While August marks the end of Winter in my little corner of the world, instead of the freezing westerly winter winds we usually have at this time of the year, we've had very warm days with clear china blue skies. So our jumpers, jeans and boots have been discarded for short sleeve shirts and 3/4 length pants. Hooray!!!!! Spring has sprung early this year. The trees are blooming and the swans at the local lake are patiently awaiting their new family.
My husband and I enjoyed driving to Toowoomba an hour and a half west of Brisbane recently, returning home through the small country towns of Crow's Nest and Esk where we browsed through some interesting antique and old wares shops looking for just that piece of must have pink or amber depression glassware we love. Although we arrived home empty handed, we saw some lovely pieces. Just not that one vase, plate, or pair of candle holders we couldn't live without.
But we did see some interesting old sewing machines.
And the perfect cradle to display doll quilts - a child's wooden cradle dating back to the mid 1800s.
My sewing has been moving along nicely this month. I'm getting better at using my new Janome
MC 12000 sewing machine which is a quantum leap from the very basic machine I had been using for the past 20 or more years. A machine on which the needle up/down and reverse buttons had stopped working quite a while ago.
I've finished the top of my nine patch doll quilt, and it's waiting to be quilted. I've also completed one of my UFOs - a Chinese Coins Scrap Quilt. It was so easy to stipple quilt once I learnt how to use the software and mastered positioning the quilt in the hoop. I hadn't used an embroidery machine before, so it was a bit challenging at first. I'm delighted with the results and feel very fortunate to have my new machine.
I wish I could say that I have now used up all my Antique Flower fabric scraps. The journey with these fabrics started when someone generously gave me a collection of scraps to make a quilt called Leanne's House. I loved the fabrics and all the hand embroidery involved in making that quilt, but needed to buy additional fabrics to complete it.
That left me with even more Antique Flower scraps, so I decided to make an 84" square Desden Plate Quilt out of the remaining fabric, another UFO awaiting quilting. But I had to purchase more fabric to complete such a large quilt, and of course that created more scrap fabric.
Then I saw a pattern for a floral basket quilt that I knew would be the perfect use for those pieces.
But when that was finished (and I pieced the border to avoid buying any more fabric) I still had leftover fabrics so I decided to make my Chinese Coins Scrap Quilt which I thought would be my last Antique Flowers project.
But no, there are still more scraps (I suspect they're breeding), and with these I plan to make another version of a Chinese Coins quilt and perhaps a bag. And hopefully then I'll be done with this Antique Flowers phase. It's a little bit like those ads that say, "But wait, there's more...."
And, while it may seem like this has been a never ending journey, looking back at these quilts has reminded me of how much I enjoyed working with these beautiful fabrics. And it's interesting to see how well the fabrics work together in different combinations across a variety of patterns.
Until next time,
Happy quilting
Bronwyn