UFO Monday.

 While I'm excavating my sewing room again I'm finding more UFOs to finish and it's great to finally get lots of these finished and ready to be donated. This lovely Bargello top was donated at least 10 years ago and sat waiting to be finished. It's long and narrow so I cut some off to make the proportions better.

 Then I added borders and it is ready for basting and quilting so hopefully it will be finished by next week.

 These donated blocks are also probably 10 years or so in age and I think they were from an on line swap. I tried a few ideas, including adding sashing but I didn't have suitable fabric and it would still have been a small quilt but not really suitable for a child.

 I found this pretty lemon fabric in the boxes that Joan G. donated and it made a softer alternate block as well as making the top large enough for an adult.

I found this pretty blue and yellow striped fabric in my stash and yesterday I pin basted the top ready for quilting. The quilting was finished tonight so I  will share the finished UFO tomorrow when I can get better light for photos. I still have a few more UFOs I'm currently working on and I am trying to work on long term UFOs as well as those which don't need as much work, so I can still see that I'm progressing through them. I'm aiming to have at least 30 UFOs finished for the year and, as most will be donated my pile of quilts ready to donate to Peter Mac is growing.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Weekly Catch Up.

 I had a bit more sewing time this week, despite having a nasty head cold, and I made this first quilt from scratch. It was made from Sue M.'s donated nativity panel, shown below. I decided to combine it with some donated hand dyed fabric using a Broken Dishes pattern.

 There were lots of half square triangles which I don't mind at all. Cutting the panel into 5 inch strips and then into triangles meant that the nativity scene wasn't obvious and yet the colours still work together. I added borders and quilted it and it will be donated to Peter Mac.

 The following two quilts were tops made by members of my quilting group, AQA. The first one was a lot larger but I took some of it apart to make it smaller. I have to add to that section to make another top.

 These star blocks were donated and put together into another quilt for Peter Mac.  I need to count how many I have finished so I can see if there are enough for another delivery to Peter Mac. I dropped off a large box of items, consisting of small quilts, cloth bags and pouches, fleece hats and baby jackets, for the Peter Mac auxiliary shop during the week and need to start getting some more items ready for them.

My cold is almost gone and the weather is getting warmer so it's been good to have more time for quilting too. Today was also spent working on UFOs and cleaning my sewing room so I will have more to share tomorrow .
Hugs, Jan Mac 

UFO Monday -25th UFO Finish.

 Finally this top is finished and quilted. It was started in 2007 after I swapped signature squares and 6.5 inch Asian fabric with members of my online group, Southern Cross Quilters. I was able to cut 3 star segments from each 6.5 inch square and it is completely hand pieced with the exception of the borders which were machine sewn to finish the top.
   It's my 25th UFO finish for the year and it will be donated to Peter Mac for one of their patients. I'm thrilled to have completed 25 UFOs so far this year and I'm going to keep working on them as I still have many more to finish - most are mine but some have been donated too. A lot of mine are more long term projects and now I'm working on those as well in the evenings so I can keep moving them towards a finish.

 I have been stitching and removing about 30 hexagons a night as well as prepping more for stitching. The large round piece has been added to the "mother ship" of the main quilt top and I am stitching around the edges with the pale blue.

 Now I'm making the green floral hexagon flowers which go between the diamond and round sections. I have the next diamond piece finished and ready to be added to the "mother ship", and the last round piece is half way to being pieced and I have one large diamond left to piece before I commence the outer section .

These small flowers are used between the round and diamond sections and I have been piecing more of them and getting ready to add them to the main section. It may not look like much is happening but I can see progress and I'm excited to see a finish in my future. It will still be a year or two but I think it will be worth it.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Weekly Catch Up.

 As well as the quilts I deconstructed and repieced, I also had time to quilt these 3 tops for my quilting group's Gift Quilt program . The first one is a lovely graphic design suitable for a male and they will all be donated to Peter Mac.

I also found time to work on some UFOS so I will have more to share tomorrow.  I hope you're all enjoying a productive weekend too.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Deconstructing, Reconstructing.

 I've more to show this week after all my working deconstructing about 60 donated coverlets which were too small for use, some being the size of a FQ. I spent every evening unpicking for about 10 nights and have finally finished.
  This first quilt was made from 2 small coverlets and I joined them together as they were made from the same fabrics,  then added borders. Now it's quilted and large enough for a gift quilt.

 This was a small coverlet using just the pieced centre. I took it apart and then, using my stash , I added borders until it was large enougb for a cot quilt.

 This quilt and the following 2 were coverlets, backed with fleece fabric.  I joined them together using the QAYG method,  and the same as last weeks,  so now they are large enough to be cot quilts. I did think of adding backing but that would have been a lot more work and these are nice and soft .

