tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-54752308889879057432012-01-11T23:15:10.552+11:00Follow the progress of a beginner quilter working her way through Harriet Hargrave's series of Quilter's Academy BooksBlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.comBlogger1151100tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-44027922145358637112011-12-14T20:37:00.002+11:002011-12-14T20:48:20.694+11:00

Hello!  I know it's been a while and I apologise for that.  A great holiday in Western Australia, followed by a bit of a medical issue - nothing drastic but unable to sew.  After that my computer decided to kill the hard drive which caused quite a kerfuffle.  But all those are excuses, the real reason for my not blogging is that I've been working on some Non Harriet Projects which now aren't

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-88313969190912043322011-08-09T12:16:00.004+10:002011-08-09T12:30:01.922+10:00

A BIG THANK YOU Hi everyone.  First I'd like to say thank you to those who continue to support me.  After my brother's death I lost my sewing mojo and struggled a bit to get back into the swing of things.  The support and comments of the readers and followers of my blog have made a huge difference and now I am back with as much enthusiasm as ever.  Hugs to all of you!! QUILTING - FREE FORM (EEK)

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-40300928827498380642011-07-31T17:05:00.001+10:002011-07-31T17:10:51.719+10:00

This is the next project - a pretty top but no new techniques to learn with this one. This can be made scrappy, as in the picture, or using a single fabric for the blocks and a contrast for the chain.  I've gone for the scrappy option.   The difference with this top compared to previous Irish chain quilts I've made, is this one is set on point so will require side setting triangles As usual, we

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-64662526338954835062011-06-07T20:59:00.000+10:002011-06-07T20:59:23.256+10:00

The quilt is finished, but the binding still needs some hand sewing. Yes, those are sea turtles ......... They've been appliqued on with raw edge quilting There is one on the label too Ian had a special affinity for sea turtles, so I wanted them on his quilt. He won't get to see them though.  Sadly, my brother passed away yesterday.  I am taking the quilt to his family instead.

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-46695100243722471202011-06-02T18:24:00.001+10:002011-06-02T18:32:29.102+10:00

The top is finally finished........... here it is! Sadly, Harriet's advice (see comments previous post) about not using the square to cut the blocks, but measure the 1/4" seam came a bit too late.  I had to do some creative sewing, but managed to not lose any points. I auditioned a couple of background fabrics, one was too busy and another too pale.  This one, which reads black from a distance,

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-89535382978743115012011-05-29T19:40:00.000+10:002011-05-29T19:40:30.177+10:00

I've been busy making blocks................ these are some of them....there are more. This is a very tricky block to make and while I try to be as precise as I can, fabric is a malleable thing - it moves, it stretches, it flops around.  Harriet says that as long as seams finish at a precise 1/4" the block will be square.  so here is the block with a 1/4" seam marked all the way around.  Those

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-72496483404319662842011-05-23T19:52:00.003+10:002011-05-23T19:55:18.159+10:00

I've skipped ahead a little here but don't worry, I'll go back to the 2 projects I've missed when this one is done. FABRICSAs soon as I saw this quilt, I knew I wanted to make it using Aboriginal fabrics and started collecting fat quarters for it.  Here's a selection of my collection.  The project requires 15 different fat quarters and I have a few extras as I want to make the quilt larger

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-68978103441209768212011-05-10T13:12:00.000+10:002011-05-10T13:12:22.442+10:00

The top is now completed and ready for quilting.  First all the birds had to be appliqued - I like to use a small blanket stitch 1.5 x 1.5 - small enough to go around those tiny curves on the feet Sewing the rows together was tricky, due to ongoing pressing problems with the polyester fabric.  Lots of distortion in the seams and edges......... Ewww - quilter's nightmare!Really frustrating when

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-39492413022749762262011-04-30T15:46:00.127+10:002011-04-30T19:13:53.881+10:00

Yesterday at Island Quilts, the Tasmanian Quilt Exhibition,  Pauline and I were thrilled to receive an award for our crazy patch quilt - Crazy Ladies of Franklin Court. The award we received was Best Use of Mixed Media.  All credit for this win goes to Pauline's extraordinary embroidery. As much as I love working through Harriet and Carrie's QA projects, I sometimes get the urge to be

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-80446619830503723162011-04-24T21:29:00.000+10:002011-04-24T21:29:32.910+10:00

The bulk of the piecing is done - I'm not quite sure why this design was included as there are no new techniques to learn in putting it together.  Still, it's a nice design and my red and white colour choice looks rather different to the example in the QA book. Here it is up on the design wall waiting to be sewn together and side triangles added Many people don't like to use white in their

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-40338274131404530452011-04-12T05:13:00.000+10:002011-04-12T05:13:51.348+10:00

I finally started on this project, the Five Patch Chain.  I had my fabrics selected some time ago and decided to do something a little different with this one. A red and white.  The plain red & white fabrics are actually cotton damask, which have a nice sheen and a tiny bit of texture.  Why damask?  Because I had rather a lot of it!  The printed fabrics are all simple cottons and yes, I seem to

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-55462454195855130522011-03-16T17:56:00.002+11:002011-03-16T19:48:35.685+11:00

 JOHN'S QUILT It's a good thing John doesn't feel the cold, because he'd be hard put to wrap himself up in this one.  He says he doesn't mind, because he doesn't see it as a quilt but as a work of art (bless him).  NHP - FRENCH BRAID QUILT This is the quilt top from the class I took at our new quilt shop - The Patchwork Cafe.  Lesson 2 was on Monday evening, and the last one for this project. 

