Spooky Darlings

It may be Thanksgiving where you live, but I've just finished my Halloween quilt!  I've called it "Spooky Darlings" after the fabric range that I used.  

The design is very simple 60 degree triangles, but what makes it special is all the hand quilted spider webs and the quirky fabrics.  I used a stencil to mark the spider webs and hand quilted in three different shades of grey Aurifil 12wt. 

I only had a fat eighth bundle to play with so I made the biggest triangles that I could and combined them in alternating dark and light rows.   

The selvedges on these Ruby Star Society fabrics are so cute and too pretty to throw away so I included as many as I could on the back. 

Finished size is 48" x 66" so it will be good as a throw quilt for winter evenings or on a single bed.  

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

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Pretty in Pink

Here's my latest finish - Pretty in Pink. As I said last week, I had to rescue my Tilda fabrics from a plan gone wrong.  There's little snippets of Tilda in this quilt, but they seem to have been over taken by Tula Pink!

I enjoy watching Tula Pink's videos each week on Instagram (or Facebook) and she often talks about how all of her collections are designed to work together.  I've used fabrics from three of her collections here and they really do all work together.

The Lazy Stripe pink sashing and Dragonfly border are both from Moon Garden.  

The bright green border is Tower 7 from Zuma, and the Tent Strip Karma binding is from True Colours.  

I've called it Pretty in Pink because it is pretty and it is pink.  I loved the movie Pretty in Pink when it came out in 1986.  The lives of American teenagers looked so much more exciting than our ordinary lives here in New Zealand.  We walked to school every day in our school uniforms while American teenagers whizzed around in cars and wore mufti every day!

I especially love the main song from the movie - "If You Leave" by Orchestral Maneuvers in the Dark.  Here it is to save you looking it up. Enjoy a blast from the past. 

I had this quilt machine quilted at Busy Bee Quilt Shop in Wellington.  The pattern is "Maze e2e a" from Sharon Perry of House of Creations.

The pinwheel blocks at 10" finished and the finished size of the quilt is 60" x 70".

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

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Pretty!

I've just picked up this quilt from my long arm quilter at Busy Bee Quilt Shop and I love it.

I don't want to post a photo of the whole quilt yet because I'm going to put the binding on this weekend and it will be worth the wait.

Tilda meets Tula

I didn't set out to make a pretty pink quilt, but now that I have I'm really happy with it.   

You may remember that a few weeks ago I started puddling around with some pretty Tilda fabrics.  I rushed in to making a foundation paper pieced pattern, but then I started to doubt myself - even though my blog followers expressed great confidence in me to turn it into something good.    

At our guild meeting someone held up a lovely pinwheel quilt and I thought, "That's an idea - I could make some pinwheel blocks to break it up". So I started to make pinwheel blocks, but then I decided that I liked the pinwheels better than original idea so now I have a pinwheel quilt. And there's minimal Tilda fabrics in it because they are still in the blocks that I don't like any more.  I only bought fat quarters so I'll have to rescue some of the fabric soon because I really do like the Tilda. 

Anyway, I'm going to put the binding on this quilt this weekend and take photos of it along with two (yes two!!) other quilts that I'm in the process of finishing this weekend.  After months of not a lot of action I'm now going to finish three quilts in November.  

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

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Progress

Well, I finally feel that I'm making some progress with my quilting.

Don't Leaf Me - pattern by Wendy Williams

I finished the applique on the second panel of Don't Leaf Me and joined it all up.  It was great to open the box and have the centre panel already pieced and waiting for me. I took it in to Busy Bee Quilt Shop to be basted on the long arm so I can hand quilt it during January and February.  

While I was there I picked up a quilt that I've had custom quilted by Sue B at Busy Bee Quilt Shop.  I walked out of the shop very happy because were really pleased with how it had turned out, and I am too.  I'm going to get the binding on as soon as possible and take it to Capital Quilters final guild meeting of the year on 25 November.  I'll post photos on my blog before the end of the month. 

I've only got 8 more blocks to hand quilt on my Spooky Darlings Halloween quilt and I'm not going to put it away until it's done. It's my top priority at the moment.

I hope to get quite a bit of it quilted this weekend because I've decided to skip the Auckland Festival of Quilts this year.  I've been away a lot this year and I've got one more trip yet before the year is over.  

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

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Halloween 2023

Well, it's that time of the year again.  Halloween is still viewed as an American tradition in this part of the world, but more and more people are getting in to trick or treating each year.  

My Spooky Darlings quilt won't be finished for this Halloween, but it is progressing well. 

I live on a street that is well known for Halloween because it's wide and straight and a safe place for kids to trick or treat.  It's Spring in the southern hemisphere and it doesn't get dark here until after 8pm at the moment, but the kids can't wait that long so they start about 5pm. 

I need to get my Haunted House out again and enjoy looking at it before it's time to get out the Christmas decorations.  Help!!!

It's been a while since I've shown my Haunted House so if you're after more information you can find all my notes about the Victoria Sampler Gingerbread Village on the Gingerbread Village tab here on my blog.  And more specific information about the Haunted House here.  

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

 

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Tauranga visit

Well, I went to Tauranga and it is a small world because I met my friend Helen who I first met 10 years ago when our kids were at school together in Wellington. 

I had a great weekend in sunny, warm Tauranga.  There were 15 people in my wool felt applique class on Saturday, and 17 in my big stitch hand quilting class on Sunday.  

We had a great time and everyone learnt new skills. Belinda from Stitch Makers in Greerton was there with a stand filled with Wonderfil threads and wool felt.  I think everyone found an excuse to buy something.  I stocked up on wool felt because the bright pink is hard to come by. 

When I mentioned using stencils for hand quilting designs they pulled out a huge pile from the library cupboard.  

I was fortunate to be hosted at an avocado orchard - and the harvest occurred the very weekend I was there.  These big bins are ready to be taken for packing and export now.  

And then, when the classes were over I had a brief stop at Mt Manganui before I had to go to the airport and fly home.  Nothing says summer like the white sand and surf at the Mount. If you've sailed around New Zealand on a cruise ship you will have sailed along this Bay of Plenty coast. 

As a final bonus I got to see a beautiful sunset from the plane.  It made up for the slightly bumpy landing at Wellington.  

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

 

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My Small World

People say that New Zealand is a very small place.  They don't just mean the size of the land mass, but the fact that everyone seems to know everyone else.  We didn't all marry our cousins, but the "six degrees of separation" rule is more like three or four degrees of separation here.  We can usually find a connection in common with fellow New Zealanders.  

I'm off to teach some classes in Tauranga this weekend and I'll be interested to see how many connections are made over the weekend.  

I'm taking My Small World quilt along with me because it's a good illustration of both wool felt applique and hand quilting.  I did enjoy making his quilt.  There are so many different elements within it.  Maybe I should make a 2024 version next year. 

My Small World is designed by Jen Kingwell and is available from Amitie Textiles here.  

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

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