Counting Your Blessings: 2025

December 2025

Well folks, the Poinsettias are bloomin' so it must be Christmas! 

Things never go to plan, least of all when you really expect them to!  So here I am anticipating the countdown to another new year, with enough time to complete at least one, if not two more quilts, before we head off back to our sailing life in May.  I’ve done an early review of my UFO List; the number seems to hover around 13 -15 annually.  They are generally the same ones though, only one or two new ones are added each year!!  

In the last few days, I’ve managed to prep up backings for Beausejour (Beautiful Journey) and Horta Calling Cards but whether I get them pinned and tacked ready to quilt before we go away for Christmas, is another story.  My St Lucia’s Snowflakes are now on my design wall and I’ve decided to add sashing to contain all that scrappy high energy & colour.  

Beausejour. Top completed. YEAH!!! (Pattern by Beth Shibley)

My blue hourglass variation will be next in line for wall space and sashings but only if I can get my Dutch Coverlet fully quilted.  A few more days under the machine should do it, as long as I can pick up the rhythm of machine quilting, having been away from Bertie Bernina for so long.  And he’s still not made it to the mechanic for a service yet.

A sample of my St Lucia Snowflake blocks

My effort to pack a little pack of “something to stitch” while we were away 2024-2025 worked out quite well.  EPP and plenty of scraps made hand-stitching a pleasure and I even set up some boro work foundations to make a few bags.  My little machine from Walmart did me proud, so I am now deciding what to take with me next year.  I was given the papers from a Margaret Sampson George EPP pattern, Mrs Peach.  It’s amazing stripes and loads of fussy cutting of fabric styles I don’t usually buy.  I’m not even sure I have the templates.  So, what could possibly go wrong?   

Boro stitched scraps to now make into something useful

That’s just what I love about the creative life; you just never know what you’re going to end up with!

All Those Damn Stars

Detail of the print is thankfully not obliterated by my intense quilting

I purchased a Moda Debbie Maddy Shibori print “Shimo” layer cake in Hornsby when Hobbysew had a store there.  (Sadly, both the Hornsby and Erina stores have now closed.)  That Layer Cake sat waiting on my inspired thoughts for ages...

I had a specific friend in mind though(for her love of blue and whites of all persuasions), and as this fabric set reminded me of stars in a dark night sky, I recalled a challenge given to me many years ago.  My challenge was to make an artwork based on the Andre Breton’s 1939 poem, The House of Yves Tanguy.  Both Breton, a writer and artist, and Tanguy, an artist, belonged to the Surrealist movement at the time.  Inspired by lines such as “And the printed cloth of the sky” and “With the damned host of stars” I set about looking for a star pattern that would create a feeling of swirling night skies, just bursting with stars.   

Slowly Toward the North. Tanguy 1942.  Seen at MoMA
in 2011, although there were no stars to see in this painting!!

Eventually, I narrowed my pattern choice down to Misty Doan’s Woven Jacobs Ladder.  Yes, I know it’s not a star block but I could see endless stars in those amazing shibori prints!  The Jacobs Ladder design then became a supporting canopy of darkness for them.  This pattern is easy to cut and the blocks went together easily. Apart from a slight error in placing them on my part (nobody notices anyway), I quickly produced a top.

Outside photos using Miss WJ3 as a prop

I had fun putting the backing together, adding a strip of Jocelyn Proust’s Australian birds to the mix.  I finished off with a simple quilting design that I machined on my domestic Bernina.  I have to say that I just loved the modern vibe of the pattern and I’m sure it fits in with our sailing friends’ blue & white theme in their beautiful Urbanna, VA home, which sits in wooded grounds beside the picturesque Rappahannock River.

