WIP Wednesday ………..Swap

Wednesday has arrived and it is a Work In Progress. …………………………

I am delighted to be participating in a Paper Piecing Party – Fussy Square Block. This party is being hosted by the lovely Amanda at What the Bobbin stop by and say hi!

This little bird will be off to an international destination very soon taking with it ………………………..

.A little bit of Liberty Cars for my special friend …………………….

Sharing the love with hearts and flowers!

I am having so much fun fussy cutting and making these cute little blocks. I will keep you up to date with my progress as there are a few more to do. The inspiration to participate came from the lovely Cath at Wombat Quilts! Cath is an amazing paper piecing!!. Stop by Cath’s blog to be inspired and say hello.

I am linking this post with Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday, My Quilt Infatuation Needle and Thread Thursday and BOMS Away at What a Hoot!

As always, thank you for stopping by. Wherever you are in the world have a great day!

Sew Happy………………Marie x

A Journey of love ……..hand pieced & quilted!

Hi everyone,

Its a glorious Monday in sunny Melbourne, albeit winter, the sun was out and the temperature rose a few degrees thank goodness and I was delighted. A few weeks ago I featured a Dresden Cushion that I made and promised a few pics of the quilt ……….

This was my third quilt and third sampler! I loved picking the fabrics for this quilt and chose a few of Kaffe Fassett and Bonnie and Camille Bliss fabrics. It was so much fun watching this quilt evolve. I hand pieced and hand quilted with Perle 8 cotton in varying shades of Turquoise and Coral.

The Dresden cushion fitted in beautifully and matched the Dresdens in the corners of the quilt.

A close up of the basket !!

A close up of the heart………my favourite block to make……..truly a labour of love!!!

I am linking this post to BOMs Away at What a Hoot.!

As always, thank you for stopping by. Wherever you are in the world have a fabulous day!

Happy Sewing ……………Marie x

1930s is Alive and Well………

Hi Everyone………hope this blog finds you well and enjoying Friday! I am focusing on my hand pieced 1930s Grandma’s Star quilt, one of my projects for the quarter 3 2013 Quilt- A-long hosted by Leanne at She Can Quilt.

I have had this beautiful border fabric for a while now. I just needed to get on with it which is why setting goals in the quilt along is a fabulous idea. I chose a find grey strip to transition from the various coloured stars. For the outer border, I chose a vintage print by Kei fabric “Petit Joli” . It is always a challenge picking a border fabric for a scrappy quilt, particularly with the myriad of colours in the stars. I purchased the fabric from a local quilt shop Amitie.

The border, whilst busy in its own right, softens the quilt and doesn’t take away from the stars. Perhaps it is because of a lower colour value. What do you think? Is that why it works?

I am backing the quilt with this lovely backing fabric, that has been in my stash. It has that modern vintage look which I think will work well. The next step, basting and then my favourite part – hand quilting! It is very cold in Melbourne and there is nothing nicer than being kept warm by the quilt you are working on.

Well that concludes my finished quilt top! I linking up with Crazy Mom Quilts for Finish it up Friday, Confessions of a Fabric Addict Whoop Whoop and TGIF hosted by Lynette at What A Hoot Quilts.

As always, thank you for stopping by. Wherever you are in the world have a great day and fabulous weekend.

Happy Sewing……Marie x

WIP Wednesday……..Home Sweet Home.

Hi everyone……… I am focusing on my unfinished projects and this is one that needs to be finished soon for a very special person.

I love the trees and houses in this quilt. I have to embellish with applique, to jazz it up a little.

As the sun is so vibrant in Australia, I normally gravitate towards a bright and vivid colour palette. The recipient of this quilt lives in the northern hemisphere and loves autumn colours. I think its fair to say that the colours in the northern hemisphere are different from those in the southern. I hope she likes my fabric choice.!!! I just love mixing fabric up to give a scrappy look………its so much fun.

This is my favourite tree. I love the cut twigs. I will keep you posted on my progress!

I am linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced. You can check it out here or on my side bar.

As always, thank you for stopping by. Where ever you are in the world……..have a great day!

