Back from Sydney: Lesley-Ann & Nathan's Wedding

Posted on Tuesday, September 29, 2009 In: , , , , , , ,
Was in Sydney on the weekend for my young cousin's wedding, Lesley-Ann & her fiance Nathan. A lovely, but windy, weekend.
The wedding was beautiful. They married in St Peter's at North Sydney, where our great-grandparents and many other family members have married.

  I am still having problems getting the photos to go where I want them to be :-(   I have taken some photos of some of the pieces I am currently working on.
I have also completed some more DJ blocks & some SBS blocks, although I haven't scanned them yet.


 
 
   
 
We have had some nice spring weather in Brisbane followed by something wild, windy & dusty. My wisteria is flowering, very nice.

 


My Pomegranate Sampler, completed in 2007. This is the first time I have scanned in & I am happy with the detail you can see in the scan - I have uploaded the large scan.


I will scan up the SBS blocks next,
Carolyn

My Blog Rearranged

Posted on Wednesday, September 09, 2009
I have just learnt how to organise a new Blogger template, edit html, edit posts - including rearranging photos.
Whew! Crash course!
Have not done any sewing for a few days now. Busy with work.
I am looking forward to sewing on Friday - ALL day I hope.  I want to finish the row of Moon Gates for my Oriental Row sampler, do another couple of DJ blocks and catch up on the SBS blocks that Veronica has done.
This weekend I will take some photos of other pieces I have made & add them here.
I must look for another way of adding photos. I think they are too big. I have noticed that some people have a link to Flickr, I will try & do that too.

Carolyn

September Arrives

Posted on Tuesday, September 08, 2009 In: , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , , ,
Have a had a busy week with Daniel's birthday & September arriving.
Have figured out how to send my Onenote journals to Blogger, but haven't managed photos yet.
This week I scanned up all my completed blocks for DJ & also uploaded them to My Virtual Design Wall courtesy of Sharon Mastbrook. I would like to make the image a little bigger & will have to figure out how to do that.
I will try & upload the screen print for mvdw. Not fantastic - I deleted it :-(
I might attempt to upload a block:


A1 - Pinwheel Gone Awry                 A2 - One-Two Buckle My Shoe 
A3 - Hunter's Moon                            A11 - Pebble's Protest
A12 - Framed Fancy                            B4 - Chris's Soccer Field
B6 - Wild Goose Chase                         F8 - Church Window
 
G4 - Shutterbug                                     G9 - Mary's Journey
H11 - Piercing Rays                              I13 - Sweet Harmony
  
M1 - Dogwood Days                             M2 - Duff's Bluff
   
M8 - Enchanted Square                           M12 - Hopscotch
   
  TR1 - Spanish Moss                                TR2 - Australian Pines

Quilting Journal June - August 2009

Posted on Tuesday, September 08, 2009
Monday 22nd June, 2009

DJ

I thought I had written more entries in the last month - but maybe too busy!

I posted off all the blocks today. Lots of hard work to finish.

I have copied a post to DJ list:

Well, I have posted off my Spring Fling Blocks.

What a way to begin my quilt!

I decided that being part of the challenge would be a good way for me to get into making the quilt - make a block for my quilt at the same time as making the blocks for the challenge.

Steep learning curve!!

I thought I had chosen blocks I would be able to complete in the time required - & I have - but the task was much more challenging than I thought it would be.

I have learnt a lot about foundation piecing. Not all foundation piecing is created equal, some are harder than others. The one I started on for instance - B6 Wild Goose Chase - should have left this 'til last, after I'd learnt a few tough lessons that involved more "unsewing" than sewing...

Anyway, I've begun. And it is challenging.



I am doing my quilt in brights and black.

I have completed 9 blocks of "Jane is a Bright Girl"

I will figure out how to do the whole name & number thing soon.



Friday 10th July, 2009



DJ

My blocks have arrived & the swaps should be sent back soon. It took exactly 1 week for them to arrive. Posted Monday, arrived Monday.



Oriental Sampler

I have not done another block since - have cut out the papers but have been busy catching up on free block quilt.

It is coming along nicely. I should add some photos.

