Weekend time on the machine

I was so happy to be able to get some sewing machine time this weekend that I was able to put together a couple of quilt tops. One is finished ready for the next phase..basting and quilting and the 2nd quilt just needs the borders added. 

I am liking the fresh bright feel to both of them. 

I also found another blog that has got my love of hexagons and paper piecing. Hillbilly Handiworks is hosting an Ahhhh Hexies stitch, english paper piece, quilt along for the addicted english paper piecer. (I guess I fit into this mode somewhere). I have decided to join along. She is releasing a new hexagon every Thursday. I've decided to use 1.5" hexagons for the project and here are my fabrics for the first hexagon.

I've decided to delve into my 1930's fabric collection. I'm not sure that these are 30's fabric but I put them with the stash as they definitely had a 30's feel to me. I have always liked 30's reproduction fabrics especially used with a crisp white background. Stay tuned for the first block. I am making two different blocks using all of the fabrics above.

Winner....

I just want to thank everyone who decided to have a guess at how many 2" hexagons I could baste in an evening. 

With out further waiting the answer is 22.

Congratulations to Lee from Freshly Pieced who guessed 21. She is the lucky winner of a surprise. I will contact you via email Lee to make arrangements to send you your special surprise.

Further, I was in awe of the large number responses. It gives me something to aim towards.

Don't forget to have a guess?

If you are a regular reader of my blog, don't forget to have a guess. 

I have a lovely surprise for the person who can guess the correct answer or get the closest which ever happens first. At the moment 3 people have played, so feel free to have a guess as well.

Remember that I will come back tomorrow (Saturday) and let people know who has won the special surprise.

Can you guess it right???

Tonight I have been basting background 2" hexagons for this quilt.

So I've decided to have a little competition and if you can guess the right answer there is a small reward just for you.

How many hexagons did I baste tonight for my quilt? (P.S. I have been tacking the hexagons onto the papers if this helps any). Also let me know your favourite colour.

Tell your friends and post in the comment section your answers. I will let people know who the lucky winner is on Saturday 29th October 2011.

W.I.P Wednesday

Its Wednesday again and I'm heading over to visit Lee at Freshly Pieced for another W.I.P Wednesday. 

I'm still readjusting to early morning life. It hasn't been as bad but its still early wake up calls. To add icing to the cake, my 2 year old has discovered that he can open up his bedroom door all by himself. So we now have wrestling matches at night to get him to settle down for the evening as well. He has never been the greatest settler but he is a good sleeper once he goes to sleep. 

My week has not allowed for much progresses to happen as I've been too tired to attempt much but here it goes. There has just not been any sewing machine time. :(

I have been cutting into some fabric to make another quilt. I have cut up the 2nd Daydreams by Deb Strain jelly roll to make a quilt for a special lady who has helped our family for the past 2 years. I decided that she needed something special and now I just have to piece together her quilt. It will be quick and easy to put together now that all the strip have been cut. 

I have also cut out some more fabric for my Jacob's ladder blocks. I love the fabrics and an waiting in anticipation to sew them up.

I also started to cut out my sister-in-law's wedding quilt. She lives in Tasmania and it gets cold. I'm making her a flannel quilt in country tones. Its going to be scrappy. I need to have it finished in December so I can get it to the LQS to have it done for February. The hardest thing will be binding a flannel quilt in the middle of summer in our heat. (Our weather here is like the heat in the state of Texas or Arizona just to give you an idea)

I had a huge clean out and reorganisation of my quilting stuff. So proud of myself. It also cut into my sewing time. As I don't have a sewing room I'm improvising. I am making myself a design wall from a piece of wadding and a curtain rod to hang in my kitchen/dining room. I want that to be done before next week so hopefully I'll have some photos to share. I have been jealous of other people's sewing rooms and design walls and decided that I desperately needed one too. I just had to think outside of the box to make it work.

Of course there was time at night when I didn't feel completely exhausted to do some hexagons. Guess what???? I've reached the half way point of the color and have started to grade it back again. I'm really excited with the progress and the end looks closer each day. I can add a row a night, if time works in my favour. 

A new life...

After my decluttering expedition on the weekend, I rediscovered a quilt top that I made in 2006. It was one of my first quilts with HSTs.  

When I made it, I loved it and I still do. It was made with 1930's fabrics. I was planning to have it quilted for DH's grandfather but unfortunately his is no longer with us. So I'm planning to give this to another person, I've decided that it can go to a new home with my Grandpa. 

In 2010, my Nan had 3 strokes very close together. We thought that we were going to lose her but she pulled through and made a miraculous recovery. Well this year my Nan and Grandpa moved into a aged care hostel close to my Auntie. My Nan learnt to quilt in her later years of life +75's and had started a number of quilts which she could no longer finish after her strokes.

My Mum inherited her UFOs and material. There was some fabric that Mum had to use for Nan to make her quilts out of. This is her Crinoline ladies using red and white fabrics. Mum hand stitched the ladies in variegated DMC red. (The dated photos are my Mum's photos which I got off Facebook).

