Applique Vases Quilt & my Travels

Finally finished this quilt top !!! 

I began it in a class many years ago and everyone in the class made theirs using Civil War prints but I opted for brights.  At that time, it wasn't so popular using these types of prints like it is now but I wanted to do something different and add to my fabric stash these colours and designs.  I used needleturn applique and a bit of embroidery.

The vases are in black and white to tie the theme together as well as using polka dot fabrics.

I wanted to keep it simple so I just added applique vines on two opposite sides in the border.

And this is the completed top.

I am going to put it aside for now and may consider doing more applique.  

Do you think it needs more applique ?

And now for what I have been planning for over a year....

I'm going to be doing my first Smooth Jazz cruise. We leave Australia later this week to fly to UK, Scotland and Lisbon to see some of our family and friends and then my cousin and I (husband and daughter not coming) are boarding the ship in Barcelona....

This is a dream of a lifetime to visit some of the most historic European cities in the Mediterranean and enjoy the music as well as hanging out with some of my favourite smooth Jazz artists.

David Koz - Mediterranean cruise 

 

More Journal Covers and Baby Quilt

"...  A dream is a wish your heart makes..."

Wanted to use up fabrics from a pre-cut so made 3 more journal covers with ceramic buttons. I'll keep one for myself and the rest will be gifts.

Made this quilt for a recently born baby girl, to give to a fellow worker tomorrow. All the fabrics came from my stash.
It was a very quick project because all the cutting of the 5" squares were done on the GO Quilting cuter machine.

The technique I used was Disappearing Nine Patch.  The center square of the Nine Patch is the red fabrics on all the blocks with the 4 squares of the sashing fabrics on the same position in the block. Because the block is cut in the center to yield 4 separate blocks, there is no need to plan the fabric choices of the novelty prints on the Nine Patch block, so it;s a very fast quilt to put together.

 

I have a lot of novelty prints so it was fun to play with them again. Still plenty left for more projects.

What's growing in my garden...

Spring is coming soon although it will still be cool with rain and wind, I'm happy for the color.

Pansies... 

 

Flowering Cherry...

Daffodils (/Narcissus)...

Journal Cover

This week I received my order of woven labels to sew onto my projects. I think they turned out really nice and I am going to get different ones from the same company Fantasy Labels.
This is the inside of the book/jourrnal cover I made this week showing the new label.

I made this journal cover for a lady at work as a gift...
I had these baby jelly rolls (1 1/2" strips) from another project I had done long time ago and along with some fabrics from my stash I sewed enough of them together into a piece big enough to cover the book.  Then I used some felt to make up the flower and a button from my collection.

 

 Would love to make some more of these covers but not sure if I can manage to find time this weekend.... 

Floral, pinwheel little quilt

I am enjoying using fabrics I have had for many years and coming up with projects that are quick and simple to make and yet look nice.  That is the case with this little quilt, that was made as a gift.

All the fabrics came from the leftovers of a large quilt I made using just floral prints and the majority of these were based on William Morris designs. One day I'll have to photograph that quilt and share it on the blog.

 

I have a couple of little projects I want to work on this coming week but it all depends how busy or how tired I get after work...
Happy quilting to you all !

Applique Wall hanging and a Table Topper

I started these blocks a couple of weeks or so ago and over the weekend assembled the quilt.

 

I chose the blocks from the latest Jo Morton book...
All needleturn applique.

Had some leftover flying geese blocks from last week's project, so I put this table topper together...
 

In spite of being Winter, there is some colour in my garden...
 

 I love Camelias..

 The most fragrant plant I have outside my studio is this one... Daphne.

Modern Mini Quilt & fabric Shopping

I'm having an extended weekend and with the weather at the moment being cold and wet, what I love doing most is .... sewing and listening to Smooth Jazz.

So here is what I completed today.  The inspiration came from looking at recent blogs and I just loved the simplicity of the design.
When my daughter saw it completed, she named it Hippie Quilt.

 

All the fabrics came from my stash.  I have been collecting modern and fresh looking fabrics for a while now.  

Like so many lovers of fabric, there ain't too many fabrics I don't like in spite of lately mainly working on Reproduction style fabrics.The newsprint fabric I purchased in my last visit to New York, The City Quilter.

For the quilting on the border, I used perle cotton by doing a running stitch of six different colours.


I got a a few fabrics earlier in the week from Kay England's collection called "Bread and Butter" as welll as others that took my fancy (cat prints). 
Lynne, who works at the store ( Darn Cheap Fabrics  ) where I got these, is always so inspirational with the possibilities of new projects to make with the fabrics she sells at such great prices, so I never leave the store empty handed !
Incidently, she does beautiful work herself and I'm trying to encourage her to start her own blog so we can all see her beautiful quilts and stitcheries she creates.

