daisy and jack handmade

the half way through April furtle !

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Sat, 17 Apr 2021 11:00:00 +0000

I'm back with another monthly Furtle and just sneaking in before the link-up closes (again) !

I don't have as much to show this time but I do have two finished tops - woohoo :)

This one I'm calling Twinkles ... do you recognise the blocks ?

They're the Ocean Waves blocks I made as part of a Fat Quarter Shop sew along and after I'd sewn up all the blocks I decided that I wasn't sure about the layout !! I didn't even take a photo of the blocks in the Ocean Waves quilt layout so this is the one that I made in EQ :)

After I put all the blocks on the design wall, the large white areas kept jumping out at me and I was wondering how I would quilt them and the more I thought about it, the more I wasn't sure I liked those big white spaces ! So I played around with the design in EQ and came up with a new layout. I really liked it, so I quickly sewed the blocks together before I could change my mind and now I have a flimsy - although after posting the photo I've just realised that I still need to sew on the outside border !!

I made the Ocean Waves block as part of the Fat Quarter Shop Classic and Vintage Series (original post here).

The half square triangles are made using It's Sew Emma HST paper that is sold on a roll ! Using the paper rolls make it quick and easy to make all those half square triangles !

and the quilt was made with Moda Grunge in a rainbow of sherbet colours that is available as a bundle already made up from the Fat Quarter Shop.

The other top that I've finished is from waaaay back in the early century !! well almost 10 years in the making anyway and its only a baby quilt - go figure !!

its a little quilt that's the same as another little quilt - I started making them together back in 2011 or 2012 and I finally got one finished and after getting a wonderful Bernina for Christmas 2013 it was the first quilt that I ever free motion quilted ! I did stippling in the centre, loopy loops in the outside border and I even attempted figure eights in the inner border - they might be fat figure eights but they are consistent !!!

I did some Zoom sessions recently about making scrap quilts with Diane Harris of Scrap Bandit and Diane uses the windmill block to make lots of fun scrap quilts - when I saw my half done blocks after one of her sessions I realised they are a wonky version of the traditional windmill block !!

After I found it again, I decided to just pull it out and get the rest of the blocks done - not surprisingly it came together really quickly as most of the blocks were already sewn !

I remember buying a jelly roll by Sandy Gervais for Moda and bought yardage in the same range for the borders and background - and that peachy pink !! (I posted here about why there are two quilts made out of the same fabric range) I had a real matchy-matchy thing going on way back then (as beginners mostly do I suppose) and I remember making sure that I even had the backing from the same fabric range too !! now I like to mix it up a lot more - but every time I pull out an old UFO its always interesting !!

I tested out a couple of inner borders like this brown one below but decided to go with the red as it looks a bit warmer :)

If you're wondering what happened to that first one that I free motion quilted ... it now belongs to Pippi and she uses it every day - except when its in the wash !!

Well, after a spurt of balmy weather at the end of March we are now into the beginning of winter with cold winds and even a hail storm earlier this week !!

so next time I'll be back with an update on some hand sewing UFOs like my Quilty365 blocks and the Hexy MF quilt (blogged here and here) and I'm also hoping to have the centre circles of the Steam Punk blocks sewn so I can put that quilt together !

Have a wonderful (rest of) April !

Popping over to linkup with Archie The Wonder Dog !

March already !!

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Tue, 09 Mar 2021 03:00:00 +0000

Is it just me or does this year seem to be speeding along ? maybe its because this time last year the whole world seemed to slow down, a lot !!

anyway, I had a very productive February so I'm happy to be sharing progress on some of my UFO projects for this month's Furtle with Archie the Wonderdog :)

First up is my Message in a Bottle UFO - as I discovered when I pulled out this project last month, I hadn't made much progress on this quilt since the initial workshop with Irene Blanck in October 2015 !!

I've now sorted the applique fabric for each block - I'm using turned edge applique as its a lot easier on my hands than the needle turn method - so all the blocks are ready to have the applique edges prepped for hand sewing.

The pattern calls for alternate appliqued orange peel and melon blocks for the borders but I've decided to change that up and I've made hourglass blocks for the borders instead. I know that if I had to do more applique after I'd finished all the blocks that the project might stall again and as there are hourglass blocks in the quilt I'm hoping that the hourglass border will look good ! (apologies for the photo quality)

The other UFO I've been working on recently is my Steam Punk Quilt - again I've made quite a bit of progress on this one as I've unpicked and resewn 31 of the 41 blocks !! (its ok, I already know I'm crazy !!) so now when I sew the sashing on the blocks I won't cut off the edges of the propellers !!

Jen Kingwell's pattern calls for 7 half blocks to use as some of the setting triangles but after making and remaking 70 of these blocks I've decided to use just fabric for all of the setting triangles ! Again, its all about doing what I can do get these projects finished !!

I'm currently prepping the centre circles and will applique them before I sew the sashing so I might even have this top done ~~by next month~~ soon ! You can see the polka dot sashing I plan to use along with the setting triangle fabric in the photo above.

I've been playing around with the layout and moving blocks around for the past week but I think I might now have the final layout - it helps to view as black and white too - especially with all the colour chaos in this quilt - this quilt's working title is Hectic !!

My Lawn Star has also grown a little more this month ...

and I have less than 80 diamonds to go !!

but I think I might need a bigger design wall to lay them all out :) I had a big session of removing the papers from these blocks which was a great way of seeing all of the different fabrics - I have some of the first fabrics I bought in this quilt so it will be a real time capsule of my stash !! There's even a scrap from a stitchery I made for my mum and also scraps from when I used to make cloth dolls - over 20 years ago !!

I also managed to make and finish some mini quilts, a cushion, and a couple of handbags too !

Phew that's probably the most sewing I've done in ages - hopefully the mojo keeps going through March !!

