The Sydney Australia Modern Quilt Guild

Great news! The Sydney Australian Modern Quilt Guild is having it’s first meeting. All details can be found here.


I am really excited about it. It will be the first time I will meet, talk to and hopefully learn from other quilters locally (other than my BFF and people I have met at the fabric shop).


If you live in Sydney and haven't joined up yet, take a look at the website and join up. It should be really fun.

Another Finished Project or Two

For each of my DS's special teachers, I decided to make a wall-hanging for Easter. I finished them of yesterday, took my pictures, stroked them a bit and then packaged them up for my DS to give to his teachers himself.

I really liked the way they turned out. I also love the fact that they were scrap busters! I used nothing but left over fabric from my organised scrap boxes.  I think I have a few more of these on the way as gifts. I might see what I can do fabric wise. I might actually go into my stash and pick out some newer more interesting fabrics to use. Maybe I can start thinking about making a few for Christmas, and I might make a table runner or two as well. I do remember seeing some Christmas fabric on sale at Craft Depot last time I went....

Craftsmanship versus Finished Projects

Since I have jumped back onto the quilting bandwagon, I have been really interested in craftsmanship as opposed to just getting a project done. To be honest, getting good craftsmanship in my quilting means learning techniques that I have not previously known. I am largely a self-taught quilter. I did a very basic quilting class about 12 years ago and when I say it was basic, it really was. We were taught how to do 12 blocks and that was it. No instruction on sewing, piecing, batting you name it. We were given a template and drew the template on the fabric with pencil and cut it out with scissors etc. Anyway you get the idea. Everything else I have learnt about quilting was just jumping in and doing it myself or lately looking it up on the internet. As much as I love looking things up and researching different techniques for things, I really wanted to have all these resources in the one place. I then came across a book series called Quilter's Academy
 I received this book this morning in the mail. I made myself a cup of decaf coffee ( I have way to much caffeine at the moment and am trying to cut down) and looked through this book. It is part of a 6 book series which is meant to help the beginner or help someone who is already quilting improve their skills. I must say it is very interesting reading and I can see some things already that I can improve on, to help improve my craftsmanship. I will be buying each of the books as they come out. I am not sure what the release time frame is for each book but I think as a handy reference they will be great. 
I love books in general and books about quilting are even better, I just can't seem to help myself if I think it will help me. I might have to slow down a bit when it comes to books. I think I have bought about 10 books in the last 2 months! All from Amazon and paying international shipping! Shhh, don't tell my DH.

My First Quilt-Pro Quilt

Many years ago I had bought Electric Quilt v4 and used it on my Windows machine and really loved it, although to be perfectly honest I never really did anything more than play with it. Then I moved to a MAC, and I tried to use EQ4 through Parallels but found it so frustratingly hard (on a personal level not the app itself) so I decided to buy Quilt-Pro for MAC .

It is very similar to EQ, but different if you know what I mean, and it has taken me longer to work my way around it. After several attempts and finally working out the best way to organise my works in progress, I have finally made my first Quilt-Pro digital quilt for a single bed.

The colours are not what I will be using of course, but I just wanted to have the layout done so I could work out the fabric yardage that I needed. I am sure that this is not going to be a designer original as this is a very simple alternate block quilt with a strip block and a pinwheel block, and I am sure I am not the first to come up with this combination, but I am proud of the fact that I put it together myself! I am thinking of using the Birdie by Me and My Sister Designs for Moda Layer Cake and Jelly Roll for this one and a tone on tone for the background. I also wanted to use a solid colour for the dark purple triangle in the pinwheel so it would not all be printed fabric. The blocks are 12" finished and it will be for a 6 year old for her birthday (if all goes according to plan). I will probably also make a wall-hanging as in my previous posts with some leftover fabric which she can have for a Christmas gift. Luckily for me, her birthday and Christmas are only a month apart. I have a name for the quilt but for the time being it will have to be called E-Quilt as I don't want to give to much away just in case. So, what do you think?

