A Few Flimsies

Here are a few recent quilt top finishes. The quilt top below is a charity quilt made by the ladies of our church group. I'm prepping the backing this week and I will pass it to our friend who will long-arm it for us. The lady who assembled it said all of our blocks were the right size and it all went together beautifully. For anyone who has put together a quilt with blocks made by different people, you know how amazing that is.

This next quilt is flannel and I only had 5 fabrics in total. I had to leave the last couple of blocks until I finished the layout so I knew which ones to make. The backing is flannel as well, in similar colours. I'm not adding borders. The blocks are 14" so the top is 56"x70" - a nice twin size for a child. This is a good pattern for feature fabrics and I'll likely use it again.

This last top is a scrappy strippy made out of solids. I didn't like it at first, but I think now I really like it. I'll de-thread it and get a backing organised in the next few weeks. I've not measured it yet, but it's a good size.

So that's me for today. I may have success with blogging more regularly if I don't over-think it.

Win this FREE Pre-Cut Quilt Kit! A Beautiful Scrappy Quilt

I love the fabrics in this kit! But the pattern looks great and I can imagine all my scraps in use! Or a collection of fat quarters.

Happy Christmas to me🤗

 

I bought these secondhand books online. Really pleased to add them to my library. I’m looking forward to reading them and working through them in the new year. 

Last minute Christmas gift idea...

 Tutorials for these sweet pincushions can be found at Joe, June and Mae. Click here.

On the home run

 

A little finish

 Pincushion. Wool appliqué filled with crushed walnut shells. A gift for my sister in law. Pattern from Hatched and Patched. 

Click

Chain piecing

 Unpinning and separating I Spy charms sewn in to a four patch. Final block setting not yet determined. 

A little pink project

Under my needle...

We celebrated our 30th wedding anniversary this year.

Just a good sense of humour and realistic expectations.

And of course, love.

Safari Quilt

This child's charity quilt was  made by my church quilt group that included beginner to experienced quilters. Each block was done individually as QAYG (quilt as you go). It measures 40" square. The top was made entirely from stash but I purchased a striped fabric for the backing. I'll try to get a photo of the back before it is gifted to the charity we chose.

The pattern is Safari from Shiny Happy World. Shiny Happy World has a lot of great patterns in this style. I took advantage of a sale and purchased quite a few. I'm planning to do one for my daughter's best friend who has a baby boy. Thinking of this: Beep Beep.

WA Inspired Art Quilters Exhibition

WA INSPIRED ART QUILTERS NEW EXHIBITION

WA Inspired Art Quilters, a sewing group of WAQA, are exhibiting their new set of art quilts in the Museum of the Great Southern, Residency Rd, Albany from July 8 – July 29. The quilts feature wetland scenes. Artist statements link the scenes to traditional Noongar culture.

If you live in or near Albany, or will be visiting Albany in July, do go and view the exhibition.

Floor talks are available July 10 to July 13 – contact wainspiredquilters@gmail.com before July 8

. You are also most warmly invited to the opening at 2pm on July 9.

2018 so far

So when I'm not doing the day job:

Quilting with the church ladies:

Safari from Shiny Happy World.

Hanging with my feathered babies:

Three backyard hens who are pets with benefits (eggs).

And then of course there are awesome skies:

Life is good here in Western Australia.

Finding Time to Sew with These Easy Tips

Great tips - uses the 'just 15 minutes' and the 'little and often' philosophy

Bernina & Zen Chic Quilt-Along: Playing with Triangles

Here's another quilt along if you are looking for a little inspiration.

Check it out here.

New Applique BOM - On My Window

Esther Aliu is starting a new free BOM.

I love flowers in vases.

Check it out here.

Esther also has a lot of information on her blog 

to help you out with the applique.

New Quilt A-Long

Let's Quilt Something is starting a quilt a-long beginning September 1st.

This looks like a lot of fun. 

The curves are gentle and appropriate for beginners.

Click over and have a look.

