Meanderings and wanderings with my Nature Trail quilt....

So I've a few things to share following my long absence...but I'll start with the present...I'm working on my autumnal quilt, although I think now I'm leaning towards the name "'Nature Trails" quilt as it looks like snippets of landscapes and nature that you would see and touch and feel on a bush walk or outdoor tramping holiday in late summer or autumn.  I find myself thinking of the wonderful walks in the woods I always loved in England.  I love the changing colours of the seasons there.  We have them here on a lesser scale - actually lesser scale is not truly accurate.  It is more a different level of colour saturation. The colour palette in Australia is unique and lovely in its own right.  We are embracing spring and emerging from our safe warm wintery hidey holes.  It's exciting and there is a sense of anticipation and excitement.  I ponder all this as I sew.  Such lovely musings wandering through my mind!

My original plan was to use the linen as sashing to create a contrast to highlight the quilt blocks themselves.  Perhaps as though you were looking through a window (middle picture) or as a pathway through the countryside (picture 3), but now I'm contemplating no sashing at all (first picture)....  I will contemplate away as I construct more blocks.

All fabrics are Liberty tana lawn.  It's high time I stopped hoarding them and made them into quilts and things.  Really it's an injustice to have them sitting in a box in a cupboard, they need to out and played with and enjoyed and appreciated.

Having moved house in June, has highlighted how much fabric I own. Quite crazy!  I can't part with any just for the sake of reducing the size of my stash.  I have to use it all, so I'm on a mission, to sew sew sew, so that when I move next (I'm only renting for now) I have a lot less fabric to move.  I greatly need to economise in my new circumstances too, so I'm going to try to use my current resources.  I may even begin to offer quilts for sale....but I'm getting way ahead of myself...

Any thoughts on sashing or no sashing from the above pictures?  Please share if you do - it would be lovely sharing creative ideas....

Summer dazey days

I've been enjoying a busy social fun summer here in Perth.  Getting out and about and seeing movies, Fringe Festival shows and now a couple of PIAF shows too.  '

Also going for lots of lovely morning and weekend walks, around our beautiful river and at the beach occasionally too.  I spent lots of hours finishing my hexie quilt - or at least finishing the TOP.  The grand total is 1243 one-and-a-half inch hand pieced hexagons!!  I can't really remember when I started, but I've been working on it (and off it for long periods of time) for about 5 years.  I have truly loved the hand stitching process.  Call me crazy, but I've bought a packet of little 1 inch hexie papers for my next one!!  I am going to make it all out of my Liberty stash, BUT, I am not starting it until I finish a few more unfinished projects, in particular, 3 crochet rugs that are near completion. Not to mention 4 quilt tops in progress and the 4 finished tops that need sandwiching.

I am christening my hexie quilt Twelve Forty-Three in honour of the grand total.  Here it is gracing my bed.

And here it is outside over the rail in the garden....

There's been a little bit of cake time too...this one made by our resident chef at work.....Banana cake with cinnamon cream frosting with honeyed pecans...he is the reason I stay in my job.....insert happy face here.....

Perth puts on the Perth International Arts Festival every year and as part of that said festival there is one huge free event held in the city each year.  This year was truly incredible.  The Giants came to town:  a little girl and a man. Here are pictures of the girl taken as she danced above the crowd. The atmosphere over the 3 day event was electric in the city. The crowds were formidable and quite overwhelming at times, but it was worth it to be a part of the fun.

Scrappy Trip Around the World Quilt

I realised I have got something to show in the quilt department. I have about 3 more blocks to go and I am ready to put this one together.  It's on the list to finish over my Christmas break.  The list is a bit ridiculous and I am destined to fail really - it's a wish list rather than a to-do list!  But it's also an ideas list.  I regularly pop quilt project ideas on to it. So I'm not going to beat myself up about it - the main thing is that I spend some time creatively.  I feel totally stifled lately, due to a busy daily life and my fatigue.