Quarter Inch Foot for Janome

I don't know if it is me or if this has happened to anyone else as well, but I have found that when I sew with my 1/4" foot on my machine that it is not really exact. On my old Janome MC4000 it was only slightly off and because I used it consistently with each and every piece it seemed to work out. I couldn't figure out how to move the needle position to make it accurate but the error was small enough for me to ignore. 


In comes my new Janome MC6600P, the same thing happened with the normal 1/4" foot so again I ignored it as the error was small, but when I bought a 1/4" foot to go onto my dual feed system the 1/4" seam was closer to 3/8" and bigger. I started to hyperventilate as I spent so much money on the foot only to have it the wrong size. I thought there must be some way to change the needle position to make it exactly right but I just couldn’t work it out. I flicked through the manual and found nothing. I then thought I had better read it from the beginning and see if it was somewhere as a extra or a footnote. Funnily enough in the basic straight stitching section (like that should have been really obvious) it mentions changing the needle position with width adjustment button. I had such a "DOH" moment. I couldn't believe it was that simple. So, armed with this new found knowledge I set about working out the width for each of my 1/4" feet and wrote it down on a sticky note and stuck it in front of my machine where I can easily see it. Now when I sew my 1/4" seams, they are exactly 1/4". 


Small things can make me so happy and this was one thing that really, really made me happy.

Been Busy Using My Scraps.

I actually used my organised scraps in the last few days to do a wallhanging for my daughter using the left over strips from the Candy Girl quilt. I used a technique that Oh Fransson had used with small squares and a iron-on interfacing with a grid pre-drawn onto it. I cut up all the left-over strips into 2" squares and then placed the squares within the spaces in the grid and then ironed them onto the interfacing. Once that was done I sewed a 1/4" seam going in both directions, put on some borders.

I have really enjoyed doing open seams on all my new quilting projects and for this technique especially it worked really, really well. Although I have to say even though it seemed to be a foolproof easy technique where you place your 2" squares on the grid and then sew them together, I found that I had to check after sewing each row to make sure that I didn’t sew to much on either side. I had to do some unpicking to make sure the end measurement was 1.5". 

I added a yellow dotted border and then a white border so it matched my DD's quilt exactly. I have basted it but quilted it yet. I placed this one on the floor to baste and the back was relatively smooth, but I might have to re-baste.... again!

I enjoyed this process so much I made a few more. 

This wallhanging has been quilted already, I still need to do the binding. I did stippling on the centre part and straight lines for the border. I was really happy with the way this one turned out.

This wallhanging has been stippled all over. I used the exact same fabrics in each one but changed the order of the blocks and there was a difference in the way it was quilted, giving them a slightly different look. I also did the quilting in orange for one and gold for the other.

I was really impressed with the way the backs turned out. I was so excited when I saw them,

This is a picture of the backs of both of them AFTER they had been quilted. They are so smooth - not one single tuck or bunching of fabric. I almost did my happy dance. This was probably the best backing of a quilt I have ever done. Okay, so they are really small pieces - if only I could replicate this on a larger quilt.... I will have to get back to you on that. I made these two on the spur of the moment (sort of) and I will be giving these away to two very special people in my DS's school life.

I loved the fact that I used scrap fabric for all three of these wallhanings. I also pieced together lots of leftover pieces of batting.I did buy iron-on interfacing with a pre-drawn grid on it. I bought 2m of it and it will last a while. Actually it probably will not last long as I really love doing this technique and it makes for a great wallhanging gift for someone and it is really quite fast to make.

I also made a Doll/New Pony Toy Quilt for a family friend. I ended up using the first block from the Moose on a Porch Quilt-Along, since I decided to put that quilt on hold and I had already done the first block. I just used some leftover batting and picked out some homespun for the backing and binded (bound??)it with some leftover backing fabric, and it was done in no time.

