I Can't Stop Starting

 I know that making more UFOs or having more Works in Progress is not the way to clean up the sewing room but sometimes I just like to try new patterns to see how they look. This pattern is from the latest Quilt Sampler magazine (Fall/Winter 2012) and I just couldn't resist stitching some of my many scraps together, especially as I have just purchased a 60 degree triangle ruler.The pattern is called Stars and Strings and was designed by Brendalou Scott of Scottie Dog Quilts in California. It goes together very quickly and I made all of these blocks in about an hour. I'll use a plain cream for the triangles between the stars but will probably have more stars than plain triangles. I never seem to have many pale scraps so using the cream will give a good contrast with all the bright scraps.
   I did find another UFO project which had stalled and decided to join the blocks together and make a large cushion cover for my DD's reading area cushions. She's a school teacher and I have made large cushions for her students to use on the classroom floor and it's time for some new covers. I'll use a plain fabric for the back of the cushion and I have some more kid's prints to make some more covers as well so that will be one UFO off the list. I used a pattern from Bonnie at Quiltville and I just need to remove the paper before I finsih sewing the cushion cover.
  I also received a beautiful set of QAYG blocks from Delys Rogers of WA. I will be making them up into a quilt ASAP but due to being tired from night shift I don't want to operate heavy machinery like my industrial sewing machine in case I run over my fingers.
  I have also made good progress on hand piecing the Sunflower blocks so although I'm still starting new projects I am finishing others or re-purposing them so they are off the UFO list.
How is everyone else doing on their UFO list? I hope to make onbe more QAYG quilt tomorrow and send off a large box of quilts to donate.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Decisions And An Early Gift

 I can laugh now but it was stressful here for a short while as I tried to find some fabric for a WIP. I took a class 2 years ago to make these Sunflower blocks and have made 6 so far. I've put the background fabric away and misplaced it after the class so work stopped on the blocks. I found it again and put it in a safe place. Sadly I had a big clean up on the weekend and when I went to get the fabric again today I couldn't find it. I know I didn't move it on the weekend but couldn't remember when I last saw it. After seeking for an hour I decided that I'd have to substitute another fabric and found one which would work for alternate blocks. You can see in the first photo that it is a pretty good match. I told my DH that as soon as I decided to use another fabric I was sure to find the original. I pressed the new fabric and cut 5 strips measuring 2.5" across the width so I would be able to mark the templates on them. I literally put the cutter down and turned around and spotted the fabric had slipped  behind some tops I had ready for quilting. So panic is over but I've now stored all the fabric for this quilt in the one basket, as well as the new fabric, in case it happens again.
  I'm going to try hand piecing the sunflowers because I seem to have more time for hand sewing than machine work at the moment and I need to get these done before I lose any more pieces lol. My other downfall is that I often change my mind about the design once I start a project. The pattern calls for 13 sunflower blocks but I am thinking of making 20 and setting them slightly differently. When I take a class I like to alter the pattern a bit so at quilt shows it doesn't look like we all took the same class.
   I did spend a lot of yesterday making more QAYG blocks as well as tidying all the scraps and I have another quilt finished and a set of blocks ready to be put together. They will have to wait as I have more paid work for the next few nights. You can see from the photos that I use all sorts of scraps and odd blocks for the QAYG blocks and backing squares. A lot of these bits and pieces have been donated and they all help to make more quilts.
   I also received a lovely gift of fabric and time from Kerry Shelberg (NSW) again. She sent another lovely box of fabric already  pressed and cut into strips so it makes it very easy to use them on the QAYG blocks and I can get quite a few made in a short time. Thanks for your ongoing support everyone as it has made it much quicker to get quilts finished and donated.
 I hope all your plans for Christmas include some time for you. I plan to stitch these pesky sunflowers before I lose (misplace or hide)  the fabric again.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Applique Delight

 Yesterday was another wonderful day to share my love of applique with other quilters with the same love. There wasn't a lot of Show and Tell of finished quilts and I wasn't in a good position to take photos but the quilts and tops shown were all magnificant.
The group is going to have their first exhibition in March 2014 and I will definitely be there with camera ready as it is sure to be a stunning show of appliqued quilts. I must get more focused and work on only one thing at a time so I get more finishes. It's easy to say but I love to work on several projects at once as well as making QAYG blocks and donation quilts. There's so many beautiful quilts to make and so little time. I've been tidying my sewing room again and also making more QAYG blocks so I'll have more to show tomorrow before I start night shift again for most of the week. I'm hoping to post off more quilts before I start work as there is quite a large pile of them again.
 Yesterday was also our 33 wedding anniversary and I was lucky enough to come home after a long day of driving to find my lovely husband had prepared a beautiful meal for us. I think I'll keep him for at least another 33 years, especially as he supports my need and passion for quilting.
  Hugs, Jan Mac

