Another quilt for New Zealand

I was delighted to hear that Libby Rose's quilt arrived safely in New Zealand.  Everyone loves it and I hope Libby Rose uses it a lot.

Another New Zealand neighbour emailed us on Sunday to tell us that their 7th grandchild had been born. Last year I made a quilt for the elder brother Max and now I needed another boy quilt for new baby Tommy.  The last two quilts I have made are definitely "girly" quilts but I already have two Boy Quilts in the cupboard which I made last year. It always pays to have a stash of completed baby quilts.


Last night I finished the hand embroidered label and so now I am going to parcel it up and take it to the Post Office and send it on its way to NZ.  Tommy and his family actually live in South Africa but as Granny is flying from NZ to South Africa in a month's time I am sending the quilt to her and she will take it out for me.  We have decided that's a better way than sending directly to SA - I don't think the post is always reliable.

So here is the quilt which I called "Elephants on Parade":

 

And in an hour or so it will be on its very long journey:  UK to NZ to SA!

Travel well little elephants!

Pink, purple & orange Quilt - finished!

Another finished quilt - my 4th for 2016 and my 2nd for Siblings Together.

And the pieced back made from several different fabrics.

 

About three weeks ago I sewed together 12 Sewing Bee blocks which were a UFO from 5 years ago.

 

I added 5 hearts to one block as it looked rather empty in the middle.

 

 

 

And here it is in the finished quilt:

 

 

The appliqued hearts were hand blanket stitched with embroidery floss and then I hand quilted around each heart using a variegated purple Perle cotton.

 

Another of the blocks looked very pale and minimalist compared to some of the other blocks so I added 5 triangles which were blanket stitched and hand quilted in the same way as the hearts:

 

 

I also hand quilted in white thread around the windmill sails to make them stand out more.

 

Three more of my favourite sections of the quilt:

 

 

 

I am so pleased with this quilt.  Another set of UFO blocks turned into a quilt which will be donated to Siblings Together, such a worthwhile cause.

It has made a very useful-sized quilt, 50" x 62".

 

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!

 

Gifting a baby quilt and starting de-cluttering

So far there hasn't been too much sewing happening here for a variety of reasons.

At the end of March we returned from our 3 months in New Zealand and there was lots to do - house, garden, catching up with family and friends etc.  We also had a short trip to Holland to visit friends over Easter and in addition I had two unexpected trips to A & E, one in Amsterdam and one back home.

However I have managed to embroider and sew on a label for my Peter Rabbit Quilt and this was handed over to my next door neighbour this morning.  Her daughter had a baby girl a few days ago so this is for Eadie.

 

I made the quilt top a couple of years ago and then it was put away in the cupboard.

Last year, as part of my finishing UFOs campaign it was finished.  Definitely a quilt for a baby girl I think, with so much pink included. 

So, I hope baby Eadie enjoys it as a playmat and as a quilt for cuddling.

 

Eadie's baby cousin Freya was born only three weeks before so both of the baby quilts I have gifted so far this year have gone to the same family.

 

Our Dutch friends were so kind and looked after us so well whilst we were staying with them. We met again their elder daughter and her two little children, Nolan-Jay and Eden-Rose. Eden-Rose is a delightful 3 year old and typically "into pink".  She also loves her cuddly toys and dollies and her favourite pastime is tucking them up and taking them for a walk in her dolly pram.  So, as part of a "Thank you" to our hosts I am making a very pink Doll's Quilt for Eden-Rose.

 

Lots of hearts which have been attached with fusible webbing but I am now hand blanket stitching round them with matching embroidery floss.  I love blanket stitching so this is a very enjoyable part of the quilt making for me.  I will add two borders and perhaps even a little pink ric rac for extra embellishment.

De-cluttering is uppermost in my mind at present.  As I was unpacking from New Zealand I decided it was time to go through every cupboard and drawer in the house and throw out as much as I could.

Last week I started on my wardrobe and so far have taken three bags of clothes to the Charity Shop, a paperback I finished reading since I came home and returned lots of unused medicines and dressings to the chemist's for disposal.

I have really got the bug now and am determined to be ruthless and give away anything I have not worn/used for a long time.  This morning I made another visit to the Charity Shop, taking 5 T shirts and a pretty skirt that I have not worn for probably ten years.  I doubt I would now fit into it and it is definitely too young a style for me.  However, each time I had sorted through the wardrobe, back the skirt went because I thought the fabric was so lovely I should make some cushions from it.  Well, that has never happened, so out it went this morning.

My aim is to sort through a cupboard or a few drawers each week until the job is DONE!

Has the Spring cleaning and de-cluttering bug got you too?