And now for some music...... any Smooth Jazz fans out there that read my blog ???

I'm sharing another American smooth jazz artist by the name of Euge Groove. 
I was lucky enough to see him live in California a couple of years back and he's a very dynamic entertainer. 
He'll soon be releasing a new album which I'll get getting, but but for now here is a song from his last album  "S7ven Large".

CWB Block, Bag and iPad bag

Another completed block for my Civil War Bride quilt. I have a couple more blocks still to do and then the border which has a lot of applique as well. It's been a labour of love and a lot of work but I'm enjoying every minute of it.

My husband asked me to make him an iPad cover and since he's a chess player I came up with this ...

I like making bags, so this bag and matching pouch will be a gift.
 

 

And now for a change of pace;  I started another small hand-applique project from  the latest Jo Morton book and using fabrics from my stash.  I have 2 blocks completed and 2 ready to stitch.  Not sure of the final design at this stage, so I'll let the quilt 'speak to me'...

  

 

 And now for some music....

Rick Braun, another talented Jazz Fusion artist with great presence in the Smooth Jazz scene with  several released cd's to his name and with collaboration with other artists. 
I will be seeing him live in a few weeks time for the first time.

 

Visit to quilt store and Farmer's Wife Blocks

It's always such a treat for me to visit my favourite quilt store; Threadbear Patchwork and Quilting  in Castlemaine (appr. 120 kms from Melbourne).

They  have a great selection of fabric reproductions from the 1800s and they design many quilts in the in the style of the nineteenth century.  Many of their original designs are unique to Threadbear. 

I just loved this quilt and for some reason the teal fabrics just make the quilt so stunning.

 

My daughter also enjoyed herself when Sammy (dog) came out to greet us ...

I didn't buy a lot this time, about 5 fatquarters....

 
I sent my friend Teresa  these blocks as part of the Farmer's Wife blocks.  This time I used the foundation method to ensure accuracy.
 

Bag for the Teacher

My daughter wanted me to make a gift for her library teacher who will be away for the rest of the school year. I did not have much time as it needed to be done by tomorrow.

So this is what I managed to do in such short notice and without a pattern.




I love making bags and have a few in mind for next time.. keep tuned.

 

Basket Applique Quilt & Kits

Here is another UFO started long time ago (probably 10 years ago !) which with a bit of effort on my part could be finished soon.  I have gone back to it this week by preparing the pieces in one corner of the border.

The pieces are fairly large so it won't be too hard to progress. I am using needle-turn applique, my favourite method.

 

I received my order from Connecting Threads which my friend picked up for me while she was visiting the USA.  This company does not deliver to Australia, so whenever I get a chance I try to order their products.  They are very good quality and great prices.

The next big decision is, which kit  should I make first ?

I recommend this book for great ideas and fairly simple to use in almost any type of quilt.

 

I purchased a new camera a few days ago.  I have been playing with it in my Winter garden and took these photos later in the day when the light was not the best and yet the images turned out better than I expected.

So these are some of my camelias.... 

I think I'm going to have fun with my new toy !!! By the way it's a NIKON Coolpix S9300.

Farmers Wife blocks & bits /n pieces

It has been a while since I posted but today I have something to share with you.

These are the blocks made recently  by my friend Teresa in Portugal. She and I are doing a Farmer's Wife block swap.  

Here are some more blocks I received from Teresa. She also included a kit to make a pillow.

They are really nice and will match the ones I already have.

Like everyone else, I still have a few UFO's from long time ago. 
I found some pre-cut pieces for this Wedding Ring quilt, so I decided to put together the blocks.
I don't have any more of the fabrics so it will be some kind of a table topper or a little quilt to cover the foot stool.

I have been making my 'Secret' quilt, which actually has a name, but until I give it to the recipient I can't say much more but this is the back of the quilt.

It will all be revealed later in the year and the only clue I can give you is that it is music related...
We'll leave it at that...

And now for some music....

This track (Namaste India) is from a recent cd by Kenny G whom I have been following his music for many years but had not been exposed to the music of Rahul Sharma. I really like it.

Wool Table Runner

It has taken me a couple of weeks to finish my latest project.

It's a table runner and I got the fabrics and pattern from a kit. 

The applique pieces were cut from 100% wool and it was very nice to stitch with it.  I used blanket stitch with a single thread.

I've had my eye on getting this book for a while to use a few jelly rolls I have.  

I got some discounted fabrics this week and a few gadgets; a dispenser to fill up with starch for applique, more leads for my Karisma pencil and the fantastic Karen Kay Buckley's micro serrated blade scissors.