Under the machine in my Garden Shed

Just for the Record:

Quilt Finished Size: 153 x 182cm
Block Sizes: 12 inch finished
Cut in: 27 November 2023 (Made a trial block for the first time ever!!)
Pieced Top: 18 December 2023
Basted: 29 December 2023
Quilted: Machine 16-21 Jan 2024 over 6 days; 2 reels Gutermann Sulky 30wt 4023 (Natural Taupe) using 18 bobbins (Gutermann 50wt 618).
Quilt Type: Modern
Quilt Finished: 31 January 2024
Exhibited: No
Collection: Gifted Heather & Bill on 5th March 2025
Pattern Name: Woven Jacobs Ladder
Pattern Source: Missouri Star Tutorial (Misty’s Version) 2023
Fabrics Purchased: Hobbysew, Hornsby NSW
Fabric Design: Moda, Debbie Maddy, Shimo Layer Cake 
Fabric Style: Shibori Prints
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton (Warm & White, needled cotton)
Backing: Pieced; 5 fabrics, including Australian birds by Jocelyn Proust

Shibori is a Japanese technique of resist dyeing, traditionally using a bath of indigo.  By finding different ways to manipulate cloth, various patterns are revealed after dyeing.  Handled by master dyers, spectacular patterns can be produced.  It is also a fun way to occupy children in the holidays although probably best to set up outdoors.  Rit or Procion dyes make colourful t-shirts or bags.  Just make sure dyes are set before you wash them in your ordinary laundry!!

Our neighbour came by to offer his opinion of my handiwork too!
He'd found free accommodation on the yacht next door

Warmest of Christmas Wishes

Graphics courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

St Martin, Caribbean

This has been a year of rather few “releases” from my UFO box.  I am certainly happy though, with some small achievements underway, especially on a floating, tiny home.  Just think, another new quilt started!  I also managed to give away at least 6 of my quilts to good homes, so that’s a bonus too.

Well, we won’t be back in time for me to do my annual new year’s UFO box audit, but the promise of travelling so long this year means that, fingers crossed, we will have a full year at home.  Yippee!!  I’m starting my let’s-get-busy list for my garden shed (my sewing room in the garden) even now.  

Wishing you all a wonderful Christmas and a happy New Year with family and friends.  Remember to take the time to do some quiet stitching or perhaps design just a few more quilts to make…

Missing Quiltmania

I actually finished the quilt project on this cover, Colour Game 
(2009, Issue 72) in 2013. I called mine Spice Market.

Sadly, this year on 24 April 2024, Quiltmania closed.  I loved the high quality, glossy mag and its projects were always a source of inspiration.  I never knew which project I wanted to do first.  The content was interesting too and included a world-wide coverage of people and places of interest and inspiration to quilters.  Each country seemed to have its own style, born no doubt from cultural heritage.

QM closed with minimal notice.  I didn’t realise until some months later when, in need of a good quilt fix, I tried to access my e-mags.  Although I generally paid for a “paper” subscription, sometimes I missed out on copies in between subscriptions or wanted to purchase some of the Simply Modern copies as well.  E-mags are also a bonus when living life afloat in a tiny floating home - they don't take up too much room!  Anyway, I also thought e-mags would be safer held on line rather than downloaded on my ageing hard drive.  Silly me!  

The sudden closure caused a bit of on-line chit-chat, mostly about lost subscriptions and the cost of the magazine.  Anyway, at least I knew and,thanks to a Texasgal had a link to the last ever issue.  Here in Aus, quilting supplies are rather more expensive (and less expansive) than the US, and mail delivery fees are another killer.  Anyway, I felt the price was worthwhile for a quality product, especially a European focused one that opened our eyes to quilty delights from around the world.  My only concern after closure, was lack of access to our paid on-line magazine copies.  Nothing heard yet, or probably ever, at this stage.  

My heart goes out to Carol and the team at QM.  My quilting friend’s sister ran a fabric chain (KnitWit) that ultimately failed too.  She explained to us the risky personal and financial consequences of running any business.  I should add here that several quilt shops have closed doors over the last 2 years in the wider Sydney area.  It was not a great year either for my favourite UK on-line bookstore, Book Depository, a great source of hard-to-find quilting books, which also closed.  Quiltmania’s demise though, is indeed a very sad loss for our world-wide quilting community.

Graphic courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

2023 And Me

 

Graphic courtesy of The Graphics Fairy

Yes. it's that time of the year again!  Amazing how quickly it sneaks up on you.  I've been hiding in my garden shed on temperate days and can boast a top just completed.  All easily put together thanks to a Jenny Doan Jacobs Ladder tutorial.  I did muff the pattern a bit!  But it's quite forgiving and I don't think anyone would know (she said hopefully).  If this weather holds, then I hope to have it basted and under the machine for a few quiet days of quilting.  Further activity in the shed has seen construction of heaps of HST's in prep for my hourglass variation inspired by My Sewing Room's Beth.  I plan to leave some time however, to clean up and dig out all my UFO's for the big annual guilt-fest review.  This always puts brakes on my ambitions to start yet another quilt before finishing at least one or two "sleeping beauties".

