Marg Low Designs

a new baby, a new quilt

One of my oldest and dearest friends has just become a Grandma and I'm as excited as her. I've been thinking about a quilt from the time I learnt a baby was due in May. So a couple of Friday nights ago, I got out the box I keep the 'baby' fabrics in. I wanted to go with something fresh looking but found these instead. Something soft, that said 'baby girl'.

I added these from my general stash. Oldies but goodies.

Cut them up into these.

 Sewed them into these.

Realised I should have done my maths first and worked out how many stars I needed; five too many for the size I wanted to make. Then unable to choose which five to leave out I made another five. So the little quilt for a new born is now closer to cot size!

And here's where I stopped. The fabric I thought would be perfect as a border - isn't. Luckily I  have fabric left over from the stars to piece strips together. A job for this week.

new quilt patterns

Two of my favourite things are 'little quilts' and 'achievable quilts'. The AQC was the perfect venue to release my two new quilt patterns.

 
These satisfy my need for 'small'. Both would look gorgeous as a table topper. You can purchase the Candy Floss pattern here or the kit for either Sashed Stars or Checkered Stars here.

Coconut Ice is very 'achievable'. I can't wait to make another in red, one in soft pastels for a baby, green and pinks, blues & yellows - I could keep going. It's the ideal pattern for using bundles of Fat 1/8's stashed away in the cupboard.

The pattern is available here or if you prefer the kit here. 

It can take me ages to choose a name for a pattern. I must have had a very sweet tooth the day I named these!

more pink

Right now I think my favourite colour must be pink! When I stopped and actually looked at my recent fabric purchases I realised I had almost as much pink as red! I wanted to see how they looked together and made this super quick quilt top last week. I don't know why I haven't made one like this before. It was cut out in the morning and sewed together in the afternoon, with other jobs (mundane stuff like housework and bookwork) mixed in. 

Today I picked it up from Rose at Pandora Quilting and sewed on the binding. If I don't get a chance to sew the binding down over the next few nights, it will be the ideal thing to take to Friday sewing.  In fact I might just leave it for then and start work on a new project for the From Me to You club.

Christmas tradition

Just like a particular salad and desserts have become part of our Christmas tradition, so has the making of a  red & white quilt. Well it is more mine, since I'm sure my girls only pretend an interest to please me.

Apart from maintaining this tradition it is so good to have one less unfinished project in the house. (I know it still has to be quilted and the binding sewn on, but it's finished enough for me.)

 

Wishing you all a very Merry Christmas.

 

Marg

 

presents & a quilt to finish

Every year I find myself wishing I'd started making the Christmas presents a bit earlier. You'd think I'd have worked it out by now.  Even the quickest of gifts take time when you do them in multiples.

I never get tired of making these. The great thing is they're all different and once the fabrics, decoration and threads are picked, I can stop thinking. I could almost make them them in my sleep. You will find kits for Ralph here.

Something different for a friend whose received gifts with Barb's buttons the past two years. The pattern for How Many Sleeps? is here.

The Ho Ho Ho kit can be found here.

And because I don't have enough to do I'd like to finish (top only) this quilt started about 18 months ago. The Friday Girls had a lovely day sewing at Sue-Anne's  on Thursday and I'm inspired. 

 

heat bags

How does that saying go - something about 'striking while the iron is hot'. As you can see I wasted no time making the heat bags for my girls. I'm feeling very pleased I acted straight away, before I went  cool on the idea. 

 
The fabrics were chosen to coordinate with the quilts made for their 21st birthdays.
  
 
The only thing left to do now is to attach instructions for heating the bags.

spring clean

Remember the baby quilt I was making. It took no time at all to piece the top and then nothing.... Even when I bought the perfect piece of backing fabric, still nothing. At last I found a small spark of motivation  to quilt and bind it so I could stitch the binding down at Friday sewing.

 
 I'm having a bit of a spring clean. Yes,I know it's spring but I suspect my reasons are more to do with 'I am over the clutter' and I have found that ruthless streak which allows you to break the emotional ties with bits of stuff.  

I decided to treat myself to a new heat bag. This was the perfect opportunity to cut into (I can't call it used - used implies there are only scraps left over) some of the new fabrics purchased this year.

 
I'm reluctant to use it - it looks so lovely and new! Both my girls have asked for one. I'm thinking a strippy one for them. Guess I should make a start now while I still feel motivated.

new patterns, 401st post and your chance to win...

Oh wow, how appropriate is this! I just realised this is my 401st post and it's a giveaway. You have the chance to win two of my new patterns simply by posting a comment by 31 August and entering the draw. It can't get any easier than that!

 

 
If you find yourself making presents at the last minute then the little hearts will be just the right thing. Embellished with the whimsical santa, angel and tree buttons by Theodora Cleave they make a lovely quick gift.

Earlier this year I decided to make a Christmas quilt, one that was appropriate for celebrating Christmas in the middle of summer. Something light and fresh with just a little bit of my favourite colour!

Good luck!

birthday quilt - finish

After the mad rush to get the top completed and off to the quilter, the quilt was finished and labelled with a couple of days to spare.

 
My brother was very happy and a bit overwhelmed about all the work he perceived had gone into his gift.

Looking back now it feels like I whipped it up overnight. I know this is not the case but I guess when you make something with a lot of love the time involved is not important.

finished - but not by me

There has been no progress, not even a single stitch, on anything in the last post. I am feeling a bit frustrated about it but every so often I have to give my hand, arm and shoulder a rest. So I will satisfy myself with projects finished by girls from the Red Treasures club. If I'm not sewing, the next best thing is to see the projects started in class finished by the next one. (I think this is one of the advantages of attending a club, there is more motivation to finish!)

 
 The nice thing about the table runner, Strawberry Yo-Yos, is it can easily be adapted to fit your piece of furniture  - as Marg did. It's at least twice as long!

Sue brought along a couple of her finished quilts to the Christmas workshop.

 Sue uses this one as a table cloth. Somehow I missed taking a picture of the second one.  

I hope this inspires you to have a finish! Even if it's as simple as sewing a button on.