Since Last Time...

Our quilts progress in fits and starts. I had a friend Kerrie come down from Springwood to do a bit of sewing a few weeks ago. We finished her job quite quickly so I rang Elaine and asked if she was up for a spot of tacking with Kerrie and I on the bookcase quilt.

By the time Elaine arrived, Kerrie and I had almost finished the body tacking so we all started to tackle the "border". Quite a physical and mathematical headache but I think we are almost there.

Of course the Posy Quilt is still under my machine. I'll get there eventually.

Once we had had enough of the bookcase quilt we decided to see what the seminole strips looked like so added them to the design wall to ponder over the break. Much discussion and thoughts of how to put it together.

Then just last week we had our Christmas lunch day. Karen G. and daughter Rosalind arrived for a spot of sewing quite early so we finished tacking the "border" of the bookcase quilt and I started sewing the hanging sleeve.

Karen W. and Elaine arrived before it was time to leave for Carss Park.

Sorry there are no pics of us enjoying our lunch. There was Karen W., Karen and Rosalind G, Elaine, Ros, Linda with Olivia and Jessica, and then Kathryn who had walked all the way down from Allawah station, just missing us as we left home.

Back again to mine for a tad more sewing and to examine the Carol's Log Cabin blocks. We've made some decisions and done a bit of trimming.

News that Karen W. has delivered two of our quilts to the Country Women's Association.

That's it for 2019 so until we meet again next year enjoy your break and have a Merry Christmas. If you'd like to come for a pop-up sewing day just let me know via email or phone and we can plan.

A very busy Friday

Our day started at about 10am and by 11:30 we had our quorum for a Show and Tell session.

Ros brought along two quilts with lots of hand sewing on them.

Elaine displayed her yellow and purple quilt made from blocks that were donated to her some years ago. Now all done and ready to give away.

Elaine also showed her progress with an "In Front of TV" project she was given. It is looking amazing so far.

A few people arrived after we'd finished our lunch but of course there was still plenty for them to share.

Meanwhile everyone continued work on either their blocks ready to submit or on quilts we are putting together.

Roslyn was able to demonstrate various techniques to Eve who is just starting out on quilting. The task they almost completed was putting together Stephanie's Bright Stripes.

Carol had a lot of fun completing the border for the bookcase quilt and it now really looks like a bookcase. It is stunning. It is now ready to sandwich next time we gather to work.

After most people had left Kathryn and Eve were able to make their new blocks and learn a lot of techniques they were unfamiliar with.

By now you should have your fabric and instructions for our final block of the year, Lynette's Japanese Star. This block won't be due until the end of January so no panic yet.

Happy Sewing..

October already

Last Saturday we started our day together with Karen and I being the only ones there for about an hour. So we made some decisions for the group. The early birds catch the worms.

• Karen chose our next fabric and block design which was donated by Carol. Most people will have received their fabrics by now and I will do the instructions soon.
• As I had been a little concerned about the randomness of the Random.org site we've been using to draw our next quilt winner I wrote everyone's name on a piece of card and have them in a little bag to draw from. 
• This led to discussion about what to do about those who had already won this year so the decision was: as your name is drawn it automatically gets removed from the draw bag for the calendar year whether you decide to keep the quilt or donate it to charity.  This will be a simpler system and everyone will get a chance equally in any one calendar year.
• Now for a new part of our days together. Karen and I both had a bit of show and tell so we decided that at about 11:30 each gathering we could have a show and tell time. Most people are there by 11:30 and have not yet left for any clashing engagements so it seemed like a good time.

If you have suggestions about how to run the group then please come early and talk them through.

We spent time marvelling at our latest quilt. Elaine started by attaching the label.

Lynette won the draw to decide what to do with it. She has decided to donate it to charity so if anyone knows a suitable charity please let me know.

Our next task was to sandwich the Posy Quilt. First the backing had to be pieced so Karen W and Carol got busy with that.

After much measuring and moving the top we all took part in the taking. What a pity that our alignment is a bit out with the backing but I'm sure we'll be able to cope. It just won't look as good as it was going to on the back.

My show and tell was how to make postage stamp blocks with perfectly butted corners and very straight rows of tiny pieces. These 1.25" samples were given to me by a friend years ago and I've tried a few times to put them together. This time I used very fine iron-on interfacing to arrange them then sewed them together. Click on this picture and it will enlarge so you can see the results. The pink one is finished and the orange one is half done.

I can do a demo for anyone who would like it. Previously I have achieved this good result using plasticised paper to iron onto but removing the paper is a bind. Click here if you'd like those instructions.

The other thing I showed was a Japanese bag made from two squares of fabric. I've put more pictures up on my own blog. If you'd like to access this please just let me know.

Karen's show and tell was her hand pieced hexagon project. It will be great when it is done. We all need a hand sewing project for in front of TV or when we travel.

Below we have arranged our seminole strips that have come in so far. Click on it to enlarge it too. They are magnificent!

Towards the end of the afternoon Stephanie started putting the blocks we had received from her fabric donation onto the design wall. They will look stunning too.

So don't forget, come early and often! And please contact me if you'd like a pop-up sewing day any time.

Snatching time to keep an active brain

Those of you who have taken part in the construction of our Christine's Posies Quilt will understand what a challenge it has been and when no-one was game to come near it last time we were together as I was adding the thin green line I decided to snatch bits of time to complete the top.

Today, using the help of my two little girls with pin passing, and between playing farms upstairs I have the top together. It still has to be trimmed and a final border added but it looks amazing!

Thanks for the challenge Christine.

