Off the Longarm

My Patchwork Chevron quilt is now off the machine, has the binding attached and is now waiting to be hand stitched down. I love how it turned out but if I had realised how much it would shrink with the quilting I would have made it longer-lesson for next time.

This photo would not rotate so sorry but you get the idea.
I quilted the coloured area with a flower design that was inspired by watching one of Angela Walters Craftsy classes.

 This is the back of the quilt and I have intentionally not taken the photo too close to the quilt as I continue to battle with the tension on my longarm-even though I have tried all the usual attempts to correct it. Still it is finished and it for my own bed so I am happy that it is finished.

This is a quilt made with blocks from members of the Bee Balm online group that I have been a member of for two years now-time to put the first quilt from the group together now!
On the design wall now is this lovely bright pinwheel quilt which is a pattern from the May/June issue of Fons and Porter's Love of Quilting.

Oops, sideways again! Just needs the borders attached then it is onto the longarm.

Then I have been working on a secret project that I will show once it has been received, but this is a sneak peak of the beginning.

I joined the Ít's a Sister Thing Swap organised by Michelle at quiltsfrommycrayonbox.blogspot.com. The concept is to connect with a quilting sister and make her a  handmade gift  -the sister you make for is not the one who makes for you. The parcels are in the post now so I will be checking the mailbox every day.

 

 I will leave you with a photo of what greeted me when I opened the door one day this week-

one of the neighbours chickens and she just hung around with my two cats for ages. She did make me laugh and has now had her wings clipped so hasn't visited again!!
 

Seal of Approval

This is my sisters cat Fergus giving her quilt the seal of approval.
For her 50th birthday (nearly three years ago now!!) she requested two king single size quilts with New Zealand themed fabrics-they have a duvet battle in bed!! What I thought she would like I got totally wrong, so it took along time going backwards and forwards with design and fabric selection to come up with the final plan. They live in Australia but we have holidays together often so a few visits to fabric shops were required.
In the end the request changed from two quilts into one queen/king instead. She selected a pattern called Lantern Lights by Kathy Adams of Koolkat Quilting in Australia, which I modified to get the larger size. The fabrics were both New Zealand themed and had the addition of a fabric featuring bamboo which my brother in law has a love for. I recently holidayed in Australia with them and managed to finish hand sewing the binding down while there.

I was pleased with how it turned out and I quilted it with a pantograph by Lorien called Waitomo, which is a place in New Zealand.

                                                           On the machine.
So although it was a rather belated birthday present I am glad it met with the seal of approval. My sisters house has most of the quilts I have made, including the very first one, which she now says needs replacing!!

On the longarm now is the queen size version of the patchwork chevron, with blocks  made by my fellow Bee Balmers, that will adorn my bed when finished.

Blogger will not let me load any more photos so I will post this and continue my ravings later.