HBF Run for a Reason

Keep that Run feeling going...

"The Finish Line isn’t the end to helping 199 health-related charities with a donation, big or small, every bit counts. Our charities are researching, educating and supporting people living with chronic illness and these funds help make a difference."

So me and my 36,000 closest friends had a great day on Sunday... ha ha. Got your attention. Seriously, there were a lot of happy people on Sunday. Serious athletes, friend groups, family groups. I saw some pretty awesome prams/strollers with cheerful babies.

My daughter Corbie walked with me as organised, and my husband tagged along as well. We walked a little faster than I normally do, which is slower than Corbie's normal walk and much faster than my husband's normal pace. I was just the tiniest bit puffed at the end, and it felt great. So my goal for next year is to beat this year's time.

Fundraising is just short of my goal and I really appreciate all the donations to Lifeline. It's hard for me to ask people to donate because I know finances are tight and I know most people have 'charity fatigue'. Lifeline is a charity worth putting yourself out there for.

I'm not sure how long this page will stay active so donate now. No one knows what the future holds. Maybe you will be calling Lifeline with your crisis some day. Let's hope someone answers. Click the green donate button. (You can use Paypal).

https://hbfrun2017.everydayhero.com/au/shari

HBF Run for a Reason 2017

HBF Run for a Reason

I've not had much sewing progress since my last post. I'm mostly busy with work, family and church these days. I'm not a hermit though and this year I am participating in the HBF Run for a Reason. I've chosen a charity to fund raise for and have been seeking donations for a few weeks now. Tomorrow is event day and I'm feeling really excited to get out there with thousands of other people.

The charity I chose to fund raise for is Lifeline (13 11 14), a Crisis Support and Suicide Prevention help line. This is a little personal for me as I've known so many hurting people through my day job and sadly several who have committed suicide. We simply must do more for people who need this kind of help. 

I've set up an Everyday Hero page to direct donations to Lifeline. 

If you haven't donated to a charity in a while and want to feel good about yourself, click over and make a donation. Most people won't miss $25. Donate today as my page will be active only for a little while. But you can go over to Lifeline's page for a direct donation any time.

No Sleep Retreat

I guess if I'm featured in the QNews (a newsletter for members of the WA Quilters Association) I'd better get organised and get a post up. I don't have a lot of time for sewing at the moment so haven't blogged properly for ages.

One of the recent activities I participated in through the WA Quilter's Association was a no-sleep retreat. This is a one day sewing activity that went from 10am to 10pm with either hand or machine sewing. I was able to make a good start on a baby quilt for a friend of one of my daughters.

"Splash" 12 inch block

The retreat was held in a church hall which had plenty of light and space. Overall it was a great venue but unfortunately no air conditioning. The day turned out hot, hot, hot at 40C. There were ceiling fans and high windows and we could take our shoes off so we just got on with it. We are tough Aussie girls after all. We took our own lunch and our tea was catered. We had two shops in residence so we got to have a little retail therapy.

Robyn from The Strawberry Thief brought gorgeous Liberty fabrics and a selection of her quilts to show how she used them. She also shared the history of Liberty fabrics and what makes it so special. Robyn has done a great blog post Tips and Tricks - Sewing with Liberty Fabrics.

Tips and Tricks when sewing the Liberty fabric

Our other shop was Anya of The Quirky Stitch. She demonstrated one of her products - a mini hoop which can be used as necklace, brooch, little pincushion etc.

Mini Hoop Necklace with Embroidery

We had a lovely late summer day here in Perth yesterday. We enjoyed time with friends for a picnic and then a walk along the tranquil Swan River. I managed to forget my hat so I'm a bit red today - just call me Rudolph (a.k.a. red nosed)

Swan River at Point Walter

It's cooler and rainy today in Perth - with a little thunder even. A reminder that summer will end soon as it usually does. We will enjoy the cool and rain but no one thinks that summer is done with us yet. I suspect there are plenty of hot days ahead.

Hope you enjoyed your little visit to my blog.