Camping Quilt Finished

I am joining in on Chookyblue's Birthday Celebration this weekend and this is the first project I have worked on.

At last I managed to finish this quilt... this is the quilt that my Gammill Quilting Machine broke down on.

I have called it "The Camping Quilt" because of the centre panel.. just great for a boy.

I bought this fabric last year and am pleased with how I made it, as I did not have any pattern to follow.

I really think I need a new camera, as the colours in my last few quilts aren't showing up as nice as they really are to the eye!

Must have some lunch, then start on something else!
Until next post...
Jewells

My Quilting Machine has broken down.. SOB!!

I was quilting away late yesterday afternoon when my quilting machine started shutting down for no reason.

To make a long story short, the computer now just beeps at me and there is no monitor display, no nothing!

I had one and a half rows to go on this quilt..

I phoned my dealer straight away and she said that she has never heard of it in all the years (and I mean YEARS) she has been with Gammill and she won't be able to contact Gammill in America until Tuesday as USA are having a holiday on Monday...well with the time difference, that is LATE Tuesday our time.

She seems to think it sounds like a computer problem, "which isn't a Gammill problem", and I will have to go through the computer people (Dell) myself, however the computer is apparently still in my dealer's name, not mine as they purchased it and she will have to change it to me.

Can't say it has been over used as I have only done 2 commissioned quilts and the rest has been my own personal quilting.... and I will be receiving 2 more commissioned quilts tomorrow..great timing!

I paid $38,000 for this machine 11 1/2 months ago and to say I am not happy is an understatement!

So I have to be patient and wait... waiting is NOT one of my good qualities!

On a nicer note... my Mum has just finished her quilt top and is actually piecing the backing & binding together as I type this.
Was hoping to have it quilted & finished this weekend, but that is now not going to happen!

Until next post...
Jewells

Quilts in progress

Mum and I have been sewing away this past week and this is the quilt Mum is sewing: 

 it is SOOOO cute.  Those star blocks are 8" with all 4 stars in them, so you can imagine the fiddly bits of fabric she is working with.

The quilt I am working on is this one:
 
Again it was fabric bought last year in the States... I can just see the shop in my mind "Millers" in Charm, Ohio... it is an Amish town and a WONDERFUL place to visit and visit!

Must get back to the sewing.

Until next post...
Jewells

2 Owl Quilts & a Teddy Cot Quilt

 

 First of all, the colours look muddy & washed out in the photos, but even though I have tried taking photos at different times of the day, they just don't show how pretty the colour really is.

I bought this fabric while in the States late last year, with a single bed quilt in mind.  There are 3 different fabrics used in this quilt, all from the same "range".  I was going to have a matching yellow owl fabric (shown in cot quilt below) on the back, but decided that fabric was too pretty to hide, so I used a soft mint green (again shown in cot quilt below) as the backing.

I had some border print fabric left over, so I made the following cot quilt from some of the left over...

 

 I used the mint green and the yellow owl fabric, along with some of the left over pink, then I also backed & bound it in the mint green.

A lady at Bingo, asked me if I had any cot quilts for sale, but she didn't know the gender of the coming great grand child.  After realising I had mainly girly quilts in my stash, I decided to make this Bear quilt up yesterday

 

I used a white on white fabric for the backing & front, then quilted it with a mint green cotton, and used up the last of my mint green fabric to bind it.

I used a 100% cotton wadding and was very pleased with the end result.

Until next post...

Jewells

A long time ago...now an antique!

Many of you would recognise the above photo as a "Hills Hoist", which was invented in Australia in the late 1940's, and to promote the sales, miniature versions (about 5 feet high) of the well know "clothes line" was given to reps to demonstrate how the contraption worked.

Back when Noah was a boy, my father was a builder and dealt with the local building supply store for all his timber, nails and ...well everything... and one day, when Dad was there buying supplies,  the manager of the store was throwing the clothes line on the rubbish pile... Dad asked if he could have it and take it home for his "girls" (my older sister and I) to hang our dolls clothes on.

 I am now in my late 50's and the clothes line has been at my parent's home all the time, until Mum moved in with my partner & I a year ago after being on her own since Dad passed away 3 years earlier.  I insisted on bringing the miniature Hills Hoist to my place and it now has pride of place in our back yard.

I had visions of growing a climbing rose over it, but I think I might just let it stand there on its own.

It still works and I have had many people offering to buy it as they have never seen one that size before.  I hope my daughter will want it after I have gone and then it passed onto her daughter, but I'd say they wouldn't see the sentimental value in it and get rid of it.

Until next post...
Jewells

UFO & 2nd Tractor Quilts Finished

At long last I finished this UFO that was started more than a few years ago.

It was a Christmas block of the month from The Fat Quarter Shop

 

The Christmas colours are not the traditional ones that I like, so I decided to join this BOM to make myself think differently about Christmas colours... it didn't work, I didn't like making it (that is why it became a UFO) and I still don't like it, even now it is finished.  To me, it is all in the wrong colours!

 ...and here is the second quilt made out of the tractor fabric.  I like how this one came out...

..I think it is nicer than the other one.

  

With those 2 quilts finished, it is time to start another quilt.

Until next post...

Jewells

School Chair Bags

 

My daughter sent me a "bought" School Chair Bag and asked if I could make something like it for both of my grand children.

Chair bags have a flap on the back, so they can hang over the back of the child's chair for them to put their stuff in them. 

After taking measurements and adapting the pattern a tad, this was the first one I made. 

  

 I appliqued an owl on it.

 Then I made a second one.  

I used a cross stitch I bought at an op-shop (it was in a frame).

 

 So cute...

 

 Then I found an applique I had made in a lesson on my machine (I had 2 as Mum had made one too).

So I made this one.

 

Oh dear! I couldn't help myself and look what I ended up with!

so now the kids have 6 bags to choose from and then my daughter said she would sell the rest for me at my grand children's school.

Until next post...

Jewells

Easter Swap received

 I was overjoyed with what Wendy from USA sent to me for the Easter Swap.

Even though she posted it on time, the postal system let us down and it took nearly 3 weeks to get to me in Australia... but it certainly was worth the wait.  This is what I got:

E:   Embroidery Thread

A:   Artist Cards

S:   Snoopy Easter Fabric

T:   Table Runner

E:   Easels (Made with pegs & chalk paint!)

R:   Ric Rac

T:   Table Scatters (Easter Bunnies) & Tissues

I:    Inch Ruler

M:  McTavishing Sampler (read Wendy's blog to understand this!)

E:   Easy Quilt Project Cards

Thank you to all the ladies that participated in my Easter Swap.. everyone sent & received.

Until next post...

Jewells