Another new member- + let me know your blogs.

A big quilted hugs welcome to Minette from Terrigal in NSW (Central coast), Minette is a new quilter so may have lots of questions along the way.  She has just become a new blogger also, and only has one follower (2 now I follow her blog), so lets all join in and make her welcome.

Minette said "if you really want to have a look at my humble blog it is at"

http://www.sewdownunder.blogspot.com/

If anyone else has a blog that's not in the followers list on this blog let me know and I can add it - so we can all follow each other and get word out there.  The challenge will be to get a 4th country to join in,  so far we have 25 members made up of

18 Aussies
5 Americans
2 Canadians

I have also (finally) figured out to get the link to the blog onto the side toolbar so its easier for new members to copy and add it to their blog.  SO if you dont have this on your blog please add it.  Thanks ladies Sue xx

Ellens block has arrived from America

Very excited to get a soft parcel in the mail from overseas.  Inside was this cute and fun reindeer friendship star from Ellen.  Ellen was my swap partner in the US group for August.  I will pop her an email inviting her to join our group.

Larrain's September Block

My sewing afternoon did not go exactly as planned, I spent too much time on blogs, just scrolling through and reading.  And I had the ironing to do or we wont have any shirts for work next week : -(

But I did manage to get this block made for Larain, who requested a Traditional block in pinks, yellows and lilacs.  I had some lovely lilac and lemon fabric which I was itching to use so had my chance, sorry Larrain there is no pink in it.

I may get to my next project after dinner tonight, I have so many WIP at the moment its hard to work on just one. 

Rosemary's cat quilt

Rosemary has just emailed me a pic of a quilt she has just completed for her friend who lost their cat.  She wanted to share this with everyone
The quilt is titled Remembering daisy. 

Showcasing crafty Pugs blocks for September

Here are three blocks made this month by Crafty Pug.  The first block is for our Christmas swap and she has made this for Maria.   Its an absolutely beautiful star.  I am so jealous of the perfect points !

The second one is being sent far away to Alicia in Oklamoha.  So this one has a journey ahead of it.

And last but not least is for new member Irene who requested a block in Autumn colours. 

I think we will all agree that Crafty Pug has done an amazing job, its hard to pic a favourite, but if I had to chose it would be the Christmas star. 

Well done Crafty Pugs  xx

Welcome member # 24 Tarnyia

Message from Tarnyia:

Thanks for letting me join your group... I live on a sheep station in the outback with no fabric shops close by so when I go to Perth I stock up.. my nearest town is 72kms away and we are a 7 hour trip from the city. Looking forward to making a start with you all...
Luv T xxx

Message from Sue
Please remember to pop some pics of your blocks on the blog to share with everyone, or email them to me and I will display them for you. Quilted hugs, Sue x

My new Blog- please follow me....

Hello to all the ladies that follow this blog.  Over the coming days / weeks you may notice a few changes to the blog.  Reason being is that I have decided to start up a second "personal" blog and leave this one for us to use to showcase the blocks and quilts made with the blocks in the swap.
I will use my personal blog to show off my own quilts and share my quilting journey and welcome you all to follow this.  So I will be removing the quilts I have made from the side bar, as I gradually add them to the new blog. 
I have called this blog Quilted hugs and other nonsense.  You should find it on this blog (in the blogs I follow section) or by typing quiltedhugsandothernonsense.blogspot.com in your search engine.

First September swap on its way

As we had an influx of 10 new members participating with their first swap this month, I have assigned 2 swaps for the ladies that have volunteered and am doing a few extras myself.  I like to swap as soon as possible with new members as a welcome to the group, but cannot "hog" you all.

Here is the first swap for Linden who joined up with us in August.  Alex kindly did Lindens first swap and I have paired with her for September.  Linden is saving brights in purples and oranges.  I don't have any bright orange in my stash at the moment but did have this lovely pansy print (with yellow) that I think does the trick.  I hope Linden likes her block - it will be popped in the post tomorrow.

Caramel Pie is baked

Caramel pie

There have been a couple of postings of this quilt along the way- and now I am pleased to show off the completed item (all but the label).  After completing stitching on the binding tonight.

I have named this quilt Caramel pie as it reminds me of that.  I have made it as a gift for my dad for Fathers Day -  I hope he likes it. 

Double click on the image to see the detail, I am very proud of the joins and how they matched up nicely .

here come the swaps here come the swaps............

I am all done assigning partners - so without any more delays I am about to start sending the emails.  Please just touch base with your swap partner prior to starting their block in case their preferences have changed or to clairfy the choices. 

I have managed to get a head start on my Christmas swap block - and here it is ( I will email Cathy not to look until the post arrives), My first Christmas swap - Doves.  As well as a bonus 9 patch for her in some autumn tones

Almost spring and time for our next swap.

I am just in the final touches of gathering the lists for our September swap, its huge with 10 new members doing their first swap with us. 

As I dont want a new member to swap with a new member first time round I will be getting the ladies that have offered to do extra swaps to help out, and I will be pairing with some of you too.   So a big thank you to the ladies that have offered to do extra swaps.

Initially my intention was to do the first swap with all new members as a welcome swap to the group, but with the rate of growth in August and for September it would be impossible for me to keep up.  Already I have completed a swap quilt (well still putting it together)  and I have only had the group running since May which in amazing..  I will gradually get to all of you in time and look forward to getting to know you all. 

I am hoping to get the swap partners finalised and sent out over this coming weekend.  So stay tuned to your email.

Another member shows off their block

Linden emailed me the lovely baby bunting block she had made for Alex. 
Alex has requested this block in pastel "gelati" colours and I am to let the swap partner know what colour to make each block so Alex gets a lovely surprise every month.  
So keep posted on this or Alex's blog to see what flavours are on the menu.

