Kitty Mini quilt

One of my lovely friends on the Home Makers Forum sent me a small patchwork mini quilt kit for a surprise Christmas present.  She knows I love quilting and cats, so I think she will be pleased to see that I have made it up!  I cut all the fabric out last night at the Quilt Shop monthly class that I go to, and started hand piecing it.  Today I finished it off by machine, and all that is left to do is to hand stitch the binding.

Using scraps of kitty fabric.

I had this cute piece of cat fabric which was just enough to make four small mats, coasters , whatever you wish to call them.  I decided to use a different technique to bind them - the one where you bring the backing fabric around to the front, and stitch it down.  These two were the first pair, and as you can see, I made a bit of a mess with the binding!  But I have since made two more and they are a vast improvement on these, but I haven't got around to taking a photo so you will just have to take my word for it :-}

Edited to add that I took the doiley quilt top to a quilter yesterday, and she said it should be quilted in about 2 weeks.   Can I wait that long?  Going to have to, there is no way I was going to attempt to do it myself!

In Japanese mood.

As well as the Tori Gate quilt, I have been working on a small wall hanging that is based on something I saw in a magazine,  and cut out for future reference.  It was called Fan Fantasy, and I have used the basic pattern, but varied my version somewhat, including a bit of extra Sashiko to add interest.

Japanese traditional kimono fabric finally used!

Remember this?

 My generous friend Aiko in Tokyo has just sent me another parcel of materials - completely different from the above.  Traditional day Kimono fabrics in indigo, stripes and browns.  At first glance I thought What????  but after going through my Japanese quilting books, I can see the potential.  Watch this space, but don't hold your breath .

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I decided to make a wall hanging based on the Japanese style of  door curtain which is used instead of solid doors to save space.  I cut most of the fabrics into 10" strips of varying thicknesses, and sewed them onto a backing of calico.  Each row has a Tori emblem block - the Tori gate is appliqued on to a background of plain Indigo fabric, and the block was inserted into each row of strips.  I used a grey fabric for the sashing and outside borders, and will use the same for binding.  For the backing I used a golden colour curtain material which I have had in my stash for years, just waiting for the right project!

This is the top before I quilted the top and backing together.

Doiley quilt top finished

The top is all pieced and ready to be quilted.  But before that I need to do some hand stitching around some of the doilies that have wide lace or crocheted edges, otherwise they could tear if something catches on them.

More Christmas sewing.

I've been using up some Xmas stash.  This apron and the runner below is made from a panel which also included an oven mitt, but I gave that to someone else as I don't need another oven mitt!

Two coasters, one larger which will probably be used as a hot plate mat.

  The other side of the coasters.

Christmas Table Runner

I have just finished a gift for a non-sewing friend.  I made this table runner from fabrics that I had in my stash.

Doiley quilt.

So glad I decided to use the machine to sew the rest of my doiley blocks!  They are all done now, and are waiting for the November class at the Quilt Shop, when I will put them up on the design wall and decide what to use for the sashing and border.
My next projects are a couple of Christmas themed runners, place mats and coasters for friends. 
Thanks to those of you who expressed concern over my news of the bladder cancer.  It didn't take me long to recover from the operation, and I am back to my usual routines now, but for the coming six weeks I have to attend the hospital every Monday for two hours for bio immune therapy, to get rid of any remaining cancer cells.  I'm told that it doesn't take long and there are rarely any nasty side effects, as it isn't like chemo or radiation, but I'm sure I won't feel quite as energetic as I have been!  So if I don't post anything here for a while, it will only be because I'm a bit tired.

Update on my doiley quilt.

After meticulously handstitching doilies on to three blocks, I decided that was a crazy idea, and had a go at sewing the next couple of blocks by machine.  Much faster, and looks quite neat, so that is what I will be doing for the rest of them.
Funny to think I am doing this quilt in memory of a friend who died of cancer, and now I have just been diagnosed with cancer myself :-(   However, it is in the bladder, not an aggressive cancer, and I had the tumours removed last week without any problem.  My doctor assures me that it is quite a common cancer, and most people survive for many years once it has been treated.  Maybe I'd better make another doiley quilt when I've finished this one, just in case!

Clover shaped needle case.

I made this for a swap on the Home Makers Forum.  My nominated swap partner had mentioned a while ago that she would love to have one of those clover shaped needlecases, so I consulted Mr Google, downloaded a free pattern, and here  it is!   they are :-)
I made the Paris fabric one first as a trial to see how it turned out, and learnt a few things on the way, which made the second effort much more presentable in my eyes.

Crazy Cats table runner

I put the last stitches in the binding tonight.  Another small project out of the way!

Two Bunnies stitchery

I have several friends who love rabbits, so when I saw this free pattern online I immediately thought of doing one for a Christmas gift.   I love the current fad for framing little embroideries in hoops, and as this design was already circular, and I had a stack of hoops in my stash...

It only took about an hour to stitch, over two days as a break from sewing doilies on to blocks, and it is one less Christmas gift to think about.

