Spinning With Love baby quilt

 

Final finish of 2024...a cot/baby quilt for our friends (Julie Russell and Oliver Mason) new baby girl, Hannah.

I used the leftovers from the quilt I made for Caci and Josh (fabrics: 'Fresh Dew' by Paula + Waffle for Dear Stella).

I made my own pattern using HSTs to create the pinwheels in blocks of four with a thin sashing in between. It measures 42" sq.

I quilted it with some simple curves and ribbons, using my Bernina Q20 longarm machine.

The backing is strips of leftover fabric and a cute bunny rabbit print.

You Crazy Cat quilt and tote bag

 

Another finish from 2024 - this time a lap quilt for my cousin, Julie Blackler, on the occasion of her 60th birthday.  Julie is a big fan of cats, so I thought this was a good chance to use up some cat fabrics from my stash.

I used some pinks from  a fat quarter pack of 'Darling Heart Garden' by Robin Zingone for Robert Kaufman Fabrics.

The pattern was 'Garden Bloom' from the book 'Quilts From Sweet Jane' by Sue Pfau - I added some extra side borders to make the quilt bigger.

The quilt measures 43" x 45" and I used some leftover fabrics for the backing.

For quilting, I used my Bernina Q20 longarm and did some large free-motion stipple.

I then used the leftovers to also make a matching tote bag to carry the quilt:

Maxi-dress made by me!

 

Another catch-up from the end of 2024...Christmas Eve to be precise! 

I decided at about 3pm on Christmas Eve (while busy making food for Christmas lunch) that I should make myself a new dress to wear on Christmas Day - based on the fact I wanted something to wear that would match my newly manicured nails (see pic further down below) and I remembered I had this tropical print rayon in my dress-making fabric stash that would be ideal.

It is a Butterick pattern 6051 and I was obviously in a hurry so did not do any proper measuring for fit, but being a maxi it wasn't too crucial as it is loose-fitting anyway. The bodice was a bit tricky as the pattern called for two bands of elastic at the waist (if I make the dress again I will just do one!) so I found myself still up at midnight trying to thread through the elastic.  

See how beautifully the fabric matched my nail colour?!?

I hemmed the dress on the Christmas morning before we headed off to my cousin's for lunch (we have a summer Christmas here in New Zealand, for any of my northern hemisphere followers who are thinking I may have been a bit cold for the day!)

The Way That She Dances

 Catching up on some makes from last year and 2024!

This large lap quilt was made in mid-late 2024 as a wedding gift for my teaching colleague, Caci Mineur and her new husband Josh Young (who is actually an ex-pupil of mine!) who were married in October of that year.

I named it after a lyric from the 'Beautiful Crazy' song by Luke Combs (which was their wedding dance song, I think from memory) and the pattern was 'This Way and That Way' from the book '12-Pack Quilts' by Groves and Jacobsen. The fabric was a Dear Stella fat quarter pack 'Fresh Dew' by Paula and Waffle.

The free-motion quilting was done on my Bernina Q20 longarm and the quilt measures 64" x 66".

As with all my quilts, my 'secret signature' of a small snippet of pink gingham (cut from a pair of nappy overpants that I wore as a baby) was sewn under the label.

Lifelong Friends quilt for Margaret

Catching up on over a year's worth of projects! This is from 2024...

This was a Donna Ward 'Summer Encore' BOM mystery quiltalong kit that I bought back in about 2020 but only got around to making it in 2024. 

It measured 51"x61" and used the jellyroll that was part of the kit.

I quilted it with simple horizontal lines, using my Bernina Q20 longarm (with channel locks).

I gifted it to one of my late mum's lifelong friends, from very early in their childhood, Margaret Young.