Dino Quilt

 So the dinosaur quilt that tried to wreck my back is done, delivered and made the recipient cry. I feel my work there is done.

It's not everyone's idea of a baby quilt that is for sure! but given developmentally babies really only see bright colours, and her Mama is nuts about dinosaurs, I am unapologetic in my pastel dodging ways.

Felix held it up for me and even when he is just peering over the top, you can see how mischievous he is!

Red roses are another Mama favourite.

It is SO good getting this finished. I thought I would during lockdown but I lose my sewjo, my gojo and every other creative jo going! now I am crazy busy, I am getting stuff done.

Oh the irony. Time is about as objective as the climate.

Baby Quilts - Everybody say AWWWW

Have you noticed how many babies are being born right now? So many pregnant women, so many prams. I love it - babies are so adorable!
I am going to two baby showers in as many weeks, and so I took the opportunity to whip up a couple of little quilts.

    

Lovely Japanese printed linens and cottons

Penguins, cars, robots and polka dots - I love the bright blues and greys and browns together. This is really quite different from my usual colour choices, which run to bright and rich, but I really like trying something new.

Gorgeous grubby pinks and apple greens for a girl. Little piggies, mice, Alice, and of course, polka dots! Again, not my thing but so pretty and I think it will be just right.
Both of them were pieced really fast - I just sewed the cuts together, cut them into strips the other way, mixed up a couple of them and sewed them up. It took about an hour. No boards or rulers either, just scissors and my eye. It was strange doing it that way but I wanted a wonky look and so I worked fast and loose!

Both are backed by a lovely cotton shirting I bought on sale - it is so soft and satiny to touch, perfect for babies who just love a bit o' satiny fabric.

For the boy quilt, I quilted it with a simple meandering "stipple."

For the girl quilt, I did a clematis inspired flower and leaf vine pattern.

I really love free-hand machine quilting. It is quite cathartic, requires no measuring or marking, and it is pretty fast. Reading between the lines as you possibly are, it is good for LAZY people like me! hehehe.
But really, folks, straight lines are the bust. Stitching in the ditch looks naff if it's not bang on accurate, I get confused doing shadow quilting (following the lines about 1/4 inch out) with what to do at the ends of the straight lines, you have to keep swivelling the quilt around - it's a mug's game. (which means, I am no good at it so I am envious of people who are, so I am dissing it. Charming eh)
So, is there a baby boom where you live too? Such a great excuse to make adorable presents out of pretty, cosy things! :)

More Apron Happiness!

Just spent a weekend on a quilting retreat, but the closest thing to quilting I did was make these little Christmas stockings, because they have a bit of batting in them:

Dupion silk and Christmas fabric offcuts, all kinds of pretty sparkly trims, brought together to make these cuties. They now have choccies in them and are all bagged up for market!

No childish giggling please about this photo! It is Lesley (female) making her very own stocking. The stocking bug spread around our table, and quite a few more went home than arrived!

And there was a hat and some bags in a bag, but the best fun I had (besides the wonderful company!) was making two Christmas "posh pinnies." I can't stop myself, so many aprons in my soul that need to be made real.  

My beautiful soul sister* Sandra modelling #1: olive green and dark red cotton with a red/green shot organza frill, contrast fabric top cadged from Lesley (who has the most amazing array of Christmas fabrics I've ever seen!!) and an organza rose corsage.

Sandra having a look at the bottom of apron #2. Red/gold cotton with a gorgeous sleigh motif border fabric, cadged from Sandra, with organza trim, and a holly corsage.
The corsages have brooch pins on the back so they can come off for laundering, although because of this clever touch on the one the Embroidenator made me a few years back, I lost it! But she lost the one off hers too so we are even.
They need a bit of work - sewing the red jewel buttons on properly, putting brooch backs on labels etc.
*Sandra and I are constantly discovering how much we have in common. Our stashes are about 60% the same with a strong red bias, and this weekend we both like rieslings and gewurtztraminers over sauv blanc. I am convinced she is really my (slightly) older sister who was swapped at birth and am going to have to speak firmly to the Embroidenator about this... 

Red to black -jamming a quilt

Last weekend I failed to go on a quilting shop hop, and so I decided to dedicate most of my weekend to making a quilt. I really wanted to do something creative and not entirely preordained, but this is really tricky in quilt making, which is ultimately an exercise in repetitive geometry, and accuracy is important.
I realised that I simply HAD to overcome the limitations of this in order to satisfy my need to "jam" with my stash. Jamming in the musical sense, where one uses only techniques and experience to make things up as you go along. This and the need to make a throw for the couch, and use up some of that darn trophy wife quilting stash.
So, I auditioned a range of fabrics from reds to black,(second and third shelves) with a warmly brown and olive oriented back story, and cut some strips off each, ranging in width from 1 inch to 2.5 inches.

