June 29, 2009 - Christmas In July

Due to our friend Mill not being around for this coming Christmas, Michelle decided to throw a Christmas in July party!

These are a novelty for us here in Australia, as they are done in the middle of winter and we are able to eat a Christmas dinner with the works. Roasts, hot puddings, all the kinds of stuff you cannot eat on our actual Christmas day because it is usually over 100oF!

Mill brough along a personalised gingerbread man for everyone.

She does these every Christmas and we all love them.

Michelle made a delicious dinner and dessert, and much laughter and wine was had by all.

We also had Jamies good friend from Holland there also, so this was a new experience of Christmas dinner for him too!

Sam xox

June 25, 2009 - Vintage Quilt

This is my vintage quilt I have been working on for over 2 years. I am hand quilting it and I am up to the final round of blocks.

This is a photo of the quilt top before I had basted it.



Here are some photos of the progression of the hand quilting.

And here is the almost finished quilt... not long to go now! I am very excited!

Sam xox

June 24, 2009 - The bunting is finished!

Hi everyone,

Well I managed to get the bunting finished off tonight!

Please excuse our horrible blinds - we rent our appartment!

You can click on the pictures below to enlarge them.

Here is a close up of the bunting so you can see how I finished it off.

I am really happy with the result! It was really easy to make and looks really nice hung up.

Sam xox

 

June 22, 2009 - Starry Night

I took my husband out on a 'date' last night.

I surprised him with a visit to the Sydney Observatory. Neither of us had been there before. We were so lucky as the weather last night was perfect, not a cloud in the sky!

First they took us into the 3D room where we watched three short videos about space. The first was the best as it put all the planets side by side to show their comparative sizes. It went beyond our solar system and showed some massive stars and what appeared to be other 'suns' that we so much larger than the sun. Actually, to be honest, the whole size thing was hard to comprehend!

Then we were taken to the southern telescope. Through this we were able to see Alpha Centauri. I have searched through 'Google Images' to find images that are similar to what we saw through the telescopes.

We then looked at Crux, more specifically Beta Crux (the second brightest star of the Crux constalation). Here we saw the Jewel Box.

We then moved to the northern telescope. This was the most exciting part, the tour leader told us we would be looking at Saturn!!! I was so excited but I was worried about how clear it would be. Would we even be able to see the ring? The tour leader set up the telescope and had a look through. He said it looked good and that we could also see one of Saturns moon Titan. I found this image on the web and this is very very close to what we saw. It was this clear and just above the planet was a very bright light which was the moon.

So cool!

On a different note, I am watching the Washington subway train footage on our news program. For my US visitors, I hope none of you have loved ones involved, and that they are able to rescue all quickly and save as many as they can. My thoughts are with them.

Sam x-o-x

 

June 21, 2009 - Our Wedding

Here are some photo from our wedding in January.

It was a perfect day.

Click to enlarge.

June 21, 2009 - Dedicated to Mill

As some of you know my dearest friend Mill is heading off to America in exactly one month.

She is going to be over there for one year to continue her studies.

I am going to miss her terribly. She is a beautiful friend who always makes time to see me. I have been lucky enough to share a home with her for two years back in 2005-2007. Since I moved out we still manage to see each other weekly for our 'Craft Nights', where we share a meal, a nice chat, and encourage each other through our latest projects. Mill was also beside me at my wedding in January of this year as one of my bridesmaids.

I am throwing her a 'good-bye' party. It will be an afternoon high tea with her closest girlfriends, sister and mum.

I made her invitation using my favorite china and fabric. My dear friend Michelle helped me photo shop it and add the text. Do you like it? (Those pink rectangles are not really there. I have just covered some information up that was on the invite).

I have great plans for decorating Mill's apartment for the party!

First I am going to make some bunting. I have seen it in many peoples blogs where it has been used for decoration. I believe it is an American style of decorating, as I have not seen it used in Australia. But it looks great so I thought I would give it a go.

So far I have made 8 triangles. I am going to join them with some sort of ribbed tape or something similar from the local sewing shop.

This is what they look liked pinned together as a practice - I am happy with the result!

