Sewing catch up

It's early morning here, and after sending out emails announcing our Guild's upcoming Fynbos Quilt Festival to be held in Hopefield, decided to get back to writing a post, with many photos.  It's been a while since the last post!

First up, one finished quite big quilt top.  This 365 Challenge Quilt was started the first year it was offered by Kathryn Kerr, and now nine years later, a slightly blurry picture of the top.  I was standing on the edge of a coffee table to take the picture, and then fell off!  Mostly ego bruised, but glass everywhere from a picture frame on the table behind me!  Only after this did I think I could have fetched a step ladder!  The 12-inch block at bottom left has over 170 pieces!  I love this top!

And, amazingly, another top finished, this time it is the Glenday Quilt.  Our Guild President challenged our whole committee to make this one.  I tried to keep sort-of similar colours as the original quilt, housed in the Cultural History Museum here in Cape Town.  It is a quarter size of the pattern (by Diana Vandeyar), because I didn't want hand applique bigger stars, diamonds and flowers!  I hope the minor wobbliness will quilt out.

And sharing an actual finished quilt, but not by me, but made by my daughter T for her friend's new baby. Quilt made in Wales and brought here by my son on his brief but welcome visit last month. This is the proud new Dad!

 

 

And to prove my son was here, and that selfies need work...

 Other sewing has been bits and pieces:  some of Good Hope Quilters' Guild's Mystery 2025 (pattern by Dewald Compion) :

 

Bonnie Hunter Mystery, layout decided upon:

 

A sweet card from a kit at last Guild meeting (kit from Tracy Bouras, The Quilting Co):

 

Another Mystery in progress:

 

Some blue sewing for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge for March:

 

 

I'm really looking forward to a three-day Quilt Retreat next weekend as various admin has kept me away from serious sewing lately.  I have 3 projects that will hopefully get to flimsy stage, but/and the weekend includes a new mystery quilt!

 

But first, as it's Saturday, going off to meet quilty friends!

Wednesday update

 It has been a good week here as I have manged a fair amount of sewing time.

 365 Quilt Challenge:  I have all the 3.5-inch dark blocks complete and have started on the last of the 6.5-inch lighter blocks.  The outer dark border is to be assembled, and until that is done, I have a self-imposed  "no more 365 blocks" until this happens.   The next block will be the fourth corner, and I'm itching to start on that!  The bottom of the small dark blocks in the middle was the very last small one.  The other is the terrible first, and second better attempt, on a pinwheel with mitred corners from an October 3-inch one.

 

 

Three finishes in the past week!

The pink hand-pieced Kawandi, started when in the UK in July, it's lovely and soft. 

 

 

The first quilt on the new-to-me frame, bound and ready to go my sister's school.

 

I have an ecletic collection of yarn, no more than one or two balls of each one, and asked P if he would like a jersey, and to pick the colour.  No pattern, just winged it in a crazy-patch type of arrangement.  Learnt a new way to join shoulder seams with three needles, very neat, and easy to undo when I had to unpick the front to lower the neck-line. (Reminder to self to knit in ends when changing yarns...not wait until the end and have at least fifty to do!)

The second top quilted, this is the pieced back.  My daughter C was here to test drive the machine and frame.  She started it yesterday and I finished it today.  We both still need to work on starts and stops!  More pictures will be taken when it is trimmed and bound.

 

 

And today I was invited to join the rest of the Schools' staff at the year-end function at the Clay Cafe.   This is my glaze painted vase-shaped ceramic base.  This will get oven fired and we may collect all the works of art in a few weeks time.  Colours will change with firing.

 

Quick catch-up

 Definitely some sewing has happened since the beginning of November.  I seem to have got out of the habit of taking progress photos, and even photos of finished projects.  Must do better!

In no particular order of what got sewn:

Bonnie Hunter's Indigo Way - kept up with the units of each weeks' clues, but have stalled now the centre is stitched.  I really liked both blocks, a little less enthusiastic about my colour choices.  Very happy with the assembly sewing.

 

 These are centre nine B blocks, I tried to use the lightest ones in the middle.

 

Little Quilts of Love - Completed this foundation-paper piece (workshop in August 2023) for this volunteer organisation, who make cuddly little flannel backed, no batting, quilts for the bereaved parents of still-born babies.

 

And 13 more needing final finishing (turned right-side out and top edge stitched, with one more to be labelled.  Some are made up from 80-odd blocks from an abandonded project, and others are from a friend who is trying to use up her scraps (just needed borders to enlarge them a bit).   

 

Rainbow Scrap Challenge - not much sewing here, am occasionally busy with a small Kawandi piece in neutrals ( Nov and Dec colours!).  But have joined in with the year long 3-inch and 6-inch blocks quilt along, light and dark green for January...they are soooo cute!   Yes, those are peas in the Churn Dash blocks!

 

 

 

365 Challenge Quilt - a few more blocks sewn, now up to 30 June, but this is a July block (6-inch light).  I am still working from the emails received daily when I started in 2016.  All in good time!

 

 

Bramble Blooms Quilt Along - I have the central (hand!) applique done!  Next step has been disclosed, some thinking is required, but happy so far.