Popping over to link up with Archie The Wonder Dog !

a summer furtle to welcome 2021

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Mon, 01 Feb 2021 10:00:00 +0000

Wow last time I was here I had just furtled through August and now its the first of February - where does the time go !?!?! I had planned to blog before Christmas and this is now my new year post too !!

I was so excited about saying goodbye to the crazy year that was 2020 and jumping into 2021 but with the new strains of the covid virus popping up before we've even got the initial virus under control globally, I'm thinking 2021 will probably be more of a year of transitioning to our "new normal" - at this point our old "normal" is long gone !l Anyway, I hope you and your loved ones were able to share in the holiday season !

I was going to do a happy new year post before deciding just to welcome the new year quietly with heartfelt wishes that 2021 brings some hope and healing to the world.

As its the first of February today, its time to join Mini Archie for a furtle around the place !

Just lately I have been busy sewing some little quilts but I still have an ever growing UFO list so I had a bit of a rummage in the depths of the UFO ~~basket~~ cupboard to see what projects I might resurrect this year !

I discovered that quite a few of my UFOs have a considerable stash of fabric with them - they take up quite a bit of space and as I'm trying to keep all of my fabric on one area I thought I might separate some projects into monthly sections although that idea might take some time in itself - ha!

In keeping with this idea I pulled out my Message in a Bottle quilt to make the project into a BOM style and discovered that I only completed one block at the 2 day workshop I attended with Irene Blanck back in 2015 ! so splitting it up and doing the prep work to make it into a BOM would probably take longer than just starting sewing so that was the end of my BOM idea !!

Due to being easily overwhelmed by my extra large to-do list, my plan for this year is to just put forward a few projects that I would like to make progress on - nice and casual like - just to work on when there are no other pressing deadlines like I have currently with a new season of Project Quilting underway.

If you haven't heard of Project Quilting it is an annual challenge to make a quilt in a week - from start to finish ! Season 12 started last month, and for the first two challenges this year they've had record numbers of entries so pop over to Kim's blog to find out all about this fun challenge and join in :) The theme is dropped on a Sunday (US time) and then you need to make a quilt and link it up by the next Sunday. The 3rd challenge for this season was just released today and this week's theme is "virtual vacation" - did I mention there are very generous prizes for entering each challenge too ?!?

I have actually finished the first two challenges for this year (although not by the deadline) and I still have an unfinished one from last year so I will post about those very soon !

Another old project I've pulled out from the UFO pile is the Steam Punk quilt - I finished making the blocks for this quilt a while ago and I couldn't wait to sew up the top until I went to sew on the sashing strips and discovered that when I was sewing the blocks together I was so busy making sure the centre of each block matched up that I didn't worry about the outside edges and the edges are the seams that matter as the centre will be covered by a circle anyway !!!! jeepers !!!!

I can see myself making sure that I had my centres lined up when I was sewing these blocks - even Jen Kingwell commented on my matching centre seams on a block I posted on Instagram and I remember being so pleased with myself - honestly!! suffice to say that almost half of the blocks need some unpicking - if I leave them it means that I cut off the corners of the fans which are the main part of the block !! oh well, these are the things you learn along the way aren't they - how else do we improve otherwise !

Its not all that bad though as last week I discovered the tv show Spooks (obviously I missed it when it was released 10 20 years ago !) with the fabulous Matthew Macfadyen so I'm looking forward to unpicking and re-pinning the blocks whilst watching a wonderful British spy show but ultimately I do want to get this quilt finished so I'll add it close up to the top of the pile so it might have a chance of some progress.

Another of Jen Kingwell's quilts that I've been working on lately is her Lawn Star although I'm making mine from scraps so I'm paper piecing the diamonds rather than making them from sewn strips.

There are 200 diamonds in the quilt and I've made 100 so halfway there ! its also been a good way of sorting my scraps while I go - all of my scraps were mixed together in big plastic tubs but by spending a little time while trying to find short strips to use in the scrappy Lawn Star I've been sorting in squares, long strings, and triangles along with fat 1/8s and fat 1/16s as I go so its been a scrap bonus project too :)

Oh and I still have to finish the bag that I started for my cousin last year - it was for Christmas ! and a cushion for my mum too so they are top of the list for now.

I must be off and link up if I'm to get some of things crossed off that list !

PS - thanks and a gold medal if you kept reading to the bottom of the really not-intended long post x

furtling through August

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Thu, 17 Sep 2020 12:30:00 +0000

Hello there - hope you are well and coping with crazy life as much as you can!

I’m just scraping in right on the deadline again, with a Springtime Furtle!!

My big news for this Furtle is that I’ve finally finished my Midnight at the Oasis top – woohoo !! the little churn dash blocks were on my wall for a while as I got distracted by making other things but finally I needed to just get them finished so I could get my design wall back !! (better photos coming soon)

I’ve also recently made a couple of bags and a wallet and I have another two bags cut out and ready to sew – I’m making the two sizes of the Hillside Tote bag by Noodlehead.

however due to an ironing board injury I had to stop sewing for a week - I thought I’d lost the tip of my finger when the leg of the ironing board broke while I was holding onto it and my fingers got caught when the leg collapsed and sprung up and jammed two fingers ! This is the nail of my middle finger the day after - I also got a big cut on the other side as well as losing a chunk from the middle of the tip of my index finger – it hurt like crazy and the ironing board is now on the rubbish pile - ha!

I was a little concerned that I wouldn’t be able to sew for a while but thankfully the cuts healed quite quickly and just in time to take part in last weekend’s Maria Shell (Tales of a Stitcher) online zoom class – wow, what an amazing class that was – Maria makes the most amazing improv quilts and I was so excited to be able to join in the online class. Due to the time differences I didn’t take the live class but watched the recording of it later so that was almost as good. I’ve made a couple of mirrored stripes and I look forward to making a lot more soon!

