Honestly ... I have been patchworking

It's been months since I updated this, but I have been happily sewing all manner of items.  Technology has got the better of me, and we lost camera equipment on our lovely holiday in August, so I haven't posted photographs of any projects I've completed for a while.  Also the replacement universal USB cord doesn't seem to like our camera at the moment.

Currently, I'm making a baby quilt for my nephew and his wife for their first baby who is due in a few months time - really delighted about this new arrival.. Also working on a wedding quilt in blues and beige/gold for my niece and her husband-to-be for next year - another very special family event.

I've just completed a Christmas star wall-hanging [cream, gold on cream, red, blue] which was started several years ago as a Round Robin project in one of my quilting groups - very happy with the finished result, now I've changed the outer border - and it's hanging in the lounge for the festive season.

Other finished items include 2 very colourful strip quilts sent to Africa for babies with AIDS;  Christmas bells stained glass wall-hanging [started in 2007?]; quilt using assorted Kaffe Fassett rectangles with sage green cornerstones and binding;  X' s and o's baby quilt given to local Hospital.

Also still on the go this year are 3 completed tops awaiting quilting professionally, as they are to be donated to a special charity for fundraising for burns survivors - have to get the cash together for that, as my machine quilting is not good enough for a raffle quilt.

I have so many projects in mind, I shall never be bored, thankfully.  I  need more energy to complete everything I want to achieve, but I enjoy creating with fabric, and each finished item I can give with love is progress.

Olympics over, maybe a bit more quilting now?

I have so enjoyed watching the amazing athletes this year, regardless of nationality, and regardless of whether they won medals or not - they are all winners in my eyes for getting to the top of their sports simply by being selected to represent their country in their given sport.  As I am a committed couch potato, I can only admire their stamina, sacrifice, and endurance - well done to all of them, and thanks for the spectacle their performances gave me [and millions of other viewers].

Of course, many nights watching TV has meant little patchwork and quilting has been achieved for a few weeks, but I hope to rectify this 'sad' situation soon.  I have finally finished the 3rd oven mitt that was started in 2010 and mentioned a couple of posts ago, as it only needed  a bit of hand binding this month to complete.

   

The big achievement over the past few months has been my beautiful "Geisha Girl" panel called 'Tea ceremony', which I completed yesterday.  It's all machine appliqued on to the original outlined design, using fabrics from my stash, apart from one new purchase, for the obi .  I bought the panel from the Adelaide Craft Show in November 2009 or 2010, and thought it would be relatively straightforward.  Having sorted out some fabrics and pinned them in place then,  I was too daunted by the prospect of machine applique to continue, so it's been waiting a long time for completion.  I was encouraged by friends to try again after Easter this year, and with some slight modifications to the original design, here is my version.  She will be given a special place in our bedroom.

      
   Next on the project list is trying my hand at simple machine quilting of a lap quilt which is now pinned and ready - just need some courage and confidence, so here goes ....

Tour de France in July takes over

Well, not completely, but I have spent a lot of late nights watching these amazing athletes during the 3 weeks of the TdF, admiring their stamina and courage, and enjoying the scenery they travel through as well.  It's meant I haven't done as much hand stitching in the evenings, or stitcihng in the daytime, as my sleep pattern has been even more disrupted and erratic than usual.  Not complaining, and it's been good training for the Olympic Games, which have just begun.

Daytimes have been focussed on completing the binding, at last, of my "Iris quilt", begun in a workshop in 2007 with Anjii Solomon at The Paddocks.  Very unexpectedly and tragically, Anjii passed away last year, so it has been really important to me to finish this lap quilt.  However, I had run out of fabric for the binding, and had difficulty sourcing the original Moda range in Australia as it was no longer current.  Fortunately I located sufficient in an online store in USA on my second attempt to get the correct shade of blue, so here is my finished lap quilt, which I will keep as a personal memory of a very lovely lady.

I've also ordered wide-back fabric and wadding for 3 charity quilt tops I made in April and May, so am ready to get all 3 quilts sandwiched together now, and start some basic quilting as soon as possible.  Hope to have at least 2 completed in next 3 weeks, even with Olympics taking some of my attention.

