Hexies and Dogs

I should be continuing to finish some of my UFOs, but you know how it is...you see a pattern in a magazine or book and you just HAVE to do it NOW!
So why am I making hexagon flowers out of tartan fabrics?

To match tartan Scotty dogs of course!

Which will all make up a small version of this quilt found in one of last year's issues of Homespun :-)

They used reproduction fabrics but Scotty dogs always mean tartan to me, and I have heaps of tartan fabrics!

Sampler mini quilt finished.

I finally made up those orphan blocks from my first patchwork quilting classes!  Funny thing at the time I was doing these, I only wanted to learn how to make these designs, which I could  never figure out by myself looking at books.  There were more blocks and the tutor went on to show us how to make them into a quilt, right up to the finished quilt stage.  But I was only using scraps from my stash and they didn't all really match up, my other blocks were pretty badly made, and I wasn't interested in making a quilt then as I didn't have the machine to do it properly and it all seemed too hard.  So these block were put away until I was decluttering this year and I decided they were too nice to hide away any more.  So, here they are made up into a table topper or throw, which might or might not be displayed in my house at some time in the future.

Here are some other orphan blocks I had tucked away, and I have sewn borders around three of them.  I might make them into cushions, or just mats to have under things.   The three red toned blocks were experimental "wonky" patchwork, and I am still wondering what to do with them. I plan to add a wide border to them and see if they would be okay for making up three cushions.  Any suggestions?

Denim apron.

Told you it would be a late night!  It is 1 am as I type this, and I finished this apron about an hour ago.  It was so easy.  I took an apron from the kitchen, laid it over the denim fabric that I had in my stash, cut out the shape, hemmed the edges and added the straps - voila!

Bird quilt has a new home.

I just posted this on the Down To Earth forum, but most of my blog readers wouldn't see it there, so I am posting it here as well:
The quilt got a very favorable reaction at the dinner on Saturday night.  The committee had obviously been discussing the raffle and instead of selling tickets for $1, they stapled tickets on to sheets of paper and sold each sheet for $10, so in effect people were paying $10 for multiple chances to win.  They sold nearly $1200 worth of tickets!  There were 70 people there and many bought more than one sheet (Ken bought three, he wanted to get the quilt back home, lol!).  A lady who looked to be in her sixties won the quilt. She was so happy, every time I looked over at her table, she was stroking it or showing it to someone!  She told me her sister does a lot of quilting, so I said I hoped her sister wouldn't look too closely at mine as I'm no expert, and she laughed and said she wasn't worried about that!

I've been asked to make another one for the Xmas raffle, and one of the committee members wants me to make six placemats using some of my bird fabric, for his Xmas dinner table!  I will run out of fabric at this rate!  He has offered to pay me for the placemats, which is good. If I do another quilt for the Xmas raffle, it won't be a big one like the first; I'll just make a table topper or lap quilt.

Ken also wants me to do another photo quilt, but not of birds.  He has a good friend who is into vintage motor bikes, and Ken wants me to do a quilt featuring photos of vintage bikes for him.  I told him that I wasn't going to do any more full size bed quilts as they take too much time and effort, and he said a small one would be fine.  Then I had a thought for another one for us; using photographs of our cats and dogs over the years, make a Pets memory quilt/wall hanging!

And that's not all....we were in a cafe in Eltham yesterday and I was admiring the aprons that the girls were wearing.  They were all the same, made out of denim, and looked really cute.  I asked if they were custom made, and the girl I asked didn't know, but assumed they were.  I did a little sketch on a paper napkin and told the girls I was going to make one for myself, and they want to see it when I do!  So I've got the fabric out on my sewing table now, and was planning to do it today, but time got away as usual and I haven't done anything with it yet.  Looks like another late night session coming up.  Sigh....it's the only way I get anything done for myself around here!