Happy Sewing ……….Marie x

Owls & Butterflies

Hi all,

I thought I would showcase some of my finished quilts that I made prior to commencing my blog. So today I will start with my Owl and Butterfly quilt. I made this quilt a while ago and I have just recently finished hand sewing the binding. I just love it! The Owls and Butterflies were so much fun to make!

The pattern for the butterflies was designed by Monica Poole – Butterfly Bliss . I enlarged the butterflies for this quilt to make a 10.5″ block. The Owls were designed by Carolyn Russell. It was a great opportunity to learn and improve my machine applique skills. I loved selecting the wonderful mix of fabrics such as Kaffe Fassett, Heather Bailey Pop Garden and other fabrics from my stash. The pebble quilting on the background fabric makes the Butterflies dance and the Owls hoot!! The outer border was quilted with Butterflies.

I love how the bottom owl is looking upwards and the open/closed fluttering wings of the butterflies. The outer border is Kaffe Fassett’s Duck Egg Big Blooms , one of my all time favourite fabrics.

I am linking this post up with Quilt Story Fabric Tuesday!

As always, thank you for stopping by.

Where ever you are in the world have a great day……Happy Sewing………Marie x

Cushions, Bags & Bees……………..

Hi everyone, hope you are all well and enjoying lots of creative projects. Here is what is happening with me………..

I made a quilt for my beautiful Mother in Law’s 80th Birthday and she loved it so much that she redecorated her room based on the quilt. I was very flattered. My daughter had been on holidays in the UK and she took a trip to see the family. After an inspection of the beautiful room she said “Nana a cushion would be nice “. So with this in mind, I acquired the left over material from the curtains and began to review the scraps. The curtain fabric is a beautiful cream linen with abstract flowers in varying tones of coral and a few grey and coral lines. After salvaging the scraps I managed to make a Dresden plate ( which is also a feature on the corners of the outer border of the quilt). I used a Bonnie and Camille Bliss fabric for the binding and it matches the quilts outer border. The quilt had been hand pieced and hand quilted so I used a coral perle 8 cotton to hand quilt around the Dresden and added some circles to the centre. Here is a close up………..

The cushion has been parceled up and is on its way . I will show you a picture of the quilt and cushion, in place, when I receive the photo!!

I have also been busy finishing my sewing bag……………

There is a story behind this bag! A friend Helen Hiemann, who teaches quilting here in Australia, was bequeathed sewing material from an old lady who use to frequent her shop. In the sewing supplies Helen found a very old book and this bag was one of the patterns. I fell in love with it and made it in class. It took a long time to make as the pieces were very small! I used my scraps an eclectic mix of 1930’s prints and some recent fabric from my stash to make it. The original bag had handmade handle but they were very flimsy and I settle for the grey handles which go over my shoulder and make it very practical. I hand quilted the bag because I love hand quilting!! Here are some close ups.

I have also been sewing some quilt blocks for Bee Blessed! This charity quilting Bee is hosted by the lovely Judith at Just Jude. The blocks have been parceled and are on there way. I will be looking forward to seeing how the quilt turns out. Here is a pic of the blocks that I made.

That is all the update for now. As always, thank you for stopping by!

I have linked up this post with Crazy Mom Quilts finish up Friday

Where ever you are in the world have a great day …………….Happy Sewing ………Marie x

The Postman arrived…………….

It was just wonderful when the Postman arrived with a beautiful new book and fabric from the lovely Sarah Fielke…………………”

I am so excited to tell you that I won a book , a 100 Modern Quilt Blocks by Tula Pink. I entered a Giveaway on Sarah’s blog the Last Piece. There were a few prizes on offer – Sarah’s book ” Hand Quilted with Love” and ” 100Modern Quilt Blocks”, plus others. I had already purchased Hand Quilted with Love so I opted for 100 Modern Quilt Blocks, by Tula Pink. I have just had a quick review. It is a lovely book where Tula encourages quilters to follow their journey and design your own quilts! Tula suggests that the book should be used like a journal by identifying what you like and don’t like etc. It is really quite an empowering book! I also received a beautiful fat quarter of Sarah’s St Ives fabric range. I chose the red butterfly and it is gorgeous.