I've been thinking of making a shades of green quilt for a while and a few weeks ago I came back from walking Pippi and just had to find the fabric and start cutting and sewing right then - I was a bit possessed I think! I free-cut skinny strips of fabric, sewed them together, and then re-cut a few strips, turned them upside down, and then sewed them back together! I just had this idea in my head that I had to make and I made it in a couple of days – of course when I finished I knew I was going to revisit it later and then when I discovered Maria was doing an online class I jumped at the chance to join in and now I know exactly what I’m going to do with my little green quilt!

For a change of scene, instead of setting myself sewing goals this month I’m going to set blogging goals instead! I’m going to do a post about my Midnight at the Oasis adventure, a post explaining my 14 shades of green top, and a post about my recent bag and wallet makes – let’s see how I go by the end of the month :)

Before I go I want to shout out and thank my friend Linda (Flourishing Palms) for the notice about Maria’s zoom class via the Vermont Quilt Festival – Linda has blogged about quite a few fabulous zoom classes she has taken lately and when she mentioned that she was taking Maria’s class I just had to check it out !!

So when I’m feeling dazed and confused by the global pandemic that has struck us all, I am also grateful for the technology that means there are now amazing artists jumping into online teaching, and that I can now take classes with teachers across the world from my home – it really is a little bit of sunshine to fade away the gloom.

Linking up to Archie the Wonder dog :)

a winter furtle ...

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Wed, 15 Jul 2020 12:00:00 +0000

Happy July ! its now the middle of the year and the world is still in the midst of a global pandemic and I still haven't finished my Midnight at the Oasis quilt ... but I AM getting closer !! so its time for a little furtle around ...

I did hope to get the top done by the end of June but I've adjusted my plans - we're all probably getting pretty good at adjusting plans these days - and now I have a new plan !

I finally finished the orange peels and then finished sewing down the appliqued circles on the centre piece - I also changed out one of the triangles in the centre piece as well. I've now sewn the centre block and the orange peel border together and I've added the applique border too !

Now I have to finish sewing down the stems around the corner basket blocks and also applique the flowers to the baskets - I'm hoping to get that finished by the end of this week.

then its onto the Churn Dash blocks - I need to sew another 40 odd 4 inch blocks - I've made a few and its been fun playing with all the fabric combos - how many fabrics can I use in one tiny block ?!?!!

As I've already finished the checkerboard border and the final courthouse steps border, once I sew all the churn dash blocks I can sew all the borders together - so my new plan is to have the top finished by next month's Furtle post - if I can stop changing and rearranging that is !!

Thanks for popping by - I hope you are staying safe and well and enjoying life as much as possible in these crazy times ! I'm constantly thankful for this creative outlet that I love and that I can retreat into when it all gets too overwhelming :)

Linking up to Archie the Wonderdog's monthly Furtle

furtling around at home

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Sat, 16 May 2020 12:00:00 +0000

Wow another couple of months have zoomed by in this crazy year - I'm sure its not just me who thinks that this year has literally flown by !?! which is good and bad too, I suppose !

anyway, it’s time to join Archie The Wonderdog for a furtle around - although to be honest its halfway through the month so I'm more than a little late to the party, especially as I started writing this post for last month's linkup which I missed !!

Like everyone else, I'm finding it hard to make sense of everything at the moment and like everyone else I've been staying at home and trying to stay safe in the current global crisis, although it sounds like we might start opening up a bit by the end of May !

A little while ago I was looking for something to straight sew - something easy and not too taxing on the brain - I think I needed to just sew to keep my mind off all the Coronavirus news and as my current projects all need at least a little bit of focus, I went digging around in one of my UFO boxes and 5 hours later found the fabrics I’d put together to make a Maple Leaf quilt - back in 2015 - lol !!

Even though it was late afternoon I got quite a few blocks cut ready for sewing and sewed a few blocks up - my original plan was for a cream background but I had this Kona Zucchini on hand and I really like how it mixes with all the browns as well as the oranges and yellows :)

At the beginning of April half of the blocks were made - I’m going for a 7 block x 7 row quilt - 63 inch square - and when I put them together on the design wall I thought it looked very busy although I think the alternate row direction above makes it a little less busy !!

so now I’m wondering if it needs sashing and then I thought I could combine with solid squares or maybe use only a few blocks in lots of negative space !! ~~anyway, I’ll continue to ponder as I finish making the blocks with the fabric I’ve already cut :)~~ I'll continue to ponder and make the blocks when I find where I've put them again !!! Honestly, once a project comes off the design wall it seems to just disappear - although I'm sure it will resurface again at just the right time when I need meditation sewing again :)

My Midnight At The Oasis project has slowly been moved from the design wall

every time I had another little project to do another piece was taken off so its totally off now although I am very happy to say I've finished all of the orange peel blocks !!!! so once I put the centre block back together I can start sewing a couple of borders on - yay.

The other project I mentioned in my last furtle is the Hourglass blocks - a prompt by The Ad Hoc Improvisational Quilters. I’ve made quite a few blocks now.

I'm still thinking about what I’ll do with them - I had a thought about columns, a la chinese coins, with solid fabrics in between columns of hourglass blocks and maybe strips in between blocks or chunks of blocks, then I thought about a medallion style with those little pink and grey blocks in the centre - anyway, I'll keep playing for a little while longer with these little piles ... while I ponder !

especially as I've already moved onto another recent UFO - my sherbet Ocean Waves blocks - I finally tracked down the 3 fabrics I'd "misplaced" and I'm absolutely loving making these blocks - it looks just like the mock up block I made in Electric Quilt !!

I'm looking forward to these blocks becoming a quilt and hopefully I won't get distracted by anything else long enough to get the rest of the blocks sewn :)

Anyway, I must post this before the link closes !! happy sewing, stay safe, and I hope life is starting to look a little like the new normal wherever you are :)

Classic and Vintage - Carolina Lily block

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Wed, 25 Mar 2020 21:00:00 +0000

I'm taking a break from the dominant issue in world news today to show my version of the Carolina Lily block that I made with the free pattern from the Fat Quarter Shop's Classic and Vintage series.

