UFO challenge list & the long awaited giveaway.

Last year I joined Sew Its Finished UFO challenge. I had a list of 19 projects I wanted to finish but am ashamed to say I didn't finish even ONE of them. So I decided to have another go this year and have found that I actually had 26 projects at least cut out waiting to be made/finished

. I also added 5 new projects and a few unfinished fundraiser items tot he list.

So here it is for all of blog land to see my UFO list:-

5 Quilt tops to be quilted then bound in order of importance:-
Double bed Mayflowers quilt (will be professionally done)
Sparkling gemstones
Iowa Girl Tablecloth
Row X Row Wall hanging
Christmas tablecloth

Other projects
Charlee’s quilt (BOM from years ago 4 blocks done – 2 cut out)
Burgundy table runner - blocks made
Fig & plum runner (binding + 3 others cut out and planned)
Jelly strip quilt as you go table runner
Flower appliqued frilly dilly bag (without frills) up to applique
Caring hearts bag for daughter
Abandoned swap bag – blue yellow cut out maybe table runner
Half apron
Several half made pot holders
Several cross stitch that have all but been abandoned
2 embroideries – Some bunnies & Bad hair day
Flannel blocks from block lotto to be made into something……
Cushion covers to be made from project scraps of lotto blocks
*Embroidery RR – 1 block to make and then all to put together & complete
Chorus of angels – cut out
Hand towel toppers

Newly added WIP’s
Consider the Lilies BOM wall hanging
Funky Cobblestone Quilt – cut out
Fibre bookmarks (work)
Library bag & first reader bag
Table runner from framed hexies

SECET Fundraiser Projects
Ruffled tea cosies x2 *
Mug rugs & wraps *
2 garden aprons – cut out

After compiling this list I knew i gad to come up with a plan to get at least a few projects made. So I started with the project with the least needing doing and that is the pictured Violetta table runner. All it needed was its binding sewn, I stayed up all night Monday 2nd January to finish it. AND to celebrate I have decided to make it a giveaway. Leave a comment on this post for a chance to win. Don't forget to leave me a way of contacting you. I will leave the giveaway open until Sunday 22 January.

Now back to my plan to wade through my UFO list. I have purchased 7 pretty boxes and have sorted all my projects out into categories ie table runner, bags etc ( my quilts have been living in a crate for the last few years and are still there in the linen press). My next plan it to take one item from each box that has the least work to do and start there. At the moment I have a fig & plum table runner in my work basket behind my night time chair, I am 1/4 way through the hand binding.

For the quilt tops I have a friend who has a long arm quilter machine that she allows you to go and quilt your own for $10 an hour so I am planning to book in every two months to get my quilting done, hopefully I can bind each quilt in the months between. The double bed quilt I want professionally done but seeing as my son has moved back into what was the spare room and that quilt was for that bed there is not so much of a hurry to have it done. When one of my kids plan to move out I might do it then.

Bloggers Quilt Festival

Amy at Amys' Creative Side is hosting the 4th Bloggers Quilt Festival.








I have decided to join in the fun. This is a great way of seeing some very beautiful quilts.





This quilt is one of those quilts that I never thought I would finish. It's an American sampler and was the quilt my Quilting Bible Study group - The Rose of Sharon Quilters - made in our 3rd year of quilting, about 9 years ago, unfortunately I am not one to label my quilts so I am not sure of the exact year. It took me over 5 years to finish this quilt as I was very upset with the centre panel so I just put it away for several years.





This quilt was made in very different colours for me & was made for a very specific room, but it took me so many years to finish that we had moved house and the colours were no longer quite right. It now sits over the fence that separates my lounge room from the entry. Occasionally someone will sit under it, but it really was always meant to be a showpiece






This quilt taught me many blocks and techniques and will remain one of those "lifetime" quilts.



Going to highlight just a few blcoks for you:-


My favourite blocks was always the log cabin -even b4 i started quilting, this blosk just fascinated me, so I just loved learning how to. The turkey tracks was a challenge to get those curves right but i was very happy I persevered and got it done (I may never sew curves again though). I had always wanted to learn how to make a basket block and I got to learn 2 differrent baskets in this quilt.





Once I finshed putting the quilt together and found the right border & quilted each block inthe ditch I decided that this would be a great quilt


to hand quilt as well. The first block I tried to hand quilt was the log cabins and I just loved ther sanil trail quilting and this is how i always quilt log cabins now in my mind this is the only way to quit them (for me). Each block has some form of hand quilting, some more than others.












Two of the blocks were hand turned applique and with many of the techniques int his quilt this was very new to me.

I have since learned a much simpler way and hand applique but this was a great technique to learn and have under my quilting belt.

These two blocks (& the 4 log cabins) are completley hand quilted.

The hand quilting took me three years. I am so glad I did part hand quilt it but I am not sure i would ever tackle such a large project to hand quilt.

Tasha's birthday quilt

My niece Tasha turned 12 on Tuesday, but I only managed to get to give her present to her today.




