remember

by British artist and aviator Harold H Piffard - a thin line of red poppies separates war from peace

As so many do at the eleventh hour on the eleventh day of the eleventh month, at memorials, in schools and workplaces all over the country, we stop to remember the sacrifice of those who serve and give their lives in the pursuit of freedom.

Although I'm sure it never feels quite so noble an action when you are being shelled, bombed, strafed or shot at.

This artwork brings to mind my grandmother, who married her Canadian Officer sweetheart in August 1918 only to lose him in October the same year - just three weeks before the war's end.

Just one sad story among far too many.

Aussie Hero Quilts was started by a lady who heard a story about an Australian solider serving in Germany, receiving a quilt from an American organisation. She felt ashamed that Australians didn't have a similar organisation and so set about righting that wrong.

She encourages the making of quilts and laundry bags, posted with gifts and treats to Australian Defence Personnel serving overseas.

I heard about Aussie Hero Quilts through my long arm quilter - Kim Mariani. Kim makes and quilts donated tops for this group. It seemed a small thing to make a quilt and laundry bag so here is my contribution.

I bought the charm squares from Spotlight (a bit like JoAnn's) on special ages ago and had them sitting there with no particular idea in mind. The strong colours grabbed my attention and turned out to be a good choice for this project. 

The quilts have to be a special size to fit the cots they sleep on which just happens to be 42 inches wide.  I think this might be a Moda Bakeshop pattern.

I plan to use that wavy quilting on this project. I'd love to quilt rain drops on the baby quilt but I don't trust my skill level. 

Lest We Forget

hiatus

I needed to take a break.

Too much to juggle. Family, work, health, home. The usual things. Oh, and the house needed re-wiring.

A recent trip to the Blue Mountains with a stop at Post Office Patchwork at Glenbrook has reignited my sewing spark.

Fell heavily for some Tilda fabric (Lizzie the quilter knew it would happen) - Cabbage Rose and Memory Lane.

Thought it would make this pretty clamshell cushion designed by Red Brolly.

Peach Blossom Cushion by Red Brolly

There's even a free pattern. It's rather a clever way to make the clamshells too.

Just across the road is a funky cafe - The Church at Glenbrook. Great coffee and treats.

from The Church Glenbrook Facebook page

from The Church Glenbrook Facebook page

I'm looking forward to sorting out the mess in the sewing room and stitching again.

progress

Not a lot of that around here I'm afraid.

Hopefully I can quilt this next weekend.

(and katiemaytooquilts thought her progress was slow!)

raindrops

This Way and That Way by Jodi Nelson from Pleasant Home

Disappointingly, the pattern for this quilt is no longer available. That's a shame because it's designed for 16 jelly roll strips - which is exactly how many I have.

Apologies to The Pyjama Game . . . with a pencil and a pad I figured it out!  At least I hope I have. I've cut out the fabric now, so there's no going back. 

I'm using the delightfully cute fabric from Riley Blake's The Little Ark purchased from the Fabric Pixie.

Given how much rain we've had the last couple of weeks, I may be building an ark soon myself.

qayg

I guess this counts as my first finish for 2016.

This is a Quilt-As-You-Go project of my own design. All fabrics used were from my stash including the backing and the wadding was leftovers from other projects.

The quilt measures 56 x 90 inches and got the seal of approval from my six foot four inch tall quilt holder (DS).

I followed instructions by Fiona at bubrugz - there are different ways to make QAYG quilts and blocks but I found Fiona's instructions easy to follow.

It was certainly the only way I could make and quilt something this size although it was a bit tricky joining the last two sections together.

What it did mean was that a machine binding was the way to go - there was no chance I could hand sew all that black.

I searched the internet and found a Youtube tutorial by GourmetQuilter . I think I liked it best because she actually demonstrates the technique on a full size quilt rather than a wall-hanging or table mat.

This quilt has been offered to BlanketLovez - a charity that donates quilts to sick kids in hospital and their families. They get a lot of baby and small children quilts and girly ones so I wanted to make one for an older teenage boy. I'm waiting to hear back from them. Fingers crossed it passes muster.

rosettes

Happy New Year everyone!

I realised that I haven't shown you this quilt finished. So pleased with it and soon it will on its way to its new home with my sister. Good thing she's patient as it was a birthday gift some years ago.

Once again, Joanne Knott worked her long arm magic. Nicely done.

Now that the crazy time has passed I can do some sewing. I thought it was high time I finished this project. Nearly there.

Quilt As You Go - a quilt for charity