The back turned out really good on this one too. I am on a roll, but again this was a very small project. It is much easier to get the backing smooth.

This Doll Quilt was packaged up together with some Easter Eggs and a top as a gift for a family friend.

She really loved the quilt, as well as the eggs and top. 

My DS was also busy this weekend. He put together (with the help of Dad) and Mini-Case kit that we picked up from our local Bunnings Warehouse. It turned out really well and he really enjoyed the process. He just needs to paint it now. That will be a job for next weekend.

  

Blog Reader

If you are anything like me, you have lots and lots of blogs you love to read, or you wish you could read more but find it to time consuming. Up until recently I had to limit myself to about 10-15 blogs as I found it took too much time to go into each and every blog and see if there were any new posts. 


I was grumbling to my BFF's DH who happens to be a MAC superguru (whereas my DH is a windows superguru) about the fact that it takes so long to check my favourite blogs and that there must be an easier way. And he showed me there was. 


Vienna is a free program you can download for MAC only (I found this free program for Windows called SharpReader - it looks similar). This nifty little program has saved me loads of time and I can now follow a lot more blogs. My current count is about 55 blogs. It takes me less time with Vienna to check out 55 blogs than it did to do 10 blogs the old way. Give it a go, you might find it really amazing - just like I do.


I love looking at what other people are doing with their quilting, scrapping and other handy crafts. It is so inspiring to see and gets me really motivated to DO things myself, instead of just reading about them. I love how we can become blog friends with people all over the world as we share the same passions for craft or anything for that matter.

Getting Scrap Organised

I came across this most amazing website Magnolia Bay Quilts with this great tutorial on doing string blocks with scrap strips. She also has a post on organising your scraps into strips and storing them here. As soon as I read this, I just knew that this is what I wanted to do with my scraps. So this is what I did.


I went off to Ikea and bought some clear containers to put them in.

Each bucket cost me AUD$2 and the lid was AUD$1, so I bought 7 lots, just incase I needed more and didn’t have to go back AGAIN to Ikea.

I then got my very small basket of scraps (I still need to go through my actual stash as I was just folding and putting away all smallish sizes back in the pile cause I didn’t really know what to do with them).

I then needed to decide which widths to use. According to Magnolia Bay quilts the best sized strips for string blocks are 1.5", 2", 2.5",and 3.5" so I just went with those widths figuring out that that would suit most of the sized blocks I would consider doing.

I then used a labeler to make the labels for my boxes and put them on.

With my trusty ruler, cutting mat and my new containers, I set about cutting up my strips.using the size of the scrap to determine the size it would be cut down too. After going through all of my scraps I now have a few different strips to work with to start making scrap strip blocks. I had a few 2.25" strips that were left over from a specific project. I thought I would leave those as they were for the time being.

I have also discovered a really cool ruler holder.

 Actually these are two different ones. The larger one at the back is a large plastic 'foldarack' and the other is metal one. The rulers fit perfectly in them. The larger one is especially good and the largest ruler I have is a 15.5" square ruler and it sits in there beautifully, and the fact that it is plastic means I don't have to worry about the rulers getting damaged. These are both available at Officeworks, the larger being about AUD$15 and the smaller about AUD$8. Now my rulers are neat and tidy and easily accessible, and my scraps are sorted into working sized strips for another project. I feel like I have accomplished something today.

Rebadged New Wave Quilt

I have finished my New Wave Quilt and have renamed it to the Mother's Day Quilt. The reason I have renamed it, is that I have just donated the quilt to my son's school for their Mother's Day raffle. 

I almost didn’t want to let it go as I handed it over. I really enjoyed doing this quilt even though I re-basted it about 5 times! I think I will need to make another one just for me!

In The Finishing Mood

I seem to be in a finishing mood. That is finishing off all my old projects so I can move onto new and better things.

The Farmyard Express hung up in Daniel's very messy room (I try to keep it tidy for him, but I am losing the battle - he is only 8!).

