Decisions, decisions

The Irish Chain is coming along.  I chose the on point layout because I had the correct amount of blocks sewn already.

Now I have to decide where I want to trim my edges.  Into the cream edges?

Or half way through the colours?  I must admit I do like the look of this even thought there's more waste and I also put my (too light) lilacs along the outer edges so they'd be cut away saving me some unpicking and resewing.

Wonders will never cease to amaze me

Another post in January!  I am on a roll!  An Irish Chain roll!  I believe that I may have sewn quite a number of Irish Chain quilts over the years. In fact, I made a couple last year.  

Many years ago I bought this book while I was in the US.  I love this book.  I love lots of books actually but this must be my favourite.  In fact, when I was flicking through it to find the picture I was looking for I was drawn in and oohed and ahhed over all the quilts in it.  Again.

I particularly liked this Irish Chain quilt so when I needed a gift for my brother when he married I made my own blue and cream version using homespun fabric.  I started the quilt and then had to put it aside because I then made the bride's dress, 2 bridesmaid dresses, several vests, bow ties and cummerbunds for the wedding.  After this event my new sister in law was annoyed with me because she hadn't received a gift for the wedding.  These days my reaction to that would be vastly different but back then I was very much a people pleaser and I rushed to complete the quilt.  Do you think I could find it?!  After searching high and low I remembered that I'd stored it in a bin liner and therefore it must have been thrown out by mistake.  So I started again!

The quilt was beautiful.  I even hand quilted it!!  It wasn't quite so beautiful when I next saw it casually thrown and scrunched up on their bedroom floor. 

Ooh I went off on a tangent there!  Back to my latest Irish Chain quilt!  I finished sewing all my blocks and ended up with an extra and I couldn't work out why.  You'd think that by now I'd know how to make this pattern wouldn't you?

So I spread them out on my design wall and used up all my blocks.  But wait!  It's not square!  I have a preference for square quilts so what shall I do?  On closer inspection those very pale lilac squares have to come out too.  I guess I haven't finished all my blocks after all but it's certainly coming along.  I'll have to decide if I want my blocks on point too but all that thinking is for another day.

My greyhound cross stitch is coming along too.  Here it is with Minnie the greyhound.  She makes it quite difficult to sew!

And not to be outdone, here it is with Wellington the greyhound. 

Something was bugging me about this area.  I eventually found the mistake where I hadn't crossed my stitch.  I'd ask you to point it out but I'm too afraid you'd find quite a few of them so, in this case, ignorance is bliss.

Happy 2025!

I visited New Zealand recently and noticed that they commonly used feathers in their cushion pads.  I found this more comfortable for my back so I decided to buy feather pads and make new covers for them.  I went to my stash several times and nothing I had inspired me so I thought I'd go fabric shopping but when I looked I noticed that I could buy ready made covers for a fraction of the cost! 

I went to IKEA for the covers as I already had some rectangular shaped cushions I'd bought from there that needed new covers.  I found a nice selection for the square cushions but not a single cover for the rectangular pads.  And yet, they still sell that size.  Hmmm...  

So I bought some large square covers with the intention of making two covers out of them. Here is one of them all laid out and pinned ready for sewing.  I ended up with one with a zipper and the other side had to be sewn closed.

Ta da!  All sewn and looking very smart.

Minnie gives them the tick of approval!

Feather cushions are a nuisance!  But they're so comfy!

I've sewn a few more Irish Chain blocks too and I've booked my next retreat to Ballarat in March.  Are you excited Annie?!

Happy New Year’s Eve!

So don’t faint with shock but I did some sewing today.  Not much sewing but considering I haven’t even thought about sewing for so long it was a big deal. Apparently there is a superstition that claims that what you do on New Year’s Eve sets the tone for the following year.  Ah ha! That explains all the wine I’ve been drinking this year!!  So I did a bit of sewing to set the tone for next year.  Later I will be drinking wine and breaking into a house to watch illegal fireworks.  Oh, am I allowed to say that on here?  It’s all legal I promise!

