Thursday, July 30, 2009

Ginger Blossom and Swaps

Finally a picture of the finished Ginger Blossom quilt! Life has gotten in the road of sewing and computer time lately, but more about that in a minute.
I made this quilt with Sandi Henderson (portabello pixie) 's first fabric range 'Ginger Blossom'. I used most of the FQs I bought, and made it with the Sassy Sixteen pattern by Kimberley Canou; except I put the border in as I felt it really needed something to lift it. It was meant to be lifted a lot more except some silly person here has LOST her pink binding fabric..... goodness knows where I have put it. Somewhere safe I bet! LOL I nearly went mad looking for it, and being desparate to finish the quilt I was able to use some left over fabric from the backing to bind it. Not nearly as effecive; but who knows how long this quilt may have been waiting to be bound had I kept searching the pink binding fabric??????
Has this ever happended to you? What do you do with your binding fabric while quiltmaking????
The backing is one of the tessellating tile fabrics from the range, love this..... maybe that's why I bought Jinny Beyer's 'Designing Tessellations' book..... so fascinating!

I am involved with a small group of people called Friends in Stitching who chat and do little swaps amongst each other. Recently we did a Christmas ornament swap and this is what I sent my swap partner, a Rosalie Quinlan design. Loved making it. I planned to make a second one but was out of time with going away, so I put in a Christmas charm pack to surprise L.

This is what S made for me in the same swap, gorgeous Nancy Halverson pattern and fabrics.... love them!

Now being busy. I met my niece on the weekend, she is about 8 wks old and boy is she tiny compared to my youngest now! He is 2 1/2 yrs old so you can imagine the difference! This is my sisters first baby and the first neice/nephewn on my side of the family; dh has neices nad nephews my ages down to 14yrs!). My other sister got engaged the next day! How exciting is that for a weekend!
Early this week the children and I spent a day in town with my Nan who has been staying with my mum. Nan had a fall a few weeks back and dislocated her shoulder, staying with mum has made things a bit easier for her while her shoulder heals. She is 84 and misses Pop who died earlier in the year, so she really enjoyed having the day with us; AND having the children wait on her!
Amongst all this dh has been flat out at work (yup after hours and weekends too), the cow has dried up so we have to buy milk (no offence intended to anyone but YUK) until either our other cow has a calf, due soon - hurry up, or our supplier has one for us real quick. LOL
Back to stitching, I recently watched the dvd that came with the most recent Australian Quitlers Companion magazine 'Inspired Machine Applique with Michele Hill'. Fabulous. Loved it. Michele was really down to earth and great to watch. Her quilts are inspired by William Morris. From watching this I learnt that she does applique that way I do; except I haven't used 100%rayon thread yet. Something to try real soon!
Looking forward to catching up on the past week in the next day or two.

11 comments:

Amanda said...

Gosh, you have been busy. I love your quilt, the colours and designs are really pretty. It shows that it is worth going for a group of fabrics from a single range. I'm afraid that I never think about the binding until I get there.

Cardygirl said...

You have been a busy girl, stitching, family & surviving bought milk! I spent the afternoon searching for binding fabric that had been put away safely, ended up making do...your quilt looks great though!

Janice said...

You have been busy. Your quilt is lovely. I too watched the Michele Hill DVD. Isn't it good to see how the experts do it - even if it is just reinforcing that we plebs are on the right track. It gives you confidence. I even went out and bought a few rayon threads to try....sometime....

Abby and Stephanie said...

Love the pink/green combo. After a few "oh my gosh what did I do with the binding fabric" experiences...I now cut the binding strips after the top is made, make the binding and roll it up. I have a bin with bindings for quilts in progress!

Joy said...

Your quilt looks just gorgeous Bec. Of course, now that you don't need it anymore your binding will miraculously reappear LOL. Isn't it always the way!!???!!
Congratulations on the arrival of your dear little niece!!! How wonderful :o).
Hugs
Joy :o)

Unknown said...

Gorgeous quilt Bec, I tend to cut the binding once the quilt is all finished, cause I never know what size I'll end up making it. I thend to just wing it....

Quilter Going Bananas said...

Congrats on the finsih, Ginger Blossoms is very pretty! What issue of Australian Quilters Companion magazine has the DVD?

Unknown said...

I love the fabrics in the quilt!

Ginger Patches said...

Oh I love it!!! I missed out on that fabric line and have regretted it many times since. Once I decide on the binding I'm using I (ideally...meaning like every 1 out of 10 times lol) make it and wind it around an empty spool and store it on shelf where it looks pretty. I use my walking foot to put binding on so I usually wait and do a few quilts at a time. Sometimes I store it with the back, I try to always keep it with some part of the quilt otherwise I will end up using it on accident...sadly I have done this more than once lol. And sometimes I do like you did this time...I just misplace it--and then drive myself crazy looking for it--finally go buy more and then promptly find it lol!!

Jenny of Elefantz said...

That's a REALLY pretty quilt, Bec!! I have that dvd but have not watched it yet...hmmm, sounds like I should!

Anonymous said...

Gorgeous quilt Bec! Hope your Nan feels better soon.... glad that the kids could help out and wait on her a bit!!! I've never watched any of the dvds that come with magazines... maybe I should?!