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-71918861138920989942011-03-08T19:23:00.001+11:002011-03-08T19:27:22.951+11:00

For many hours over the last 3 days I've been stippling this quilt.  Although I am happy with the amount of practice I got, I did find that if I kept going without a break (sorry Helen, I did listen really), the work got messier the more tired I got. I did however, achieve the look I wanted................ .................flattening out all the black areas really makes the colours and frames

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-13750525323832414722011-03-07T09:28:00.000+11:002011-03-07T09:28:59.485+11:00

Last week I finished the straight stitch quilting on Card Trick.  Stitch-in-the-ditch and linked squares in the blocks, which I did with the "sew 2 inches, pivot, sew 2 inches, pivot" method - 8 times per block - fairly tedious work. For the triangles I selected a Fleur-de-lis design to do free-motion, but decided to hold off on doing these until I'd completed a free-motion class which was

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-27644436077945933822011-02-26T00:20:00.007+11:002011-02-26T00:34:08.147+11:00

"If you want to challenge yourself, try making the setting triangles with the strip in them as Carrie did."  A quote from the book - I took the bait! I read through the instructions, which looked horribly complicated.  I decided to try to work this out for myself instead - not a particularly intelligent decision on my part.  Carrie suggests using the Creative Grids Side Set Triangle Ruler -

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-40807384164926960472011-02-21T00:17:00.000+11:002011-02-21T00:17:29.642+11:00

The finished quilt It's summer.  My sewing room has lots of windows and catches the sun in the afternoon.  On a warm day it gets hot - on a hot day it's like an oven.  So mystery solved as to why the chalk didn't dust off or wash out. I remember marking this top and starting the quilting before going interstate for a week, then another week or so before I got back to finishing the quilting. 

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-41967057807901907992011-02-17T22:15:00.000+11:002011-02-17T22:15:23.479+11:00

Back again!  And here are the finished blocks. The windowpane around each block really sets them off I had no real problems putting the blocks together, just a bit of a wrangle with the pressing.  The coloured seam is rather tiny and the instructions ask you to press it towards the block, which is trickier than it sounds. Pressing this little seam towards the block is awkward My hefty iron

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-50762877265214416302011-02-16T22:38:00.005+11:002011-02-16T22:57:43.184+11:00

Apart from agonising over fabric choices more than usual, this top came together without any major dramas (or swearing) and I was even happy with the quilting.  Come to finishing it, usually the most stress free part of my quiltmaking, and the wheels well and truly fell off! MARKINGS I've done some daring things with markers, tried all kinds and without fail, they have washed out of my tops. 

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-42717807054246968572011-02-14T06:25:00.003+11:002011-02-14T06:28:31.310+11:00

The fabrics on this top are so busy, the quilting needed to be very simple.  I decided on a geometric style, square-in-a-square-in-a-square. Trialing a few sizes and angles This is what I ended up with The quilt was small enough to have a go at sewing this with the feed dogs up and pivoting to turn the corners.  To do this, rolling the quilt wasn't going to work, so stuffing it into the harp was

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-14196298511349733212011-02-06T13:37:00.001+11:002011-02-06T13:41:18.518+11:00

The 18 blocks for this quilt are done and now it's time to add the windowpane.  Harriet has a neat trick in the book for getting the windowpane to a straight and precise 1/4 inch, without the headaches of wavy edges to deal with.  Even so, you need to be exact with seams, and measure and trim at each step.  No, it's not quick and easy, but the extra work pays off.  This is my first ever attempt

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-86401725804899112902011-01-31T17:39:00.001+11:002011-01-31T17:47:50.983+11:00

January has been a month of birthdays, weddings and a funeral - trips interstate, lots of socialising and very little sewing.  After finishing off the bug quilt I took a little sewing break - actually to be honest, I kind of lost my sewing mojo there for a bit.  I have a quilt partially quilted and my plan was to finish that before moving onto this next project, but the mood just wasn't there.  I

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-20361792886985969262011-01-18T20:46:00.001+11:002011-01-18T20:54:35.412+11:00

In the last few days prior to Christmas, there was a flurry of activity down in my sewing room while I desperately tried to finish Rita's Quilt in time.  It was done and delivered but it was a stress I didn't want to repeat in a hurry. Well, I just did it again!  No sooner was Christmas over, than I turned to my grandson Austin's quilt which I'd started a couple of months ago.  The idea was that

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-23815485335178804892010-12-27T07:40:00.001+11:002010-12-27T07:42:49.099+11:00

The quilting was finished in record time - ready to be gifted to my MIL for Christmas last Saturday.  My concerns with washing luckily came to nothing and I was pleased with the overall look of the finished quilt. Finished and looking pretty! I was a little heavy-handed with the markers - phew, they washed out completely! No colour bleeding at all - red and white together is always worry! After

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-56283172620668174842010-12-20T18:32:00.001+11:002010-12-20T18:37:44.980+11:00

Hubby John selected his quilt from the book ages ago and has been asking why his chosen fabrics aren't 'quilt shaped' yet.  His quilt is the next project so I thought I should hustle and get onto it.  But first things first, I have 2 projects waiting to be quilted, so have to make a start on these first - patience John! First up I needed to get the 4 patch lattice off the design wall (finally!)

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-1275292064378496292010-12-15T01:17:00.002+11:002010-12-15T01:27:50.852+11:00

Finished assembling this quilt top today - Sorry about the crooked photography! I almost achieved what I was looking for - a blended style quilt.  In the end I wasn't brave enough to have a totally blended look and compromised by using a contrasting sashing and not allowing the block pattern to get totally lost amongst the fabrics.  I really wanted to try red but didn't have enough fabric left.

