Vintage Valentine

"Vintage Valentine" designed by Verna Mosquera of The Vintage Spool was started in 2006 (I think) and finished on 1 July 2011.  I lost enthusiasm for this quilt so many times but am really happy that it's finished at long last.

"Vintage Valentine" 72" x 72"

"Vintage Valentine" centre block

The Backing

The quilt was started as a sew-along with Helen, Jenny and Diann - 2 of the quilts have been finished for years.

Another busy weekend has gone - trip to Sydney to see Michael for his birthday on Saturday, dinner at a lovely Lebanese restaurant in Surrey Hills (complete with belly dancer) and visiting friends yesterday afternoon.

I've put the Gingham Girls stitcheries away for the time being to concentrate on some knitting for Peta's upcoming birthday as well as cardigans for Jenni and me.  I'm hoping to put the "Sweet" quilt onto the frame this week - quilting on the frame with the new sewing machine is certainly different to the old 830.  Had a little practice on Saturday and found that the view of the stitching area is somewhat blocked by larger motor area over the needle and foot.

Extra Long Weekend

On Thursday, John and I met up with 3 friends at Darling Harbour to attend the Quilt Show.  We had a great day - a bit of shopping (wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills, pattern from Thread and Ginger, kit from Hatched and Patched, templates from Punch with Judy to make Candied Hexagons, Bernina stitch-in-the-ditch sole plate for my walking foot and a few other bits and pieces).

Some of the quilts on display were spectacular and so lovely to see our local girl (Merrilyn Pearce) take out Best of Show once again.

At lunchtime I quickly said hello to Chookyblue and Cardygirl, then met up with Chookyblue and Fairy Girl for afternoon tea - a definite highlight of the day.  Really looking forward to meeting up with Chookyblue and our other on-line friends at next year's quilt show.

We didn't spend as much time at the quilt show as we normally would because we went to meet up with Peta and her Mum while Peta tried on a dress she would love to wear for the wedding.  So exciting.  Peta has found a dress she loves in a Paddington Boutique - sadly the dress is too big but Peta is talking to the designer about having a dress made in her size.  I just hope Peta can have what she has her heart set on.

Friday was a Mental Health Day to recover from my rushing around on Thursday.  Spent some time finishing off the outline stitching on Vintage Valentines and then started shadow quilting inside the blocks.  I knew the space outside the appliques needed to be quilted but I wasn't keen on meandering or stippling.  Never having done shadow quilting, it's been a matter of jumping in at the deep end and just having a go.

Saturday morning I decided to be brave and try out the BSR attachment - what a difference!  My stitches are still not perfect but so much better than without the BSR.

Did some more quilting yesterday and now 9 blocks are finished.  3 more smaller blocks to go and then the central medallion - will need to move to the dining room table to be able to manoeuvre the quilt more easily at that stage.

Yesterday afternoon Michael rang to say he and Peta have bought a ring - more excitement - antique ruby and diamonds.  They pick it up this afternoon.  Mum, Jenni and I went to the pictures yesterday afternoon to see "Bridesmaids" - I didn't know much about the movie only that it looked funny from the previews on tv.  Definitely not a movie to see with your mother or your daughter.

Guilty Conscience

As a quilter I often have a guilty conscience about the growing pile of quilt tops and the number of UFO's in the sewing room.  It's always so exciting to start something new.  Then I become annoyed with myself because I don't think I should feel guilty - I love stitching/patchwork/quilting and if I decide to work on something different, then that's my choice.  Even so, I was feeling really guilty about Vintage Valentines.

 

The quilt top was finished in February 2009 - I think it took me almost 3 years on and off to make the blocks.

It was pin basted in February this year and each block was ditch-stitched and then stitched 1/4" inside the seams.  It has sat in the sewing room ever since with all those pins still in the quilt top - this was what causing the guilt.  I would have been really upset if the pns had started to rust - I know it was only 4 months but you never know - we had a very humid summer and very wet autumn and start to winter.

On Sunday afternoon I started free-motion quilting around the applique shapes in the 12 outer blocks - to my surprise/relief I found that 2 were already done.  As of last night I have half of the central medallion to quilt around and that part of the quilting will be done.

