"Happy Birthday Barbara".............................

When a notable birthday rocks around and you are asked to contribute to the making of a quilt for a friend it's nice to say 'yes I can help'. Several of Barbara's friends stitched and pieced blocks, my part was the quilting part. Here it is as it arrived in my studio pre quilting....................

Pretty darn amazing don't you think! Now for the quilting part, there are some close ups so you can see some of the blocks, rather than just a birds eye view.

Sometimes when I quilt these types of quilts I like to let a bit of my cheeky personality spring forth!

I wonder what 'notable' year it was for Barbara?

                                       The following block came all the way from England!

                       

So there you have it, each year another birthday comes around and you just never know what the 'fairies' might bring you! The finished quilt.

I just remembered I took a photo of Barbara receiving her beautiful quilt! Here she peeping out with several tears in her eyes.

To finish this post off here is the latest quilt on my machine, it's a big job, lots of quilting! Back to it. Thanks for stopping by.

Custom quilting Mariners Compass quilt and a Round Robin Quilt.

Two very different quilts to share today, a Mariners Compass - custom quilted and a Round Robin quilt - all over quilting design (E2E). First is Annah's Mariner's Compass made for her son who is a sea captain.

Although Annah wanted custom quilting she didn't want it densely quilted. There are lots of bulky seams due to the foundation piecing. This quilt measures : 66" x 70".

To keep the 'compass points' dimensional I quilted only the dark side with a simple pattern meander.
There are parts quilted and others that only have the required ditch stitching. The background was easy as I just followed the vertical lines of the linen fabric.

Annah loved the addition of a cable on the border. This was marked using my white Bohin chalk pen.
The part of this quilt I am most excited to share with you is the most perfect backing fabric, an old world type map...........yes New Zealand is there!

A couple more photo's of the back......................

                               Thanks so much Annah, I hope your son loves his quilt.
                                          Next is Janette's Round Robin quilt.

Janette asked for all over quilting (E2E) in a contempory design. I used a square spiral design and a putty coloured thread called Mother Goose.

Janette told me the appliqued baskets were left over from a project from several years ago that she threw into her 'Round Robin bag'. The quilt grew from there with friends adding their part.

Winter seems to be hanging on even here in 'The Winterless North', lucky winter is my favourite season! I am filled with the wonders of nature and all her beauty not matter the season.

Thank you for stopping by, here's hoping your weekend is enjoyable. I will leave you with some very wise words, something to ponder.

Customer sampler/round robin quilt

Jacki was part of a round robin group making a quilt designed by 'Janz Designs' ( Janis & Ans) called 'French Connection'. See Kerry's I quilted last year here. Jacki had been collecting fat 1/8th bundles for sometime & thought that this would be a good project to use them up on.

Jacki likes loose quilting, nothing too dense. We used cotton batting & Madeira poly neon threads.
Before I share some of the blocks with you, check out the pieced backing! Jacki loves pieced backings, they sure make for a point of interest.

Some nice big plain blocks to play with my feather wreath stencils.
Because I like some continuity with the blocks on sampler quilts, I just had to add some more feathers.

More feathers anyone???

Thanks Jacki!!

I just wanted to share a cute freebie pattern with you.

I made this for a special friend, hung it on my wall just to look at it & love it so much, I stitched another to keep for myself!!
This is an Anni Downs freebie.( see here for the pattern) Anni's original is made with applique, but I fancied stitching mine. The first I stitched using Cottage Garden Thread, called 'Warratah' the second one I used one called 'Kangaroo Paw', both very similar in colouring. They only took one evening each to stitch. Then I used the fabric I got gifted from Lynette a couple of years back to finish these off. Then bought some lovely wire hangers from my fav quiltshop.

I am hoping to squeeze another customer quilt in before Christmas, as it is needed early next  year......'next year'.......doesn't that sound strange?
Here's hoping you are all well & NOT going crazy with the whole Christmas rush!

Thanks for stopping by.

team playing......................

When a few friends come together to make a quilt for a special friend that is having what some call a milestone birthday, it is all about team work. The featured quilt was all about teamwork, a few secret meetings, some sneaky swaps of fabrics & conversations.........but all for a good cause. My part in this birthday quilt was the quilting, six other friends made the blocks, or 'rounds'.

The centre block was inspired by Leanne Beasley's block she designed for Breast of Friends for the Australian Homespun magazine then in a traditional manner the next 'rounds' were added by each friend. As you can see I 'doodled' to my hearts content!

A few feathers here & there, some micro-scribbling, some echoing. I used bobbin fill, Madeira poly neon's , Gunold & Glide threads.

 

 

More feathers for the border........then off for the binding to be attached.

So what do you do when you are left with scraps??????????
.........................Make a scrappy backing of course!

Now I'm off for a very special weekend..................I hope you all a great weekend too!

Pssst.....more secrets revealed! ....................

This quilt is made from Annie Downs book " Some kind of Wonderful" ........and it IS a wonderful book!  I had to buy one for myself. Kerryn made this using  "Itchings" by 3 Sisters of Moda.

I did a loopy, trailing paisley vine all over in a beige Madeira Polyneon thread.
Please don't feel nosy by clicking on the photo's for a closer look!

Next is a wall hanging from Whimsical's Button's & Blooms book
Using the same thread as the previous quilt I did whimsical flowing loops.

Next is another wall hanging made from a panel called " A Quilters Home"

The last of the secret projects................ a table runner ..................... very simple quilting.

And last but not least two cushions for Kerryn. These were both from mini Round Robin groups she was apart of.

this one was from Helen Stubbing's 'stitching Round the Block'