Marg Low Designs

springtime

Once spring is here it's hard not to spend sometime in the garden. Flowers are blooming and the weeds are growing as only weeds can grow - they're flourishing in places they've never grown before. If I seem a little obsessed about weeds its just that I have, without trying, cultivated a very diverse and hardy crop! Why don't flowers grow like that? It's difficult to enjoy the blooms when you can't find them. Strange as it might sound the weeding does provide a nice break from the computer.  I knew the Mamre House weekend was looming closer and closer but I just hadn't realised how close it had got. (Yes I do use a diary in case you were wondering.) So now I'm finalising patterns and still need to make a couple more samples.

Now how gorgeous is this! This is Bronwyn's quilt. Made for her by her sewing group and given to her for her birthday. Ros made her a lovely bag from left over blocks to keep it in. (Sorry no photo.) I do hope Bronwyn brings this to Mamre House for show and tell.

Have you seen the beautiful coathangers Bloom  made for her Mum? Oh so tempting.

Friday girls quilts

Check out these quilts the Friday Girls have made.

This is Jan's new tablecloth. How gorgeous is it! I think I would be too busy oohing and aahing over the fabrics to be bothered about eating. Can't wait to use it next time we sew together.

Sue-Anne used a Moda bakeshop pattern to make this stunning baby's quilt. Love the fresh colours. Very tempted to make one!

Helen is so smitten with the disapearing nine patch pattern, she's made this one....

and this one. I thought the blue and brown combination was beautiful but the blue and red is divine. (So gorgeous that when I went shopping on the weekend I only bought blue and red.)

The quilt Jan has made for her grandson. If you look closely you can see the skull and flame print - just the sort of thing any young boy would love.

The back of the quilt with a single pieced strip. It's been quilted with orange thread and looks fabulous.

All that creativeness motivated me to finish the positive & negative nine patch I started a few months ago. The blocks were finished last weekend so it was simply a matter of sewing them all together. Have to laugh at the simple - the sewing was simple, there was just an awful lot of it! Then I decided it needed a border. You'll have to wait until next time for that.

there's a chill in the air

It turned so cold here on the weekend all I could think about was snuggling up under a quilt. So enticing was this thought, I made the binding, sewed it on and then stitched the binding down while staying wonderfully warm. Binding is my preferred winter job, well that's my excuse for often taking months, if not years to bind quilts. Happy to say that this one has only taken about a month but only because of the weather.

I popped some samples into Avonleigh yesterday and walked out with these great fabrics. Kay and Sharon have had a huge delivery of fabric and I was very spoilt and allowed to look through the boxes. It was like Christmas and all my birthdays rolled into one.

They also have the border fabric I used in my quilt that appeared in Homespun Vol 10 No. 4.

this week's sewing

I was so tempted to start a new quilt this long weekend after seeing Helen's three finished quilt tops but so far I've resisted. I decided to sew a few more of these positive and negative nine patch blocks. I started these awhile ago with the plan to make two a day. Well I made about 80 in a week and then came to a complete halt (as I often do). So I sewed a few Friday night, a few more Saturday and more this morning. They're a great project to have in the work basket for when the mood takes you to do a little -  no concentration required - machine piecing.

We celebrated Helen's birthday last Friday. This is the little needle & thread roll I made for her. You only need scraps for this project but I was struggling a little for inspiration and just had to buy new fabrics.(I really just needed an excuse to buy more fabric).

 Inside. Jan tucks her thread and thimble in the pocket and has dedicated hers to her hexagon box. If you have more than one project on the go it can very frustrating to quickly grab one to work on only to discover the needles and thread are missing. The solution is to have needles and thread permanently dedicated to a project.

The outside. Lots of fun chosing the fabrics and stitches. Yes, I'm sure if I had looked a little harder there would have been fabrics in my stash perfect for this project. But then I may not have enjoyed making it as much. Love that sense of anticipation and excitement that comes from playing with new fabrics.

It looks like I've done lots of sewing this week. It helps that they're all quick projects. I thought I'd made enough decorations but then couldn't resist trying these combinations.

Barb's Home Sweet Home and Flying Angel decorations.