Sadly, I would like to bid my quilting buddy Margaret a fond farewell (20 Dec 2023).  It was always fun stitching with you on your balcony watching the world go by.  We will miss your kindness, good heart and amazing quilting talent.

This cute little kewpie reminds me of the play by Ray Lawler, Summer of the 17th Doll, written in 1955.  I trust this cutie brings joy to you all this festive season, where-ever you are.  Have a wonderful and peaceful Christmas and New Years, and allow at least some time to spend on your own stitching projects.  Better yet, relax in front of a few good, old fashioned movies while you stitch!  

Williamsburg Bugs (Curious?)

 Waltzing in Spring: 2022  (Started: 2021)

The Curio Collection designed by Betsy Olmsted was another super bargain I purchased at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum Gift shop (Williamsburg, Virginia) in 2019.  So good in fact, I toyed with the idea of getting a second bundle.  Now that I’ve finished this quilt, I’m rather glad I didn’t.

This collection is so distinctive and I am so used to “scrapping from my stash”, that it took me ages & ages to decide on a pattern.  My challenge to myself was to work with only the collection fat quarters and not to add any “blendables” from my stash.  I also didn’t want to cut the pieces too small and ruin all those gloriously bright bugs and butterflies.  Once I found the Fat Quarter Fancy design by Caroline, SewCanShe, in Tula Pink’s wild fabrics, I knew this block, in version II, would work for me.  True to form, it sewed up easily and fairly quickly.  I even managed to make up some smaller squares from the left-over triangles – more fodder for the downsized but still dreaded scrap box! 

Waltzing in Spring out on show at last

But good old Bertie Bernina played up and refused to cooperate, so construction took a little longer than I planned.  Of course, we were still in Covid lockdown during this time too and the repair centre was well outside my LGA.  Such a dance; such a performance!  Dame Nellie Melba could not have done better.

Finally, all blocks were completed.  Not without having to add a few extra fabrics to make up the necessary block numbers, but I think they blend in well with the original collection.  I then spent some time arranging these blocks and finally settled on rows in colour order rather than random placement.  The colours are quite strong and range from blacks to bright colours, so rows seemed the best way to contain all that colour contrast and energy.  The backing was also an interesting decision to make and I finally settled on a bottlebrush design (bright red flowers on a black ground) by Jocelyn Proust then partnered this with a black and white modern print. (Photo when it comes off the wall!).  I quilted this one with a medium stipple in variegated thread.  I rather like the way it reflects the watery theme of so many of the fabrics.  Looking at this quilt seemed to me to be looking into tidal pools, the way we did when we were kids, looking for shells and other exciting bits of sea-life or flotsam. Above the pools, butterflies and dragonflies dance to their own music.  (Check out Heather's amazing collection of rather attractive bugs on Pinterest!)

A few close-up shots

The finished quilt is one that you might either love, or not!  It is quite modern in design, very bold and holds the strength of the fabric design and distinctive colours very well.  I loved the challenges of making this quilt and the opportunity to experiment and grow my own design and quilting skills.  Limiting myself to work with a single collection was a very useful learning experience.  Yes, it was a certainly a moment, and one that I will say I’m glad I had, but doubt I would repeat.

As an afterthought, I’ve finally realised what was bugging me (ha ha!) about the quilt.  It’s modern, fresh and appealing but it really is ALL about the fabric, which is highlighted further by a pattern that features large pieces.  It's not about me, and perhaps not in my style - only time will tell.  It also highlights one of the problems for quiltmakers.  Each quilt takes a great deal of time and effort - from planning to construction.  It’s hard to get to the end and find you are not quite so happy with the result.  Still, it wouldn’t be the first time I’ve unpicked a top to “re-imagine” it!  So, in all an interesting learning experiment and one that took me on a journey outside of my colour-mixing, pattern selecting comfort zone.

