Pandemic Sampler is 99.5% finished

Yes, I met my goal and finished all of the stitching on my Pandemic sampler by Long Dog Samplers at Easter.  I still have to do the back stitch, and possibly squeeze my initials in somehow, but I've finished every page in the pattern.  

I loved doing this sampler, but I'm also naturally pleased that it's finished.  

I don't think I'll do another large sampler for a very long time. It was interesting, and challenging, but there's a lot of other things I want to try too.  

I'm glad I opted for a single colour through out.  I 've seen quite a few multicolour versions, and I think I would have spent too long dithering about which colour to use next.  I'm also glad I didn't choose to use hand dyed silk with colour variations.  I would have had to cross every stitch as I stitched it (to keep the colour consistent), and that would have made following the pattern even harder.  It was simpler to just stitch it all in black, and that's the effect I was going for anyway.  

I'm off to Dunedin this weekend to teach wool felt applique at Stitch Witches.  I'll report back next week.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

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Quilts for Ukraine update

So much has happened since I first wrote about the quilts for Ukrainian refugee children a few weeks ago. (You can read that post here.)

from Glenys in Auckland

My first 20 blocks turned into a quilt top

I got carried away and made 20 blocks before I even knew what I was doing! I could see on Instagram that Claudia @pfeilclaudia in Germany was receiving blocks from around the world every day, so I decided to turn my first 20 blocks into a quilt top to speed up the process when it gets to Germany. I asked Claudia for the measurements for the sashing and borders to make sure that my quilt top matched those she was assembling. 

at Howick Quilting Friends (Saturday group)

In early April I was invited to Howick Quilting Friends guild in Auckland as the guest speaker, and the ladies there had made 39 blocks for me to bring back to Wellington. And they kindly donated the cute star fabric in the background below that I can use for sashing and borders. 

Quilt top number 2 with blocks from Howick Quilting Friends

My mum was keen to make blocks too, so I posted her some of my bright blue and yellow stash. Now mum has made about 60 blocks! 

Over Easter a lot of blocks arrived from Jeanette in Australia and I've incorporated some of them into quilt tops already. Blocks have also arrived from Vivienne in Napier, Marina in Feilding, and Glenys in Auckland. And I know there are more in the post.  

Top number 3 with blocks from everyone!

Top number 4 with my next batch of 20 blocks

It's so good to see photos of Claudia donating the quilts to the children.  That is why I decided to get involved - I knew the quilts would reach the children in need.  Claudia now has enough blocks to make 700 quilts (after initially aiming for 5 or 10 quilts).  She will keep going, but she is now facing large costs for batting, backings, binding and sashing.  If you would like to make a donation to help with costs you can deposit any amount of money into Claudia Pfeil's PayPal account:

post@quilt-und-co.de

Log in to PayPal, then go to Pay & Get Paid, Make Payments, Send Payments. 

Every donation will be appreciated and will speed up the process of getting the quilts into the hands of the Ukrainian refugee children. 

Top number 5 in the planning stages - mainly blocks from Australia and Auckland

I can't promise to incorporate all of the NZ blocks into quilt tops, but I will send all of the blocks to Claudia in Germany.  Thank you everyone who has contributed, both with blocks and money towards postage. I will take photos of all the tops before I send them off and post them here on my blog.  

Remember, if you are sending any blocks yourself, you need to put $1 value only and clearly label it GIFT or DONATION.  Claudia has had to pay a lot of money in customs duty because people have put higher values on their parcels.  

Well, after that big update, it's now time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below:

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Taupo Quiltmakers Exhibition - I'm the Guest Exhibitor

 

Two years ago I went to the Taupo Quiltmakers' Exhibition and loved it.  This year I've been invited back as the guest exhibitor.  

The exhibition is called "Quilting with the Stars" because it's going to coincide with our first Matariki public holiday in New Zealand on Friday 24 June 2022.  Yes, beware Kiwis, the public holiday is on a Friday - not a Monday.

In Māori culture, Matariki is both the name of the Pleiades star cluster and of the celebration of its first rising in late June or early July. This marked the beginning of the new year in the Māori lunar calendar. (from Wikipedia)

I wish I still had my Matariki quilt shown above to include in my display, but a very nice grandma bought it for her grandson to have on his bed at her house.  It's good to know that it's being used and loved. 

Now I have to decide which quilts to take to Taupo.  The good news is that I'm driving up, so I can fill the car with quilts.  I'll be at the exhibition at the Great Lakes Centre for all 3 days, so do come and say hello if you're at the show.    

It feels great to have a mid winter trip to Taupo to look forward to.  The air in Taupo is always so fresh and clean, and I love seeing the snow on the mountains at the end of the lake.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below. 

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Smøyg

 My Smøyg is finished and framed and hanging on the wall.  

The framer suggested that we put a hint of red in the framing, and I'm really happy that we did.

It's hard to get a good photo because it's more than a metre (or yard) long. But here's some close ups from before it was framed.

 

Smøyg is stitched up and down the fabric rather than across the fabric like most other forms of embroidery.  There's a lot of counting involved, and being off by one hole upsets the whole design.  

I bought the Smøyg book and kit for this table runner from Yvette Stanton of Vetty Creations at the Sydney Quilt Show in 2018.  I didn't start stitching until March 2019, and then I worked on it on and off until I finished it in October 2021.  I actually had it hanging on the wall before Christmas 2021, but it's taken me a while to blog about it.  

I enjoyed using all of the different types of threads and seeing the patterns emerge.  It was also interesting to read about the history of this type of embroidery.  Yvette always does a lot of research for her books, and she included instructions for left and right handed stitchers in this book. 

I have another little Smøyg kit from the book in my stash, and I might get on to that one day soon. 

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

 

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Bordered Diamonds is Finished

Bordered Diamonds is finished and I'm very pleased with it. I think I fulfilled my goal of "Summery florals". There are so many beautiful Kaffe Fassett Collective prints in this quilt. 

The bird fabric is "Summer Tree" by Philip Jacobs - out of print now

The centre fabric is "Orchids" in blue by Philip Jacobs

Centre fabric is Brassica in Rust by Philip Jacobs

I really enjoyed making this quilt.  The big diamonds give plenty of room to showcase the flowers in Philip Jacobs' and Kaffe Fassett's designs.  And when you put smaller scale prints in the borders, they separate the blocks nicely.  

As I said in my previous post here, I think this pattern works best when the same fabrics are repeated within the quilt, but with different borders.  

And here's the back - pieced from Kaffe Fassett pieces in my stash.  

I cut down the Midnight Diamonds pattern from Quilts in Burano, and left off the border, so the finished size of this quilt is 63" x 55".

I had it machine quilting by Busy Bee Quilt Shop in Wellington, NZ, and they used a wavy design running down the quilt.  

Now it's time for the Peacock Party.  Feel free to link up a recent blog post below.  

You are invited to the Inlinkz link party!

Click here to enter