Another Baby quilt

I made this from a pattern in Patchwork and Stitching (I think) for one of the little ones at church. I didn't know if s/he wanted pink or blue so I used lemon and put three girls and three boys on. The sashing stars gave me untold headaches. One of them disappears because the sashing colour is too close.

The ultimate challenge....so far.

Who says the sun doesn't shine in Melbourne. This is my rendition of Michelle Yeo's Dahlia Quilt. It was a gift from a friend to her mother. Unfortunately the photo doesn't do it justice. I may do this one again but not just yet.

Down at the farm

I made this goat from a pattern in either Homespun or Quilters Companion for a swap. It is still travelling around Australia because as far as I know it hasn't arrived even though I sent it a few years ago.

More Photos

This cute little friend was my offering for an Easter swap, teddy in disguise as the Easter bunny.

I actually did this one twice.

Hope Grows

This design was in the first American Patchwork and Quilting magazine I bought. It is 80" square, and covers our big sofa. Making the large appliques was easy, but the three rows of sawtooth made me grind mine. Roses in the middle and a matching rose stripe border really impressed my quilting lady and she suggested she do custom quilting. Expensive, but worth it.

Scrappy Snowball - nine-patch.

This is another scrappy quilt. I have lots of small scraps, I need to someday make a kaleidoscope (sp) quilt with them. Most pieces are too small for a braid quilt.

Baby quilts

This is the first of the baby quilts I did. All of the baby's family loved this one and I enjoyed making it..

Pussycat, Pussycat.

The lady who ordered this quilt gave me photos of her cat, which I put in the middle. All the cats were hand appliqued on, some were only 2" big (or small). I found cat-crowd fabric for the border and backing. I made another without a family cat some months before this one but forgot to take a photo of it. There's my Jack Russell (as a puppy) on the top step.

Fans

This is the other quilt that was auctioned at the Church Fund-Raiser. This was also in one of the Country Craft and Decorating (or sister magazines) a few years back, in different colours, I think it had bubblegum pink sashing and borders. I don't necessarily make a quilt in the same year of the issue. But I do need to acknowledge someone.

Woof

This was an order. It had to have the family dog of the new owner on it. I appliqued cut-out dogs and made apliqued tumbling blocks, the border is quite amusing.

Angels

This quilt was for the granddaughter of a friend. Side-on of course!! Roses were appliqued around the border.

Baby quilts

I made this one for one of the babies at Church. There were 4 babies that year, they are all walking now.

This quilt came from one of Julies Wallace's books. I'd like to make more from those books. I gave this to our son as a wedding gift, as he married a Japanese girl. I'm thinking of making another one, (just thinking).

Fairies in the forest

This came from one of Patchwork and Stitching's Kid's Quilts issues. It used some fairy fabric which isn't available now. It was a very fiddly job. Sold

Jewel Box

This is the Jewel Box quilt, published in Country Craft and Decorating some years back in cream and florals. Light at that time of day made the blocks fuzzy. I donated this quilt and another one to the Church last year for a fund-raising event. They were 'won' in a silent auction

Teddies

Oh Dear.... I think I'll have to do my own Photography. The president of Australian Quilters Association challenged me to do a miniature quilt for the Box Hill Show nearly 18 months ago. This is what I came up with. It is 14" square and all hand done. My Jewel Box quilt was in the same show.

Tropical fun

This is the Courthouse steps. The photographer (dh) did not tell me I had the quilt side-on. I maxchine-appliqued the dolphins on using the reverse side of the fabric which was more mottled. This one was sold at a Ladies day at church.

Scrappy - 9-patch goes Irish

This one was done a while back and was snapped up almost immediately. The top was made entirely of scraps, I had to buy the border, backing, batting and binding.

Garden Ladies

I made this quilt a few years ago, from a pattern in Quilters Companion, I still have the issue. I am about to do the same one again in similar colours. I altered the shape of the ladies. They were too grown up for the preschooler who received the quilt. My lounge room is still in an untidy state - clean but untidy. Creativity and neatness are not seen together.

Rosy Star

It's just amazing! I put this photo up without really trying. The pattern came from a 2007 issue of American Patchwork and quilting magazine. I used leftover fabrics from another quilt also from the same magazines. This quilt is currently decorating a table in the Community Hall of a retirement village where I go to do my volunteer work

Memories.

Hi
On Sunday night we had visitors to dinner. A young lady who was a frequent visitor to our place some 5 years ago, came to Melbourne from Japan for a 1 week holiday, to spend time with friends she had met while studying here. Our son decided that he and our DIL would come over for dinner as well, he speaks Japanese and DIL is Japanese. We had a great time. Our son has turned into a really good cook. Amazing!

I'd like to say that I have a reliable memory. But no, I forgot to attend a very important meeting (to me anyway) tonight. I also forgot to do some sewing today. By the time I had attended a meeting this morning, had my lunch, gone to the gym, the post office and the supermarket, and checked the forum, the day had almost gone. Next thing I knew my little dog was jumping at me asking for his tea, which he has a 5 pm every night.

More photos

March already!! As the year flashes by, I find myself with more and more to do. My husband reminds me that I am supposed to be retired. My attitude to retirement is that I can ado what I want when I want and there is no-one to tell me to do my tasks in any specific order. There is no shouting, berating or workplace abuse. If the atmosphere is not pleasant I can simply walk away. A luxury I didn't have when in employment.

There are still photos of early quilts to show everyone. Most of them have been sold or given away. Some are gifts for babies of friends and some designs have been requested, the new owner wanting the family dog or cat to be featured.