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-81381755291405317492010-12-10T06:31:00.002+11:002010-12-10T06:55:17.523+11:00

Sorry everyone for it being so long between posts.  It's a busy time of year and as usual, I've been distracted by other things.  My New Years' Resolution (not that I often make these) is to minimise all NHP's and focus on the job at hand.  I'm only half-way through QA Vol 2, wayyyyy behind schedule.  On the positive side,  many of the distractions have been quilty ones, and I've had lots of

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-18433462408785899202010-11-10T00:51:00.002+11:002010-11-10T16:47:19.601+11:00

Here is the next pattern in the book.  It's very similar to previous projects but introduces cornerposts to the sashings. For this quilt, I wanted to use some of the Jason Yenter Floragraphix fabrics, which I'd purchased at bargain prices some time ago.  I'd wanted to use it for ages, but none of the previous projects seemed quite right.  Although I have quite a few fabrics from the collection,

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-81461877203076301852010-11-07T11:18:00.002+11:002010-11-07T11:27:46.911+11:00

No, I haven't started on the next project yet.  So what's been going on?  Has the student been slacking off, ditching the homework and hanging out at parties instead?  Actually no.  I've been working on something or other for the past 10 days since I last posted but don't seem to be getting anywhere fast.  Preparation!  Behind every quilt is a load of prep work to be done which is rarely seen 

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-18000773412409365802010-10-29T11:26:00.001+11:002010-10-29T11:40:54.589+11:00

Cabin in the Cotton (Take 2) came about because I didn't quite understand the instructions the first time around.  Some help from Carrie showed me where I went wrong, so I wanted to have another go and do it correctly. All went well until I got the the long sashings, the same place I got bamboozled the first time.  For Julie's quilt I didn't trim off the tops of the side setting triangles before

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-74651733962024746912010-10-26T08:27:00.001+11:002010-10-26T09:06:07.108+11:00

Harriet has quilting suggestions for each of the quilts in the book and I always take a look at these.  Mostly I adapt the suggested design, either because I have something else in mind, or I don't have the stencils Harriet used.  This time I lucked out, and have quilted this top almost exactly as suggested.  The only change I made was to the side triangle design, which was extended to cover the

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-38987629627504595882010-10-21T18:12:00.001+11:002010-10-21T18:17:23.192+11:00

I took out this quilt a couple of times and auditioned quilting designs for it.  None of the stencils I had seemed to be right and I wasn't inspired by any designs from books etc.  What to quilt for a child's quilt?  Finally I settled on simply quilting his name into it. I found a suitable font - it needed to be rounded and simple, not pointy.  Bryce's name has 5 letters but I had 6 squares

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-24494141046679587412010-10-20T07:34:00.001+11:002010-10-20T07:38:17.132+11:00

I finally got around to finishing the little sampler which was started as the first project in Vol 1.  The quilting was a bit experimental on this one where I tried out new stencils and a mixture of feed dogs up and free motion. The stencils I chose were purchased on my trip to the mainland a little while back- simple lines which fitted nicely onto the centre panel and scallops for the sides. 

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-25475693063108775272010-10-17T12:16:00.000+11:002010-10-17T12:16:10.753+11:00

Julie received her quilt yesterday - she's very happy with it.  I did tell her that there's plenty of errors in this quilt, but if she doesn't look for them, she won't notice them!  I ended up with very simple quilting for this top.  I started marking scallops (Julie's Rainbows), but even with only marking every second curve from the stencil, I could see that there was going to be way too much

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-42803715243352896412010-10-15T00:36:00.000+11:002010-10-15T00:36:05.912+11:00

Hello everyone.  Just a quick post to let you all know I'm still here and still plodding along.  I've been a little 'off' recently - not ill enough to stay in bed and rest, but enough to feel a bit lost and disorganised.  I've been doing a bit of this and a bit of that, jumping around from one thing to another. I've managed to finish off a couple of things.....  Julie's Quilt is quilted, washed

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-78227879772973105042010-09-29T10:35:00.000+10:002010-09-29T10:35:39.574+10:00

Hi everyone. I ended up making the fix to this quilt - mainly for 2 reasons 1 - the inch lost from the missing sashing meant my top wasn't square - either I needed to fix it or trim the rest of the quilt back. 2 - the error really bothered me! The top edges on 2 sides are an inch too narrow  Julie loves the quilt and was happy for me to either fix it or leave it alone - she just wants to get

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-18859482359665358712010-09-25T23:34:00.000+10:002010-09-25T23:34:40.343+10:00

Boy oh boy oh boy oh boy!  I feel a bit like I've been in a battle and came out limping.  As I said to Harriet in a previous comment, sometimes, just sometimes I wish I was in a class room, with a teacher and fellow classmates who are also struggling to learn something new.  It would be so nice to glance around the room to check what I am doing against what others are doing, to ask questions, to

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com11tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-56482819060481913912010-09-21T09:38:00.001+10:002010-09-21T13:12:42.292+10:00

26 fabrics - 24 log, 1 centre, 1 sashing - 40 large blocks, 16 mini blocks - complete! To make the quilt square, I did the math then chucked it all away and decided instead to simply double the size, and double the number of fabrics.  This meant I needed to add another 6 FQ's to Julie's selection of 18 fabrics Spoiled for choice Sewing the blocks was super easy (once you manage to figure out the

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-71588617502863731002010-09-12T23:28:00.001+10:002010-09-12T23:33:16.517+10:00