 

 

New Mystery:  Good Hope Quilter's Guild.  Yay, a gentle start.  This is one set of the chosen fabrics.  Cutting to commence soon.

 

Tidying up and Little Quilts

I love Patchwork and Quilting!

When I am working on a quilt project I like to keep all the fabrics for that project together, and sometimes that could be for weeks, months and even years!  The fabric choices are usually from my "finely curated collection" and many have waited a long time to get selected for use.  And, when a project reaches the point when I know no more fabric will be needed, the tidy up is very satisfying.  These are all the trimmed up leftovers from the Good Hope mystery, started 6 January this year.  (Two tops, backs and bindings waiting their turn to be quilted.)  The trimmings are strips of 3.5", 2.5", 2" and 1.5";  squares of 4.5", 3.5", 2.5", 2" and 1.5"; some strings and crumb pieces; various size wonky-ish pinwheel blocks from bonus half-square-triangles.  And, new to me, thanks to Cathy at https://saneandcrazy.blogspot.com/, some "nibbles" - ends of strips after cutting off squares from strips, here 2", 2.5" and 3.5".  If I really like them, pieces of fabric bigger than a quarter metre get put back into cupboard with similar coloured fabrics, just five pieces this time.

And with that tidying up out of the way I had some space and time to work on the Little Quilts of Love.  These are  made from donated fabrics, and are now all finished.

 

 

Once a month the co-ordinator of this project hosts a group of quilters at her home to cut,  press, trim, sew, finish, label (and have lunch).  Some fabrics are donations received, and others are sourced at local shops.  She and I cut 10 kits for others to sew...I came home with three of them!  One now finished, and the other two in progress:

 

 

Lastly, my monthly Quilt Group is doing a Block of the Month, these are October's, a 12" block.  The fabric selections are based on Rainbow Scrap Challenge's "light neutrals" for this month

I am feeling a little bit guilty that there has been a void here, but I'm going to just pretend that I haven't had the will to write anything recently!  When I read another quilt blogger wondering why there were quilters were seemingly blogging less, the guilt deepened!   With that in mind, here are some of the few photos of my minor progresses / odd acheivements. 

A box of green crumbs and strips, that were sorted to this...

...and this...

...and stitched up to this....

Probably about a yard/metre of fun new made fabric.

Finally, just before Christmas, the council conceded to install the new house water meter! We had been waiting for nearly a year for this to happen.

There were some navy triangles in the blue box that were the start of these crumb blocks.

Trying out a new-to-me technique - Kawandi.  Enjoyable to hand stitch!

The garage of the new house all tiled, with the solar power installed, and the finished kitchen through the door.  The area under the stairs is not concreted so has a different flooring.

April is the purple month.  About 30 crazy pieces. Still no fixed ideas of how they will be used!

This is one week of a mystery quilt which I decided to use the brown crumb pieces for one of the fabrics,and I am loving it.  The mystery is over, and now need to sew all the various blocks together.  https://www.goodhopequiltersguild.org.za/mystery-block-of-the-month

It felt good to be writing and sharing, so hopefully this is the start of more regular posts.

End of summer

Gosh, it's been two months!!  I really do need to write more often!

Our summer is drawing to a close, the nights are starting to get chilly, and I kept a jersey on all day today.  I have not been totally idle, just a few finishes, and lots of RSC colour sewing.  I read somewhere that one's blood pressure drops when one sits in front of one's sewing machine, I suspect there is some truth in that, as I definitely feel calmer feeding fabric under the needle.

My sweet son will be returning to the UK next month;  I have enjoyed having him here since November and will truly miss him.

Here he is with my dear husband, at the start of the new house kitchen unit construction.

As of last week we now have electricity to the house!  City council will only do pre-paid meters now, so have learnt how to buy units and to add to the meter!

 

 

My sister won a (tame) game drive at close-ish wildlife centre.  We saw elephants (very far distance), zebras, gemsbok, wildebeest, giraffes, rhino, hippos (their noses in the water), ostriches, lions, other animals and various birds. A very hot day.

 

 

Sign seen on a door in the foyer of a local girls' school - where we are hosting our biennial National Festival later this year:

 

 

A panoramic view of my sewing space, the window on the left is the same one as the one on the right!  Looks like I might have tidied up a bit before taking it!

 

And finally a few pictures of sewing done.  March yellows, all bits and strips sewn up (and back in a box):

 

Bonnie Hunter's last mystery, Rhododendron Trail, actually on the frame.  Sewed about a quarter and had to take the machine off as the top thread jammed up in the top mechanism.  Machine went off to the service centre (for the first time), and now back with quilting finished, awaiting trimming and binding.

Found a tub with lots of two colour trimmings, stitched them into columns, also back in the tub, until I find more to add to this new collection.

 

Another start, from that same tub above, think this will become a table topper.

 

Our Good Hope Quilters' Guild recent mystery, Greenmarket Square.  Have stitched on the last borders since taking this picture

And from the left-over grey bits, with others, pieced the back:

 

 

A gratuitous cat picture.  Two of our three, who all dislike each other!

 

Thanks for reading!