Friend of the Day 28 Jan

Before tonights post, Jan-Maree just rang and asked me to pop a little message at the beginning of the post, so here goes:

"I've arrived in Scone safe and sound, albeit a little wet, but nothing like our Friends of AHQ, and serving members families in Queensland are experiencing.  Our thoughts are with them all at this time and we hope that are all safe and aren't too badly affected by all the severe weather conditions"

I think it goes without saying, that we are all concerned for all of you's safety and well being and I hope power is restored to those without it soon, and you can let us know that you're safe.

Friend of the Day

Today I would to introduce you to Rita C.  Hi Rita, and a huge SA thank you for working with me at getting your photos onto the blog, and sharing the three generation wedding dress with us.

Background story on the photo above.....is in the one below, if it's unreadable, and you would like to read the story, email me, and I'll send you the copy of it in a larger size.

Who are you and where do you live?

 Rita Coenen, and I live in N. Turramurra, and I'm a Yank/Aussie.  We have lived in the Sydney area for 13 years, 2 daughter here with us and another daughter didn't move down but stayed in the UK.  She is now married to her college sweetheart (University of Miami)  and lives so far away from us, in London.  2nd daughter is now married to a Sydney boy and will probably always live in Australia and 3rd daughter wants to move to LA, she is a special effects make up artist.    We are on the bush, our house is below street lever with a wicked driveway, thank goodness we have a turn table in our garage or I would NEVER park my car in there.  Time to 'downsize' but will really need to 'declutter'.  I'm trying to declutter by sewing lots of AHQ using existing fabric but I have a weakness and keep buying more fabric--on sale of course.  I have a WONDERFUL sewing room, with a Horn table and an insert so my machine sits in a flat space, so lovely when sewing big pieces.  I have a 13 year of Janome 5124 that is just a workhorse.  sounds a bit like a trashing machine but keeps going and going.  last year I thought about getting a new sewing machine, but I thought--I could get a new sewing machine or WE could go on a cruise, we went on a cruise--wasn't that good of me???

Tell us a bit about you....

I was a nurse 30 years ago, then started having children and have a husband that travel A LOT so never went back.  I'm #2 of 9 children, and the farthest from 'home'.  I've made each one a quilt, each  of my 24 nieces and nephews and now starting on a second round.  also made quite a few for my friend's children and my children's friends.  I like to do a bit of gardening, go to the beach , walk my dog, travel overseas and we go to the theater often (yes it is spelled right)

The above pic is my fur baby, Kelly asleep on some backing fabric waiting for me to finish sewing so I can take her for a walk.

How far to the local shops and how far to the closest quilt shop?

We live right behind the shops in N. Turramurra.  I decided I would make 10 quilts to send by Christmas (actually made 12) so I wrote a letter with photos and went to the local business and asked for sponsors (to pay for the fabric, batting and backing)  for the quilts, I got all 12 quilts sponsored (for between $75-$120), they got an extra label on the quilt that they signed and I sent a letter with the business or person's name in recognition of their financial contribution.  Then I photographed the quilt and wrote a letter for the shop to put into their window saying they support AHQ.  Lincraft and Spotlight are both in Belrose homemakers center about 15-20 minutes away and Craft Depot is 20+ minutes in the other direction.  there is now a small Hobbysew in Hornsby Westfield.  Patchwork 33 is in Wyee, I've gone on a quilting weekend with some friends up there, got soooo much done with no disturbances

Favourite local quilt shop

Lincraft, Spotlight & Craft Depot

Favourite online fabric shop

I've never bought anything online, except when I was in the States, order a queen size SuperSlider, which I love and a 'Halo' which I couldn't stand and gave away

Where you got your last fabric bargain (and what it was)

Tuesday at spotlight, all their quilting fabric is 30% off this week and got 2 great pieces marked down to $5/meter then 30% off so got 5 1/2m of each for $3.50.

another great place is the Fabric Cave in Ryde, it is a charity shop and I have gotten FABULOUS bargins in there

Whether you machine or hand sew binding

OMG--machine sew or with 12 quilts I'd still be doing them right now.

How long have you been sewing for AHQ

Since I made 4 at Easter time last year

How did you find out about us?

A gal working at killara village quilts, another American, I told her I had made 3 Quilts of Valor for injured American soldiers and she told me about AHQ.

Do you have any connection to the services

My Dad was in the Navy in WW2, in the SeaBees, 2 of my brothers were in the Navy, (one was a helicopter pilot and I remember a song he used to sing (NOT politically correct) 2 of my quilts went to guy that work on helicopters so I sent them the song, hope they had a good laugh--or they think I'm a little wierd.)  my older sister was married to a guy in the Army, a guy in the Air Force and now she is married (for 24 years) to a guy in the Marines.  Her daughter was in the AF, she started out working with drug dogs then went on to handle bomb dogs and did 2 tours of Saudi Arabia.  Another Niece is currently in the Navy

What are some of the things you have sewn for AHQ

I'm working on #19 right now, a yellow and white quilts, and #20 is about 1/3 done.  great way to try out new patterns and work through my stash

Why do you sew for AHQ

I really enjoy making to tops, don't like pinning and quilting but J-M has so many sewers that can't quilts and need to send them to the long arm quilter that since I can quilt them myself I do.  well I'm getting better at it and try different patterns

Thanks Rita, and I loved reading about the wedding dress.