Hello again.  I'm back from the mainland after doing the grandma thing, helping out the new Mum & Dad.  Milly is lovely and I know she'll be much changed when I next see her, which won't be until early next year. Work has begun on the next quilt in the book - a log cabin design. Its a very pretty quilt and I really like the 1930's prints used here.  This quilt is a lesson in adding sashing

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com13tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-864745137108590742010-08-30T13:47:00.002+10:002010-08-30T13:55:42.585+10:00

After prepping this quilt I spend a couple of frustrating hours trying to get my quilting brain to kick in.  It just wasn't happening, the butterflies weren't working and I gave up.  Instead I distracted myself with a couple of NHP's (Non Harriet Projects) I've been working on.  These are a hexagon top I'm making by hand (don't all beginners make a hexy quilt?) and a crazy quilt which is loads of

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-22847675221967481692010-08-22T21:18:00.003+10:002010-08-22T21:20:22.667+10:00

This is the alternate version of the previous quilt.  It's the same design, but smaller and the setting triangles are in a contrasting colour.  Here is Carrie Hargrave's version..... I almost didn't make this one, because it's pretty much identical to the previous one.  As it turned out I'm glad I did as I learned something really important, which I'll explain later.  Also, as this top is quite

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-23137716338098374652010-08-15T17:27:00.002+10:002010-08-15T17:33:57.518+10:00

The next quilt in the book is a small square quilt named Metro Main Street.  Here is the version from the book. COLOURI must have spent at least 3 days playing with colour and fabrics for this quilt.  Of course after all that, I got it wrong.  First I did some colouring in to find the colourway I wanted.  My first thought was for red/black, then I played with pink/blue/black, then tried orange/

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-30057692443135836952010-08-03T22:25:00.002+10:002010-08-03T22:32:17.939+10:00

THE DESIGN From the book Nine patches, plain squares and setting triangles are the elements of this quilt.  Now I will admit to triangles scaring me - I've heard horrible things like s-t-r-e-t-c-h-i-n-g and being difficult to match points, so I approached this quilt project with trepidation.  Making the Sampler showed us the techniques which are to be used in this simple quilt top. THE

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-67289647324088610722010-07-31T19:09:00.001+10:002010-07-31T19:18:16.752+10:00

Project 1 - The Sampler (actually it should be Project 1/2 because it's already half done) SETTING UP I've rearranged my sewing room (again) to set up for piecing.  Taking note of the suggestions from book 2, it now looks like this........  Ironing station to the right, cutting to the left, lots of lovely light. The Bernina's been set up with an exact 1/4" seam, threaded with Presencia 60wt/3

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-40949763098089813842010-07-29T23:22:00.000+10:002010-07-29T23:22:36.721+10:00

In December 2009 I started Harriet & Carrie's Quilter's Academy.  I learned to cut & piece strips ...... Project 1 - The Sampler Project 2 -Harriet's  Woodland Winter Project 3 - Carrie's Cowboy Corral Project 4 - Harriet's Triple Rail Fence Project 5 - Carrie's Patriotic Log Cabin Project 6 - Carrie's Country Lanes Table Runner Project 7 Harriet's Town Square which morphed into Project 8 Asian

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com10tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-153176446861230152010-07-27T18:32:00.000+10:002010-07-27T18:32:29.208+10:00

It's me, back again.  I spent most of the day on the borders, playing with designs.  I ditched the feathers idea and went back to the stencils I used for the top.  This stencil is pretty cool - you can use elements of it in lots of different ways. I drew out the design on paper first, then spent most of the afternoon marking it on. Now the trouble with extra wide borders is...................

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-80933569597426276132010-07-26T21:42:00.001+10:002010-07-26T22:01:29.870+10:00

Up for discussion is ditch stitching.  Yes, I had a problem.  You see, for the other quilts I've ditch stitched using either an edge foot or an open toe applique foot with the Pfaff IDT (Integrated Dual Transportation) engaged, in other words with a walking foot.  This time, on a different machine, I encounted problems with the layers shifting.  Despite using a gazillion pins, I ended up with '

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-77839628675632568512010-07-23T09:39:00.001+10:002010-07-23T09:46:14.798+10:00

Finally - The Final!  I've been playing with designs again.  I briefly considered grid quilting, but the blocks are so large, they need something a bit more 'quilty' (I think I just made up a word). Remember, this was the quilt with no instructions, which meant there also was no grid size given.  My version ended up with 15 inch square blocks, the largest I've done yet.  I've selected a

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-60385593856256583522010-07-20T20:30:00.000+10:002010-07-20T20:30:56.180+10:00

Sometimes I don't know where my head is at - this is Project 13, not 10!  I suppose I've jumped around a bit and got myself confused (easy to do). Anyway, the Irish Chain is done & dusted and currently drying on my dining table. Finished! I had some fun with this one - some problems too, but that's par for the course when learning.  The quilting went okay, with the usual struggling with the

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-56405784362763046782010-07-12T18:37:00.002+10:002010-07-12T19:35:50.494+10:00

Hello! I've sorted out my quilting design for my scrappy quilt, but before I get to that, I want to mention the Hobart Quilt & Craft Fair which ran over the last 3 days.  Boy, oh boy - what a guild full of talent we have here in Tassie.  I had a blast working as a volunteer on Saturday and Sunday.  I had "white glove' duty as well as 'meet & greet".  It was loads of fun, the public loved the

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-28292666298131945312010-07-05T22:28:00.000+10:002010-07-05T22:28:00.820+10:00

