April Update

 With so many interruptions to our little group over the last month, mostly caused by me, I thought it was time to post a few of the finishes people have sent me pics of.

The first is a beautiful little 3D picture of fabric flowers and a butterfly by Christine. 

One of Elaine's latest kiddy quilts..

Karen completed a table runner using aboriginal fabrics..

 

I've done very little but am progressing with my next scrappy top..

I am using my leader and ender 4-patches and other 2.5" squares.

Stephanie is also doing one of these tops (she alerted me to the idea) and is using 2" squares for hers..

They look so complicated and tedious but are really easy to do. Another disappearing 9-patch idea.

March Together

 Last weekend we welcomed Judy to our group and hope we did not put her off with our funny ways and our 'Bet'-ocracy. Judy brought along some lovely quilts that she had done with lots of applique. They are beautiful!

Karen was presented with the Almost Celtic quilt that she won.

We did a lot of discussing about the backing for our Disappearing Hour Glass quilt which is now all ready for sandwiching when we have an appropriate backing. It really looks stunning and will be bound in black when quilted.

Karen and Elaine worked hard all day joining the Brown Blocks together with their apricot sashing. The fabric on the left will be the backing and perhaps we'll have an apricot border all around the quilt top as well.

 

And our next finish was completed by Glenda with binding and label. If you would like to put your name into the draw for the quilt below please let me know asap.

 

The rest of us played with curves with a new block draw from Carol. It is a Drunkard's Path block and provided great opportunities for discussing colour contrast and sewing curves.

My show and tell was some chevron strips I am making out of my scrappy strips which just must be used up as I have no more space for them. I will continue sewing them as leaders and enders. I'm starting with the greens.

Our February progress

 With our Almost Celtic (below) finished it is now time to put a claim on this one if you would like it. If I get more than one person wanting it we will have a draw. Expressions of interest should be in by the end of February.

After lots of discussion last Saturday about whether to have sashing on our brown blocks or not Stephanie arrived at mine yesterday with the perfect sashing fabric in apricot that she had dyed herself some years ago.

We spent the afternoon arranging  the blocks and today Glenda came for a few hours and we put the short pieces of sashing on and joined the rows.

All outstanding brown blocks should be in by the end of next week. We are hoping to put some on the back of the quilt as well but can always add another row to the top or bottom of what we have.

We have found a great border for our disappearing hour glass quilt top and anytime someone feels the urge please come and we can work together on that one. It is currently on the back of the design wall.

The instructions will be ready for our next block so be patient with me. I will be mailing out the fabrics in the next few weeks.

Please make sure all outstanding blocks are back to me by the end of February.

Stephanie and Betty are nearly finished

 As Bubble Buddies during lockdowns we had lots of fun creating. Then in 2022 we came up with a plan for a very large quilt which ended up as two quilts. Our non-identical twin quilts are nearly done. 

They were such fun to do as a joint project.

All I need to do on mine is bind and label it.

Where to next?

Two extra quilting days this week

 Our day together on Saturday was amazingly productive with labels sewn on and binding finished we had 6 quilts ready to pass on.

On Tuesday Glenda and Stephanie came to mine for a bit of fun. Much was achieved...

Glenda created a quilt top from all the disappearing hour glass blocks Karen trimmed on Saturday.

Then we all started discussing what options we had come up with for our next block challenge.

Elaine's fabric was drawn during our Zoom session.

Stephanie and Glenda brought a variety of blues on Tuesday so we could choose the best match.

This is going to be beautiful when It is finished I think. We've cut all the pieces ready to send out. The instruction are on the way but of course we need photos for them so Stephanie and I are doing the challenge ready to include the photos.

Today Stephanie came for an hour or so to show some of the ideas she has had and they are looking good. She also brought some fabric for me to use for the idea I have selected.

All will be revealed when the instructions are complete.

Quilts gone

 Stephanie has taken all our quilts listed in the previous post to Gabby's Angels who are distributing them to various organisations as raffle quilts. I am pleased this is happening because they are certainly lovely quilts and could earn a bit that way.

Today I quilted Party Lights and am passing it on to Glenda to do the binding. Thanks Glenda. Then we'll have the first finish of 2023 ready to go.

Quilts ready to go

 It is time to move some of our quilts on to new homes. I have quite a pile and Stephanie, Elaine and I had a play date last week and finished off a few more as well.

If you would like any of these quilts please contact me by email or leave a comment below.

This one is a small quilt or throw with a matching cushion cover.

There might be more soon but this will do for starters.

Christmas Cheer from Jeanette

 Jeanette has sent through pictures of the some of her Christmas sewing.

Some draw-string bags to fill with chocolates or other gifts..

More Christmas trees with glittery tinsel on them and decorative stitching.

Some table centres...

Strings of bunting.

Her lovely Briar Rose quilt.

Our final gathering for 2022

 Last weekend we had our final get together for the year and rather than continue with our group project I held a Mystery Christmas Workshop. We all made a casserole carrier and were really pleased with the results.

After we'd all finished those we then filled our afternoon with other little projects. 

Stephanie's expertise is always appreciated when machines need fixing!

The mini Christmas trees were quite a hit and Jeanette (who could not be with us) made some of her own at home.

Of course all our activities were made more merry with our usual delicious lunch and afternoon tea. Would you believe 3 people brought pavlova makings. Yum! We only ate one lot though.

Merry Christmas everyone! See you again in January.