Next step is to make the binding and bind the quilt. Then I'll think about whether I'll do any more quilting in the background of the blocks and, if so, what to do.  I'll discuss this with the girls at stitching tonight.

Maybe soon that guilty feeling will be replaced by the happiness of finishing a long-standing UFO.

Quilt Show starts tomorrow - I will be there on Thursday.

Basting and a UFO

Lots of pinning yesterday afternoon = lots of quilting to happen over the next couple of weeks.

Little Patchwork Village

Vintage Valentine quilt top has been finished since 15 February 2009 - almost 2 years ago to the day.  Funny coincidence that I should decide now is the time to start the quilting.

Vintage Valentine

It's not often I have an uninterrupted afternoon/evening to spend however I want.  Once the pinning was finished I took out a UFO and started sewing blocks and sashings together.

Leanne Beasley's "365 Challenge"

Two rows are together, 3 to go.  The quilt will be fairly large (78" x 78") including outer sashing and posts, so I won't need to add outer borders.  I should change the name of this quilt because I didn't write an entry for every day and I made 12 blocks for the diary rather than individual blocks for the 365 days.  Also need to spend some time tidying up the sewing room - I am a very messy quilter.

A Rainy Afternoon ...

Rain fell most of yesterday afternoon - I started slicing up border material, a bit of sewing and "Vintage Valentine" top is together. Terrible photo. The blocks are laid out differently to the pattern because of the background fabric colours - found I had too many pale fabrics together as well as too many large heart blocks side-by-side. Plus all my blocks are mirror image to the original as I didn't reverse the designs prior to tracing for vliesofix/blanket stitch applique.


I havent been too keen on this quilt while stitching the last few blocks but now that it's together I like it a lot more.

A Few Finishes

At lunchtime today the last stitch was put in the final "Vintage Valentine" block. Maybe I'll have some time over the weekend to cut out the borders.

Sharon and I each started making "Prim Olde Santa" from Homspun No 62 last October - he was finished tonight - my Christmas finish for February. Not a big fan of prim but some things are very cute (like the little raggy doll) Santa is holding.

One of the Christmas presents I received last year from Sharon and Gary was a kit for "My Angel Garden". Threads were included in the kit and if I make it again I'll choose a different blue and yellow (I think they're a touch too pale). This is a very pretty table topper.

Something else that was finished off this week is "Mary's Floral Medallion" from Australian Country Craft and Decorating a few years ago.

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All that needed to be done was quilt around the vase and flowers and that was finished on Tuesday.

Vintage Valentines

Blocks 9 and 10 finished and two to go. Am so looking forward to this quilt being finished; it's been on the go for so long. Am determined to have the top together by the time I go to a quilting retreat in Qld in June.

This is the Rose of Sharon machine embroidery quarter block. I've darkened the photo so that the stitching will show up.

There's a lot of leftover Sharon's Roses fabric in "Vintage Valentines" - will be very happy to start something new with different fabrics.

"It's astounding, time is fleeting"

We've just had the most faaaaabulous night: great dinner with our children, partners and "4th child" Jared, followed by This is the cover of the original Australian cast album (which I saw in 1974, again in 1975 and 1984, each time starring the great, great Reg Livermore). I "borrowed" this record from my brother some time after I first saw the show and will return it one day. The new show stars iOTA as Dr Frank N Furter and he is sensational - such a wonderful singer and actor. First saw iOTA late last year in Sydney Danco Co's "Berlin" (he was the angel) and was so impressed with his singing - my children already knew about him, have some of his cd's. Three more "Vintage Valentine" blocks are finished 4 "Vintage Valentine" blocks to go. Am still stitching "Ruth's Quilt" blocks at lunchtimes and have a few things traced and ready to stitch while watching tv or on a free Sunday afternoon.

A Post for Peg

Hey Peg - these are blocks 6, 7 and 8 of Vintage Valentines that I've been preparing. Lots of tracing, cutting, ironing etc. I've been making this quilt along with 3 friends: Jenny has finished her quilt; Helen is progressing well; I can't link to pictures of Diann's blocks because she doesn't have a blog or webshots (yet).

Beautiful day here in the 'Gong - nice change after all the very welcome rain.

Received a lovely surprise today - 1 dozen red roses were delivered to me at work from my very own Tim Taylor - think I blushed as red as the roses.