"Create"

As I mentioned in my post last week, the word I chose to make for the lovely Cat in the AusMod Bee was "create". I have now added the strips between the letters and the borders to complete the block which has finished at about 9 x 22 inches  so will be mailing it off to Cat later today. I hadn't sewn letters before but they were so much fun to do!!

I have now added the strips between the letters and the borders to complete the block which has finished at about 9 x 22 inches  so will be mailing it off to Cat later today. I hadn't sewn letters before but they were so much fun to do!!

And speaking of Aussie swaps, the latest round of the Down Under Doll Quilt Swap is open for sign ups from Australia and NZ until 7th September, with a mailing date of December 2nd 2013. This time, there is also an option to have a Christmas themed swap - more details here!

Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.
Kirsten.

WIP Wednesday

I am making this Giant Star quilt for a gift and only have a few weeks to go before it needs to be done!

I am using some lovely fabrics from Sandi Hendersons Secret Garden range - the pink will be the backing and the blue is for the binding.

 Luckily I have a little furry friend to help me with the tedious task of basting:)

Even if he doesn't seem to be enjoying doing this either....

 

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.
Kirsten.

August Bee Blocks

After doing some much needed house work around here yesterday (which of course has nothing to do with the fact that my parents are visiting this weekend!), I still had time to work on my bee blocks for this month.

 As soon as Kat mentioned that she wanted "word" blocks,  I began thinking about which one to  make, and ended up chosing "Create". Whether it be related to craft and sewing, or just creating a wonderful life, create just kept coming back to me. I followed the instructions in Tanya Riccuci's "Word Play Quilts" book and found the letters quite fun and easy to make.

I laid them out on the background fabric to see how it would all turn out, and hoped that it would be able to be read clearly so I just need to add the Zen Chic "Comma" background fabric to the letters pieces now!

And I also made the wonky cross blocks for the Simply Solids Fallow group bee using this tutorial.. These  blocks range in size from 6.5 to 10 .5 inches and will be in the mail early this week. 
Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.

Kirsten.

WIP Wednesday - August Bee Blocks

Now that I have finished off a couple of quilts that were in progress, I need to concentrate on making the bee blocks for August. First up are the word blocks for Cat in the Aus Mod Bee - she sent out a lovely bundle of fabrics along with one of the cute printed panels from Cat and Vee. And as I needed an alphabet pattern to work from , I also bought a copy of Tanya Riccuci's "Word Play Quilts" book which is just fabulous! Just need to decide on which word to sew now...

And for the Simply Solids bee, this month Amira has asked for some wonky cross blocks using this tutorial. And speaking of this bee, Adrianne has just finished her stunning  "Pistols At Dawn" quilt which we made the blocks for earlier this year. Just love seeing these bee quilts finished!

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Kirsten.

Tripping Along with Denyse

Although it is still officially winter here, it is a lovely warm day here in Australia - perfect for some finished quilt photos...

 I managed to convince DH to hold this one up for me - he actually asked me if it was an "old" quilt as it has more of a traditional patchwork look about it.

 And I think that is why this quilt is so appealing - using modern fabrics in this style gives it such a vintage retro feel.

 I used one of my favourite DS prints from Aunt Edna on the back - so with the 180 strips for the trip along blocks, the backing and binding make it up to 182 different fabrics in this quilt.

 It was quilted in a cross hatch grid which was quite easy to do - I didn't mark out my lines but just eyeballed them as I quilted.

I really love how this has turned out and I think it is a pattern that I would definitely make again.
Quilt Stats-
Pattern: Scrappy Trip Around the World tutorial from Quiltville Quips and Snips here
Size: Lap Size - 60x72"
Quilting: Straight line quilting in a cross hatch grid pattern
Fabrics:180 different strips of Denyse Schmidt fabrics from Picnic and Fairgrounds, Winding Roads, Daisy Mae, Sugar Creek, Aunt Edna, Richmond, Chicopee, Flea Market Fancy, Meadowlark, Hope Valley, Katie Jump Rope, and Fancy Free.
Backing: DS Aunt Edna Multi leaf on Mini Dot Orange
Binding: DS Aunt Edna Multi dot Burgundy
This quilt was on my to-do list for the 3rd quarter FAL hosted  by Leanne @ She Can Quilt.


Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.
Kirsten.

X factor pillow from Amy!

Earlier this week I received my wonderful X factor "Hexie Seeds" pillow from AmySewVT. 

I had to "borrow" a pillow form from another pillow so that I could take a proper photo...

 This was one of the last pillows entered this time but as soon as I saw it I fell in love with it! I just loved the combination of fabrics Amy used, and also the lovely handstitching she did along the sides. 

My daughters middle name is Rose so my favourite part of the pillow is this fussy cut fabric in the centre of the top hexie.

It now sits on her bed along with the pillow made from one of Cat and Vees fabulous panels. Thank you again Amy for such a lovely pillow, and of course thanks also to Tina for organising this wonderful swap!
Kirsten.

WIP Wednesday - SSM

I have finished the quilting on my Trip along quilt. The grid quilting was really quite straightforward to do - just the binding to go now:)

And there is only one month to go before shipping in the Sew Sew Modern swap so I really need to get moving on the project for my secret partner.

These are the fabrics I have pulled as I have an idea of what to make, but want to leave enough time just in case it doesn't work out and then I also need to make a small co-ordinating item.

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.
Kirsten.

Simply solid X and + quilt!

The binding is now stitched down on my first Bee quilt !

These blocks were made by my fellow Simply Solids Fallow group members using a tutorial from here. I asked the group to "Stash-bust" and I love the variety of colours that they have used for the blocks. I added in some bright cornerstones and used a dark grey for the sashing, then a royal blue for the binding.

 

I just did fairly simple echo quilting along the sashing and in the "X" parts of the blocks, which shows up with the black backing.

I laid the blocks out in the order of our monthly bee blocks so the blocks from the Fallow group are as follows:

Thank you all so much for being a part of my first Bee quilt!

Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.

This quilt was also on my list of 3rd quarter finishes for the FAL hosted by Leanne @ She Can Quilt.

Kirsten.

WIP Wednesday: Scrappy Tripalong

My 30 Trip along blocks have now been sewn together - I really love how the mix of these 180 Denyse Schmidt prints look when they are combined for this quilt.

Having the dark strips running down the centres of the blocks makes such an effective design when they are all together. 

 And now it is all basted ready for quilting!

I am going to do cross hatch quilting so I have followed Adriannes suggestion to put pins in every second square so that I can quilt all of the first lines, and then remove the pins to do the remainder of the quilting.

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Kirsten.

X-factor pillow swap: Hexalicious!

Another round of the X-Factor pillow swap has just finished. 

 This time the theme was "hexagons" so I decided to do a block using one of Kristy @ Quiet Play's fabulous patterns. 
This block is the "Stitch In Time" block from Kristy's "And Sew On" paper pieced series.

Can you see the tiny needle in there?

I did a some handstitched details and added a border using some lovely yarn dyed linen to make it into an 18"  pillow cover.  

 Some of the others in the group have already received their pillows but this one may take a little longer to get to its new home:)
Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory. Kirsten.

July blocks!

I was a little late finishing off my Bee Blocks for July but they are now done and in the mail.

Today I finished off the Braided Star blocks for Jessica in the Aus Mod Bee - I really love the Sweetwater fabrics she chose for these blocks.

And the mosaic block for Kate in the Simply Solids Bee is already on its way to her...


Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory. Kirsten.