BLOCK 6

Its been a while!!

Well its been a couple of months since we added to this blog unfortunately I have been very busy most weekends so we had to squeeze in a Block day when we could which was the last day of November.  But block 6 arrived on time and we had a quilting day.  This one is a really lovely Star block.  I like these!, they are fairly simple to complete but fun and look great.

Block 6

As usual after your block was finished we moved on to other projects.  Lynne to another Rag quilt she has two to make for Christmas Presents so she will be busy.  I made a lovely apron for my son's girlfriend which was quite challenging for me but with Lynne's help I managed to work out the pattern and change it a little to suit amount of material I had.  I am very happy with the results.

My Apron

Lynne at work cutting backing

Of course there is always happy hour and dinner and a spa.

Happy Hour

Christmas is upon us so our next quilting won't be until next year and may that will need to be a double block day.  We will see.   Looking for some new projects to try out next year.

Pam and Lynn

DEAR JANE

SO MUCH TO LEARN

I have been doing some more online research and we have so much more to learn.  In researching Foundation Paper Piecing I came across "Dear Jane"   This is a quilt done in the 1800's by  Jane A. Blakely Stickle.  Its an amazing quilt and the patterns are available on the web site www.dearjane.com I have ordered the book and am hoping to get us started on the "The Two Hundred Twenty-Five Patterns".  Maybe this will be our retirement project :-) 

THE QUILT

 

 

In the mean time I think we need to at least try Foundation Paper Piecing and maybe take some classes in quilting as most of what we have done has been from what we learnt online and from asking questions and there is so much more to learn about quilting.

 

BLOCK 5

IT FINALLY ARRIVED !

Well after an anxious week where Lynne's Block 5 arrived and mine didn't and some correspondence with the Fat Quarter Shop mine finally arrived on Friday just in time for an extra quilting day on Saturday.

Although this one looked quite complicated it turned to be fun to do as long as we followed the instructions and we were both very happy with the results.

My son gave me a mini iron for my birthday and this was our first time using it. I am very happy with it saves some walking back and forwards to the ironing board between seams.

Mini Iron in progress

Block 5

 

 

After our block was finished we each moved onto different projects.    Lynne started on a Scrappy bag. Mine was a rag quilt my hubby requested for the dog's bed, as it was quite small I had it put together by  dinner time. I am sure there will be photos to follow when both these projects are finished.

 

There is always a happy hour on quilting days.

 

Happy Hour



 

NO BLOCK DAY!

NO BLOCK ON QUILTING DAY.

Well it  happened our block 5 didn't arrive on time for the allotted day. Disaster !!  Well not really we can always find something else to do.  We both have several projects ready to start not to mention I have at least 1 under construction.  So today it was a trip to the Craft Depot to check it out, although Lynne has been there several times I hadn't been there. So after some morning tea we toddled off. It's a great shop full of all sorts of quilting stuff!.  We both made some purchases and set off back home to start a new project. 

Our project in the afternoon was another pattern I found online called  "Snap to it"  A cute little bag made from a 10" square and some pieces of a retractable tape measure used to close it.  As always these projects are a bit confusing the first time and after some deciphering of the instructions, re reading and some unpicking to round off the edges of the tape which was quite sharp they were finished just in time for "Happy Hour"  

Today was also the opening of Lynne and Hubby's pool for the summer season so a swim was in order before a yummy dinner.

Snap to it!

BLOCK 4

Block 4 Quilting Day

Well as usual we were checking the letter box every day as our Quilting day came closer, would block 4 arrive in time for the allotted day?   

Yes!! the message read "Blocks in" and Lynne immediately ran out to her letter post to see if hers had also arrived.  Like a couple of school girls we get quite excited when our block arrives :-)

Quilting day for block 4 had a little addition we also had our traditional Christmas pudding making day.  We had an early start so that we could get the puddings on the boil and start our block.

Puddings in the making

Puddings finished

The 2 Bernies

 Once the puddings were on the boil it was time to get started on our block. This one turned out to be very straight forward, (my words for a little easier than some) and was well and truly finished by lunch time.

BOM 4

 Then it was on to some other projects. Lynne had a lovely black, white and red rag quilt she has made for a friend. She needed some more labels so we made her a page of labels, and she finished off the quilt properly, with a newly designed label.

