Vintage Quilt With A Smidge Of French General...

Or...I Wish I Had A Quilter's Table.

I'm writing this post in between snatches of pinning my quilt layers in readiness for machine quilting.  

Pinning quilt layers must have to be the worst part of making a patchwork quilt!  

Do you agree?  

I can understand why sending a quilt off to a 

long-arm quilter could be so tempting. 

But apart from that, I think this quilt has been my most magical quilt of all so far.  I have been 'planning' it as I go along. Maybe that's a bit of an oxymoron. I don't have a pattern for it and the original squares given to me by my Sister were not identical in size posing a few challenges. 

There is a little story behind this quilt.  My Sister gave me six squares of blue cotton fabric masterfully embroidered and, or appliqued by sewing machine.  

One of the squares has been hand appliqued. (Sturt Desert Pea)

Some of the machined applique is layered and cut to produce a finished image using up to three prints of cotton fabric. (Sun Burst).

These were part of sewing class my Sister attended and she felt she had no use for them so passed them on to me.

At first the only way I could imagine to re-use them was as cushion covers but that is too obvious and I don't really like too obvious.

Shortly after I thought I'd make a quilt with them but life took over and even though I'd purchased a selection of fabrics to add to the squares the project was set aside for many years.

Until this year...

It's my little Sister's sixtieth year this year and I have decided to make the quilt using her blocks and gift to her for her birthday.

I hope she likes it!

The reason I would LOVE a quilter's table is because stretching and pinning a quilt is back-breaking when it's done on the floor!

I purchased my batting about a month ago. (Yes, life got in the way ... again!)

At that point my quilt hadn't quite come together yet...I was still contemplating blocks/sashing/borders but since I was at the quilting supply shop and I didn't know when I'd be back I purchased two metres of batting for this quilt. 

As you can see from the photograph above...it was perfect!!!!! Couldn't believe it.

And here is the quilt top.

Some of the fabrics are scrappy, some are stash busters, and some were purchased just for the quilt. Of course all were very carefully selected to complement the 70s-80s prints my Sister has used in the Australiana themed squares.  At the top right is a frill necked lizard and its frill is actually 3D.

Isn't she clever?

Oh...and the French General?  The four cornerstones were made from a fat quarter I found in my stash.  The colour is perfect. 

Now must get back to my pinning!

I'm linking to

Freshly Pieced WIP Wednesday with Lee

Quite coincidentally Lee is having a vintage quilt revival at her blog spot...

To Thank & Reciprocate

Just over a week ago, I met up with fellow blogger Robyn from Fine Arts Journal Blog.

As she writes in her blog, we have been messaging and emailing each other for a number of years now and on our first meeting it really felt like we were two old friends catching up for a chat over lunch.

After lunch we visited a small plant nursery and Robyn purchased an echinacea to photograph and plant in her garden. 

My echinacea plant flowered some months back and is long past its peak but I couldn't resist photographing what's left of the buds. The flower heads are ever changing and I think Robyn will find this to be a fascinating plant for her to photograph.

In the photograph above, what you can see is the 'flower head'.  The pink 'petals' are in fact bracts and not real petals.

Once the flower head begins to bloom you will find a mass of tiny flowers which emit the most heavenly perfume and fill the entire garden.

It is also know as the coneflower because of the cones that remain after the bracts are long gone.  These are often used by florists in floral arrangements because of their structure, texture and longevity.

I became familiar with the plant about seven years ago and I quickly fell in love with it.

Its perfume is a close rival to that of the rose, in my humble opinion.

Robyn, I had a great day too...and it was wonderfully to finally meet you in real life!  

The Month That Was

February...gone...already. In February I forsook my blog...and not by choice. Auto immune disease strikes again...but before it took its hold ...

...I celebrated lots and lots of birthdays (February is a big birthday month on both sides of the family).

...I made things for Crop And Swap such as..

...sachets for the pantry

...herb salt with herbs from my garden

...and some herb butter...

...I was inspired to sew some birthday gifts by Kath at Hillside House Blog.  I loved her crazy patchwork covered coat hangers so much I thought I'd try my hand at crazy patchwork (not something I have attempted before).

Kath used flannelette as a base for her work but I experimented with off-cuts of wadding.  I stitched straight onto the wadding and used my walking foot for the entire project.

 (Do drop by and visit Kath...she is bravely undertaking a house renovation as well as doing lots of sewing.)

Wow, was I thrilled with the results!  

 I used a little soft toy stuffing to add some padding... 

The above two coat hangers I made for my niece and her husband using crazy patchwork and fancy sewing machine stitches as suggested by Kath.

Don't you just love this fabric?  I used it for my nephew (yes the brother of the above mentioned niece.)I used whole cloth for this and did some simple quilting to finish off. He is a mechanic and the fabric matches the lining I used for a toilet pouch I made for him last year.

Another one and this time for the third sibling (nephew), and also matches his pouch lining fabric.  His birthday is in November but since I was on a roll...I thought...why not?

It's finished off with vintage yellow buttons from my button collection.

And for my BIL (their father)...I thought some paisley print would be appropriate for his age bracket (hehehe!).  Guess in which decade he was born?

Then, there was a brief hospital stay and little activity has taken place since then...except for some reading. 

So...I've finished reading two books...Gone With The Wind (if you haven't already read this book I highly recommend it) and The Boy Who Fell To Earth by Kathy Lette.

I have mixed feelings about Kathy Lette's book...witty, fast-moving writing about a mother(Lucy) and her autistic son (Merlin) his absent, opportunistic, father and extended families.

Read at your own discretion.

And last but not least...I've stopped drinking coffee, and eating sugar, and ingesting gluten...just like that! The thought of them turns my stomach.