Oh Deer! and jelly rolls

Oh Deer! from designer Momo cannot but put a smile on your face with little birds and deers and lots of stripes and spots.

I gave the jelly roll challenge a go - some very very long seams but it made for a very quick quilt top. The 'randomness' could have spread some of the prints a bit better but it's lots of fun. Managed to also find a meter of the main print in Melbourne to make the back more interesting.

My straight line quilting is on the improve with this quilt too, much happier with the result. The binding is nearly finished and then it's off to Sydney for this little lovely.

Waste not...

This quilt started off as a dress, yes it supposed to be a lovely birthday dress back in December 2010. The cutting, piecing and construction of a lot of triangles took forever - novice piecer.

It should have and did end up looking a little like this Empire Evening Dress from Anna Maria Horner (with straps)...

... then I put it on the day before my birthday... and it did absolutely nothing for me, nothing what so ever. Like unwearable. Distressed I just put it back into the cupboard for over a year.

Then one day is dawned on me that it could have another life as a quilt. So I deconstructed the dress to create this zigzag quilt. I also had enough scraps left over from the dress to make the back. The voile fabric is beautifully soft but was hell to quilt as it slid all over the place. This was also my first attempt at quilting on my home machine. 

Far from perfect but at least we're enjoying it on the couch rather than this gorgeous fabric being consigned to the back of the cupboard forever.

Sarah's quilt finally finished

It's been on her bed for a couple of months now but I only just took some photos of it finished. 

A first adventure into quilt making with this pattern from Carolina Patchwork, Sweet Garden, was a bit like being thrown in the deep end. As a result there are many many mistakes in this quilt but I absolutely love it and, most importantly so does Sare.

I started it almost exactly a year ago with a layer cake of Denyse Schmidt's Picnic and Fairground and boldly started cutting. Eight months later the last stitches went into the binding.

On the back it's possible to just tell how random and crazy the quilting is...

Octo piecing

Slowly making progress on two octagonal orb blocks from Elizabeth Hartman for new couch cushions.  Picked out a range of fabrics from Denise Schmidt (Chicopee and Edna Mae collections), Washi from Rashida Coleman-Hale (love) with a couple of oval elements.

The photo doesn't really do justice to the crisp colours. Elizabeth's instructions are great, making it simple for even a piecing novice to follow. The points kind of line up.

My very first quilt

So after four years of sewing clothing, bags and bits and bobs, I decided last year - November in the lead up to my 40th birthday to be exact - that I would venture into the world of quilting.

Not realising what I was getting myself into I chose this pattern from the lovely Carolina Patchworks.

So many beginners lessons I have learnt from this zen master quilt - and the many quilting blogs I have found and devoured since cutting into that first layer cake so many months ago. Let's see:

• the importance of 1/4 inch seams
• measure and measure again
• keep your pieces and strips organised
• don't be afraid of your seam ripper
• no such thing as hurrying a quilt

But it's come together - here's some early progress on the irregular blocks for now.