Some (sort-of) finishes

The Country Yard held its New Year's Launch on Saturday - I've been sharing lately about trying to get my Show and Tell quilt finished in time.

As time went on, with lots of life getting in the way, I realised that the best I could hope for was to get it to a 'presentable state' rather than completely finished.

That was a realistic goal which really took the pressure off me. (And being stubborn, I like to quilt my own quilts even though I don't always have the time or the skills for it!!)

If I could master Edge to Edge designs on my Sweet 16, it would make life easier. One day maybe.

Prior to quilting  - yes it's a big quilt! (The pattern has other size options but of course I went for the largest!) —

Anyway, I've had lots of requests to show the completed top and here it is —

The quilting I did achieve was outlining all the animals and their quilts, quilting the min quilts, some in-the-ditch quilting to stabilise it, and then basting around the outside. And trimming the outer edges to 1/4".  (All the pins were removed!)

At the shop, we hung it above the door as it has great impact there. The incomplete quilting wasn't very noticeable, and quite a few of the ladies I spoke to on our open day didn't even realise that it wasn't quite finished.

(The twins' family has claimed this quilt when the quilting is done and shop has finished with it.)

I quilted the mini quilts with a variety of techniques - some were meander style quilting, others had a little bit of ruler work and some were cross hatched.

They don't need anything else doing to them, but I would like to quilt some features in the animals and of course come up with a suitable background fill.

I couldn't resist taking a photo of these four ladies discussing it from across the mezzanine floor —

The launch was a good day; it was great to show off our new projects and ideas.

Another thing I completed for the launch was this bag using the blocks I shared in my last post—

It's a Sewbe pattern and once I'd made the blocks, it came together really nicely.

The pattern asks for sewn fabric ties but I preferred to use the cord - luckily I had the perfect colour at home.

The above blocks also appear in another Sewbe quilt which we are making as a sewalong - more on my version in another post.

I keep coming across things I haven't shared......last year a few online friends and I decided to make a Temperature Tree.

It used the high temperature from each day, each branch is a month and each leaf is a day. It was fun to do it and I actually kept up quite well and finished it not long after this year had started!

I would have liked to have done it with the low temperatures as well as the highs but I'll have to save that for another project....and besides I haven't quilted my 2020 temperature quilt yet!

It was interesting to make this with the Australian ladies whose daily highs were right off MY chart!

I have yet to decide how to finish this - I'm thinking it will probably end up in a frame?

I know I've bombarded you lately with Lily and George's sewing adventures (with school holidays and their mother attending a 2 week training course I've seen rather a lot of them recently) but I have one last make of theirs to show you.

Lily made this little pouch prior to making the cushion of my last post. At the time George was piecing a 'blanket' which I don't have a photo of.

Four squares of fabric and a strip for the flap. Totally designed by her. I suggested sewing Right Sides Together to neaten it, and of course I cut the fabric for her.

She chose the pretty button which I sewed on but it took a while to work out the loop for the button. I was going to use some tape or something but then came across the wee hair tie which worked perfectly!

I think I'll sign off here before I find more things to talk about!

'til next time,

happy stitches,

Raewyn