We are up to the 5th Row now & I have seen the completed quilt, which I like a lot. I think Daniel will like it too.

1st week - Churn Dash block with appliquéd circles

2nd Week - Chinese Lanterns

3rd & 4th Week - 1/2 Dresden Plate blocks made into Oriental Fans & Dragons (look great)

5th Week - appliquéd Chinese symbols

I have completed all except doing the final appliqué of the Chinese symbols. I want to do a couple of extras too.



Other

I have been reading through the Michelle Hill William Morris book today - lovely work. Also like the look of an appliqué pattern April Quilters Companion - looks like it would be quite simple to complete quickly.



Saturday 22nd August, 2009

Haven't been writing in here enough. Will try & update more regularly because I forget what I have been doing with so long between.



Oriental Sampler

Ended up doing a double happiness in the centre of the Chinese symbols row & have joined them together.

Have just started the practice block for the next row "Moon Gates" - it is a fast Cathedral Window style block. Quite nice.



DJ

Have decided to make a applique wreath from the Piece O Cake Aunt Millie's Garden patterns for the centre of a quilt, with my swap blocks around the outside.

I think it will work quite well. I have begun the centre, but don't like the colour choices so will use that a s a cushion cover & start again. I made the stems too dark for the pastel flowers & berries.

I have also completed a few more blocks in the last couple of days: A11 Pebble's Protest, A12 Framed Fancy, M12 Hopscotch & M2 Duff's Bluff






SBS

Have begun the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler class every third Sunday with Veronica. It will be a challenge for her, but may take her mind off work problems. It is 130? 6" blocks made from the novel "The Master Quilter" - one of the Elm Creek series.


Veronica didn't make it to the first class, but I spent the rest of the day with her & got her machine going & cut up some fabric for her to begin. She is doing it with a yellow background.



I am using a sort of yellow background - Robyn Pandolph "Sentimental Journey".  It will be a challenge for me because I don't usually use these type of fabrics.

I completed 3 blocks in the first class: A3 Bright Hopes, A9 Chinese Coin & E1 Nine Patch.



Other

Have also cut out & fuse the appliqué pattern from the April Quilters Companion - still have to sew.



Monday 24th August, 2009



Finished another DJ block, Dogwood Days M1. A bit tougher than I thought, had to handsew a part of it. I suspect it could have been redrafted to make it easier.

Started my next row for the Oriental Sampler quilt.

Spent 4 hours with Veronica yesterday arvo starting her off with her first blocks for SBS. She completed 2 blocks & mostly completed another 2. Very tiring, I probably spent too much time there.

Very hot this week & is forecast to be 33C to day, whew!











Quilting Journal May 2009

Posted on Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Mon 4th May, 2009

Only little bits of progress this week. Fairly busy week. Dad & Helen arrived on Friday night, football on Saturday night, Daniel and Janette's engagement party on Sunday! Busy!

I couldn't get exactly the same fabric for the Churn dash block centres but got some that is close. Finished off those blocks except for circles in centre. Will do them later in month before next class. Bought some more fabric for Spencer's bottle quilt. I went to the Stitches & Craft show hoping to get some fabric there, but hardly any stall holders - very disappointing. I did buy a mini-iron though & Michele Hill's William Morris Applique book. My order of M250 Vilene for the circle centres came in too.

Have begun sewing bottles together - but today really need to get moving on it. Only have 4 days to complete it - fly to Sydney on Friday morning. I can sew binding when I get to Sydney - but have to have the whole thing sewn & quilted before then! Public holiday today so should get a bit done. Dad left here about 2 hours or so ago, Greg is working at work, so have whole day to myself.

