A finish, a start and a long pause

 Over two weeks ago I finished one of my outstanding pink RSC Crumb quilts. I used 4.5” Crumb blocks I had stashed away and combined into 4 patches with pink fabrics, interspersing the coin columns with pink Snail fabric.

I used a jagged stitch on my machine to quilt it and I’m really pleased with the result.

I backed and bound it with the snail fabric and it measures 40” square. I’m intending to donate it to the Linus Project when I have a few to pass on.

A few close ups:

And a couple of artistic “drop” pictures!

I’ve decided to call this quilt “Coin Crumbs”.

I am very behind with the RSC monthly colours and had got out a lot of blue scraps so I decided to use one of the larger novelty prints as a centre for a medallion style child’s quilt.

I used the idea I made a little while ago and did a narrow stop border with a blue plaid and used some of my Wonky Stars to make the next round. I managed to sew on the side borders and lay out the top and bottom ones( but hadn’t sewn them together].

Then I had my 4th booster Covid vaccination and reacted very badly indeed, after two days I ended up in A & E and then admitted to hospital. After four days I was discharged on Wednesday evening. Extremely tired and still taking antibiotics and getting used to a change of regular medication so no sewing has happened. I am resting and sleeping and watching tennis from Wimbledon.

I did start some purple Sawtooth stars but they’re on hold too!

Linking with Angela’s So Scrappy RSC blog.

WIP finished! Hoorah!

I had given myself a deadline to finish the WIP Baby Quilt by yesterday. Last night we had neighbours over for dinner, then as soon as they left I hand sewed the binding.  This afternoon I started to hand embroider the label, sitting on the deck in the sunshine.  Super!

After a little while there were two earthquake tremors! Really strong, the strongest we have experienced to date in 11 years of having our house. A shaking from side to side which I thought was my husband moving the dining table ( although I couldn't imagine why!) and then real big staggers through the floor of , hard on its heels, another exactly the same pattern. Apparently a 6.2 tremor about 60 miles from here, but 52 km underground.  No one hurt nearer the epicentre, just a few supermarket shelves shaken and items thrown to the floor.  But it was felt pretty much through both islands.

So, drama over, back to the embroidery!  Label finished, sewn onto the back of Max's quilt and off I set down the slope to our neighbours to deliver the quilt for their Grandson.  How about this for serendipity, they were on a Skype call to their son and I was able to see baby Max sitting in his little chair, smiling away when he heard my voice!  Wonderful.

Tomorrow is Anzac Day so we are off to the Dawn Service, starting at 6.30am. We need to leave at least by 6am so it's off to bed for me.

Let  me leave you with photos of my quilt - our neighbours were thrilled!

And here's the backing, which I love!  Great colour match!

 

A great backing fabric that I would have missed if a lovely Spotlight assistant hadn't shown it to me! Perfect colour and perfect for the parents who own four dogs.

 

Such a good colour match for the front of the quilt.

So, off to bed early so we can be wide awake for the Dawn Service,

 

WIP that has to be finished ASAP

I am making a baby quilt for my NZ neighbours' latest grandson, Max. We are returning to the UK in just over two weeks so, as they say, time is of the essence!

I bought the fabric almost two months ago, from two Quilt shops: Cushla's in Mapua and Quilter's Barn in Renwick and the backing was a bargain end of roll from Spotlight.

I didn't make the quilt straight away as I wanted to make the String Quilt I finished a few days ago.
And then of course there were two trips away, to Sydney and the Bay of Islands, which all meant that starting the baby quilt got pushed onto the back burner.

But earlier this week  I started the quilt.  I had drafted out the design way back when I bought the fabric so it was just a case of cut and sew.  I sandwiched it yesterday and started the hand quilting so I now feel my target to finish by next Thursday is achievable.

How it looks at the moment:

 

 

As you can see the Perle cotton and scissors are ready to be picked up as soon as I have a minute to put in s few more stitches.

 

 

I have made lots of baby quilts over the years but this is a "first" in many respects:

 

• I bought every bit of fabric for this quilt just for this quilt.  I have lots of fabric stashed away(what quilter hasn't?) but 90% of  my stash is back in the UK.. I only keep a small stash here in NZ and I really had nothing suitable for this quilt.  Hence the shopping spree.  It was lovely to buy everything for one project and there is enough left over to make another baby quilt and have scraps for my ever-growing Scraps Stash! Just got to decide whether the left-overs stay here or travel back to the UK with me on 2nd May. What do you think?

 

• I have made a few Coin Quilts before but never combined that design with a band across the top with baby's name appliqued on it.  This is an idea I got from an English quilting friend of mine, Sarah.  So, another "first".

 

• This quilt will be going to South Africa (taken by NZ Granny when she visits in July) and I have never had one of my quilts end up in SA. Lots in the UK, Canada, NZ, The Netherlands and Germany, but this is the first one destined to live in South Africa.

 

I am very pleased with how the quilt is progressing, the bright colours really sing and the novelty prints are very apt, I think.  Dad is a Kiwi so sheep and tractors are good ( Granddad has a tractor). Dad and Granddad are keen bikers so the bike fabric is good too.  Orange for the South African link and a few hearts to show how much this baby is loved. The backing has a pattern of dogs on it, again suitable as Mum and Dad have two large dogs.

 

Off to do my housework and cooking so I can get back to hand quilting!