The baby has been born

I have received advice that the baby has born - Zoe is her name and so the quilt needs to be sent on its way.

I generally pass quilt tops to Linda for the machine quilting but as this was a small quilt and Linda already had enough to be going on with I decided to quilt this on my domestic machine.

Simplicity was the name of the game and using a zig zag stitch it all seemed to work quite well.

It is Sweet Pea day tomorrow so I will take this for show and tell before sending it on its way.

Round and round again

When I was busy making half square triangles to make up into Round and Round blocks I had a request come in for a baby quilt.

Last year I had a similar request.  My son asked if I could make a quilt for a friend who was having a baby.  They were acquainted through playing basketball and he asked that the quilt be made in team quilts - black, orange and white.

You can take a peek at the original one here.

The latest request was for the same team colours but in a different design.

How appropriate that I was working on the Round and Round pattern.  It occurred to me that I could make just the one block, add a border and cornerstones and so another baby quilt has taken shape.

The baby is due before the end of the month so machine quilting has begun.

Cats and bed making

I don't think Kaiser ever misses the opportunity to 'assist' with bed making.

He seems to have a sixth sense about what is going on and loves to be with you right through the process, even if it does mean he gets buried under the bedding.

In the end he found himself tucked in at the foot of my bed with the sun from the window just touching the tip of his nose.  Perfection as far as a cat is concerned, I am sure.

On this occasion I decided to put a different quilt across the end of my bed.

I bought this quilt at a garage sale in Sydney a number of years ago.

Even then it had seen better days but it had a charm about it I could not resist.

It needs to be folded to hide the parts that are perishing but it is still worth exposing the really good pieces of applique.

White backgrounds to quilts is usually more associated with modern quilts but part of the charm of this vintage quilt is the white background.  Everything old is new again, or so it would seem.

Hearts of love

A while ago I talked about the row by row projects our Sweet Pea ladies were working on this year.

The row by row is supposed to take the best part of this year to complete but we fast tracked Moira's as she wants to give it as a gift to a friend who is undergoing chemo therapy for breast cancer.

I felt sure that once Moira had the blocks back it would not be long before she had them pieced together.

She brought the pieced quilt top to Sweet Peas this week and the blue border really pulled together the colours in the heart blocks.

Linda had offered to machine quilt it for her and it has just come off the frame.

Here's just a sneak peek of some of the wonderful quilting Linda has been doing on the quilt.  The seams just seem to melt into the background as the hearts pop up as a result of the stitching.

I feel sure the recipient will be very touched by our combined efforts.

In case you were wondering

In case you were wondering whatever had happened to those polka dot half square triangles I was making, there has been progress.

Triangles have become stars and the stars are going round in circles - all a bit of a challenge to get the piece placement correct but it worked.

All very modern and bright.  This is the first of seven blocks needed to complete the quilt.

If the concept has taken your interest take a look at the pattern Round and Round.

I downloaded the pattern as a PDF and the instructions are well laid out.

All the half square triangles and cutting has been done, just a few more hours of placement of blocks and piecing to happen.

I have a few other things to be doing so it may be a wee while before I complete on this challenge.

Quillows and more

Our Sweet Pea ladies have been busy on some secret projects recently so our show and tell at recent meetings has been limited.

Rochelle, however, had a quillow to share with us this week.

Excellent execution of traditional blocks in bright, modern colours.  The placement of circles on the sashing strips add another modern touch.

Rochelle is very keen on the quilt as you go technique and completed the quillow using this method.

The quilt enclosed in its pillow pocket.

A great job on all those lovely circles.  I think I could be taking lessons from Rochelle, they are so well done.

I don't have any more images to share, but one of our ladies, Mary, had an interesting show and tell of a different sort.

We have recently had a visit from Prince William and Kate here in New Zealand and they were well received where ever they went.

On the last day of their visit an opportunity was provided for two of Mary's young great grand daughters to meet with the royals.  Mary is in her eighties.  What a lovely event to have happen in her family circle.

Love those triangles

Triangular pieces in all shapes and sizes form an integral part of many quilt patterns.

Sometimes in the process of making quilting blocks I end up with small triangle off cuts.

I have to confess I find it very hard to part with these pieces, especially if there is a whole batch of them in the same colour.

The blocks to the left are the result of left over triangles from quilt projects.

I just need to trim the rabbits ears and square them up for a scrappy project that is yet to happen.

Our Sweet Pea sewing group is in the midst of making a secret project for one of our members.

When I made my block for this project I ended up with 8 pink and 8 cream triangles which were too pretty to part with (in my opinion).

I pieced them together to make 2 pin wheel blocks,  joined them together, stuffed them, and made a cute little pincushion, 4 inches square.

Just my way, I guess, of justifying keeping those little triangle shapes - oh dear.

Surprising myself

If you knew me well you would know that, generally speaking, I am dismissive of spotted and striped fabric.

Amazing that I surprised myself by buying a set of 12 brightly coloured fat quarters all with a polka dot pattern.

My favourite colours lie within the autumn colour range but with exposure to lots of quilting ideas and trends on line I have come to appreciate brightly coloured fabrics too.

When I bought these fat quarters I was not even sure when I would be using them but I do have a pattern that I bought last year that lends itself really well to the use of these fabrics and so stitching is happening.  Half square triangles, lots and lots of them.

I am well over half way with the triangles and so there should be more developments real soon.

I am liking the spots and the bright colours.

A bit of a learning curve

When I embarked on this blue and cream curved piecing project I was quite confident about the piecing because I had been there before and the previous one like this had been much more intense.

I really enjoyed piecing the blocks but when it came to joining them together I did find it a challenge.  Matching up the narrow stem like shapes on the sides of each block proved to be quite tricky but I persevered and now all stitching is complete.

The final result was much bigger than I expected but at least it is done.

I love the flow of the curves throughout the quilt.  The pattern is called Urban Birthday.  Quite apt when you consider that the curved piecing tends to look like wine glasses.

The cream background fabric has a pattern of clusters of tiny champagne glasses - very cute.

The quilt top is destined for Linda's bed.  Not sure how much sleep she will get with the suggestion of partying all over the quilt.

However, the colours are lovely and soft and should be enough to induce a peaceful and calm sleep so we hope that this will be the case.

It will be great to see the transformation that happens once Linda's magic quilting takes place.