Introducing Mr. B. Wren

I loved making this cushion!

I participated in a workshop with Jess, one of the 

designers....

Jess, with her cushion.  It will give you some idea of its size.

at the Australian Quilt Convention recently.

That's my friend Deb, stitching away!

I couldn't wait to get the background stitched up....

and get Mr B Wren pieced, appliqued

and the top quilted.

And here you can just see the orange binding I 

edged the cushion with!

If you are looking for something different to sew, 

and love EPP,

I can highly recommend this pattern!

Happy sewing!

SUZ

Musical inspiration...

 I tried to use these for inspiration for this round of 

the Four-in-Art challenge!

 but no matter how much I thought about them,

I remained uninspired!

So while sorting out my photos recently,

I stumbled across this one...

taken at a beautiful concert hall in Melbourne,

where we saw Mary Chapin Carpenter last year.

I started to think about all the musical notes that 

had floated up there 

and were caught in the cupola.

This is what I began playing with...

and ended up with quite an abstract interpretation...

to arrive at this!

I chose a piece of vintage fabric for the backing, 

as a homage to the past.

A hombre-type binding for the fading sounds, 

and a variety of stitches for all types of music.

Abstract, right?!

I'm calling this "Musings"....

Make sure you check out the other wonderful 

interpretations of 

May's Music theme here:

Betty

Camilla 

Catherine

Elizabeth

Nancy

Janine

Rachel

Happy Sewing!

SUZ

The blog post with no name....

Autumn is in full swing in Melbourne....

I am planning a whole cloth quilt with this Nani Iro

double gauze,

for a baby due in August.

I had a mini charm pack of these pretty fabrics....

that quickly turned into this drawstring bag.

And my English paper pieced blue wren....

is ready to be appliqued, 

as soon as I get the papers removed!

I've also been playing with this combination...

as the Four-In-Art, May 1st deadline looms.

Happy sewing!

SUZ

Not much crafting...

happening here, in between family and work 

commitments.

But that's ok!

I did knit up a tension square in this pretty blue wool,

finish my Chuck Nohara blocks for April, 

and spent a wonderful day at the

Australasian Quilt Convention,

meeting up with Deborah, 

admiring Rachaeldaisy's gorgeous red and white 

quilt!

And taking an English Paper Piecing class with Jess 

Frost of Elven Garden blog.

Today I made the backing,

tonight I will get back to the sweet little bird!

 

More details of the Blue Wren cushion on Jess' blog!

Happy sewing...

SUZ

My first quilt finish....

for 2016!

Productivity is obviously not my word for this year.

 But sometimes life gets in the way, doesn't it?

I haven't even named this one yet.

The label is half sewn on waiting for inspiration!

If your remember I had some initial

basting problems!

But once I solved that issue, the straightline quilting 

went mostly smoothly.

  It had been too long since I had tested out my FMQ 

skills, but once I started, I didn't want to stop.... 

I used my favourite Aurifil thread in #2021 for all the

piecing and quilting. 

 I managed a couple of quick outdoor shots...

with the help of my son, 

 and a close up of the binding and backing...

Autumn is here and this quilt is already doing its job 

on our bed!

Happy sewing!

SUZ

Chucking along!

As the month comes to a close,

 I thought you might like to see my Chuch Nohara 

blocks for March... 

Yes, there is a 'y' seam in there.....

They came together well...

The top one I was able to free piece, just measuring 

up the pieces, 

and the bottom two were foundation paper pieced.

Here's how I did the log cabin in a circle.....

Obviously I made the log cabin first,

then I laid my photocopied pieces over the top to 

check for fit!

I made each of the four corners then joined them, 

turning back the inner circle,

which I reverse appliqued to the front.

I promise, it doesn't look nearly as wonky from here!

Time to plan for April...

Happy sewing!

SUZ

Small Gains

The day started with great promise....

But basting was the far as I got with this 'monster'!

I don't know whether it is the batting (Matilda's Own 

Polyester) or the backing (a vintage sheet) that was causing 

'shifting' problems?

So I spent much of the afternoon 'unsewing' various 

seams, and am now back to square one!

I pin basted today, but have some glue spray and will 

add that to the task tomorrow, as well as a different backing!

Thankfully I had no problems putting these nine-patch blocks 

together...

I'm thinking of adding them to my Chuck Nohara blocks?

Then this one made it across the finish line...

the back....

a close-up

It's hard to go wrong with Tula Pink and hexies!

And finally three tissue cosies...

shame I got those magpies upside down!

Hopefully tomorrow is a better day....

SUZ