MY FAVOURITE COLOUR IS BROWN

I finally gave in to repeated suggestions from various people to make a quilt in colours other than my favourite earth tones.  So, after finding a pattern for a simple chevron quilt I bought six half yard lengths of pink, green, yellow, and orange toned fabrics and then set to work. The fabrics looked so pretty together.

I started off very enthusiastically as I have always admired chevron patterned quilts and because I was eager to try out the quick method of making half square triangle units by sewing pairs of large squares together and then cutting them apart on both diagonals.  Making all those pesky half square triangle units was so easy.

It wasn't until I started pressing the seams open that I began to have second thoughts about the colours.  But I decided to press on and see how the blocks looked when laid out together.  Hmmm.  Maybe I'd like them better when they were all sewn together.

But as the rows progressed the doubts grew.  And my enthusiasm waned.  Finally the quilt top was completed.  But no matter which way I looked at it I could not find one thing to like about it.

 

 

 

Just thinking of all the time and expense still needed to turn the top into a quilt was disheartening.  Then it occurred to me that there might be someone out there that just might like it.  So now it's  folded up neatly and waiting to be donated to Project Linus. 

 

 

 

And now I can move on, or should I say back, to what I really love.   Earthy tones.  Especially brown in all it's many shades of tan, mustard, and chocolate.  I've spent the last couple of days cutting fabrics for two small quilts and couldn't be happier.  I'm no longer ashamed to say that brown is my favourite colour. 

 

 

  

On a completely different note, for Christmas Day my daughter Allison decided she wanted to have Apple Crumble for dessert as she is not overly fond of either Plum Pudding or Christmas Cake. She said she'd make it after work Christmas Eve, but when I realised she hadn't thought to buy the ingredients, I decided to surprise her and make it myself. 

 

I'd never made Apple Crumble before because it's Allison's specialty.  After finding a basic recipe on the net I added a few ingredients to create a dish everyone agreed was delicious so I thought I'd share.

 

 

Bronwyn's Apple Crumble

 

To make the crumble, combine together I cup of plain flour, 1/2 cup of firmly packed brown sugar, and 1/2 cup of rolled oats.  Rub in 100 grams of cold butter until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs.  Then stir in 1/2 cup of chopped walnuts.

 

Distribute an 800 gram can of cooking apples evenly over the bottom of a 6 cup capacity greased baking dish, then sprinkle generously with nutmeg and cinnamon.

 

Spread the crumble evenly over the top of the spiced apple mixture and bake for 20 - 25 minutes at 190 degrees C until golden brown.

 

Can be served warm, or better still cold the next day when you can really taste the flavour of the nuts.

 

We served it with double cream, brandy custard and rich vanilla ice cream.  Some of us had all three.  But I'm not admitting to anything.

 

Enjoy!!  

 

 

 

Too late for a photo.  It was too popular!!

 

Happy Quilting,

 

Bronwyn

 

 

 

 

IT'S BEGINNING TO LOOK A LOT LIKE CHRISTMAS

Where has the year gone? It's been a very hectic lead up to Christmas this year with not as much time for sewing as I'd like.  I made a tiny dress as a thankyou gift for the daughter of the young lass who gives me lessons on my new Janome.  This is the first little dress I have sewn since my own girls were young and it was so much fun to work with this lovely bright fabric.

I've also experimented with magic nine patch and magic four patch squares.  What an easy way to sew tiny squares together without cutting and handling very small pieces.

Another technique I tried was pleating.  The fabric on the tree in this small Christmas quilt is pleated. It was a quick and fun project to make.

And what a wonderful surprise when I opened my Secret Santa package from Small Quilt Talk group to find an amazing framed pineapple log cabin block perfectly pieced with the tiniest pieces.

