Civil War Quilt–Log Cabin

I’m not sure why Barbara Brackman chose to make 8” blocks for her sampler quilt.  I find 8” is quite a difficult block to work with.  This one came together well enough, but I think the maths is so much easier on different sized blocks. 

It rained it’s head off last night.  Each time it rains, we lose our (very expensive) driveway off down the street, so biggest daughter and I spent ages shovelling it back up.  I’m not complaining one bit about the rain – given our very measly annual rate of rainfall it would be churlish of me to do so! 

But I’d love a nice, soft rain that lasts all day, rather than 20ml in ten minutes like last night.  Still, beggars can’t be choosers, I guess.

Till tomorrow

Suzie

Autumn Leaves

You would not believe the amount of times I have made this wall hanging.  When we were in business, it was a kit/pattern that we designed ourselves.  It was hands down our most popular design.  We have made in so many colours, we’d hang it on the wall as a shop sample and someone would come in, admire it, and ask if they could buy it.  We always said yes.  Shop samples are like rabbits, they breed and breed.  Even today, all these years after we have left the shop, we have bags full of shop samples. 

This one is unquilted, therefore just a flimsy.  But as I work my way through the cupboard photographing all of them, I’m sure to find a quilted one. 

It’s only small, and it went really well as a table centre for a rectangular table.  I used to do the whole ‘pretty table’ thing.  Then I had children.  Now it’s covered in texta, bits are chipped out of it, someone has drawn a smiley face on it. 

I wouldn’t change it for the world.

Till tomorrow,

Suzie

Aww thanks, you guys….

Thankyou so much for your lovely comments on the Calm Blue Ocean reveal.  I’m tickled pink (or blue?) that you were so happy with it.  The quilt, my version of it, is exactly the way I had it in my head.  It’s not very often that it turns out quite so well.

So thanks again, and please keep watch for the next one.  There will definitely be a next one, I totally loved doing it.

As for Bountiful Bouquet – I know I haven’t posted the final entry yet, but I will.  It’s hanging over my head like a great, big quilt-sized anvil.  Rather than stress to much about it, I’ve decided to give myself July off and I’ll post it in the first week of August. 

I’m sorry that I didn’t stick to the schedule I’d hoped for.  As it was my first online quilt-sharing experience, I made a few mistakes and it’s taken me a little longer to get it out there to you.  So check back then and I’ll definitely be online for you.

There’s a whole heap involved in the posting of a quilt or a mystery quilt.  With the first one, the Bountiful Bouquet, I was only doing it a month in advance.  With the Calm Blue Ocean, I made the whole thing before I posted any of it.  That allowed for any hiccups, fabric disasters, sick children – you name it.  What with the children, the husband, the house – life well and truly got on top of me this past month and Bountiful Bouquet has suffered for it.

But one more posting to go and then it will be another thing crossed of my list!

Hope your weekend is going well.  This is Ballet Concert season for my first daughter, which means silly schedules to keep, hair to do, you name it.  I’d love to post a photo of her in her ballet costume.  Perhaps I will.

Anyway, till tomorrow,

Happy Quilting!

Suzie

Calm Blue Ocean–The Final Step!

Yes, it’s here!

Click here for the direct link

or

click here to take you to the mystery page.

I do hope you loved it as much as I loved it.  I’ll definitely do another one!

Till tomorrow,

Suzie

Kookaburra

There is nothing quite so lovely as the sound of kookaburras laughing in the trees.  We don’t hear them very often, I guess because they don’t have much to say.  But when they do, it’s precious.  I always find myself standing still and listening. 

We are very blessed to have such wonderful birdlife close by.  I was outside this morning and the Murray Mapgies were singing their little song.  I wish I could share that with you but I’m not so technologically advanced. 

I used to work in a bank, that was situated right smack dab on the banks of the Murray River, surrounded by big gum trees.  A little kookaburra family lived nearby, and we would hear them often, chattering away. 

It has always been one of my favourite sounds.

Till tomorrow,

Suzie

Batik Triangles

Another quilt by you know who.  Not me.

I’m such a traditionalist, and she is such a non-conformist when it comes to quilting.  I would never in a million years have made this quilt, I’m not a lover of batiks and I don’t love triangles so much.  But I took out the quilt and took its photo, and I really love it now.  When I took its photo, the amount of life in it really shows through.  It’s a wonderful quilt, I think.

I took it out of the cupboard, and she saw me photographing it.  She said ‘Oh, I’d forgotten I’d even made that’. 

We have both made many, many quilts.

Till tomorrow,

Suzie

Civil War Quilt–Birds In The Air

Another one of Barbara Brackman’s Civil War Quilt.  This quilt needs fifty blocks and I think I’ve made ten or so.  I think I’m going to sash it the way that she suggests, with the triple sashing joining at a nine patch. 

I had to starch the stuffing out of it, as it was all done with triangles and I have always been a lazy quilter, so triangles are not my thing.  But it worked (kinda) and it measures the right size (kinda) and the points are all okay (kinda). 

So I think I’ll kinda keep going.

Till tomorrow

Suzie

Tumbler Flimsy

Did I show you this one already?  It’s very sweet, made with the Accuquilt tumbler die.  I would ideally like to have made it bigger, this one is only about twenty inches or so.  But as luck would have it, I didn’t have enough spots and stripes to finish the job.

The go cutter is a very handy thing to own, I must admit.  It takes so little time to cut things out.  Now I just need time to stitch.

