A Busy day in October

Last Saturday we started our quilting get-together by visiting the Oatley Pink Quilt Show and the Oatley Markets. The quilt show was a bit of a disappointment for me as we could not actually wander around and view the quilts easily. They were hung over the pews and once the auction had finished we were unable to see the quilts that were not right on the edge as people were standing chatting, blocking the pews for other viewers. What a pity. We had about 5 quilts in the show by various of our members.

Home then to lunch then Karen W., Elaine, Linda and myself spent some productive time getting a few more quilts one step further towards completion.

We sandwiched and tacked our Blue Spot quilt onto polar fleece and it is now waiting to be quilted if anyone would like the task.

We de-threaded Carol's Peach quilt so it is now ready for a label and photographing. Then it can go into a draw or go to charity. If you have any favourite charities that might like large quilts please let me know as I also still have the Glimpses of Japan quilt.

The Blue and Brown Spot blocks in the background of the photo above will probably be best as a single bed quilt so Karen W. is going to make another block to complete the 15. We found a few orphan blocks that could go well in the corners of a border so they have been added to the board. We have enough of the centre paisley fabric to cornerstones with calico sashing but these decisions can be made next time.

Karen W. brought back Robyn's Retro quilt with all the quilting done. We added the binding and trimmed that ready for hemming (if you'd like that job just let me know). We also de-threaded that quilt.

As Christine's Windmills needs more borders we have thought that calico is a good option for a wide one but that decision can also be finalised next time.

In all a short session of work but we all felt that a lot was achieved and perhaps we'll have a few quilts ready before the end of the year, or is that wishful thinking? I look forward to seeing lots of people on November 9.

When life falls to pieces make quilts

Over the last few months I have spent odd bits of time using up my 2.5" squares of scrap fabric in a quilt idea inspired by Bonnie Hunter and her "leaders and ender's". Tuesday and Wednesday this week I've spent time putting all the bits together.

I am really pleased with the result and now just have to consider borders, binding and backing.

I started by making strips of 5 squares with a white triangle at each end. The centre of each strip was a 4-patch of 1.5" leaders and enders and the end square of each strip was the darker of the two adjoining 2.5" squares to create a good contrast with the white ends. I joined the strips together into blocks of 7 strips. Once I'd made 18 such blocks I spread them on the table. The quilt that inspired this one had a strip of another fabric running straight down between each pieced strip. But I noticed that if I offset the blocks when I joined them I ended up with a white zigzag pattern running down the quilt.

However I then had to work out how to fill the empty top and bottom of each strip to offset them. A few scribbles on graph paper and I got excited. Each alternate strip has a different corner filler section.

That was on Tuesday. Of course I then just had to finish putting it together.

The irony is that when Stephanie saw me using the little pieces she donated her stash of 2.5" squares to mine. This was great because it made a wider colour range. But I've ended up with more little squares than I started with. I guess I'll just have to make more quilts! I might even add another strip to this quilt to make it more square?