Back to normality (fingers crossed),fabrics, quilts and machines

The post title really says it all, after a difficult few weeks it seems that all is settling down, slowly!

Today began with another beautiful sunrise -  a good omen I hope.

I feel I have achieved something since my last post by finishing up my Lego quilt top, and I'm happy with the result.

Some of the strips are wonky - no problem, I took whatever came to hand from the bag sitting by my machine.

The bright border fabric, full of delightful four legged friends, has been sitting in my "to use one day" basket, bought many years ago when Laurel Burch was at the height of her popularity.  Placed directly against the lego blocks the whole top didn't look as magical as I thought it would, luckily I remembered the quilt made by Julie who added a narrow inner border to her Dumpster Diving  12 - Confetti top - thank you Julie! Hunting around trying quite a few fabrics and Mirage Stripe was the winner.

Here's a close up, better shot of the stripe.

During the week this book arrived in the mail

from Quiltfolk.  In February decided to join Quiltfolk - Break The Rules BOM, one live stream (2 hours) each month for nine months, a variety of speakers. Yesterday along with the two presenters was Roderick Kiracofe who gave an amazing talk on the history of his quilt collecting, also in depth information on quite a few of the quilts themselves. The book was given to the first 500 folk who registered, I was one of the lucky ones. This is the second edition with additional quilts added.

Now, you may remember from my last post the first few words in the last paragraph were 'NO more fabric buying', but I did have a small package arrive this week ordered some time ago so I'm saying that this fabric doesn't count!!

A few of the fabrics from a quarter yardage pack of Trade Winds by Kathy Doughty, I have a specific quilt on my mind, more later.

The exciting finish to my week was the collecting of my Featherweight after her visit to the 'spa', such a treat to have her back and now usable after new cable and plug, sorely needed as the original (70 yrs) had perished and was dangerous. I don't usually name my machines, this one is different, she just had to have a name.  

Athena -  named after the Greek goddess associated with wisdom, warfare and  handicrafts. The Parthenon on the Acropolis of Athens is dedicated to her and having been lucky enough in 1962  (we were sailing to New Zealand) to spend a day in Athens, explore the Acropolis and be privileged so see the Parthenon in all it's glory at sunset, the city of Athens below us, was a magical experience and still so clear in my memory today. In those days visitors could just walk along up there and explore the ruins, but now I see photos of steel steps and rails, barriers, thousands of  visitors and the creamy golden columns of the Parthenon being patched with white stone, I can understand that restoration would be needed but it does take away some of the magic.

A note here, I am happy with Athena's  association with wisdom and handicrafts - NOT the warfare. 

Happy Quilting until next time

Maureen

Having too much of a good thing

Does the post title strike a chord with any other quilters besides myself? I think it may do so. I recall a post from Julierose some time ago in which she shared the word below:

SABLE  -  Stash Accumulated Beyond Life Expectancy

I know I certainly fall into that category, this past two weeks my sewing machine has been under wraps while I sorted and tidied my fabrics which are stored in various racks, boxes and cubbies. Boy, did I have a shock with the amount, I didn't realise how much I had!

We all need a stash whether quarters, yardage, scraps and so on. Let's have a look see at my halfway mark in the sorting process. No exciting quilt photos, just boring ones of fabric accumulation so you may feel like stopping here!

Tucked into  a little space by the side of my set of wooden drawers, not photographed but  containing current projects, are five large containers containing fabrics for future projects.

By the side of the above, under the window are the sets of plastic drawers below,

the left hand side drawers were kindly sorted into large scraps (2) and small scraps (1) by my granddaughter,  the right hand side are chock full of Hoffmans from years ago. Covered with an old quilt and a soft, fluffy piece of fabric they make a lovely bed for Leila who 'helps' with my quilting and watches for birds in the camellias outside the window.

I have a small room so an immediate turn to the right brings two very large fabric tubs filled with large pieces of fabric yardage, mostly KFC and ranging from 3 metres/yards up to 5 metres/yards

and I forgot to rotate this photo! Above these I have two tall sets, one having 1/4 pieces and the other half yard pieces - all these are KFC. Also containers for strips underneath.

On my sewing table below, always with  extension up are more small cubbies having all 2metre/yard pieces of KFC fabrics

A mess of fabrics spread around ready for more sorting

more mess and two more drawer sets just peeping out by the chair.

plus my wire baskets with more KFC, Tula, Anna Maria Horner and mixed others, these are more or less in colour order - sort of.

I haven't even covered the two large boxes of batiks, there's no room left in here, they live in another part of the house.

My thinking ability was fading fast so a quick walk helped, windy and  a little rain but a view of a calm sea.

 NO more fabric buying, no spending time seeing what's happening on Instagram - worst thing I did was give permission for youngest granddaughter to set me up. Bombarded with 'sponsored' or 'you may like' and a multitude of ads. and so on. My reason for going with Instagram was that a number of the bloggers  I followed are now on that platform and no longer blog! Schedule setting for my quilting time to fit in with my usual household chores is next.