 
 

Sunday 17th May, 2009

A busy two weeks! Finished Spencer's quilt at 2.30am on the Thursday night, up at 4.30am to catch a 6am flight!!! Struggled with Sydney traffic on the Friday - picked up Jaimie from Central, had breakfast at Coogee beach, back to his place, picked up Spencer from childcare and then off to Dee Why beach to catch-up with Shwei. Then rush back to Jaimie's place, picking up a bottle of 21 year old port on the way, got changed and then hit the traffic again to go into Darling Harbour to meet up for a harbour cruise for Julian Pollard's 21st birthday! WOW! Slept well that night :-)

Saturday spent shopping with Jaimie for Spencer's birthday - bought him a lovely set of trains from Thomas wood set, a little singlet top and a shopping bag - all Thomas the Tank Engine theme. Went to visit Georgie in the afternoon and ended up going back there for dinner & stayed the night. He made me breakfast in bed on Mother's day morning! How nice it was.. Off to pick up the Spalding-Polsons at 10am to go to take them to Tash's parents for Spencer's party. A lovely afternoon, weather good, a bbq, happy birthday presents, lots of Thomas... - they loved the quilt, photos to follow. Left there at 4pm to get to airport for 6pm flight, back to Brissie, to bed...

This week have worked on finishing off the Churn Dash blocks for the first week of the Oriental free block. I love this circle technique, they look great. Went to 2nd class yesterday - Oriental Lanterns - a good technique, very simple. Bought some more fabric so that I can make enough blocks for a queen size quilt.

Have been working steadily on the B6 Wild Goose Chase blocks - have learnt heaps about making sure that the angles all line up. Have done lots of unsewing & re-sewing!! I will have to redo at least 2 of the blocks, maybe 3 - but I will know what to look for from the beginning next time. I might have to redo my Jane quilt same block - now that I know what created the twist. I'm not sure whether to unsew & resew or just start again. A fair bit of unsewing required - but I do like that fabric.

Will begin the 2nd block tonight. Probably the next one on list F8 - Church Window. Am over this B6 block for now & think it is better if I do something different for a while. I think I chose the hardest one to start with - didn't know it at the time, at least I learnt what to watch for when doing future blocks! Angles Angles Angles!!!

Have been thinking about renaming my Jane to "Jane is a Bright Girl" - will think on it.

 
 

Sunday 24th May, 2009 12.59am

I have now completed 6 blocks of my Baby Jane.

I have also completed 2 of my blocks for the Spring Fling swap - although I think I will have to redo a fair number of them :-( Foundation piecing is not as easy as it might seem - I think a lot of people see it as cheating, but it has its own challenges and learning curves.

F8 I think was easier than B6 - but still was quite challenging & most of the blocks are not quite 5". My angles are good but I think it only takes a smidge on each join for the whole thing to be a bit off the correct finished size. One thing I started doing towards the end of construction of the F8 block was to baste 2 parts together with a 4.5 size stitch & then check & resew - I think this gave a lot more accuracy & will do this whenever there are a lot of joins.

I started the block G4, Shutterbug tonight (Sat). It is a lot easier, more like a log cabin type foundation piecing. I didn't have enough of the fabric I started with - just a 4" square of Kaffe Fassett wine lotus print - but I added in a mauve/grey lotus print & it looks fine. The finished printed block is only 4 1/2", tricky - have to remember t add on at least another 1/2" for a 5" finish! Not sure if this is correct or whether because I printed 2 to a page it made them smaller. Anway - I know to add on more so will be ok. Quite a good & easy block. I should finish the 6 for the swap tomorrow & can then start on the next. Have to keep moving with them to get them to the US on time.

 
 

Sunday 31st May, 2009 7.32pm

Have now completed all of the Shutterbug blocks and almost completed G9, Mary's Journey. I enjoyed doing the Shutterbug (G4). It was one paper - no joins, so worked out correct size. Mary's Journey is not as easy. My Black & Batik block ended up being a 1/4" smaller than it should have been!! This type of sewing is VERY precise. I am very happy with the centres of the swap blocks. Just have to add the outsides accurately and they will be good. I have learnt a lot about precision piecing!

Went to the Textile Crafts Show for a couple of hours on Friday. Many beautiful quilts and other fabric/textile art, including Jenny Bowker's quilts made of the Egyptian artisans - beautiful! Met Dianne Cevaal too - would have loved to have done her fabric printing course, but too expensive at $199.

 
 

 
 


Quilting Journal Sept 2008 - April 2009

Posted on Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Named on Saturday 6th September 2008: Spring Jane

The plan is to use Kaffe Fassett and other similarly bright, bold or "spring-like" fabrics with a black background.

