Maybe it's not so bad.....

I've dug out a flimsie which according to my little book of quilt notes, was started in June 2009. It's based on Crazy Mom's Flea Market Fancy Quilt. I recall at the time feeling really disappointed with the outcome, particularly the mass of the same density of colour and limited contrast. I folded it up and put it in the cupboard. But I'm on a bit of a 'you can't start anything new (again) if you don't finish off a UFO' drive.

This quilt top is a lot bigger than I remember. I must have been braver a year ago!

Looking at it lying on the floor a year later....it's actually not that bad. Maybe it was the afternoon winter sun pouring through the window that pepped up the colours from how I'd remembered them. Or maybe it was reminiscing about the lovely Amy Butler fabrics that I loved so much when I first started quilting and the few fat quarters that I purchased on our road trip to Melbourne a year ago....maybe I just take better photos! Whatever it was that caused me to fold it up and push it to the back of the cupboard didn't seem so bad this time. So this quilt top is out. It has a back. It's basted and it's ready to get quilted sometime soon. Stay tuned....hopefully not another year away!

S.I.L. Quilt

I've finished the over-sized half square triangle quilt for my sister in law's forthcoming birthday.

This quilt is bigger than I'm used to lately (69" x 69"/175cm x 175cm) so I decided to straight stitch along the seams and on the diagonal. In some ways I regret that choice. It often mucks up for me when the lines meet and try as I did to really stretch out the fabric during the basting process, it still managed to do it in a couple of places. But on the up side....the rest are perfect. There are also large areas not quilted so I'm hoping it holds together OK.

The back is a pink and very pale yellow polka dot on pink. I didn't quite have enough to get the whole back so there's a little plain pink panel at the bottom. I'll use that as label space.

The binding is a fine stripe created out of tiny dots and pinks up many of the colours used - brown, pink, blue and green.I'm in two minds about pre-washing. I managed to get a spot of grease from the machine on a red patch. Spot cleaning might look obvious but pre-washing makes quilts look used. Dunno?

I'm sounding like I'm not that enamoured with the quilt and that's probably true. I love the fabric and I still like the pattern but if I made another, I'd do it differently. I'm sure S.I.L. will appreciate it.

Speaking of appreciation. Clare took me to a newly renovated pub in our neighbourhood - Benjamins on Franklin. I managed to sneek back for lunch on Friday. Check out the ceiling of the restaurant!

This wave of glass is completely made of upturned cut glass salad and trifle bowls! How gorgeous is that!

I'll take average any day.....

L's school conducts a Junior School Cross Country event each year in the last week of second term.

I'm not a runner and think that forcing little legs to run long distances is cruel. I heard yesterday that the sports master uses the event to identify talent and select the candidates for the inter-school cross country events. All that aside, L's a little like me. He's not sporty and his dispraxia makes physical activity and interaction between his body and the world difficult. Now in grade 3 he was about to have his 4th go at this event. Each year the distance gets longer and this year his class was supposed to run 2km. 2KM!!! 8 and 9 year olds....you can't be serious! That's torture! Mr C, L's class teacher started to lobby that once round the two ovals was good enough (that's 1km). Luckily the under 10's who ran beforehand took so long to complete their 2km circuit that Mr B relented.

L wasn't keen. He'd already asked me to talk to Mr C. We both told him to just have a go, do your best and have fun. He told me I wasn't allowed to call out or cheer. Last year Joe did and L stopped in his tracks with embarrassment and finished by walking last over the line with one of the teachers. So with lips sealed, I held my breath.
It was the same start as last year. Last one off the start line.

I couldn't look. I chatted with the mums on the side-lines as we lost sight of the group and it started to split up clearly separating the runners from the non.

4 minutes and 48 seconds later the first runner crossed the line. Followed by the next one and the next one. I cheered for every boy crossing the line and wondered how painful this finish was going to be for L. Then I looked up. Who was that....running up in the red house top? It couldn't be.....it.....it was L! I let out a 'come on L!' by mistake. The look of determination on his face was magnificent. The teacher handing the position cards said she thought he had more in him! I thought I was going to cry. My little boy was 13th out of 26. Perfectly average.And as he sat down with the group of other 'finishers' in his class, you couldn't wipe the smile and sense of achievement off his face. You can't ask for more than that now can you? Well done L!

All's well....

My strip quilt disaster has turned out OK given the circumstances leading up to its completion.

