I had in my collection of quilting rulers, a ruler called Hex 'n More created by Julie Herman of Jaybird Quilts

I don't remember buying it but a friend showed me a quilt she had made with this ruler and I was hooked. So I got a bunch of batiks from my big stash of batiks and made a quilt with that ruler.

The pieces are so easy to cut and very addictive to sew by machine.

I used jelly rolls for the pieces around the hexagon.

Gift Quilt - Citrus Punch

 I have been having a lot of fun creating gift quilts for my quilt Guild and enjoying working with batiks.  

I made this quilt top with batik jelly rolls (2.5" strips). Very easy and quick to make.

 

Gift Quilt top

 I made another gift quilt top to be donated to the Gift Quilt program at my guild.

I had these fabrics in my stash so why not make good use of them.

Gift Quilt

 

In the past two days the weather has been very windy and wet, so I picked up 2 jelly rolls (batiks and white tone on tone) and made this top.

This is going to Gift Quilt Program for my guild to distribute.

Bargello Style Quilt

 

Several years ago I cut up lots of my scraps in 2 1/2" strips and made this Bargello style quilt. It sat on a box but finally I decided to quilt it.

And my boy Billy approves ! 

 I actually like it more than I expected given that some of the fabrics were not my favorites  ! 

I had a bunch of test blocks, leftover blocks so joined then all together and used it as the backing.

I quilted on the Handi Quilter using a variegated thread.

Close up of some of the blocks at the back.

Visit Mill Rose Quilting

 

Yesterday I visited for the first time this beautiful quilt shop.

Set within Ballan’s  (Victoria) beautifully restored old Masonic Hall all, holds an enchanting feast of colour & fabric, from modern to reproduction styles, as far as the eye can see. Designer fabrics, Liberty of London, Kaffe Fassett, Sue Spargo hand dyed wool & threads, as well as a large collection of quilting books & patterns are available at Millrose.

The amount and variety of fabric, notions an quilts on display is overwhelming in a good way and you can easily spend a lot of time and money with such beautiful products.

I attended a class for the day and come back home very inspired and wanting to return in the not so distant future.

Craft and Quilt Show - Melbourne

 Last week I attended the Craft and Quilt Show.

I had a quick look at the vendors but the highlight was the magnificent quilt exhibition.

There were many quilts on show made by Australian quilters as well as international artists. They had various quilt categories as well as many styles of quilts on show. 

Here some of the many photos I took for inspiration.

 

Some of my projects

 There's never enough hours in the day to do patchwork and quilting ! I try many techniques, start new projects but don't always post my results.

For quite some time I have been after a pattern or a method to use up my small scraps, lots of varity and very little preparation before stitching.

I completed a Log Cabin quilt earlier in the year using mini blocks (4")  on foundation I thought I could do something similar using the Pineapple Block.

These blocks have been made with two different techniques:

Creative Grids ruler

And Foundation paper piecing.

Still haven't decided which technique I am going to use ...

More gift quilts

 Been helping out with the gift quilt program at my guild.

Everyone contributes in various stages of the project, some make up the kits, others piece, quilt and bind. I pretty much do all stages except binding.

Here are some I have worked on.

Still in progress;

Sashiko Inspired panel

I just completed this panel which is based on the Sashiko technique.

The thread I used came from Japan; I particularly liked using a variegated thread of yellow and orange to give the design a bit more interest.
It was a fun and quick project to make.

Sashiko (刺し子) is a versatile Japanese stitching and embroidery technique primarily used to mend, reinforce, and embellish garments. In the past, the women of rural farming communities practiced this simple running stitch using white thread on indigo-dyed fabrics like cotton and hemp. Over time, sashiko has evolved from a frugal necessity to a decorative stitching style. Modern examples of sashiko can be observed in various contemporary fashion houses both in Japan and beyond.

 

My own Kawandi Style Quilt

 

A kawandi quilt is a hand-stitched patchwork quilt made by the Siddis, descendants of African immigrants and brought to India by the Portuguese, French, English, Dutch, and Americans. The kawandi quilt is made from pieces of old and worn-out clothing collected from family members and friends.

I decided to make my own version using my collection of African fabrics but piecing with my sewing machine.

YouTube has a lot of tutorials on the technique; the pieces are sewn on a foundation piece of fabric started at the edges of the quilt and progressed inwards. 

 It's quite a fun way and quick way to finish a quilt with very little preparation. 

Gift Quilts

 I have been helping out with some more gift quilts for my local quilt guild.

Some have already been pieced and I just quilted on the longarm and others I just pieced.

They are so fun to use up all sorts of scraps which is my favourite type of quilting.

Still needs side borders.

Do you ever find a piece of fabric you just have to buy even if you don't know what you are going to do with it ? This is one of those LOL !!!