April Finishes.....

Our UK daughter mentioned she had extra luggage allowance so I asked if she would like some quilts to take back.....

Well we had to give her an extra suitcase!  A couple she had chosen still had the binding to finish so I got those done...

Angel Story was sewn some years ago... an Anni Downs pattern done in Tilda fabrics...

It was a fun one to stitch and quilt...

Some coordinating Tilda fabric for the backing....

I made two very similar quilts with these fabrics, one already went to someone and this one is now a finish too....

... all over quilting.....

... and a cheerful backing....

I finished this Urban Street EPP quilt in November 2024 ...

This Wedge quilting sampler was finished in February 2024.....

This one was  finished in May 2022 (2m square)

Charming Stars was finished in January 2023 

Mama Tembo was finished in January 2022.... it's a big quilt...

It is a lovely feeling when the quilts are wanted and now I have an empty shelf!!!  I still have lots I want to make, and lots of tops to finish off...

Righto, Gotto Go...... coffee time....  have a lovely week....

Another week gone....

Still working on using my lovely Terra Australis range....

This quilt top was made (had to finish off sewing the blocks into rows)

The background is a dark grey though it looks closer to charcoal/black.  I love the bright contrast.  the other two I have made using this range are HERE on this post ...  I still have another to go with black and white background that I worked on the blocks this week...

I have started making the pieces to put together for Chookyblue's Churn Dash Sewalong.....

Sewing loads of HST's by going through both sides of a diagonal line in a square - I cut up many blocks at a time this way...

Line them all up with a bit of an overlap (not too close or the fabric gets too thick for a clean cut....

I use a line on the cutting mat to keep the marked diagonal nice and straight....

Set your ruler carefully to line up with the lines on the fabric and rotary cut....

there we go.... lots of HST's cut in one slice....

Now of course they need to be pressed and trimmed neatly (no short cut to that part)

So far I have been sewing the 2" strips together to cross cut to 3 1/2" for the sides and making up the HST's.... I am using these two fabrics throughout....

I did some 'couching' on my quilting machine this week......I had some sheets I had bought cheaply to try this out and it was a lot of fun.... using 4 ply acrylic yarn and a matching thread in the machine....

there are certainly areas I need to improve on (even though I did a large quilt) I kept going too fast and it didn't catch in places....

The top was a dark grey sheet and the bottom a sand coloured one...

I'm not sure if I will cut it to make 2 smaller throws for spare beds or leave it as one large one.... then of  course it will need binding... which I am thinking a teal matching the yarn....

Of course hand sewing at night continues ... and I am going steadily with Field Journal

All different.... which makes them a lot of fun....

Righto, Gotto Go, the mist has lifted outside and the sun is brightening the rooms, the air is cold so I will stay indoors and stitch!

Have a lovely weekend.....

Terra Australis

I loved this range from when I first saw it ....  and wanted to use it for some more modern quilting...

Naive Melody was an online sewalong with Lucy Engels in 2020/21.  I used needleturn applique for mine....

(I don't think I ever shared the completed top here)

We tried for a stain glass windows look in the sunshine .... hmmmm

I have that delicious teal/blue/green backing and some binding done in the same fabric as the orange background blocks in the quilt...

I will have to think hard about the quilting....

Then I used leftover fabrics for this online BOM by National Quilt Museum...  these blocks are all finished now ... shown HERE ....

Still lots of fabric left so I have cut up big and little squares to go on that dark grey for  a Chandelier Quilt... (free online pattern) by Lella Boutique

Then I cut up a whole bunch of circles which will go on top of black and white 4 patch blocks

Pattern by me (though I expect there are similar out there)

I have to put notes in the boxes ... since I tend to forget what it was all for!!!

... and I still have a good little pile of the range (though a couple of them are finished - eg my much loved lizards)

- so I will need to think of something else to make with it.... any ideas?????

Righto, Gotto Go ... I have black and white fabric to slice and dice....

Been quilting blocks....

When I joined in the National Quilt Museum BOM last year it was to challenge myself and try some different things....  I also had these vibrant Terra Australis fabric leftovers that I wanted to use...

Each month a different designer gave instructions for a 12" blocks

In this block the 'thread' was appliqued but I chose to quilt mine (4 rows of thread)

I mostly tried to keep to their instructions....

My gem is an Opal..

This block I changed completely as it was a building I was never likely to see... but no additional fabrics on the background as they did .....

Some quilting was very textured and detailed....

Some just highlighted the work in the block....

I enjoyed the more modern look even though found it quite challenging...

The patches weren't pieced in this one but layered on....

Some blocks had all piecing...

sewing circles and lines....

and quilting each differently.....

So that is all 12 blocks done.  I have got some dark teal on order at my favourite LQS which will serve as the sashing and binding.

The quilting has made the blocks quite stiff so this won't be a snuggle quilt... another piece of art for the house!

And I still have scraps for more quilts in this range...  amazing how far a lovely bunch of fat quarters goes...

Righto, Gotto Go..... I am off to chop up some of those scraps and plan another quilt (or two)