It’s Hot…..and a freebie

Hi everyone

Today is a Very Hot Day, and it’s also a little scary as we head full throttle into big scary bushfire season. Every year at this time it’s a little like Russian Roulette – which part of the country will be on fire?  It’s not a case of maybe, it’s a definite danger and thankfully, we are not at risk this time.  But Big Scary Fires are burning throughout the Adelaide Hills, and I’m crossing my fingers hoping that the damage will be less than expected. 

I haven’t any fancy photos to show you today of my sewing as I’ve yet to put a stitch into something.  I’ve sorted out the sewing room now, I’ve emptied the various bins that were overflowing, cleaned out the last of the Christmas rubbish and recycling, and I expect I shall sew some more of the Grand Illusion mystery later this afternoon.  Have you been sewing along? Do you like the finished quilt?  I must admit, it’s not my favourite.  But perhaps my quilt will look fabulous when it’s finished, it’s in too many parts right now to make an informed decision.

I was surfing the other day and found the most gorgeous freebie that you may have seen already, but I’ll share it again.  I see more than one of these little cuties in my future.

I don’t know that I will necessarily make them as pin cushions, but I shall definitely have some of the little cardinals below for my Christmas tree next year!

You can find these little lovelies over Riley Blake designs, and also at www.quiltscapesqs.com and I thank them both very much for the instructions.

http://www.rileyblakedesigns.com/cutting-corners/2014/11/03/little-birdie/

Think of me, won’t you?  Sweltering in the heat. 

Have a lovely day

Suzie

Oh Hello!

Imagine my surprise this morning when I opened my facebook page and saw this:

 

It’s my freebie, An Irish Blessing.  I was so thrilled to see this!

So if you’re over here from Victoriana Quilt Designs’ recommendation, welcome!  Here is the direct link to the Irish Blessing freebie, please take it and enjoy!

And please, join up for my mailing list by popping your email address in the Follow Me section on the right so you can be notified when I’ve posted.  I’ve a swag of patterns I designed from my time working in a quilt shop that I plan to share (when time permits!) 

Thanks again!

Bountiful Bouquet Free Block Of The Month - Month Two

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Hi everyone!

I was overwhelmed with the amount of followers I have received following my first month of Bountiful Bouquet.  Thankyou all so much.  I do hope you enjoyed our first month, intense though it was.

This month is an easy one.  I promise!  You'll have loads of time to finish this month's efforts and leftover time to keep stitching on that pesky month one. 

Before we begin, please note that I have amended the fabric requirements for the creams. 

I've told you previously that you need three different half yard pieces for the rows of floral applique. 

However I think it would be better to have two half yard pieces and a couple of fat quarters of different ones so that we can jazz things up a bit.  There is no difference in the actual measurements but a little bit more to play around with in terms of colour choices. 

If you have already purchased a half yard, don't worry - it'll be fine to use.  This just gives us a little more options to play with.

I've decided rather than risk running short of the correct size of backgrounds, we're going to cut the bigger ones off and put them away for later on.

Background Cutting Instructions

You should already have a two yard piece of background fabric.  This is for the Outer Border.

From one of your half yard background pieces, cut a ten inch strip by the width of the fabric, and put aside. This is for the Lower Appliqued Strip

From your assorted remaining backgrounds cut (7) eight inch squares.  This is for the Single Flower Applique Row. 

Now from remaining, cut (6) 8 1/2" squares.  These are for your Large Floral Wreath Row.

Put these fabrics away for now.  I'll let you know when it's time to use them.  All our other bits are smaller and scrappy.

Flying Geese Construction

So, to begin with you will need some of the remaining cream background pieces, plus some of your colours.

From the background fabric, cut 42 pairs of 2 1/2" squares.  Keep the pairs together.  It's just easier.

From the assorted colours you have collected, cut (42) 2 1/2" x 4 1/2" rectangles.

We will be making forty two flying geese in this step.

Draw a light pencil line across the diagonal on the WRONG side of each cream square.

Lay a cream square over the corner of a coloured rectangle with right sides together and pin if necessary.

Stitch on pencil line.

You may choose this next step to give you some freebie half square triangles if you wish. 

Draw another line half an inch away from your stitched line.

Pin if necessary.

Stitch on this pencil line.

Cut in the middle as shown.

Press first square back to form a triangle.

Repeat this step with another cream square, being sure that you use the same fabric as the one you have just stitched.

If you need to, trim your block to 2 1/2" x 4 1/2".

Repeat this step with remaining squares and rectangles until you have a total of forty two flying geese blocks.

Stitch together into two rows of twenty one blocks that when completed, should measure 4 1/2" x 42 1/2".  Set aside for now.

So stay tuned for month three! 

Bountiful Bouquet Free BOM Fabric Requirements

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Hello!  Nice to see you!  I hope you enjoy this block of the month.  It should be a fairly easy going quilt - I'm not one for over extending myself.

The most important length of fabric you will need is for the outer border, from which we will cut four lengths and put them aside.  The remainder of this fabric will be absorbed into the quilt.  And you will also need three separate lengths of backgrounds for three separate appliqued borders.  Everything else can be used from your scrap bag, or if you want to buy some, just get enough different fat quarters to give you lots of variation in your designs.  You will need lots of lovely greens for the stems, and suitable colours for the floral applique, of which there will be HEAPS.  You will also need a varied amount of creams for the assorted pieced borders. 

So, don't panic about collecting your fabric all in one go.  Our first month is a row of floral applique, so as long as you have a background piece and plenty of colours/greens, we can get started.