 The line up. A few more got subbed in at the last minute too

I arranged them into groups that would equal about 10 inches wide when sewn together, from the lightest red to the darkest dark. When the first one was sewn up and pressed, I finally thought, hmm, what to do with you now?  

 So, I cut it into four "on point blocks", 7.5 inches across, which was the biggest I could make.

 Cutting the top...

 Reversing the ruler and cutting the bottom... 

The resulting blocks. Squee, so pretty!

This left a bunch of half square triangles, either all red or all dark. What to do with you lot, I thought to myself. I know, I'll add a triangle plus a bit to each one of a whole print from the range of fabrics used. Done.

 Darks with darks

 reds with reds

Repeat four more times. Result is an amazing effect of movement, nothing like I could have planned. I love how the reds seem to bleed through - not yukky blood bleeding but paint on wet paper bleeding. The darks create points that intervene almost like mountains in a Japanese landscape. Phew! Who knew! LOL!

The blocks so far.

I WAS going to sash the whole thing with a 3/4 inch wide sash in the same almost black sprig I used on the edge bits of the colourwash quilt. (Which I just realised I never blogged about as a finished quilt and must do so as it is gorgeous!) but because I had used it on that project, I now don't have enough. And I cannot find anything like it. So it may come together without sashing.

More jamming.

More later...

Snow and trophy wives...

It's snowing here in Wellington. I am 46 and it has never snowed in my lifetime before. So many people are posting Christmas card photos on Facebook and on their blogs of back yards covered in white, snowmen of varying sizes and quality, trees crystalised, all that stuff.
This is a time when living in the city is boring! Our walkways are slippery and icy and the street seems to have missed the white out. So, I am at home, and after making a nice merino hat for a friend, I have been through my stash cupboards, refolding and reorganising my quilting stash into a pleasing sight again.
I have way too much fabric, but unlike dress and costuming stash, I find it really difficult to cull the quilting cottons. When I go through them I love each and every one, even the 'uglies,' but in very few cases do they whisper in my ear what they want to become. I have at least four projects auditioned and packed into baskets ready for I'm not sure what - possibly for the right inspiration of matching person to quilt? A few are definitely for tea cozies or other craft projects, and some I would wear in an instant except I only have a fat quarter or half yard.
No, I reckon my quilting stash is like a trophy wife. Pretty to have and admire, not terribly useful and quite expensive to keep up. But somehow it is compelling and I can't bear to part with it! ;-)

Taking the plunge, at last...

I know I am meant to be getting on with my velvet frock coat, but I tried last night and even with company, I just couldn't summon my muse. So, instead I made something we have needed for ages. Cold second cups of coffee, no more! I have at last made a coffee plunger cosy for us!

 Isn't she magnifique! I've never made a crazy patch one before. It took AGES. Bits of trim, buttons and several gold and beige fabrics later, here it is. Umm, except I haven't sewn any velcro onto it yet. hence the blue pins.

 

From the other angle. I LOVE the pewter frogging trim on this side. I have acres of it - it was pretty expensive for a stash rehash, but the quality is amazing and it just keeps on giving. Here it is making excellent Regency hairstyling. And here is the black velvet trim with the diamond criss crosses gracing the edges of the famous Laurel gown.

And here she is with her bestie, the tea cosy. I made the teacosy for last year's Christmas fair, and it didn't sell so I commandeered it, as it was just so much nicer than the one fabric one I originally made for us.
The thing is, I don't often make something for my home - I take the things that don't sell, the leftovers. Now as I rarely make something I don't LOVE, this is not a big deal, but it was nice to start a project like this knowing it was going to be for us from the beginning. Especially one with so many nice memories of projects shared with friends :)

Hand sewing project - Cathedral Ceiling

Some quilt patterns just don't lend themselves to machine piecing. The cathedral ceiling is one of them.

Not to be confused with the more famous cathedral window, the ceiling is a series of eight pointed stars intersected by shaped crosses.

This is mine so far. I like seeing it on the wooden table as the richness of the wood is not dissimilar to the missing burnt orange intersectors.

When it is completed, the finishing touch is a wee suffolk puff in the centre of each block, to represent the boss in the ceiling.

A real cathedral ceiling, from which the quilt draws its inspiration.

It may take me a few more years to complete this quilt, and to be honest I'm a bit over the autumn colour scheme of it already. But I will finish it!! I will!! :)

Put 20 November in your diary!

