Vintage vibe....

I can't believe I missed a whole month of blogging. Needless to say, this post will be picture heavy to catch up on all the quilt finishes this past month.

First off, way back when it was still hot and feeling like it was still summer, a pink pinwheel quilt. I started this quilt back in September but missed my deadline of taking it overseas. Then when I realised that our friends were going to be here in February it was a last minute dash to finish it before they returned home to the UK....typical.

I used a whole bunch of low volume squares that were left over from this quilt and turned them into pinwheels using this method. Then I set them in a framework of really pale pink solid background.

The quilt is for a little girl, so lots of pink was in order. It turned out rather sweet and with the pink polka dot binding has quite a vintage look about it.

After I gifted this quilt, my sister in law requested a couple of quilts for babies in her circle of friends. Margaret quite liked the scrappy swoon block but wanted a cot size for a little boy, the first grandchild of one of their dearest friends.

I stuck with the scrappy swoon but off-set it in turquoise and backed it with a piece of Salt Air by Moda. Funnily enough, this one has quite a vintage look about it as well!

For my birthday recently, Spotlight sent me a $10 gift voucher which I promptly redeemed on a copy of Camille Roskelley's Simply Retro book. Inside there's  a lovely little Churn Dash quilt that I was itching to try.

I make no secret of the fact that I'm always on the look/listen out for baby news so I have a chance to try something new. When I realised that one of R's teachers was just about to head off on maternity leave, I hopped to and got cutting and stitching.

Her teacher was keeping baby's gender a secret which made fabric choice difficult.

I don't mind red and navy on girls but some people have a problem with florals for boys. I went with a selection of red, navy, lime Picnics & Fairgrounds by Denyse Schmidt (the queen of vintage looking fabric in my eyes.

This combo has yeilded quite a few florals and to tempt fate, I've used the last of some other DS green and blue floral on the back, paired with a strip of lime solid. But.... you never know, Ms T might trump us all and baby could turn out to be a girl....in which case it's all a moot point!

Boxing Day Bow-ties....

I have finally finished a little baby quilt I've been working on for some time. I actually took a moment to sit quietly and hand stitch the binding after the hurley burley known as Christmas. This quilt is inspired by this one...and is the third I've made in various sizes and colours. The bow-ties are the Denyse Schmidt 'DS Quilts Collection, Picnics and Fairgrounds' offcuts from my Swoon quilt set in an assortment of solids. Because of their size I made each of the squares in the blocks 3 1/2" which is slightly bigger than earlier 2 1/2" versions. So each of these blocks finish up at around 6" finished.The binding is a newer edition of DS Quilts, Sugar Creek. Normally I wouldn't have chosen a busy patterned floral like this for a binding but I love how it features all the colours in the quilt and is a juxtaposition of solids featured in the blocks. This quilt is for my cousin's new baby daughter. I haven't seen him for years but thrilled he had a baby none the less! (Any opportunity to make a baby quilt!)

Swoon...

It's finished! And at 80" square, by far the biggest quilt I've ever quilted. It's so big I struggled to come up with a spot to take a full length photo but seeing as necessity is the mother of invention I'm thrilled I worked out the hanging spot from the batting under the verandah porch! I'll be using that little trick again for sure. So the quilt? I love the pattern. The blocks are large and simple to piece and their beauty appears before your eyes as the piecing comes together. I don't have any favourite blocks....they're all lovely but I do wish I'd been a little more adventurous in my fabric selections. Next time! The pattern is Swoon designed by the very clever Camille Roskelly. You can buy the pattern from the link on her blog. The fabric is Denyse Schmidt's Picnics and Fairgrounds from Spotlight in Australia and Kona Snow. And the quilting is free motion stippling by me!

Summer Love....