Anyway, back to the sewing.  I just grabbed one of my project boxes and started sewing.  A while ago I cut up scraps to make several quilts and the box I selected was the one with the Irish chain squares in it.  I have this picture printed but I think it’s just to remind me what I was planning on doing with the squares.  This box also has charm squares and matching 2 1/2 inch squares inside with no picture to remind me of what I was planning on making so that’s interesting.  Plus I’ve used some of my matching 2 1/2 inch squares in the Irish chain quilt.  I’m sure I’ll find more scraps to replace them though once I remember what it is I’m making!

Proof that I’m sewing!

And the blocks I’ve made previously up on the design wall so that I can see where I’m up to.  This is a perfect project for retreat as it’s lovely mindless sewing.  Obviously I haven’t arranged these blocks in an Irish chain manner but looking at the picture I kind of like the look of it. Thoughts for another day…

Whatever you’re up to today - enjoy!  

And keep your fingers crossed that I don’t get arrested.

 

The stockings weren’t hung by the chimney with care

Roll on 2025!

Coming to you live from retreat!

A nice group of us are at The Retreat in Gisborne for the weekend.  It’s been lovely so far! I’m using my iPad to type this and I keep losing my photos when I try to move them so the order might not make much sense.  But not making sense is the story of my life!

On the design wall last night were these wonky star blocks that Judy has been working on intermittently.  She had to sew the last block before we could go to bed last night!  Judy will be adding sashing at some point.

Another one of Judy’s.  This one is a Chip quilt inspired by the scrappy quilt hanging at The Retreat.

Gail is making a Halloween tablecloth.  Judy helped a lot, particularly with the math!  Gail has sewn these segments together and quilted it already!

Here’s Jill’s Gorgeous Georgia.  The pattern continued to disappoint to the very end but it does look great!  Jill has now started on the appliqué part. 

Here are the ladies!

Judy is now working on this quilt.  She’s adding a row of star blocks next.

Kate is enjoying herself making this quilt.  It’s one that a friend started and gave up on.  Kate is finishing it and giving it back to her!  Yes, she’s bonkers!  Unfortunately I’m not the friend but it’s giving me ideas ;-) 

Oh hi Kate!  Didn’t see you there!

Gail is trimming the edges of her tablecloth.

Jill is tracing the appliqué.

Judy’s choosing fabric for her stars.

Rosie has been putting binding on the edges of these fabric segments.  Here’s one pile…

Oh and look!  Another pile!  Mind you, Gail has taken over a whole sofa with her bags and projects!

Debbie is embroidering.

Kate is tearing out foundation papers.

There’s a new quilt hanging up at The Retreat and it’s a beauty!  Abbe made this one for her dad who has recently passed away.  This is hanging in his memory.

So, what have I been up to?  Nothing!  This is where I put my project bag when I arrived on Friday and that’s probably where it’ll remain until I leave tomorrow!

 

Overdue

First of all I must say CONGRATULATIONS to this lovely family on the birth of baby Oliver!  He was overdue and was sternly requested to leave the premises!

Look how cute my quilt the baby is!

Another long overdue project is this camera quilt for my friend's birthday.  It's only 8 month late so far.  Oops!

 So, I had the background all sewn together in my last post and all my content disappeared.  I had to cut out all the appliqué shapes and press them onto the camera...

Match the thread colours...

And blanket stitch the shapes onto the background.

I could barely see where to stitch the black on black shapes so I outlined them with chalk.

Ta da!  Now to quilt...

I don't want to do an edge to edge design so I'm attempting to custom quilt.  Custom quilting and I don't see eye to eye but it would be a shame to compromise with an all over design.  I used a plastic pocket and permanent marker to use as a template for my designs.  I looked at the original pattern and this white circle has been quilted to look like a flash.  My original idea was to design flash lines coming off the circle and after drawing it all out realised that that circle isn't the flash so that idea went out the window.  The flash is the white rectangle at the top of the camera but, it's also where the camera brand goes so I decided to add the brand name rather than a flash.

I scanned the templates and set them as the background in my quilters CAD program.  Then I used the shape to help me add the fill.  I finished the segment first and tested it on my frame to make sure it would work ok.  I was pretty happy with it, adjusted it a little and will position it better on the actual quilt.

I've prepared all my quilting designs and I'll be using those plus a bit of pantograph work to complete the quilting.  The only issue is now I'm ready to put it on the frame at last I don't have any backing!  They say you can't rush a good job...