Lynne's new label

Black White and Red

My current project is a rag quilt for our Caravan bed.  Its queen size so that's a lot of squares to put together but I am slowly getting through it.  "No rush".  

Queen Size Rag under construction

Of course there is always happy hour.  It wouldn't be quilting day without a glass of champagne !

Pam and Lynne

 

BLOCK 3

Quilting Day - Block 3

After a couple of busy weeks and waiting for the BOM 3 to arrive we finally had a quilting day.  Yay!!

Bom 3 was a little tricky lots of little triangles.  We are getting much more confident and a lot less worried about the corners matching up exactly.  We have a couple of sayings .... "a blind man would be pleased to see it" or "overall effect ... look at the big picture"   Lynne constantly tells me we are not putting it in the Easter show but I think we should try at least one quilt in the Easter Show one day :-)

Block  3


THE NEW GIRL MAKES HER FIRST BLOCK

The new Bernie had her first outing today and although she has done quite a bit of work at home already, today was her first block and she did a great job too!


New Girls First Block

The old and new

There  will always be a happy hour of course :-)

After our BOM3 it was on to some cutting a Queen Size Rag for my Caravan and Lynne was making a rag for a friend. 

Another great day, next quilting day will incorporate our annual Xmas pudding making.  That will be a really busy day :-)

Pam and Lynne



THE OLDEST GIRL GETS A MAKE OVER

I decided when I picked up my machine from the mechanic to ask it if Mums old Bernina was worth fixing.  The answer was yes "only needs a service".  When I picked her up she was working beautifully.  The only thing she was missing was some of the mod cons in particular a walking foot.

So once again I was searching Google, this time for a walking foot for either of my machines. Success! The Bernina Centre at Chatswood replied saying they had one to fit my 1004, as it turned out the walking foot and a new 1/4" Patchwork foot fit both of my machines.


Bernina Walking Foot



Patchwork Foot

So now mums old faithful is my new Quilting Machine. 



I have been told she will outlast us all :-)





Good news, BOM 3 has arrived so bring on our next quilting day!!

Pam and Lynne


NEW GIRL ON THE BOG

THERE’S A NEW GIRL ON THE BLOG

Well Lynne finally made a decision after much reading and talking and looking and of course checking the bank account and thinking.  She finally cut her ties with the old faithful Bernina Nova that she got as a wedding present all those years ago.

And here she is.........

Presenting the brand new Bernina 550 Quilters Edition

 

 Isn’t she lovely, although a little complicated looking! I think there will be some serious reading and test sewing before anything major is made with this one. 

Can’t wait to have a try at our next Quilting Day.

By the way we are still waiting on BOM 3 getting a little worried hope it’s not lost!!

Pam and Lynne

BOM DIDN'T ARRIVE!

Well its should be official quilting day but our BOM's didn't arrive on time and we both needed some flannel to back a rag quilt and we heard that there was a nice quilting shop in Berry.  So its off to Berry for a shopping trip. 

It was a beautiful day and the Berry Patchwork Shop is lovely.  We both found some really nice fabrics.  The stash is growing, we each have a couple of quilts to do over the next few months.

LITTLE SCRAPPY PODS

SCRAPPY SEWING PODS

As for the quilting part of the day we started on a project found by Lynne’s sister for Scrappy Sewing Pods.  These are fun to make and you can use whatever scraps of fabric you have.  As we have only just started out with the quilting thing though, we don’t really have a “Stash” yet. A few fat quarters and part of a jelly roll I already had and we were underway.  As you can see from the picture another essential quilting day item beside lots of tea and afternoon champagne is of course the Tim Tam!

Pam's Pod

Lynne's Pod

Pam and Lynne

LABEL YOUR QUILT

LABEL YOUR QUILT!   AUGUST 2013

My next thought was we should label our quilts.  So back to Google and to facebook to put out the question how can we make our own labels without spending a fortune on special printing?

I found lots of interesting ways to make labels.  The easiest one came from a tutorial blog by Dolls and Daydreams, Sarah has a great tutorial on making labels using fabric and freezer paper http://dollsanddaydreams.blogspot.com.au/2010/09/fabric-label-tutorial-made-from-things.html

So another impromptu Quilting day was born. During the week before, I sourced the freezer paper.  Most of the blogs you read say you can get it from supermarkets but that doesn’t apply in Australia.  I finally found it in Spotlight quite cheap at $1.15 per metre. Added to some calico I already had at home and a little ink from Lynne’s printer this makes for some really cheap label and you can write whatever you want.