After some distractions and lots of procrastination, I'm finally back to some serious work in my sewing room.  Not quite ready for a full on routine, at least not until the husband is back at work (I'm sure many of you can relate to what a serious distraction husbands on holiday can be), but a start has been made. First, I finished at last, the Double Chain Nine Patch quilt.  As you may recall,

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-65805809461754643552010-06-30T20:03:00.000+10:002010-06-30T20:03:35.271+10:00

Yes, I'm still here - but not really working, well not quilting anyway.  I have however, made myself a little quilt just for the fun of it. While all the shifting and sorting has been going on with the house move, I didn't want to work on any 'Harriet' projects, as they take a lot of focus and I just wasn't up for it.  Instead, rather than have nothing going on in the sewing room, I opted to make

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-41588396075301742152010-06-09T23:14:00.000+10:002010-06-09T23:14:58.389+10:00

Nearly every house move has its problems, and ours yesterday was no exception.  The truck was too small and a lot of our stuff was left behind - much of which was my sewing furniture.  Still, from problems come opportunities, and I got creative with what I had.  The Quilter's Academy books cover in detail setting up a sewing space, so I tried to follow Harriet's advice as much as I could, using

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-89645315457854099312010-06-07T08:07:00.000+10:002010-06-07T08:07:42.964+10:00

I have book 2 of the Quilter's Academy series at last!!!!!!!  It's exciting to flick through to see what's coming up.  There are lots of projects - 14 in all - including the Sampler, the alternatives and the Final. Signed by Harriet & Carrie I can't wait to get started.  When Harriet says it's a skill building course in quiltmaking, she really means it.  Not only are there instructions on making

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-62891533635926242442010-05-22T19:59:00.004+10:002010-05-23T10:24:21.271+10:00

Please everyone, excuse me while I vent.  Ahhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhgahhhhhhhhhhhhhh. Thank you, that feels much better.  You see, I've been quilting :) Now I know a bad workman blames his tools (and all that), but because I'm venting, I give myself permission to rant about my sewing machine.  Don't get me wrong, my Pfaff is a wonderful machine and for dressmaking it has everything I could want, (

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com6tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-2084892910225386162010-05-20T15:56:00.001+10:002010-05-20T16:01:02.327+10:00

Whoo Hoo - here I am at Project 10 which is well underway.  I added a single border, selected my design, marked the top, sandwiched, basted and ditch stitched it and am now ready for the free motion. All marked up and ready for the machine I've chosen a simple sunflower design for this, for obvious reasons.  There are 3 components to quilt with the design, the circle, the inner petals then the

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-49885820958994944792010-05-14T07:33:00.000+10:002010-05-14T07:33:13.954+10:00

It's done!  I think this is the most quilting I've done on a single top so far.  I stole a few hours here and there,  finished it 2 days ago and should have the binding done by now, but have been a good girl and have been busy packing boxes instead.  Been too tired to blog. The quilting is impossible to see from the front, so I've taken the rest of the pictures from the back The circles are all

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-42905441562515962062010-05-08T21:35:00.003+10:002010-05-20T14:52:17.507+10:00

I am a woman on a mission - to find the perfect marker for me!  Today was a sewing day (yesterday and tomorrow are non-sewing days) and I spent it marking out the designs for my quilt top. The results are pretty funny, as you will see.  Taking my cues from Harriet's last comment, I started with a  blue wash-out marker - this was good, but the marker I have is 'Fine' and the line is so delicate,

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-33747605159648097322010-05-06T18:13:00.001+10:002010-05-20T14:52:37.289+10:00

Hello again! I'm still pumped from the quilt show and have been hard at work on the next project.  First the borders......... This is quite a small top - 27 x 27 inches, so I decided to add multiple borders to bump up the size a bit.  I had quite a few fabrics to select from - 5 from RJR  Nouveau Moonlit Garden range plus a couple of blenders. I finally decided on 3 borders. I needed to select

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com7tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-16054235472980148012010-05-05T11:44:00.006+10:002010-05-05T12:41:02.668+10:00

A brilliant time was had at the quilt show - my first as a quilter and quite an eye-opener.  The quilts of course were fabulous, and rather than being intimidating, I found them to be really inspiring.  I can now see further down the path I am travelling and seeing what is up ahead, makes me even more anxious to get along with the journey. The Royal Exhibition Building in Melbourne - a

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-25080354059090960772010-04-28T08:34:00.003+10:002010-04-28T10:21:14.888+10:00

Some more progress has been made, but not a lot so far.  Last week I had the top all marked out using stencils and pounce powder - nice and bright, quick and easy.  Remember what it looked like...........? Marked out with ponce So this week I went ahead with the ditch stitching and finished the grid.  Here is what it looks like after sewing ........... Where are the markings? A closer look -

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com8tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-56282363450667823412010-04-19T22:34:00.002+10:002010-04-19T22:37:05.431+10:00

While I try to dedicate most of this blog to Harriet's QA book(s) - I want to deviate a little to appeal for help in locating a stolen quilt. Cindy Watkins stolen quilt 'Dragonfly Maiden' This quilt was stolen from a quilt exhibition in Tasmania, Australia on April 6th.  The devestated maker, Cindy Watkins, has put out an appeal for help in it's recovery and has given permission for the image to

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-30059953322412922052010-04-18T18:28:00.002+10:002010-04-18T18:32:21.254+10:00

I love this quilt!  It's kind of 2 projects in one as I made the Town Square pattern first, then when I decided I was happy with it (and cause I cut too much fabric) I extended it into the larger Asian Nights design. I have been working, truly, but between groups, socialising, house-hunting, husbands locking themselves out of the house and trips interstate (another coming up soon) there's not

