Last Christmas

I finished my Trip Around the World quilt just in time to enter it into Capital Quilters recent exhibition.  

I've called it Last Christmas because I've always loved Wham, and each December I pump this song out  regularly.

I used Edyta Sitar's pattern and method and I found it very good.  If I decide to make another Trip Around the World quilt I would certainly follow her method again.   

You can read my first blog post about this quilt here. I made this quilt over the Christmas break and found all these fabrics in my stash. I hand quilted it using a range of colours and types of threads.  I don't think they show up all that well, but I had fun mixing it up.  

I did find that quilting on the diagonal skewed the quilt slightly.  I was tempted to add some straight lines to straighten it out, but that would have ruined the diagonal effect that I was after.  When it was finished I gave it a wash and blocked it and I think it's back to being square now.  

I do love the colours which are Christmassy, but not in a traditional way.  I was inspired by this Christmas gift bag.

Oh! And on the back I used a piece of Noel by Cotton + Steel - so cute. 

Finished size is 54" x 62"

My Easter break in Tekapo

At Easter I went to Tekapo in the middle of the South Island of New Zealand.  The mountains and lakes are amazing there and the weather was beautiful.  The place we stayed at had great views and a big deck off the lounge.  

I took some quilting along because our Capital Quilters exhibtion is fast approaching and I'm not ready!! I still have two quilts in progress and this is one of them.  It's the Trip Around the World that I started in January.  You can read more about it here.  

It's quite a bit colder in the South Island than the North Island and the trees were already starting to change colour for autumn.  

We went to Aoraki/Mt Cook while we were in Tekapo.  Mt Cook is New Zealand's tallest mountain. 

We walked to the first swing bridge on the Hooker Valley Track, but everyone else had the same idea and it was very busy!

Lake Pukaki looked gorgeous on such a brilliant day. That's Mt Cook at the top of Lake Pukaki.

So that was Easter 2024 for me.  I'm now quilting every spare minute to get my quilts ready for the exhibition.  I'll have lots to share after that. 

A Trip Around the World

Happy New Year everyone. 

No sooner had I dropped my mum and dad at the airport on 27 December than I started getting inspired on Instagram.  Often I will start a Christmas themed cross stitch between Christmas and New Year, but this year I started a Christmas quilt and I had the whole top pieced in just seven days.  

I was inspired by this photo on Instagram:

But I used the brighter colours from this Christmas gift bag:

The photo I liked was by Edyta Sitar so I used her Laundry Basket Quilts PDF pattern for a Trip Around the World quilt.  I watched her video first and I liked the sound of her method, so I purchased the pattern and made a start.

I did consider making the quilt larger, or enlarging the size of the squares, but either option would have meant that I would need more than a fat quarter for the 4 consistent colours that run through it.  I wanted to make it all from my stash, so I stuck to the instructions.  

I used scraps of fabrics on many of the rows but if you're going to do that, just be careful to space them evenly when you're sewing the columns together.  I like how my scrappy fabrics are evenly spaced out in the final design. 

 
While I was in the mood I even pieced a quilt back using one of my precious Cotton+Steel fabrics from 2017.   I do love the ski jumpers, but if I haven't got around to using it yet, it's best to put it on the back of a quilt and at least I will get to see it sometimes.  

So now I have a lovely Christmas quilt ready for hand quilting with sparkly threads when the weather gets cooler.  

Finished size is 54" x 62"

2024 is off to a good start.