A long awaited dream !!!

After many years of dreaming and saving not to mention accummulating tops I purchased a longarm quilting machine.  It's the Handi Quilter HQ18 Avante.

It arrived yesterday and I have already spent a few hours playing with it.  

It took about four hours to be assembled and after a quick demo by the dealer I got some calico and had a bit of a practice.

It's very smooth to move and only requires the lightest touch to stitch.

My daughter (12 years old) also had a play and found it quick easy to use it.

There was no time like the present, so I took the plunge and loaded a 'real' top which I recently completed using my scraps.

It quilted through the many seams without any effort and it looks quite acceptable given the limited experience I have.  But I am under no illusions that many more hours of practice will be required to reach an acceptable level of workmanship. 
I need to increase my thread stock, watch some tutorials, buy some rulers and other gadgets to expand the designs, get to know all the features of the machine and at some stage do a class to pick up experience from other people.

The best thing so far is that I now only have 13 tops to quilt instead of 14 !!!

Keep tuned for more interesting blogposts soon.

Scrapmania and Swoon Quilt Top completed

Love or hate them, scraps can make your imagination go wild if you just love fabric (like we all do !). 
A couple of years ago I managed to reduce my scraps to 50% but last year with all the projects I did and some (well, perhaps many !) fabric purchases, the scrap bin is back to what it was in terms of size.
So after recently buying a couple of books that use scraps, I got very inspired and made this top.

 

It doesn't look like a lot of work, but it takes  a lot of time and thread to 'make fabric'.  I used the smallest pieces from the scrap bin to give more variety but I still wanted to have some kind of order by making the non-star blocks in one colour. The star blocks are quick to make but lots of seams to sew through.

I haven't quite decided if I should keep going making more fabrics and more stars and a bigger quilt but I needed a break, so I completed the top of the Swoon Quilt last night.

 I haven't pressed it properly but here is a close-up of one of the blocks.

 And another... 
I like the way the quilt turned out and this one will be quilted sooner rather than later.

 And this is the reason my scrap bin continues to grow... I am trying to buy fabrics different from my usual style and away from the reproduction designs  but in the end I have to admit that I love all fabrics !! 

And now for some inspiring music....
Apart from Smooth Jazz I also love Classical music. This is Nicola Benedetti playing the violin with the composition "Meditation from Thai's"  by Jules Massenet.

Table Runner, books and Scraps

Made for my daughter's bedroom this simple table runner using some fabric from a charm pack.  Quick project and quite useful.

 

Received a belated Xmas present I gave myself that arrived this week from Amazon.
Two of the books are purely to use scraps and the other is on pre-cuts.

I particularly like the "15 Minutes of Play" concept, which Victoria Findlay Wolfe shares in this book as well as on her blog.  The only  'downside' for me, is that it never ends as 15 minutes but hours of creativity ! Where can one spend hours doing something this much
fun that is not bad for you and having something to show for that time? 

Here is what I did !
The scrap bins are once again overflowing, so no shortage of fabrics; with the help of the Accuquilt machine saved time cutting the large tumbler blocks.

I'm going to continue having fun with my scraps in the forthcoming months.... not expecting a huge dent in the stash.

PS - Victoria is holding a workshop at  Material Obsession (Sydney) in March 2013. Check out more information on their website under "Special Events".

Sewing Machine Cover and Mat

Until I reviewed my blog today I had not realised how many projects I completed in 2012. 
I knew I had done a few for gifts and others for me, but this many ??? Around 42 and these include various sizes of quilts and bags.
I guess it goes to show when you have a passion no matter what other responsabilities you have to attend to (full time job, mother of a young daughter and love to keep a nice garden) inspiration gets you there !

I have made a photo collage with all these projects (saved as a html, tried to add it to the posting but did not work). So any feedback is appreciated so I can share these projects on the blog.

Here is something fun I did to kick start 2013. I was going over my novelty prints stash and found some fabrics to use.

It's always handy to have a mat under your machine, but one with a pocked is even better, so the essential gadgets are at hand...

 

Since I had enough fabrics available I made a cover for the sewing machine.  It has different fabrics for the front and the back and they make me laugh.

See below this amazing quilting done ? I wish I could have said I did it, but it's the work of  very talented artist ... Victor.
Please check out his recent quilting blog as well as the other blog that he produces on tattoos... I just love it .