If you've made it this far then thank you for your patience!

Maureen

Getting back to normality - playing with Lego

At last the family matters mentioned a couple of posts ago are a little smoother presently, thank goodness, I can now spend time at the machine!

One of my projects begun quite a while ago is now under the needle once again, I went for a real easy-peasy one, my Lego quilt.

These blocks were randomly placed on the floor, no particular order. The sun was hitting the RH side which changes the colour a little.  Seventeen blocks so far, each to finish at 10" square. I was going with the idea that 4 x 5 blocks would be fine, but now not sure, too small a size for a throw quilt I think. A large Lego bed quilt is not for me, I doubt I would sleep well tucked in with all that colour and movement! Probably better go with 5 x 6 throw size.

Another therapy has been visits down to Cockle Bay beach, just 10 minutes away from home. 

I love to see the effect of the sun glinting on the water, looks like it's snowing.

My suitcase Guild sale, mentioned in my last post, provided me with the means to buy - yes, more fabric - only a little,  and three books!! 

Number 1

You all know that I'm a believer in colour explosion in my quilts, but this book called to me and the quilts pictured can easily be interpreted in more vibrant colours, if needed. Hopefully by the end of year I'll have one to show.

This is from the Quiltmania collection and I've never heard of, but absolutely love, the author's name of Jenny Bear.

Number 2

A stunning book written by a New Zealander - Fleur Woods - how come I have never seen her work before!! It's a New Zealand published book. The cover photo perhaps gives the impression of purely embroidery content, the words on the cover say more,  she has put her stitching to good use with collage in one chapter. The photography, the text, the quality of the heavier paper than normal, even the font is beautiful, her words - magical. Her embroidery is unbelievable.

Just a snapshot below, she loves flowers

and her stitching

Kantha style. If you can possibly find it in your library, or a bookshop nearby and have a peek at the content you will be pleasantly surprised.

Number 3

The book below says it all for me, and many, many thousands of people in New Zealand.

At this point I have read only the introduction, it's going to be one of those books which will be impossible to stop reading once begun. At least for me.

Ooops - the garden photo, almost forgot. A lonesome Zinnia flowering and such an unusual colour

Until next time, happy days, happy reading and happy quilting.

Maureen

Slow going - BB1 and Guild sale

Time has been limited for working with BB1. I had the centre piece but struggled with working on the style of border suggested by Audrey, other quilters taking part obviously didn't because they are producing  exciting pieces. I freely admit I'm finding this way of working a little difficult.

First border was needed, suggestions of two or more fabrics could be used, applique on said border relating to the centre design. I tried auditioning going with two different fabrics but similar colour scheme, no good.

My centre applique piece is quite formal in style and square, possibly the problem is within so re-thinking was needed, and I came up with this, corners  then a border. No applique you will notice!

The fabric is from the Vintage KF Collective range - Lichen, I'm really happy with this now and
actually would love to leave this piece just as it is, hand quilting and bind it!

My tardiness with BB has been due in part to sorting through older fabrics and books for my Suitcase Sale at our Quilt Guild this coming Saturday. Each month one member may have one or two trestle tables to lay out fabrics, books or any other quilting related product which they would like to sell. I definitely need two tables.

Books - 71

Fabrics - take a guess

Batik quarters, half yards and yardage, same with cotton fabrics. "Pot Luck"  bags with assortments of less than quarters and odd shaped pieces, bags of scraps and more. The green cardboard boxes have had to be taped up to stop the bottom giving way. 

The clear rectangular boxes are 20" x 12" and a depth of 6", I have three all ready and two more to pack.
A sort through of my Hoffmans has not happened due to time restraints, same with my solids. The large blue sack hold the remaining contents of the original huge black sack holding my mixed pieces, after spending hours on the sorting I decided that was the end, I had used up my energy and stuffed the remaining pieces/strips altogether. Smaller boxes of notions are still in the sewing room. 

Thankfully in the midst of all the sorting out I received a package of - yes, you've guessed - more new KF fabric, three colourways of Philip Jacob's Garden Party design. above. A  few more new designs came along for the ride.

NO KF Collective fabrics are in my sale, no chance, they are not leaving my little quilting studio.

Apologies for a not very exciting post today, things will be better next week when I have recovered!!

Maureen

Something Old, Something New

Something old - a number of years ago Julie posted a photo of a fabric she had decided to sell, if memory serves me she had originally intended it as a backing, correct me here if I'm wrong Julie, I thought it was just glorious and promptly said I was happy to purchase, here it is

still tucked away with my large yardage pieces waiting to border a quilt to be made. I think there is just over 5 yards.