The pattern for these decorations will be on sale at the end of this month.

pandora quilting

We all like to feel special, and how special is this. I've just had a a quilt quilted by Rose of Pandora Quilting. Returned in this lovely packaging which in turn is perfect for reusing, if the quilt is a gift.

It looks to good to open.  Yes the ribbon and quilt are even colour coordinated. An example of the care Rose goes to.

20 x 20 challenge

This year Murray River Quilters celebates 20 years. The members were challenged to make a 20 x 20 quilt; 20 fabrics and 20 inches square. This is my effort. I wish I could have kept going. I would love this for the centre of something much larger. Perhaps one day I will. There's more than enough fabric left over to make a good start. Picture the Fat 1/8's with only a corner cut out and all the whole ones not used. Much prefer to have too many fabrics to choose from rather than not enough. So if your'e wondering how my fabric stash is going it's growing very nicely, thank you.

The guest speaker at the gathering on Saturday was Helen Godden. If you ever have the opporturnity to listen to her speak or view her quilts make sure you do. A very entertaining speaker and her quilts need to be seen to be believed.

the 21st quilt

This is what I was working on this morning. I finished piecing the stars and added the sashings. Now I am running just a tad behind schedule with this quilt. It has to be finished by the end of this month.

Given Bec reminds me every so often I still haven't finished the cushion I started making her over 10 years ago there is no way I can get away with not having this quilt totally finished.

But there's a bit of a problem. I'm not 100% sure about the border fabric now. Remember the quilt has been based around this fabric ever since Bec spotted it in the stash and said 'I like that'.

So I'm going to sleep on it and hopefully when I pull it out of the cupboard in the morning it will be fine. It has to be; I'm running out of time!

progress......

I'm way ahead of schedule on these nine patch blocks. The plan was to make two per day and I've made 40+. They are sooooo easy to sew. No thinking required - my kinda of sewing!

I guess anything I sewed after working on the challenge would be a breeze. The maths didn't quite work out resulting in a little unpicking and some trimming here and there to make it all fit. Had to laugh. There I was thinking it was almost finished and congratulating myself on how well it was all going together.....

  Speaking of finishing things, Belinda made this lovely journal cover in class yesterday. The first thing she can remember finishing in a class in ages.

The little bag with its cute birdie buttons was just about completed in the Easter class a few weeks ago.

I can imagine carrying my camera around in this bag.

  
 Amanda's journal cover. Doesn't it look fantastic in these Kaffe Fassett fabrics? Amanda designed and drew the stitchery freehand.

Both girls covered their work diaries, so come tomorrow morning they'll have a lovely reminder of what they achieved on the weekend.

quilts to be making.....

  Last night I finally made a start on the 21st Birthday quilt. I have been thinking about this project for at least the last 6 months. The dilemma has been 'what fabrics and colours to use'. Yes I do feel a bit embarassed not knowing what my daughters favourite colour is (used to be purple) but tastes do change. Plus some of the fabrics she's picked out, the few times she's visited a patchwork shop, have surprised me.

So I'm taking a bit of a gamble. When she said she liked this Judy Rothermel Sturbridge Village fabric, she spotted in my stash, I hope she meant she really really did like it! It has to be one of my favourite pieces of fabric - guess that's why I bought enough for a border.  

The birthday is not until the end of May so I suppose I have plenty of time......

Jan has made a lovely nine patch quilt, sorry I didn't have my camera so you will just have to trust me on this. It's so gorgeous I want to make one for myself.

 Of course I don't have the same fabrics as Jan but think these fabrics from Patchwork on Stonleigh's Fabric club will be perfect. I've been think about doing something with these fabrics for ages and it's so nice to finally have a project for them. I'd like to set myself a target of 2 blocks per day......I know, doesn't sound like very many, but the birthday quilt is the priority.

And then there is the Murray River Quilters challenge to think about. 20 inch square quilt with 20 fabrics to celebrate the 20th anniversary. Due 9 May. The fabrics are chosen, the design done.....now I just have to find the time.

the tops finished

 The tops finished and well before my deadline of Christmas Eve. I'm pleased with the finished result, but then I like just about anything with red in it. So I'm not an impartial judge!

The great thing is I did completely use up some pieces of my favourite reds and cut into others that I've been saving. Now its finished I can safely clear the fabric off the table and chairs and move onto the next project. Yes, I really must make a start on those Christmas presents.