Machine & hand-pieced.

Probably machine quilted

Progress will be reported.


Sunday 8th March, 2009

Bought Dear Jane CD to allow printing of patterns.

Designed in programme using Kaffe, batik & bright fabric swatches.


Sunday 15th March, 2009

Started printing up patterns.


Friday 3rd April, 2009

Made Block A1 & A2 decided to use black tone-on-tones or black batiks as backgrounds. They don't have to be the same - just as long as they are similar. The bindings and borders will be a different black.

A1: most of the points are good, just one that I'm not happy with. I can always redo this one.

A2: have discovered that making it the "Jane-way" means making it bigger and then cutting it to size. I can see the benefit of this - but I don't like the waste. I will probably make them smaller, with less waste. Also realised that the block tips do not include tips for all parts of the block, nor instructions to make the block. Looks like I will have to pay more attention to the block construction after all. Printed up instructions for making Flying geese the easy way.


Sat 4th Apr, 2009

No sewing today. Rearranged sewing space. Quite happy with what I accomplished. More to do tomorrow. Still contemplating whether to start again and do all by hand or just muddle along doing some by hand and some by machine. Certainly there are some difficult blocks & applique blocks that will have to be done by had. Will read tips & see what others have done. On the DJ list there is a Spring Swap being organised from now to June. Blocks in 30's reproductions & muslin. Could be good. Have to read through all the instructions to see if I could fit it in.


Tues 21st Apr, 2009

Have completed 4 blocks now: A1, A2, A3 & B6. Hunters Moon I did by hand with templates. This was HARD - I have noticed that a lot of people use a plain square base & then applique the melons on top - or even more of a cheater, they cut this plain square on both diagonals, resew & then applique the melons - so it looks the same with the side seams, but much easier then sewing the curves.

Have joined the Spring Fling swap and are doing these 6 blocks: B6, F8, G4, G9, I13 and M8. I had a look at some of the photos of other peoples blocks - the quilters muslin background looks quite different to what my quilters muslin looks like - much whiter. Will have to go to the shop & take a look at theirs.


Also started going to Free Block classes at Sewco & have signed up to get kits for the free blocks. They will be making a lovely oriental style quilt with the free blocks every month & I thought Daniel would like it. Daniel & JJ are having an engagement party on the first weekend in May.


Thurs 23rd Apr, 2009

My Uncle Bob died yesterday afternoon after being ill for a while. Sad news.

I went to Sewco on Tuesday morning and bought 2m of quilters muslin - it is definitely different to what I thought, much whiter & lighter. I also bought some bobbin-fill to use when I sew the circles in the free block quilt.


Sat 25th Apr, 2009 ANZAC DAY

Finished preparing fabric for block swaps & cut out all the papers for the first block I'm doing, B6 - Wild Goose Chase.

I also completed the basic Churn dash block for my free block class - just have to attach the circle - awaiting the vilene M250? To stick it on with. Also cut out & sewed all the half square triangles and rectangles for the free block quilt that I will make for Daniel. Unfortunately I read the instructions incorrectly & made blocks that were 2" instead of 2.5" - I thought finished size was the size of the block I was making, not the piece of the block! Doh! Oh well, had enough fabric & pieces to redo the ones that I got wrong, but I have lots of half square triangle blocks at 2" now to do something with :-) I have to buy more background fabric to make the block centres too. Shops are closed today for ANZAC Day so will have to get it tomorrow. Today I will cut out blocks for a bottle quilt for Spencer's birthday, maybe even begin sewing.


Sun 26th Apr, 2009

Walked down to Sewco & back through reserve. It took a long time but was not as difficult up & down the hills as I thought it might be. They were closed for ANZAC Day (I knew this before I went) but I had a good window shop in all the shops. I am walking back there today to pick up the extra stuff I need.

Sewed all I could of the churn dash blocks, cut out most of the blocks for the Bugs in Bottles for Spencer and began the B6 blocks - did all the centres. Very happy with what I accomplished yesterday. I set up my ipod the other day in the old computer speakers so that I can plug in & play straight from my ipod. I updated everything yesterday - it is gas!