FMQ/Q16 practice pillow

Catching up on sharing some projects from last year and earlier this year...

 This pillow was made from a panel that we were given to work on during our Bernina Q16 ruler-work class at the NZ Quilt Symposium.  The class was a chance for attendees to try out using a table-top Q16 machine.

I was planning to purchase a long-arm machine so took the class as a chance to try out the table-top version (and learn a bit about how to use rulers when quilting).

I was really pleased with how I went with the quilting; it was great to try out some curved rulers.

Uncle John's Armchair Caddies

 In January I took some time to update my 'maker's journal' with craft projects and cross-referencing with photos and blog posts - and I have a few projects from the past year or two that haven't been shared, so will get them here on record! 

My Uncle John is living in a rest-home in Gore and when another cousin was visiting he mentioned that he kept losing his TV remote, so she contacted me early in December to ask if I might make a couple of armchair caddies for him.

Earlier that same day I had moved two leftover blocks from a quilt I had made for Uncle John, and wondered what I might use them for...perfect solution!

I checked out some ideas and patterns online then came up with these caddies, keeping the pocket large and simple so it is easy for Uncle John to reach into them and grab what he needs.

They first measured approx 10" wide by 20" long, but I then added another 5" to give more fabric to tuck into the chair and hold them in.

Christmas Stocking for Florence

In January I took some time to update my 'maker's journal' with craft projects and cross-referencing with photos and blog posts - and I have a few projects from the past year or two that haven't been shared, so will get them here on record! 

This is the Christmas stocking that I made in late 2022 as a gift for my cousin's newest daughter, Florence.  Her big sister, Lucia, has an angel-theme stocking.

I used the same stocking template that I have used for all the felt stockings that I have made for other children, and a gingerbread man motif that I have also used before.

These buttons have been in my stash, waiting for the right project...

It is all hand-stitched; slow stitching is always so satisfying.

A Lucky Dip of Diamonds

 

I am catching up (again) with some finished projects from the start of the year.

We had an absolutely gloriously sunny and hot summer here in the deep south of New Zealand (unlike our poor rained-out/cyclone-affected fellow Kiwis in the North Island) and so I struggled to find 'good' days to take quilt photos (if it is too sunny it washes out the colours and creates dark shadows).

Finally had a cloudy day last week, on which my handy hubby was also home at the same time as me and the clouds, so we rushed outside to get photos of this beauty so I could then gift it.

This has been laying over the spare sofa/couch for the past two months while waiting for its photo session and I got as much pleasure from seeing it every day as I did from when I was creating it!

In the summer holidays I sorted all my strip/string scraps into blues/greens, yellows/reds/oranges, pinks and purples, and neutrals/blacks/whites/greys.  Mainly because the bag was overflowing and I needed to tidy it up.

I have been wanting to attack that scrap pile for a while, so chose to do a stringy foundation block, inspired by Jessica Dayon's Instagram tutorial, and as shown in the example created by quilted moose.

I used 7" squares of a white tone on tone from my stash.  I put 2" marks from one corner to use as the starting points for placing the strips, then simply started sewing by reaching into the blue-green bag and sewing whatever strip was pulled out. My only 'rules' were to not have the same fabric on the same side more than once, and to mix up the widths of the strips.

I really enjoyed pulling out strips and remembering the projects that the fabric had originally been used for...some were well over ten years ago!

The finished quilt measures 52.5"square...and it only used up about half of the blue/green strips (blues/aquas are the colours I have probably used the most in the past decade).

As well as dealing to some scraps, and making use of a stash fabric, the quilt was also a great chance to then make use of my new Bernina Q20 longarm to do the quilting. 

I chose to do free-motion pebbles in the white areas, and I used a straight ruler for lines in the strips.

The main problem was my quilt frame is currently only 5 feet wide, and although the quilt itself fit on the frame, the sewing machine couldn't sew right to the edges as of course the base of the machine could only go as far as the sides of the frame.  

So I had to quilt to where I could, then take the quilt off and turn it sideways to do the rows on each side that the Q20 needle couldn't get to, but it all got done in the end.

The backing was also made from stash fabrics - a cute 'fox and friends' print.

I have gifted this lap quilt to an awesome friend, Nicole Elliott, who had admired a progress photo of it that I shared on Instagram/Facebook, and who I thought might like something to snuggle under if she has any 'blue' days in the months ahead as she deals with a health issue that has cropped up recently for her.

Sharing on Michelle's Beauties Pageant linky post - hi everyone!