Home and Away is finished

My "Home and Away" quilt is finished!!!  And after two years work it it totally deserves all those exclamation marks.

I love this quilt - it's bright and whimsical - just what I like, and it's full of beautiful Kaffe Fassett fabrics too.

I loved making this quilt. I enjoyed choosing and cutting the beautiful wool felt, and appliqueing it onto the background with my bright Perle 8 threads.

I even enjoyed making all those Half Square Triangles, although I wish I'd had a Bloc Loc ruler to help me.

This pattern was designed by the very talented Wendy Williams of Flying Fish Kits, Australia (click here for her website). Wendy works at Material Obsession in Sydney, with Kathy Doughty.  Material Obsession offered this quilt as a Block of the Month back in 2013.  I enrolled in the program after seeing the original quilt when Wendy came to NZ to teach at Handmade. The program ran for 10 months and I loved opening my parcel each month.

Updated Aug 2016:  This pattern can now be purchased directly from Wendy William's website here .  Wendy also has a number of similar patterns on her website and in her book.

Wendy Williams, the designer, called her quilt "Your Place or Mine?", but I've chosen to call my version "Home and Away".  Some of you will know there's an Australian TV series called Home and Away, so it seemed an appropriate name, given that the quilt has Australian origins..  I've never watched Home and Away myself, so it's not because I'm a fan.  I chose the name because the quilt shows cities, farms and beaches, so it really does show both home and away.

It's ended up a big quilt at 88" x 88". Here it is on our queen sized spare bed.

I chose to use the border fabric on the back too. It's a Kaffe Fassett print called Paisley Jungle.

I asked Sue Burnett at Busy Bee Quilt Shop in Wellington to quilt this for me on her long arm machine. She did a fantastic job of stippling all around the felt, and the flowers and animals stands out even more now. I'm so pleased with what how Sue quilted it. She did a great job.

I chose a lighter blue Kaffe print for the binding, which you can just see in this photo.

I don't have a wall space large enough to hang this quilt, and I don't have little children to enjoy it right now, so it will be used with care, and maybe one day I'll have grandchildren who will enjoy it too. Until then I'll use it on our bed, and I'm sure I'll have sweet dreams under it.

This quilt was the third item on my Q2 Finish Along list.

2015 Finish a Long - Q2 goals

It's time to think about what I want to get finished in Q2. Mmm, so many options.

I'd already decided that 2015 was my year to work on WIPs and I'm going quite well so far. I finished all 4 items on my Q1 Finish a Long list, and although I have started some new projects, I am exercising restraint and not plunging into everything that looks appealing.

So Q2 - what's it to be?

1. Finish my crochet ripple blanket which is almost done. This blanket is about 1.7m tall so will cover me nicely in bed (yes - it's just for my side of the bed).  I still need to do a few more rows and then there are 3 rows of border right around it. I think the border will stop the sides from stretching so I do want to do a border.

2. Crochet another smaller blanket to have on my knees in the evenings - does that make me sound old?  Or just cold?  I think I might use a different pattern this time - maybe the Cosy Stripe pattern by Attic24. I'll also be using some different colours of the same wool I used above. I want to use up all the scraps, but also inject some new shades.

3.  Finish "Your Place or Mine?".  The long armer can't start work on it until Mid May, but I might have it back by early June, and that gives me time to put the binding and a label on it before the end of Q2 on 30 June.

4.  Stacks of Colour.  This one is a stretch goal, and probably not going to be achievable, but my thought is that if I write it here I will at least start on it this quarter. I want to hand quilt this quilt with Perle 8 in a water drops pattern - overlapping circles. That quilting pattern seems quite appropriate because it's been raining for 3 days now. It can keep me company as we go into winter.

I think that's enough for one quarter. Of course I've got a lot of other things on the go, but I don't think any of them will be finished by 30 June. I do aim to make progress on them though so some of them can join on my Q3 list and be finished by 30 September. I already know that my top priority for Q3 will be my Haunted House which simply must be ready for Halloween.

"Your Place or Mine?" top is finished

I'm delighted to say that I have finally finished the top of "Your Place or Mine?'.

These are the best photos I could do by myself - it's too big to hang on the clothes line!

and another photo taken with a different camera - it's very hard to capture the colours accurately.

I took this before I sewed the borders on, but it really shows how vibrant the felt is in this quilt. I love how the Kaffe fabrics complement the felt too.

Here's how it will look on our bed eventually:

I did have some hesitation about the borders, but after discussing it with the very helpful ladies at my local quilting shop, I've decided to stick with what was provided in the BOM. We did agree that the binding should probably be a deep blue colour to finish off the edges nicely. 

That last border looks different in different lights, but it is growing on me and I'm sure it's going to be fine. I think I just got a bit of a surprise when I first put it on!

So why did it take me five months to finish the last installment of this quilt? There are a few reasons:

a. I was worried that the pieces weren't going to fit together, and it wasn't going to be square due to my sewing and all the diagonal seams. I didn't want to face that problem so I ignored it!  Turned out I didn't need to be worried after all.

b. New and exciting things like la passacaglia came along. Fact - it's always more exciting to start something new rather than finish an existing project.

c. A part of me didn't want this to be over - I've been working on it for 18 months and I've now become known as the lady who's making that colourful quilt with all the felt. I get asked about it at local quilting shops, my stitching group and guild meetings. I'll need a new identity now that it's finished.

I'm going to get this quilted professionally. I usually hand quilt my quilts myself, but I think this quilt will look great with stippling on all the flat surfaces. It also wouldn't sit properly in my hand quilting hoop with all that lumpy felt.

