A finish...

 I finished this quilt today. I am pleased with it. It is lovely. There's something magical about a quilt with many different fabrics in it. This has over a hundred different fabrics.

Reproduction nine patch swap quilt, in my front garden.

My Bradley held it up for me in the garden. I think he must have ape arms too! (See this post for the ape arm discussion.) I love the back of this quilt too. A fabric I have had for simply squillions of years. "Holly Hill" by Thimbleberries. I had exactly the right amount. It was like I had purchased it for this quilt.

The back isn't wonderful (the quilting I mean) but it is ok, and I'm still happy with it.

I love this quilt so much, and the bit I love best now is that it is no longer here. I have given it to a friend this afternoon who has been so kind to me. We have been so fortunate since moving to Melbourne. We seem to have been in contact with the kindest people here. My friend wasn't in when I dropped it off, so I hope she likes it!

My favourite photo of this quilt.

A closer view. The most interesting thing about finishing a quilt is the emotions you go through. Relief and happiness when it is finished, through to a strange emptiness and then a sudden need to begin something else. (Or finish something else!) I guess tonight I will be wandering around aimlessly in my sewing room until I settle on the next project.

Home again...

So we're home again. And this was the sight that greeted me yesterday morning as I mooched around wondering what to do. A cupboard full of things to do! However I was completely uninspired and did nothing. Well, I did sort out the hand stitching I had been doing on the train. Today was a different story.

I was wanting to make a quilt, but didn't really know where to start. Then I remembered the reproduction nine-patch swap I did a couple of years ago with Christine as the swap Mama. Hooray! A quilt with all the patchwork done! (I so am finishing things this year!) I laid them out and decided that there were four blocks I wasn't in love with. Two could be dispensed with, but two needed to be replaced so I made two more nine-patches and then laid the blocks out (see photo above). Isn't it beautiful? I even have border fabric for it! I really am liking this. I am going to give it to a friend, so it even has somewhere to go once it is finished. Must get back to sewing those rows together!

9 Patch Swap!

So, I got my 9 patches this week. All 72 of them. They are gorgeous! As soon as I received them I began thinking about how I would put them together. Of course, the design I have settled on requires me to buy some more fabric. (Naturally!) This was such a fun swap. Thank you so much Christine for organising this swap. And thank you all those who made blocks that are now sprawled over my sewing desk. (Toni, Peg, Donna......... for others take a look at Christine's blog on the sidebar!!!) Ahh....... just wallowing in them!

Getting the hang of it, I think!

The title of this post could refer to lots of things. Not sure if Mr 9 is getting the hang of drumming (Slightly unconventional stick holding!) but he is passing on his wisdom to grandson nevertheless. (You can see grandson's sweet face in the bottom right hand corner of the photo.) When Mr 9 finishes bashing away, grandson takes over. (Usually with a more conventional style of stick holding!)

These are some of the nine patches I have been working on. I was thinking that I must be getting the hang of blogging again, but realised that's not strictly true because I am still taking photos in the middle of the night! These are for a swap. I will send mine off and get the same number back, but they will all be different and viola! A scrap quilt! (I think that's how it works!)

This is the quilt I have been practicing my free motion quilting on. It's not a big quilt, but I am only halfway through it! Kellie must be a very good concentrator. It seems to take much more concentration than I have energy for! I really do love the result though. I love quilts that are heavily quilted and this one just feels lovely. My stitch length is dreadful, but I'm sure that will improve with practice! Mr 9 was touching the quilt today and said that it felt really good. "Now I see why you sit there for so long sewing and pulling all those faces." Yes, apparently I am an animated quilter! So much so that my Bradley had to take a video yesterday of my facial expressions for the Paton family video vault! Oh well, if I can't entertain my posterity what's the point? So, what will I be sewing tomorrow? Finishing off the nine patches, some more quilting practice, and maybe playing with some split nine patches too. Maybe I'll even remember to take photos in the daylight! Maybe.

Nine Patch Swap

I joined another swap. Hard to believe, I know. This is a really exciting swap though. Each month you make 12 6 1/2 inch nine patch blocks from two reproduction fabrics (one dark, one light). Easy peasy I think. You post off your 12 (and a stamped envelope-Aussies only because of the postage!) and receive back 12 blocks of different fabrics ready to go in your quilt. After 6 months you will have 72 blocks (ahrgh! Maths! Hope I'm right here!) to put together in your quilt. It is being run by Christine. You should pop over and see her to join in. (She also has made her first 12 blocks and shows you how she did it!)

I once made a civil war quilt, but apart from that have had very little experience with reproduction fabrics. (None in the stash!) So it was off to the patchwork apple to see the lovely Jane. Today was the patchwork apples 15th birthday! I have been going there for 15 years now and I love it as much now as the first time I went there. Right from the first moment I went there I felt at home. (Well actually, the shop was in Jane's home to begin with!) Jane and Annette were so friendly (and tolerant of my many homeschooled children who went everywhere with me! Unlike another Quilt shop that had a ban on children!) and their fabrics so pretty! The fabrics are still pretty and Jane is still friendly, but mostly everything else has changed! The shop has moved from Lenswood to Woodside, Annette is no longer with us, the kids mostly have their own things to do now, and I am a grey haired grandmother when I walk through Jane's door! Like my reproduction fabrics I got there today? Then you should consider joining the nine patch swap!