Jeanette's Hexie Vest

At our zoom on Saturday Jeanette showed us her hexie vest. She was finishing the binding on the arm holes as we chatted. She has now finished it and sent us pics...

 An amazing job well done! Thanks for sharing Jeanette. We also learned that all Jeanette's hexie work is with 3/4" hexies!!!!!!!

Jo's Show and Tell zig zag quilts

 Last time we were on Zoom Jo zoomed in from a class she was giving using a relatively easy zigzag block. Here are some of the results...

This is Jo's version - 9-patch mixed colours with a final border to echo the sashing.

Another version with a pale grey instead of black.

This version has oriented the blocks to create 'bats' flying.

This one uses 16-patch coloured blocks to start with.

Here the 9-patch blocks are colour co-ordinated and arranged in rainbow strips.

This lady forgot to bring the 9-patches so decided to run with another idea.

It is great to see all the variations of a theme and it will be fun to try it in our group one day.

Rainbow Show and Tell so far

 For the last 6 months we have all been working on our rainbow strips and quilts. Jo has written the process story on her blog.

I thought I would now add images of our quilts so far. We each had to create a quilt from an assortment of strips made by different members...

Betty's quilt is a simple strip quilt bagged with no binding.
It is backed with polar fleece.

Elaine sewed her strips together  then cut the quilt top diagonally.
She has backed it in yellow and rainbow polar fleece
then bound it with rainbow diagonal stripes

Stephanie decided not to use all 6 strips then
added a coloured diamond to the bottom (top)
to lengthen the quilt. 
It is backed with polarfleece.

Karen removed one block from each strip
and inserted them as diamonds as a diagonal feature.

Jo used her strips to create a corner feature. 
She had to make a few more bits of purple and blue.
She used all the trimmed off pieces to create a binding for the quilt.
Find her process on her Butterz blog.

Carol has taken a set of strips home at our last gathering and will create another quilt for our collection. Janice also has a set of strips but will probably donate her quilt to her favourite charity.

I am still waiting for the strips that Deana made before we divvy up the remaining strips.

Rainbow Progression

 Progress with our quilts went a little further last Saturday. We had a small group with Stephanie, Karen, Elaine and a long awaited visit from Carol.

While we on zoom I did my usual walk around showing off our finished Pebbles flimsy and tacked it ready for quilting and also two quilts I am currently working on.

Thank you to the ladies for helping me sandwich my Surrey's Shirts quilt.

Then there was a show and tell by Elaine - a quilt using lots of half square triangles donated by Jenny at Scrub Stitchin'. The quilt looks like a Persian Rug.

Jo joined us on zoom while she was teaching at a quilt group in Mildura. She was able to show us progress on many different zig-zag quilts. See them on ButterZ. They are just amazing! What a stunning way to use up more scraps.

Karen brought along her finished Rainbow quilt to add to our collection.

Soon we'll be able to have a virtual show and tell with everyone's contributions.

Once Deana's rainbow strips arrive from Utah we'll be able to divvy up to make the remaining quilts.

Thanks to all those who joined in either in person or virtual. It was a fun gathering.

May Gathering

 Last Saturday our small band of hard working ladies all cursed me. I had brought home lots of scrap fabric from Baradine donated by the Scrub Stitchers. So I set the task for the day was to cut the fabric pieces into standard sized squares or strips for use in later projects.

We had our usual Show and Tell over Zoom with Jo and Janice and here are a few below. I forgot to photograph Elaine's quilt.

Stephanie's inspiring new blocks

Karen's version of Leaders and Enders

Three finished quilt tops and quilts and more strips to put together

The same block that Stephanie is making but this one is made from Surrey's shirts.

We welcome our possible new members Sue (Victoria), Tina (Campbelltown) and Deana (Utah).

Scrub Stitchin' 2026 - Part 2

 People started to arrive on Wednesday and find their allocated space. Lots of setting up of machines and projects and also chatting to people we'd not seen in person for a long time.

There was always time for a cuppa with one of the many cakes and slices that came with participants and Chooky's Mum.

Brenda is a local and comes each year. She made some yummy coconut ice for all our goodie bags.

There was plenty of time for work but also for chatter over the 5 days.

