Meet Me in the Middle of Barcelona

This quilted was started May 2016 with a layer cake called Barcelona and some grey shot cotton.

This pattern is called Meet In the Middle and is free HERE at Jo's Country Junction blog.
You cut 2.5" strips from the layer cake and join them together with your background fabric.

Sew all the strips together.

 

 And voila you have a quilt top!  Just needed some quilting.

Too easy, this quilt looks good, no tricky seams to match and is a perfect single bed/large lap for long teenager's size.

 I am definitely going to make this again, but next time I am going to sew wonky lines across the strips instead of SITD parallel - idea courtesy of Lisa who made the same quilt (if fact the pattern was her idea!) and I much prefer her quilting method.    

Meet me in the middle of Barcelona, finished in January 2017.

Happy quilting. Sue.

Rainbow Scrappy challenge 2017

Digging around in the various tubs scattered around the house I came across all these completed 9 patch blocks.

The 2.5" squares and half square triangles were made to use for the Scrappy Sprout quilt in 2015 out of my scraps and unloved stash.   But with sufficient leaves made I started making them into 9 patches and star blocks. Then they fell by the wayside after RSC ended for that year.

Fast forward to 2017 I need a new leaders and enders project!

Plus I have been busting to return to the Rainbow Scrappy Challenge, win, win!

January is Purple and here is what I have made for the month.

I started making four patches, as the supply of scrap purple dwindled.  Ditto only got one star made as there was only sufficient half square triangles for one. 

And I couldnt resist some other new blocks - but out of my reproduction stash, instead of scrap!

One 4" basket block (handle to be made) and a 7" Dresden - but might swap that neutral for a different purple yet.

Happy quilting Sue.

Red and White Dresden quilt - finished!

This quilt kickstarted in June 2015 at a camp in Bordertown with my Adelaide stitching friends.  Ingredients were a store homemade red "jelly roll" and a Moda Primitive Gatherings jelly roll for the neutrals.

This pattern came from a class I did with quilt teacher and friend Heather Ford (Adelaide).  You make lots and lots of pieced blades and then make the Dresdens. 

Then you dither for months about buying a fabric to use as the center circles.

Then spend an hour in Quilters Harvest (Warracknabeal) pulling out every bolt to find the perfect background fabric - thank you Dell!

And then slowly hand stitch them down to the background fabric.
Allow to mature in the cupboard, until taking top to Periwinkle Patchwork (Warrnambool), to find the perfect red for the border/binding - thank you Ann!  Mind you it matured a bit more before I got the border sewn on.

Then bundle off to Vicki Jenkin, long arm quilter extraordinaire, and allow her to work some quilting magic.  I wanted some thing fancy but edge to edge, so Vicki recommended these feathers.  I have never had feathers before and love them :)

Yeah my first finish for 2017!  

Happy quilting Sue.

My UFO list 2017

One more UFO ready for busting! My Red and White Dresden is already in the queue at the LAQ.

 Not really a UFO, given I made the Barcelona single bed sized top in 2016.  Still it is basted and ready for quilting, so needs to happen soon...so it doesn't become a UFO!

My Circa 2016 is a bit more advanced then this photo, but still is a long way off being finished. So its on the to do list for this year.

Again this sweet quilt is not that old, but its just needs quilting.   I had been thinking about making it bigger (and into a lap quilt) but now I just want to finish it as is and enjoy it on my wall!

Some of my "use up the scrap strips" projects are close to being finished, this scrap string lone star just needs borders to make it child size.  

The log cabin in red and green I made last year, is  ready to quilt, once I find a backing.

 I am exhausted thinking about all this potential quilting.  

Oh, goody I have found the photos of the projects that still need piecing!

 

I had to go back to June 2015 to find a photo of the Midwinter Pinwheel Churn Dash quilt.  I made all the blocks and haven't touched it since!  So just need sashing fabric, and it get worked on NOW!

Finally the Woolly basket wall hanging, also needs sashing and potentially a border.

Perhaps I might do a recap in six months time....to keep myself focused.

Happy quilting Sue.

January purchases

SEW I do not make a habit of attending the Boxing Day sales.  

However I have had two BIG spending sprees this month!  

The first when Lisa and I went to Gails Patchwork Emporium, Ballarat.  Neither of us had plans for resisting temptation and both of us had a list of things we needed to buy!

I need sashing for these churn dash blocks I made out of a Midwinter Red layer cake (pattern by Missouri Quilt Co).  I loved the floral, but the spot worked better as sashing.  

So I brought the floral as well to use as corner stones.

I need to make a cot quilt.  These cute sheep were perfect and the mint will be sashing.

Lisa gifted me this bag pattern for my birthday.  She spotted the fruit print on linen, and I remembered to bring the bag pattern = perfect!  The stripe was purchased on sale at Spotlight later as lining.  But I still needed to find an accent fabric for pockets...perhaps a solid?

A week later and I went to Warrnambool to see the Southern Right Quilt Show and visited Periwinkle Patchwork, where I found a much nicer fabric for lining and front pocket  (Cotton and Steel aqua)  and a lovely polka dot for the handles and binding.  Ann has the best selection of dot fabrics!

 I also brought this bright yellow repro, brown strip and shirting on the left from Periwinkle.  The brown print on the right was a gift from Lisa out of her stash.  The green is from Joy's.

At the quilt show I picked up 50 cm each of these lovely repro's from Joy's stand (the Portland quilt shop).

Oh la, la!  Some lovely bright reproductions (fat quarters) from Elm Grove's  stand (Nullawarre 25 minutes from Warrnambool) selection at the show. This year I can see me making a big pieced reproduction quilt.....hmmm January is not even over and I am already making plans to break my resolution to finish up some UFO's first!

Happy quilting Sue.

Working on Circa 2016 in 2017!

So my excuse is that I was busy!  Honestly from September to December my work and personal life was flat chat.  So I stopped working on my Circa 2016 quilt.

I had made the hour glass blocks, but they were too big.  Easy peasy, took a larger seam allowance, problem fixed!  Yet the points still look good.  These might become my favorite block!

I tried to replicate the placement of the blocks as per the finished quilt on Temecula's blog.  

However colour and tone were sometimes an issue.  As much as possible I tried to let "it just happen" in a haphazard and scrappy way.

I got one side border completed and was feeling very pleased with myself. 

I failed to notice the side border was short by two blocks!  Some quick unpicking and that was fixed.

I realise the fat borders are too big, but the setting triangles were too big, so pattern requires you to to trim - fine for fat borders, nightmare stuff for loooong borders!

Happy quilting Sue.

A Flimsy from Jo Morton's Little Favorites

Jo Morton's newest book was on my Christmas wish list and Santa delivered!  

This lovely little quilt, titled Sadie's quilt is 22.5 x 26" in the book.

I made a  smaller version (still 3" blocks) is 13.5 x 13.5" so it will fit on my wall of mini quilts.

I was surprised at the number of black fabrics I had in my stash to choose from.  Not to mention orange or cheddar fabrics.  Still it was hard to decide on which ones to use.  I ended up tea dying one of the black prints as it had a very stark white print that stood out.

Now I just have to pin and quilt it....the heat of summer is not conducive to quilting, but its only small, so wondering if this will be my first finish of year?

Happy quilting Sue.