Christmas Tree table runner

 Last week I went to the Spotlight sale where not only were there Christmas fat 1/4's for half price - but I got a VIP membership scratchy ticket for an extra 20% off. I wanted to make a Christmas table runner for a gift, a friend that likes the Scandinavian/Shabby Chic sort of Christmas vibe, but didn't have any Christmas fabrics left so.... I bought three fat 1/4's and a half metre of one print for the backing and binding all for only $10. I had the solid in my stash. I didn't have a pattern in mind and the fat 1/4's sat there for a couple of days before Diary of a Quilter  posted this cute little Christmas Tree block tutorial.. What a cute fun little block to make. This thing was finished in no time.... and the quilting took about an hour, full steam ahead I stitched the binding down by machine (instead of by hand). Haven't done that in a long time but surprisingly with the help of  my wonderful little Clover clips it was a breeze.

The result is very subtle and with very little contrast but I think it's quite cute in it's own way

The front from both ends

 I made six blocks as per the tutorial, resulting in a positive/ negative kind of look. I added a three inch strip to the bottom of a couple of blocks and 1 1/2 inch strips to the top and bottom of the other blocks to create a staggered effect and then added a final 1 1/2 inch strip to each end

The back

 For the backing, the 1/2 metre wasn't quite wide enough so I free cut one block (no double up of fabrics as per the tutorial) and inserted it into the middle. There was enough backing for the binding
 The finished runner is 11 1/2 inches wide and 22 inches long....super quick to make....

I still have heaps of my fat 1/4s left so
I made 8 little scent sachets, cut 5 1/2 inch square, quilted the pattern side with straight lines, backed them with solid, filled them with dried wood shavings scented with essential oil - a mixture of clove, vanilla and cinnamon for a spicy Christmas scent (they smell wonderful)
Little gifts for the girls at work with some mini Christmas puddings which I will make this weekend.

Cinnamon, Clove and Vanilla scent sachets

Bundled with red ribbon and cinnamon sticks

And there is still some fabric left!

Dotti Angel Frockalong

I am a new blogger but am really enjoying the inspiration provided by all the other creative souls who choose to blog and of course I haven't found them all yet. How exciting.

Cassandra Madge and Scrappy N Happy are hosting a frockalong using Simplicity 1080 Dotti Angel frock pattern, so I thought I would give it a go.........now it has been sometime since I sewed a garment for myself but having miles of fabric in the cupboard and only having to outlay for the pattern I thought it was worth a try and if I hated it I could always wear it round the house....

Actually the lemon Moda fabric was a bargain from a bolt clearance sale (you had to buy the rest of the bolt for $20) This bolt had enough for a double bed quilt backing, this dress and I still have about 1/2 metre left ..... BARGAIN! Chez Moi pockets and scraps for binding

Dotti Angel Frockalong

I still have to hem the dress and I think I will make a couple of extra pleats in the shoulders. Getting my Granny Chic on!! Thanks Cassie and Jess for hosting this frockalong and making me step outside my comfort zone....... looking forward to seeing the others.

More Christmas gifts ....

Made these quick little pouches from Noodleheads open wide zippered pouch tutorial. Super quick, super easy and I think would make great little gifts anytime of the year. Good way to use up scraps, piece the outside or use one fabric. You guessed it these fabrics haven't seen the light of day for many years and now the are ready to be useful as these little pouches. Noodlehead has lots of other great tutorials too.

These are the 12 inch version 

Christmas Topper.....quilting practice... true blue progress

I can only guess how long this poor little topper has been in my cupboard waiting to be finished ( well over 10 years). What would have started off as a quick project has been years in the making. As Christmas is nearly upon us I thought I should finish this and gift it to one of my friends who loves the country look. As simple as it is, I know she will love it .....
Quilted it in about an hour and bound whilst watching telly last night ....not sure why I didn't do that over 10 years ago.
Been quite some time since I have free motion quilted too ... did the reversible table runner a month or so ago but that was echo quilting, anyway didn't get too crazy just a bit of stippling and some cross hatching and free motion an extra holy leaf in each corner - had fun

Also have been progressing quite nicely on my true blue quilt (Norfolk Island Quilt by Brigette Giblin)

Am in the midst of hand stitching the pieced hexie centre to the frame border. I am liking the way it is coming together. Once I finish the centre, there are more borders to add and lots of scrappy orange peel shapes to applique, yay - get to use my scraps!!

Looking a little scrunched - still appliqueing hexies to frame border

Have been inspired by Wendy's Quilts and more blogging her 2015 quilting achievements and thought what a great idea. So over the next few days I would like to put together a list of quilts I would like to make for 2016 and give myself some goals to achieve.

My Swoon Quilt

6 of the nine blocks that make up the Swoon Quilt

This quilt started with me buying fat quarters and the Swoon pattern while in Toowoomba in September from the beautiful little but well stocked shop Precious Time. I couldn't resist it and couldn't wait to start it when I got home. Unfortunately when I visited I had limited time and hoped I would get back there before I departed to buy more fabric but unfortunately not. I purchased a couple of pieces of Persimmon from Basic Grey and thought the would be easy to match or find further pieces from the range. I had a image in my head of how I wanted it to turn out but struggled to find the fabrics that I wanted, even after going to the Brisbane Quilt Show. Never mind I had fun making it just the same. I think I will make another one - one day.  I can't say that I am in love with this one but will reserve full judgement until it is quilted!

