Hello I'm Back

The large mystery quilt is finished , 10 days before the deadline. I have hand quilted it, bound it and machine washed it on a delicate cycle and it is currently blocking on the floor in front of the wood heater. One thing left is a label to show ownership for the new owner. I wont show a pic of the finished item until the new owner receives it on the 30 August.
Now I will be too busy organising the occasion for when I give it away.
As for any other patchwork, I have ordered a new book for my contemporary workshop for QCWA in January 2009. I have also invested in a roll of Floriani Stitch n Wash Fusible for an upcoming applique workshop in banner making for the streets of Gin Gin in October. Once the 30th August party is finished I must look ahead again.
Events just keep rolling on don't they ? I must admit it was very nice to have a hand quilting project to do for winter and the olympics. I must remember this for 4 years time.

Yep I've STILL BEEN SEWING!!!!!!

Hand quilting the must be finished by August 30 project. It is coming along slowly. I had to purchase more thread in case I ran out. That is my excuse anyway. Online shopping is great for remote people. Actually faster than me purchasing some threads in Australia.


Here are two photoes of the work so far. I decided to cross hatch the quilt by hand due to the large size of the applique shapes. If I did machine mctavishing it would pull the background to the back too much and make the large shapes stand out too much creating a very puffy shape.

This is a completed block. There are 12 of these plus a centre panel ( the size of 4 blocks)

This one is the second last block to be done. The needle is inserted above the bow. I hope to finish all the blocks by Friday night. I should be doing that now instead of this but what the heck. Next week I will start the borders. I cannot work on it while the receiver of this quilt is home and as she turns up every weekend it has posed problems in finishing it. I'm sure she thinks Mum has been doing no housework at all during the week and does odd things when she is home.

I just hope she likes it. She already has a pink cotton and organza doona cover on her bed for winter and I'm sure she can use this for summer.

Must go

Happy Quilting

Yes I Have Been Sewing

Yay!!

Progress on the large mystery quilt. I have the 12 blocks finished, plus the large centre panel. I have basted the quilt together and last night sat down and actually hand quilted around one applique shape on one block. I have machine ditch stitched the 16 blocks . I used a YLI 100 wt silk thread and will use this to hand quilt it. The nylon organza overlay over the blocks means machine quilting could be a problem and I feel it is easier to fudge the quilting by hand.

As this is a special quilt for somebody I dont want to wreck it.

There are 12 blocks this size with a larger centre panel with a scallopped border around the large centre panel and around the outside. Looks like I will be busy doing some quiet sitting and quilting. Glad it's winter here in Australia.

Again , Where have I been ?

Yes I know, a whole month between posts. Yes life certainly gets away when you are trying to keep up with things. Two quarterly BASes ( dont know if that is correct Aussie english but it'll do) , the usual work load of keeping up an income flow, the beginning of the hockey season for being a spectator and the usual no event sewing.

Am still currently working on the mystery quilt for August. Seems like an eternity to get this thing done. Mind you it would help if I could sit and sew for a while uninterrupted. There are some unusual problems in achieving it which can be explained later.
It's also the Bundaberg Quilters annual exhibition and I'm only going to have one or two small wall hangings to enter.
Our Mt Perry quilting group has been working on a fundraising quilt for our movie night for Cancer in October and I will have to machine quilt it also. Hope the girls don't finish it too soon.
Catch you later.

Patchwork Day Again

I went along to our patchwork day in the Mt Perry Hall last Friday. I have been working on the mystery quilt with a deadline of August 30 2008. I was expecting a visit from my daughters so had to take my decoy quilt along. Much more interesting to create than following a pattern.

Along came a friend who delights in rearranging my blocks so we had a play time .

After looking at this arrangement I'm planning on shifting a few orange centred blocks closer to the orange blocks. Then I have to think about a frame border. This is much more fun than following a purchased pattern.

More technological advances

Not much has been happening lately on the sewing front as other duties seem to always have priority. I have been reading Lisa Calls blog with much interest about her topics of staying on focus and negative people. http://blog.lisacall.com if you wish to visit. Some good advice to attempt to follow. I do not view myself as a quilt artist but more a quilter. Maybe I should.

Where have I Been?

A lousy question, nowhere except to work , home and patchwork once. Between all of that, creativity feels like a dead duck at this place. I have been struggling to keep awake, 9 days of full time work took a huge effort to stay focused on the tasks at hand. There has to be a better system of providing health care to people than expecting people to work flat out for up to 16hrs a day and still be able to work accurately and quickly. More time for resting in between shifts should be the way to go. I'm pleased I only work part time normally and do not have to show up every day for extended periods.
I have been working on my contemporary blocks to the stage where they are hanging on my poor design wall ( a sheet hanging on the bookshelf) and being looked at every now and then for possible changes. I have also gone back to revisit a shadow applique project for a very special reason. More later as the project grows.