Fabric Requirements

*****please note I have amended the cream background requirements*****

2 yards cream fabric for outer border

.5 yard cream fabric for first appliqued row

.5 yard cream fabric for second appliqued row

2 or three fat quarters of assorted creams for applique

.5 yard fabric for first inner border (I have used plummy purple)

.75 yard fabric for binding (I have used a purple)

Assorted colours for piecing and applique

Assorted greens for piecing and applique

Assorted creams for backgrounds

Vliesofix (I'm doing buttonhole applique, but if you want to needleturn it, knock yourself out)

Embroidery threads to match your colours for applique

General quilting supplies (ruler, cutter, board, scissors etc)

And that's it.  I'm sure I've forgotten something but I always think it's an okay thing to purchase as you go along.  Unless you're fortunate enough to buy a whole range like I did, it's difficult to pre-decide how that border fabric will look till you do the rest of your quilt. So don't rush into fabric choices, unless of course you want to.

Please comment if you have any questions for me, and I'd be pleased to answer them.  Again, I'm not brilliant at answering my emails, but I do check the comments section heaps so that is your best bet. 

I'll upload the first month in the first week of October, so hopefully I'll have lots of people keen to give this go.

Till then,

Happy quilting!

Suzie

Bountiful Bouquet Free BOM Fabric Choices

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Bountiful Bouquet Fabric Choices

Thanks for joining in!

I am using this fabric:

which is almost the same as the very delicious Acorn Hollow which is what I made my first version from.  I brought it all from The Fat Quarter Shop, but feel free to use whichever fabric your heart desires, from your favourite quilting shop.

For your reference, I bought the following:

2.5 yards Bittersweet Cream Antique Ivy SKU 2093/7 (this will be our outer border)

.5 yard Bittersweet Cream SKU 2094/7 (one of the background fabrics)

.5 yard Bittersweet Ecru Spearmint SKU 2095/72 (one of the background fabrics)

.5 yard Bittersweet Moss Antique Ivy SKU 2093/48 (a green)

.5 yard Bittersweet Plum Galaxy SKU 2098/60 (a plum for the inner border)

.5 yard Bittersweet Spruce Antique Ivy SKU 2093/40 (a green)

.5 yard Forever Spring Butter Pathways SKU 4260/30 (this is from a different Nancy Halvorsen range for backgrounds)

1 yard Bittersweet Plum Spearmint SKU 2095/60 (another plum, I'm thinking binding)

1 Fat Quarter Bundle Sour Grape Bittersweet (contains 18 fat quarters)

1 Fat Quarter Bundle Berry Burst Bittersweet (contains 18 fat quarters)

This quilt was designed to be semi-scrappy so it's hard to quantify just how much fabric you will need and I really don't know how much of those fat quarters we'll have left over.  But as long as you have enough backgrounds and enough greens, plus the yardage for the outer borders and bindings, you should be able to wing the rest.  We'll cut the full width of the fabric for the outer borders as I don't like to join those.

As some of the appliqued rows use the full width of the fabric, it's important that each background measures 43 inches or more.

(it's not the end of the world if yours is a little short, of course.  Everything can be adjusted as we go along, but it'll be easier if your maths matches mine).

I pinched these graphics from the Benartex website, I hope they don't mind.  But having a copy to print should be easier for you guys.

Potpourri Cream    Item #: 2092-7	Potpourri Berry Item #: 2092-10	Potpourri Russet Item #: 2092-22
Potpourri Spruce Item #: 2092-40	Potpourri Plum Item #: 2092-60	Antique Ivy Cream Item #: 2093-7
Antique Ivy Berry Item #: 2093-10	Antique Ivy Russet Item #: 2093-22	Antique Ivy Amber Item #: 2093-32
Antique Ivy Spruce Item #: 2093-40	Antique Ivy Moss Item #: 2093-48	Antique Ivy Plum Item #: 2093-60
Bittersweet Sunlight  Item #: 2094-3	Bittersweet Cream Item #: 2094-7	Bittersweet Willow Item #: 2094-42
Bittersweet Amethyst Item #: 2094-63	Spearmint Golden Item #: 2095-30	Spearmint Bittersweet Item #: 2095-33
Spearmint Willow Item #: 2095-42	Spearmint Plum Item #: 2095-60	Spearmint Ecru Item #: 2095-72
Ladder Stripe Berry Item #: 2096-10	Ladder Stripe Bittersweet Item #: 2096-33	Ladder Stripe Moss Item #: 2096-48
Cross Roads Russet Item #: 2097-22	Cross Roads Moss Item #: 2097-48	Cross Roads Plum Item #: 2097-60
Galaxy Russet Item #: 2098-22	Galaxy Rhubarb Item #: 2098-26	Galaxy Bittersweet Item #: 2098-33
Galaxy Moss Item #: 2098-48	Galaxy Plum Item #: 2098-60	Winding Trails Berry Item #: 2099-10
Winding Trails Amber Item #: 2099-32	Winding Trails Moss Item #: 2099-48	Winding Trails Plum Item #: 2099-60

If you see that little green printer button below, clicking on it should print this post out for you.  I suggest you print out all the instructions for safe keeping, though I don't plan to take my posts down.  The print goes slightly wonky in places (the word wrap is playing up and I don't know how to fix that but I'll keep trying.  If you change the print font/size to 10 it will look slightly better)

So in the next week, I'll give you the proper requirements list, and we can get going!  I plan to do twelve months of instalments beginning in the first week of October. 

Best of luck, please feel free to leave me a comment if you have a query (I'm a little hopeless checking the email address so the comment way will be the quickest).  And remember I'm a newbie to this, so be gentle!