More secret quilts revealed......................

Hi there quilt lovers today I have two more of the 'secret' quilts to reveal. The Country Yard girls have been very busy making some beautiful quilts so their customers can rest their eyes on some very tempting quilt candy. The first one is 'Garden Maze' a Lynette Anderson design, made with Lynette's fabrics.

Measuring 58" x 70" custom quilted, poly/cotton batting, Glide thread and the binding attached completely by machine.

Lynette's sample had quilted hearts, but I had different ideas, Kerryn said go for it! Using a curved ruler (ProEcho) and some free hand looped feathers and swirls.

The swag border worked well to frame the quilt, some 'picket fence' quilting on the outer edge helped pop the swags.

Kerryn chose a grey Tula Pink wide backer for the backing.........................

Next is 'In the Spring' a design by Leonie Bateman a sweet table topper........................

           Measuring 38" square, poly/cotton batting, Kerryn asked for light custom quilting.

Sunday saw me out tramping again, this time Tanekaha Forest . A beautiful spot with some lovely views of Mangawhai beach.

We ended the day with a swim in the ocean and an icecream.........a perfect way to end the week!

As the year winds down, why does everything feel so wound up?

That's a question to ponder. Why does there seem to be a rush and almost panic when I head to town for my usual shopping? People driving like there's no tomorrow, shopping like they think the world is ending and they won't get bags of potato chips anymore!

Anyhow you can visit with me awhile for calm and a look at a pretty quilt................
Gillian's charm quilt for a grandchild is ready to have the binding attached and gifted with love. Gillian asked for the all over quilting design (edge to edge quilting -e2e) "Splash" as that is the pattern she had last time and she loves it!

The quilting is over Matilda's Own polyester batting and the variegated thread is by Superior - Fantasico called "Playhouse"..........which is a perfect name for a child's quilt! I had the perfect backing, a lovely vibrant blue with little swirls. Thank you Gillian.

A sneak peek of the lovely quilt I am working on at the moment, my Facebook page will have follow on sneaky peeks if you are interested.

Most of you know I work one day a week at The Country Yard, my local quilt shop, well one of our visiting fabric reps - Claudia was retiring so a special gift was made by the four of us "Country Yard Girls".

Store owner Kerryn and Raewyn and Bernice completed the sweet little stitcheries and pieced the top together leaving me with my part: the quilting and completing the construction of the cushion.

I loaded the cushion front and backs together and quilted fairly simple classic quilting, straight lines and a bit of stipple and of course feathers! You can see in the next photo the two back pieces that I did a rambling feather over both pieces.

When all the quilting was completed I sliced the three sections to their correct sizes, attached binding to the back pieces made button holes, sewed the front and back pieces together, sandwiching the prairie points in between, then stitched on the buttons and binding on the edge of the cushion.
Raewyn made this cute label from a re-purposed doiley, sweet aye!

The cushion was made with a new range of Tilda fabrics. I have been told Claudia was delighted with her special gift!

I have had my Christmas tree and decorations up for a week now and thought you might enjoy a look-see.............................

My Santa display, the next photo is taken at night with the fairy lights shinning merrily!

My upside down Christmas tree hanging from the ceiling, why you ask? Because I can....simple!

              Christmas is even in the bathroom...........ok so I'm bringing out my inner child!

I enjoying seeing all the very special decorations made by friends, myself but the ones I love the best are the ones my kids have made over the years, the chewed bauble - my son asks why I don't throw it away? Because it's special, so it's got a hole in it? So what, it symbolises life, us as humans, we aren't perfect are we, we have our faults, our 'holes'.

Lynette Anderson's 'Christmas Fun'

 

Gail Pan's 'All Things Christmas'

Gail Pan's 'A Merry Christmas'

So with that completed, there is still a bit more quilting to be done before I take a small break over the Christmas/New Year period. Thanks for stopping by, be calm, stay safe.......................and remember there are plenty of bags of potato chips at the supermarket! :-)

Another Fabulous Friday!

