Mum's Nearly Insane quilt

Have you heard of the Nearly Insane quilt? I hadn't until I stumbled across it on Frances Meredith's blog Fabadashery.   

A few years ago mum was considering making a Dear Jane quilt, but I convinced her that Nearly Insane was a better option.  (I can't remember why now, but I did.)

I helped mum to order the book, and she made her first few blocks.  Unfortunately she hasn't added many more since that initial start, but each time I go to Auckland we get them out and have another look at them.  She has added some tiny grandmother's garden type blocks, which may or may not make the final cut. 

We browsed through the book again, and decided that rather than trying to machine piece the 6" blocks, it would be easier to English Paper Piece the more intricate blocks. 

We studied Frances' blog again, and took note of some of the modifications she has made to her blocks. 

from Fabadashery blog

Mum bookmarked the blocks she wants to make next, and hopefully she might make a few more Nearly Insane blocks over the winter months.

We also had a play with Lucy Boston! Although mum hand pieced a quilt years ago after a class with Jinny Beyer, she hasn't done any hand piecing lately.  I'm becoming a bit of a convert, so I demonstrated how she could hand piece Lucy Boston if she wanted to.

EEP at the top, hand piecing at the front

 So that's another project started - for mum, not me. 

It rained quite a bit while I was in Auckland so I haven't got any pretty garden photos to share.  Here's a couple taken on my last day.

That's a reflection from the light, not a UFO

The tall tree is a Cabbage Tree - it doesn't grow cabbages. Cordyline australis

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle's Wedding

Prince Harry and Meghan Markle will be married later today. I'm sure it will be a wonderful occasion, and I intend to stay up late to watch it on TV. 

Back when Prince William and Kate got married in 2011, mum and I each knitted a William and Kate from Fiona Goble's book, 'Knit Your Own Royal Wedding'. You can still get it from Amazon, but I warn you, the figures are quite fiddly to knit.

The book kindly provided a couple of options for William's clothes, because we didn't know what uniform he would wear until the very last minute.  

We could have knitted a Prince Harry at the time (and the Queen, and the corgis), but we didn't, so I'm just going to recycle William and Kate and rename them Harry and Meghan for the next 24 hours.  

I hope you enjoy the royal wedding if you're going to watch it. 

Glitter quilt

I made a bit of progress on my Glitter quilt in April.  This is a Jen Kingwell pattern, available in her book "Quilt Lovely" or as a leaflet from Amitie Textiles.

I'm using the acrylic templates made by Amitie, and hand piecing each block.  I draw pencil stitching lines on the back of each block by connecting the dots with a ruler, and then join the pieces with a running stitch.

It's a slow process, but I enjoy cutting the blocks during the day, and stitching a block each night.

I've currently got 55 blocks finished and I need 152.  That's not bad - I've made a third of the blocks.

I still have many more fabric combinations waiting to be used.  This quilt is for our bed. I chose to restrict the colour palette to green and grey because it will complement the gorgeous wallpaper we hung last year.

Picnic Quilt

My Picnic Quilt is finished.  I love how the pattern emerges when it's viewed from a distance. 

This quilt is made from blocks that I won in our Block of the Month draw at Capital Quilters.  I did add a few more blocks myself to balance out the colour scheme in some areas.

I hand quilted it with Aurifil 12wt.  I initially intended to just do straight lines running through each block, but I felt it needed more stabilising, so I added echo quilting in grey in the opposite direction to make each of the darker rows stand out. 

I chose a brick red colour for the binding because it works well with the red spot I used on the internal border.

the binding, before it's turned to the back

This quilt has more red in it than anything I've ever made before!

The finished quilt is 76" x 76". I used wool batting so it's lovely and soft.

Cotton Cuts - Fall Mystery Quilt Reveal

Some of you may remember that many months ago I made some blocks for the the Cotton Cuts mystery quilt. Well, here is the finished quilt! 

Bloggers from around the world contributed:

• July – Sheila Christensen (www.mysteryquilter.com)
• August – Yvonne Fuchs (www.quiltingjetgirl.com)
• September – Teri Lucas (www.terificreations.com)
• October – Wendy Welsh (www.wendysquiltsandmore.blogspot.com)
• November – Nicole Young (www.lillyella.com)
• December – Chris Dodsley (www.madebychrissied.blogspot.com)
• January – Amy Smart (www.diaryofaquilter.com)
• February – Sam Hunter (www.huntersdesignstudio.com)
• March – Cheryl Sleboda (www.muppin.com)

The mystery has now been “solved” and it is my pleasure to share the reveal of the quilt that we all contributed to.

You can see that each of the bloggers signed a block that they pieced and contributed. The quilt is approximately 48-inches wide by 60-inches long, and it is up for auction. The auction is raising money for Valley Industries, a non-profit sheltered workshop that provides dignified employment opportunities to the intellectually challenged and to those with other disabilities. Valley is the fulfillment partner for Cotton Cuts and cuts and folds all of the fabric for delivery to members. To learn more about Valley Industries and the services they provide, please click here.

To enter the raffle, click on the link and scroll to the bottom of the page where you can purchase a raffle ticket for $5 each.

Signups for the next Cotton Cuts mystery quilt will open on May 25th. The theme is “This Way and That Way” and will feature Palm Canyon, Wildside, Blueberry Park III, Sun Prints 2018, Sequoia and Indah Batiks among others.

I must give credit to the lovely Yvonne Fuchs (www.quiltingjetgirl.com) for allowing me to plagiarise her blog content for this post.  I "met" Yvonne in 2014 through the New Quilt Bloggers group.  There were 100 people in that group, and some of us have stayed in touch over the years.  It's nice to know there are people out there willing to lend a hand when you need one.  Thank you Yvonne.