The Quilting Place Wallhanging placed above my new, not-as-yet stained French doors.

The Girls Art Quilt Set with a hanging sleeve and a dowel through the back, needs to be hung in my daughter's room.

The Boys Art Quilt Set ready to be hung in my son's room.

And today I started and finished a Poochie Bag! The first ever bag that I have made. I was really happy with my first attempt and it turned out really well. My daughter didn’t want to put it down and has every intention of taking it to dancing lessons tomorrow to show all her dancing friends and teachers.

 I think I am going to make a few more of these. It was really easy (except for the milk carton corners, but I expect the next time I do it, it will be easier and better). I have a few bag patterns that I want to try out. I am looking at making a few as gifts for Christmas this year. I know it is a long way off, but I will need the practice and I want to get them right.

I am still slugging away with my stippling on the New Wave quilt. I had to go with stippling as the backing fabric just didn’t want to lay flat even after 5 attempts at re-basting. Stippling is way more forgiving with 'extra' fabric in the backing. The next New Wave quilt I will be making, I have decided to use a tumbler type template. I found one that is as close as I could get to the one in the pattern. I didn’t like using a cardboard template as it just didn’t want to stay still on the fabric even after I used double sided tape on it. I will try extra hard to keep my blocks squared and even and try once again the table top basting. 

My DH went to Bunnings (our local hardware chain store) and bought me a 2400x1200mm laminated board, he also finished off the edges for me with special edging tape. This is going to sit on top of my dining table so I can baste my quilts off the floor. I am going to get it working for me - I really, really will. I will take some pictures of my setup next time I do some basting.

I was looking for a video or a written tutorial on exactly how table top basting should be done and came across a blog that suggested a Harriet Hargrave book had a good explanation in it. Well, I just happen to own Harriet Hargrave's Heirloom Machine Quilting 3rd Edition, (this is a picture of the 4th Edition, mine is red) and lo and behold on pages 85-89 is a very nice chapter on how to table top baste with lots of pictures. I couldn’t believe that I had a book all along that would have been perfect. I will definitely use her method on my next quilt.

Finished Project Number 3 and 4

Project Number 3
A long time ago I thought about starting a long-arm machine quilting business, to cut a long story short it was put on the back burner while I had my children, but I did manage to do a wall hanging with the business name that I wanted but never finished it. I decided that the name 'The Quilting Place' was very relevant to the area I use to do my quilting so I decided to finish it off and I am going to hang it over the door frame in my quilting/scrap/computer/junk room just for fun.

Project Number 4
I have finally finished a wall hanging that I started many years ago called Farmyard Express. I have to admit that my craftsmanship on this project left a lot to be desired. I don't think I used an iron on it and I also don't think I actually measured my borders when I sewed them together. I had a bit of 'fixing' to do as I went along. Thankfully it turned out okay and you can only see my 'fixes' if you look closely (so don't look closely okay?).

Actually you don't need to look too closely to notice that the red strip on the bottom left hand side is a little cut off on one corner! Oh well, it is done, it is finished and it will go in my DS's room on the weekend when I put the hanging sleeve on the back and buy a dowel to put it on. I'm on a roll!

I HATE basting!

I decided to baste my New Wave lap quilt today and spent all day doing it! I just don't know what I am doing wrong. How can something that is supposed to be easy, be so *bleeping* hard?! I redid it twice before I even took it to the machine. I only managed to sew two straight lines on it and realised that it was not going to work at all. I then undid it and tried again and took it to the machine and again managed only two lines before I realised that it was not going to work either. I have to add that this time I basted on a table. I thought I had it all right with the clamps etc but it just didn’t work out. This time I thought I would do it on the floor. Once I had it laid out on the floor I thought the backing looked 'wrong'. Not quite sitting square, but I persisted anyway. I have managed to baste it and I have not as yet tried to quilt it yet. I might have to settle for stippling rather than the straight line quilting I was hoping for. But as I think back to my backing fabric, I realise that I ripped it down to size from a much larger piece of fabric instead of cutting it. Would this make the fabric uneven?? Could this be my problem, rather than be being a complete dumb-dumb when it comes to basting?? I think in future I will definitely cut my backing fabric from a larger piece! Any thoughts tips or hints on basting on a table top??