We're in the last throws of summer school holidays and I've been lucky enough to have some time off. We're not going away. We're mooching. We're spending time at home, relaxing. For me that means a bit of catch up study and sewing in between friends coming to play, visiting friends and movies to see. I'm making an effort to finish some of the projects I've had in the WIP pile. I've spent the last few days piecing this very straight forward 5" square patch featuring Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope fabric. The first time I saw this quilt, I knew that was the quilt for me. I've had the fabric squares cut since October. I just love the nostalgia I feel with this fabric. I reminds me of my Grandma and Great Aunt Nell. It's the sort of fabric they would give me to 'play' with when I was little. Yep. It's summer love all right!

You gotta jump over it, you gotta jump under it....

I've reached a point in my latest project where I can't wait to show you what I've been doing these past few days (weeks actually).....so much so, I'm revealing it in its basted state.
This is my circle quilt inspired (again) by Amanda Jean who directed readers of her blog to this wonderful, simple to follow tutorial.

I haven't shown the back but believe it or not, I started this quilt with the backing fabric. It's an Ikea sheeting fabric available now in 3m x 120cm lengths for around $14.95*, featuring hearts on white in blue, green, yellow, red, pink and orange. (*I'm finding that depending on which State you live in, depends on how much Ikea charge...but that's another blog story.) Except for the pink I was able to select 12 different Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope fabrics in co-ordinating colours. I've been saving my collection of these fabrics and it took a lot to seriously cut into them but now I'm just jumping over the moon with how gorgeous these fabrics look together in one quilt. I can't wait to quilt it and show it in its finished form.

Edited to say: Now I know why circle quilts are so addictive!

AM-NYS-IA

What? That's not how you spell amnesia. I know. And recently I could have been accused of having it. It looks like I've completely forgotten that I even have a blog given recent absences but that can be easily explained away with an assignment to hand up and preparation for a mid term test. I'm afraid I'm a terrible procrastinator and choose fabric over text books any (every) day! So needless to say, I was way behind in the academic department! (It's the same excuse I have when it comes to housework I must admit!!)

But no. The real issue surroundging forgetfulness is my lack of observance over two little milestones.

1. My 50th blog posting (this is 53!) and 2. my year of quilting. (insert clapping and trumpet sounds here)

It's been a year since the Sew & Sews girls decided to make a quilt to celebrate our mentor Carly's new little baby Olive. The Sew & Sews originally met at a Thursday evening art class at Nest Studio and we continued to meet after Carly went on maternity leave. We chose the Goodnight Sweet Prints design from Material Obsession 1, each of us creating a panel surrounded by 4" squares. It was a lot of fun working collaboratively even though I think back now to how we blindly plundered through the process with only a couple of books as references. We've all come a long way in our quilt making and fabric obsessions since then. Even CZ who on our first S&S's fabric buying trip to Melbourne declared she wasn't a quilter has started a quilt!

A year ago I'd never even heard of Amy Butler, Denyse Schmidt or Anna Maria Horner. Now their names are part of everyday vernacular in our household! I now have two sewing machines and a renovated antique wardrobe is standing in pride of place with fabric jewels to worship as you pass. And of course, a blog.

To celebrate these little milestones I've made a mini quilt featuring these 3 wonderful designers. It measures 40cm x 40cm (approx 16" x 16"). It's the AM-NYS-IA mini quilt (AMy deNYSe anna marIA) and each of the designers are featured. Where's Anna Maria? She's on the back in the selvedges! Her colours just weren't working on the front! Sorry AMH!

There are two selvedge panels on the back. And the quilt is straight line quilted which was a first for me. I'm really thrilled with how it worked out.
So let's share the moment. The AM-NYS-IA mini quilt could be yours. Just leave me a comment and say hi. I'd love to hear from you. I'll announce where this 'Little Sew & Sew' is going to live next week. Happy blogging, studying and sewing!

Dedicated to the cause....

