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!

Favourite colours.....

I'm on a bit of a bandwagon for orange, green, yellow, blue, grey and red lately with them popping up in at least two quilt projects in a row. Both of which are quilts for little boys.

The first is a quilt for a little man who's turning one shortly. I've used Cluck Cluck Sew's free tutorial for the Scrappy Summer Quilt. This pattern is so easy and comes together so neatly. Currently it's basted and waiting for the Adelaide weather to move on from its never-ending 40 degree plus heat waves (we've had two already!). I love how crisp these colours look.

Then because I was loving the colours so much and am always on the hunt for an excuse to make a quilt, I made a scrappy swoon for a work colleague who's son has had his first baby, and Liz's first grandchild. The pattern is by Camille Roskelley and once I got my head around it, it is pretty easy to turn scrappy....although I could have contrasted the colours against the centre square a bit better. (Must try harder next time!) It's one single Swoon block, set inside 8" of solid borders which makes a 40" square quilt.

The back is a single metre piece of Spotlight fabric picked up for a song last year. It's the perfect turquoise for a little boy.

Actually, this whole quilt didn't require one cent of expenditure....I had it all. Scraps, enough solid, enough binding and enough batting to frankenpiece! I love a gift from 'nothing'!

Last Christmas the Sew & Sew's girls decided to give an end-of-year gift of our scraps to each other. Just reporting in girls....but I have managed to use gifted scraps in both of these quilts and another so far this year. (Red pin dot - M, Grey mice - K, Green floral - C) It's a lot of fun to use other people's fabrics, that's for sure.

I've linked to Crazy Mom's Finish it up Friday!

Threads that connect...

I often find myself saying out loud, "I love my quilting stuff". To which my family roll their eyes and respond with "yes's" and Stepford Wife nods, too scared to disagree or to fight a losing battle!
Even though I consider myself an emerging quilter having only been quilting for 4 or so years, I've managed to build an extensive assortment of 'stuff' quite apart from the fabric that is lovingly glanced at every time I pass the glass paneled cupboard.  Amongst other things, there's the various configurations of rulers, different sized cutting mats and roller cutters, special needles for hand and machine, pincushions (well they're almost at collector stage), machines for piecing and quilting, a hera marker, curved and straight pins, tape measures and then there's the threads....not only in a range of colours but some of which that are antique and purchased for the spools, not likely to ever be used!
It's these haberdashery items that connect quilters around the world. Symbols of what we love and use and items that we could all talk about for hours on end given the chance. 

It's fair to say that very little willpower was applied when I pressed the 'order' button for a pdf of the Spools pattern from Thimble Blossoms as a quilt just for me. A quilt design that celebrates the cornerstone of quilting...thread. Mind you, the construction phase took a quite a while as it was something that I picked up and put down! However, on a mission to finish what's been lying around for far too long, it became the second quilt this year to be pulled from the 'half-baked' pile.

I used a jelly roll of Snippets by Sandy Klop that I purchased on my very first interstate fabric buying spree with the Sew & Sews girls...way back in May 2009! It was high time this little treasure was used in something so personal. I love the traditional primary and secondary colours this line features which I think work perfectly with this design. The greys are Kona Coal and some Bonnie & Camille Ruby in various shades and pattern.

One thrilling note was the unearthing of a 30cm piece of Snippets featuring the pink 'outfits' lying on a remnant table at Ballarat Patchwork and purchased whilst the family was travelling to Melbourne last October. For such an old fabric line, this was surely a wonderful find and the piece was promptly incorporated into the back.
The binding is some Denyse Schmidt Picnics and Fairgrounds that combines beautifully with the traditional colours of Snippets.

And speaking of trips away, this time to Sydney visiting a gorgeous shop, Burnt Orange in Mosman, NSW just last week. Another item to add to my plethora of quilty treasures, a beautiful little bowl featuring a button print that is nothing short of delightful. Originally designed as a sugar bowl, meet my new thread bowl.

Stained glass spools.....

I've been slowly cutting and piecing this little quilt top over the past couple of weeks.
It features some now very old Moda fabric called Snippets by American Jane. In my book, Sandy Klop is the queen of red, blue, green, yellow, orange and pink combinations in traditional, 1930sh, feed-sacky (another of my made up words!) type prints. I have always loved this line, hence keeping it all these years. This was the first ever jelly roll I purchased way back in May 2009 when the girls and I whisked off to Melbourne for a weekend on our very first 'Sew and Sews' fabric buying excursion.
But I'm on a 'use it' mission these days, so after a bit of fondling I began the hunt for a jelly roll friendly pattern. I eventually settled on a Camille Roskelley, Thimble Blossoms pattern called Spools which I've already talked about here. The pattern is pretty simple with a tonne of cutting of little bits and thin strips. I was a bit apprehensive about all the skinny sashing strips but mine has come together pretty well. Needless to say, Camille's patterns are very easy to follow.
Now the debate with myself about how to back it!