Bird quilt for Avicultural Society

This quilt was made specifically for the Avicultural Society of Australia, to raffle at their Convention Dinner in September.  We hadn't planned on going to the dinner, but have now booked in to go, as I am interested to see who wins the raffle, and will be buying tickets myself in the hope of winning it, lol!  I am really pleased with it, and of course I can always make another one, as I still have the bird photos on file, and it was easy enough to print them on to those inkjet fabric sheets (the person who invented those deserves a medal). I still have to put the label on the back, naming the photographer who allowed me to use his photos, and my name as the quilt maker.
I showed the quilt to the Society meeting this week, and got a very positive response from the members.  The editor of their magazine took photos and is going to publish them in the next issue.  Five minutes of fame, lol!

Vintage handkerchiefs

I have been given handkies since I was a child (we all got them for Xmas in the fifties), and I have also picked up some embroidered ones for my collection in recent years.  But apart from a few that are special to me, I am happy to offload them to other collectors, and some of the ladies on the Down To Earth forum have expressed interest in seeing what I have.  So grab a cup of tea and have a look at the following photos :-)
I have indicated which ones I want to keep and which I am willing to part with.  For the benefit of other readers of this blog, this offer is restricted to DTE members for now.
I will part with all the boxed sets except the men's handkies (my husband is in need of those, and I like the box!)

The photo below is of vintage handkie holders in my collection, which I will keep, but thought you might like to see them.  The Dolly Varden handkies weren't with the holder, but I keep them in there.

These handkies (below) are ones that I would prefer to keep.  I have a pattern for a quilt using handkies for the blocks, and I'm hanging on to these to choose from when the time comes.

Handkies free to good home (DTE members only)

Most of these are the printed handkies, and plain white with some embroidery or lace.

Piano fabric idea.

Remember that piano fabric I bought at the Quilt show, and posted a pic of here?  I think I know what I'm going to do with it, or part of it anyway.  I found the cutest photo on Pinterest, of a black cat sitting on a piano keyboard, and thought it would look great for a wallhanging to applique a black cat on to the piano fabric!   Watch this space....but don't hold your breath, lol ;-)

A.S.A. raffle Bird quilt

I've been working on my quilt for the Avicultural Society raffle.  After going through Ken's collection of monthly magazines from the society, I couldn't find any photos suitable for the quilt, so I hunted around on the internet and found some photos taken by a professional photographer who stated on his website that he was happy for people to use his photos, provided they ask for his permission.  So I emailed him to explain about using his photos on my quilt, and he replied the next day, giving me permission to use them.
I copied about 20 photos, went through them with Ken to select the best ones for the society (birds kept in aviculture) and once we made up our minds, I used the box of printing fabric that I bought at the Quilt Show, to print the photos.  (I put new ink cartridges in my printer first!).

Then I had to decide how to place the pictures on the quilt, and after much mind changing and suggestions from Ken, this is what I came up with:

The photos have been bordered with black, then put together with the green sashing.  It was too small on its own for a quilt, so I added some bird fabric to the top and bottom for extra length, but found it was too long and narrow.  I laid out the rest of the green fabric on the kitchen floor tonight, and put my unfinished top on top of it to see how it looked with a wide green border either side. 
As this has to be finished next Wednesday, I haven't got much time left to play around, so I'm going to add the wide green border either side of the length, and a shorter border at each end.  The backing will be a different bird fabric with a lot of reds, so I am going to use plain red for the binding, rather than more black.

Pin cushion and Needlecase completed.

I made this pair of sewing accessories for Joy, my swap partner on the Down To Earth forum craft thread. We were asked to make anything in blue or lavender/purple tones. It could be paper, knitting, sewing, or whatever, and I chose a combination of felt and fabric. I used a pattern called "Lilac Love", by Val Laird, who is one of my favourite needlecraft designers. I have heaps of her patterns earmarked in my magazine stash, but this is only the second one I've made. The pattern was for three items - the pincushion, needlecase and scissor fob, but I ran out of time before I got to the scissor fob. I don't think Joy will mind ;-)

Val's original design had little stitcheries in the centre of her items, but I was lazy, and just used a polka dot felt instead.  The dark purple is felt, and I stitched lazy daisies around the edge, and added beads in the centres on the pin cushion but not the needlecase (me  being lazy again), so to make up for my tardiness I added a little gold thimble button to the needlecase.

Craft and Quilt show photos now uploaded.

I have finally posted the photos I took at the Craft & Quilt Fair last week, to my Needlecraft and Quilt Shows blog here. Click on the link to see.

