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...

Day 50!/366

Pleased to meet you!

Day 31/366

This morning, this little fellow found a sunny spot on our front deck and sat and waited for the ants to walk across his path.

When they did, zap, he swallowed them up!

Two of these dragons live in our front garden, the other is much larger than this one.

Both of them have become quite tolerant of Mr Honey Pie and I and have become so relaxed with our presence that more than once, the sole of my shoe has scraped one of the little critters, sending it scurrying away and giving me a mini-heart attack.

Visitors To The Garden.

Today the sun was shining, the sky was blue, the temperature mild.

So is it a surprise that this yellow tailed black cockatoo should visit the garden for a feast of banksia seeds?

Never mind the mess left behind by the flock of three.

Or that we've been woken at six on a number of mornings by shredded banksia cones dropping on the roof just above our heads as we sleep!

And should it be a surprise that this little fellow came out to bask in the sun?

Especially since we've rarely seen the sun since the first day of spring?

The second week of October and I've had to turn the heating on again.

Is that rain I hear dripping down the downpipes?