It was a fairly easy block to sew together and I used a couple of fabrics that I've used in other projects recently - my favourite OOP Dreamin Vintage in Bloomery for the background, Spark in Peony by Melody Miller for Ruby Star Society for the flowers and Enchanted Sprout Dots by Gingiber for the flower bases and bias stems.

I love making bias stems but I hadn't used them with a patchwork block before so I decided to sew them on by machine using top stitch and I quite like the effect. I'm planning on making a pillow and machine quilting the blocks so the stem stitches will blend nicely :)

I did initially think about adding a strip border to the block but I'm now thinking about setting the block on point and adding triangles to the sides to make a larger pillow and I think I might just use the background fabric rather than adding a different border fabric but we'll see !!

Pop over and visit the Jolly Jabber blog today to see all the other fabulous Carolina Lily blocks that were made for this Classic and Vintage quilt along and don't forget that the Fat Quarter Shop has flash sales every single day :)

finally furtling

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Mon, 10 Feb 2020 12:00:00 +0000

my friend Helen who blogs over at Archie the Wonderdog decided to revive her blog last year and to encourage others back to blogging she is hosting a monthly link up called Furtling Around the Blogosphere!

That was last January and at the time I was really excited about getting back into blogging as I really miss not having more info about projects with the process and ideas included but of course another year has been and gone and I haven't done a Furtle post at all !!

and I might have winced just a bit (or was that a wink!) when reading a recent post by Audrey of Quilty Folk ... and I quote ...

"Don't you just love the people who write a post after being gone for 9 months, tell us how wonderful the blogging community is and how they're recommitting? Then after another post or two they disappear forever. We're like, 'Hey, come back here! We love you!'. But it's no use, they're off over at Instagram scooping up the 'likes'."

Audrey is an amazing blogger, a prolific maker, and an allround lovely person - she makes the most wonderful improv quilts with amazing hand quilting and posts incredible details about the making of her quilts. Oh and she is the mastermind behind Quilty 365 !

Even though I think I haven't made that much to blog about, when I look around I have so many projects on the go and although it is fun to have instant feedback when posting on Instagram I really do worry that the algorithms they use mean that I don't even see the people I love anymore anyway and the advertising is getting more and more !! I do love having all of this blank space to post photos and tell stories, especially as I'm such a long term maker - haha !

As usual at this time of year I'm trying to come up with a plan to get all the projects done - I re-read a few of my previous year's first planning posts which obviously didn't work but it was fun reading :) I'm going to go with the "working on mainly one project for the month" plan for the moment.

I've been working on a couple of projects this year that I'll share soon and recently I've moved forward on my Midnight at the Oasis quilt.

The orange peel blocks have been my slow point - I have a bit of an issue with hand applique that I think is to do with my RA but since I've discovered turned edge applique I'm finding it easier to prepare the pieces and I'm actually getting the blocks hand sewn a bit quicker - I also have my Quilty 365 blocks close by so I've been hand sewing those a little as well !

I really love the little stitches on the back of the applique !

I know I said I was going to work on mainly one project but of course I'm always getting distracted by the latest bright and shiny thing - the above mentioned Audrey is also a member of The Ad Hoc Improvisational Quilters

Their first prompt for this year is Hourglass blocks and I've found that I have a large stash of half square triangles just right for making lots of improv hourglass blocks - of course I've yet to start but the ideas are whirring around in my head!!

I'm off to walk the dog and then hopefully a little hand sewing before bed :)

have an awesome week !

welcome 2020

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Fri, 10 Jan 2020 12:30:00 +0000

and what a start to the new decade here in Australia - I took this photo the day before new year's eve in Hobart - no filters needed. Its amazing to think we're already 10 days into the new year and it feels like there's a hush over the whole country.

I had plans for a roundup post in January so I could link up to Helen and Archie's Furtle Around but over the Christmas - New Year break the bushfires, already burning in parts of Australia, turned up a notch and so those plans were put on hold. By Christmas Day there were bushfires raging in every part of Australia.

photo - https://myfirewatch.landgate.wa.gov.au/

The town of Tumbarumba where I lived until a few years ago had fires at the edge of town on New Year's Eve and lost the mobile phone tower that night - by Friday the town was evacuated. Such a scary situation to be in. Thankfully no lives were lost.

Its such a tragic situation that its hard not to get drawn into the hopelessness. I'm listing a few places if you would like to donate directly.

Red Cross Australia

Wires Animal Rescue

Australian World Wildlife Fund

so instead of planning projects for the new year I started sewing pouches for wildlife and this week I worked on the first challenge for Season 11 of Project Quilting which I'll post about later.

I'll still have a roundup post to show off some of my makes from last year including my finally finished Double Wedding Ring quilt that I started five or six years ago - there are so many Finish Along posts about this quilt its probably the most mentioned quilt here - I might check the stats on that :)

and I'll also post my plans for this year which include finishing my Midnight at the Oasis quilt !

so a belated happy new year and cheers to another year of creativity :)

pop and spark !

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Mon, 09 Dec 2019 15:00:00 +0000

Popping in to share the table runner I made recently for the Fat Quarter Shop's Jelly Glazed Heart Table Runner Quilt Along.

It's a super simple project to sew together - using just a few jelly roll strips and some yardage for the background. I've made mine using a jelly roll in Pop by Rashida Coleman-Hale - so seventies with its vinyl records, balloon dogs, and soda pop bottles xx and the background is Spark in Lipstick from the Social range by Melody Miller - it's so luscious and dreamy too xx

To finish the table runner I stitched in the ditch around the jelly roll hearts and then stippled the background - I wanted to make sure the hearts popped and I also wanted to continue the quick and easy theme :) The runner finishes at 19 1/2” x 68 1/2".