Not the best photo - quite fuzzy really - but she was so excited when she realised I had made her a quilt and that I had used the same fabric as the bag I made her last year - I was astounded that she recognised the fabric from the back and she was only seeing the binding that 1/2" of fabric. The quilt I made her was in fact made with the same block as her bag from last year.

When she saw it was a quilt she said how much she wanted one. Now she doesn't need to drag her cover of her bed when she wishes to sit under one in the lounge room (sorry another really fuzzy photo)

Cuddling up in her new quilt.

The "Spiral Strips" quilt was made using a Butterfly fling Jelly roll from Moda. This is one of my favourite fabric ranges.

This is the 2nd quilt I have made with this range - I have given both away. I still have a layer cake and I making that up for me to keep.

A look at the quilting on the back, this was the first time I have tried swirls & I am very happy with the outcome. Dianne did the free form butterflies for me as I just couldn't get it right.

FINALLY finished

It has been over 5 years in the making and I am proud to finally present my "Cabins Cosy" tablecloth.

This is made of of 36 offset log cabins blocks that have a bear paw block in the corner. The bear paws are made up with 1 1/2" half triangle squares that drove me to distraction. I was so disappointed with how each bear paw turned out that I threw them all in a bag in the back of the linen press and promptly forgot about them. Last year I pulled them out and completed the log cabins so this year when my Quilting Bible study group resumed I just had to put it together. The sashing seemed to take forever but finally came together. I then quilted it on Dianne's Long arm machine and frame. Last week I managed to sew on the binding and now it graces my table. I am really happy with ow it turned out and am really pleased that my quilting friends are so encouraging as I Just don't think I would have completed this without their encouragement.

The place mat swap that I have been a part of in the Craft Forum has now finished. here are all 6 place mats I received........

The gorgeous table runner that Sharyn made for me for our July finale.

& the VERY bright table runner I made for Trish. She requested bright fabric with a black back ground. I think I delivered.

Designer & Quilt label swap

June was a great month for swaps in the Craft Forum not only did I continue in the Hexy & placemat swap but I also Joined the Designer swap and a quilt label swap.

In the designer swap we had to vote for a designer we would like to make an item with and we chose Leanne Beasley and Bronwyn Hayes.

I was made this gorgeous bag,featuring a Bronwyn Hayes redwork design, by Diane - I believe the bag itself might be a Leanne pattern. It's such a great size, quite long in length and will carry all sorts of things. In fact I unwrapped it and immediately put my work bits in and took it to work with me.





I chose to use one of the Butterfly garden block patterns for the bag I made for Allison. I changed a few of the smaller blocks & added a Bronwyn Hayes blue humming bird to one of the blocks. Allison asked for something very girly. I think I might have got it. One things I can tell you - it was very hard to part with this bag as it is such a "gail" bag. I will definitely be making one of these for myself in the summer months, possible with mostly similar fabrics.

I didn't take a piccy of the inside but I put in a large pocket running the width of the bag and used the gorgeous bright striped fabric as the inside bottom. I also have pockets on the outside gusset of the bag - these are fabulous to hold a drink bottle (I stole this idea form a bag made for em many years ago by Kelly in the children's swap)

Judy and I were partnered for the label swap. This is the label Judy made for me.

Quilt label I made for Judy, this was the very first quilt label I have made and really had no clue as to what I was doing. I am happy with the results though.

Woodland blooms table topper and runner

This is my latest in quilts that I have made using the disappearing nine patch block using Moda's Woodland blooms. I purchased a 5 Yard pack - which was 1 yard of 5 fabrics in the story and I also bought another 5 yards to use with it.

Yes you have seen this fabric b4 - its the one i used on my frilly dilly bag.

This is a progress shot showing the 3 steps in making a disappearing 9 patch blocks. My quilt used 9 of these blocks - I made 11 so I had 2 spare sooooooooooooooooo

I made a table runner with the spare two. I simply used a full block in the centre with a half block at each end.

These was the first time I used a long arm machine and quilting frame so I started on the table runner and eventually with a bit of encouragement from my teacher, Dianne I moved onto my quilt.

This is a pic of my runner b4 the binding.

With biding on and on the table in use. Also a pic of the back to see the quilting a bit better.

here's the quilt, which I have decided to sue as a table topper for our very large dining table, b4 binding.

And after binding on the table.

Frilly Dilly bag

I bought myself a Janelle Wind Frilly Dilly bag pattern some time ago but was not allowed to make it (my rules) until I finished the quilt top I was working on (pics to come). Well I finished the quilt top 2 weeks ago so it was time to make up my bag. I used the same range of fabrics as I made the quilt top with, Moda's Woodland blooms,and some black homespun left from my sparkling gemstone quilt. I am so happy with how this looks but not sure if I would make another as I had a lot of trouble getting the frills to gather up evenly and sit right.

But I am sure you will agree that this is a "Gail" bag if ever there was one.

Sparkling Gemstone Quilt Top

I have finally finished the sparkling gemstone quilt I started in July you may remember this post of the progress. Well this morning I sewed the last two borders on my quilt and ...................................

Here it is.