I've almost completed the machine applique of the Geisha girl 'Tea Ceremony' panel that I began  in early  May - it's been more complex than I'd expected, but I'm happy with the overall look. [ Photo when it is finished.]  Off to stitch some more before TV is switched on again for the Games.

The month has flown

I've been happily sewing, time's gone so fast, and already it's the end of June.  I have made progress on about 9 projects, and even completed a few, which is very satisfying.  Much of the motivation has come from participating in 'Sew its finished' blog and the pleasure I have had from being able to photograph a finished item, ready to post on the blog.


I've also enjoyed learning from online tutorials at Missouri Star Quilt Co, and watching practical demos at my quilting group, so now I'm ready to try out 2 new quilt designs : tube quilting, and 4 strip triangles.


Recently found I had a big unexpected credit on our gas account, so I've been able to use some of the refund money to purchase wadding, some wideback backings and a neat binding tool, which should make life easier when it comes to finishing off quilts in future.  Nice little bonus.


Now Wimbledon and Tour de France are on TV, I'll have to make sure I have lots of hand sewing, binding, applique etc ready for July, so I can enjoy my craft and my spectator sport!

A wonderful find

My friend Heather told me about an American website with great online video tutorials - missouristarquiltco.com  Absolutely fantastic, easy to follow and a great range of topics - over 130 videos currently [June 2012]


Not only that, they have a beautiful shop, in new premises, which I'd love to visit, and will take online orders for standard US$18.50 a flatrate envelope - that usually means 5-6 yards of quilting fabric.  On the off chance, I searched their stock for a Moda fabric I'd used in a quilt and run out of for the binding.  Because the range was released in 2002, none of the Australian suppliers I've checked had any left, but to my delight, Missouri Star Quilt Co. have some and are mailing it with a few other treats I spied in my search.  I'll be able to finish not only that quilt, but a couple of other PhD's with the goodies arriving soon.  So [sew] happy.

'Fur people' and fabric unattended don't mix

Fur-people should not be left attended near fabric or projects - reminder to self!

I was looking for my next PhD to work on for June for Sew its Finished group, and discovered to my horror, that one or both my beloved boys had sprayed in the craft room at an earlier date.  Result:  one PhD has to be washed,  including 4 wool wadding strips, binding and all, plus 9 packets of charm squares - not amused, to say the least, and I cannot work out the culprit.  Needless to say, all 3 cats are now banned from the stash zone.

The one thing that's good about this episode is that I am freshly motivated to sew and have lots of ideas for the charm square packs I've collected over the past few years - gorgeous fabric ranges, mainly Moda and RJR.   Also came across a bag of Kaffe Fassett fabrics and ready to go plan of action, so took advantage of Craft Depot's June sale online, and am expecting some suitable co-ordinating fabric for sashing strips for this project in a day or 2 - think that should sew up nice and easily.

Why the blog name ?

For my first foray into blogging, I've decided to keep a progress journal for my quilting projects, many of which have been languishing for months [or much longer, in some cases] in cupboards, bags and other hiding places.  This means owning up to a large stash of PhD's, which are defined as projects half done, a term I prefer to the usual quilters' term for unfinished projects, UFO's.

My nickname is stashqueen because I've become addicted to collecting fabric, books and magazines since I was first introduced to patchwork about 11 years ago.  I only throw away offcuts that are less than 1" wide, so my  bags of scrap fabrics keep multiplying as I work on a  large range of projects at a time.   I like being able to work on something that inspires me, so I find it suits me to have a variety of projects on the go at the same time.  I am not one of those fortunate, disciplined crafters who start and finsh one project, before beginning their next item ... but I'm happy being me.

This year I was fortunate to meet a lovely quilter, Dawn, who writes a blog 'As sweet as cinnamon', and her website has truly inspired me to make an inroad on my PhD's.  I made a commitment at the beginning of May to complete a wallhanging started nearly 5 years ago, and last night I finished it.   I am so pleased with the result.

This is my version of Julie Haddrick's wonderful art quilt "WedgeTailed Eagle" pattern, and it is made for my husband's birthday.   He has waited very, very patiently for this gift, and finally the eagle can fly to a suitable place in our gallery of eagle photos and pictures.

I am now ready and inspired to tackle the next item hiding in the double wardrobe.

Progress report soon with another completed item photographed - maybe even 2 small ones?