Just for the Record:

Quilt Finished Size: 153 x 191cm
Block Sizes: 20cm (8 inch); 7.5” finished
Cut in: 6 September 2021
Pieced: 24 October 2021
Basted: 1 November 2021
Quilted: Machine 27-29 Nov 2022 over 3 full days; 2 reels Gutermann Sulky 30wt 4023 (Natural Taupe) using 12 bobbins (Gutermann 50wt 618).
Quilt Type: Modern
Quilt Finished: 9 December 2022
Exhibited:
Collection: Home #129-2021
Pattern Name: Fat Quarter Fancy II, Free Pattern
Pattern Source: SewCanShe.com**
Fabrics Purchased: From the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum in 2019.
Fabric Design: Curio Collection by Betsy Olmsted (See Link above to her Collection)
Fabric Style: Brights; Bugs, Butterflies, Eggs & Corals
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton (Warm & White, needled cotton)
Backing: Pieced; 2 fabrics

**SewCanShe by Caroline is a fantastic resource & one that I hope will, over time, help tame that overwhelming stash of mine.  (We can all live in hope!!)

Finding something to bind this quilt was a challenge too!
I ended up with a slate blue Bali Batik that seemed to suit.

The Governor's Invitation

 Virginia Reel: 2022  (Started:2021)

I had in my stash a small collection of 1800’s reproduction prints, and had been waiting for the right moment to use them.  I’d seen a wonderful antique pinwheel quilt made in Maryland (1860-1880) in QuiltMania (141, p.17) and that sparked an idea. 

During our stay in Virginia, we had visited Colonial Williamsburg. I never tired of visiting the Governor’s Palace, for its beautiful gardens and inspiring décor.  The Ballroom was especially impressive with bold pinks and bright blues.  Given the local and natural dyes we had seen at nearby Jamestown (albeit used much earlier), the colours in the Palace seemed so surprising but the wealthy were, of course, able to access the best on offer from Europe and elsewhere.  So, there I was in 2019, at the Abby Aldrich Rockefeller Folk Art Museum Gift shop stocking up on (just a few more) colourful reproduction prints from that era.  After all, they were also on sale for a bargain price.  Who could say no to an offer like that?

In the Garden Shed and loving it!

Back home, it took until 2021 before I found a traditional pattern called Double Pinwheel that coupled with my heritage print collection, conjured up a vision of whirling couples dancing the night away in their finery at the Palace.  Needless to say, I had to add quite a few non-reproductions (in the right colours & only from the stash) to fill out the required number of pinwheels.  Eighty to be precise!  Eight rows across and ten down.  I also decided, as I stitched, that I preferred the look of all blocks and no border, with just a “low value” binding so as not to detract from the energy as the colours whirled and soared.

To bring the vision together, I machined quilted (on my trusty domestic, Bernie Bernina) a dense pattern of sweet peas (you will have to use your imagination here, I’m afraid), leaves and vines – nature at its chaotic best.  Such quilting is rather stiff, but I’ve found that it does soften, or relax, a bit over time. 

On the bed in the motel room - the best out-of-the-wind spot we could find...

Sweet Pea Quilting

Just for the Record:
Quilt Finished Size: 156 x 196cm
Block Sizes: 20cm (8 inch) unfinished; 7.5 inch finished
Cut in: 30 July 2021
Pieced by: 10 Aug 2021
Basted by: 18-19 Oct 2021
Quilted: Machine Nov 2022, over 6 days; 4 reels Gutermann Sulky 30wt 4010 (Caramel Apple)
using 24 bobbins Gutermann Quilting Cotton 50wt (variegated dark to light brown).
Quilt Type: Traditional
Quilt Finished: 16 Nov 2022
Exhibited:
Collection: Gifted to Florence 19 Nov 2022 (Greg’s 80^th Birthday)
Pattern Name: Double Pinwheel
Pattern Source: Hopkins & Martin, 101 Fabulous Rotary Cut Quilts,1998, p.75
Fabrics Purchased: From Colonial Williamsburg; also, The Calico Patch, long-closed quilt shop in Nicholls, Canberra; and a few more during RLI expeditions over the years.
Fabric Design: Reproduction Prints & Stripes, plus many extras
Fabric Style: Period Reproductions, American Revolutionary Period & Civil War & others
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton (Warm & Natural, Needled)
Backing: Pieced simply using left-over remnants 

The Governor’s Palace in Williamsburg, Virginia was originally built, starting in 1706, in English Baroque style however was destroyed by fire on Dec 22, 1781.  The existing reconstruction was started in 1931 in Colonial Revival style. 

