Thursday 19 April 2012

Still Playing

Hi there,

I went to the Australian Quilt Convention with Tracey on Sunday.
We had a fun day its always a lovely day out and our autumn weather these last couple of weeks has been amazing I think it got to 30 degrees on Sunday!


The photo above is the latest block design I've been playing around with.  I really like this one.  I bought a Jo Morton book called Coming Home from The Quilted Crow at the Quilt Convention.  Its a really good book with lots of nice photos and lovely quilt projects to make.  One of the quilts in the book is called Somerset and it had this block done in browns and reds with cheddar alternate blocks.  It looks fabulous in the book and I'm trying to figure out if I did alternate blocks what colour I'd use.  What colour would you use?

Dougal came into my sewing room for a snooze, not one of his usual sleeping spots so I was very honoured.




I did my best to support some of the quilting shops that came to the convention.  If I could I would support them all of course.  I got a variety of fabrics as you can see.  I hadn't really planned on buying much fabric and definitely not the bright novelties but when I saw the cats I knew they had to come home with me and the elephants and the owls.....


I decided to cut more triangles with my Baby Go Cutter, I think I might have got carried away I haven't counted them but I have a very big pile.  When I stitch them together I might actually make some blocks!

Happy Stitching

Debra.

Monday 9 April 2012

Playing with my Go Baby

Hi there, hope everyone has been enjoying the Easter break.  I've managed to do a bit of stitching in between home duties.  I'm quilting the last border of my red stars quilt.  Surely I'll get it finished by next weekend.  The Australian Quilt Convention is in Melbourne this week.  I've been going since it first started and it is my favourite quilt event.  I'm going with my friend Tracey on Sunday its always a great day out. 

A few weeks ago I purchased a Baby Go Cutter from one of my lqsThe Quilt Patch.  I'd been thinking about getting one for a while and The Quilt Patch had a demonstration one Saturday morning.  My main concern was how many dies I would be able to buy that were sizes that I use all the time.  I started with a die that has a 4 1/2" square, 2 1/2" square and two half square triangles that finish at 2 1/2" when stitched together.   I had to wait for a while to get the mat that went with the die but that was ok cause I have plenty to do.

Last week I decided it was time to play with the cutter.  I pulled out scrap strips that were the right size and went to work.  It was a lot of fun, I cut quite a lot of squares and heaps and heaps of half square triangles.  The block above was my first option I cut more triangles in other colours cause there was too much blue.  The triangles were really easy to sew together I'm hoping these will be more accurate than other methods I've tried.  Then I decided that design wasn't working so I tried a few more.... 


I had hoped I might have whipped up a quilt top over the break and have something interesting to show you.  Instead I have spent too much time trying to decide what block to make and ended up not making any!  I like the hearts but wasn't sure how to set them in a quilt. There were a few other designs as well but I think I might make a quilt that I've already made before that I really like. 
Here is Harry modeling the quilt for me.  I made this one quite a few years ago it has been well loved and is one of my favourites.  It was a fun block to make and I really like the pattern it makes.  It was one of the first quilts I machine quilted, I stitched in the ditch and was pleased with the result for a first try.

I am aiming to get back to my string pieced stars for my Jubilee Quilt.  Its possible I've been avoiding piecing the rest of the blocks together cause I worried about them so much.  I'll try to get back to them soon.

Have a great week


Debra.