With Hugs and Kisses

 

Oops, I didn't record where I got the pattern from for this, sorry; if anyone recognises it, let me know! I think it might be from Make Modern (e-magazine) and I will jump onto their website index later and update this post if I find that to be the case.

This quilt measures 55" square and was a very belated wedding gift for my cousin's son and daughter in law, Reece and Charlotte McGowan, who married in April 2021.

This photo below shows the colours as more true (the photo above is a bit dark as was in the shadow); I have not had much luck this year with getting 'good' photo days.

I used a fat quarter pack that I'd had for quite a while, from Moda, but I also don't have the details of that (my record keeping for this quilt project was seriously lacking!)

I used leftovers to piece together the backing, and a polka dot print for the binding.

Mataura Lad for Uncle John

 I finished this one up before Christmas so I could gift it to my Uncle, affectionately known to most people by both of his given names, John Malcolm. Uncle John had a life-changing stroke in 2020, meaning that he had to leave Mataura, the town he had lived in for all his life, to move into a rest-home in Gore. 

I used the walking foot to quilt it with wavy vertical lines, some intersecting, to represent the flow of the Mataura River that runs through the town.

Maroon and gold are the colours for Mataura sports and school teams, so I wanted to use them in a light lap quilt for him; I used a dark navy for the third colour. The rest-home is always well-heated, so I've only used a flannel as the batting.

On the backing I have appliqued Uncle John's initials (which were also my initials before I took my married surname) and used some leftover blocks. 

The quilt is the Zella pattern by Sarah Campbell, which is in issue #40 of Make Modern e-magazine and it measures 52"sq.

Sweet Wonderful You

 

This is a small lap quilt that I have gifted this week as a baby gift; it measures 44.5" x 45.5".

I created half square triangles from a junior jelly roll of 

Kimberly Kight's 'Smol' fabrics for Ruby Star Society 

- I love the apples on it!

It was nice to use some different colours, especially the blue solid for the background, 

and I chose a pink geometric print for the binding.

To quilt it I used the wavy line setting on my machine, with a walking foot, 

and simply made my way along all the horizontal, vertical and diagonal lines.

The jelly roll HSTs technique was the same as used for three quilts in 2017, 

from the 'To the Point' pattern by Amy Gibson.

The backing is a navy and white print - everything came from my stash.  

Brooke is the third daughter of my teaching colleague Aleisha Schrader.

Longtime Friend lap quilt

 

'Long-time Friend' is a 48.5"sq lap quilt, created as an 80th gift for a very dear family friend, Jean Neilson (who has not seemed to age at all in the last twenty years so it seems strange to think of her as having reached this milestone).

The weather was not great for photos (and my handy helper wasn't available for holding it up anyway) so I had to take some indoor photos before I wrapped it up to take to the celebration.

I used a layer cake and the four-at-once method for making half-square triangles (layer two squares RST, sew around the outside edges then cut in half diagonally in both directions).  Super quick! 

Then I simply had to arrange them in whatever layout I chose...I went with making a diamond pattern...

The layer cake was purchased earlier this year and features the Maureen Cracknell 'Homebody' range - beautiful deep navy, tans and peaches.

I quilted with curvy lines in each direction like a wonky checkerboard.

For the backing I used a cream fabric from my stash which has printed gold birds all over it.

Linking up with Kelly's Needle and Thread Thursday - kia ora, everyone!

Crossroads for Wendy

 It was my pleasure to make this large lap quilt as a farewell gift for my awesome workmate of the past 14 years, Wendy Weir, as she moves on from classroom teaching at Edendale Primary to be a special needs support teacher for a number of schools in Gore.

I had saved a link to this Crossroads pattern by Melissa Corry of the Happy Quilting blog  (on either Pintrest or Instagram, can't find it now, so Googled it LOL!) and I knew it would be perfect to use with this black and white Riley Blake 'Delilah' charm pack that has been in my stash for a few years.

I added some extra squares of black and white prints from my stash, and for the repeated 'corners' of each block I used yardage from Spotlight. It measures 63" square.

I chucked in a few lime-green squares as points of interest and contrast too.

(The photos aren't great as I had to take them early in the morning as that was the only chance I had to get my handy helper to hold it up for me.)

The backing is a really cool bubbles kind of print (also from Spotlight) that gives a surprise of colour on the back...

I quilted with an all-over stipple that included random double-loops and I used a polka-dot for the binding.

Linking up with Wendy's (a different Wendy!) New Year Peacock Party - hi everyone!

No Winter Blues Here!

 I finished this lap quilt about two months ago and haven't had the chance to get out for photos - today it's been snowing, which ironically is a cheeky match for the name of the quilt!

This is a lap quilt which measures 38.5" x 42" and it was made with the leftovers from the  Into the Light quilt.

I free-motion quilted different designs in the strips, sometimes going across a double-height strip, or along the length of two strips - I used loops, zigzags, matchsticks, ribbons...

Sharing with quilting friends via Michelle's (From Bolt to Beauty) Beauties Pageant, Wendy's Peacock Pageant and Kelly's Needle and Thread Thursday linky- kia ora everyone!

Gypsy Diamond

 

Measures 40"square.

This was made at the start of the year with leftovers from the Gypsy Mama quilt and I finally got time to do the quilting on it during the Level Four lockdown earlier this year.

For the quilting I did different FMQ motifs in each of the strips, with a simple echoed four-petal flower in the diamond centre.

The backing is a lavender-coloured butterfly print, also from my stash. 

The quilting designs show up well on the back.