Spring has sprung and the sunflowers are finished

Last Friday our get together was most productive. Elaine stayed over at mine on Thursday night (she is not able to drive with hip recovery). We were joined on Friday by Karen W., Carol, Ros and Stephanie.

Ros sewed the label onto the Sunflower Quilt and we actually photographed it and declared it finished. Liz (NZ) won the quilt but was happy to pass it on to Stephanie who had expressed a love of it. So congratulations Stephanie.

Much chat occurred over lunch and afternoon tea of course.

One of our time consuming puzzles was the Bookcase Quilt. It is really looking great and we have now chosen a fabric for the border.

It is certainly looking great so far!

Cathy's Purple was sandwiched and tacked and Ros has taken it home to quilt and bind. Hooray! In the down time she continued with a project she is trying to finish.

Carol got Linda's old sewing machine working which was very handy when there was so much to do. When Stephanie arrived she did a lot of oiling of the machine and changed the type of bobbin in it. After that it sounded much better.

I took on the next step in the Posy quilt. What a lot of brainwork that was but I think it is now working. We are creating a narrow floating dark green border around the posy section. We did the same thing on our Brown Roses quilt ages ago that we put into the Quilt Show.

I have received a few of the Seminole blocks back and they are looking great. I hope you are all enjoying the challenge.

We are still looking for a charity to donate one of our quilts to so if you know of one please let me know.

Our August Quilting Day

Thanks to Linda we now have a new second-hand sewing machine and I do hope to have that set up by our get-together in September. Thank you Linda.

So our group was Linda, Elaine, Karen W., Kathryn, Roslyn, Carol and myself.

The first task was to cut the binding then attach it to Heather's Sunflowers. Elaine and Roslyn seemed to achieve this without running into one another.

Karen spent the whole day attaching sashing and cornerstones to Christine's Posy blocks. Much frustration with blocks that were different sizes and sashing that had been cut too short. This will be a project that will hopefully look fabulous but will have generated a lot of swearing (i.e. sewing spelled incorrectly).

The only task with the Sunflowers is a label and photograph then we can draw that quilt and decide its fate. It really looks great.

Cathy's Purple hidden 9-patch received its next border and decisions were made about binding. We've found a great blue/purple fabric for it. The next phase of this quilt is to sandwich it and tack it.

Carol and I spent time putting sashing on the bookcase quilt. It is further along than the photo shows but we had to keep reminding ourselves that the shelves needed to be perfectly horizontal. With Linda's extra block we have added a row at the bottom which has inspired a spider's web.

Linda also spent some time on her latest Wizard of Oz quilt with lots of maths happening.

Kathryn drew our next fabric so everyone who has organised their envelope or pick up will receive a piece of fabric and soon I will write the instructions and send them out.

In all a great day with a lot of work achieved. Thanks to all those who helped.

Two quilting days in July so far

Last Friday a small gathering (Elaine, Linda, Karen W, Stephanie, Roslyn and I) gathered to achieve a little more progress on some of our quilts.

Roslyn completed the binding of Karen's blue and brown quilt which I have labelled Flywheel Fun. We then drew a winner for this one - Carol - and she has decided to keep it.

I spent a bit of time tackling the peeper and borders on the Heather's Sunflowers so it was ready to sandwich.

Then there was border #1 to add to Cathy's Purple.

We have now decided on the next border and the binding for this quilt. A job for our next gathering. First the border then the sandwich. We have almost run out of batting so if anyone finds a source of not so expensive batting or polarfleece please let me know.

Stephanie and Karen did a lot of cursing and started the sashing and cornerstones on Christine's Posy quilt. This task is about half done.

The work then continued on Tuesday when Kathryn and Lynette came for a catch-up day as they could not come the previous day. They both come from rather long distances without cars so well done that they were able to be here. We spent our day choosing a backing for the Sunflowers then sandwiching it. This quilt is now ready to quilt.

We could really do with another sewing machine if anyone has one to donate. Two machines often mean there is a bottleneck at the sewing stage.

Thank you to everyone for all the fun together. See you next time either in person or online for our August gathering.

Our June Quilting Day

We had 5 workers today - Elaine, Carol, Kathryn, Linda and of course me. Karen W had told me she would not be there as she and Alastair had a concert. However, Karen ended up in hospital in intensive care with some undiagnosed issue. Thoughts of pneumonia or something she contracted up north with me. Get well soon Karen!

We had to cope with one less bathroom as mine is currently being renovated.

Our day was very productive. Carol was first to arrive and we started by taking out all the taking from the Hughenden Lights quilt. This meant we had a completion for the day and so did our draw. Kathryn won the quilt but has yet to decide whether she will keep it or donate it to charity. It still needs to be photographed on a good day before it can leave us.

Carol then took on the quilting of Karen's Blue Spots which leaves it to just get binding, a label and a photograph.

Elaine, Linda and Kathryn brought homework to  complete before helping with other projects.

We spent some time working out how to complete Christine's Posy quilt and bring out the beautiful waves that had appeared. I do think we've got it. Kathryn spent a lot of time cutting white sashing after some discussion around the best colour for the sashing. We have now decided that a dark green line around the shape before adding the white remaining triangles will really accentuate the posies. We still have one posy to add so if you are the person who took that home to complete please let me know or bring it next time.

The quilting of Karen's Blue Spots is finished and it is looking good. The binding has been chosen and is ready to cut.

More decisions have been made about borders for the Sunflowers and the Purple quilts' borders so they are ready to add next time.

It was a happy day chatting and working together and much was achieved.  We all wish Karen all the best and hope to see her next time. Thanks for all the work and fun.