 

My main focus over the last two months has been in sorting out the files on my laptop.  I had so many things saved to favourites.  Not in separate folders, just file after file after file.  My documents library was almost as bad.  These shortcomings were highlighted when my husband asked me to find something he knew I had saved and he attempted to help me find it in amongst all the mess.  How embarrassing.  After a few pointers from my husband and "Mr Google" I now have everything at my fingertips.  I even created a new Sewing Library and have all my quilting, sewing, and machine embroidery information filed in easily accessible folders and subfolders.  I have even managed to teach myself how to scan on our new multifunction centre, aka the fancy new photocopier.  So happy days.  Now, not only can I find things, but I am trying to limit photocopying and go paperless as much as possible.  So, yes, it does appear that you can teach old dogs new tricks.  It just might take them a little bit longer to learn.

With Christmas just around the corner it has been fun putting out all the Christmas decorations at home.  I just love the happy atmosphere they create. 

 

 

 

 

 

Wishing you all a wonderfully happy Christmas and a bright and prosperous New Year.

Happy Quilting

Bronwyn

AUTUMN LEAVES IN SPRING????

While we are embracing Spring in Australia, the small quilt challenge for October was to incorporate the maple leaf block into a design.  I have always loved this block.  It was one of the blocks in my first large quilt, an album style quilt run as a block of the month over twelve months in 1998 at
The Quilter's Store in Auchenflower, Brisbane.

I hand appliqued and machine pieced this quilt in 1998-99 and hand quilted it in
1999-2000.  Making the quilt involved learning lots of new skills -  needle turn applique, how to inset seams, how to baste a large quilt together, mitring borders and hand quilting.  No wonder it took so long to make!!!!

The small quilt challenge was a much easier project. The day I finished machine quilting it I sponged out some chalk marks and hung it on the line to dry.  It was so windy that the little quilt looked like a gymnast going round and round the uneven bars just begging to be watched.

I included a bright red leaf as a reminder of Autumn on the South Island of New Zealand.  During several trips to New Zealand I have been amazed at the bright yellows, the striking reds and oranges and the deep maroons of the spectacular autumn foliage in Christchurch and Queenstown.  Because of our milder climate and the type of trees planted in Brisbane we don't see such an abundance of autumn leaves nor the depth of colour found in colder areas. I quilted veins on the leaves to distract from the squares and half-square triangles in the piecing.

I so enjoyed sewing the maple leaf blocks for that quilt that I was inspired to make another smaller quilt with different fabrics for each part of the leaf. 

 

Mid October I visited the Stitches and Craft Show at the Convention Centre in South Brisbane.  My friend Judy and I both travelled there by train.  We live approximately two hours drive time apart so it was a perfect opportunity to catch up.  I was very restrained, buying only a small bundle of reproduction fabrics.  My main aim was to find information about threads and stabilizers for machine embroidery, and about machine embroidery patterns that can be used for quilting on a home sewing machine.  So while I didn't purchase much on the day, I have lots of information about different websites for online tutorials and shopping.  Enough to make my head spin.

Queensland Quilters hold their annual quilt show in conjunction with the Stitches and Craft Show.  These photos give just a glimpse of some of the exquisite work on display.  

Beautiful Applique

 

1/4" Hexagons in Liberty Fabrics appliqued onto a white background

 

Dear Jane

 

Hand Appliqued Small Quilt

 

I also saw a little stool which I loved. I've asked my husband to make a similar one for me, another project to add to his retirement "to do" list.  I love the little storage area underneath.  So cute!!!

 

 

 



Another display I saw recently at my local markets centred around a lovely set of old sewing machine drawers. Very pretty.

 

 

 

 

We've been out boating in the warmer weather. My daughter Allison enjoying the sunshine.

 

 

 

While we haven't been catching too many fish, we enjoy watching the antics of the birds, especially the pelicans.



 

 

And the swans at the lake are growing up far too rapidly.                                                                   

 

 

 

 

Until next time,

 

Happy Quilting

 

Bronwyn

  

 

SPRING IN AUSTRALIA - FLOWERS, QUILTS, LIGHTS

I recently went to the annual Toowoomba Carnival of Flowers with a friend and this is what we saw.
Garden beds of flowers, flowers, and more flowers !!!!

 

 

 

 

 







 



We also took time to visit two quilt shows and the local quilt shops while we were there.  I found a beautiful Jo Morton fat 1/4 bundle and some King Tut quilting thread which just begged to go home with me.  How could I refuse?