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-62525030731865781682010-04-14T07:44:00.000+10:002010-04-14T07:44:26.873+10:00

I've been off over to the mainland, spending some time with my family and away from my sewing room.  I headed straight back in the day after I got back, worried that I'm getting too far behind schedule.  So here is another one down and new lessons learned. I consider this one to be a bit of a failure.  To jog your memories, here is the finished top....... I was unhappy with the fabric

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-58374920152770070892010-04-04T20:04:00.002+10:002010-04-04T20:06:04.866+10:00

I really like quilting borders.  The length gives me a chance to get into a nice flowing rhythm, unlike the simple blocks I've been doing which are stop/start, stop/start.  Then again, the part of quiltmaking I dislike is border marking.  Trying to manage a quilt across a small lightbox is tricky and the results (for me at least) are never straight. Freezer paper is only available from quilting

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-29768447393494528852010-04-03T17:19:00.002+11:002010-04-03T17:51:44.792+11:00

After ditch-stitching around all the blocks, I've had lots of fun quilting little hearts and diamonds onto each block in the triple rail fence quilt.  There are 99 blocks in all, and by the time I finished, I was getting the hang of it.  Actually I was sorry once they were done, as I was enjoying the process, getting relaxed and into the 'zone'.  My biggest problem is no longer seeing and

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-77324914415146433522010-04-01T15:59:00.002+11:002010-04-03T17:19:37.143+11:00

After the disappointment of the mitered borders on the triple rail fence, I moved straight onto the next project - Carrie's Patriotic Log Cabin.  Following the suggestion in the book, this quilt top didn't have borders added, so I went straight onto the quilting. Using a couple of the stencils Harriet sent, I tried a variety of marking techniques - air dry purple pen, blue water soluable pen and

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-79987924322107109082010-03-30T16:39:00.003+11:002010-04-03T17:19:49.989+11:00

Oh Boy.  My first attempt at mitered border corners was not a success.  I don't understand where I went wrong - I followed the instructions, but must have mis-understood somewhere - either that or my sewing skills are just not up to it. After cutting, pinning and sewing the borders to the top, the next step is to fold, press and glue the corner into place - yep, no problems there. Then over to

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-69949795230000679632010-03-25T16:22:00.000+11:002010-03-25T16:22:14.310+11:00

I've finished both Matilda's Own batting samples and washed them.  Here's the results. This one is covered in pre-washed fabric - it has free-motion, hand quilting, grid and applique, same as the unwashed sample I had some interesting results with these.  I should point out though, that the covering fabrics are not the same (silly mistake on my part). The unwashed sample fabric is a rather heavy

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com9tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-63795838148744991412010-03-24T07:58:00.001+11:002010-03-25T15:55:29.062+11:00

I've been totally distracted from my work since a box of goodies arrived last week, generously sent by Harriet.  Inside the box were some lovely threads, some nifty tools, some stencils and a load of batting samples. What's in the box? The batting samples are 14" x 14" and there are 3 of each type.  From these, I need to make up a collection of quilting samples.  Here is a list of the samples

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-7544713172558896092010-03-15T16:44:00.000+11:002010-03-15T16:44:59.016+11:00

Hello again.  The quilting is done.  The binding is done.  Now I get to throw in a movie and hand sew for a bit.  Using the light box to re-draw the border design worked ok, but it's not as straight as before.  This one was a lot easier to sew but just as I was getting the hang of it, I ran out of border - this is just a small crib size quilt. I managed to stay within the lines a bit better

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-27505301986617879982010-03-14T21:35:00.002+11:002010-03-14T21:46:06.944+11:00

Tip of the day - don't mark your quilt tops with chalk. Yes, by the time I came to quilt the hearts, they had disappeared.  This put me in a bit of a quandry, as I use a light box to transfer the designs - well that isn't going to work with a quilt sandwich!  I had a go at making a stencil - LOL - I think I need more practice (or a better craft knife).  I ended up with a template of sorts, which

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-4128580771533776492010-03-11T20:19:00.001+11:002010-03-11T20:23:01.721+11:00

A DAY OF PLAY Ever had one of those days where the harder you try, the worse the result?  Yep, I practiced the chosen quilt designs today, and oh boy, what a mess!  Ewwww - even for a raw beginner that's bad! Border practice Then, remembering how shrinkage and puckering go a long way to disguising dodgy quilting, I decided to play with different threads. Dodgy quilted feather wreath is well

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-7024159438988990692010-03-10T20:06:00.001+11:002010-03-10T20:07:38.609+11:00

I know I'm jumping ahead a bit here, but this quilt is to be gifted to my grandson next month and I want to make sure I get it finished. The double irish chain quilt top I had intended to try mitred borders, but this quilt needs a double border and the instructions for double mitered borders aren't included in this book - I have to wait for the next one.  So double butted borders it is. I made

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-41457079631287828722010-03-09T22:49:00.002+11:002010-03-09T22:51:07.347+11:00

Hi there I finished the quilting on this top today.  Silly me, I've done a 1/2 inch grid, not a 1 inch as intended - no wonder it took so long! Here it is - the binding is only pinned to the back - I'll hand sew it over the next few days. I now know the pattern is called "Warm Wishes"  - thanks to SandyQuilts A closer look at the quilting I'm quite pleased as the only pleat was a single teeny

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-4537093606897526232010-03-08T17:30:00.000+11:002010-03-08T17:30:31.181+11:00

Hello again. I estimate it will take at least a week to add borders, draw up the quilt design, sandwich and quilt each top - some will take a little less time and some a bit more.  Washing and binding will add an extra 3 - 4 days, but can be ongoing between projects.  If I can do this, I should have all the tops finished by the time the next book is released in May.  Famous last words? You becha