 It turned out to be a printing, shopping and quilting day.  We printed our labels, and then while they were drying to help stop us being impatient we set off shopping for some more fabric for the next rag quilt.  Then back to continue with the next part of labels making.  They turned out perfectly.

TOOLS OF THE TRADE

THE OLD GIRLS ARE GETTING TIRED

Both of us have quite old Bernina sewing machines both around 35+ so its not surprising that they are getting a little temperamental at times.  They both had problems during our Rag Quilts.  Mine stopped completely and had to go in for service.  So it was off to Dad's to pick up my mother's old one at least I could finish my quilt.  She's a great old machine but also needs a service which she will get and I will keep her for a while longer if only for sentimental reasons.


Mum's old faithful

 It may be time to think about new machines since the new ones do so much more than our old faithfuls.  Which ones to choose will be the problem and how much should you spend on this type of thing??  We shall see!!

Pam and Lynne

BLOCK 2

BLOCK 2 – JULY 2013

Official quilting day and time for Block two.  This time we are much more confident. Doing as my daughter suggested and starting with the fabric left over and as always shared pieces as we cut.  “Here I have two of these squares. Have one so you won’t need to cut one” 

Although this one proved to be a little trickier than the first one we got it done and were very pleased with the end result.

As per the original plan after finishing BOM2 we continued with our rag quilts including the mandatory Happy Hour.  Another great, productive and fun day.  We finished off with, the usual Dinner and a Spa with the hubbies, who are quite happy with our new found hobby, because it means they can do their own thing as well. J

Pam and Lynne

WHAT ELSE CAN WE MAKE ON QUILTING DAYS? JULY 2013

During all the chatter on Day 1 the subject of Rag Quilts came up and we both decided we would like to make one.  This is could be another project on monthly quilting days after our BOM is done.  So in the weeks that followed I googled Rag Quilts and came up with a rough pattern.   Working out how much we needed really exercised the brain cells but we had plan.

Then Lincraft had a sale!!  Here was our chance, so off we went to see what we could find.  Another quite stressful occasion standing in the store pulling out rolls of material trying to find 5 different fabrics that went together and of course... we found 6!   Time to recalculate, out come the phones to add subtract and multiply.  We shared 5 fabrics and then included one of our own choosing to make our quilts a little different but decided we would share at least one square from our own choice in each quilt. See this quilting is really good for the brain.

 We gathered up all our purchases and set off home.  “Why don’t we start today?”  OK why not?  So we had an extra quilting day cutting out our squares.  I actually thought this project would last for a couple of months at least but it’s not looking that way!! These quilting days are such good fun.

Rag quilts are quite easy to do and after BOM 2 and over the next couple of weeks we each worked on our quilts and had them completed in no time.  Laying out the squares to decide on the pattern was probably the hardest part after choosing fabrics that is.  

So much for a project to work on after BOM on quilting day. We are both very happy with our efforts and are looking into the next project.  This time each one will be totally different.

Lynne's First Rag Quilt



Pam's First Rag Quilt

Pam and Lynne

IN THE BEGINING

The First Block of the Month – June 2013

It all started with a Mystery Block of the Month.  We both decided to have a go and registered. That was much earlier in 2013 and we almost forgot about it when the first block arrived. 

We were really excited, you would have thought we were teenagers! 

So the plan was to have a Quilting day once a month when our “BOM” (Block of the Month) arrived. The first day was a little stressful!  “What if we cut it wrong? What will we do”, “We can just get some more material from the web site, it will be ok” I said trying to sound confident.

We managed to get the first block done in half a day and we soon learned that there was plenty of material in each pack.  Later we were given a great tip from my daughter, which is to use the material you received with the previous block first, when you do your following blocks, that way you have larger pieces left over at the end.  This is a real learning process for us and even though we have done quite a bit of sewing over the years we have a lot to learn about quilting.  It’s a whole new world for us J

We were so very pleased with our first finished blocks. 

 

We then moved onto working on the border, which filled in the rest of the day until dinner which is always followed by a spa.  Quilting days always finish with dinner with the hubbies and a relaxing spa.

Oh! And of course! There is always happy hour. A glass of champagne sometime after 4:00pm


Pam and Lynne