Checkerboard quilt

So I put my foot down on the quilting accelerator and finished one of my 7 quilt tops in various stages of development.  I've given myself a bit of a talking to and decided it's high time they got finished as tops at least - the sandwiching, quilting and binding can happen later.  Perhaps I'm just missing the wonderful feeling when you step back and view the finished top.  It's a lovely stage of the whole wonderful process for me.

I had a styling assistant help with the photos....or is it what you call photo-bombing?  Tilly takes such and interest in everything I do and likes to help at all times.

Hexie Heaven

Count so far....drum roll.....1088 hexies! It now fits across the top of my king size bed, but doesn't go down the sides far enough for my liking.  I would like it to cover the top mattress of the ensemble.  I have this ''thing'' about doonahs, that sit on the top and still show the sheets.  I want this to hide that, so it's more like an old fashioned bedspread...or should the word be retro or vintage these days? I much prefer the drape over the sides look.  Which means... I need to keep going, making my hexies and sewing them together and watching them grow.  It's lovely to step back and take photos.  I call it my daughter's inheritance, as they have watched me work on it for years.  The investment of my time and love...won't they have lovely memories in about 50 years time!!  Trouble is I have 2 daughters and this one quilt, and it's not even finished.  Guess I'll have to make another one.....

Inspiring Quilt Show

 

 

On the weekend I popped into quilt show at the Moore's Building in Freo.  It was my kind of quilt show.  Geometric, modern, bright scrappy quilts adorned the walls. Totally inspiring.  The above pictures give you a taste of it.

 

 

Quilt History

It occurred to me that I have not documented all the quilts I've made - I think I've completed 13 in total.  Pink and green, blue and brown, Floral Parade, Black white and aqua, black and white, Flea Market Fancy, Ode to a Rose, Floral Fiesta, Blue Farm, Amelia's, Maya's, Retro Squares, Blue Lagoon Liberty quilt. Perhaps I just haven't labelled them in my sidebar but anyhoo, I thought I'd have a summary post, just so I have a record of my quilting history, albeit a very tiny one.  I mean that's the whole idea of this blog for me - documenting my creative journey amid my daily life.

Black and White Quilt



Flea Market Fancy Quilt

Floral Fiesta Quilt

Ode to a Rose Quilt

And just for my reference too - I have the following quilts-in-progress.

1. My scrappy trip around the world.
2. My cowgirl boho.
3. My hexie quilt
4. My 9 patch quilt
5. My Hammock quilt
6. My Russian Doll Quilt
7. My Chelsea Flower Show quilt
8. And another as yet unnamed quilt similar to Ode to a Rose.

Right yes well.....there's a bit to get on with isn't there!! :)

Strippy Liberty quilt finish

 

Quilt No 13!  Finito!  My Liberty Strippy quilt is done.  I finished binding it last night.

 

The top is all strips of Liberty Tana Lawn in varying shades of blue.  I think I will call it my Blue Lagoon quilt.  I do rather want to dive in it or under it and float around daydreaming with it.  It is divinely soft and has a lovely drape.  I think that's the combination of the tana lawn, and the hand quilting which I've kept to a minimum of just one row of stitching per row of fabric. I thought about quilting it more, but it didn't need it as it sticks well to the wadding, and I want the fabrics to speak for themselves - they have such a lot to say, can't you just hear them from where you are?  

 

I can't believe in my 35-40 years of collecting and loving Liberty, this is my first all Liberty quilt!  That's it now though...the lid is well and truly off my stash box and my mind is whizzing with ideas for more Liberty quilts.  Often, I've included bits of Liberty tana lawn in my quilts, but I've never devoted a whole quilt to Liberty...well I've broken through that little barrier, and the stand off is OVER.   

 

 

 

the binding

The rest of my weekend was lovely.  I saw a great film at Somerville - "Short Term 12". It's an American film about a home for children awaiting foster care or unable to live at home.  Some people do such good work in their lives - they give so much to those in need.  Watching the film, made me think about that.  I am in total admiration for people that have the capacity to work with fragile beings and work to empower them when they have suffered so much. Carers are incredible.