We tried a few outdoor shots the next day
but it was way too windy!

Cheese & Mustard

Scrappy Bow Ties: 2021  (Started: 2020)

There’s nothing better than putting together all those odd scraps that are too good to throw away but just never seem to be "just right" when planning a new quilt.  I certainly needed to find something to suit a bundle of squares I’d cut ages ago that were sitting idly in my scrap bin.  Enthused by Bonnie Hunter’s scrap philosophy, and the amazing results she achieves, I launched into her Cheddar Bow Ties pattern (2011).  

All I needed were 3 x 2 ½" squares of each fabric to be able to cut sufficient bow ties to make blocks for a decent sized quilt.  Bonnie used a cheddar fabric as her background. Yellow cheese is very popular in the US.  (US-ians like their butter white, too!  We think it’s a real hoot since we’re partial to white cheese and our yellow butter!).  Back to background choices…for some mad reason I went for a caramel colour (Dijon mustard, anyone?) which looked fine with my individual blocks but somehow became Doctor Strangelove and took absolute control when the top was finally pieced.  It was too late to make any changes, so I just had to go with the “flow” and try to make the best of a not-so-appealing background.  

This was supposed to be a “quickie” but I guessed machine quilting was not going to do anything to soften my background choice, so instead settled on hand quilting and using a thick perle cotton thread.  Deep in my thread box, I discovered some skeins of sashiko thread; a nice variegated red through green with an acid green/yellow as well.  I needed a crowbar of a needle, no hoop, miles of masking tape and lots of patience; but it’s finished at last.  The lines are ½” apart and I worked out each one took about 45 mins or more to do.  At best, I managed 3 rows a night, with regular breaks to rest sore fingers.  I’m holding off doing some Japanese boro work for a little while now.  Although I NOW have to confess to loving the look.

I tidied up the edges with a wild Aboriginal design full of colour and movement.  It’s Shirleen Campbell’s “Women Dancing for Rain‘.  It’s an unusual choice for me for this type of quilt but came about after (fabric) shopping with my quilting buddy, Yvonne.  It really does help to step back sometimes and consider other people’s opinions.  

Just for the Record:
Quilt Finished Size: 169 x 169cm 
Block Sizes: 10” (made up of 4 x 5” bow ties) 
Cut in: 12 Apr 2020 (started)
Pieced: 22 May 2020
Basted: 18 Jun 2020
Quilted: Hand: 28 Sep 2021
Quilting Thread: Japanese Sashiko Thread x 2 skeins
Quilt Type: Traditional 
Quilt Finished: 30 Sep 2021
Exhibited: 
Collection: Home #073
Pattern Name: Cheddar Bow Ties
Pattern Source: Bonnie Hunter, 2011
Fabrics Purchased: From the Stash…
Fabric Design: Prints, Stripes & anything to hand really
Fabric Style: Old to Bold
Materials Type: Printed Cottons 
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants 

A Sunshiny Day

 Summertime: 2020  (Started: 2016)

This quilt was something of a mis-adventure.  I just loved being able to paper-piece these wonderful Sue Ross circles and so, for quilt #3 in this design, decided on using a selection of blacks and whites I had acquired over the years.  Yes, including a stash of FQ’s purchased from Keepsake Quilting in 1999.  So, in early 2016, I began piecing up my B&W Circles of Fun.

I kept at it for a while but something was just not working and so it was stuffed, forthwith into the UFO Box.  Fun it was not.  March 2019 must have been a watershed moment because I don’t often unpick a quilt to basics.  But this one needed it. 

Thus, after lingering for another 12 months, it assumed priority as a project to complete during my “early pandemic” therapy.  I really just wanted this B & W monstrosity finished and off the books.  So as to speak!  Its rebirth took most of 2020; I trimmed down the size, removed those hideous pink circles, and turned the border into the backing.  And voilà, all ready for quilting.  By 25^th December 2020, I had another long-term UFO finished.  I added a final touch of bling with some of my grandmother's black buttons to tone down the little yellow centre circle. In honour of it's December finish and bright vibe, it was named “Summertime”. 