I decided to go with a striped binding - even though Rashida has designed the stripe in her Pop range to run perpendicular to the selvedge.

I sewed the striped jelly roll strips together side by side and then cut them into strips and sewed those end to end - it means lots of seams all the way around but it didn't actually make much difference when sewing the binding to the quilt and I love how the binding looks :)

It's so quick you could easily make one in time for a last minute christmas gift or maybe it would finish off a gorgeous Valentine's Day table (which is just around the corner ha ha !) or using just one heart would make a really cute pillow or cushion !

The Jelly Glazed Table Runner is a free Fat Quarter Shop quilt along and there's a video tutorial too - check out the Fat Quarter Shop's Jolly Jabber blog for all the information and have a look at the other yummy table runners made using this pattern!

I'll be back soon with a plan for more making in 2020 - wow another century - wonder what it will bring !! I know there's a pink pig somewhere in my near future :)

taking a Swan Dive

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Tue, 29 Oct 2019 11:00:00 +0000

I love it when I can use the pattern name as a fun post title but I have to admit I'm starting to feel like the guy in the ad who says "but wait there's more"!

I've been playing along with the Fat Quarter Shop again for another fun paper project - this time its using Miss Rosie's Jolly Bar Cake Mix Recipe Cards

its a pack of printed foundation papers that makes two sizes of half square triangles (my mum says they're my favourite block) and they make it pretty easy to be accurate too !

You simply place your two fabrics right sides together and then place a printed paper piece on top, then hold together with a few strategically placed pins and follow the lines - there are arrows printed showing the direction and there are also numbers showing which lines to sew next - its almost like joining the dots !!

Each "recipe" paper makes a 6 inch finished block and there are six different block layout options - if you haven't played with paper they're a great option for beginners.

I used some of Amy Ellis' Wanderlust fabrics as the feature and teamed it with Moda's Natural Bella solid for the background and border - I really love that its gender neutral which is fab for a crib quilt !

The Fat Quarter Shop has this free pattern called "Swan Dive" that uses Miss Rosie's Jolly Bar Cake Mix Recipe Cards. The pattern is in two sizes - to make the crib size quilt you will need a Jolly Bar of feature fabrics and a Jolly Bar of background - they're pre-cut 5 inch x 10 inch rectangles, easy to just sew together and you can make your seams twirl too !

I love the accuracy of using papers especially when there are so many pieces in each block and all that bias - I'm not sure if its much quicker but it does seem so :)

Make sure you check out the Fat Quarter Shop's blog - The Jolly Jabber - to download this fun free pattern and to see some other wonderful quilts using this quick and easy pattern !

Ocean Waves rolling in

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Fri, 27 Sep 2019 14:30:00 +0000

Are you ready for another block in the Fat Quarter Shop Classic and Vintage Series ?

This time its the Ocean Waves block and it's made with the fabulous half square triangle paper that is sold on a roll !

I really love half square triangles and the new Its So Emma HST paper rolls makes sewing them very easy - paper rolls have sewing and cutting lines already marked so you can make the triangles the exact size you need plus you can make 700 half square triangles from the one roll !! That's a whole lot of HSTs !!

I've made my classic Ocean Waves block from Basic Grey's Grunge fabric - using Pool and Essence together and I also made a mock up block in EQ8 using a fun bundle of Grunge in sherbet colours.

When deciding on the quilt I initially thought of using the sherbet bundle to make a block from each colour but after I'd put together a few options of the design in EQ8 I decided I liked the look of the multi-coloured blocks so I'm going with the Confetti Ocean Waves quilt although I have put a sea blue/green Ocean Waves quilt on my to do list for the future - I really love the Pool and Essence together !!

I really love the multi-coloured blocks in the quilt - I think the pinwheels show a lot of movement and can't wait for the remaining fabrics to arrive so that I can make this quilt.

If you're looking for an easy way to make a lot of half square triangle blocks, then the Its Sew Emma paper rolls should be on your shopping list - no fuss and very quick and easy to use !

Pop over to the FQS Jolly Jabber blog to download your FREE Ocean Waves block pattern and also watch Kimberly’s video tutorial for a step-by-step guide on making your block!

Happy Pineapple Day !!

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Thu, 27 Jun 2019 12:00:00 +0000

Meet my sweet little Pineapple Fizz ...

This is the fun quilt that I made especially to celebrate Pineapple Day and the Fat Quarter Shop's Pineapple Day Quilt Along !

Using the fabulous new Pineapple Quilt Block Foundation Paper from the Fat Quarter Shop I made a wall hanging from both the 6 inch and 12 inch blocks !

The foundation paper is nice and thin and makes sewing up these blocks nice and easy.

I made both the 6 inch blocks and the larger 12 inch blocks and changed the fabric placement in half of them - I love how different the blocks look depending on the fabric placement - kinda like a shimmer and a shake !!

I used some of my favourite long hoarded Dreamin' Vintage Bloomery fabric (by Jeni Baker for Art Gallery Fabric) and a solid white for the background.

I LOVE this fabric - its such a fun happy yellow and so perfect for making pineapple blocks (even if it is hard to photograph the true gorgeous colour - the colour of the single block is probably closest !!)

I had fun with the free motion quilting and quilted all the background so that just the yellow pops out!

I also made a few more Pineapple blocks using my never-ending scraps...

Rather than using light/dark for each block I'm using warm/cool colours and I'm planning to use four 6 inch blocks to make a large one like the one above and also using the actual 12 inch blocks in a 4 x 4 row designs - I'm making a lap size quilt with a wide plain border to contain all that crazy scrappy colour in the middle!

Pop over to The Jolly Jabber to check out the other Pineapple Day quilts and projects and hashtag #pineappledayquilt on your socials. I hope you find some inspiration to make your own Pineapple Quilt!!

