October Finish

A finish for October...I missed a finish in July...but otherwise I am slowly chipping away at older UFOs...still a few to go....I am hopeful I will finish most of them in 2017.

I started this in October 2013.  I was doing a "bargello" project with a group of ladies and wisely chose a smaller project - initially it was to be a runner for our outside table - but since then we have changed the table and what I had already started was then too wide to use on the table, so this will now sit on the servery between the kitchen and outside area.  I plan to make some placemats to match - but just in strips I think.   Enough bargello for now!!

I plan to have at least 3 finishes for November - I have been working on 3 quilts "in tandem" - the thought being that if I worked on just one at a time - the second and third would have been harder to keep focused on...you will see what I mean next month!!

Apart from that - there is a lot of secret stuff happening!
I'm off on a short retreat next week so maybe I can get some of it done then.

Happy Sewing to you all.

September Finish

Last Sunday was Sunday Stitchers and I took along my latest finish.

I've been working on this for a number of years...

(there is a photo in a post dated August 2012 

where I had joined a lot of squares into strips...

though back then it seems I was planning on a bright blue strip to join them)

It's a Leaders & Enders project.  

I sew 2 21/2" squares together, then 2 sets of 2 and 2 sets of 4...etc...

and total them up to 30 squares.

Then join that to a plain strip - mostly 21/2" but that bit is flexible...

depending in what I have lying around.   

I used 21/2" binding strips too so that the left over can go into the next project.

It's fun to re-visit some of the fabrics.
I am planning one that will have at least one row of fabrics from each quilt that I make in the future - or if I can do it - that I have already made.

This is destined for a nursing home or similar.

Bluebird Lane

Three of us at Sunday Stitchers have been working on Natalie Bird's Bluebird Lane.

This month's deadline was to have all the blocks finished, 

and we all managed that (nothing like a bit of peer pressure!!!)

Here is mine

I used a fat quarter bundle I bought a while back - a Helen Stubbings range and added some beiges and the teal green.
As usual (for me) I changed the layout and used birds in a block that was originally rabbits.

Here is Inca's

(had to use her instagram photo as she wasn't there on Sunday)

Inca and I are still pondering the borders - the original has stars all around.

and here is Sandi's
Sandi is thinking of making a table runner 

and some mini quilts, so she hasn't put her blocks together 

It's been great to have a team project...wonder if we will do one next year???

August Finishes - OPAM & Sew Its Finished

One would think that having been off work for almost 2 weeks and being on retreat for 5 days I would have a gazillion finishes...but no!...I do have things more "progressed" than before but I did manage a few finishes.

   And sorry - you may have seen most of them before....

A very quick one
My first finish at retreat was a small ironing mat - 12" square.  It sits on top of a piece of very thick felt which used to sit under a manual typewriter.  The last one was made 2 years ago I think.

Then I made the Retreat Challenge - a pin & needle holder based on a pattern from Marg Low

The I turned my table topper that I won at Nundle this year into a zippy pouch.

AND - Donna's Dreaming
I finished this off when I came back from retreat...
I am not sure when I made this...I do recall I worked on it at a retreat - before I started going to Boystown retreats and the first one of them was in 2004.  So I guess it was 2003.
I do recall I was working on it and realized I had cut a lot of pieces too small, so I packed it away (quietly) and had to get more fabric and "fudge" it.
This was designed by Donna Elkington  (who used to own a Quilt Shop in Brisbane.)
I do love the border on this one.

Not too long til my next retreat....better  start planning!!!

April Finish

I have finished my Quilty Fun Sew-a-Long Christmas Quilt.  This was a project from Lori Holt that she ran in 2014 on Instagram - some of the blocks were in her book "Quilty Fun" and some were only on IG.  I didn't do it at the time ...though I bought the book - so thought I'd better make the quilt at least.

Her pattern has a pieced border which I chose not to do and I used a strawberry block from her Farm Girl Vintage book instead of the log cabin block - more appropriate to an Australian Christmas I thought.