Sam x-o-x

June 13, 2009 - My Finished Quilts

My Finished Quilts

 

Does anyone else find that they finish more quilts that are gifts than they do for themselves???

I want to share with you some quilts I have finished over the years.

This wall quilt I made for my Nan for Christmas in 2007. I also made one for my mum for mothers day in 2007. In Nans I used pink fabrics, which had a really nice result. In Mums I stuck to a country theme, which made the quilt look totally different.

This is the only photo I have of mums quilt. I really should take a better one!

Next up is the wall quilt I made for my other Grandma Mardi for her 80th birthday in November 2008. I chose a nice combination of fabrics and was pleased with the result. I forgot, however, to sew the hanging rod pocket onto the back of the quilt before I gave it to her! I told her I would put one on, but she was so excited about getting the quilt that she thumb tacked (pinned) it onto her bedroom wall. Perhaps not the most traditional way to display a quilt, but at least I know she loved it!

For Christmas of 2007, I made Mardi and Pop a Christmas wall quilt. It is called Rudy and Me.

And finally, here are two quilts I made for myself.

The first is a simple three block wall sampler. I made the blocks by hand.

This is by far my favorite though - my Wreath of Flowers quilt. This little baby is made up of 163 1/4" hexagons and took me moths to complete. It is sewn by hand and has to be my best quilting achievement so far. I entered it into our local show this year and won first prize for it. I got the blue ribbon and $5 prize money. Oh, and a certificate!

Sam xox

June 13, 2009 - Nans Quilt, December 31, 2007

Here are some pictures of the quilt I made for my Nan for Christmas...

You may recognise the pattern.... it is the same as the one i made my Mum a couple of years ago. You can see it here behind me, Jamie, and my brother.

I have changed the colours to pink to suit her taste and new house (they recently moved here from the UK).

I hand quilted it - echo quilted the applique and quilted a 1/4 inch in from the pieced boarder.And a close-up of some of the hand quilting...

Sam xox

 

June 13, 2009 - Sentimental Garden

I wanted to show you another WIP (work in progress) I have on the go. This is a truly beautiful pattern that I am having real joy making. The idea is simple, but put together is impressive.

Ok, enough with the buildup.

I found this quilt in an old issue of Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine.

It is called Sentimental Garden.

I am currently making the flower blocks. The pattern is for a queen sized bed and calls for 40 of these flower blocks. So far I am 1/4 the way there. Not sure how long I will go for, I am thinking of perhaps making it a double, because I think a queensized quilt might be a bit tricky to manage.

When it is (eventually) finished my intentions are to hand quilt it with a simple 1/4" echo around the main seams and the flowers themselves.

 

What do you think?

Sam xox

June 13, 2009 - Craft Day

So the girls and I got together again today for Craft Day.

We began by doing a Yoga class at our local University Gym. It was really good! My favorite position was one in which you sit legs tucked under, knees apart, and then stretch forward along the ground with your head on the ground. So comfortable!

We walked back to my place and got on with our craft!

Mill is still working on the latchhook rug she is making. Michelle knitted a bit of her scarf, and also hunted through my cookbooks for Xmas chicken recipes for our upcoming Xmas in July party we are having at her place.

I worked on my M is for Mudgee wallhanging quilt (quiltlet?).

As some of you might remember I fell in love with this quilt in the latest issue of Australian Patchwork and Quilting. Ruth Buchanan who designed it made it from a charm pack names "Cornucopia" by Fig Tree Quilts for Moda. I love the fabric in the quilt she made so hunted around to see where I could buy a charm pack. Found some on the American eBay site and the pack arrived on Friday!

I have sewn the background together, and at craft day today I made all the 1/4" bias strips for the flower stems.

Its so cold here at the moment. I love my slippers and heater!

Love Sam xox

 

June 13, 2009 - 11th May - My progress!

 

Well I have been busy these last few weeks. I have been dabbling in all my UFO's which has been a lot of fun! I had a lovely Mothers Day on Sunday. My mum, dad, brothers and grandparents came to our appartment for lunch. It was a great day and everyone enjoyed themselves!

Now, onto more quilty matters.