Quilt Fair, Aussie bird fabric.

I took all those placemats to the Avic. meeting this week, and the ladies were delighted.  I had pinned some lace and embellishment to some of the mats, but the ladies said no, they didn't need that, so I unpinned it and they were happy with them as they are.  They used two for door prizes, and one of the winners was a girl, who was thrilled to get something other than a bag of bird seed, handy as that is!

At the committee meeting (my first one) the guys were discussing the up and coming Avic. convention, and mentioned the raffle they are having.  Someone asked what were the prizes and the president replied "Oh the usual bag of seed and some books".  I piped up "Oh, that's not enough for an Australia wide convention!  You might get someone from interstate winning the raffle - how are they going to carry 20 kg of birdseed back on the plane?  How about I make a quilt using bird fabrics, for the prize?"  The men mostly looked blank, but one or two said "That's a great idea!  My wife would like that!".

So there I go again, opening my big mouth...they don't know it yet, but I didn't say what size quilt I would make ;-)  I do not make bed quilts - single, double or otherwise!  It will be a throw, about the same size as the one I made for Ken for his retirment, with the motorcycles.   It can be used as a topper for a bed, or to throw over the back of a couch, or even a large wallhanging.  Today I went to the Craft and Quilt Fair and asked every fabric stall holder if they had any fabric with Australian birds.  I didn't find exactly what I would have liked, but this one will do.  It was the last piece on the bolt, not quite two metres, so I was very lucky to get it before it was sold out.

My first idea was to cut it into square blocks and alternate them with four patch blocks of matching colours, but then I saw a display on another stall, where they had used photographs of birds printed on to that special photo fabric, and made up into a wall hanging.  Light bulb moment for me!  I can do that, and use this parrot fabric for the backing!  So I bought a pack of 10 photo fabric sheets, and will download some nice photos of finches and parrots from the Avic. society website to use, after I check with the webmaster it is okay to do that.

My EFTPOS card went into overdrive today as usual.  I was with my friend Connie and neither of us have been to a quilt and craft fair for a couple of years, so we had a ball!  An expensive ball, but she needed some retail therapy, and it was my duty to encourage her...lol.  These are my other purchases:

I never thought I would buy any more chook fabric, but someone always brings out something so gorgeous that I just can't resist it!  Luckily Ken liked it too....he didn't ask how much it was.

I need more Elvis fabric like I need a hole in the head, but I know quite a few Elvis fans, and am thinking this will make great birthday or Christmas gifts.

I love the piano fabric!  Bought just half a metre, because I know I have a pattern somewhere using that fabric, and always thought I'd like to make it if ever I found the fabric.
The Asahi Quilt bias tape is iron-on bias tape to use on stained glass window quilts.  I've always wanted to make one but thought nah, too complicated, but this makes it so easy!  Watch this space, lol.
The can is Quilt basting spray which I was shocked to discover later, had cost me $18!  Is that right???
I also bought two colouring books, but they are on my Art and craft blog.
The most expensive item for the day was not fabric, books or any of that.  Would you believe it cost $50 to park under that damn Exhibition Centre for 5 hours?  Another reason why I don't go to these fairs every year!

Nearly forgot to mention the Quilt Show.  I took heaps of photos, and will be posting them to my Needlecraft Shows blog in the next day or so.  I probably won't leave them there for long though, as I am aware that many people don't like photos of these shows on blogs or social media.  I'll put a note on here when I've done it.

Aust. bird items of patchwork.

I have recently been elected to the committee of the Avicultural Society of Australia (you can blame my husband for this, lol), and I offered to provide some of the prizes for the monthly meeting raffles, as they don't vary much from month to month, and one of the ladies has even started donating boxes of glasses, whether they are unused gifts from their home, or she has bought them for the purpose, I don't know. I showed some of my patchwork to the ladies at the meeting, and they all loved the idea of having bird-related patchwork items for the raffle. These are what I have completed so far:
A small runner with a Galah in the centre.  The sides look a bit bare, so I am going to add some matching buttons or other bling.

Mug rug with Blue Wren.

Mug rug or small mat with Sulphur Crested Cockatoos.