I had a lovely catch up with a few girlfriends for lunch on Saturday.  Lots of laughs. And yesterday a friend and I went to Homecraft Textiles as they have a gigantic sale on for the month of March.  I picked up the backing fabric for another quilt.  I've blogged about this shop before - you enter another world when you step inside.  You could be in Turkey, or a souk or market in some faraway dreamy place.  I love it. They are stocking a lot more 100% cottons - the minimum cut is 1 metre though, but for the month of March, they are 1/2 price at $7.50 per metre!!

And I started my next book for book club...'the autobiographical "The Happiest Refugee" by Anh Do. Very easy read by the looks of it.  More about that when I've read more.

Happy Monday to you all! :)

The Year in Books

I have joined up to The Year in Books.  I stumbled over it via Millefeuilles. 

I'm in a book club, but I'm always looking out for more books to read, and to diversify my reading.  I am only too conscious of how my little world is only a micro dot in the greater world, and I yearn for knowledge of the greater world, new surroundings and to open my mind to all the different lifestyles and worlds out ''there''.  I worry that in my comfortable western life, I will become too narrow in my thinking.  My upbringing was conservative, middle class (I am totally blessed for this and so thankful for it - please don't think for a minute I'm disappointed by it). I lead a comfortable life is suburban Perth, a very isolated city.  It's not easy to leave Perth and experience lots of varied cultures. Everywhere is a flight of several hours away and with only 4 weeks leave a year, not readily accessible, so I fuel my senses by reading.  It's the only way of immersing myself in other's stories and lives in my day-to-day world.

So I'm excited to hear of lots more books, that I may not ordinarily stumble across and add to my reading list.  Thank you!

Here's what I'm currently reading and enjoying. 

It is perhaps particularly relevant as we read of the theories currently surrounding the missing Malaysian airline.

and here's what I've been doing in my craft world this weekend

putting the binding on my retro squares quilt.  I'm nearly done.  It will be my first FINISHED quilt this year.  Hooray!

Hand quilted Retro Vintage Square Quilt

Hand quilting all done....I just need to do the binding.... I have to say, I absolutely love the feel and look of the hand quilting, and I think I'm a convert from machine quilted tops.  Having thought myself a "topper" only of quilts - you know...love putting the top together, but my mind too full of other quilt ideas to take the time to hand quilt, so I've outsourced the quilting part, so that I can get on with the next top.  Not sure I'll be treading that path any longer.  I have 2 other finished quilts sitting waiting to be quilted and they will both by hand quilted - my Liberty strip quilt and my Babushka quilt.  Then there's the nearly finished hand pieced hexie quilt, oops and I forgot my Jane Brocket Hammock quilt, which I will hand quilt now as well. 

My stitching is very very rough, but I love it and think it suits the quilt down to the ground. I used a thick quilting thread in a red and stitched every second square.  I'm pretty chuffed with myself in case you can't tell :)

Last weekend I did a little bit of painting in the ensuite

with a little bit of help....

 

 

The start of a new quilt?

I did a bit of hand stitching last night on my quilt...it is nearly all hand quilted...it's so exciting.  I also crocheted a few rounds for my current granny wip.  And I had a bit of a play with some fabric, in particular this piece

leapt out at me and started chatting about how it would love to grace my bed in a giant king-sized quilt - something completely lavish.  So I listened attentively and next thing I'd cut it and had it draped across the bed.  It was so happy. Its excitement was contagious and before long it had me pulling out other bits of fabric for it to play with.  It found some lovely playmates and can't wait to be joined at the hip with its new-found constant companions.  I can still here it as I sit at work...it's shouting come home and play with meeeeeeeeeee.  Such a temptress!

Look at me...I'm hand quilting

You're thinking it's been all coffees, beaches and concerts for me lately aren't you?  Neglecting my crafty time....well you're wrong :) very wrong.  Let me tell you little bits of crafty happy things have been happening.  Don't get me wrong there is nothing earth shattering or any big ta-dahs about to happen, just little itty bitty stitches, one stitch at a time. 

