W.I.P'S

I am finishing of UFO's.  For every one I complete I can start another quilt.
This photo is of a Mystery Quilt run through the Yahoo Group Scquilters MQ in 2002.  When choosing the fabrics I did not allow enough contrast to enhance the design.  Consequently the top languished for years in a plastic crate.  Bronwyn van't Hof ran a class Finishing UFO's.  All the fabrics I took to replace the one I was not happy with, did not add zing to the top.  Luckily Bronwyn had the exact fabric needed in her stash, so we swapped fabrics.  I have to finish stitching down the binding and add the label to completely finish it.
Here it is, the fabric that was replaced is the dark purple to make the X lines in the quilt.

I had quite a bit of fabric left from this quilt and as most of the pieces were some of my favourites I made another top this week.  A Shattered 9 patch.  2 fabrics are different as there was none left over of the border fabric, I added another 2 different purples the spot and the dark swirl fabric.

I cut 6 X 16 inch squares with 1 1/2 inch strips added plain 3 inch border then pieced 3 inch border and the final border is 4 inches.  May not be the right Fibonacci numbers I was working with limited meterage.

Latest quilt

This quilt was made for daughter's friends 2 year old girl.  It is for her big bed.  Mum chose the fabrics from a quilt spotted in a shop.  Machine pieced by me and machine quilted by Kylie Cannon of Beaumaris.  Also made a normal pillow case and a European pillow case.
It is different to make a quilt to the requirements of another person.  THe pillow cases I made are number 2 and 4 in this picture.

Charity Donation

Each year the Sunflower Foundation holds a big fundraising event.  This year it is a Black Tie Fantasy Ball at Wattle Tree Chalet Melbourne May 17th
The Sunflower Foundation supports disadvantaged girls in Australia and Overseas to help them get an education. http://www.sunflowerfoundation.com.au/ This web page will give you all the details if you would like to attend.

This wall hanging is a design by Miriam Gogarty of Ireland so it is not an original idea of mine.

The sunflowers are made from cotton fabric with multiple layers of organza with beaded centres.

I'm back

It is months since I last blogged.  Many of those months I have not quilted at all.  We moved and will all the unpacking, rearranging and finding places for all our things in a smaller area, was a little stressful.  All settled now thank goodness.
In March our granddaughter Chloe turned 13 and I promised her a big girls quilt for her birthday, I still have the binding to stitch down this weekend for her and Chloe loves it.  The quilt is 80 x 80inches so it should last her quite a few years.  Chloe still uses the quilt I made for her when she went into a single bed, that had little fairies on it.  This one I think is very eye catching.  The lady who took the photo said it would look better with grandma in it.

UFO's bite the dust

I have been finishing off UFO's lately trying to make more room so I can start new quilts.
The mauve/purple one is from a kit I bought at Calico Crossroads in Exeter Tasmania, thanks to my dear husband who spotted the sample quilt hanging in the rafters.
The second one is a Disappearing 9 Patch with a Difference.  The difference being I made a mistake in cutting the 9 patch squares and the pieces didn't match well so I cut out circles and appliqued over the mistakes.

For those who know me well they will notice that the Disappearing 9 Patch is not in colours that I normally use.   Another challenge for me this year is to use colours other than my normal purples and mauve tones.

Light Challenge

Below is a small quilt I made for the Textile Arts Group challenge 'Light'.  The background is black synthetic fabric which is double layered, the top layer is scrunched to give the appearance of bubbles.
I randomly cut strips of grey lurex organza and laid these on top of the black, the strips were stitched down with silver thread.  The next step was to attack the quilt with a heat gun melting away some of the layers exposing in some places the white background fabric.  Then I mixed silver and white Luminaire fabric paints and added colour onto the black and white places.  Finally I added more stitching and then zig-zagged the edges together.  I have called this piece 'Cascade of Light'.
As the quilt is black and silver it does not photograph well.

STOP PRESS!!!!!!

For those doing the Mystery Quilt.  STOP don't go any further I have missed a simple step.  How stupid of me.  Apologies for those who are stuck and can't get pieces to fit.  Will upload correct instructions later today.
an embarrassed Fran