Paintbox Quilt Along Progress

I have finished all of my paintbox blocks. Yahoo! 

I am now just patiently waiting (tap, tap, tap) for the sashing and backing instructions so I can continue - once of course I decide on a sashing colour. I am a little up in the air about it. I have placed an assortment of blocks on some natural/neutral fabric - what do you think?

Does this work with the fabrics I have used in the blocks. I didn’t think picking a sashing fabric would be so hard. If you have any other colour suggestions, I'm listening!

I have also decided to place the Moose on the Porch quilt-along on hold for now. I will continue to download the blocks as they come, but I will have to do it at a later date. I am feeling a little overwhelmed with how much stuff I have decided to take on. I still need to finish my New Wave quilt - it has a special purpose in mind. More on that later.

ProjectLife Catch-Up Again

It seems to be that quilting has taken over my life at the moment and everything has fallen to the wayside! Funny how I get so into whatever I am into at the time. My BFF calls me obsessed, I call myself focused!


So here they are, my catchup layouts.

As you can see, I haven't been taking all my POTD consistently. I was so good at the start of the year, but again as I get 'focused' on something, other things get forgotten. I will have to make a conscience effort to take a POTD everyday.

Camera Bags

I probably should have posted this product a while ago, but it has become so commonplace for me that I simply 'forget' how great a product it is. 

Jo Totes Camera Bags.  


I bought mine last December just before I went on holidays with my family. I had just bought myself for Christmas a Canon 450D and really wanted to take it with me but hated the idea of a separate camera bag and then having to carry a handbag as well. This fantastic bag was a combination of the two and it is perfect. I love the compartments, and even when I am not carrying my camera it is great as an everyday handbag. It is very affordable even having it delivered to Oz. I paid around AUD$100 for the bag and postage and it came very quickly. It is definitely a bag I would recommend to anyone wishing to carry around a DSLR often. It is not a small bag, but it is not huge either, but it can get heavy. Still, I love my olive bag. I am hoping they will come out with a smaller version soon as I will definitely be getting one too!

Finished Quilt Number 2

Yay! I have finally finished my daughters quilt, washed and dried it and it now sits on her bed. She is so happy with it. I am happy with it too, but I think it could have had a little more overhang.

I will definitely put more overhang on my next quilts. I think a king single really needs to have the dimensions of a double bed quilt. Well, a lesson learned!

I have also finished the quilt top of the new pattern that has been posted by Oh Fransson!

I actually taped it to my cream coloured wall so it loses a bit against the background. I found this pattern to be a little challenging. All the quilts that I have done have either had right angles or applique, doing a quilt with an odd shape was different. I had to unpick quite a bit to get the technique right. Finally managed to get most of the shapes lined up. I am still having a little trouble with aligning my open seams - not really sure why!


I have also finished the first block of the Moose on the Porch quilt-along.

I am using scrap pieces for this quilt-along and I am not sure I like this block. I think I might redo it. I might wait and see what the next blocks are like and see if it will go with the next blocks. 

I finally got my last book from Amazon, Precision Piecing . I have to say that I am really, really impressed with this book. In her introduction she talks about how she used to quilt, not worrying about the process just the end product and realizing that her workmanship was not that great. This explains how I used to quilt exactly, and how now I want to have good workmanship as well as a great end result. Sally Collins gives you the steps and know-how to achieve just that! I have read about a quarter of it and I can't wait to read the rest and apply what I have learnt. I managed to apply some of what I learnt to the Moose block, but still, there could have been some improvement on the block. Maybe another reason to redo it!