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-91771905982106592882010-03-04T16:11:00.001+11:002010-03-04T16:15:02.656+11:00

It's border time!  Keeping it simple, I made double butted borders for this top.  I wanted to ensure I understood the basic process before moving on to mitered borders. You may remember this quilt top pre-borders, from an early post.  It's the first top in the book and the first one I actually followed the pattern on :) I decided to add a 1 inch red border and a 3 inch black/red border to this

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-41408875446873840392010-03-02T13:27:00.004+11:002010-04-03T17:20:38.263+11:00

I'm back into the swing of my course, and have been working on finishing the first quilt I made from the book.  Now, strictly speaking, this quilt isn't in the book, cause I changed it.  I changed it because I had no idea what I was doing and the thing grew into something completely different - but for the purpose of this blog, it's my version of Carrie's Cowboy Corral Panel Quilt.  Carrie's

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-65698964353411596392010-03-02T12:03:00.000+11:002010-03-02T12:03:48.508+11:00

While I'm really enjoying learing the craft of machine quiliting - I believe I also need to learn how to hand-stitch.  Also, it's really handy to have some portable stitchery to take along to groups or for when sitting in front of the TV.  So I got ambitious and began a wall hanging.  I figured that as it's large ( 30" x 30") by the time I finish it, my hand-work will have improved a lot. It's a

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-83313860387099408992010-03-02T11:40:00.001+11:002010-03-02T11:44:27.258+11:00

I wanted to finish off my 'vintage' pleated log cabin, so in keeping with the treadle/vintage machine effort, I quilted it on a 1940 Singer 201. Check out how much room is under the arm! The old girl performed beautifully, although she did struggle to keep the nylon thread in place.  Firstly I ditch stitched around all the blocks - this took me ages, and not so easy if the blocks aren't square

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-5744361509958855782010-03-02T10:58:00.002+11:002010-03-02T11:04:03.642+11:00

I'd had my break away from Harriet & Carrie's college quilting course, but I've not been idle in the sewing room.  I had some unfinished projects to attend to............. First off, I completed my Art Quilt.  I thought this would be a perfect piece to practice some free motion on, but alas, the top is so bumpy, it just wasn't going to happen.  Sandwiched, pinned and ready to quilt I ended up

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-26782876007367393862010-02-16T20:22:00.004+11:002010-02-16T23:31:42.855+11:00

Here it is........................... ta da! The Final Exam Just as a reminder, here is Harriet's ...... Looks pretty close -  do you think I passed? For those who are interested, here's some pics of the process to make the Homespun quilt........ The fabrics used were Blue Jewels from Quilters Choice, Full Sun from Maywood Studios and the horrible fraying quilters muslin again. The

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-8912905139050013232010-02-11T19:23:00.000+11:002010-02-11T19:23:46.607+11:00

Just a quickie.  I spent most of the day cutting and making up the various sections of Block A.  They are all now complete and I just have to sew the parts together to make up the blocks. My fabric calculations weren't spot on, but not too bad either.  I cut the exact amount of inches I figured I needed, then added another 2 inches for truing etc.  I will admit to having extra fabric put away,

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-29304430917780568102010-02-10T21:16:00.003+11:002010-02-11T15:09:07.160+11:00

Well I made it this far.  Who would have thought it?  It's time for me to do the final project in the book - the Final Exam. For this project, there is a picture of a quilt which I need to reproduce.  No pattern (just a block illustration) No instructions No fabric calculations.  Here is the project, which Harriet has named Homespun. I did the fabric calculations last night and set about

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-61910711941021539942010-02-09T18:12:00.000+11:002010-02-09T18:12:12.003+11:00

I finally got it done.  Phew, this one took a while.  I rather like it - not all the scrap combinations worked out the way I hoped, but most of them look ok. Next comes all the borders and quilting, but I'm going to cheat and jump to the end.............THE FINAL EXAM - which involves piecing a top with no instructions. I gotta go study!

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-64454434204007242382010-02-07T19:06:00.002+11:002010-02-09T18:01:47.440+11:00

In the last project, Carrie gave us her version of the Irish Chain pattern.  Here is Harriet's version - a scrappy quilt! Although this version is an optional alternative to Carrie's, I wanted to do both.  I love the look of scrappy quilts, and I've managed to accumulate quite a few scraps during the previous projects. First I designed the look I wanted.  I decided to formalise it a bit from

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-24071760349626801512010-02-06T14:52:00.000+11:002010-02-06T14:52:10.455+11:00

Hello! There are two essential skills which go hand-in-hand with piecing - quilting & applique, and this week I've had a bit of a go at both.  Lucky for me, Harriet Hargrave has excellent books on both techniques - Heirloom Machine Quilting and Mastering Machine Applique. Knowing that I have a load of quilting coming up very soon, I've been playing around with designs and ways of transfering

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-81928783695029860862010-02-02T19:34:00.003+11:002010-02-09T18:01:29.089+11:00

I see a lot of double irish chain quilts as I look over quilting websites - it seems to be a very popular design. Here is Carrie's very pretty baby quilt version THE DESIGN STAGE I spent a coule of days doing mock-ups for this design.  At first I had pastels in mind, but then switched to a more colourful option, thinking this quilt could go to one of my young grandsons. My first option I

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-40744839501972674662010-01-29T17:44:00.001+11:002010-02-09T18:00:35.380+11:00

No dramas with this one - it went together beautifully.  There are a couple of suggestions in the book on how to layout the finished blocks - as a table runner in various sizes or as a quilt.  I shuffled the blocks around to try these suggestions out. Long table runner layout (as per the book) Quilt Layout Short Table Runner with potential border selection Harriet says laying out this top is

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-46165806517746709062010-01-29T08:59:00.002+11:002010-02-09T18:00:17.288+11:00

THE STRIP SETS This is quite straight forward sewing - as long as the strips are sewn in the correct order.  There are 4 different strip sets, all of them using combined grids. The 4 completed strip sets MEASURINGHarriet emphasises that it's essential to get the measurements for these strip sets precise.  Each time a strip is added, the set must be measured from the seam line to the outer edge.

