In July 2015 I finished my blue Split 9-patch.

I had a lot of HSTs left over, a whole box of them, and they've been cluttering up my table ever since. I thought it might be cute if I made a little quilt using the same layout as the Split 9-patch, so that's what I did.  

 It only took a couple of nights to finish, and now that box of leftovers has been dealt with. The Wild Goose Chase blocks above it are on my design wall to see if I'm inspired to make more of them.  I'm not reallly.  I think they're destined for an Orphan quilt.

But I'm away from my sewing room for a few weeks, helping with an especially busy start to the school year.  There have been a lot of doctor's appoinments, school committments, trips to the hairdresser, and a hens party for a family wedding. I babysit whichever boy doesn't need to go out, so Shonny isn't dragging reluctant, screaming children all over the city, and I minded all three of them the weekend of the hens party.  As Thomas said, "Nanny, you got angry eyes!" after he'd run around shrieking with excitement for 15 minutes. A movie marathon fixed him, Frozen 2 calms them all down.

 Finn turns 1 next week, there is a birthday party this weekend at a kindergym.  He is going to love it, he's a born climber.  He gets onto everything, and will go and fetch a box or chair if he can't reach something.  

He's heart-attack material.

It's a good thing he can get himself down from these positions, he's much more careful than Thomas ever was, but I still stop him climbing whenever I can. I don't want any accidents.

This is what happens when Nan changes the baby without turning the light on.  Sigh.

I came out of the kitchen to investigate all the noise and found them doing this.

Amazingly they all survived without injury, but Nan put her angry eyes on again.

So no sewing, but lots of fun and games.

Read more...

Quick finish

I made these blocks last year while I was clearing out my 2.5"strip drawers, and then put them aside. I sewed the blocks together at the start of this year, and then they just sat needing borders. A few weeks ago I needed a quick finish to boost my spirits, so I pulled them out and in one night I had a quilt top.  That certainly made me feel better.

I have 63 of these Spinning Rectangle blocks now, they are a brilliant leader-ender.  

I need at least 80, so it will take only a little while to accumulate the next 17 blocks and then I'll have another 'quick' finish.  Except it's taken many months to get these blocks done, but it took so little conscious effort that it will seem like they just appeared..

I need another project that uses quick blocks that I can sew and set aside for later, so I think I'll do another 16 patch.

I tried to make this quilt 12 years ago, and it morphed into something entirely different; maybe this time I can stick to the plan.  Although I'm thinking it could look nice made in shirt fabrics. Heaven knows I have enough of those.  

Just recently Mereth and I had a  session watching Youtube videos while we cut up my stash of op-shop shirts.  It was great fun, and after a few episodes of Hoarders we'd 'deboned' 31 shirts and reassured ourselves that our sewing rooms aren't hoards. No food on the floor, no piles of newspapers, no dead animals or live vermin.  Except a mouse I call Mr Ratty, and Mereth assures me he's history now, got too casual about the trap. And he was promptly disposed of in the bin, not left for me to find weeks later when I finally get to go home.  I understand a hoarder's grief at having to give up things they treasure, that bring them comfort, but I don't understand letting those things rot and get ruined.  A quote I read once has stayed with me; the price of beautiful things is loving care.  I hope I can always give my things the care they deserve.

I have been home so rarely this year, but luckily it hasn't been a hot summer and my little garden is surviving so far.  I planted this tub of petunias last year, and it was the work of minutes to do it.  Every time I go home they are still beautiful, still cheerful, and I wish I had planted even more of them. Maybe next spring I can do that, but to be honest they're only doing so well because of the rain and low temperatures.  Who knows what next summer will be like. 

Read more...

Stash enhancement

Aren't these pretty fabrics?  Not my usual style at all.

Some Tilda, even some Tula Pink.

Before Christmas Mereth and I went for a jaunt to Charlene's in Jamestown, and I bought a few things to add to the stash. The pretty fabrics are for my Tulips quilt, which has been languishing in a project box for many months.  I'm hoping the new fabric will get me motivated to buckle down and finish it.

I have 9 blocks done, 

and bits and pieces cut for the next 20. It's a pleasant change working with such happy, bright fabrics.  Having a single white fabric for the background is also pleasant; I don't have to choose a background for each block, just cut up yards and yards of 1.5" strips.  

Read more...

Meadow

I was working on these blocks before Christmas too, and sewed madly to get it to this stage.

And then I got stuck debating about borders, and coudn't choose between these two options.

This one is a nice yellowy green.

This one is a more muted green.