...but only if you live in NZ and quilt ;-)
20 November is Coast to Coast, a two-yearly event for quilters that incorporates a chance to show your work off to others, learn about quilty things, spend money on quilty things, and hang out with similarly daft persons without having to explain yourself. It's heaven! :)
I've set up a blog about it, that I'm updating regularly. If you can't make it then at least you can read about it! :)

My colour wash quilt part 2

My sister tells me that I am making a 'colour wash' quilt and it is "very '90's". HA!!! *tosses hair*.
Hana and Jo, I tried the opposite border thing but I got stuck on what to do next, and was fossicking in my stash when I found this:

As the quilt starts in warm reds and finishes in apricots and browns, I thought this would make a delicious border.

However, light triangles between it and the quilt look stark, so I opted to use a black backgrounded sprig fabric to fill them all in, which will blend into the border:

Half way done...

All done. Now all I have to do is sew the strips together and add that yummy border.

Amelia's First Quilt

My gorgeous and fabulous stepdaughter Amelia, aged 11, has taken to sewing big time.

This is she cutting strips from which to build her first quilt.

Amelia chose all the fabrics herself and has gone for a scrumptious pallet of "fluoro" blues and browns with some black and white and a hint of metallic gold. I love the way she has played within this range of colours.

The block we are doing is a variation on "Pussy in the Corner" which appeals to us as Amelia loves cats.

The reason why we've pinned them into these odd shapes is experimenting with order of colours in each block.  It's so good having a design wall!

Using up bits

Last night at the committee meeting for our quilting club we were talking about 'charity' quilts. Not a term I like but I do like what it means - giving quilts to those who need comfort - the comfort of something physically soft and snuggly, and the comfort of knowing something was made with love. Quilts fulfil both of these types of comfort.
It got me thinking about what I had in my stash that I could whip an emergency quilt with, and I remember the 7,000,000 charm squares I've been hoarding. Yay! A rummage through them for all the florals and a sort into colour values and I came up with this. Finished, it will be a queen size quilt. since taking the pic I've moved a few squares around in the middle.
So, tell me, what am I using as a border? Do I use one fabric, or graduate it through colour values like the squares? I have a bunch of fat q's in a black background, very fine floral that may do it, but ideas are welcome! And lace, is it that kind of quilt? Help me!
It feels good to make a small dent in the charm collection!

On Productivity, Puppies and Pinkness

A few weekends ago I headed up north a short distance to a wonderful craft retreat centre with some like minded guild members. There we sewed up a storm, gossiped, got fed and looked after and helped one another out on various projects.
As a result, it was a very Productive weekend. I started with two quilts with the tops cut and went home with both completely finished even to the binding (although one I had to hand stitch that night), a smaller baby floor quilt, and a new teacosy and pot mit set.
The quilt I want to show in this post is all about Puppies and Pinkness. Two extremely important qualities to its five year old destination. As she knows that she is getting something pink and puppy covered but not what, the heat is on to get it to her! :)

Here are the lovely Jacqui and Shirley pinning it out for me on the floor. Watching these two I learnt a lot about pinning out a quilt! For those who don't quilt, pinning out is where you lay out the three layers (back, batting and top) and pin them through with safety pins so they can be quilted.

And here it is, completed. Pinned, incidentally, to the huge design wall in my new studio. :) Instead of an inset inner border, I went with a 3cm wide chocolate satin ribbon. It's even mitred!

This is the back. I have recently got my head around the idea of 'using things up', especially extras left over from the front and bits of fabric. The only fabric I had to add to what I already had was the pink marble at each end. A gorgeous pieced back, and me not having yet another bundle of fabric left over. Yay!!

Detail. I love every one of these fabrics. All dogs and puppies. I love the chocolate with the pink too.

So there you have it, one pretty, pink, poodly and puppy strewn quilt. :)

Cosy to a T...

It's just got to be this weather that has me obsessing about Tea cosies. Making them is time consuming but not endless, and they are cosy to make, and hot tea is nice when it is so cold. So how can I resist?

Black and white - it's so very pleasing to the senses!

I love blue and white in this context, it looks like a teacosy made of broken china.

And of course, the homage to Clarice Cliff. There was a CC tea set on the Antiques Roadshow tonight, only two trios but a full teapot, sugar and milk, and they valued it at £2,500!! I wish my tea cosies would sell for that, but it won't be quite so much ;-)

By Hoki Quilts turns Two!

By Hoki Quilts is a shop in Hokitika on the West Coast of New Zealand's South Island. "By Hoki" was an exclamation made popular in NZ by Selwyn Toogood, a TV host with one of those wonderful rolling voices that fill a theatre. A great name for a shop in Hokitika!
http://byhokiquilts.blogspot.com/2010/05/birthday-give-away.html
Mich'ele is having a giveaway on her blog of a lovely Moda jelly roll and matching charm squares. I am addicted to these!
Happy Sunday, all :)

Cosy and comforting things for this cold weather

I don't know what the weather's like in 'furrin parts', but here in Kiwiland it's ferkin' cold. And wet. And windy. All the winter things!
Anyway to warm up our thoughts, I've been thinking about cosy things. Like tea cosies, and plunger cosies.