Howdie, howdie all, the summery weather sure is setting sail here in New Zealand. It's indeed a fabulous Friday, but that is also the name of today's featured quilt. Made by Lois as a Mystery sampler through The Country Yard

Lois liked how I had quilted Noeline's Fabulous Friday (see this post) but wanted her's to be a little different. You will notice some similar quilting designs but with a few different features, which makes it more interesting for me when I get three quilts the same design.

Over the years I have quilted many times for Lois and there is always a common theme either in the quilting requests and /or the fabric and it is cat's.............she LOVES them!

Abother common feature in Lois' quilts is her love of Lynette Anderson Fabrics. This quilt fits that section nicely.

                            Lois chose a swagged border which frames her quilt beautifully.

Here is a before and after photo and to echo Lois' words when she picked her quilt up: "Quilting really does make the quilt"......thank you Lois!

The 'before quilting'

The 'after quilting"

Lois and Jenny's quilts and a Christmas quilt.................

Hello friends, it's a been a busy week, a week of quilting! Want to see three of the quilts finished this week? There are other quilts finished but there will have to be a short wait until I can share them with you.  First is Lois' quilt.................................

Made with Lois' favourite fabrics -Lynette Anderson. A simple 'stack and whack' type quilt made in a class at The Country Yard.  Apart from Lynette Anderson fabrics, Lois also likes LOVES cats, so she had me quilt 'Kitty Kat" which is a fun edge to edge pattern.

The quilt measures 70" x 88" poly/cotton batting, Glide thread - 'Maroon'. Thank you Lois!
Next is Jenny's applique quilt made for her coffee table. Jenny ask for simple custom quilting and four quilted flowers in each corner.

Measuring 39" x 41" which will be a nice size for her coffee table. Quilted flowers, ditch stitching and some curling tendrils.

Thank you Jenny. Next is an easy on the eye 'Christmas' quilt........apparently Christmas is nearly here!

I kept the quilting simple on this one too, as instructed by The Country Yard store owner Kerryn.

Made as inspiration for those wonderful layer cakes. Straight lines and looping stars (which help cement the Christmas theme) and my favourite part, the Greek Key in the middle section.

                     Measures 52" x 69" poly/cotton batting, Glide and Madeira threads.

                        Thank you Kerryn! Happy Christmas preparations to you all!

Wrapping up the quilting week and a bit of last week too........................

Hi there friends! Nice to have you back for another visit to see what I have been up to. Quilting and a bit of tramping and of course other life necessities, that's what's been happening!

The first quilt to share is Sue's, lovingly made for one of her granddaughter's who is soon to marry a man from Turkey. I think Sue did well to add some touches of Turkey through the quilt.

Sorry no full photo, much too soggy and wet to be taking quilts outside at the moment. The bulk of the quilt is made with creams and whites, then Sue added the strips of the richly colourful 'Turkey' fabric. She asked for an edge to edge design and chose 'Pashmini' and she also chose the Maderia AeroQuilt thread in the following shades top and bobbin:

The quilt measures a rather large : 88" x 107". I'm sure it will be well loved and treasured throughout the years.

The next quilt is also one of Sue's. A cute little ( 42" x 44") one made for a special little girl for her first birthday.
Edge to edge pattern : "Butterflycharm", thread Gunold in softly pinks - white.

                          You can see the butterfly's on the pretty backing quite nicely.

      Next is Gaynor's Chateau Hexagon quilt. A Lynette Anderson' button Mystery from 2015.

These are sweet little quilts with so much charm and interest with the stitchery, applique and the finishing touch of the hand painted buttons, which Gaynor will add now the quilting is complete. Gaynor ask for light custom quilting.

Adding a few quilted flowers in between the beautifully hand stitch flowers added a point of difference and dimension.

At 26" x 37" this makes for a perfect wall hanging in an entrance way or a sewing room. Below is a photo of the back.................................

Last weekend I did a couple of small tramps and spotted a few photo worthy opportunities that had me stop and take my phone out to snap a shot.

And this as I came round the corner................ a scramble under the fallen tree then a quick phone call to the council to alert them.

 That was part of last week and part of this week, I hope your's was interesting and productive?