A holding photo until I can get a better shot - I'm learning lots about photographing quilts too!
And now that I look at it, I think that centre yellow circle may have to go too...

View the top pre-makeover.  All I can say is, that at the time, it was getting there.  Where-ever "there" is.  Now, I know for sure it’s not the best thing I’ve ever done, but at least its finished and was fun to make.  A foray, if you will, into the world of modern quilting that de-railed a bit but as it’s often said, “the next quilt is your best one”.  That’s rather like “free beer tomorrow” offered at your local.  We’ll see.  

And if you want to share some sunshiny too, here's Jimmy Cliff.

Just for the Record:
Quilt Finished Size: 131 x 131cm
Block Sizes: 21”
Cut in: 13 Feb 2016 (started)
Pieced (1^st try): 8 Apr 2016
Still in Work Box: 24 Jan 2017 (not loving it)
Reconstruction: 26 Mar 2019
Top Pieced: 20 Feb 2020
Basted: 25 Feb 2020
Quilted: Machine: 20 & 22 Dec 2020
Quilt Type: Mostly Modern
Quilt Finished: 25 Dec 2020
Exhibited:
Collection: Gifted 3 Oct 2023
Pattern Name: Circles of Fun
Pattern Source: Sue Ross
Fabrics Purchased: The Stash & B&W Medley purchased in 1999…
Fabric Design: Prints, Stripes & Ethnic prints
Fabric Style: High Contrast B & W with a dash of yellow
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants of original borders

Louisiana Charm

 LeMoyne Stars: 2020  (Started: 2020)

By April 2020, I’d realised that living with COVID was going to be challenging.  I belong to a (non-quilting) group with a small membership who had been unable to meet but we hoped to have a Christmas gathering in order to raise funds for those more deserving.  I thought a simple quilt would make a suitable auction item and help out a bit.

I settled on a Lemon Star pattern from Jenny Doan, Missouri Star Quilts (her fab tutorial 28 Feb 2020, is here) and a nice subtle colour palette of pinks, maroons, greens and creams.  It became my first introduction to making multiple HST’s (half square triangles) which worked out simply and easily, especially with being able to watch Jenny closely and learn from her tips & tricks. 

With little fuss, and seemingly in no time at all, I had a nice top ready to quilt, with time to spare (just) before the gathering.  I normally take at least 2 years to make a quilt, so I was actually rather worried about meeting my deadline.  It all worked out well in the end.  The quilt found a lovely home, a tidy sum was raised, and my stash is slimming off…albeit rather too slowly.

Scrappy stars, pretty in pink (hanging from the "sail loft")

To my mind, the finished quilt had a bit of a French air about it.  The traditional LeMoyne Star block is thought to have originated about 1834 and is named after the Le Moyne brothers who settled in the French Colony of Louisiana in 1699.  Later, in 1718, they founded New Orleans.  The State is home to the Mississippi River, wet-lands called bayous, shrimp boats and oil rigs.  Think vibrant jazz and foot-tappin’ zydeco.  And alligators.  Let’s not forget the ‘gators. 

Out in the garden with that cranky helper, again... 

Just for the Record:

Quilt Finished Size: 190 x 190cm 

Block Sizes: 10” 

Cut in: 17 Apr 2020 

Pieced & Basted: 22 Oct 2020

Quilted: Machine: 1 – 11 Dec 2020

Quilt Type: Traditional

Quilt Finished: 12 December 2020

Exhibited: 

Collection: Home #069

Pattern Name: Lemon Star

Pattern Source: Missouri Star Quilts Tutorial 28 Feb 2020

Fabrics Purchased: From the Stash…

Fabric Design: Traditional Prints & some Stripes

Fabric Style: Soft

Materials Type: Printed Cottons 

Wadding Type: Cotton

Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants & blocks

Underway & trying to find the right balance
of colour for the borders..as you do!

Out of the Box...At Last!

 Antique Toys#3: 2020  (Started: 2006)

Well, thank goodness this quilt, be it ever so small, is finally out of the UFO Box and on the Quilt Bed with all of its other buddies. Started in 2006, when I was confined to home with a broken leg, this seemed the perfect something to keep me busy.  And off my feet.