And chances to solve problems and swap wise words and techniques. Sandy had forgotten her machine extension table so we were able to construct one for her from a tissue box that was the perfect size.

We convinced Evelyn (Utah) to try Vegemite at nibbles time but I don't think she was impressed.

Walks at any time gave us an opportunity to stretch our eyes and look for kangaroos or other wildlife.

 

We had a show and tell session and Stephanie was able to show her mountains.

When we arrived we each had a goodies bag with a mug included. This is my mug with its string attached so it did not get lost with all the others.

Although this is a 'cheater' fabric it is a great idea for a border on a future quilt.

Some of the group were interested in joining the Rainbow Connection Quilters and here we have Sue...

... and Tina.

Mary was one of my neighbours and completed this jelly roll quilt top over the week.

Tina's daughter Harriett was my other neighbour and completed a baby quilt in the time as well as some other piecing.

Jo completed the quilt-along challenge and it looks so much like Surrey's wardrobe of shirts that I think I might be inspired to make one.

While away I did get an email from NRMA to say they had extended my car hire until my return so I was pleased not to be harbouring a 'stolen' hire car any more.

Scrub Stitchin' 2026 - Part 1

 Just over a week ago Stephanie and I left for our trek to Baradine near the Warrumbungles for 5 days of sewing with friends. It was great to catch up with lots of people who live at distance from Sydney.

We stayed the first night with Kerrie in Springwood and had a lovely meal with friends at the Golf Club.

Of course whenever we needed a break the venue was governed by the op shops so Stephanie now has a lot more glasswear for her Christmas trees. She was also able to buy a lovely red woolen coat and possum and wool beanie to wear on our star gazing night. 

The drive was uneventful with stops at Lawson for breakfast , Yetholme for fuel then Orange for lunch. I went to an optometrist in Orange yesterday for some fit over sunglasses and while there I asked her to clean my glasses. Last night when I took them off I noticed she had also tightened the screws so they are now not so loose.

We had afternoon tea in our motel room at Dubbo before a walk down to the river and through a few backstreets.

Then we went to the restaurant next door was a great place for dinner. The Haldi Indian Restaurant serves great food!

For breakfast we went to Patrick's Cafe and met a friend of Stephanie's. We both ordered a half serve French Toast which was huge. I'm glad we did not order a full serve.

We then drove to Coonamble where we strolled for a bit then had lunch at Hazel's Cafe.

When we arrived at Baradine we were assigned to our cabin and settled in.

Then off to dinner at the Bowls Club. We won't be having anything there that might be deep fried again but did find out that the hamburgers were great. I chose lamb cutlets.

After dinner we car pooled to visit the Milroy observatory. The most amazing thing for me was the fact that at the particular time we were there on such a clear night we were able to see both Orion (The Saucepan) and Scorpio in the same hemisphere. We also saw The Emu quite clearly.

Back to bed for a late night and a sound sleep.

I have still not heard if I can keep the hire car for the whole time so I am now just sitting with a 'stolen' hire car in Baradine.

Rainbow Quilts by the Rainbow Connection Quilters

 Wow! What  a busy day we've had today. As people arrived they were instructed to take from the Gram inheritance table. I suppose about half the bits disappeared.

Then it was time to create borders for our pebbles quilt and it is just on ready for them to be added next time we meet.

We had 3 machines going to make strings of 2.5" squares  to go between calico strips. 

During our zoom session we had Jo, Janice, Linda, Liz and four of us at mine - Stephanie, Elaine, Karen and me. 

We had fun looking at all the rainbow strips members have sent us so far. Keep sending them in. We each received a random bundle of 6 colours to create a rainbow quilt from.

Over lunch we discussed a set of constraints for our finished quilts:

• strip sets will only be given to people who can collect them in some way as postage of such large bundles would be too great
• do a search for 'rainbow strip quilts' to get inspiration for your finished quilt(s)
• use the strips you are given to create one or two quilts of maximum size 56" x 56". They can be smaller in either or both of these dimensions so can be square or rectangular
• strips do not have to be in rainbow order and not all strips have to be used in the same quilt
• you are free to choose your own sashing and borders, batting and backing, and quilting style
• finish your quilt however you wish then photograph it and label it before either returning it to Carlton or donating it to your favourite charity

If you have any questions please put them in the comments section below so everyone can see them.