First off I have sent the names out to those people participating in the Easter/May Block Swap Molly started all those months back. I hope they all have fun making and receiving their blocks. I can't wait to see the results!My knitted scalf is growing quickly. I think I have about 4 more inches to go and then I'll finish it.

Prada is in the photo inspecting it, and she gives you an idea of its length.

 

 

 

I have been doing some hand quilting also on the 'vintage' style quilt I am making.

I now have 14 Log Cabin blocks! They are so much fun to make. Foundation paper piecing makes it SO much easier! Yes that is a bag of 1" strips, all ready to be made into Log Cabin blocks!

Now, to my 1930's repro addiction! This is a Grandmothers Flower Garden I have been working on for a while. I have used the English Paper Piecing method to make these blocks, which will eventually be joined together with cream hexagons.My fabric stach...The blocks I have made so far...

On Saturday Jamie and I went to my grandparents house for Pop and Jamie to do some woodwork. Nan and I sat outside in the sunshine. Nan read her newspapers and did her crosswords, and I paper pieced 48 hexagons!

Thanks for looking!

Sam xox

 

June 13, 2009 - Sydney Quilt Show

On Thursday I went to the Sydney Quilt and Craft Show. It is on annually in Darling Harbour, in the heart of the city.

I attended quite a few talks about different aspects of quilting.

The first talk was bright and early at 9:30am by lady named Sue Daley from Busy Thimbles. She gave some insight into improving needleturn applique techniques. I know how to do this type of applique, and I can do it, but I find it frustrating. I much prefer the english paper piecing method. However, Sue was very passionate about the topic and gave some good tips. Their website has a lot of things on it, it is worth taking a look.

I attended a talk called "One Fabric Magic", where Margaret Kirkby from Logan's Fabrics demonstrated how it is possible to make an entire quilt from just one fabric. I was sceptical about this, but believe me here results were amazing! This talk was based on Kay Nickols book 1 Fabric Quilts - you can find the link here. It is seriously worth a look!

Judy Gray, from Rose Patchwork Cottage, gave a talk on quilting in the recession. She showed many quilts she had made using out-dates rose print fabric which she had tea-dyed, along with traditional quilts made with mostly homespun fabrics. Again, I was sceptical about the tea-dyed quilts. I thought the tea would give a splotchy effect for some reason. However, Judy's quilts did not looked second rate at all. They were very classy and timeless. I really enjoyed this talk.

But, more importantly, "what did you buy Sam?" I hear you asking!

Well, firstly I was very good! My dear hubby gave me a budget to work with, and I stuck to it!

The show has 10 long rows of double-sided stalls to walk through. It can be visual overload at times when you are surrounded by all different crafts. I made a bee-line for the Material Obsession stall and hung out there for almost half and hour! Kathy (the lady who runs it and is the author of both books) was there as well! I was able to ask her questions I had, and also compliment her on the quilts she had on display and her book. In the first book, there is a pattern for a Nosegay quilt. I couldn't quite understand how the block came together, so I asked Kathy for some advice. She strongly suggested I invest in the Matilda's Own brand of acrylic Nosegay templates, because unless we use quality templates, then we will eventually end up wasting fabric. This is so true. If you have ever traced patterns onto template plastic, and then cut the templates out with scissors, then cut fabric out with them using a rotory cutter, you know that each cut always shaves a little bit of fabric off the template. By the time you reach your last block, the template has changed shape!

Lucky for me Kathy explained how to construct the block as well. I have been sewing all evening and this is what I have to show you all. I am really happy with it!






So I purchased the templates, and a bundle of ten 25cm strips to begin my Material Obsession-stlye stash!

            Love Sam xox

June 12, 2009 - Hi Everyone

Hi everyone,

As yet I cannot seem to find the myquiltblog 'homepage'..... has anyone else seen it?

Ok, so I have moved blog sites. This is the second time it has crashed, and now I must have lost over 150 blogs. So I have a new 'home'. You can find me at:

http://hand-quilter.blogspot.com/

I will check in here regularly and try and keep blogging here for major things.

Good to see a few familiar (blog) faces here!

Please leave a comment when you read this so I can get in contact with you, as with the crash I have lost my entire friends list!

Love Sam xoxoxox