A huge thank you to Sarah for hosting the Give Away and brightening up a dull winters day in Melbourne. I was so excited when I found out – I usually never win these kind of things. Well here is to new beginnings!

Have a great day or evening where ever you are in the world.

Thanks for stopping by ……Happy Sewing ………………….Marie x

Quarter 3 Projects 2013 Finish-A-Long

I am so delighted that I joined the 2013 Finish-A-Long hosted by Leanne at She Can Quilt! The interaction with other bloggers with common goals provides a sense of belonging and a chance to progress projects. Here are my picks amongst the many projects that are unfinished. I have been inspired by Ange at Heart of Charnwood and I am entering some big and smaller projects……………

1. Dresden Cushion

This is a cushion that I am making for my beautiful Mother-in-Law. I made her a quilt for her Birthday! She loved it so much she redecorated her room around the quilt. I now have some of the curtain fabric and I am making a cushion that ties in the quilt and curtains.

2. Winding Ways Quilt

This is a Winding Ways Quilt that I have been hand piecing for my daughter. I started it some time ago and now it’s on the list it can only get better!

3. Patchwork Bag

Commenced this little project in a class with some friends. I need to finish binding and work out the handles which have been presenting some difficulties!!

4. City Quilt

Most of the hard work has been completed ……..just in need of some binding!

5. Grandma’s Star

This is a scrappy 1930 reproduction fabric quilt. I hand pieced this Grandma’s Star quilt, I need to add some borders and I think a little hand quilting is in order! A big ask for Q3 but I will certainly be happy with progress!

6. Triple Irish Chain

In keeping with 1930’s this Triple Irish Chain quilt top is also in need of some borders. I also want to hand quilt this one…….may have to reconsider though???

7. Table Runner.

This table runner was on my list for Q2 and is now on for Q3

That concludes my list for Q3. I’m looking forward to ticking a few off the list. I am linking up with Leanne at She Can Quilt for the Q3 2013 Finish-A-Long.

Thank you for stopping by …………Happy Sewing ………Marie x

Circles, Squares & Flowers

I made this Birthday quilt for my beautiful sister-in-law Paula. I wanted to make something fresh and colorful. I used Bonnie & Camille Vintage Modern Cotton 5″ charm squares with a white 21/2″ sashing. I love using all the geometric prints with the flowers. The used of a multi spot for the outer border brought all the charm square colors together. It was such a happy quilt to make.

For the backing, I used a red circle in a square Aneela Hoey Sherbet Pips fabric . Keeping with the theme , the quilt was longarm quilted with circles.

The quilt was so soft and comfy with a high loft wool batting; just what is needed for the colder weather in the North of Ireland. She was so delighted to receive it. It is just beautiful when you make someone happy. Have a great day or evening where ever you are right now!

Thankyou for stopping by ……Happy Sewing Marie x

Completed Projects – Quarter 2 2013 Finish-A-Long

Hi all,

I am delighted to advise that I have two finishes for the Quarter 2 2013 Finish-A-Long that is being hosted by Leanne “She Can Quilt” . I would like to thank Leanne for hosting the Finish-A-Long which has been a huge motivator for me to finish of my projects. I have loved reading the tutorials, looking at other finishes and checking out the sponsors. Thanks everyone. Below are my projects for completion in Quarter 2 FAL followed by photo’s of my finishes.

1. Wee Village Cushion with appliqued felt and pattern by Wendy Williams. I had a few little houses completed. I needed to prepare the backing, make and embroider the trees and sheep, applique all onto the background fabric of cream linen and grey shot cotton, add some embroidered flowers and sew up the cushion! I progressed from HERE………………>

TO HERE…………..>

I also chose a lime green spot for the backing fabric.

2. Stars in your Eyes Quilt Sarah Feilke pattern and fabric. I was hoping to finish the top and quilt by Q2 and I did! I added borders of black spot and thick yellow strip, selected the quilt backing using Anna Maria Horner’s Receiving line, Garden Party. The quilt was longarm quilted with swirls and binding added. The quilt measures 62″ x 80″ and approximately 2,840 stitches were added by hand to secure the binding. I progressed from HERE……………>