I finished the quilting on Monday and noticed that one of the ends was a bit 'rounded'. This was more than likely due to cutting this strip out of some left-overs and cutting it down the selvedge side and not cross wise, so it had a bit of 'stretch' in it. But because I was straight line quilting, I couldn't trim it straight. So I decided to just bind and see how it worked out....figuring that wear and washing would hopefully make it all settle.

The quilt is bound in an aqua stripe that has tiny little dots in it. (I can't remember it's name unfortunately having cut off the selvedge for my collection.) It suits the Paula Prass fabrics perfectly.

Because of my earlier trimming panic I had used my blue washable fabric marker to mark sides and much of this remained. So after binding I did something I don't normally do. Wash and dry the quilt. I know quilters in the US are keen on this to give the quilt instant softness and crinkliness but I'm a bit of a 'keep it pristine for as long as possible' sort of person. But the blue ink had to go so the dryer won. The fabric has faded slightly and it may have shrunk a little but the quilt is certainly softer and very crinkly, particularly with the straight line quilting.

The back features a panel of coins from the left overs set in Kona White and Kona Coal.
Overall. I'm pretty happy that it turned out OK. I still love the fabrics, the quilting is lovely and it's not as wonky down the seams as I feared. Phew!

On the design floor....

The design floor. That makes me laugh! It's the patch of floor in the lounge room that's large enough to take on bits of fabric to form quilt tops, bottoms and basting activity once the rug is rolled up and the coffee table is pushed back. It's not near my sewing machine and periodically piecing mistakes are made as I've generally forgotten which side I'm meant to stitch by the time I get to the machine. Oh well....if I win the lottery....!

This quilt is a pattern from Patchwork at Central Park and was displayed at the recent Australasian Quilt Convention and also appeared in the May edition of Better Homes and Gardens. Silly me didn't buy a copy of the magazine when it was available, not even from AQC. When I got home the next day, the June issue was out and after a failed attempt to buy a back order (who ever heard of a Better Homes and Gardens not being availalbe on back order?), I managed to score it from my local library.

It uses a combination of prints and solids. The pattern recommends fat quarters but equally, you could use metreage as repeating a print or two pulls it together. The squares are huge. I cut them to 18" (not 17 7/8ths) to compensate for cutting inaccuracy in the first instance and have trimmed them back to 17". I found I did get some slippage joining the 1/2 square triangles. Smaller ones are way simpler to piece accurately. I'm using some of Sandi Henderson's Ginger Blossom fabrics and a few fat quarters I've picked up along the way from Spotlight.

I'm intending on giving this quilt to my sister in law who has a birthday coming up very soon. The top should come together quickly but I seem to be doing a couple of other things at the same time and that's slowing down the process. Nothing new there!

Squaring up....

Working on another quilt started a few weeks back. Squaring up giant (well 17") 1/2 square triangles. The pattern was created by Patchwork on Central Park and appeared in the May edition of Better Homes & Gardens (Australian edition). Mine features some long time stashed Ginger Blossom by Sandi Henderson.

Time for a payback.....

A little over 13 years ago, my dear friend Leonora presented me with the most beautiful quilt celebrating R's arrival. A hand quilted cot quilt featuring a star pattern in pastel colours. At the time I was honoured that one of my friends had planned a gift that far ahead because the time involved in creating it was evident in the pattern, the piecing and the stitching. She had even embroidered a pink 'R' in the corner. And not only that, I knew Leonora had made two quilts as another of our friends was also having a baby roughly around the same time. (I ended up with a premmie baby, so poor Leonora must have really felt the pressure when R arrived 8 weeks earlier than her pre-determined date.) I remember receiving the quilt when I was quite overwhelmed with the whole 'having an premmie baby thing', wrapped in the hand made box that her husband Michael had crafted. It was a gorgeous thoughtful gift and it was practical. That little quilt lived on R's cot or on the floor when I needed something to pop baby down on the ground. It's been put carefully away for years now and it wasn't until today when I pulled it out to take a photo that I revisted those lovely memories.

However, they were always there because I think it was that little quilt that actually inspired me to take up quilting. So when Leonora's '0' birthday rolled around earlier this year....the first of our group.....I thought it was time for a payback!

Leonora and Mike were lucky enough to be overseas having high tea at the Ritz for her special day this year and even though we only live a few streets away it wasn't until today that we had a chance to catch up.

Her payback present was a quilt featuring Amy Butler's Lotus collection and used Amy's Brickpath pattern. It looks fantastic in its new home! Happy '0' birthday Leonora and thanks so very much for the inspiration.