Another check-in

Where does the time go?!    I mean, wasn't it New Year just yesterday?  And lo and behold, the next New Year is just around the corner!  

My old/new news:  still working from home, and I am still enjoying it.  The world is still trying to figure out how to live with Covid-19.  I am grateful to have been vaccinated.  Four stitches in the finger that got in the way of my scissors - all healed now.  My son is visiting us from the UK for an extended period while he completes his studies.  My grandson started Nursery in Wales, and he is a constant delight.  My mobile phone went for a swim in our pool - have new one but it's not as nice!  Luckily managed to get all pictures and data off the old one but only if plugged into a power socket!

Well, sewing... I am satisfied with what is getting done!   A quick summary of the year:  21 quilt tops pieced or assembled, pieced 9 quilt backs, 11 quilted and bound (8 in the past month!)

I play along with Angela at So Scrappy and this year aimed to make at least one top from random/orphan blocks in the Rainbow Scrap Challenge (RSC) colour of each month, happy to say, goal exceeded!  In August I had a light-bulb moment (don't laugh), why not piece backs from less loved fabrics whilst the quilt top is still pinned up and being admired- best idea this year!

The reasons I used-to-have for not wanting to go near the quilt frame:

•   No backing ready 
  
•   Throat space quite small (9") on machine - starts at 6", diminishes to 4"  work space.
  
•   Batting not at hand, or needs to be joined
•   Thread always breaking, both top and bobbin
•   Rather be fondling fabric and piecing
  

I think (I hope) I have overcome/learnt to live with these problems.  My Pfaff Grand Quilters are not long arm machines, just fast straight stitch machines (great workhorses for piecing) and without stitch regulators.

• Next year will be the Year of the Backs!  Will make backings each month in the RSC colour and prep bindings
  
• Looking for and trying out 4" height free-motion quilting designs - keeping the designs very loose
  
• Bought WIDE batting;  I keep yearning for the fabulous bamboo I got in Australia, but making do with local polyester
• Thread problem resolved:  using a bigger needle 90/14 - polyester thread in bobbin (has a little stretch) - and using cotton quilting thread on top.  Last eight quilts, only one thread break!
• Fabric - always time to play!

In September, under the prompting of my very good friend - The Quilting Co -  challenging us to get UFOs moving, I listed all (100) of mine.  Am glad to say that has already reduced to 92.

Aah!  Just discovered that I have access to (some) pictures without uploading from my phone!  These are three of the finishes.

My niece and her two daughters, getting the baby's quilt.

Folded hexagons, zig-zagged together, and bound with left-over bindings:

 

Curvy Squares:

The jacaranda tree in the garden of the new house that will be finished next year.  It was severely trimmed three years ago before the building started and is now glorious:

That's all for now.

Assignment progress

I put together the centre square of the third practical assignment, and it went together brilliantly - all the points matched beautifully in the centre on the first go....problem is the square ended up too small.... so today did another one, size is right but I had to unpick about a dozen times before the points all met!  Can't show photos of finished pieces until the assignments have been submitted.

These are photos of the wrong-sized one in progress, and I love how the pieces spin in the middle on the reverse!












This is the wall yesterday morning:

We have lived in our house for 33 years and every year I promise myself that I will take photos of the tree in the front garden as we head into autumn.  It is still green, engulfed with a Virginia creeper (which I cut back to the ground almost every year), but within a few weeks both the creeper and the tree will turn into glorious oranges before the leaves drop.  I will post a couple of pictures a week to show the changes.  I have no idea what tree it is!  This photo was taken in the morning with the bright sun on the the foliage across the road.  I really like this tree, so when we had the front wall built about 25 years ago, it was built to curve behind the tree!  Underneath is a lavender bush and in the curve some shade loving plants. Just to the right is a hibiscus, which needs shaping.