Finishing Strong

 I haven't made as many donation quilts as previous years as the need hasn't been as great luckily, with no major natural disasters. Instead I have been concentrating on getting some of my own quilts finished so the pile of WIPs and UFOs doesn't continue to grow. I have taken 8 days of classes this year which is more than usual too but as most of them were to learn new techniques I don't  have many  finished quilts as a result of the classes. Next year I've decided not to take classes and concentrate on what I love to do - hand applique, hand piecing and finishing off UFOs and donated bits and pieces to help the needy.
   The vintage stars quilt is finished although I still need to add a label, but this one is for me to enjoy. I bought the stars without background fabric so I hand appliqued them to a cream background fabric, They are from the 1930s to 1940s and I quilted the top using a hanging diamond cross hatch which was used at that time.
   I'm finishing the year strongly with more donation quilts being made as I made 2 yesterday before work and 2 more today. The fourth one just needs the binding applied before it is completely done. I'll post photos on my other blog and it's been great to get more QAYG blocks made from the scraps of other projects, often from trimming the backing after quilting, as I can use the batting string pieces as well as the fabric.
  I have my applique group meeting tomorrow and lots of night shifts to work next week but hope to get some more quilts finished and donated very soon. Thanks for all your help with donating QAYG blocks, tops, backing and fabric- every bit helps to warm someone's body and heart.
Hugs, Jan Mac

Finishes and New Beginnings

 I have been very productive with getting more quilts finished over the last few days and plan to send off another large box to be given to the needy at Christmas time. It's only 3 weeks away now so the time ti going very quickly and paid work is intruding into my time again.
  These pretty blocks were donated a while ago and have been patiently waiting their turn at being finished. Once I got all the blocks completed it didn't take too long to make the top and get it quilted and it will make a lovely gift for someone to receive. I also quilted and finished off 2 more donated tops today as well as making some more QAYG blocks and another QAYG quilt finished. I'll show photos of those on my other blog.
 The last photo shows my latest downfall- I just wanted to see what they would look like. These diamonds are 1" along the side measurement and are using up the left-over scraps from my 1930s quilt, Joseph's Coat with Buttons. I couldn't resist just seeing how they would look and as I've always wanted to make the Seven Sister's pattern it seems that I have started another new WIP. Oh dear- not what I planned but sometimes these things just happen.
 Hugs, Jan Mac

Mail Call

 It's been a busy time here with another set of UFO donated blocks being turned into a quilt but I had no time to blog on the weekend, so I'll post about that one later. I had a quick trip to Melbourne on the weekend to attend my Melbourne quilting group's Christmas meeting and also to catch up with family. I cam back Monday afternoon and then had a dinner out with my local quilting group- so I've been a very social butterfly and only some time for hand sewing which I'll share later.
In the meantime the postman has been very busy here with two lovely parcels of blocks from Western Australia. The first parcel came from Anne-Marie Ward (WA) and she sent some lovely blocks and fabric to make into more quilts. Cait Gordon, who is also from WA also sent a lovely parcel of UFOs and orphan blocks which will also be turned into a quilt ASAP.
  Also I received a bundle of 1930s fabrics which I have fallen in love with since piecing my Joseph's Coat with Buttons. I have more beautiful quilts I want to make with the fabrics and as the pile was very depleted by Joseph's Coat I couldn't resist adding more to my stash. One of them is even very like the original vintage fabric from the Sawtooth Stars blocks I'm re-making from the 1930s quilt which had seen better days.
 So lots of things happening here on the sewing and finishing of more quilts, and I even took the afternoon to see the new James Bond film with DH, so a good few days all around. Tonight I'm going to get busy with more quilting and will share more finishes very soon.
  I hope you are also enjoying the festive season as well as some time for sewing what you love.
 Hugs, Jan Mac

Trying to Beat the Heat

It has been incredibly hot the last few days and it has made sleeping during the day a bit of a trial. I have finished working night shifts for this week though so today was a chance to get some more quilts finished to donate to the needy for Christmas.
I made backings for two donated tops, made a quilt top from a donated wall hanging and also made more QAYG blocks so not a back days work despite the heat. I have quilted the donated top as well as the tulip top which started life as a wall hanging until I added more squares to make it larger. The photos of finished quilts will be on my other blog and now I'm back to the sewing machine to stitch some more QAYG blocks together. I plan to fill another box to send off to a group which collects gifts for the needy to receive at Christmas time.
 I hope you are all enjoying some stitching time wherever you live. Thanks for stopping by.
Hugs Jan Mac