Something new is the progress (slow) on Tussie Mussie but only three more rows to go. It's 80" square finished so I think this is going to have to be sent out for quilting. Could be tricky making a decision on the quilting design, something loose appeals, I'm not too happy with heavy quilting. My design wall is around 72" so anything larger has to go around a corner

two close ups here

My other new project is, of course, Bramble Blooms seen in previous posts and I'm still struggling with the border set up, had my centre applique been a looser design I think the borders would have been easier, BB1 will be having a break for a few days unless inspiration strikes suddenly!

On to something old and this one has a story, many of my quilts do have a story behind them but this one is very special to me. It's just a top right now and has been tucked away for the past 12 years, here's a couple of photos and then the story. This is Mollie's Quilt. 

Over the past 50 years we have  had one, two and sometimes three Irish Setters as part of our family. A short break when we came to live in New Zealand. So over the years we have had Crispin, Penny, Rufus, Chessie, Applejack, and Seamus and Mollie were our last two and these were brother and sister. Seamus was a big dog, Mollie a petite lady and as with the other girls we were pretty much inseparable, she was so pretty, a real sweetie.

Mollie became unwell some time before I happened to see two beautiful jelly rolls on a quilting site, I sent off for them. I noticed her weight was dropping a little and she had began having trouble breathing when walking and coughing now and again. Vet advised a CT - lungs and liver full of cancer and she had possibly a few days left! It was so very quick. My birthday was the 26th October and after a particularly bad attack I knew we were coming to the end of our friendship. We did so the next day with a visit to the house by our vet. There will be many among you who will know the emotions involved.

The following day the jelly rolls arrived and went straight into a drawer, I couldn't bear to work with them. Two years later I felt I would make a quilt in memory of her, the one above but the top then went back into the drawer again and only four days ago was I able to take it out, look at it and take the photographs. As it is 70" x 84" I think I'll have to send it out for quilting although I would really like to carry this out myself - I shall think about it for a little while longer.

Here's a photo of Mollie and also one with Seamus down at the beach.

 

On a brighter note I'll end with a photo of a small hanging from around 20 years ago when I was making pieces with silk and using arashi shibori to create the patterns which used to fascinate me. It's not possible to truly predict the outcome, just depended on the winding of the string/rope, the tightness and scrunching down around the tube and the placement on the silk of the dyes and also repeating the process sometimes twice or more.

Touched With Fire

So that's all from me, Happy Quilting

Maureen

Just what happened to my January this year??

I posted on the 1st of January with plans galore for the coming year, sadly family health matters and my own health scuppered the plans totally. My reading of all your posts more or less came to a stand still, which saddens me greatly, my patchwork also, but, a new month now and things seem to be improving so here I am once again.

Good news - Sunny Days is now a fully sewn together top and awaiting it's turn in the quilting queue

I have yet to pick out a suitable backing. Quilt measurement 48" x 56". I used a  Victoria Findlay Wolfe
for the yellow triangles, had just enough fabrics to cover all the triangles - slight mishap with calculations so I hunted amongst a few of her newer ones - see lower right bottom right, thankfully they don't look too out of place as the yellow is the same shade as the original used.

Yesterday evening I was determined to have the quilt for our baby great granddaughter all finished, so here is the Lyra Rose quilt

  

quilted simply wth wavy lines to catch in the seams, they're not really noticeable here mainly because I used the perfect match of Aurifil pink.

The quilting lines are a little more visible on the photo below, this shows the backing also and you'll notice that I used the same fabric for the binding. It picks up the bright little pops of colour in the Tula fabric with tiny rainbows.

Measuring 34" x 44" with bamboo/cotton batting, very thin but it's so hot here that a thicker quilt would have been just too much.

I love Nasturtiums and they grow like crazy in our garden, a multitude of colours and the peppery smell is fascinating, same with the lovely veined leaves,  here's just about the last one now flowering for us, there is a story here.

After a session at the hospital my kind husband suggested we stop off at the largest patchwork store here in Auckland - The Ribbon Rose with three floors, one filled with fabric, another with the requirements for painting artists and the ground floor has stunning knitting wools, embroidery threads and lots more delights.

I headed to the top floor to browse the fabric whilst husband was in the painting department, I bought a little of the new AMH fabric but making my way back to the counter what should I spy but

this glorious Figo fabric. I immediately saw a future border here.

Home to Howick and called in Poppies book store, if you're a book lover, which both myself and husband are, then hours could be spent here. Comfy sofas to sit and browse and decide whether  a purchase should be made. I wandered around the Homes and Gardens section and immediately my eyes fell on a book by Tricia Guild, just the cover was enough to excite me but the contents were a colour dream.

Moody Blooms is the perfect title! I'll show a picture or two next time, it sits here on my bookshelf, a gift from my husband !!

I'll finish off now feeling so happy that I have had the energy and inspiration to write a blog after one month!!! Tomorrow morning is set aside for reading your blogs and then progressing to stitch the applique on the centre piece of Bramble Blooms 1.

Got to leave you now with a flower, a canna lily flowering in the heat here in Auckland.

See you again very soon, happy quilting and hope those of you dealing with the cold and snow are staying dry and warm.

Maureen