Progress Has Been Made.

Jake is finally well again and has started sleeping well again for the last few days so I have been able to pin baste quilts and have them ready for quilting, which I did at night time. This first lovely quilt was the top, backing and batting sent by Desley R. Of Western Australia. It is such a pretty quilt for a girl and I am sure it will be loved.

 This second monster top was hand button hole stitched by Margaret C. of Victoria and it's a fun quilt for a child receiving treatment at Peter Mac.

 This top, backing and batting was donated, I think by Lesley L. of Victoria, and it's a lovely quilt for a child and a relief to have it finished for donation.

 This last quilt was cut down from a larger one which had been damaged and it will be going to Anglicare to warm a needy person they support. I dropped off 25 AQA quilts to them today and they were thrilled to receive them as winter is coming. I am finishing off the crocheted squares into blankets as Anglicare are also in need of them.

Many thanks to everyone for their donations which will bring warmth and comfort.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Cross Stitch Tuesday.

 These are the 6 finished blocks and I am stitching the 7th now.

 I have only stitched for a couple of nights this week as I've been busy crocheting squares together into blankets to donate but there is progress from last week, shown below.

I've also been knitting baby jackets and holding Jake a lot as his sleeping pattern has been upset since he was sick, so although I 'm quilting less during the day, I will have more to share soon.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

UFO Monday.

 This is the Block of the Month donated to AQA and I am hand needleturn appliqueing them. Back basting the different pieces to the background has made it fairly quick to stitch up the blocks.

 The blocks in the first 2 photos are finished, unless I decide to add something more but I think some of the blocks need some negative space.
       The last block shown here is about 60% finished and I have the next block drawn on the fabric so I'm making good progress with this long term UFO. The BOM was issued in 1999 so it's about time it was finished and donated.
Hugs, Jan Mac

PS. Many thanks for your suggestions about using bulldog clips to anchor the backing to my basting table. I had bought some and had forgotten about them so I must find them and give them a try.

Three Finishes.

 Only 3 quilt tops were finished this week as Jake has been sick all week and not sleeping much. I've been doing some hand stitching at night but not getting as much done during the week. Hopefully next week I will get more done but  I will be happy with 3 this week. The first top was donated and it's great to get some of these finished to donate.


 The next 2 tops were made by my quilting group and I quilted them for our Gift Quilt Program.

Hugs, Jan Mac 

Pin Basting Quilt Tops Easily.

 Jo B. from ButterZ  blog asked how I pin baste my quilt tops so I thought I would share some photos of my set up.
    I have used many different systems over the years and this current table is working very well at this home. Setting up in an area which keeps me cool in summer and the quilt tops clean is important for me.
  I use a $50 collapsible table from Officeworks and I leave it set up all the time on our back deck as it's also great for cutting large pieces of fabric. I lifted the legs onto bricks to make the table height better when pin basting.  I used to have a table tennis table for basting but found it put a strain on my back to reach across to the centre of the quilt. If a quilt is too large for the table,  I roll a section up and pin the first half and then roll or loosely fold the pinned section and pin the remainder. I did think that I might buy a second table to use with larger quilts but I'm finding that my current set up us working for me. You can buy table lifters and I use a set of 4 to raise the cutting table in my sewing room but the bricks work just as well.

I store a tub of backing fabric under the table and it's easy to measure the tops for sashing, backing and batting there as well. I don't close the pins when basting as I'm not transporting them far and it saves a lot of time,  although I sometimes get scratched by pins when quilting, it's not really a problem. The only thing that I am finding frustrating at the moment is the masking tape I use to hold the backing in place on the table while I pin the top, batting and backings doesn't hold as firmly as it used to. I like to have 4 or 5 basted tops ready to quilt when time allows and often baste one or two tops in the early evening if Jake hasn't slept for long during the day. Having tops basted and ready to quilt means that I can get them done quickly when I  have 20 or 30 minutes of spare time.
Hope this is of interest. I'm sure we all have our own way of working and adapt to suit our working area and age. Basting is the most tiring part of finishing tops for me so I try to do it without too much strain on my back and shoulders .
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Generous Donation from UK/NZ.

 Linda A. from the UK is a very generous quilter who has been supporting my quilt projects for some time and another large parcel has just arrived from her today. She is currently holidaying in New Zealand and has kept busy crocheting and making QAYG squares. Linda sent 18 of these lovely blocks which will make more quilts for Peter Mac or Anglicare.

Linda has also been very busy making crocheted squares for blankets and she has made 30 squares which is fabulous. I spoke with Anglicare staff today and they were very happy to hear that I would have more crocheted blankets for them as well as the quilts. They will also gratefully accept baby clothes and I can use up lits of my stashed baby wool for that purpose. I have some outfits knitted in pink and no one to give them to at the moment, as well as lots of white and cream yarn. My DD prefers to dress her boys in coloured jumpers and not with lacy patterns so I will make some for
new Mums supported by Anglicare, as time allows.
   This little cardigan is a 3 month size that I knitted for Jake. It's still in very good condition so it will be fine for the new baby boy when he arrives . It had a small moth hole in the cuff of one sleeve so I pulled it down and re-knitted the cuff so it's as good as new again. Just a little trick my lovely Mum had passed on but the first time I had done it, and it was a bit fiddly to pull it out but quick to re-knit, and I don't think you would know if I didn't tell you. It's the cuff of the sleeve on the left of the photo.
   Many thanks for your very generous donation, Linda A.,  the quilts and blankets really make a difference to the needy.
Hugs, Jan Mac 

Cross Stitch Tuesday.

 I finished the 6th block and I'm really happy with it. This was one I stitched completely and not just the borders so it took longer but I'm really enjoying the process. Now I'm working on some of my hand stitched UFOs I'm not spending as much time on the cross stitching but I am still making progress .

 I have just started stitching the 7th block and don't have much to show yet but hooefully will next Tuesday.

The 6 finished blocks stitched on 18 count Aida. I like the 18 ct so the pieces aren't too large and will make a lovely size for a wall hanging. Hopefully it will also be another UFO finish for this year.
Hugs ,Jan Mac