Absolute Magic

Garden Games: 2015  (Started:2014)

Garden Games

In March 2013, some of the RLI Girls were busy working on a pattern called Circles of Fun by Sue Ross.  Fun - sure!  What I really did like about it was that the pattern could handle a variety of colourways (antique, vintage, and classic to modern) and still look great.  Best of all though, was its paper pieced rings of scraps (the classic pattern is called wagon wheels) and the dreaded scrap basket certainly could take a beating with this one. 

After some convincing (almost 12 months) and the gift of an enormous bag of leftover scraps (Did I really need more?), I started work on my very first paper pieced project.  The machine hummed and so did I.  My bin began to fill with teeny fabric bits, and although I rescued a few large enough for applique pieces, I rather enjoyed seeing a diminishing scrap box.  Work on the quilt resumed after a long break and by mid-March 2015, the borders were ready to go on. 

Fitting the borders was the most touch & go part of the whole process – fitting a curving border is especially challenging.  Despite all my concerns, it went together quite well and I had the quilt backed & basted only a few weeks later.
 
Quilting is the bottleneck in my part of the woods, so I didn’t quite get to hand quilting until October of that year.  I wanted to use a few shades of DMC Perle #8 in yellow– perhaps to tone down that “interesting” choice of green that I’d made for the background.  One thing about using Perle #8 is that big stitches makes the task a lot faster and luckily, this effect seems to rather suit the look of this project.  I’d wrapped it all up just before my self-imposed New Year deadline in late Dec 2015… Yahoooooo!!!

Somehow, the dreaded scrap box has appeared to replenish itself.  Is it related to the Cut & Come Again Pie?  (“The Magic Pudding” by Norman Lindsay is one of my all-time favourite Australian children’s stories.)

Anyway, so began my obsession with wagon wheels…..

Just for the Record:
Quilt Finished Size: 158 x 158cm
Block Sizes: 55cm
Cut in: Apr 2014
Pieced & Basted: Apr 2015
Quilted: Hand; Oct 2015
Quilt Type: Modern/ Vintage
Quilt Finished: Dec 2015
Exhibited: No
Collection: Home #058
Pattern Name: Classic Wagon Wheel
Pattern Source: Circles of Fun by Sue Ross
Fabrics Purchased: Scraps from the burgeoning stash…
Fabric Design: All Welcome, especially uglies
Fabric Style: Random selection
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants

Fiona's (top) & Erica's (above) versions of this quilt. 
That stripe outer border fabric is all machine pieced too!

Back to the Books 2015

Spice Market is my last finished quilt and despite being almost there with another one, I won't be able to make it over the line before we take to the hills again.  Somehow I've developed a backlog needing machine quilting or handwork.  Not to mention finding time to take photos and do a little more research for my quilt album.  Are there ever enough hours in the day?  Still, it is nice to be up-to-date.  Well, kinda! sorta!

Also, I'd better put some time and effort into Textile Tourist, who must be feeling rather neglected this year given all the empty promises of tales of exotic places to be written up.  Still, there's the call of new horizons, lots more adventures on the high seas and quite a few stories to tell.  Just where will it all lead and what lovely textile finds will I discover....  So, I'll be back in time to see those glorious Jacaranda trees in bloom. 

Discovering treasures in humble Viscri, Romania

The Great Unfinished

Incentive to "Get On With It": 2015

2015 hard at work with the new design "wall" unfurled
with a Jen Kingwell design found in Quiltmania underway 

This list is part of my effort to publicly name and shame myself; a challenge to motivate & to get this lot finished (or sent to File 13 - a Bermuda Triangle of quilting & file disasters.  Oh yes, it does exist!). 

1.  (1980) Stumbling Fans
2. (1988) Creative Landscapes
3. (1989) Christmas Fairies
4. (1989) Floral Wreath
5. (1999) Fairy Quilt #2
6. (2002) Thai Ethnic Embroideries
7. (2005) GM Exchange Blocks
8. (2005) Yet More GM Blocks
9. (2006) Antique Toys #3
10. (2008) Explorer Series Homework
11. (2011) Something Flashy
12. (2012) Windom Quilt
13. (2013) Horta Calling Cards
14. (2014) Circles of Fun

Aside from this list of things to do, I've also got to get out the camera again and take some photos of those quilts finished but not photographed.  Another list as long as your arm!  Oh, well....

Incentive comes in the form of a new camera, so once I manage to drag myself away from the computer, it will be tally ho! and on with big push.  Now my next search will be finding how to take better blog photos.  Always Learning.

(Some of the above quilt titles are based on pattern names - only for a temporary reminder of what I was planning or using.)

and this one (Creative Landscapes 1988) has since found the Quilting Bermuda Triangle....