Hugs & Stay safe

Naomi

Now, over to you J-M

 

Thanks Naomi, Here are a couple of thanks you messages for all to enjoy,

Hey Melissa,

I received your package and I love my new laundry bag! Thank you very much, a lot better than my plain white laundry bag ha ha it's good to know there are people, like you, out there doing nice things for other people you have never met. I really do appreciate it.

Thanks again

And one for Kaye

I have received your beautifully made quilt today. I have laid it on my bed and it fits like it was made for it. We soldiers over here thank you very much for your support, every little bit of encouragement goes a long way to curb the insanity that we are often in.

 

Til nex time......keep spreading the word and happy stitching.

 

Mystery Boxes Quilt by Kylie Kenny Part One

Hi all.  To make it easier for me with the travel over the next few days Naomi is going to write a couple of posts.  First up a Mystery Quilt Pt1, then Friend of the Day which is now her weekly gig, and finally the Part 2 of the Mystery Quilt on Tuesday.   I will still be around answering emails and Facebook though.

Enjoy and thanks Naomi!

You didn't honestly think I was going to show you what the quilt looks like already do you?  That would spoil all the fun if you don't play along.

Firstly, a little housekeeping, Kylie has very kindly allowed us to put her Mystery Quilt on the blog and has even adapted it to allow for 2 AHQ quilts to be constructed at the one time....in other words, it's a multi size option quilt tutorial.  Also, Kylie has another Mystery Quilt starting and here's what she says about it, 

 'Join in the fun on my next Mystery Quilt and help AHQ at the same
time. The Pinwheels Mystery kicks off on 1 February - and for every
AHQ member that buys the 'Mystery Quilt' I will donate $5 to AHQ. The
cost is $25 (payable up front) and it runs over 6 months - that is
less then $1 each week. Mystery Quilts are tons of fun....with this
one you also get a FREE bonus pattern which is a fabulous quilt for
AHQ. Hope you will join in the fun - here is the link to my Etsy Storeto enrol.'

Alrighty, now it's time to start revealing clues to this mystery here for you.....on your marks, get set, PEEK!
 

Finished Size of Quilt: 68” square without borders

Skill Level:  Beginners

This is absolutely one of the easiest quilts you will ever make – great for gifts

you need to ‘whip up quick’ and so many possibilities once you have made one!

The top can easily be made in two days – including borders,  so relax, crank up the slow cooker and the coffee and enjoy some time out for yourself!

Note: For those of you involved with Aussie Hero Quilts (AHQ), I have included some additional comments in these instructions for you. While others are making one big quilt with this mystery – you can instead make two quilts which end up being the perfect size for AHQ quilts. The instructions are exactly the same until you get to joining blocks – then look out for the comments in green!

For those of you that want to know what AHQ is all about….go here:

http://aussieheroquilts.blogspot.com.au/

Choosing your Fabrics:

It is really easy to choose fabric for this quilt and it is an awesome quilt to use that feature fabric you just LOVE and don’t want to cut into tiny pieces. Big squares of feature fabric are the basis for this quilt – you can use an allover print, panels or even make blocks to use. If making blocks, you could repeat the same one or use lots of different blocks for a unique sampler quilt. I used some cat panels for one sample…and in another I have used an allover batman print.

Kaffe Fasset florals would also look awesome in this quilt – you may even like to mix them up and use a variety of prints instead of just one. The possibilities are endless – embroidered blocks, appliqué, machine embroidery, painted, crayon coloured blocks could all be used.

If you are looking for some pieced or appliqué blocks… do you know about Quilters Cache? It is my first stop for blocks! The website is: 

http://www.quilterscache.com/QuiltBlocksGalore.html

If you are looking for machine embroidery designs…this is one of my favourite sites.

The blocks are 7 ½” finished (8” cut), therefore you can either use 7 ½” blocks, or you could use 6” blocks and add sashings. For example you could use a Churn Dash Block made 7 ½” (8” cut):

Or make the Churn Dash 6” finished and add sashings which are 1 ¼” (cut 1 ¾”) to each side of the block, this will give it a nice ‘floating’ affect in the quilt:

Once you have chosen your feature fabric or blocks, you need to chose a ‘highlight’ fabric – this is the same fabric in every block. You will also need some coordinating colours – tone on tones work well here, nothing with a big print as they would detract from the feature blocks….they should complement your feature fabric, not detract from it and should contrast with your highlight fabric.