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-66168225784172080202010-01-26T14:34:00.003+11:002010-02-09T17:59:44.069+11:00

I've been having a little trouble envisioning my finished quilt top in my chosen fabrics.  I see the fabrics, I see the design, but putting the two together still gives me a surprise at the finish.  Sometimes the surprise is not a pleasant one. Making mock-ups certainly helps, but so far, I've been missing something.  I gave it another shot with this design, and am much closer to 'getting it'.

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-27776823303025614512010-01-25T19:08:00.002+11:002010-01-25T19:21:05.958+11:00

Well I still haven't started the mock-up for the table runner.  I sort of got distracted by a UFO which suddenly 'called' to me.  So while this post is not strictly related to the QA book, I'll call it an extra-curicular activity, as it's actually a practice piece for borders & quilting.  For me, it's a lesson on how not to sew a quilt! My second attempt at making a quilt (before I found

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-39992022808972366252010-01-24T10:57:00.002+11:002010-02-09T17:59:24.214+11:00

Whew - getting closer to the end, but as the designs get more complex (well, complex for me as a beginner anyway) progess slows down. Here is Carrie's design....... made from combined grid blocks. For this I have chosen colours similar to the one's Carrie has used as it makes it easier to follow the instructions (which are written according to fabric colour) as well as envisage the end result.

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com4tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-84552624004979285862010-01-24T10:19:00.001+11:002010-02-09T17:59:10.665+11:00

Being an insomniac has its advantages - I got this top all assembed and complete this morning. It went together smoothly, with all the seams turned the right way for butting!  Yay!  I am following Harriet's guidence with pressing plans for each project, but I've not managed to work out how to do this for myself yet.  It's a really handy skill to have - having the seams butt nicely saves time and

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-82134572173552968572010-01-23T22:13:00.001+11:002010-02-09T17:58:43.969+11:00

The patches laid out for assembly into blocks. Today I finished assembling the combined 9-patch chain blocks.  This took some time, as they were stitched together individually instead of chain stitched, so as to keep the blocks in order. As expected, the extra pressing and handling distored the blocks and there was a lot of trimming to do.  I did expect this, but looking at the amount I had to do

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-26947532830952449452010-01-22T12:31:00.002+11:002010-02-09T17:58:25.206+11:00

This quilt top is a little different in that it uses a combined grid to make one of the nine patch blocks.  Here is Harriet's version, done in lovely antique style fabrics. I didn't have such a hard time choosing fabrics for this project, only changing my mind 3 times :)  and ended up with these 3. Now I know the centre one looks like I've grabbed the starch-stained calico sheet off my ironing

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com3tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-84260653674894473352010-01-18T18:19:00.001+11:002010-02-09T17:58:07.715+11:00

Well, after all the fussing prior to cutting the strips, it came together pretty quickly. I'm pleased with the change from cream to yellow and happy enough with the end result.....although  I am wondering whether reversing the placement of the purple and mauve would be more effective within the design. When I visualised the quilt top at the fabric selection stage, this is not what I saw. 

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com5tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-58819946154195148432010-01-18T14:03:00.007+11:002010-02-09T17:57:50.706+11:00

This project has cause me quite a bit of confusion - not with the pattern, but with fabric selection. Here is Carrie's version The top is made up of nine patch blocks and rail strip sets using 4 fabrics.  I made a mock up of this pattern a while back.. remember?   I wanted to use an Art Nouveau floral fabric I had, and then just selected colours I thought would go nicely with it. At this

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-53490334364157725652010-01-15T21:00:00.001+11:002010-04-14T07:22:21.317+10:00

I thought I was done with this one until Vol 2, but it appears not.  This exercise involves making nine patch blocks.  Completing these will lead into the next project, which makes creative use of them. Here is the Sampler from the book......... Today I made 12 of these 9 patch blocks.  They didn't take long and seem to all be the right size...... So here are all the pieces for the Sampler so

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-16304294718356764062010-01-15T20:38:00.000+11:002010-01-15T20:38:35.585+11:00

Hi All I am very excited that the author of Quilter's Academy has paid a visit to my blog and left a comment.  Harriet has been very encouraging and her visit has inspired me to work harder and do better. You can see her comment here - Project 5 - Harriet's Town Square Quilt - Part 1 http://patchnblock.blogspot.com/2009/12/project-5-harriets-town-square-quilt.html#comments She has also told me

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-5475230888987905743.post-74420521463214847442010-01-12T23:43:00.001+11:002010-02-09T17:57:32.140+11:00

Hello!  I've had a little holiday away and closed the door on my sewing room for a whole week.  But now I'm back and have finished the Asian Nights quilt top. As you can see, I decided to use up the extra strips I'd cut and make the larger version.  The original Town Square quilt had 16 blocks and this one has 48, so that's quite a size difference.  It didn't take all that long to make up the

BlockHeadhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/03305313016368414060noreply@blogger.com5