It's a dilemma. I know I can have these borders on in a few hours, if I can just make a decision. I took a lot of care with the colours of these blocks, and I want to make sure I choose exactly the right fabric as a frame. I'm even considering shopping for something new, if I can wrangle a trip to a quilt shop.

I'm calling this Meadow, it's such a pretty combination of greens and pink and yellows.  It's hard to believe its the same block as the Patio quilt, but it is.  The blocks were so quick and easy, I didn't mind spending a bit of extra time on the red squares around the outside.

Read more...

I tried

I had this notion that I was going to finish 20 tops in 2020. It started off really well, until I got to #15, the Brickworks top. After that, I seemed to be all over the shop, with no clear focus. I went off on a side tangent with the ninepatch leader-enders, which at least resulted in another finished top, the brown and navy ninepatch. But I was also working on four projects at once, and trying to dig up something that could be finished quickly so I could tick no.20 off my list and ..... then what?  There were't going to be any bells and whistles or fireworks, so why was I trying so hard? I wasn't enjoying myself any more, it was all a race. So I stepped aside and let 2020 just race off to it's own conclusion.

Now that all the holiday fuss has died down, I'm sitting in my sewing room surveying the chaos and deciding what to do first. It looks like someone shook my room like a snowglobe, and stuff settled back on every surface. I'm going to potter for a little while, just picking up one thing at a time and putting it away, until enough order is restored for me to get stitching again.  

First thing will be to get the borders on this top, and off my design wall.

Everything was cut and waiting for me to do it last thing before I went down to Shonny's for Christmas; 

it was at this point the I decided to walk away and come back to it when I would actually enjoy the process. I made these blocks in June I think, and put them away to work on when I needed a quick finish. It was a good idea, but I'm glad I came to my senses. Now it can be the first finish of 2021.

I'm working on my Tulip blocks,

 and the Spinning Rectangles,

and the scrap blocks.

I'll work on getting them organised and cut more of what I need and kit blocks  up for easy sewing.It's much nicer to sew for pleasure instead of some crazy need to reach a goal.

Read more...

Patio

Happy 2021 to all.  Hopefully this year will see us closer to managing Covid-19 and returning to a more normal life. I divided my time between the grandchildren in Adelaide and my home here, and haven't really gone anywhere except the local supermarket and the coffee shop. I'm content with that though, and quite willing to keep to that routine until a vaccine is available.

We've had appalling colds for the last 4 weeks, so it was a difficult time with grumpy babies and kids, but fingers crossed that we're over that.  It was rounded off nicely with a bout of gastro just before New Years Eve, Thomas was the only one who escaped.  It seems a fitting end to a very strange year.

I helped Shonny and Co. pack up for a 4-day New Year's camping trip. She rang the caravan park to see if they provided toilet paper in the ensuite powered site.  "oh yes,' said the girl brightly, 'there's two rolls so you should be right.' Two adults, 5 children, staying for 4 days; Seonaid took extra.

Once they left I tidied the house and cleaned it top to bottom.  I imagine Shonny will be grateful that she doesn't have to arrive home and deal with the house in the state it was.We couldn't stay on top of everything when we were all throwing up, so it was a disaster zone. I shut the door at 9.30pm, and drove home, and arrived just in time to text everyone Happy New Year and fall into bed.  What a day/week/year!!

Today I'm going to potter in my sewing room and decide what I will sew first. It's been 10 days since I set foot in there, so it will be lovely to reacquaint myself with my projects.

One of the last finishes was the Patio quilt.  It was so enjoyable to put together, and I think I"ll go on making the blocks and see what other settings there are to play with.

I've already started another quilt with these red centres, but some are too dark and are in the reject pile.

I'm sure I can come up with a plan for them.

Read more...

Ninepatch pattern

 Renee asked for a pattern for the ninepatch top in the last post.  There isn't a commercial pattern, but it's really simple to calculate what's needed for your own quilt.

73" x 73"

This is my drawing in  EQ8. I've made all the sections a different colour so it's easy to see how the blocks are put together. 

There are 17 complete double nine-patch blocks, made with five 3.5" nine-patches and four 3.5" squares. (85 nine-patches, 68 3.5" squares)

There are 8 partial double nine-patches, made with three 3.5" nine-patches, three 3.5" squares, and a 3.5" x 9.5" strip. (24 nine-patches, twenty four 3.5" squares, eight 3.5" x 9.5" strips)

The blocks are set with twenty four 9.5" squares.

The borders are 8 strips of fabric 5.5" wide, joined in pairs.

EQ8 says these are the fabric requirements;

Mine is completely scrappy except for the border.

Hopefully this is correct, I'll check it later 'cause I'm rushing to get ready for another family thing. Life doesn't slow down when you get older.....

Read more...