It's good to clear out the quilting group's cupboards and remake the small coverlets we received so that they can be useful donations. I enjoy doing these type of projects too as it tests my creativity to adapt donations and make them usable.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

UFO Monday

 I thought this UFO would have been finished a few weeks ago but I haven't had as much time for quilting lately. It was my SitnSew day with my quilting group today and it was great to go through the donated UFOs, orphan blocks etc as well as tidying up the tubs of fabric.  I brought home more bits and pieces to work on and took the opportunity to match up some fabric for the small coverlets I had deconstructed too.

 I was home by 3pm so I finally had time to pin baste 3 quilts, including this UFO finally so I plan on quilting it next, but I did quilt another AQA quilt top this afternoon as I  wanted to get some more finished before our next meeting.

I have also been working on hand stitching this hexagon UFO and it seems to be slowly growing. Most evenings lately gave been spent on deconstructing more donated coverlets which are too small for use as they are only the size of a FQ. I plan on getting them made into kids quilts soon and at least we have more room in the storage cupboards. Now I need to clear more of my own UFOs too. Lol.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Weekly Catch Up.

 I finished the baby quilt in time for our family gathering and although the weather was cold and blustery we had a lovely time. The new parents loved the quilt but we were so busy I didn't get any photos.

I also finished quilting just one more quilt top for my quilting group. It's a beautiful quilt of Australian wildflower fabric and a Disappearing 4 Patch pattern. Hopefully I will get more quilted this week but another nephew and his wife are expecting their second baby any day now so I need to make another baby quilt soon. Luckily they only live 200 metres away so I won't be under time pressure for delivery but a certain amount of time pressure does ensure that I get the quilt finished in a timely manner.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Busy Times.

 I was under time pressure to finish this baby cot before a family reunion on Sunday and I only had brief amounts of time so I got up early to pin baste it and then quilted it last night. I will take a photo on the weekend but having it done in time has been a relief as my niece and her family are coming down from Brisbane to see us.

 Both boys are teething and they have been tag teaming when sleeping so there hasn't been much time for anything else, but we've had some fun times as well.

 Jake made his pizza for lunch and there was lots of taste testing and fun. The tomato pizza sauce was everywhere at lunchtime.

 Pa Pa and Jake put together a small cupboard for Jake's books and they both had their own hammers.

 We finished the day with family tea and bath time, lots of cuddles and bed time stories.

Not as much quilting has happened but these precious moments will be gone in a flash so I am treasuring every one.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

UFO Monday.

 My quilting group received a large number of donations recently which are too small to be accepted by organizations we support, some being only the size of a fat quarter. I've spent every evening last week deconstructing these so I can make them into sizes which will be useful. I contacted a group which occasionally accepts small quilts but they didn't need any and these are too small for them too.
       There were 35 of the size in the first photo and they are coverlets, backed with fleece and with no other backing. If they are larger they will be suitable
 for toddler's quilts. I joined 4 of them together using a QAYG method and it was successful so I will join the rest and then they can be donated to kids in foster care .

 This small quilt is only doll sized so I am going to make it larger by adding borders using a QAYG method so this UFO will take a bit longer.

 These are the pieces that I have left after taking the tiny coverlets apart and I will remake them into larger sizes for kids. The minky and flannel fabric is pretty and will be much more useful in larger sizes and donated rather tgan sitting in a cupboard.

It's a lot of work but I don't mind doing it while I watch TV in the evening but I need to get busy re-making them so they don't take up space here. So my UFO work this week was for the group but I will get back to mine soon.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Weekly Catch Up.

 This first quilt was made by a member of my quilting group and now it's finished it will be donated to Odyssey House.

 This lovely top was put together by one of AQA's queen of scraps and it's a great way to use up 2.5 inch squares.

 This top was also made from 2.5 inch squares and I must remember to jot down the pattern details as it will be a great way to use up some of my scraps too. Quilting these tops is fun as I get to see lots of lovely fabrics up close and get lots of ideas for future quilts.

I've also been busy working on a quilt for a niece's new baby. I pieced it yesterday and now have to add the borders, applique the baby's name on the top, quilt and bind it, all by next weekend. Hopefully I will get it finished, even if I have to sew at night again.
  Both boys are teething but we still had a fun week with lots of cuddles and we're grateful for every day we spend with them. I hope you've had a good week too.
Hugs, Jan Mac

UFO Tuesday.

 I missed posting on UFO Monday as it was such a busy day with my quilting group meeting and family commitments. I have been busy working on finishing

up more UFOs and this first photo is part of a very large quilt made from half inch hexagons. The second photo shows what I had stitched last week and above you can see my progress since then. Once I start stitching the border hexies it seems to grow more slowly. This will still be a long term project but I need to keep working on it and get it finished.  I'm really enjoying stitching this one again and can't wait to attach this part to the main quilt. I have one more section like this to stitch and one more large diamond shape to stitch before I move onto the next stage.

 This large piece of hand pieced stars us another UFO that I have found and I gave finished off a couple of the remaining stars and added borders so it's now ready to quilt, hopefully this week. The stars were made from 6.5 inch squares of oriental fabric that I received in an online swap about 11 years ago.

I'm pleased with how it's looking and look forward to another UFO finish next week.
Hugs, Jan Mac