Facets Plus - Finished!

If you’ve been following the progress of this quilt looking at these photos is probably giving you a sense of deja-vu. But that’s what happens when you’re participating in a quilt-along, this one hosted by Amanda at This Mom Quilts.

Finally it is finished and happily installed on the spare room bed and it’s time for the celebratory happy dance.

And the final stages went really well. Even though I was anxious about the thought of quilting this it was smooth sailing. And speaking of smooth, the back is pucker-free as well – a first for me. I put it down to trying a different basting technique that I found on Campbell Soup Diary. I’m lucky enough to have a fairly large table in my sewing space and using clamps to keep the layers smooth worked a treat! I may also have basted more densely than in the past. All techniques I will use again.

Not having a pet to photogenically loll on my quilts I decided to use this very cute toy donkey. Originally he was named (by the toy company) ‘Dopey Donkey’ and came with a backpack full of tiny books with stories about how stupid he was. I thought this was very unkind so promptly binned them even though the backpack idea was kinda cute. Now, of course, he has no name such is the depth of my lack of imagination. If you’ve got any suggestions let me know.

Stats

Finished size is 70” by 80”.

You can find the pattern here

Linking up with Lorna for Let’s Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts and Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Snowflake Swirl Placemats

Remember the Cloud 9 New Quilt Block Blog Hop? Ever since then I’ve had the idea of trying out some different colour combinations, especially after the many suggestions put forward in the comments. With the upcoming entertaining season almost upon us what could be more perfect than a couple of sets of placemats? Not much! So here they are first in the classic red and white scheme so perfect for Christmas.

I’ve gone all out for my photo styling this time, splurging on a few shiny baubles and raiding the garden for some sprigs of rosemary. If you can imagine Christmas carols playing in the background then the whole scene has been set.

I spiral quilted all of these as you can see. The trouble with echo quilting is any flat spots are repeated in every round, nonetheless it’s effective and to the untrained eye of your guests it should go unnoticed, especially once they’ve got a plate full of food in front of them and a glass of your special Christmas champagne cocktail in their hand.

And there’s a blue and teal version for any other time, styled with a bit of dessert (thanks, don’t mind if I do!).

It’s surprising how many mini meringues and blueberries you can fit into an antipasto dish. Just add a generous dollop of double cream - delicious!

Stats

Finished size is 14” x 18”.

You can find the block tutorial here

Baubles were just a few dollars from Kmart (Australia).

The idea of rosemary as a table ornamentation for Christmas came from many places on the internet when I was searching for styling ideas for holiday table settings. There are even tutorials for making simple mini rosemary wreaths (long supple sprig tied so it forms a circle) if you’ve got the time (one here).

Linking up with Lorna for Let’s Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts and Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation

Black Jack – a finished flimsy

I’ve adapted the Double Fat Jack tutorial over at Lily’s Quilts again . This time it was doubled (original cutting sizes minus ½” multiply by 2 and add ½”) to make a quilt that finishes up at 44 x 58 inches

I used two batiks along with a newsprint fabric from my stash (yay!) to make this version (see the others here). 

Summer is definitely on its way – the days are longer and we had our first scorcher on Saturday. Here in Western Australia we don’t have Daylight Saving so mornings are perfect for a pyjama-clad photo shoot in the backyard. Or anywhere else for that matter, since it appears wearing pyjama tops is a current fashion trend, just not teamed with slippers and pillow hair.

Later that day I took it out for a shaded lunchtime photo shoot, carefully hanging it on a brick wall. It looked perfect! And then I realised I hadn’t brought my camera or phone… dammit… I threw a minor tantrum and didn’t go back for another try.

 Linking up with Lorna for Let’s Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts and Kelly for Needle and Thread Thursday at My Quilt Infatuation