Sunday, November 1, 2015

October OPAM

Wow, October is the busiest quilting month I think I've had for a while.

I have quilted a couple of quilts for friends & Aussie Hero Quilts.

I was asked to quilt a special quilt as a gift for a 15 year old girl.  I don't usually work in 'pretty' colours but I was so excited about how the quilting came out.

If you look just above the ricrac you will see "Amy"
 The cotton was white.  I love how it seems to have picked up the colour of the fabrics.



I have been frantically working on Aussie Hero Quilts & Laundry Bags.  I managed to convince the craft ladies that they could help me, so I have been sewing, supervising, quilting & binding to help us get our quilts off in the mail.

This Aussie flag quilt was pieced by Victoria from craft, I quilted & bound it.

I love stitching messages into the quilts... "Thank you"
 
"Aussie Hero"
This Rising Sun laundry bag is to accompany the Flag quilt.
  The embroidered Rising Sun was sent to me from AHQ Headquarters.
 They look great together, and no doubt they are from Australia.
 This jelly roll quilt had the Southern Cross added for an Aussie Hero
 
and backed in Wallabies Fabric.
 It was a  little fitting / sad that I was working on the binding for this quilt during the Wallabies vs All Blacks final of the rugby world cup.  Shame we didn't win, but I was at least sewing to help me keep my eyes open at 2.30am.  :) 

There are a few more Aussie Hero quilts under the needle to be sent before Christmas, so back to the sewing I go.

Thanks for stopping by.



Sunday, October 11, 2015

A wedding Gift

The beginning of October saw my family attending the wedding of Bindi & Anthony.

I have been in discussions with the bride & groom in the months leading up to the wedding to find out if they wanted a quilt & if so, what should it look like.
After many text messages & phone calls the bride finally decided & gave me 2 weeks to get it made. AAARRRGGGHHH!!!



After much deliberation they decided the quilt could be teal, grey, light coffee brown.

I got to work, cutting, piecing & appliqueing

 A finished monogram
 Quilt top
 Pieced backing
 Now onto the frame.
 An all over stipple
 It was at this point, that I had a panic attack thinking I had loaded it onto the machine incorrectly as I had forgotten the quilt had a matching backing.   Momentary panic attack.  It is very pretty when the front & back match so well.
 Ahh relief. The last quilting stitch.
 The completed quilt
 The label  & bow ready for delivery.
(sorry about upside down)
 And now for the gift opening.  I love it when the bloke notices the small details -  the fabric right beside the label says "PS I love you".
 I think they like it.

Now some quilt stats. 
This quilt was made ENTIRELY from my fabric/ wadding stash.
84" square for a queen bed

It took approx 15m fabric.
It took somewhere between 20-25 hours to sew.

I work well under pressure, so the 2 weeks before the wedding worked in my favour.
 

Saturday, October 10, 2015

September OPAM & a farewell

My September finish & the only sewing I have done for a while was a farewell gift for our school Principal.  Mrs Hutton had been part of the school community for 10 years, seven of those years she was directly involved with my family.  This quilt was fun & frantic.

We had 5 weeks notice that she was leaving.  1 week in shock, 1 week planning & prepping the quilt, 2 weeks of children drawing & 1 frantic week of sewing and quilting.  The result, a quilt she loved made by 354 children & approx 30 staff.
 The Whole quilt

Block Closeups
Staff bottle tree
. 
Adorable Prep raibow
 Year 2 stars
 Year 2 tree
 Year 1 butterflies
 Year 1 lots of love
 Year 1 personalised grid
 Year 2 beehive
 Year 3 garden
 Prep H and Elmer the Patchwork Elephant
 Year 2 flower
 Prep ladybugs
 Year 3 personalised grid
 Year 3 balloons
 Special Ed Unit bees
 Prep Rainbow fish complete with sequin scale
 Year 1 love
 Year 3 personalised grid
 
The label
 The presentation, complete with a police escort
 The happy recipient.  She loved it.

I love making quilts with children. They get so excited about the process.  It reminds me why I love what I do.

Saturday, July 18, 2015

The Pledge

While blog reading yesterday I stumbled across a blog post referring to "The Pledge" and a decision to be intentional about quilt making.

It struck a cord with me.    All of the info can be found at For Keeps

If this pledge strikes a chord with you, please go to For Keeps and read more.

Catch you again soon


Friday, June 26, 2015

a Sub - stitute quilt

I have a cousin in the navy.

She is a submariner.

Her submarine is going off somewhere this week.  I was desperate to make her a quilt, so I asked the family to send me messages and or photos and I got to work.

Each family member sent a photo or a message.  Below is my hand written message taken as a photograph & printed onto fabric.


 Her adorable cats
 My boys showing off the quilt.

My favourite block.  A tree as she won't see them under the sea.
 
 The front with appliqued submarines (Collins Class of course, as that is what the Australian Navy use).  I was told that they were 'anatomically' correct, that is a relief as I took a bit of time trying to find the right ones.  There are quite a few different shape submarines out there.
 close up of the subs
 The back, a tumble of Australian Fabrics.
 I love the quilt and I am so glad I could make her such a personal gift with an Aussie twist, inspired by Aussie Hero Quilts.
 


 This is the photo that was sent when Claire received it.  That face says it all.


A quilt for a sub.  
A quilt to use as a substitute for family & hugs.
A quilt full of love.

Be safe Claire Bear.


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