Orca Bay top completed

Many quilters are now doing Bonnie Hunter's new mystery quilt called Easy Street and as much as I wanted to join in, I decided instead to finish last year's mystery quilt called Orca Bay.
I had kept up with all the steps each week deligently but when it came to put it all together I found that the darker Ohio Star blocks lacked contrast and realised that unless I made new blocks the overall design of the quilt would not look as it was intended.  So, rather discouraged after putting so much work into the many blocks, I set it all aside.

Finally I pulled all the blocks out of the box and studied them carefully to see how I was going to tackle the task at hand. I tried to save as many of the completed blocks but I still had to make many blocks and re-piece some parts of other completed blocks.

And here it is !

 

The finished top is  not as large as the original one although I actually made all the blocks with the exception of the darker Ohio Star blocks. One day I'll use the leftover blocks and make something else.

 

The border blocks would not fit so I opted for a simple sashing for the border...

 

I guess at the end, it's better to have a completed quilt than to agonise over a quilt that was intended to be a fun way to use up some of my stash.

 

Wishing you all a creative 2013 !

Day 6 - Project 5 - Swoon Block #4

Five blocks to go ...

Day 7 - Project 4 - Mini Quilt

Last week I visited my favourite fabric store and I purchased some lovely fabrics they had just received. Lynne, store manager always inspires me with her projects and this is another of those mini quilts that I just completed using those new fabrics.
I have to live several lifetimes to use up all my fabrics but it's so hard to resist the new colours, designs and to make all the many projects I have in mind.

 

I haven't decided if it's going to be used as a wall hanging or a table topper of sorts...



Day 8 - Project 3 - Swoon Block #3

Didn't quite get a chance to finish this block yesterday as I was hoping but instead in between chores  I did a bunch of cutting scraps into useful shapes.  So I guess it's still quilting related and it will come handy when I used them up on a scrap quilt, which is one of my goals for 2013.

Today I managed to complete block 3 and here it is....

The gerberes were a gift from my daughter; they are so beautiful they almost look artificial.
We have had our Xmas lunch and I feel like sleeping now, but I rather go quilting and show you tomorrow what I have done.  Hope you are all having a lovely day !

Day 9 - Project 2 - Swoon Block #2

It has been a rather hot day today in Melbourne, around 38 ºC so I spend most of the day in my air conditioned studio, listening to podcasts, music and 'playing' with my fabrics.

Completed another block from the Swoon quilt.

 

This is a photo of my magnolia tree outside one of the window of my studio.
I planted it about 2 years ago and these are the first flowers that the tree has produced.
The flowers are very fragrant and when they open, they resemble a lotus flower.
I recently planted another magnolia tree in a different place in the garden but these will have pink/purple flowers. It will be a while until I get flowers on it.

Day 10 - Project 1 - Swoon Block #1

I've set myself a goal to make something every day from today to the first day of 2013 !

So here is the first block from the Swoon quilt designed by Camille Roskelley.
I have been admiring the various versions people have been doing, so I finally decided to do my own.


I purchased some fabrics (on the wagon wheel pictured above)  last week and will others from my stash.  I want it to be a bold and beautiful quilt.

Bit of a Xmas feel... Snowman Little Quilt

 

I am not a great fan of Christmas projects but when I saw my friend Lyn's quilt I had to make one. This is a free pattern from Henry Glass & Co fabrics designed by Kim Diehl.

 

Some of the fabrics are also Kim Diehl. Her style is so unique and the projects on her books are so appealing. 

 

For the hand applique, with the exception of the hat and the nose, I used wool. It was quick to apply and the snowman looks very authentic...

I added a few Xmas themed buttons...

I am having a few days off work and hope to tidy up my studio, finalise my 2013 Quilty goals and full steam ahead with the projects..

I wish you all a very happy festive season.

Bear Paw block

I have been working on a fairly large quilt in the past couple of weeks but the blocks are not in a state that I can blog about it just yet.

Now that Bonnie Hunter has started the new mystery quilt, I decided to resume last years Orca Bay quilt that I have completed 80% thus far. Once again I can't show it because it's just Ohio Start blocks at various stages of completion.

Over he weekend I made something small to use up some of my favourite fabrics and to have something finished.

Here it is  ! 

 Just a small quilt using the Bear Paw block.

I'm enjoying the garden at this time of year, and this is at a special corner in the garden..

 

The hydrangeas are showing great displays of flowers at the moment...

Most of these were cuttings I took from existing plants and this is the second year they have flowered...

And now for some music ....

Peabo Bryson always sings such romantic balads.... Too many to pick a favourite.