Finished Quilts and Lotto Blocks

Just pictures - Finished Easy Street and Just Takes 2 - Red triangle blocks for the Block Lotto - daughter Terri's cute green blocks -

 

A Marathon Sewing Week !

So, three weeks ago, my youngest sister's dear aged and frail mother-in-law died, and my sister, her husband and 10-year-old daughter (my youngest niece) came to stay from Brisbane for 16 days to be with Grandpa/father-in-law.   And before they left to come, their older two married children asked that they return with the promised wedding quilts (only nearly three years overdue!)  Problem was the finished quilt tops needed quilting and binding.   And I couldn't start straight away, and I needed to do some practice first on a charity quilt (nearly two years since the frame was used!)   I don't have a computerised machine or stitch regulator, just the frame with a Pfaff Grand Quilter.   Soooo, OK, last Thursday started on quilt no 1 and finished on Sunday - Bonnie Hunter's Easy Street - quilted with an all-over orange peel pattern.  No 2 started on Monday evening, and finished on Thursday at 9:45 pm - just in time to go into the packed suitcases for their Friday morning departure.  No 2 was the Just Takes 2 quilt in purples and creams - started as a Mystery in January 2012.  And although some seriously shaky quilting in places, did manage go around all the cream pieces in all the 100 blocks!  I'm sorry that the 4.5" purple border didn't get any quilting, but have promised to add some when I next get to Australia!   So glad Jo pressed all the over 20 metres of bindings for me!  You will have to wait until I get sent photos of them to see the finished quilts - (Jo!?) 


Whilst this was all happening, my youngest niece wanted to sew with my scraps as well - and she did amazingly.  She has taken a bunch of orange scraps home and my sister will be setting up her sewing machine for her to continue with these:

:
I think I've recovered and, after tidying up the sewing room, I am energized to sew again.  Made two blocks of these red and cream triangles (and cut out a stack more reds) for the August Block Lotto.

What a rush!

 These are the three quilts all finished and on a teaser display in the foyer of Jacky's school.

They were sold on auction in function room at a local theatre last Saturday and whilst my husband thought they should have got more, we were pleased that they raised a tidy sum.

Here are some more pictures of the ground floor of her Montessori school taken early evening.  I am proud of her, as she started this school from scratch less than 5 years ago.  There are no state subsidies for private schools in South Africa, so it has been a long journey for her (and her amazingly handy husband!).  The demand for high quality early childhood education means it is still growing!

And finally a picture of the Just Takes 2 quilt with the borders on.  It joins the queue of 8 quilts need quilting!  At least it looks purple and white now, instead of blue and white! 

Lost photos found

Here are the second and third last blocks, and thought to show the backs of the blocks.

 

 And the quilt top made by my mother, just waiting for narrow red border.  It is a log cabin variation, diagonal rows of two size blocks.

 

Almost finishes

Had a marathon sewing session today and now have two big quilt tops ready for borders, etc.!!!! And made 3 in-between stars.  And tidied up some of the left over fabrics.  Photos soon.

Little news, some sewing

I don't know why I have such long gaps between posts!   Am working on very last Just Takes 2 block, but don't know what happened to the photos of the last two finished ones!  On Sunday my niece had a High Tea afternoon with her girl friends (we were supposed to wear hats and gloves and be dressed in pastel colours) to celebrate her upcoming 21st birthday.  The Easy Street layout - yesterday, 4 seams to go now!

One in-between star

My lovely girl Claire, who made the cake and did most of the catering

My niece Nicola and my sister Cheryl

 

The cake with Smarties in the centre

My mother Denise who sewed up the tablecloths and overlays, and another niece, Alex.

Niece Catherine

Layout of Easy Street

Fourth last block - Just Takes 2

Some more small steps

This is the latest, and last but three of the 100 blocks for Just Takes Two:

There are some really prolific quilters that blog and encourage other quilters in all parts of the world.  One blogger that I read and have been following along with her Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2013 is Soscrappy from Florida USA.  I've kept up with each month, but haven't taken any photos until now.  My scraps are colour sorted by strips and bits, so that made the first step easier.  I have been grabbing a biggish pile from my strip boxes of each month, sewing them in a single large strata piece, and then cutting as many triangles as possible, and finally stitching all the left over pieces from that into 2 or 3 pieces.  At the end of the year I'll decide how to use them all.  June's colour is yellow, and these are all the strips I had, and what I created from them.  Please click here to go and see what others have linked as well.

I have been making small English Paper Pieced Hexagons for ever, and saw a mention somewhere that one can make hexagons without paper using a circle of fabric, so had to try!   A fair amount of fabric folded on the back, which I 'm sure can be recovered once stitched!  Partly stitched the smaller ones to see how they turn out.  

And finally, an applique flower with a blurry close-up of the detail.    One of our group members came by a bunch of made-up satin cushion covers, complete with zips, and challenged us to applique them.  There will be a viewer's choice prize at our next meeting.  And then they will be passed on to a charity for their fundraising.   Did this one by hand as I don't like raw-edge finishes, and my working sewing machines only do straight stitches so couldn't zig-zag them.

Mid-week bits and pieces

Well, the weather forecast got it spot on, a full ten days of rain, today was the first day of sunshine, with clouds but no rain, and with more rain forecast for the weekend.  I had a great weekend away with 21 other quilters all sewing our hearts out.   !@#$, no photos, as camera battery died.  This photo was taken on Sunday in the centre of Cape Town (sorry don't have the credits for it) - it's a carpet of hail, but looks like snow - we do not get snow at 10m above sea level!  Sometimes a dusting on the 300m+ mountains close by.  I've never seen this much hail in Cape Town, normally we just get a sprinkling, maybe once or twice a year, that melts in 10 minutes.

 

Only one finished Just Take 2 block, needing a press!:

And some quilt inspiration - these are the tiles behind my sister's stove top:

With a dead phone and no other connectivity over the weekend I nearly missed out on being a Block Lotto winner!  When I got back, a number of patient emails were waiting to let me know.  I needed to have replied to the first email confirming acceptance and posting details.  I should have let the co-ordinator know beforehand that I may not be available when the draw happened.  Lesson is, don't think you won't win!!  I only started participating at the beginning of this year, but had for about a year been following the blog site and trying out some of the blocks, even making a whole small quilt from the May 2012 block.  In the next two to three weeks I should receive a whole bunch of blocks to add to my three, thank-you, thank-you to all who made blocks.

Quilt with wonky Liberated 5-point Stars from May 2012, very wonky!

It's a very wet Sunday night

Other than about a month ago when we had two days of rain, we've had gloriously warm dry autumn day weather leaving us wondering when winter would arrive. A-ha, today!  It started raining last night, and rain is forecast for the next 10 days!  At this moment it is bucketing down!   It's a wonderful sound.

Another week has flown by, but I did manage to work a bit on the irregular-pieced project and I think I'm about half-way through the piecing now.
This is now and last week (the handbag is keeping the polystyrene sheet propped up on a chair):

 

 

Finished one more Just Takes 2 block, and have prepped all the last applique ones:

These are my 3 blocks for May's Block Lotto

Lots of pictures!

17 Just Takes 2 blocks done, in fact I only have two left to paper-base piece, and about 7 or 8 to applique, so these might be the take-to Quilt Retreat weekend to finish.  There a few similar blocks, but each has different fabrics.

Was putting this finished one back in its filing sleeve, and wondered why it didn't look like the picture, so some unsewing and resewing done!

Halves put together wrong!  But interesting!

This is now right!

And the first picture here is the prep for the central applique, and then the finished block.

 And finally the rest.  Now up to 34 star blocks made, one is peeping here.