Jolly Bar Bon Bons Quilt

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Fri, 22 Feb 2019 11:30:00 +0000

I'm excited to share my finished (YES finished !!) Jolly Bar Bon Bons Quilt !!

The Jolly Bar Bon Bons Quilt is another shortcut (read quick and easy) quilt pattern for pre-cuts by the Fat Quarter Shop.

The pattern uses pre-cut Jolly Bars which are 5 inch x 10 inch rectangles in your favourite fabric ranges - you can see some of the sweet ones here !

The pattern makes a 60 inch square quilt but I made mine 40 inches as I'm planning on giving it to my Aunt who is 94 and lives in a nursing home - the smaller size will make it easier for her to manage while giving her a warm hug :)

I only just finished the binding today - as usual the quilting held me up - I just procrastinate so badly when I want to free motion quilt - eek - I had the quilt basted and the sewing machine set up ready to go for a whole day and I just couldn't bring myself to start - thank goodness for deadlines otherwise it probably would still be sitting unquilted !!

I finally sat down and quilted it with a loopy loop stitch and it only took around 1 1/2 hours to quilt and I thoroughly enjoyed it !!

I also really love the result :) I'm not sure I'll ever get sick of the texture of free motion quilting so I just need to remember this next time I'm trying to avoid it !

As I'm trying to use my overflowing stash this year I decided to use some left over Wren and Friends by Gina Martin for Moda charm squares - it meant that my "twirl" HST blocks were a different fabric to the centre squares but I think it adds some charm to the quilt. I can also envisage a cute baby quilt with polka dot HSTs and solid centre squares and low volume fabrics for the background :)

For the back I used one of my favourite fabrics from Summersault by Erin McMorris for Free Spirit - I so love the tone of the pink in this fabric and the colours of the raindrops match the charm squares so well ! I finished off with an aqua stripe for the binding.

You can get a copy of the FREE pattern here and make sure you check out Kimberley's tips on making the quilt at the Fat Quarter Shop's Youtube channel !!

You can also see the other quilts made with this pattern over at the FQS's Jolly Jabber blog and on social media with these hashtags #fqsquiltalong #shortcutquilt #jollybarbonbonsquilt.

If you're looking for a beginners quilt or a fast and easy quilt to sew up in a weekend, this one fits the bill :)

something sweet

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Fri, 09 Nov 2018 21:00:00 +0000

I've joined in with the Fat Quarter Shop for a quilt along to make another sweet shortcut quilt - the Layer Cake Custard quilt :)

well, I've actually made two quilts - that's how shortcut they are !! I couldn't decide between using my Cotton and Steel stash and my Tula Pink stash so I decided to make one of each.

I'm really excited about this pattern - the "cake" block allows for showing off some of those amazing fabrics and then you can use basics for the "custard" blocks.

As I said they were really quick to make - I'm sure you could put one or a couple together over a weekend - and I saved even more time by not sub-cutting the strip sets until after I sewed them onto the blocks which worked well.

I think this is the first quilt that I've made that uses nice big chunks of fabric and I love being able to use the amazing art of Tula Pink and the (original fab five) Cotton and Steel designers - they make such gorgeous fabrics for big block quilts !!

I'm looking forward to doing some free motion quilting and I already have a plan using Angela Walter's dot to dot designs - just need to organise some backing !!

The FREE Layer Cake Custard pattern includes instructions to make a delicious quilt that finishes at 63” x 88”. It makes a great gift and is very beginner friendly!

In the video tutorial Kimberly shows you how to make the two main blocks that make up this timeless beauty.

So pop over to the Fat Quarter Shop's Jolly Jabber to check out the other wonderful quilts in this series - there are quick links to the pattern and the video tutorial too !

its a Cubes quilt !

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Sat, 28 Apr 2018 02:18:00 +0000

I joined in with the Fat Quarter Shop this month and made the Fat Quarter Cubes quilt - its another fun and fast quilt in their Shortcut Pattern series and it makes big blocks to show off some fabulous fabrics !!

I decided to use my stash and pulled out some of my hoarded Denyse Schmidt fabrics - I used mainly Washington Depot with a few other favourites as well.

This is a really easy pattern to put together - just some squares and rectangles arranged into big 18 inch squares and joined together with sashing - it also makes a big quilt, finishing at 66 x 87 inches !

In fact the longest part of making it was deciding where to place the blocks - that probably took me a couple of days - ha !

I'm planning on doing some free motion quilted wavy lines to finish it - I actually have the backing made and the batting cut so I'm well on my way and I'm determined not to let this one become a UFO - it fits my bed perfectly :)

if you want to make your own Cubes quilt then check out the Fat Quarter Shop's Jolly Jabber post to see some other fabulous versions of this quilt and get the FREE Fat Quarter Cubes Pattern and video tutorial! All you need is 18 fat quarters, 2 yards of background fabric, backing, and binding and you’re ready to go!

2nd quarter - 2018 finish-along

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Thu, 19 Apr 2018 01:00:00 +0000

well after a successful first quarter (hey I got one finish - I'm definitely calling that a success !!) I'm gearing up to see if I can get another finish or two this quarter.

My plan for this year was to start from the oldest FAL that I'd posted all those years ago but I was quickly overwhelmed by how many finishes I have so I though that I'd just pick one or two from that list !!

My first hopeful for this quarter is from that list and is a quilt top I made over a couple of weekends back in late 2011 - the Max and Whiskers Wonky Quilt.

It then went into the quilting pile and I finally decided in 2014 that I'd pebble quilt in the borders around the blocks - well as a beginner quilter that took 3 years - I discovered it was really hard to quilt small pebbles with white thread on white fabric so maybe there are a few rocks in there too *giggles*

I finally finished the quilting in February last year - a year ago !! and I still haven't done the binding or made a label so I can call it finished !!

