Washing Machine Trouble

I've been waiting in today for the washing machine repair man. Don't you hate that?
The problem was the door lock. A load of washing was stuck in there for four days and I couldn't open the door. Anyway he's fixed it now - apparently the door lock mechanism had come loose. I had to pay an exorbitant callout fee, and within a minute of him leaving I had the machine newly loaded and now it's humming away, after being unusable for four days in the heat. Sigh of relief.

It's been too hot to do any sewing and I've no current project to show you, but I've been taking some garden photos.

A lacecap hydrangea in dappled shade. This moved with us in a pot from our previous house, and now it's planted out in semi-shade.

Globe thistles always attract a lot of bees.

I don't know the proper name for these, but to myself I call them "giant daisies", lol. They were here when we moved in and they are good for cutting.

I've been asked to help spread the word about a new quilt swap. I'm a bit late with it but if you haven't heard about it and think you might be interested, check it out: Four Seasons Quilt Swap

Cookies and Quilting

I've been baking chocolate chip cookies this morning. This is the classic Toll House recipe from here. (Just type Toll House into the search box, and it's the first recipe that comes up.) They turn out perfect every time and it makes a huge batch, but they won't last long in this house;) If you haven't tried this recipe, try it, it's a good one.

Heres my finished star quilt, all quilted and bound.

I hesitated before deciding on that green binding, but I'm glad I went with it. I think sometimes a small amount of an unexpected colour adds a bit of spark. There is some mossy green in the print of the cream fabric, so the binding does relate to something.

If you click on the photo to enlarge it, you can see the binding and quilting more clearly.

Anyway I like the effect, and I enjoyed making this quilt, especially the quilting. I like working on a small to medium-sized scale, and this is just over a yard square.

The weather's hotting up a bit here. I like the sunshine but not the heat, so I hope it doesn't get too hot. It's nice to have a change from rain though. Hope it's fine where you are!

Hollyhock Projects

After my last post I was thinking about hollyhocks as a design motif, and remembered I actually had some past projects featuring hollyhocks.

This is a wallhanging I made back in 1998. I know that because I made a label for it! A good case for labelling your quilts with the date.

How could I forget about this? It's on my kitchen wall and I see it every day!

The pattern was from Patches and Posies by Teri Christopherson. The applique is fused and hand blanket-stitched. This was before I got my Bernina. The machine I had then didn't do a blanket stitch, but I think I would have done this by hand anyway, because it's such a small quilt. I did have a walking foot for that machine, and there is minimal machine quilting on this.

It was fun to make. I particularly like the sun applique at the top.

This stitcherty with hollyhocks is from a Crabapple Hill pattern. It was one of a series and I did most of them. I should really do something with them. They were intended to be made into a quilt, but I can imagine them framed or incorporated into other projects.

Hollyhocks

I wanted to show you this photo of some of our hollyhocks. They are my absolute favourite flower, and at their best just now. I like them because they are an old-fashioned cottage garden plant, unpretentious and beautiful, and there's something about their great height that appeals to me. They make me think of vintage textiles and old embroidery transfers. I grew these from seed soon after we moved to this house, and they have flowered year after year.

Here's a glimpse of some work in progress - my star quilt, partly quilted:


There's still some more work to do on the quilting, but this gives you an idea of what it will be like. I've still to decide on fabric for the binding. I told you I was a slow worker! I like to take my time and enjoy the process:)

Kitchen Things

I've just finished these for a friend who's had a new kitchen fitted.
She's had the cabinets in for a few weeks but it's taken her a while to decide on a colour scheme for the kitchen. Eventually she came up with yellow, but then I realised she was talking about bright yellow for the walls. A bit more thinking and now she is having cream walls with yellow for an accent colour. That was all I needed to know!
The potholder is crocheted in 4-ply cotton and the dishcloth is knitted. I hope you can see the stitch pattern on the dishcloth. I found the patterns for both on eBay, not vintage but the dishcloth pattern is a few years old.
Hope she likes them!

Star Quilt

Remember those star blocks I was making? Well, here's my completed quilt top. I had some trouble with the star points and I ended up making three of the blocks again, but I'm happy with them now. It'll be a long time before I applique any more stars;)
It was only when I was putting the borders on that I realised I hadn't given a thought to the backing, so I ordered that and I'm now waiting for it to arrive.
Love those reds and warm pinks!

I'm not sure how I'm going to quilt it yet, still thinking about that. It's a nice size for machine quilting, not too big. I think it might be an opportunity for some fancy quilting.

Oh yes, and I got that blanket finished at last:

I like the colours and it's soft and cosy. What more could you want from a blanket?

Quilt Show

My friend Wendy asked if I would show some of my quilts that I had used as backgrounds in my photos. So I had a big photo session and here they are.

I made this one about five years ago. The main part of it is quilted in diagonal lines so it wasn't too difficult to machine quilt, although heavy. I remember showing my mother what I was working on, and telling her the vines were made from one long bias tube. She said, "How on earth did you turn it?" and I explained that there was no need to turn it because the seam allowance was hidden underneath, but I could tell she didn't really know what I meant! She isn't a quilter herself.

I bet these two are smaller than you thought! They are both from Jo Morton patterns. I hand quilted the log cabin one. I like the colours in that one.

For this one I combined two different Jo Morton patterns. I use it as a throw on a sofa, but it would have made a good wall quilt. The dark red sashing fabric was actually a subtle print, but it has since faded.

I was pleased with the mix of prints in this one. The pattern was called Fragments, by Liberty Star. It goes folded over the back of a chair in our dining room, and it has featured in more than one photo.



I'm just sneaking these two in because I like them:

Can you tell I like working on a small scale? These are both from American Doll Quilts by Kathleen Tracy. The triangle one hangs in my utility room, which I think you would call a laundry room outside the UK.

Well, that was a long post for me. If you got this far, thanks for reading to the end of it!