What a star....

After a couple of marathon quilting and binding sessions, I managed to finish my Made in Cherry star quilt. Wow! This quilt turned out huge. Mine measures 84" x 84" and even with straight line quilting it felt like I was lifting a tonne or two. But I'm thrilled it's done and delighted with how it turned out and can tick that holiday project off the wish list.
We took a few days off to our shack for the last of the school holidays and these shots were taken at the old milk depot at the end of our road. I've always wanted to take a photo of a quilt here and given the enormity of this one, it was the perfect spot....even though my quilt holder upperers got a little bit tired during the procedure. It's hard to get good help these days!The fabric is Sugar Creek by DS Quilts (Australian releases) and the binding is the pink/blue/grey argyle which I love as a binding.The back features some left over blocks set in a chequerboard pattern. I had to buy some more grey for the back and ended up buying it from a different bolt so it's ever so slightly different. Given I was the one who purchased all the rest from the other bolt I'm not really in a position to complain. And as Kay always says...."we're the only one's who notice these things!".Now I'm off to iron a whole bunch of blocks that I put together whilst I was away.

Sugar Creek for Made in Cherry....

I've finished my top for the Made in Cherry Quilt-Along. I've used fabrics from Denyse Schmidt's latest Australian line for Spotlight, Sugar Creek.
I purchased 14 prints when they first hit the store but have since discovered more pinks and a few more designs. Oh well, a bit of green and maroon hasn't done me any harm! I've also used a Spotlight homespun in grey as the background and I'll also use this on the back with some left over blocks.
The pattern is really easy to construct however my top turned out much bigger than the pattern's 80". I'm currently sitting at around 84" so I'm not planning any extravagant stippling on this one! I don't think my back, neck and arms (not mention my blood pressure!) could take it.
You can get all the details from Pins & Bobbins who is hosting the quilt along or download the free pattern from the Lecien site.

Made in Cherry....DS Quilt style....

There are a plethora of quilt-along's happening at the moment. Probably something to do with the Winter months ahead on the other side of the world which makes for a very comfortable sewing season.
There's the Swoon-Along, the Sparkle Quilt-Along, the Sparkle Punch, Soltice Stars (which is based around a series of tutorials), Scrap Attack, AND Made in Cherry!
Well given my recent finishes, I'm thinking I deserve to start something new.
I've made a Swoon and as much as I'd like another, I'm not quite ready to commit just yet.
I have plenty of scraps....but....they can wait....after all, they're almost a given, there'll always be more!
Sparkle Punch is pretty gorgeous....but looks tricksy!
So I'm jumping head first into the Made in Cherry.

Made in Cherry is a pattern designed by Sarah Fielke and was designed around her new range of fabric known as St Ives. Cherry is the colour-way of the fabric. The pattern is a free download from the Lecien site but all the details are given as part of the Pins & Bobbins quilt along. Chelsea who's hosting has also worked out the block size and quantities for a smaller and larger version to the standard 80" size.
I've decided to use my stash of Spotlight sourced Sugar Creek by Denyse Schmidt quilts.I'm using 15 of the prints which will be set against a grey background. The fabric's cut and it's currently laid out on the floor with a few triangles stitched and numbered! Here's to a great weekend of stitching.