Hopeful number 2 is the Steam Punk Quilt - I started making these blocks last year and have quite a collection but obviously need a few more - I have fabric picked for at least another ten blocks so that's a start !

Hopeful number 3 is the Foxley Village Quilt - again a fairly recent UFO and really not that much of the top to do to get to the quilting stage. Mr Fox needs a face though, poor Mr Sparrow needs an eye to see and some legs to perch on, and the flowers need some stems to be able to sway around in the breeze :) can you tell I'm not that keen on hand embroidery anymore !

Hopeful number 4 is the Double Nine Patch Quilt that I made in January this year for a Fat Quarter Shop quilt-along - needs quilting but hasn't seen the light of day since the first quarter !!

Hopeful numbers 5 and 6 are two cushions for my flamingo and unicorn loving twin cousins birthdays in December last year.

They were pieced in January and I have the backs done but of course I'm stuck on the quilting again - I really need to Just Do It !!!!

my list is longer this quarter but I know that I'll have at least two finishes and hopefully a few more can join the finish party in July !!

Linking up to the second quarter of the 2018 Finish-A-Long.

Houston - we have a finish !!

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Tue, 10 Apr 2018 02:30:00 +0000

Yes, an actual finish in the first finish-along of the year !! so I've just proven that miracles do in fact happen and I'm excited to share with you my sweet little sewing machine cover that I finally made.

After years with just a fat quarter as a cover, my lovely Bernina now has a fancy cover to keep the dust off her and as she is on display all the time it really brightens up the space !

I decided to use some of my favourite fabric scraps to make the cover and its just a simple fold over design - I figured as I (used to) use my machine so much I didn't want to be too elaborate :)

I was going to do straight line quilting on it but decided to use the opportunity for some free motion quilting practice using Angela Walters' paisley feather design and I'm really glad I did - I'm really happy with the finish!

You can see that I did straight line stitching across the middle - I'd already started that before I decided to do FMQ - and I'm happy to say it really helps the cover sit well on the machine.

So there you have it - one finish from my very small first quarter finish-along list ! fingers crossed the other projects on my list might get further along next quarter :)

Linking up just in time to the first quarter finishes of the 2018 Finish-Along !

first quarter - 2018 finish-a-long

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Tue, 16 Jan 2018 01:52:00 +0000

its a new year which means the start of another finish-a-long !! and as in previous years, I have another long list of hopeful finishes !!

well actually my list for this first quarter is quite small - 4 projects to be exact. I have one deadline and the rest is sewing just for me :)

#1 - Steam Punk Quilt
I'd love to make progress on my Steam Punk quilt this year - I've made a few blocks since my first block in April last year but I still have quite a few to go.

#2 - Foxley Village
I was hoping to get the last few Foxley Village blocks finished last year but with the move it hasn't seen the light of day since then !

#3 - Nine Patch quilt
I've given myself a deadline of the end of January to have this nine patch top quilted - hopefully it will be bound by then too.

#4 - Sewing machine cover
and the last item on my list for this quarter is the sewing machine cover that's been on my to do list since I got my new Bernina 4 years ago !! I've managed to sew together a scrappy cover which of course just needs to be finished :)

Linking up to the first quarter of the 2018 Finish-A-Long - just in the nick of time !!

Double 9 Patch Quilt Along

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Fri, 05 Jan 2018 12:30:00 +0000

Its time to show you my version of the Fat Quarter Shop's Double 9 Patch Quilt - its one of their new patterns in the Classic & Vintage series.

I decided to use a Prima Homespun in Sorbet Pink for the background as I had enough yardage already in my stash and I have a lovely little stash of grey fabrics too so I decided to use those with the pink. My sister had a pink and grey theme for her wedding so I knew they would look good together.

Its a very quick and easy quilt to make - in fact I made most of the quilt in one weekend !

The blocks are made with strips and once all the strips are sewn and cut, putting them together into blocks is a breeze and along with nice big plain squares, its fast to finish - which is just as well as I was in the middle of packing my house to move interstate when I decided I needed a break and spent a couple of days sewing the blocks !

Now I just need to quilt it !! I'm excited to make some progress in free motion quilting this year and I've been playing around with a couple of designs - this one I thought I could make some freezer paper templates of a flower to trace around as well as mirror the squares in the plain blocks.

I could also try Angela Walter's meandering flower design as a single flower in each small square and way bigger in the large squares.

I'm also keen to start using my new ruler foot and rulers so I'll keep playing around and do some samples but I'd really love this quilt to be my first finish for the year so I'm planning on having it done by the end of January !

You can check out the other pretty versions of the blocks and quilts at Fat Quarter Shop's blog Jolly Jabber. I especially love the colourful little squares versions - they look like sparkly stars.

If you’re ready to sew along, grab your supplies, download the FREE block pattern and watch Kimberly’s video tutorial for a step-by-step guide on making your block! Meanwhile, I'll be back to show you the finished quilt in a few weeks :)

December Quilty365 blocks

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Mon, 01 Jan 2018 13:00:00 +0000

Happy New Year !!

I hope you had a wonderful Christmas and New Year - I loved having my first Tassie Christmas in quite a few years :)

I've been seeing a lot of round up for 2017 and planning for 2018 posts around the internet and while I haven't thought about doing those posts yet, I am happy that I'm only two days late in posting the final linky in this year's Quilty 365 !!

I've thoroughly enjoyed hosting this linky through 2017 - although we didn't have too many starters its been fun having LJ and Jann consistently linking up with me - thanks lovelies :)

I was hoping to take the photos of the blocks at the beach or maybe just outside but whenever I think about taking photos it seems to be windy or overcast or both !!