There’s not a lot to tell other than it was quite obvious that once I started this quilt, I regretted taking it on.  Not so much for the blocks; even the applique was quite enjoyable and finding a suitable border to contain it all was not so difficult.  I stipple quilted the blocks and achieved that finish in two days, so I can only say it was perhaps an “allergy” to embroidery that caused this project to sit for so long…well, it sounds a likely tale.  The good news it is finished.  At last!  An embarrassing 14 years UFO.

Not lavished with too much embroidery...

Just for the Record:
Quilt Finished Size: 130 x 160cm
Block Sizes: 12”
Cut in: Prior to 2006 (some blocks started); Work continued from 21 Aug 2006
Pieced & Basted: Blocks worked between 2006 - 2011;
On Design Wall: 2011; Needs Quilting & Embroidery 2013
Quilted: Machine: 4-5 Jan 2014
Embroidered: Hand: Autumn/Winter 2020
Quilt Type: Traditional
Quilt Finished: 31 Jul 2020
Exhibited:
Collection: Home #068
Pattern Name: Antique Toys
Pattern Source: Cindy Taylor Clarke, 1983
Fabrics Purchased: From the Stash…
Fabric Design: Prints, Stripes, Mixed
Fabric Style: Vintage look
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton

Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants 

View of the back & the Drum signature block

Previous posts about this quilt design can be found (somewhat embarrassingly) in 1988  and  2006.

Beyond Super-Slow

Windom Variation: 2020  (Started: 2013)

(Warning: I’ve included dates just to emphasise, to myself more than anything, how really “slow” this quilt was in the making!)

In 2012 we visited the Southern Highlands Quilt Show held at the local RSL and after, dropped in as you do, to our favourite shop, Timeless Threads.  I purchased a charming “Windom Quilt” pattern along with a Moda Charm pack that just could not be left on the shelf.  Sadly, Timeless Threads in Mittagong, closed in March, 2013.  (31/3/2013).  Our group had, over many years established quite a tradition of visiting the Southern Highlands to work our way along a quilt/craft shop “trail” that included visiting the villages of Berrima, Mittagong, and Bowral.  We tried for Moss Vale too, lunch and coffee stops permitting. 

This photo is from the quilt pattern showing the finished quilt

Timeless Threads had a sample quilt made up in the Windom pattern and I just loved the scrappy design.  I immediately imagined it useful for my many aging left-overs!  In the main, most of the blocks were small, 4” squares.  This appealed as a highly portable project, easy to take to group meetings, either the shorter evening sessions or even our longer monthly meetings.  The central medallion, a tree, did not suit me though, and I eventually decided to make good use of a semi-finished applique block that had been sitting in my UFO stash (since 1988, gasp!) for rather too many years! 

This applique block has a story all of its own – one of those dreadful blue marking pen stories.  The pen lines had heat set on the fabric (from sitting in my car on a rather warm summer’s day) and refused to budge.  In order to save the nearly finished block, a sampler block from Elizabeth Kennedy’s class at the 1989 Armidale Symposium, I embroidered over the lines and added a few decorative flourishes around the applique, including a few of my grandmother's buttons.  Pleased with my efforts, I felt the block did rather need a wash.  Well, my tub of Vanish took those blue lines right out!  I still shake my head to think of it.  This “magic” became a discussion point of our next (October 2014) meeting. 

Meanwhile I kept working on the blocks for the Windom quilt during both 2014 & 2015 even managing to take some away with us on holidays.  I had enough blocks for a photo shoot on my design wall in March 2015.  Aren’t mobile phones sooo handy!  Anyway, after fiddling around with the colours and preferring a pale colourway, I removed most “strong” or contrasting blocks and had the top being sewn up & basted by April 2016.

It took another 2 years to get that quilt machine quilted and bound.  Don’t think it was finished with me yet, though!  The central medallion still caused me grief and hand quilting seemed to be the only solution.  A pattern on the BeBe Bold packaging lent itself to an interesting quilting design.  One that took another 2 years to finish.  Joy of joys, I finished my Windom Variation on 14 June 2020, only eight years later.