Till tomorrow,

Suzie

Kangaroos

Most Australians have a love/hate relationship with kangaroos.  Kangaroos are not shy or elusive, they are common place.  Everywhere.  At least where I live, they are everywhere.  I live rurally, and towns are sparsely situated in the middle of bushland, or ‘scrub’ as we call it.  Driving these country roads, especially at dusk is quite dangerous.  I doubt many families locally would have been spared the experience of ‘hitting a roo’ whilst driving.  It’s scary and very dangerous, and you can never really relax whilst you’re driving long distances.  The problem with kangaroos is they jump, and you can never be sure if they are going to jump away from you, or right smack dab in front.

But as much as they are a danger on our roads, I do love them.  I love watching them bound along, I love seeing a little joey poke its head out of its mother’s pouch.  We have a big male kangaroo live close by with his little family, and to see him draw himself up on his hind legs, his broad shoulders ready for a fight if need be – it’s remarkable.

You do not want to be near an angry male kangaroo.

Till tomorrow,

Suzie

Calm Blue Ocean Month Nine

Ohhh it’s nearly reveal time!  I’m sure you’ll have a good idea what kind of quilt you’re going to end up with after today.  Have fun!

Click here to download the next step

or

Click here to take you to the mystery quilt page.

Enjoy!

Catching Up–Civil War Quilt

It’s no secret it’s school holidays, and very little gets done during school holidays.  It’s late here now in Australia, the little people are in bed and this has been the only time to myself I’ve really had all day.  Ahh, the serenity.

I’ve had little time to sew, but I did manage to do one block today:

Only because I had pre cut it, I think.  It’s from Barbara Brackman’s website Civil War Quilts.  I’ve done a few of her blocks for the free quilt on her website, and as is typical of me, I’ve put it away and started on other things, most notably Dear Jane.

However, whilst surfing the other day, I read that she is nearly about to start another free quilt series.  And of course, I will be have to start that, won’t I? 

So it seemed like an opportune time to finish these ones off.  Or at least put a dent in them.  Dear Jane is all well and good, but these blocks, finishing as they do at twice the size of Dear Jane, seem like monsters.  And much more achievable.

I’ve done a fair few of these….want to see?

The rest are over at my flickr stream. 

One of these days I’ll get sick of these reproduction fabrics, and then what will I work on?

Till tomorrow,

Suzie

Wedge Tailed Eagles

My secret blog is out, as I have found out my mother now reads this.  I’ll have to be careful what I say from now on. 

She made this quilt for my husband, who has always been very attached to birds of prey, in particular our native Wedge-tailed eagles, or wedgies as he calls them. 

Till tomorrow

Suzie

Blue Wrens

Obviously, this is not one of mine.  Obviously, this is another one from my clever clogs of a mother.

These are blue wrens.  They live on the river, but only the boys are blue.  The girls have the same tails, but aren’t flashy.  Typical of men.

We live on the Murray River, but we don’t see them very much around here – perhaps there are too many other birds around.  They are very cheeky little things, much like willy wagtails.  I wonder if willy wagtails exist everywhere?  Willy wagtails are small birds, whose bravado well outweighs their size.

That’s your Australian birdlife lesson for today. 

(I haven’t forgotten the Bountiful Bouquet – as soon as the house clears of children I’ll sort it out, so please bear with me)

Till tomorrow,

Suzie

Uluru

I didn’t do this.  I’m no nearly as clever.  My mother did this one, she’s the landscape queen.  The idea appeals but then I never feel particularly arty enough to do more than appreciate other people’s work.  Give me a good old scrap quilt any day.

Calm Blue Ocean–Month Eight

Heading towards the finish line – are you guys enjoying it?  I’d love you to send me some pictures if you’ve got some.

Okay – here you go!

click here to download the next step

or

click here to take you to the mystery quilt page.

Till tomorrow,

Suzie

Dear Jane J7 Chicken Tracks

I really don’t know where Brenda got some of her names.  Does this look like chicken scratches to you?

Oh dear, I forgot to snip those threads.  Ignore them.

Loving Dear Jane at the moment.  Such an addiction.

Till tomorrow,

Suzie

Dear Jane L7

Another one whose name escapes me right now.  I’ll update when I find the book.

Machine pieced, rotary cut.  Points are pretty well matched, considering.  Lots of tiny pieces.  But it’s coming together! 

Can I tell you again how addicted I am to this jolly quilt?  I’ll go through withdrawals when I finish. I can understand why some people make more than one!

Till tomorrow

Suzie

Vintage Dresden Plate

I stitched a little bit over the weekend, and threw this little top together.  I probably showed you this at the time that I cut it out – I cut out all the wedges for this dresden plate in about ten minutes flat with that wonderful invention, the Accuquilt.  The cutting out took no time, the sewing – well, that took a little bit more time.

I’m ridiculously thrilled with the look of this quilt.  I can see now I have a few of the same fabrics too close together – funny how we look and look and we’re certain that it’s definitely right, and yet after you sew it together the errors (or misplacements) pop up still.

My only problem with this is that I used a background fabric I no longer have access to, and I’ve not got any left.  So this is only 39” square, and it’s kinda too small for any of my spaces.  Ideally I’d do another round of dresden plates, but I can’t.  So I’m thinking of putting a different fabric around the border and maybe doing some smaller half dresdens on it…but I don’t have any fabric just yet that will do as the background.  So it has to wait for now.

But for now, it’s awfully pretty, don’t you think?  Those reproduction fabrics – oh be still my beating heart.

I’ve got a houseful of girls this week due to the school holidays (six today, only two of them mine).  I’ll do my best to upload the next Bountiful Bouquet (the LAST Bountiful Bouquet!!) but I know you’ll forgive me if I’m a little late.  I tend to make computer errors when I’m under pressure, and I’d rather do it properly the first time.  Who said girls are quieter than boys?

Till tomorrow,

Suzie