I just put my design wall up this week (after two months) which must mean its time for some sewing around here :)

so onto the December blocks...

a mixture of bright happy summer blocks with the always included animal menagerie !!

this Art Gallery Fabric by Jenni Baker is one of my all time favourite fabrics - its just the perfect shade of happy yellow and those little flowers are adorable - just right for the first day of summer !!

some more "celebrate summer" blocks - if I was five years old again this sweet little summer dress would be my favourite :)

this sweet apple fabric is to celebrate my Dad's birthday on 23 December - he was born in Tasmania too so the apple theme is perfect :)

It was very hard only choosing 3 christmas fabrics - I have quite a few cute christmas fabrics - mostly from Cotton and Steel who are fast becoming my favourite fabric company !

of course there is the usual animal collection - I'm actually amazed at how much animal fabric I own !!

and these two blocks I thought were perfect for the year end - fireworks and bubbles from the champagne :)

so that's it - all the blocks chosen for each day of 2017 - I've enjoyed picking out every fabric and now I just have to sew them all - I'm hoping to have this top together by the middle of this year - I still need to decide if I want to lay them out in the months they were picked or just muddle them up and sew them together where they land - aaaah decisions, decisions !!

Thanks for following along (and linking up) on this year long journey with me and a special thanks to Audrey of Quilty Folk for letting me take over this fun project in 2017 :)

An InLinkz Link-up

November Quilty 365

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Wed, 06 Dec 2017 13:00:00 +0000

oh my - its the second last month of our Quilty 365 blocks - of course I'm late in posting but we'll overlook that, shall we !!

I was pretty busy in November as I moved from Tumbarumba in New South Wales to Tasmania but I still managed to pick out the fabrics for my daily blocks.

This special little heart block is for my mum whose birthday was on 1 November

and I chose this apple fabric as it was perfect to celebrate my arrival in Tassie :)

I also have quite a few Cotton and Steel fabrics this month as I'm making Jen Kingwell's Steam Punk quilt with them.

as well as some Tula Pink prints

and of course what would the month be without flowers !

well, next month is the last month in our 2017 #quilty365 sew along and I promise I'll be on time :)

An InLinkz Link-up

see ya Tumba - hello Tassie !

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Mon, 06 Nov 2017 04:00:00 +0000

well its official - I'm finally going back home !

after years on the mainland and the past 16 and a half years in the little country town of Tumbarumba in New South Wales I'm heading back to Hobart, Tasmania, and I'm so excited !

I'll miss Tumbarumba and the friends I've made here, but with the announcement of the merger of the Tumbarumba and Tumut Councils last year I knew I needed to make my dream of going back to Hobart a reality. From my point of view, the NSW Government got it so wrong with the council mergers and its been a pretty exhausting time !

I'll also miss seeing the gorgeous Mt Kosciuszko and Snowy Mountains all covered in snow...

but I'm very excited that in just a little while I'll be walking on the beach at Primrose Sands - oh such bliss !! we had a shack there when I was a kid and I have such fond memories :)

It will be so nice to go home to the place I was born and spent my childhood but its changed so much too that it will be fun to check out all of the new things - "moving to Tassie" has become quite the trend in the tree/sea change over the years so there will be lots of surprises, especially in the food and art scenes :) but of course while there might be more actual houses at Primrose Sands now, the beach is still exactly as I remember it !

this view of Hobart is always hard to take too - haha !! My beautiful Mount Wellington, the Derwent River, and the Tasman Bridge - its the view that greets you on driving into Hobart from the airport and I never grow tired of it - in fact, this photo was the screen saver on my work computer :)

I'm going to try and get some quilting done (for the last quarter of the finish-along) when I first get there and then look forward to spending christmas with my family - my cousins and aunts and uncles - before getting back to reality and trying to find a job in the new year !

October Quilty 365

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Wed, 01 Nov 2017 09:00:00 +0000

Its the first of November - wow - another year almost disappeared ! its also my mum's birthday today so happy birthday mum xxx

and its time for another month of quilty 365 blocks

My block choices are pretty much as usual - a mix of flowers and animals and spots and stripes - but I did have fun using some different colour backgrounds as well as some patterned backgrounds.

I've used some of my favourite DS fabrics as well as Bluebird Park by Kate and Birdie and Cotton and Steel - there's even a little bit of Liberty this month !

Tula Pink, more Cotton and Steel as well as Momo and another favourite from Violet Craft and being Halloween I had to include orange bats - just right !

With only 2 more months to go I'm getting excited about seeing all of these blocks together - still working out whether to put them in date order or just scatter them about !

the last quarter of this year's Finish-A-Long

noreply@blogger.com (leanne) — Sat, 07 Oct 2017 22:29:00 +0000

I had a list of proposed finishes for the 3rd quarter Finish-A-Long and of course didn't get any of them done - its been a bit hectic around here lately !! as there are still a few hours to link up with the last quarter Finish-A-Long I'm just going to repost that list - I'm hoping to have some time in November and December to get these long overdue quilts actually quilted and finished !!

I'm hoping to finish at least these six tops listed - all except one have appeared on at least one Finish-A-Long list !!

Nested Churn Dash quilt - a Care Circle quilt that has been sewn together and needs quilting and finishing.

Star blocks quilt - this quilt top needs quilting and finishing.

Polka Dot Circles quilt - blocks need to be sewn together into a top, quilted, and finished !

Scrappy Plus quilt - blocks need to be sewn together into a top, quilted, and finished !

Pink Pez Mod Pop - this quilt is from my first Finish-A-Long post back in 2013 ! I had a quilting plan that I tried a couple of years ago and it didn't work so it was put away - I've now got another quilting design in mind so fingers crossed this one works :)

Mango Dreamin' - this quilt design is Jacquie Gering's Atomic Squares Quilt which appeared in Modern Quilts Unlimited and I just loved the mid century mod design ! I still need to organise thread and a backing for this one but I have a simple quilting plan in mind so hopefully it will get finished !

I'm pretty confident that I'll have these done by the end of this quarter and I'm hoping that will set me up to get a few more finishes done next year :)

Linking up to 2017 Finish-A-Long