Christmas sewing Nov/Dec 2017

I belong to a small international group of quilters who exchange fabrics and blocks during the year. It's great fun getting a package from overseas every few months. This year we are exchanging some Xmas blocks and fabrics. I am turning my pretty blocks into Xmas presents for family and friends. I'm also finishing some of those dreaded UFOs that I started several years ago. See my halo? Here are some of the things I have sewn in the last couple of weeks.
I so enjoyed making the treeskirt for Suze I decided to make another:

I also made a bunch of table toppers some of which could also be used as placemats:

 Some children's placemats are part of the bundle:

.....and a Christmas table runner:

There's a set of placemats too!

As you can see I'm all in favour of loud colours for Christmas!

Suze's Treeskirt Dec 2017

Suze wanted a black and white treeskirt. I got her to choose the fabrics. She has a black Xmas tree with white decorations and her tastes are very minimalist. I was given a really nice pattern at the Mascot craft group that I go to. It's very simple and easy to make being composed of 18 wedges.. a bit like a gored skirt. The most complicated thing about it is the binding which has to be cut on the cross because the treeskirt is circular and the binding needs to be stretchy for the curves.

I liked the pattern so much I made another for a Christmas gift. Not finished yet.

Auntie Heather's Quilt: her 90th birthday present, October 2017

 Here is Auntie Heather's Quilt. She likes Autumn colours and is celebrating her 90th birthday, the matriarch of the clan. I've been working feverishly on it because her birthday was last Saturday. It won't be very late. It's a coverlet (two layers and no wadding) because she lives just outside Brisbane and there's not much call for warm things in the tropics.

Auntie Heather really loved her quilt!

Jay's Mug Bag and Lesley's Mug Bag October 2017

More mug bags!

New York Mug Bag, 9 October 2017

I've made so many of these mug bags for gifts over the years and I always thoroughly enjoy doing them. I like to match the fabric to the mug carefully and make the lining of the bag pop. It's rarely that I can perfectly match a fabric with a mug and a person. I think this one does it. Found the mug in Vinnie's this morning, knew it would match the fabric beautifully and have a friend's daughter coming back to work from a holiday in New York soon. Each of the sides is fussy cut to show up the fabric print.The lining is a loud pink and white stripe. Hope you all saw that item on the news last week about mugs in workplace kitchens. So glad I always have a mug bag.

Toile de jour Cushion Covers Sep 2017

I have been making four cushion covers for an old school friend who has a new sage green sofa. She likes traditional colours and classical furnishings so I chose a sage green toile  and a yellow toile as the main fabrics.

Al & Jan's Quilt 2008

This is the biggest quilt I have ever made. It was made for Friends Jan and Al and was beautifully quilted by Jenny Baker of Bathurst on her big Gammill quilter. Jenny used a rose design continuous quilting pattern which fitted exquisitely with the pretty florals they chose. You can see the quilting design best  on the right side of the label. The quilt design is a variation on Irish chain called "Burgoyne".

Dandelion Quilts June 2017

Each year I go up to Blackheath in the Blue Mountains for a quilting retreat and stay at the Redleaf Resort. We sew, chat, shop for fabric and eat good food for the whole weekend. Most of us make at least one quilt for a wonderful charity called "Dandelion" which provides emergency help to parents and children who are sometimes forced to leave their homes at a moment's notice. This year I've made three simple baby quilts all the same pattern: 6 1/2 inch squares  (7X6 blocks). They are quilted in the ditch and then in oblique rows. All are made from the children's fabric in my stash. I always enjoy making them because I know how much they are appreciated. Last year between us we managed to come up with 53 quilts.

 Above: The Alphabet Quilt

 Above: The Blue and Yellow Quilt

Above: The Teddy Bear Quilt

Mugbags for two new members of Yarnspinners

The bag with the purple eggplants belongs to Maru who joins us most weeks and shows us beautiful fabrics and notions and new techniques to use in our quilting efforts. She is a wonderful addition to our group bringing a Costa Rican perspective to Yarnspinners.

The seafoam coloured bag and mug belong to Mika. Mika does beautiful crochet and is going to learn how to quilt with us. Looking forward to teaching her some basics next week. Mika brings a rich Japanese perspective to our group.

Daisy Mae's Baby Quilt Jan 2017

First quilt for 2017! This one had to be a fast one as my sister-in-law is only here from England for 3 weeks. She is about to have a new granddaughter and was ecstatic when I said I would do a quilt for Daisy Mae. Fortunately I had this one half sewn up already and she loved it - so - problem solved! Here are the pictures. Of course it's a simple quilt made of six and a half inch plain blocks which relies on the colours and textures of the fabric rather than any fancy work in the blocks. I tend to do this for baby quilts because they have to be hardwearing and easily machine washable.

 Above: the whole quilt

 Above: close-up of the blocks and fabric

Above: close-up of the label