Fruity finish

Today I was so happy to (finally ) finish Dad's Fruity Quilt and pop it in the post for him. It was a bit late for  Father's Day at the beginning of September but I'm sure he won't mind...sometimes life gets in the way of the best laid plans!
Dad has been a keen orchardist and his challenge in his later years has been to determine what fruit or nut tree will grow in his tricky climate... and see how many different varieties of a certain fruit or nut tree he could find.
So here it is —

My version of Snow In Summer by Kim Diehl from the book Simple Charm.
Lap quilt 56" x 56"

This is the first time I have sewn one of Kim's quilt, although I do have many of her books. The instructions were great and I enjoyed making it.
 I adapted the flower applique —

I changed the flower to represent the Feijoa flower (which is very similar
to the Potutukawa one). Possibly the most popular fruit that Dad has grown
has been the Feijoa. 

Having photographic fun, playing with our mirror. 

Quilting was kept relatively simple. All the snowball blocks
were quilted with the heart/leaf design we learnt from
Frances Moore  in SewCalGal's FMQ January challenge.
I outlined the appliqué and that was all.

A tree shot - this old Plum tree has seen better days but we don't have
the heart to do anything about it. 

You can see the brown backing - I used minky which I thought might be a bit tricky to quilt but it was actually very easy and came up beautiful and soft. 

And now a plea for help - I used a 50:50 woollen -cotton mix batting in the quilt, which is the first time I have used it. When I washed the quilt, tiny fibres came through from the batting to the outside (front and back)  - what a shame!! - does anyone know why this happened, is it just a wool batting thing, should I have  gently hand washed it? (I only ever buy quality fabrics etc). Any advice for next time will be greatly appreciated, I quite like the warmth of the wool compared to the cotton I usually use, and would like to use it again.

Whew, now that I have this quilt lovingly posted I can get onto another project - I am trying not to start anything new just yet, still have plenty to get on with, although Joanne's quiltalong does start next week...!!! Ah, one new project won't hurt, will it?
Happy creating everyone,

Bright and busy on Friday Night

Friday Night Sew In snuck up and took me by surprise this month but I happily took advantage of the excuse to sew.
And it's a new project too :-) (How many new projects does Raewyn have - please don't ask!)

After an hour's sewing on FNSI

I am a fan of Kim Diehl's books and have a few in my collection - however I never thought that the first of her projects I would do would be a radical swerve from the original! So instead of country and homey this latest quilt is bright and busy!
I suddenly had inspiration for the quilt I have been wanting to make for Dad recently. Some of you will know he is a real Fruit and Nut man and I have been collecting the odd fruit and nut fabric as I have seen it. I know he likes bright colours but because of his failing eyesight I wanted to make something pretty simple.
So in walks Kim Diehl's latest book, Simple Charm, and the lapquilt Snow in Summer is perfect.

Snow in Summer, from Simple Charm by Kim Diehl.

Here it is in Dad's fabrics, so far, (after a bit more sewing on Friday night and a little on Saturday) —

Roughly laid out in no particular order.

Close up of some of the fabrics. I only chose fruits that Dad grows.

I came to a stall after running out of fruit fabric but I will have that sorted soon - I would like to have it finished by Fathers' Day on September 2nd so I need to remain focussed.
Many thanks to Bobbi and Heidi for hosting FNSI; it is lovely to have an excuse to sew (actually the MOML would probably suggest I don't need one!).
Happy sewing and happy weekend everyone,