WIP Wednesday - "A Very Swoony Christmas"

It is getting very hot here in Australia and summer doesn't officially start for another month! So i am not going to attempt to do any large projects, and although sweating under a quilt whilst trying to quilt is a great way to lose a few kilos, I have already decided that my Swoon is going to be sent to a LQS for quilting!

I have 7/9 blocks sewn now  - being a bit slow finishing is not so bad as I get to see all of the wonderful Swoons in the flickr group and get ideas of how I would like to finish mine.

image source

And the partners for the Modern Christmas Table Runner swap 2012 have been assigned - I am going to start looking through fabrics very soon as there is a fairly quick turnaround time for this swap. Above is the inspiration mosaic I posted in the group - to see the individual photos please click on the link below the photo.

PS. We don't really celebrate Halloween here in Australia but my 17 yo daughter has already paraded about in her "Ballerina" costume and Son #1 is about to go trick-or-treating with friends. I am not sure what he will wear - I suggested he wear a Star Wars/Jedi outfit which I wore to a  Scientific conference a few years ago but I don't think he knows what I am talking about:)
Kirsten.



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Short and Sweet......

Keeping this post brief today as there are so many fabulous quilts to still look at in the Bloggers Quilt Festival!  Anyway, my 7th Swoon block has been sewn up and I am pretty  happy as I managed to get all of the stripey fabric to go in the same direction on each of the points.

It is encouraging that there are still quite a few people in the "Swooning On A Hop Along" flickr group working on their quilts. And I really love looking through the many beautiful finished quilts to get some ideas on how to quilt this 80 x 80 quilt.
Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory .
Kirsten.

Bloggers Quilt Festival - Modern Mini

Hi and welcome if you are visiting from the Blogger's Quilt Festival! 

Around about then, a Modern Mini contest was just starting, so I thought that it was the perfect opportunity to try to use this design to make a mini quilt. I firstly drew up the design on paper, and once I had it basically worked out, selected 9-10 fabrics in the four colour gradients that I used. 

I started with a few small hourglass blocks in the centre and then used mainly triangles after that to form the pattern. The blocks came out at 11 inches each, and I added a thin cream border so the whole quilt finishes at 26 inches wide.

For the quilting, I decided to do dense quilting with lines about 1/4 of an inch apart, in variegated threads to match the colours in each block.

I used a solid black for the backing and binding and it really shows quilting with the coloured threads well.

A few stats:

Size - 26" x 26"

Fabric - solids comprising of cotton (Kona, Prima, Bella) linen, and organic cotton.
Design - original design credit to Frank De Backer
Quilting - machine quilted by me, with dense organic quilting spiralling in a square from the centre of each coloured block.
Category - Art quilt, wall hanging or home machine quilted (I am using it as a wall hanging though so that may be the best category)

Thanks so much for visiting and please go along to Amy's blog and have a look here at the amazing quilts that are in the Blogger's quilt Festival - there is always so much inspiration on show!

Kirsten.

Modern Christmas Table Runner Swap (2012)

After my post earlier this week, there seem to be quite a few people keen to do this swap, so we have decided to open the sign ups.  If you want to participate, you will need to make a quilted table runner/topper or wall hanging for a secret partner as well as a small Christmas decoration. You can see last years runners here  - this is an international swap so is open to everyone! If you are interested in joining this swap please go here, click on the 'join this group' button and then send me a flickr mail: please include your name, address, email and your Flickr name, as well as your preference for either a table runner/topper or a wall hanging. 

Sign up dates: October 24-30 (closing on October 30 @ 9am EDST Australia/3 pm 29th Oct US/10 pm 29 Oct UK if the Time converter is correct) 
Partners Assigned: - by October 31
Making: October 31-November 30
Post to Your Partner: November 26-November 30
We would love to have you join us as it was such a fabulous and fun swap last year!  Kirsten.

WIP Wednesday

Another week, another Swoon block:) Now that I have finished and mailed off a few swap items, I am able to do continue with my Swoon blocks.

This is block #7 laid out and ready to sew up which I hope to do later this week.

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

And check back Friday for the next Bloggers Quilt Festival hosted by Amy  - I am just trying to decide on which quilt to enter........ 

Kirsten.

Are you up for a Christmas Table Runner swap?

I participated in the Modern Christmas Table Runner swap last year which was hosted by the lovely Susan (Canadian abroad) and contacted her the other day to see if there was to be another round for this year. Susan has a lot on at this time so I suggested that maybe my sister-in-law and I could try hosting another round together. 

Above: the runner from last year I made for Emily (strawberry patch)

 We would like to quickly gauge interest in a second round of this swap - if we were to host a swap this year we would need to get sign ups done ASAP so partners can be allocated by the end of October, with posting dates of Nov 26-30th. So the time frame is short but fairly do-able. Another quilter friend mentioned that a table runner can be made fairly quickly and the wall hangings would probably be the same.

