17 in 2017 - Tablerunner #6 finished!

Tablerunner number six is complete!

This one measures 18 by 29 inches.

Matchstick quilting and a small dent out of the scrap basket!

Chrysanthemum Quilting!

It was my birthday last month and I did receive some quilting goodies! My sister sent me over a signed copy of Emma Jean Jansen's book By the Bundle and four fat quarters. I ordered myself a copy of Modern Machine Quilting. Grace drew my portrait as a sewing super hero. And my in-laws deposited cash into our bank account so I could go here and spend it! The fabric on the left is what I purchased there as well as two delightful five inch square packs by Kaffe Fassett. I did intend to add it to the pile of "beautiful to look at, I will use you one day" Kaffe fabrics I already have,

But instead I added three more squares to each and they have become Tablerunner 7 and Tablerunner 8. I totally disagree with the husband who suggested I have gone with a simple design to get closer to my tally of 17! I am letting the fabric speak for itself Daz, cutting it up and adding other fabric would have taken away from the beauty that is Kaffe! Can you sense him rolling his eyes at me??!

So to add a bit of pizzazz to this runner, I turned to page 71 of my new quilting book and decided to give Chrysanthemum Quilting a go. It has added a nice texture to it.

17 in 2017 - Tablerunner #5 finished!

I finished Tablerunner #5 earlier this week but it has been a busy week so I'm only getting around to blogging it now. I'm really happy with this one, I love the colours, I love the scrappiness, I love  the spiral quilting. Might be hard to give this one away! It measures 13 by 34 inches.

I quilted this in an anti clockwise direction. Big mistake.It got a bit bulky in my machine's throat towards the end but being a small item it was manageable. Next time clockwise Helen, clockwise!

So Daz worked it out, if this is tablerunner #5 and I want to make 17 for 2017, I have 12 to go. We are in June, so 6 months to make 12 tablerunners. That is 2 a month. Or 1 every two weeks.

Or half a tablerunner every week. He continued to break it down to days and hours and then minutes. I told him to be quiet. But it did point out to me that I need to get my skates on! It is not impossible yet!

Here is the sunset from the end of our driveway earlier this week. Pretty.

Matchstick Quilting

It is a the end of a long weekend here in Western Australia. Today was "WA Day". An anniversary that "commemorates the foundation of the Swan River Colony near Perth by European settlers." Personally to me it means a sleep in till 8, another coffee in bed and some sewing time! So I got stuck into quilting my latest tablerunner. First I did white......

Then I added pale green between the gaps and leaving more gaps to add in some pale blue.

It has created a great texture. I brought myself a copy of Modern Machine Quilting for my birthday a few weeks ago and apparently this is called Matchstick Quilting. Well there you go, I learnt something new today. :)

Wordless WIP Wednesday #10

Wordless WIP Wednesday #9

Blue and Green Scraps!

Scraps! Scraps! Scraps! This is all the blue scraps I have retrieved from my scrap basket. I have enjoyed sewing the latest scrap rainbow tablerunner that I thought for next one I would follow a similar pattern but just do blue and greens. I got so into it that I have already pulled the green fabrics and sewn the blocks for green. Time to turn to the blues....

So the first pile looks like this when ironed out. I found myself thinking as I was ironing these scraps, funny how fabric taste can change. When I first started sewing I was into bright fabric. A lot of these scraps are left over binding bits.

And talking of binding..... I have finished the quilting on the latest tablerunner. Now which binding? Some stripes or black and white spots? Help!

17 in 2017 - Tablerunner #4 finished!

I have finished Tablerunner #4! This one was pretty simple to whip up, it measures 23 x 16 inches. You have to love a quick disappearing 9 patch! I tried to lay the blocks out so no two fabrics were touching each other. But I noticed while doing the binding, two long thin rectangles are the same print next to each other. Oh well! 

I just did straight stitching on each side of the seams. I thought the blue binding would work with the orange. 

And here is Dolly's favourite spot! This is her "stop sewing and give me attention" face.

Wordless WIP Wednesday #8

17 in 2017 - Tablerunner #3 finished!