Not the best of photos as light was fading from my verandah
& the holder was complaining. Windom Variation: finally finished 2020

Just for the Record:
Quilt Finished Size: 178 x 178 cm
Medallion: Cut in 1998; continued in Feb 2012
Block Size: 4”
Cut in: Mar 2013
Pieced: 2 Dec 2015
Basted: 13 Apr 2016
Quilted: Machine: started 15 Mar 2017
Bound: Jul 2018
Quilted: Hand: started 30 May 2018 & finished 8 Jun 2020
Quilt Type: Vintage
Quilt Finished: 14 June 2020
Exhibited:
Collection: Gifted 3 Oct 2023
Pattern Name: The Windom Quilt
Pattern Source: Timeless Threads, 31 March 2013
Fabrics Purchased: From Timeless Threads (a Moda Charm Pack) & my Stash…
Fabric Design: Mixed
Fabric Style: Soft
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Cotton
Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants 

Zesty Lemons and Zippy Bees

The Queen's Honey Bees, Osborne House:  2019  (Started: 2019)

Well, I’m still on a mission to use up my existing stash and after a somewhat unsuccessful bash at “re-creating” my black & white version of Circles of Fun, I decided to check out the yellow box.  In my other “collection” box I found some small pieces called Crow Hill Apiary Garden that held promise of making the yellows interesting.  Now for a pattern…

Initially, I had thought of a quick & easy snowball à la Kaffe Fassett.  It just seemed too simple.  After all, Kaffe’s quilts sing because he uses his strong and colourful fabrics.  I wanted a bit of design complexity (without all the hard work) that would give my yellows a more modern touch.  After all, some of these fabrics have been sitting in that box for nearly 30 years! 

So, it was with some relief that I happened upon an interesting old quilt in my favourite Nancy J Martin book.  It's a design called Paths & Stiles and was a pattern made famous by Nancy Cabot.  Martin’s instructions are always so reliable, so I happily cut away, making a few changes here and there, then assembled enough blocks to make a decent sized queen bed topper.  It wasn’t until I had stitched up the top that I realised I was sewing another version of Monkey Wrench (or Churn Dash).  This was the pattern of choice for my blue box project from last year, and a single, lonely quilt made in 2018.  Oh dear!  Twilight Zone music plays…

With the Cap’n away, I managed to find time to baste and machine quilt, quick smart.  I cannot tell you the sense of achievement I felt when it was all done.  I’d even noted in my diary “finished top! – happy, buzzy lemons.” At least one quilt finished for 2019 and a very happy, and thoroughly re-inspired stitcher. 

Of course, I didn’t manage to get a photo before I leapt on the plane for warmer weather, so that’s a chore to follow…eventually

If you want to find more Nancy Cabot patterns, then here’s a few inspiring sites to spend time browsing:

• A Flicker Group organised by “Fresh Lemons” with a thoroughly Modern twist on Nancy Cabot designs…just stunning!  I hope the group is still going since Flicker’s new (& fee demanding) ownership.  Let’s see.
• A Nancy Cabot Sew Along Group
• Illinois Quilt History – Nancy Cabot
• And to finish, one of many Pinterest sites with Nancy Cabot (Chicago Tribune) patterns

Now for the Apologies:  I know I measured this quilt before I took flight, but that sticky note is lurking somewhere, with the details of its name, hiding who-knows-where.  All this, including a photograph session, and a name, will be rectified once I hit Aussie turf again, soon, maybe…

Just for the Record:

Quilt Finished Size: 170 x 170.5cm
Block Sizes: 9in
Cut in: 14 Jan 2019
Pieced: 30 Mar 2019
Basted: 5 Apr 2019
Quilted: Machine 17 May 2019
Quilt Type: Modern-ish
Quilt Finished: 24 May 2019
Exhibited: No
Collection: Home #057
Pattern Name: Nancy Cabot's Paths & Stiles
Pattern Source: Nancy J Martin's 101 Fabulous Rotary Cut Quilts p.159
Fabrics Purchased: From the Stash…with maybe just one or two newbies
Fabric Design: Various
Fabric Style: Fresh Yellows & Crow Hill Apiary Garden pieces
Materials Type: Printed Cottons
Wadding Type: Warm & Natural Cotton
Backing: Pieced using left-over remnants
Thread Use Machining: 1 reel
Thread Use Quilting: 24 Bernina bobbins (1 reel) and another 1 reel
Thread Type: Gutermann natural cotton