Debbies Block to Cathy

Here is another stunner that Cathy wanted to share as she received it in the mail today from Debbie in Canada.  Cathy wants to apologize as the original post said this was from Larrain, but she got her blocks mixed up as the envelopes were wet in the letterboxes. So thankyou to Debbie :-)

Christmas Block swap members emailed tonight.

Hi girls

Shortly I will be sending out the swap members for the first Christmas swap.  I have just realised however that with 12 members we are going to be doing 11 swaps, so you will be one short on a 12 patch quilt.

I think we could make our own last block to tie them together, perhaps if you are missing something you were hoping for like a Christmas tree or star then you could put the finishing touch to it. 

I look forward to seeing all the lovely blocks on your blogs as you make and recieve them.  If you are not a blogger and want me to publish a pic, just email it to me- happy to display this for you.

So... here we go, put on the Christmas Carols and have FUN

CHRISTMAS BLOCK SWAP - CLOSED

I now have 12 members participating in the Christmas swap,  9 Aussies, 2 Americans and 1 Canadian.  I have decided to close off the numbers at 12 so with us each swapping once per month, the group will run for 12 months.  So the swap should end next August giving us plenty of time to put the quilts together in time for  Christmas 2011.

If you missed out on registering for the swap you can choose a Christmas theme as your standard swap.  If this swap proves popular and we get more interest for it next year I very likely will run it again. 

Members participating in this years swap are:

Me (Sue), Cathy, Crafty Pug, Cheryll, Leena, Rosemary, Maria, Linden, Teena, Pat, Mary from USA, and Mary from Canada.

I am just finalising who will swap with who and will send the first months partners out later this week.

Friendship quilt in the making - part 2

sewing on the sashes

Tonight I have been busy sewing on the sashes and joining the blocks into rows.  I have added in a block that I made which gives me 16 blocks to work with so I will make a square quilt with 4 rows of 4.  Then with borders it would be like a Queen bed topper.

sashes 1/2 done

Lots of unpicking along the way

There was quite a bit of frustration and unpicking along the way due to not all of the blocks being the same size.  This give me the opportunity to mention to all ladies participating in the swap to try and get your finished blocks as close to 12.5 inches raw edge to raw edge as you possibly can.  I am new to swapping too and I am the first to admit that I have made and sent a block too small, until it was pointed out to me. 

uneven join

Generally in quilting when a pattern tells you a block size this is allowing for the 1/4 inch seam allowance but not always so you will have to add this on.  Before you cut your fabric do a quick mathematic caluclation of one edge of the block to check that it adds up to 12.5 inches,  In this quilt I had a couple of blocks about 1/2 inch short of this, and a couple about 1/2 inch too big.  When they are too big you can trim a little, or resew a seam a bit more, but when they are too small even with scant seams and stretching it makes it very hard (so better to be too big than too small). 

I didnt think to check the block sizes before I got to the step of sewing each row together and then found out the hard way that the vertical strips did not line up.  I unpicked and re-sewed several times to try and get them to match up and this was the best I could do. 

As it turns out the worst of the uneven seams is in the centre of the quilt so I have decided that I will put a label over this join with the name of all the contributors in the making of the quilt on that.  This will hide the join and not make it as obvious.

More postings soon as I add the borders.  I am not going to show a pic of the whole quilt until it is completed - so you will all have to wait for that one.

Churn dash Friendship quilt

Here are all of the lovely churn dash blocks I have received in the swap.  I have laid them out on my dining table in a random order and taken a picture from each end.  I am sure you will all spot your block in there.

Now I have to play with them to assemble them into a pleasing display.  I am not sure if I should put sashings between them or perhaps set them on point. 

I have purchased 3 lots of bulk fabric, one in a creamy brown colour and one in a rich navy and the third in a golden brown as these are the dominating colours and what I will use to bind it all together.  I may use one of these as backing, or do a pieced backing from all 3.  So here we go.  Stay tuned as I will post updates on this quilt coming together as it is made by all of us.

Another UFO (almost) completed

Dont you just love it when Spotlight have a sale !!.  As a spot light member, I received a voucher in the mail last week for $40 off any purchase over $100.  I get these a couple of times a year and its a great time to stock up on Batting and fabric for backing.  I dont tend to purchase too much quilting fabric from them as such as the range is not great, but its good for the backing fabrics and the odd piece here and there.

Here is my lovely roll of wadding which now means I can finish a few quilts YAY.

Tonight I pinned the quilt I am making Dad for Fathers day,  this is the one from the Moda Scrap bag (featured in an earlier post).  I have named this Caramel Pie as the colours remind me of the yummy banana caramel pies with a cream top and chocolate drizzle.  I will be binding it in the lovely chocky print.

Pinning a quilt our is my least favourite part of the quilting process as its tedious.  I always have to get Hubby to help me straighten it out and smooth out the wrinkes.  So- bye for now, as I now off to the sewing room to start the quilting process.  Keep your eye out for a completed pic in the side bar any day now.

Cathys block to Crafty Pug

I love to see the blocks members make and recieve, so please post them on the blog or email me a pic and I will post them for you.

Here is the stunning block our very clever Cathy made for our very Crafty Pug.  Its so elegant.

And a big welcome to member #23 (another) Kathy from Vic.  Very happy to have you on board.

Free giveaway

One of our newest members is having a free giveaway.  So view this link to her blog to get a chance to win.

http://oneygirl-myquiltingadventure.blogspot.com/

As they say, you have to be " IN IT TO WIN IT"

Good luck everyone xx