I'm so excited...I've started hand quilting!!  I am all fingers and thumbs and have not yet got a groove going on by any stretch - I'm told on good authority that will come in time.  I'm absolutely loving the charm of it though...my awkward little uneven stitches, each one made with great excitement.

Front view
 

back view...

 

I think the captions are unnecessary :)

 

I'm stitching every second square.  And loving it, loving it, loving it! I'll be back when I've finished...oh and there's been quite a bit of hooky going on too.

 

Have a glorious, glorious day, my lovelies xo

 





Floral fabric play

For a bit of fun the other day I pulled out all my largish scale floral fabric and started laying them out in a totally random way.  I'd like to whip up a quilt from big squares to show off the fabric design.  Here was the first play around.  I've stacked them all back up again in one tall tower and will have some more play time with them soon.  The pinks and oranges and reds are jumping out at me for this quilt - I've already named it..."Spring has Sprung"...even though it might not be finished until next winter, or the one after that.. ... quilts and time frames just don't go together really do they?  :)))

Snippets from my little corner of the world

 

So a little itty bit of sewing has been going on in my little corner.  A few more blocks sewn for my scrappy 9 patch above.

 

A quilt top pinned and ready to be hand quilted...exciting ...it will be my first attempt.  I'm a bit nervous and not sure how to begin, so I'll watch a few online tutorials first I think, but I have cotton, needles and hoop at the ready.

In the space on the mezzanine where I work I have my knick knacks collected during my childhood and my travels.  Each one of them is a very special memory.  Here's foxy.  A little ceramic red fox.  I just love his attitude! He was given to me by one of my English Great Aunts, arriving in an oh-so-exciting-Christmas package one year.  We were so lucky with the generosity of our English rellies.  Packages would arrive via sea mail every year and be placed under the tree tantalising us in the lead up to Christmas.

 

 



 

 

 

And so I digress from my progress report.  Another 2 blocks for my Scrappy Trip Around the World...below.

 

And here's where I sit and hexie away.  Pamela one of my childhood dolls keeps me company in her rocking chair.

 

Whistle stop blog post

The only crafting I did this weekend was admiration!  I spent a whole 5 minutes throwing my growing hexie quilt over my king sized bed to see how much more I needed to do.  A bit yet, but I am getting closer and closer all the time... The side view here shows you another row of flowers is needed.  It was oh so exciting to see ma beauty spread across it's future home.  Hugs to all :)

Russian Doll Quilt

 

For those of you who've been stopping by my little blog for the last few years may be wondering what ever happened to my Babushka quilt....well you can breathe a collective sigh of relief as I have finally finished the top!!  Here it is - apologies for the picture - there were no helpers around to hold the quilt up. 

 

Now to choose the backing and this is another one to be hand quilted.  The dolls are telling me that they really want to be framed by some hand stitches.  I'm looking forward to spending time chatting to each one as I go...there's Olga and Anastasia and Anna and Tatiana and Nadia and Svetlana...they have become my friends over the YEARS it has taken me to put this one together...

 

I'm thinking of renaming my blog to Quilt Interrupted :) I take so long to finish anything. So this is not a ta-dah, just a progress report

Hammock Quilt Ta-Dah

I finished the quilt top yesterday.....this is the quickest quilt I've ever made.  I think I took 3 weeks, snatching a few minutes here and there.  The colours are wonderful and I love love love it.  It looked so beautiful in the glorious sunshine in my garden yesterday.  Perth is having one of the most stunning weeks weather wise.  Wide blue skies with radiant sunshine. Cool crisp mornings for my walk. 

 My plan is to have it quilted by my quilter guy, once I choose the backing.

Colour Therapy

 

I added in lime.

 

I should have it finished on the weekend. It's the quickest quilt in the world to make...and as I'm the slowest quilter in the world, this is a good thang! 

 

I can't get over the ''prolificnessness '' of the likes of Rita at Red Pepper Quilts! I am totally awed out.

 

And this next pic because...well...just because (fabric lovers will get it :)

 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by xo