So for Christmas this year, my Nan is getting her beloved pansy fabrics into a reversible quilt. The front of the quilt is hexagon flower garden blocks using her pansy fabric. The backing is pieced together with her left over fabric.

So I decided that I would give my Grandpa his own quilt for his new twin bed at his new home for Christmas. I just need to add some borders to the top and bottom of the quilt. It currently measures 54" x 61" and I want to make it longer for him. (A note to self... Iron quilt top before photos) Stay tuned for further updates.

Being Productive

I have to admit that I'm pretty proud of myself this weekend. I've spent the last two days cleaning out and reorganising my craft stuff especially anything involved in quilting. 

The hardest thing for me is the I have to put things into tubs and put them in our shed as I don't have a sewing room or area that is designated for my craft stuff. But I spent the time reorganising so that I knew what I had, what I didn't want and what didn't belong to me.

But this week I'm planning to make myself a design wall using wadding and a curtain rod that I will be able to hang in front of my kitchen window between two kitchen cupboard units. I bought the wadding on Friday but the length is too short even though I'm tall, its too short. (I'll see you tomorrow Michelle for that wadding..LOL)

The highlight of my weekend is spending the evenings working on my 2" hexagons. Woo Hoo!!!! Can you guess what I'm planning to do tonight after the kids go to bed???

I also managed to finish off the next set of blocks for my Facebook block swap group. They were mailed Friday morning prior to the big clean up. Here they are..

Lastly I thought that I would share the latest art work by my 4 year old. Our first lion. She is absolutely Lion King mad and loves the movie. I guess that it was only a matter of time before a lion started to show up in her artwork.

WIP Wednesday

It Wednesday again. Time flies in our house and another week as passed. So I'm heading over to see Lee at Freshly Pieced for another WIP Wednesday. 

So this week as been a bit productive for me. I was able to catch up with some great friends on Sunday for my monthly sew and chat. Unfortunately not everyone was available this week. But the upside was I was able to get some sewing done. 

I finished sewing together the top of my friend's baby quilt using Crazy Mom Quilts 36 patch QAL. It just came together and was so much fun.

It was also recommended to me that I show the next picture of my hexagons differently as when I take a photo of the quilt on my floor its hard to see how big the quilt has got. I'm using 2" finished hexagons and the actual size of the quilt planned is about lap size so its coming together quickly and the colour grading has been fun. I've added the next row of color in the past week.

The weather has started to warm up here and the days have been glorious. I thought that I would capture the beautiful morning for you all. Of course the morning doesn't seem right without the daily swing outside in the beautiful sunshine.

Our family is also celebrating a birthday this week. Happy Birthday Mum for Friday. She happens to be a quilter too and is busily working away on a quilt for my Nan who can no longer quilt. Anyhow I thought that I would buy her another gadget ruler and a charm pack to play with.

Readjusting

My life at the moment has been tiring thanks to my little boy. After making a speedy recovery from his ENT surgery, he has discovered early mornings. When I talk about early mornings, our day begins anywhere from 5am. I have inherited a 'lark'. So we are changing things around so that I'm no so tired. I couldn't believe how tiring it can be getting up so early but the upside is I can get a lot done in the morning before 'normal' wake up time. I miss my 7am sleep in. (As I type this its 6am and I've been awake since 5:30am)

Enough of the griping. 

I had a fantastic day Sunday. I had the day off. I caught up with my friend Michelle and her Mum for my monthly Sunday group. She was working on her double Irish chain in scrappy pinks and creams.

I managed to finish piecing together my 36 patch quilt top. All it needs know is to piece the backing and quilt. The baby is coming soon, so I'll need to get a wriggle on.

I've also been working on a couple of other bright quilt tops with some scraps and white fabric. These quilts will be going overseas to their new homes soon hopefully for Christmas. I have had fun making them but I can give you a sneak preview. I will definitely post pictures of the finished quilts when fully completed.

And of course I've added another row of colour to my hexagons, but I'll save a picture for W.I.P Wednesday with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

Finally I thought that I would share something special. My little girl enjoying the sunshine outside with her quilt on the trampoline. Sorry about the netting getting in the way.  She is readjusting too.

W.I.P Wednesday

OMG! It's Wednesday again. I didn't get an opportunity to post last week as I was busy finishing off projects. I'm joining up this week to show off some of my W.I.P. progresses and finished projects. So I'm heading over to Lee at Freshly Pieced for another W.I.P. Wednesday.

So I thought I would start this W.I.P with a completed quilt. Remember this???

Well its finished and delivered to a very happy 4 year old for his birthday this week. I had such fun making this and even the quilting all came together. I quilted my walking foot width across the quilt for each strip either side. The backing is just divine. It is part of the range. I just fell in love with it. 

I also attended another Midday to Midnight madness last Saturday and had a wonderful time again. The ladies are lovely and make you feel very welcome. So I was able to complete another Jelly Roll race quilt top and finish off piecing the blocks for a friend and her new baby.

I also managed to make a Jacob's ladder quilt block for the QAL hosted by Impera Magna

And last but not least my coloured hexagons progress.

Until next week.