I've had many questions about this quilt, so here's everything you might need to know:

1. The design is by Wendy Williams (not me - I'm Wendy Welsh). Wendy Williams lives in Sydney and works with Kathy Doughty at Material Obsession. Some of Wendy's designs are available through their website.

2. Wendy also has her own company called Flying Fish Kits and they also sell patterns and kits online.

3. Wendy has a book called Wild Blooms and Colourful Creatures and there are similar patterns in that book. It's available at Amazon and other book sellers.

4. "Your Place or Mine?" was a Block of the Month from Material Obsession that started in August 2013 and ran again in 2014. You can watch out for their Block of the Months in July 2015.

5. The BOM included all the fabrics, the felt, the templates and some Perle 8 threads. They are generous with their felt so I have quite a bit left over.

I have loved making this quilt. As a number of people have said, it reflects my personality and style, even though I didn't design it. Maybe it's something to do with people called "Wendy"?

I'll be sure to post more photos when I get it back from the long arm quilter.


Finished size 86" x 86"

More work in progress

Great news - the book, templates and paper pieces for the La Passacaglia quilt arrived last week. The bad news is that the book is shrink wrapped so I can't take a peek before Christmas. That's probably just as well because I would be tempted to make a tiny start, and I've got so many other things to finish first.

I have picked up a few fat eights though so I'm ready to make a start on Christmas Day (ha, ha - Christmas lunch is at my house this year, so that won't be happening. However Christmas in New Zealand is often low key, and my husband has announced we'll just have a BBQ, so maybe there will be sewing time after all).

The Kaffe fabric at the back is my inspiration for this quilt

I've seen people doing amazing things with their fussy cutting for this quilt, so I'm keen to give that a try with the stripes and zig zags.

I've been working away on 'Your Place or Mine?' because I am committed to finishing the top before the end of 2014. I've now made three of the four corner sections and only have one panel left to applique.

I've also made the next two blocks for the Women of the Bible quilt. I love how they are turning out too.

Noah's wife

Sarah

all four blocks together 

I hope you're having fun with whatever you're making this week.

Your Place or Mine? - month 9

On Friday I pulled out my Your Place or Mine? quilt. I've decided to make it my goal to get the quilt top finished before the end of the year. I've looked back and the last time I posted about this was in June. Of course, I've done many other things since then, but it's now risen to the top of the pile again. I laid it out on the kitchen floor to see where I'm up to.

Your Place or Mine as at 12 October 2014

Over the weekend I managed to finish month 9's panel and I love it.

Month 9

There were 10 months in this BOM, so I'm now working on the final month - month 10.

Month 10 in progress

Besides finishing the hand stitching on the applique panel, I also have to run up 3 more corner blocks yet. They are cut out and sewn into strips, I just need a day to put them all together.

Then I need to sew the corners on and the borders (Kaffe Fassett fabric) and the top will be done. I haven't really thought about how I'm going to quilt it yet. I'd quite like to hand quilt it because then it will all be my own work, but I'm also considering sending it to a local long arm quilter.


And in my spare time (cough, cough) I've been working on this embroidery by Northern Expressions Needlework. It's called Celtic Snow and I love it too. No wonder I'm usually only getting in to bed at midnight these days.

Celtic Snow by Norther Expressions Needlework

I'm linking up with Lee from Freshly Pieced. Gemma at Pretty Bobbins, Sarah at Confessions of a Fabric Addict and Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts

Your Place or Mine? - month 8

Do you remember this quilt that I'm working on? It's wool felt applique, all hand stitched onto the background.

I'm pleased to say that I've finally finished month 8 of the block of the month. You can't see it in the photo above because it's not sewn on yet,

Somehow this panel has taken me much longer than all of the others. I kept unpicking things that I wasn't happy with, so progress was slow.

This panel featured butterflies, rabbits, a horse, a cow, a pig and a cat of course.

The final 2 months (9 and 10) have now arrived, so I've got everything I need to finish this quilt top.

I've also got the backing ready too. I'm not a prolific quilt maker and each one of my quilts involves a lot of love and time. Therefore I like to put great backings on to my quilts to finish them off perfectly. Kaffe fabrics are far from cheap in New Zealand, so sometimes I buy online from USA if I'm ordering a lot for a backing. I wanted to use the same fabric for the backing as the BOM have used for the borders (Belle Epoch), and I couldn't see it online, so I went to a local shop that I knew stocked it. I needed 4.5 metres, and there was exactly 4.5 metres left on the bolt, so it was clearly meant to be mine. Thank you Sue from Busy Bee Quilt Shop in Wellington.

Centre panel finished

If you'd like to read about the previous months you can check out these posts:
month 7
month 6
month 5
month 4
month 3
central block

Good news everyone - If you love hand stitching and want to be challenged by a project that will consume many hours, Material Obsession are running this BOM again. Enrolments open very soon, but you can send them an email if you are interested. (click here)

I'll be linking up far and wide on this one because it feels like a major achievement to get this panel finished. Please check out these lovely linkup parties.
Sew Cute Tuesday
WIP Wednesday
Needle and Thread Thursday
Crazy mum quilts

Only two more months to go now!! I'll be sad when it's over, but I'll also have a lot more time to devote to other things.

Your Place or Mine?- month 7

Yesterday I finished month 7 of the 'Your Place or Mine?' quilt.

(Please excuse the blue tinge in the photos - it rained all day and is still raining now so it's these are the best shots I could get.)

This panel is called the dragonfly garden because it includes three dragonfiles. There's also two cats, a dog, and a llama.

It's one of four long narrow pieces which will run around the central diamond.

Month 8 is sitting here ready to go and I've started cutting the felt for it now. It's a butterfly garden so should be fun to piece.

I'll be linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts, Esther's WoWs, WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced, Needle N Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation and Live a Colorful Life.