Here are both views of one I made this weekend that is travelling all the way to the UK as a present for some people who have willow pattern china. It's crazy patched - I'm not usually a blue and white lover but I am LOVIN' this one and am going to make more. Also the whole toile thing, I LOVE it!

Now this set I made for my kitchen. It goes very well with it too. Suits the oranges and reds etc. However now I am in love with toiles I'm not so sure I love this. How can I be so fickle at my age??!!

This is a vegetarian calzone I made for a pie competition at work tomorrow. I've made it look pielike in case someone decides that calzone is not really a pie. Pick, pick, pick. I made a fern for the top as it is my company's emblem. It's very yummy too - aubergine, tomato, red onion, spinach, cheese and olives. YUM. So there you go, comfort food and cosies. Bring on the winter weather, I can hack it now! :)

The Quilt Exhibition 14-16 May 2010.

What a weekend it was. Like stepping into the past. Johnson Bros teacups and saucers lovingly preserved by the Horticultural Society, in which we served tea and coffee accompanied by home baking. People wandered and looked at quilts, some of which are FAR more modern than the tea service!

I exhibited three things.

1. Amish Dramish

So called because it is an amish block, but the Amish never used silk, in these colours, nor did they quilt dramatic art deco motifs in varicoloured rainbow thread! This quilt I made for some male friends, and I wanted it to be masculine, luxurious and in colours that match their decor. I am told I have succeeded! :)

2. Moulin Rouge

Moulin Rouge is our bed quilt, it is 7' by 7' (212cm x 212cm) and has 61 fabrics in it. It is a friendship quilt which means that other people contributed blocks to it. In this case, I provided the fabrics and colour placement guidelines. It's called Moulin Rouge because it reminds me of those black and rose fringed silk shawls that remind me of Paris in the 1930's (Blame the movie Victor Victoria!) and because the placement of the reds forms windmills around the centre of each block, not that this shows up much in the finished quilt! :) It won first prize in the First Time Exhibitor category. Woohoo! :)

3. Cherries on the top

There was a challenge to make a bra bag, and this is my effort, made from two bras. Each side is a bra, with the top edges sewed together, and then sewed to one another along the wire line. The top opening is the armhole edge of the bra. I saw these cherry bras and couldn't resist. the cherries and leaves are made from PVC fabric.

 I was very proud of KayJay for winning with her gorgeous and witty entry!

You learn something every day!

This is my mother's favourite tea pot and I have to say it makes a wicked cup of tea. Perched on its handle is a parrot made of fabric lined with some kind of batting. Apparently these were quite common once, as a sort of  'ovenmit' for the hot teapot handle. Who knew! If I had come across a parrot like that, I'd not in a thousand years guess what it was for.

As an aside, I wasn't trying to take a fabulous photo but overall I think it came out really well, don't you? And you can just make out the photographer and her mother reflected in the teapot's surface. :)

And finally...!

The finished cake. It tasted great and went down a  treat. Could have been half the size, but hey, the children of quilters all over Wellington are well pleased that I didn't make it smaller! :)

Cake icing meets patchwork!

Wow. I said I'd make an enormous cake for my quilting club's 25th anniversary, and it's this Saturday so I've started already. Our emblem is the Hand of Friendship block, so it made sense to me to use it in a fondant icing quilt, in our colours of red and white. It's also the BOM for the same meeting. My contributions are all going to edible!

The cake is 24" square, divided into 3 x 3   7" blocks and a red border. Five blocks are the hand of friendship, the spacers are white and will have writing on them. Tonight I made two h.o.f's and one plain one.

this is how I did it:

I printed out the words in a nice font, and traced through the paper onto white fondant, pressing hard so the line showed on the rolled out icing.

Then I outlined it with this very cool edible felt pen I got from the cake supply store. They think of everything!

It looks cool like this, but I couldn't leave it alone!

Here I am filling in the outlines with glitter paint. This is just edible glitter mixed with a little gin, makes it east to apply with a brush and the gin evaporates.

I then scoured the icing to look like quilting, and used white glitter to paint some squigglies on the white - it's supposed to look like a tone on tone print.

These I made earlier and forgot to photograph as I made them. I've got three more to make so I may yet do so. It is really easy to do this. Much faster than I thought it would be. The red is fondant icing also, they make it for Christmas, it comes in green too. Amazing!

I may get time to do something else this week! Especially since I have farmed out the actual cake baking. It's actually going to be two cakes, one chocolate and one banana, butted together. MrC is making a BIG cake board for me :)