I just love how bright and vibrant this quilt is. It's Gail in a quilt. Its made with Moda's "fresh" by Deb Gliori and isn't is just that, fresh.

September Hexy Swap

This is the lovely Hexy Anne made for me in the Craft Forum's hexy swap. I now have 3 of these beautiful hexies and once I have all 12 will turn them into a table runner. My theme is pink & green.

This is the hexy I made for Anne. She wanted burgundy, dusty pink & cream. I thought for a long time about how I would make these colours into a pleasing hexy. I think this idea of doing a CQ came to me in one of my awake times during the night. I love how this has turned out so much that I am thinking this might become my signature hexy for the rest of the swap.

I am also going to make a few for myself with my many many scraps.

Oh what a beautiful Day

Yesterday was Bryce & Al son's wedding - two very special young adults in my life. I met Bryce 3 years ago at Nowra Players during the production on the Boyfriend & Alison I know through church and her grandparents (whom she lived with) live just around the corner from us. The wedding was held in the stunning garden of her grandparents home. What a glorious setting for a wedding. We were in a secluded area of the garden with an arch to the left which had a pond behind it, this is where Alison and her brides maids appeared through. The youth pastor at Bryce's church officiated the ceremony and he did a brilliant Job. Grandad read
1 Corinthians 13 (the LOVE passage) from the message (great easy to understand translation). Bryce & Alison wrote their own vows and they were just lovely. Alison is a very quiet talker and found it hard to do that in front of over 12o people but she did great. Bryce being a performer just put on the performance of his life BUT it was so from the heart, his voice started to quaver at the end, I had to get a tissue out.

Afternoon tea was lovely and there was so much. Bryce's had 2 best men and one of them gave the most amazing, thoughtful & funny speech, reflecting on their lives together from the age of 5 (they are 19 now).

Anyway as I don't have permission as yet to put up the wedding photos I thought I would show you a few pics without them in it for now.

Starting with me. I had my hair cut that morning and am experimenting with mineral makeup so i thought I would show a close up of me.

And a few of me in my glad rags, this is my party dress.

The gift I made for them. A table runner with 1 Corinthians 13 embroidered on it. I was very excited when that was the passage used. I am also planning of making a mini book with their wedding photos once i have some more and have them printed.

A close up of the beautiful, simple & elegant bouquet that Alison carried. Her BM's carried purply black lilies.

And during the speeches we had a visitor. Apparently Kingy visits the garden at 4pm each day. But was was so amazing that he accepted over 120 people and just hung around for his feed. Playing in hanging basket and having a fab time. Sorry the pics not to good.

Anyway that's it for now - I hope to be able to share some of the gorgeous photos I have of the new Mrs & Mrs Halliday once they return from their honeymoon.

FRESH FROM THE BAKE SHOP

Its after 10.30 on the 31 August and I have just finished the table runner that was featured at the Moda Bake Shop last week. The featured tablerunner was made using Sweetwater fabric and they had a little comp for any one who made this table runner. Tonight was the deadline. So I came home form a family dinner out at my sister and got back to sewing. I had the base and the large flower sewn just had to do the centre and sew the flowers on. I used Woodland bloom fabric for my runner

I am extremely happy with it. Its bright and happy and perfect for my home.

Happy Birthday Tasha

Today is my nieces 11th birthday. We visited her yesterday to give her gift of this bag I made for her form a few strips of a Butterfly fling Jelly Roll. This block is an extra block in a quilt called Spiral Strips which I will be doing in the next few months. Tasha will use this bag to put her dance gear in when she goes to lessons.

Have a great birthday Tasha. We love you.

Cushion swap

I have been involved in another swap in the craft forum . This time a cushion swap. I love cushions so i offered to do two if the need be. There was and I got to swap with both Linda & Donna.

Here is the stunning cushion Linda made me. it fits so perfectly on my lounge that I think she has had a peak into my home.

Linda requested or should I say suggested I make her a cushion to match the bag I made for her a few months ago. So here it is a very pretty shabby chic cushion.

Donna and I have never swapped b4 but she so got this cushion right. All the elements I love. This beautiful lavender & lace cushion is now proudly perched on my bed.

Donna asked me if I could make her a cushion in memory of her precious cat they lost a few months back. I am very pleased with ow this has turned out and she is very happy with it also.

Sprakling Gemstones Quilt

I just have to share this quilt I am in the middle of making. Its called Sparkling Gemstone and I am making it with a Fresh Jelly Roll by Debbie Strain and black homespun.

I am sooooooooooo loving this quilt. it is so bright and vibrant and a very easy quilt to make. the last 2nd last pic is where I am up to. I have cut out all my strip and am now pairing them up. I have put two blocks together so you can see where the quilt is going. I am hoping to make up all the pairs tomorrow and begin the putting together process Thursday.

Did I mention how much I LOVE this quilt. I am a usually a very bright and bubbly person and this quilt is ME!!!!!!!!!!

Happy Birthday John

It's my dear husband John's 54th birthday to today.

Over the last month I have been secretly making him this Beatles quilt & really only finished it just on time.

I think he's very happy with it. We are about to take him out to tea to the Sports Club.