Above: the gorgeous runner I received from Trudi (Quilting Prolifically)

Susan also suggested that people may like to request a wall hanging rather than a table runner if they were in this swap last time, or they may just want another table runner for a different place in their house. What do you think?  Any input will be greatly appreciated so please let me know your thoughts in a comment below or join the flickr group here.Thanks! 
Kirsten.

Mouth Stitches Tote bag and fob.

The tote bag and key fob for the Mouthy Stitches swap are due to go in the mail tomorrow and I have just finished sewing the label on the inside of the lining so it is all ready to post to my partner.

I decided to make a Granny Square for one panel of the tote bag, in pretty colours which my partner likes,

 And then did a rainbowy AMH  feather on the other side, which looks very bright and colourful against the dark grey cotton/linen blend which I used for the main fabric.

This is the first time I have used these new leather "gemini stitches" labels which I bought after seeing them on the Bijou Lovely blog - my partner can always remove it if she wishes to reverse the bag.

And the matching key fob is made so that it can be worn over her wrist if needed - I have one like this for my car and house keys and I love it! It keeps your hands free and you are less likely to lose or drop your keys.

Linking to Sew Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations and with Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory (buttons in left sidebar).

Kirsten.

WIP Wednesday and some Happy Mail:)

When I got home form work this afternoon, there was a package in the mail box containing this lovely mini quilt from Kristy (Handmade Retro). . The piecing on the mini is fabulous and it 
was a huge surprise as she was my partner in the Down Under Doll quilt swap as well, so we made for each other

 Kristy also included some cute ribbon and elephant fabric, along with a chocolate which was a bit on the soft side due to the 32 deg C (89F) we had here today - it is sitting in the fridge ready for later though!

 

I am still working on a key fob for my partner for the Mouthy Stitches swap which is the only "other" item we are able to send, and was thinking of using the same fabric as will be used for the of the bag so that they match. I have some other hardware ordered but if it does not arrive in time, I have another plan for the fob.

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.
Kirsten.

DS mini quilt - Granny squares

I have a second partner in the DS mini quilt swap, and this time I decided to use Jolenes tutorial again to make some Granny squares using some fabrics and colours that she seems to like.

I handstitched around each block in matching thread whilst watching TV the other night, and bound it in the same ivory solid that was used for the background.

In order to make 4 granny square blocks, I downsized the size of the squares to 2 inches rather than the 2.5 inches in the original pattern so these blocks ended up at just over 7 inches each, with the mini quilt finishing at about 16.5 inches square.

I made a "practice" block to check out the finished size, which was the perfect size to make into a matching mug rug to send along as well. The backing fabric is the same floral as I used for the mini quilt.

I am posting this package off later today and hopefully it wont take too long to reach my partner.

Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory (button in left sidebar).

Kirsten.

WIP Wednesday - Mouthy Stitches tote

Making some progress on the tote bag for the Mouthy Stitches swap. 

I have pieced the front panel using a Granny Square block in pink and aqua, and some dark grey linen which are all colours my partner likes.

And then I thought the back looked too plain so used the feathers pattern from Anna Maria Horner to make a rainbow feather and did a little handstitching around it in perle cotton.

 Hopefully I am on the right track..........

 

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Kirsten.

Down Under Doll Quilt Swap

I finished sewing down the binding on this mini quilt for the Down Under Doll quilt swap and have posted it off to my partner this afternoon.

I ended up hand quilting around each "petal" of the block in a matching thread colour -  I was going to do something different but I am glad that I went with this instead.

The back of the quilt is made up of a paper pieced block using a design by Leila at Where the Orchids Grow.

Because this is a local swap, hopefully it wont take too long for the minis to reach their new homes.

Linking to Sew Modern Monday at Canoe Ridge Creations and with Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory (buttons in left sidebar).

Kirsten.

Just 3 for October......

Another month gone - not long now while before the end of the year is upon us again. So, just a quick recap of my Just 3 for September:
1. DUDQS -  the mini quilt top is all sewn together.

2.DS mini quilt swap - I have finished the mini quilt and it is ready to post off. I used a tutorial for the String Star from here.

3.Swoon quilt - block #6 sewn together. These are what I have done so far:

Now for my Just 3 for October:
1. I have just signed up for the Mouthy Stitches 2 swap and have to get a move on making a tote bag for my partner as it is due later this month. This is my mosaic:

click here to see links to each pic

2. Finish off the DUDQS  mini - I decided to try a paper pieced block from Leila at Where The Orchids Grow for the back. I just have to make and sew the binding on now.

3. Finish one (or two) more Swoon blocks - I started this quilt back in January and I really want to get it done by the end of the year.
Linking to Just 3 with Tracey at TraceyJay quilts, and to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced (buttons in left sidebar).
Kirsten.