I finished the binding on Tablerunner #3. This one measures 13.5 inches wide and 36 inches long.

I really wanted the dark red for the binding but I only had enough to make the binding 2 inches rather than the usual 2.5. Wow, what a difference that 0.5 made to my fingers when I was sewing the binding down. It was tough getting my needle through all that extra layers. It wasn't as smooth sewing as usual.

This is the backing. Think I like it as much as the front!

These photos were taken in the entrance hall of the house. Another suitable place to take finished photos. Well, 3 runners down, binding on one and another one WIP. So that is 5 in 5 months, 12 to go! Get sewing Helen!

Tablerunner #5 - Designing a Rainbow

I am finding my sewing groove. These photos are from our recent holiday. Once I had sewn together this tablerunner, I still had fabric and time left over so I cut 3.5 inch squares with the idea of doing a simple disappearing 9 patch block. 

So fast forward to this week and I assembled them into the 9 patch blocks and then cut them in quarters. I liked the way all the larger squares were in the middle so sewed them together that way. Once all six finished blocks were together I added a few inches of solid orange Kona to the borders.

After that it was a matter of sandwiching it and then quilting it. I have just gone for an echo stitch on either side of the seams. The binding in now pinned down ready to sew after I have finished the binding from yesterdays WIP! I have a binding que!

So in the meantime my thoughts are turning to tablerunner #5. Its time for a rainbow. I have raided the scrap box. Let the ironing begin!

Wordless WIP Wednesday #7

New Sewing Space!

Things are starting to get organized in the new house and it is starting to feel like our home. Unfortunately it doesn't have a fourth bedroom to turn into a sewing room, so I have a space in the main living area which works out well. Makes me keep it tidy! I have a new shelving unit next to my new desk in which to keep stuff. I had to close the blind to get the light balance right for this photo, but when the blind is open there is a pretty view to a small garden bed and the sunlight streams in till lunch time.

I did purchase these pale blue storage boxes to keep all my Kona Solids in and to be stored out in the shelving unit by my sewing machine but they are a cm to wide! Bugger! Another trip to Ikea might be on the cards. So I have this stored in the laundry. Scraps in the cane basket, material for backing and wadding in the three clear plastic tubs and each of the drawers has a colour devoted to it. Yellow is overflowing for some reason!

Lots of scraps! I transferred them from another tub and discovered all these scraps I didn't remember having.

And to finish off with a photo of my bookcase, just for you Ruth. I did cull a lot of books in the move and this is what is left.

Oh, and there is one more new addition to the sewing space. Meet Dolly. We finally gave in to two years of Milly pleading and brought her a kitten. She is a sweetie and has blended into our household like she has always been here.

17 in 2017 - Tablerunner #2 finished!

I have finished the binding on the second table runner for 2017. For those of you who pop into my blog regularly (hi Ruth!) you will know that we have recently moved again, twice in four months. So in this house I am still finding the perfect background to photograph a runner. The outside wall with an interesting rendered effect?

Or the side fence?

Or inside on my table?

Holiday Sewing

We have moved house these school holidays. For the last time for a long time I hope! I didn't want our two weeks to be consumed with unpacking so I booked a house in Fremantle for a 5 day "city break". It was lovely, we ate out every day, drunk too much and caught up with some shows on ABC iview! But I also packed my sewing machine. This was my view from the machine.

I purchased this material last year while in Vegas, time to cut it up. I trimmed it to a rectangle then placed the four prints on top of each other and sliced it in three.

Added a 3/4th of an inch to break up each of the prints and then sewed them all back together.

The quilting was up and down till I reached the point of no return, so reversed and made some sharp triangles. All that it needs now is the binding.

17 in 2017 - Tablerunner #1 finished!

Well its April and I have finally finished a tablerunner, only 16 to go! I'm happy with this, be nice to do some in different colourways or even a rainbow?

My sewing time is about to increase again. We are moving house again to a new town due to my husbands employment. I am taking the rest of the year off from my job to get everyone settled and sew!

Wordless WIP Wednesday #6

Wordless WIP Wednesday #5

Wordless WIP Wednesday #4