hop

I Spy Stars - easy pieced stars, plain points with I Spy centres.

Love Bugz - lovely chubby hearts with I Spy fabrics, solid fabrics for backgrounds

This is all you need!

Now I know why I love giving quilts to my loved ones!

Here is the Divine Miss M. closely checking out the quilting on "The Corn Is As High As An Elephant's Eye". This one is for when she gets into a cot! (3 months old)




Banjo is getting to the age when he is recognising "identities" like Bob the Builder who is on a small patch in his quilt. Gathering up lots and lots of I Spy fabrics for this quilt is all worthwhile!
Here he is ready for his night time story with Nana's radio, a wonderful toy, especially at 6.30 in the morning. (2 years old)

Olympic Challenge ...continued

A lovely sunny day here in the Great Southlands and perfect for taking snaps of quilts.

Here are the rest of the 5 quilts I have finished during the Olympics. The pink thing is a sample from a few years back, the Magic 9 Patch is because I had to make one as well as everyone else and the "house" quilt has been in my glory box waiting for a little girl to come along. Well finally she did so is will be delivered to Miss Maggie in a few days time for when she gets into her cot.

I have called it "The Corn is as High as an Elephant's Eye" because the vines that I quilted ended up looking like corn stalks instead of ivy, so I also quilted corn cobs into it!

I'm quite proud of the quilting on this- I don't do a lot of machine (or hand) quilting myself as my hands are succumbing to over 25 years of handwork - sigghhhh!!!!!

This is the size of a cot quilt, easily fitted under the machine so I decided to have a go myself.

Olympic Marathon

I've been sewing up my own Olympic Marathon while watching the real ones.

Five quilts bound and as you can see from the two shown, they aren't small!

This is my own design, one using fabrics from Moda's Fresh Air range and the other using a small part of my black and white stash, with a few small pieces of lovely brights.

Banjo and Miss Maggie

How many pairs of hands are there holding her down??


Poor Banjo is forcing a smile as he'd been sick with an Inner Ear infection, poor little mite. But how can you not smile when you're on Grandad's lap?



I'm on a roll, so while I'm at it here are a few shots of my gorgeous grandchildren taken 2 weeks ago in Brisbane.

We went up to their christenings. A lovely family affair with only Rob missing as he was in Thailand and now should be in India.

Quilts

One finished quilt and 3 tops. It's like one step forward and 3 back isn't it?

The black and white one I have shown before, I still need to write the pattern for it for a few people. I'm not good at naming quilts, this is the second one in this design so it's currently called Fresh Air in Black and Whites (at least I know which one is which)

The Geishas were a sample for our (Launceston Patchworkers & Quilters) LPQ's retreat held a few weekends ago.

The Lanterns were also an optional retreat project - nothing is ever compulsory, but many members try them :-)

The pastel one is one I began working on and finished this week at home - one Jelly Roll and 2 more strips. Certainly not my choice of colours but sometimes one needs to make samples!

I have also had another 3 quilts returned to me from the machine quilter, so I will be right for hand sewing during some of the Olympics viewing. The binding is done on one already and I'm hand sewing it down, I have cut the binding for the next and I need to find binding for the last.

I have a plastic container that I try to put aside fabrics for bindings, in theory it should work but many a time I have not done it. Sadly it's full and that means there are still lots of quilts lurking around in a "summer quilt" state.