Some examples:

For this quilt I used some cat panels….the black and white spot is the highlight fabric and I used 2 co-ordinating fabrics - purple, tan and lime green.

For the batman sample I am using these fabrics:

   

This panel would also make an awesome quilt:

Fabric Quantities:

Feature Fabric:                   2.2m  or 2 ½ yards

If you are making blocks instead of the feature fabric, you will need 36 @ 7 ½” finished (8” cut)

Highlight Fabric:                 1.7m  or 2 yards

Coordinating Fabrics:        3 different fabrics - 1m of each or 1 ¼ yards

** For the coordinating fabrics you can use up to 12 different fabrics if you like, alternatively you could use one only…or you can stick to the 3 different fabrics as I have used.

Borders (optional):                        I added two borders – Inner border was 2” (1.2m 

                                                     or 1 ½ yards)

                                                    Border 2 – 5” wide (2m or 2 1.2 yards)

 

 

Step One:

Highlight Fabric:    

Cut 9 strips @ 1 ¾”            (strips should be cut WOF – Width of Fabric)

Co-ordinating Fabric:

            If using 3 fabrics – Cut 3 strips @ 1 ¾” of each fabric (total 9 strips)

If using 12 fabrics – Cut 1 Strip of each fabric

(if using 12 fabrics you will need to cut 3 more strips of highlight fabric)

1.     Join one strip of coordinating fabric and one strip of highlight fabric along the length using an accurate ¼” seam.

2.     Iron the strips pressing toward the highlight fabric.

3.     Crosscut the strips into 4 ¼” segments – if using 3 fabrics, cut 24 segments of each colour. If you are using 12 different fabrics, cut 6 segments from each strip – you will have some leftover.

You should have 72 segments that look like this:

Step Two:

Highlight Fabric:

            Cut 6 strips @ 1 ¾” (WOF)

Co-ordinating Fabric:

            If using 3 Fabrics - Cut 2 strips @ 3” of each colour

If using 12 Fabrics – Cut 1 strip of each colour

(if using 12 fabrics, you will need to cut an additional 6 strips of highlight fabric)

1.     Join one strip of highlight fabric to each strip of co-ordinating fabric.

2.     Iron the seam allowance toward the co-ordinating fabric.

3.     Crosscut the strip sets into 36 segments @ 5 ½” – 12 of each colour.

(If you are using 12 different fabrics, cut 3 segments from each strip)

Note: you will have some leftover strips which will be used in the next step

You should have 36 segments that look like this:

Step Three:

For this step you will need half of the segments made in Step One and the segments from Step Two:

                                 

1.     Join one of the segments from Step 1 to the end of one segment from Step 2. Make sure when joining you have the highlight fabric placed the same as the diagram, so that it forms an upside down ‘L’.

2.     Iron the seam allowance toward the short highlight strip.

NOTE: Use the same co-ordinating fabric in each block, therefore you will make 12 of each colour if using 3 co-ordinating colours.

You should have 36 segments that look like this:

Step Four:

Highlight Fabric:

            Cut 6 strips @ 1 ¾” (WOF)

Co-ordinating Fabric:

            If using 3 Fabrics - Cut 2 strips @ 3” of each colour

If using 12 Fabrics – You do not need to cut more strips – you can simply cut from the leftover strips from Step Two.

1.     Join one strip of highlight fabric to each strip of co-ordinating fabric.

2.     Iron the seam allowance toward the highlight fabric.

3.     Crosscut the strip sets into 36 segments @ 8” – 12 of each colour.

(If you are using 12 different fabrics, cut 3 segments from each strip – use the leftover strips from Step Two)

*** Note – you should get 5 segments from each strip set, use the leftover strips from Step Two to cut the remaining two segments. If you cannot get it, cut and join another strip – I have allowed enough fabric for that scenario.

You should have 36 segments that look like this:

Step Five:

For this step you will need the remaining half of the segments made in Step One and the segments from Step Four:

                                 

1.     Join one of the segments from Step One to the end of one segment from Step Four. Make sure when joining you have the highlight fabric placed the same as the diagram, so that it forms a sideways/backwards ‘L’.

2.     Press the seam allowance toward the short highlight strip.

You should have 36 segments that look like this:

1.     Cut 4 strips @ 1 ¾” of highlight fabric.

2.     Cross cut into 36 @ 4 ¼” segments.

3.     Join to the right hand end (opposite end to the short strips) of these units.

4.     Iron pressing the seam allowance toward the highlight fabric.

You should have 36 segments that look like this:

Ok, well that should keep you busy until the next and final steps are revealed on Tuesday nights post....also, once the mystery quilt has been revealed, there will be a pdf version of these instructions for you to save and use.  I'm sure you won't be disappointed with the final results.

Hugs & Stay safe

Naomi