Pair of placemats using the same two fabrics but with different coloured sashing.  They don't have to be taken as a pair, it depends on what the ladies running the raffle want to do with them.

I had to use what was in my stash for these items, but I hope to find some better bird fabrics at the Craft & Quilt Fair later this month.  I know there are some beautiful Aussie bird fabrics around, but they aren't found in many fabric shops, and I couldn't even find much on line, so I'm hoping the stalls at the Fair will have some new lines in.

A hilarious tale of a quilter's husband!

Jane over at Loopy's Place provided this link to a blog she discovered.  The blog writer is a lawyer by profession, and a quilter in her other life.  She has published an article on her blog, written by the husband of another quilter.  The husband is a criminal court judge, and admits to finding himself bamboozled by his wife's new obsession!  It is long, but well worth reading, you will all relate to it :-)
The Sewing Lawyer

Elvis mini quilt.

I found this Elvis fabric at a Quilt and craft show a few years ago, and immediately thought of a friend who is crazy about Elvis.  Finally got around to making it up into a small quilt which she can use as a bed runner or over the back of a chair.  She also loves cats so I used a kitty fabric for the backing so if she gets tired of seeing Elvis, she can flip the quilt over and count kitties instead :-)

Beautiful vintage cloths and aprons.

On Friday I went to a cancer fundraising event at the Eltham Library.  The guest speaker was Wanda McPherson from the Embroiderers Guild, who spoke about the history and culture of tea around the world, and showed some of her collection of vintage embroidered cloths and aprons.  I have posted photos on one of my other blogs here.

Tote bag, Bee fabric.

A member of the Down to Earth forum posted a request last week, asking if anybody had a particular issue of Patchwork & Stitching magazine, as she was after a certain pattern.  I found it in my collection of P & S mags, and emailed her to ask if she wanted the magazine or just a copy of the pattern.  She said a copy would be fine, so once I'd done that I was about to put the mag back on the shelf, but decided to leave it out for a while.  The pattern T. had asked for was a cat silhouette on a totebag, and I had it earmarked to do 'one day'.  Well, no time like the present, so I pulled out one of the many promotional bags that I keep for redecorating, found some fabrics in my stash, and an hour later:  too easy!

 
Below is a photo of some fabric I bought last week at Darn Cheap Fabrics in Heidelberg.  I only bought half a metre, and have no idea what I will do with it, but I thought it would be useful for embellishing projects.

Got my mojo back!

Here is my second UFO project finished: the Sunbonnet Sue blocks made up into a mini quilt.

A friend was telling me about the pot holder she bought to use, but hates the fabric it is made of. I offered to make her another one, and finished this tonight. She is a Cat lover, so I think she will approve!

On to more practical things, I had three pairs of socks with small holes in the toe, and finally got around to darning them this week. I buy my darning wool from opshops, hence the variety of colours. Not many haberdashery shops sell darning wool these days, and even if they do, the younger staff have no idea what it is :-(

UFO challenge has reinvigorated me!

Whilst challenging others reading this blog to show their UFOs, I posted pictures of some of mine.   Nice to see quite a few have taken on the challenge, but a bonus side effect for me is that I have motivated myself to do something!  I got out some of the orphan blocks again last night and spread them on the kitchen floor to see what I could come up with.  The Sunbonnet Sue blocks will be teamed with alternative blocks of different fabrics.  I'm not using the two other blocks in this picture as they are too big, and too much pink.

I moved these blocks around for about 20 minutes and photographed each layout before deciding I liked this one best.  (But that can change, lol)

When I was tidying all these up, I found a single orphan block that was made from a kit that I was given at a craft show.  Here is the block, lying on top of a metre of fabric while I made up my mind whether to use it or something else.

After I'd made the block, I couldn't decided what to do with it, so parked it in the cupboard where it was forgotten until last night.  I had been wanting to make another wall hanging for our kitchen, as the ones I've been using before the renovation didn't really suit the new wall, and I was keen to make one with chook fabric that I have in abundance.   But when I discovered my applique rooster, I thought YES!  So today, this is what I finished up with.  Hubby has yet to notice...wonder what he will say.