Rushing against time - Quilt for Mrs Anne Moyes

Being efficient and organised also means lacking practice for doing things in the last minute.! To add to that, it's my second nature to be spending a lot, I really mean A  LOT, of time thinking through things before I actually start to execute the task. This is mainly to minimise any unforeseen problem/issue further down the track. On top of all this, I had some difficulties with 'conceptualising' and choosing a quilt pattern for this particular quilt that I was going to make and have it finished in a short timeframe. It was to be a thank you present for my son's wonderful kindy teacher, Mrs Anne Moyes.! And, what did I do? One morning, while keeping my 'sunshine' company during breakfast time, I drew up a pattern (below) for the quilt (and I think I'm the only person who understands it!). It was also a good chance for me to test out the flying geese ruler by Eleanor Burns. The ruler was excellent and helped saving so much time. After a few late nights and early mornings, I finished the quilt and was very pleased with it. I attached the label on the back of the quilt before machine quilted it. This would make it harder if I were going to have a change of heart.!! I didn't.... The effort was paid off as the quilt was very well received. I was also touched by the thank you note received from Mrs Moyes.

This is the quilt pattern.!!

It was about midnight when this photo was taken.!

'Stars and Loops' quilting pattern by Linda Taylor complemented the quilt top nicely.

100% Signature variegated cotton, Tie Dye, was used for stitching.

 11 pink and 11 blue stars represented 11 beautiful girls and 11 lovely boys in KA class.

The bigger pink star in the middle represented the teacher, Mrs Moyes.

 I didn't plan to have the pieced backing but, again, I didn't have enough fabrics, so had to be creative with putting together the backing for the quilt. It was a fun exercise.

 Quilt label

 

 My sunshine and the quilt before it was given away.

 

Disappearing Nine Patch

The first time I have heard the term 'Disappearing Nine Patch' was in late 2008. Without knowing what it actually was, I thought the name was rather 'odd'. Eventually, I came across the pattern in one of those craft magazines that I regularly borrow from the local library to read on the train, mostly on the way home from work. I got the fabrics for the quilt top during last year sale at Craft Depot. The process was interrupted several times, for reasons, before I finally managed to finish it. My cupboard is FULL of fabrics but, funnily, I didn't have wide enough backing fabric.! So, I made it wider with the left over fabrics from the quilt top. I quilted the quilt on my wonderful Gammill Statler Stitcher using 'Berry Vine Park b2b' pattern by Anne Bright. It was going to be given away as a present, but my dear 'elder' friend, Marita, told me that I must keep it for myself. Reluctantly, I did listen to her [ :-D ] AND, consequently, I had to make another quilt as the present, instead. It was such a rush but I did finish the quilt and gave it away very soon after that.!

Sewing BY machine

When Marijke, her friend, Renee, and I went to a patchwork shop in Germany, The log Cabin, I saw cute little rolls of pre-cut fabrics and thought that it would probably be a good idea to introduce this hand quilter, i.e., Marijke, to doing some foundation paper piecing by (sewing) machine. The owner of the shop, Jacqueline, was very helpful and accommodating. We came away with a lovely bright colour roll to try out the technique, and a few extra things, as usual.! I showed Marijke how it's done and made the first block of the log cabin. Marijke, who didn't like to sew by machine, made the other 3 blocks and seemed to enjoy working with her (old) sewing machine very much even though, every time, it started like a plane taking off the runway.!! I put together the 4 blocks and left the panel for Marijke to finish it off as a cushion cover for her house....

While at the Log Cabin shop, Jacqueline mentioned to us about the jelly roll race gathering at her shop. Marijke and I watched the jelly roll race video by Missouri Star Quilt Co. that night, and we decided to try it out with the left over fabrics. We ended up with another panel, which we weren't sure whether to put it on the back of the log cabin cushion front or use it to make the second cushion. I also had a bit of fun making a little pin cushion for Marijke before making my way back home. Since I left Maastricht, Marijke has made more patchwork blocks using the (foundation paper piecing by sewing machine) technique. I'm very pleased to hear about (and see) her progress, and not to mention how much I'm proud of my dearest friend.

Visiting 'Statler sisters'

During my last trip overseas, I was fortunate to have opportunity to visit a couple of the 'Statler sisters'.... Straight after arriving in Oslo, Norway, my family and I went to visit Karin in Stange. I thought the name of her shop 'Sy-Sammen', which means 'Sew Together', was very appropriate. It's an amazing shop, with everything I could want for patchwork and quilting. While Karin and I had a lovely afternoon together, chatting about different techniques for long arm quilting on the Gammill Statler Stitcher, my DH and Sunshine were having a ball in the Norsk Motorhistorisk Museum owned by Karin's husband, Ole. The museum also has a long arm 'sowing' machine.! Karin cooked very yummy roasted moose and baked mixed berries for dinner. We had fun trying to translate the Norwegian names of what we were eating into English. Before we knew it, it was time to catch the train back to Oslo. My Sunshine still talks about Ole's tractor museum and would like to go back to visit him again.... We all fell in love with Oslo, so we would like to make another trip there some day.
 

While I was in Sweden, I spent a day with Maria, a professional long arm quilter. Maria was the first person to own a Gammill Statler Stitcher in the country. Wow.! She was such a bubbly, cheerful and happy person to be around. We had so much to talk and share about our Statlers and also managed to finish an E2E quilting of a baby quilt, with morning tea, lunch and afternoon tea in between.! Maria made a very nice apple crumble for our afternoon tea. I certainly felt very special. :-)

 Maria and I in her Quilting Studio