Doiley quilt blocks

I have made a good start on the doiley quilt.  I have cut 21 blocks 12" square, and pinned two or three doilies (depending on their size) to each block.  I am hand stitching them to the background, around the edge where the crochet meets the linen.  The blocks will be joined in rows, but I haven't yet decided whether to join them up as they are, or use a sashing in between.  My SIL and her hubby were visiting us yesterday, and were admiring the blocks I've done so far.  I mentioned the sashing, and we mulled over the choice of white or ecru, or coloured, and looking at the all the embroidered colours, we couldn't agree on what colour sashing would look best.  The tablecloth on the kitchen table at the time had a pale aqua border, and one of my blocks was sitting on top of it, showing a bit of  the aqua next to the block.  Ken pointed to it and said 'that looks nice' and he was right - it looked perfect!  But I've got a long way to go before I even think about sashing yet, so no firm decision has been made.
Here are four blocks.  They are on the dark carpet so it isn't a good photo, but it gives you an idea.
The background fabric is a pale cream with a simple floral pattern in a denser shade.  It looks quite contrasty here, but isn't so bad when you see the actual fabric. 

Scrappy quilt completed

I finally got around to finishing the scrappy quilt that had been lying on my sewing table for weeks while I messed around with other more interesting things!  I used white to bind it, and pink flannelette for the backing.  I've got heaps of this childrens design flannelette from when I was making quilts for the babies in Papua New Guinea, but sadly, that project seems to have fizzled out due to the astronomical cost of transporting the quilts to PNG, then getting them overland to the highlands where the natives live.   So I suppose I can continue to make baby/childrens quilts from time to time, to use up that flannelette!

One of the other projects I was messing around with was a table runner using some cat fabric that was given to me by my lovely friend Sylvia in NSW who is a cat lover as well as a collector of Royalty memorabilia.  Her blog is here.  I hope she sees this - she sent me a heap of cat fabrics and I have been slowly using them up for various projects, but still have a lot left in my stash:-)
This is the top, which only needs backing and binding to finish it.

Damaged linens mat finished

I don't know what to call this, and I don't know what I will do with it!  It measures 28" x 19".  It was just an experiment to see what could be done with damaged linens.  Those that are stained, torn, or worn beyond repair.  I just took the good bits, framed each piece and joined them all together to make a 'mini quilt'.  More of a wall hanging size, but I'm not going to hang it anywhere.  Mostly likely it will be put on the coffee table for a while, then folded up and put into the cupboard where all my other completed sewing projects live, that aren't out on display anywhere.

Embroidered tablecloths.

Here are some more of the linens that were given to me recently:

Vintage Linens

It has been ages since I posted photos of vintage linens here; in fact without looking back, I think the last time was when I inherited several boxes of linens from my friend Denise who died last year.
Since then I have been given some more, but even though I wash and press them within days of getting any, it can be months before I get around to photographing them!  Here are some doilies that I was given recently:

There are more from the same lady, but I will post them in the next day or so - the crocheted and lace doilies.  There are also tablecloths and teatowels, still to be photographed.
While on the subject of doilies, I have finally made a start on the doiley quilt for the Olivia Newton-John Centre.  I bought the background fabric last week at The Quilt Shop, and cut it into blocks, then started pinning doilies on to the blocks ready to hand sew.  I think it is going to be rather lovely!

What does one do with damaged linens?

I would never dream of cutting up any of my precious linen collection to make something else!  But people do, and they can be very creative too.  I even find it hard to part with finely embroidered items that have substantial damage to them, and I have had a stack of them in a bag for some years, waiting for inspiration.  Enter Pinterest :-)  After finding dozens of ideas there, I printed off some examples, and decided on one style.  It meant cutting the best embroidered bits off my linens, into pieces all the same size.  Sometimes the remaining stitching was too small, so I joined two bits together to come up with the size I wanted (4" x 5.5'").   Next, I pulled out some fabrics from my stash of small pieces, and cut 1.5 inch strips to match the embroidery patches.  I sewed the strips at the bottom, then along one side of each piece, to give me these:

I have since sewn them together and put a pale blue border around it, which looks very sweet.  Once I put a back on it and bind it with a darker blue material, I will post another photo.

Updated photo of finished table runners in Japanese fabric.

Just remembered that the previous photo of the table runner didn't have the binding done on it.  So there they are together, and the second photo of course is the back of them.

Strippy block quilt top.

Remember those strips I was making into blocks last month?  Well, I finally ran out of strips which was such a good feeling to see the scraps bin reduced in size!  I took the blocks to the Quilt Shop and moved them around on the design wall in several configurations before I decided to make them up like this.  Our tutor said it was boring and I should have mixed them up, but when I tried doing that, I wasn't happy with the result, so boring it is!   (she wasn't being rude by the way - she is is very creative and helpful - and honest!).  Now, what to use for a border....I saw a similar quilt on Pinterest, and it had no border at all, just made up as a quilt as it was.

Any suggestions?