The gals did something amazing today....getting up at 5am, driving across town and arriving at 6am to the Patchwork By Sea fabric sale. 35% discount to be had between 6am and 7am along with a table of $5 per metre fabric. That is pure fabric dedication and knowing a fabric bargain when you see one! I picked up some blue Denyse Schmidt Flea Market Fancy for only $5 - I bought what was left and split it with Clare. I've always lusted after this design and even though I'm not a blue person, it will be well loved. The other green FMF's weren't as cheap as the blue but a good buy when discounted by 35%. The little red one was also only $5, so nice to pop away in the stash cupboard. I could have (would have) done a lot more damage if I'd taken my purse! Can you believe that? The kids took my purse last night to buy a charity chocolate and didn't put it back in my bag! Thank you for the loan Clare! And thank you random morning walker for agreeing to take the photo of three mad fabric shoppers!

Rolley poley thank you

This is a little roll of Denyse Schmidt 'Katie Jumps Rope' fabric that I made for Clare to say thank you for taking me to see French & Saunders last night. (They would say "rolley poley" too, wouldn't they?) The naughty girl wouldn't accept anything for the ticket and with both our work and family commitments we ran out of time to have dinner before the show so I gave her something she couldn't refuse.... a little bundle of fabric that I knew she didn't have! Thank you Clare....I hope you enjoy the fabric as much as I enjoyed the show!

And here's the newest member of the family - R's Mr Potato Head. Let's see how he gets on over the next few weeks! (Currently he looks like I feel.... a bit seedy.)

There is a time and a place....

I've never had a problem with having more than one project on the WIP sheet at any one time. Particularly when it comes to quilting. Some things need to be approached when you're either 'in the mood' or you can have a good run at it. Personally, I like to cut out fabric on Friday's because that means you can stitch on the weekend.
Today I was 'lucky' enough to get the day off work to stay home and look after the children whilst they're in 'home isolation' (it sounds so much better than quarantine, don't you think?). They've completed all the homework their teachers had set so for all intents and purposes, that's a quilting day! (R said I was like the substitute teacher that lets the class get away with murder!)
So I sandwiched the red and white disappearing 9 patch before breakfast. Stared at it for a while and contemplated it's size and how much time I'd need to quilt it. To resolve the dilema, I thought I'd cut out some fabric.

Our lounge features the one thing that ever got renovated. (We bought our house because very little had been changed.) The previous owners had removed the original Victorian fireplace and replaced it with a 1930's bungalow style glazed brick number. The terracota colour of the brick is so strong and tends to dictate any colour scheme we choose for that room. So when we were visiting Mt Tamborine, QLD back in April I found these beautiful fat quarters of Wyndham fabrics that are supposed reproductions of Civil War prints (hey, I bought it!) in shades of dark pink, terracotta and brown, I had to have them. I've co-ordinated them with some Denyse Schmidt Country Fair and eventually had enough to make a reasonable sized quilt. Then comes the dilema of what to do with them! I've really enjoyed the construction of the Old Red Barn Co's quilt along quilt so I've decided to do something similar for the 'lounge quilt'. Because I've got fat quarters, I can't go full width which means my blocks can't be as deep so I'll join 5 strips of the 2 1/2" strips instead of the 6 and cut them into smaller 10 1/2" blocks.
Before I knew it, all the cutting was completed by early afternoon and the pieces have been re-packed neatly ready for the moment of construction.
Then in between 'silly sentences', a load of washing and a pot of vichyssoise I went back to the red and white and began stippling. Now it's the end of the day and I'm about 2/3rds done!
Yup.....you just have to be in the mood!

No. Thank you.

More fabric envy.....Denyse Schmidt's Katie Jump Rope range is just gorgeous and again, discovered when it's virtually impossible to purchase in Australia. So what does a girl do? Buy online from the wonderful Sew Mama Sew in the US, that's what. I only ordered it a week ago and it arrived today! I'm so thrilled and cannot wait to use it. I almost have the whole line and am thinking I'll do something like this. I love the 1930's look about it. So thank you for the 'thank you' Sew Mama Sew! I know the note says you appreciate my business, but I'm loving your fabric service!