My first attempt at McTavishing

This is a lovely piece of fabric I purchased in Sydney - I decided to try my hand at McTavishing as I had not done it before. I also received Karen McTavishe's reprint of her book Whitework Quilting - so I have been drooling over that all morning (yes Pat you can have your copy back -ta)



So this is a table runner and as it was on the machine my brother claimed it for his own - said he loved it and would probably hang it up.

Triangle Of The Week - fixed now!

This is Spanish Moss - I previously put the backing fabric as the bottom piece - I like it this way but also like it the first way I did it. Oh Well - it is fixed now - whew!

BOW & TOW - Completed for this week

This weeks BOW was D2 - Mouse in a Mirror - 29 pieces














And....this weeks TOW was Top Row - Spanish Moss - 22 pieces






My Numbers are now: Jane's Dear Jane - 56:3:4:1129






It is good to have the Block of the Week and Triangle of the Week to keep my progress on track....I would like to finish this quilt this year - perhaps a bit ambitious - but time will tell!

Beautiful Quilt for Charity

Check out this beautiful oriental quilt. A group of ladies on the North West of Tasmania have put it together and are donating it for charity fundraising. They have done the most beautiful work and I love the little applique blocks - especially the Koi.




It was a pleasure to quilt.

ATC's for Scquilters Cheer Me Up Swap 2008

These are my ATC's (Artist Trading Cards) for the Southern Cross Quilters "Cheer Me Up Swap" - April 2008 for those who are not going to Retreat. Three sets of four.

Can't wait to get all the lovely ATC's in return.

My Winning Quilt Is Home

My quilt has come home - I won third prize in the Australian Machine Quilters Association 2008 Challenge..... Looks so much better close up ... but not too close - LOL

Judges were Sue Dennis and Pam Hill - so thanks ladies.

My son says he likes the white rosette - easily pleased is he!

Block of the Week - L9 Walter's Place

29 pieces - I paper pieced this block so my points are good!

Numbers for "Jane's Dear Jane" are now 55:2:4:1078

This weeks Triangle of the Week was Goshen - but I had already done it last week.

Happy Dear Janing

New Bag

This is my latest creation - using design elements suggested by my Dear Husband - rounded centre and tapering up at the top - I have also added a large pocket to the centre.
More stash busted!

Dear Jane Corner Kites

All the Dear Jane Corner Kites are done - complete - finished - yay!


This is Goshen - 74 pieces (I did it last night 14 April 2008)









This one is Longwood - 54 pieces (Done 13 April 2008)










Sadie Rose - 16 pieces (Done 13/14 April 2008) - I have sewn the seams where the coloured pieces meet and then appliqued them onto a background piece. When I did this block for my siggie quilt - I pieced each part with no applique and decided it took too long and was very difficult.











Sarah-Jane - 12 pieces (Done 27 November 2007)

More Dear Jane and Bags

I finally finished my hand pieced Eye of the Cyclone block -whew talk about tricky - I ended up machine sewing the four quadrants together.

"Jane's Dear Jane" - Numbers are - 54:2:1:908
And I have nearly all of my triangles drawn out onto freezer paper ready to go for piecing when I need them.


And bags - these are two bags I made - took me about and hour and a half ... easy peasy . I have used pellon inside to give them a firmer feel while still being slouchy. This is an easy way to use my stash as I used a metre of outiside and inside fabric for the larger brown bag. My husband has recommended some design improvements and I will incorporate these into my next bag .... clever thing he is ... just wait and see!

BOW & TOW for this week - Completed.

I have finished the Block of the Week (BOW) and Triangle of the Week (TOW)


This is the BOW - C13 - Lakota Sioux and has 25 pieces - I have put two of the half pieced squares around the wrong way in the centre - and I decided to leave it as it was and not change it - too hard for the moment!





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This is the TOW - L8 - Northern Lights and has 17 pieces - pieced and applique

So my numbers are no officially 53:2:1:883 for my Jane's Dear Jane quilt. For those of you that don't know - this means I have done 53 blocks, 2 triangles, 1 corner block and a total of 883 pieces of fabric sewn to make these blocks.

I am currently sitting here hand piecing C5-Eye of the Cyclone - lots of curved piecs so it is going slowly.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

Well - I thought this was a bit of fun .... I do love the sea and spend all my holidays at the beach - lol!

You Are a Mermaid

You are a total daydreamer, and people tend to think you're flakier than you actually are. While your head is often in the clouds, you'll always come back to earth to help someone in need. Beyond being a caring person, you are also very intelligent and rational. You understand the connections of the universe better than almost anyone else.

What Mythological Creature Are You?

AMQA 2008 Challenge - Third Prize Win

I found out yesterday afternooon that I have won third place in the pieced section for the Australian Machine Quilting Association 2008 Challenge. http://www.amqa.com.au/index.html

The challenge was to use only orange, purple and green colours and to use the pattern with star centre and nine patches - well I made those nine patches into crosses and quilted it so they had stars in them. I also bound the quilt so that the four corners had the darker purple fabric so it looks like it has corner holders like a photo would. This was a tricky bit of mathmatical measuring to get this right. My prize is $50 worth of pantographs from Hermione Agee at Lorien Quilting - how lovely is that! http://www.lorienquilting.com/

This is my quilt

The back









This is a close up of the nine patches and what I did with them







This is the centre star

Dear Jane - First Triangle Completed

Today I made the block of the week - L8 - Box Kite









And my very first Triangle (Triangle of the Week) B10 - Nicholas' Diamond -
it only took me about and hour and a half - there went my extra hour I gained today when Daylight Savings Ended.



So my Dear Jane numbers are offically .... 52: 1 : 1 : 841

And this is also my 100th Posting.

Today I .....

finished off a little hexagon coaster









Finished off my hexagon bag - I had to add the handles and ta da .... I have used Laural Birch fabrics from her cat range in this bag - I love the fabrics but have no idea what I will use the bag for.

It's Siggie Time Again!

Today I have cut, sewn, stamped and signed 136 signature blocks for the Dear Jane Siggie Swap 2008 - Yep - made them all in one day - and also made an extra 50 blocks so I can start the European Swap again - there are some people whom I owe a siggie to and I must get them in the mail asap. This year I have used some fabric with Kangaroos and Emus that I purchased while in Sydney. They are now ready to be posted to the USA for swapping - I can't wait to get everyone's siggie blocks - this is the Dear Jane siggie swap which is held every year and one person will swap everyone's blocks and send a pack with 135 blocks to each person - wow what a big job that is. Last year I made a siggie quilt with the blocks I swapped - it is on my blog under My Quilts.

Cutting fabric

All ready to go now

Sewing - chain piecing

Cutting corners off

Minature Quilts - My First

This is my very first miniature quilt - flying geese and saw tooth border. Size is 8x10inch - I even quilted it on my long arm APQS Millennium - stippled and stitch in the ditch. I am pretty happy with this - but next time will have to be a bit more conscious of the geese corners, because I have cut some of them off....but this is the first time I have made geese! Love them!

I am definately going to have to make more miniature quilts - they don't take a long time and cost very little - but they allow you to try designs and colour combinations that you might not want to in a bigger quilt. This one is left over batik scraps from my big quilt that I made with batik fat quarters. I even have enough to make more - who would have thought 1 inch square scraps would come in handy.