A Finish - at last

At last I have a finish to share. Some of you might not consider finishing a quilt top a true finish, but I do.

I usually take a break between finishing a quilt top and quilting it. I like to think about what I'm going to use for the backing and how I'm going to quilt it.

I'm still not sure if I'll machine or hand quilt this one. I haven't done any hand quilting for a while, so it might be time for another hand quilting project. Unlike my friends in Perth, I don't need to worry about it being too hot to hand quilt in summer in Wellington!

This could be my first project for 2015 Finish along, which Adrienne from On the Windy Side is going to be hosting next year.

This quilt pattern was designed by Chrissy of Sew Lux and released by Clover and Violet. It's still available on their blog if you would like to try it too.

And yes, I've changed my blog header to be more festive. If you're a newish follower and don't know about my Gingerbread Village, you can read all about it in this post. I'll post some more photos of my hand made Christmas decorations over the coming weeks.

WIP and a winner

I drew the prize today and the lucky winner is number 11, Cathy from Cathy's Sewing Room in Adelaide, Australia. Congratulations Cathy and I hope you can make something nice with the fabrics. I'll be in touch to arrange shipping soon.

It was lovely to hear from so many people about the new things they have tried this year. Thank you all for taking the time to leave a comment.

I've still been really busy with work this week, so I haven't got a lot of sewing done. I have managed to add another very narrow striped border to the mini medallion quilt along.

Today I've been working on the final border for this quilt. The colours are quite different to what I usually use, but I do like them. I've really enjoyed making this.

I've also been selecting the fabrics for my next Women of the Bible blocks. We have Rebekah and Ruth to work on next. I'm trying to do one blue and and one pink each time the patterns are released, to keep the quilt balanced.

That's all for today. I'm hoping for quite a few finishes in December, but probably being unrealistic. It would be nice to start the new year with a clean sheet, but that's probably not going to happen (unless I stay awake sewing until 3am each night).

Mini Medallion Quiltalong - part 4

I spent most of Saturday adding the latest border to the Mini Medallion Quiltalong published by Clover and Violet. This is how mine looks now.

Mini Medallion Quiltalong

The third border was Snowballs, which I hadn't made before. Although my border looks fine from a distance, when I get up close I can see that some of the patterned fabrics aren't lying totally straight. I"m not going to go back and change it, but I will just remember not to use directional fabrics for snowballs again.

I had two aims when I joined this quiltalong:
1. to learn some new techniques which would help with selected borders for the Possum Magic round robin
2. to use the fat quarters I had won earlier in the year.



Well I can't say that I've really used much of the fat quarters I won, but I have used plenty of the fabrics I bought to complement them.




There are two more borders to go, and I still intend to use those fat quarters I won. I'll have to because I'm running out of the other fabrics I purchased.

An unexpected bonus of this quiltalong is that I've met some new quilters online, and I'm now following their progress on the quiltalong too. Here's a snapshot of some other people's progress:

Mini Medallion Quiltalong - part 3

The second border pattern for the Mini Medallion Quiltalong from Clover and Violet came out on Thursday and I've finished mine already. I spent half a day testing out fabrics, but knew that I wanted to used the navy dots again, and when I saw it was flying geese, I thought the yellow would continue the star burst look.

I'm really happy with it, although I have decided that I don't want to do flying geese on a large scale. They are so fiddly. It took about 4 attempts to get the final border correct.

It really interesting seeing everyone else's quilts coming together. They are all so different and the fabric placements mean that different parts of the pattern stand out differently on each quilt. If you are on Instagram you can look at #minimedallionqal, but if you're not, here's a screen shot of the variety:

Thank you everyone who commented on my mum's winning tea cosy. She went into the shop and collected her prize which was a lovely big basket with 13 balls of wool in it, plus some patterns and some needles. The competition was sponsored by a wool company, hence the very generous prize. Here's a photo of the basket. Yes, we have a brand of wool called 'Wendy' in NZ, probably to go with the patterns in the basket called 'Peter Pan'.

 Finally, for those wondering about the Bordered Diamonds quilt, it is finished and we're using it on our bed now. However, it's really hard to get a decent photo in the depths of winter. It's either too sunny and bright, or just dull and overcast. When the sun is out, it's very low in the sky, so I might have to wait a few more weeks yet.

I"m linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced.

Mini Medallion Quiltalong - part 2

A couple of weeks ago I started a mini medallion quiltalong through Clover and Violet. They issued the first border pattern at the weekend and I made up my border on Sunday.

Mini Medallion Quilt a long - centre + Border 1

I'm please with it, but there is quite a lot of teal in mine at the moment, so I'll add more of the of the yellow and white on the next border to even it out. It's strange doing a mystery pattern like this and not being able to plan the colour placements.

The best bit about this quiltalong is that it's made me join Instagram so I can see what the other people's blocks look like. If you're on Instagram it's #minimedallionqal, and I'm @wendysquiltsandmore.

Here's a link back to my first post about this quiltalong- click here.

Centre only

In about 24 hours I will be doing a special introductory post because I'm part of the New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop. Be sure to check back then, because you'll probably find out some things you never knew about me!

Mini Medallion Quilt a Long - part 1

Yesterday as I was going through my daily feed on Bloglovin, and I noticed Staci of The Confused Quilter was doing a mini medallion quilt a long. I followed her links and found that Clover & Violet were running the quilt a long.

my centre block

I read all about it, and decided a little 32" x 32" medallion quilt would be fun to make. It would also provide me with a few more tips and tricks on borders for the Possum Magic round robin.

The quilt needs 10 fat quarters and 2 half yards. I like to know I've got all the fabrics I need before I embark on these types of things. Then I can balance the fabrics and not end up having to add a totally new fabric on the final border.

Back in May I won 5 Michael Miller fat quarters during the Sew Mamma Sew Giveaways.  They are teal which is a colour I like, but not one that I've used a lot. I do know it's very popular at the moment, and it would look nice in my family room if I decide to turn the quilt into a wall hanging.

the fat quarters I won in May

I decided to visit my local quilt shop to buy 5 more fat quarters to complement the ones above. There were so many options in teal. I ended up buying a yellow / mustard one just to provide a 'pop' element. I already had 2 larger pieces at home that are suitable for the background fabrics. (Yes, that's more than 10 fat quarters, but always better to be on the safe side!)

fabrics for mini medallion quilt a long

So knowing that I had all the fabrics I needed, it was safe to start. I made my little centre block in less than 2 hours, and am quite happy with how it turned out. It's ages since I've done flying geese, so it was worth it for that alone.

Fortunately I don't have to wait long for July's instructions to arrive. That's the beauty of joining in a bit late!