Another Cushion Made

Another UFO is now completed. I had on my shelf four blocks from a class we did at Gail's in Ballarat long ago ... New York Beauty pattern made using foundation piecing. The original blocks had black and white spots, hand dyes and some Kaffe Fassett prints. While I was on a roll I thought to make them up into a cushion with the addition of some Heath fabric in black by Alexander Henry (I bought a couple of metres of this useful fabric a while ago). The result is quite dramatic I think!

Scarves finished

Last time we were at IKEA I spied the new blue and white range of textiles and picked up a "sari" size piece in very light weight cotton. My daughter suggested it would make a good scarf - well two scarves actually. Today I cut it in two lengthwise and hemmed the raw edges on the sewing machine - two scarves for $10!

Foundation Piecing

Recently my friend Louise and I did a workshop at Ballarat Patchwork on Foundation Piecing using freezer paper templates with the Harlequin Stars pattern by Emma Jansen. The class was really well taught by Pam Jansen and a fun day out. I liked the technique and my blue and white fabrics were a good choice, looking quite dramatic. Each star block was made of four identical quarters and we got two completed in the class - there was a lot of cutting first to get started. When I finished up my block it was quite hard to get the centre where the points all meet up looking perfect (mine's not!). I didn't think I would make another 15 stars for the 16 block quilt so I made mine up into a pretty cushion with a blue print on the back. I admire Emma who has made two of these quilts - one for the Victorian Quilters Guild raffle prize and the other for the shop sample.

Magnolia blossoms

Our beautiful magnolia has been flowering for nearly a week. While Spring is still a long way off, it always feels closer when the blossoms come out.

Quilt Show Visit

Louise and I had a big day out at the annual VIC Quilters Showcase and Craft Fair. I was very restrained in my purchases - a packet of magic bobbin washers (so we can all have a try), a remnant from Kelani fabrics for a cushion, a pattern that I just liked the look of and two pieces of Japanese fabric in rusty red to finish off the squares project.

I enjoyed the quilts on show and also the group challenge ones. There were quite a few older style reproduction quilts this year and fewer modern or art ones.