I have just pieced a backing so this along with 5 others is ready for quilting.....

Fresh start .... Blue and White Norfolk Island Quilt

Medallion centre - the aqua fabric is 15 years old and from Dutch fabric shop Den Haan en Wagenmakers, looking perfectly at home with Amy Bulters not so old checkered spots fabric

I know I know, I am supposed to be finishing projects not starting new ones, oh well I did have a blue quilt on my list and this was to be using a huge lot of old blue fabrics that have been sitting in my cupboard for way too long. After finishing my mammoth hexie quilt (must think of a more suitable name), I found myself missing my hand work. I fiddled around with my "this goes with that" pieces (was going to make Kerry Dear's Candied Hexagons)  and made a few blocks but the colours weren't enthusing me - too many decisions - just wanted to sit and sew.

A few blocks from Candied Hexagaons 

 Anyway I have picked up Brigette Giblins Feathering the Nest book many times and dreamt that one day I would make one or more of the lovely quilts within. So above is progress of my centre medallion so far. I will have to buy some fabrics to complete this because although I have many blues I don't have big pieces for borders, but I will do my best to use what I have and I know I will have heaps of blues still left to make another quilt.

Norfolk Quilt

Have included a few pics from Brigette Giblin's book for inspiration.........love the way she uses her fabrics, they all sing so harmoniously together.

Stay tuned for more progress, this one is coming together pretty quickly considering they are 3/4 inch hexies.

Connections

This is about as excited as Roger gets........

It is a rainy day here today so no beautiful outdoor photos unfortunately but I have just finished pattern testing this colourful quilt pattern by Fresh Quilts and Roger my supervisor (the cat) has given it his seal of approval. Roger has to leave his mark (namely- cat hair) on all quilts made in this house.

So given that all normal procedures have been followed it is now time to put it on my blog.
  The background looks grey but is actually white, not the best photo taken in my lounge room. The pattern is not yet available to purchase online but I will let you know when it is.
Otherwise it you are dying to make this fun, quick and easy quilt you can contact Maggie (Fresh Quilts) through her blog.
Now what is next.....

Reversible Table Runner - a Christmas Gift

Found some strips of bali's batiks already sewn together whilst tidying my stash. An idea was born to make a table runner for a Christmas present for my South African/Aussie friend. Had to fossick for some more strips so I had enough to complete it. When it was time to quilt, I thought it would be nice if it was reversible and when I found the african traditional kanga fabric that I had bought a year ago in Tanzania I thought that would be perfect. I then echo quilted in silver thread on the bali side and black on the African side and bound in black solid. Hope she likes it..........

My mammoth hexie quilt

Finally my hexie quilt is ready for the machine quilters, well it will be when I join the backing fabric. This quilt (has no name yet) has been on going for nearly 3 years (on and off). I pulled it out again in July when I started back on my creative journey. Since then I have designed and made the two borders. I thought it would never end. I did have a final border in mind to add but have now decided that it is finished.

I didn't have a pattern for this quilt, however the centre was inspired by Karen Cunningham's Anna Quilt.  The borders took some time to work out and to bring together harmoniously, but I got there. The background and duck egg blue fabric are William Morris designs - the rest are reproduction scraps from the stash. Looking forward to seeing this one back from the quilters.

I will bind it in a red and caramel stripe to bring the red out again. It is time to move on.....

Just one block

Today I got distracted.....computer played up all morning and just as I was about to call the technician it decided to work. Already distracted from what I had planned for the day and after cutting the foundation papers ready to put away for when I was ready to start Stepping Stones by Judy Niemeyer, I thought to myself I will just do one block and then put them away and get on to what I really should be working on. Yep you guessed it ......couldn't stop at one. Here are my first two blocks of Stepping Stones and my beautiful pile of batiks.  I look forward to getting back to this project soon. All my sewing group have made it so I can't let the team down.

Stepping Stones makes a start!

My first post

My mad quilting friend of over 15 years, Maggie has been at me to start a blog.... so here it is. She is way more talented with these technical things than I am, but I will learn as I go, please be patient with me.
 So where do I start?
My creativity is just starting to come back to me after a totally different kind of  adventure had managed to take  all of my time and efforts, but now with loads of free time and a clearer head, I am keen to resume my creative journey. Since resuming my visits to our small quilting group in July and joining bloglovin', and being overloaded with quilting videos from Maggie,  inspiration has taken hold in every form and I find myself back at the whirring machine pushing colourful fabric pieces under it's foot at a rapid rate. With a new mantra of "Finished is better than perfect"
Here are some of my projects since July.

Amy Butler's Weekender Bag - called "Africalian"

A gift for my South African Aussie friends Birthday

I then had to follow on with one for me. I love the way they both turned out and although a little challenging in certain spots I enjoyed the whole process - especially the quilt as you go on all of the panels. Great way to use up scraps!!!

Just for me

Along with starting new projects, I have pledged to sort out my very well stocked sewing room, find some UFO's and start finishing - after all "Finished is better than perfect!" 

I started this Stain glass log cabin a couple of years ago. It is a pattern from Anne Ferguson of Quiltopia and was in a Quilters Companion Issue 26. The fabrics were from my stash and would be over 10 years old. Still to be quilted but am pleased with the it so far.

Stain Glass Log Cabin

There are a few more projects that I will post in the following days. But for today I am up and running.........feeling the urge to go and sew now!