  

There were many beautiful quilts, but I have never seen quilts as small as the ones in this display.  The hexagon quilt is on a little bed approximately 6 x 8 inches. The crazy quilt on the other bed was beautifully detailed, and there was a quilt with the tiniest pieced triangles on the cot.

 

 

We also visited my favourite country wares shop Gottabee Country where you can find all kinds recycled timber furniture, textiles and decorative household items.



 

But as a self confessed chocaholic I was confronted with the most alarming piece of information!!!

 

On another trip during the ten day Carnival of Flowers festivities, this time with my husband, I visited the Spring into the Country craft show at Geham, a small community outside Toowoomba.
I found an old ice cream scoop to add to my collection of kitchenalia of rolling pins, beaters, bottles and bowls.  My husband remarked that it looked very old, probably dating to the 1950s, probably as old as us.  That was a comforting thought!!!

Also during September we went to see the laser light show as part of the annual Brisbane Festival.  We met up with a relative from the country down in Brisbane for a conference.  After a lovely dinner at the Treasury Casino in the city, we walked across the bridge to South Bank to watch the display.  





 

 

I've also spent lots of time this month learning about my new sewing machine, practising machine quilting and using up more of that never ending supply of antique floral fabric. 



 

 

 

And I've made a small pumpkin quilt for Halloween, one block from the Pumpkins on Parade pattern in the Fall 2013 edition of Primitive Quilts and Projects magazine.



And the swans on our local lake are growing up beautifully.

Happy Quilting,

Bronwyn



QUILTS PAST AND PRESENT

I thoroughly enjoyed making Kathy Tracy's Nine Patch Doll Quilt and am delighted with the results.  But I think I'm ready to move on from my "mustard" phase.  In other words, I've almost run out of that wonderful fabric.

 

I've also made two needle cases from Kathy's book "Remembering Adelia".

 

.

 

The green and red needle case is for myself.  The blue and white one for my friend Judy.  Blue is her favourite colour.  I surprised Judy with it when we went to the Queensland Art Gallery in South Brisbane to see the Quilts 1770-1945 display on loan from the Victoria and Albert Museum in London, and she remarked on how handy it would be when making hexagons.   

 

Quilts 1770-1945 showcases 200 years of British quilt making history with approximately fifty patchwork and quilted items including bed quilts, bed hangings (curtains and valances), baby quilts and sewing accessories on display. The workmanship and attention to detail in these items is amazing.  Exquisite hand piecing, quilting, teeny tiny hexagons, embroidery and intricate beading. Also on display was the famous Rajah Quilt which was on loan from the National Gallery of Australia in Canberra.  This quilt was sewn by women on board the convict ship HMS Rajah during their transportation from England to Tasmania in 1841. 

 

The exhibition provided a rare opportunity to see all of these quilts close up.  Unfortunately photography was not allowed, but images from the Queensland Art Gallery Program Guide and the cover of the book documenting these quilts gives a taste of the items on display. Judy and I each purchased a copy of the book to drool over at our own leisure.

 

 

 

  

 Today I decided to tackle my stash (i.e. messy bag) of Antique Flowers fabric scraps.

 

 

Nothing sewn, just organised.  One set of fabric cut and sorted into piles of assorted greens, blues, pinks, yellows, and cream floral fabrics for a scrap quilt.  And I already had the perfect backing fabric for this quilt in my stash!!! 

 

 

Other larger pieces of creams, yellows, and pinks  "in waiting" for inspiration.

 

 

And finally, one set of antique florals and co-ordinating backing fabric to be given to a young quilter just starting out.

 

 

I'd only just finished sorting and tidying up when I heard the postie outside.  He'd left a parcel in my letterbox.  One I had been told to expect from a lovely generous American quilter.  Yes, you know who you are.  Thankyou from the bottom of my heart.  The reproduction fabrics are just gorgeous.  And such a variety.  I'm overwhelmed.  It's all too beautiful to cut.  I think I'm going to have to leave it spread out on my desk for a while just to admire.  So very, very generous.  Thankyou so much.

 

 

 

Until next time,

 

Happy quilting,

 

Bronwyn