Very slow Work In Progress

Now that semester 3 of University has started, quilting progress is going to be considerably slow.  However, there are two projects that I hope I will get it finished by the end of the year.  Hopefully if I can managed my time well, I am able to start cutting into my Anna Maria Honner voile to make myself a summer quilt but let's see how this few months will pan out.

This is a twin size surprise quilt that I am making for my God-daughter.  It is at the quilting stage and I am so in love with the colour vibrancy of this fabric line.  The fabric line is Full Moon Lagoon by Mobedell which is very pretty and so applicable for a young girl that is colour pink crazy at the moment.

 

So stay tune for pictures of the finished quilt in a few weeks time and happy quilting and crafting!

Thank you for stopping by!

A Quilt for Childhood Memories

Childhood Quilt

Carol and I have been friends since we were toddlers.  We went to the same kindergarten, primary and high school.  Our parents are neighbors till this day, and although I no longer lived with my parents or in the same country, we still remained great friends.  Carol and I share a passion for craft since we were kids.  We did art classes together, often spent time talking and making craft stuff, and bounce interesting craft ideas of each other.  She is a beautiful person with a lot of patience, sweet nature and has great ideas for anything everything crafty.

I used the humble HST to make a simple configuration to reflect on the innocence and non-complicated life that we felt as children back then.  Our childhood was filled with lots of play, crafts and tea-parties with our teddy bears and dolls in the garden, and many other simple pleasures in life!  

The overall quilt has a nostalgic childhood feel to it.  It reminds me of how the days used to passed by so slowly and every play time felt like an adventure or a craft idea to be discovered.  I can imagine us as kids using this quilt as our play mat, building a tent out of it, or using it as a picnic rug for our tea parties.

I made this quilt to thank her for her support in every part of my journey, for the endless creative ideas that we have both shared and will still continue to share, and most of all for our beautiful childhood and friendship.

"Friendship isn't about whom you know the longest... It's about who came, and never left your side."

 - Unknown-

Quilt Facts:

Design: Humble HST

Quilt Size: 60" x 72"

Quilting: Machine ditch stitched 

Fabric: Sew Cherry & Emma Louise in Mint

Backing: Bijoux Swirly Buds Gold & remnants from Sew Cherry & Salt Air 

Progress links:

Journey 1

Journey 2

These Are My Favorite Things

Lemon tart, freddos, Big M, Magnum choc mint ice-cream & Yoga

You must be wondering what has the heading to do with quilting.  Well, they were my inspiration for colors choices for Surprise Quilt No.1.  It is a strange combination for a quilt inspiration but they are one of my yoga, travel and all time bestie's favorite things (and mine too!).  Angeline is an amazing yoga teacher (that's her on the mood board).  We often have this yearly 'conference' during summertime when she visits me in Melbourne.  The 'conference' entails daily yoga practice together (often having a good laugh in class with our inner child coming out to play), and talking all things yoga and creative ideas while enjoying a slice (or two) of lemon tart, a couple of delicious snack size chocolate Freddos, a shared glass of chocolate milk called Big M or on a very hot day, a Magnum Peppermint ice-cream mini stick.  During our conference she has the hard task of motivating my lazy bum into practicing daily to work off all these yummy treats.

It was love at first sight when I saw the original Swoon quilt.  I love the simplicity of the design and with just two contrasting or complimentary fabric it produced a lovely quilt.  It was not a hard quilt to make but I was challenged during the machine quilting phase.  Even though it was heaps faster than hand quilting, the size of the quilt made it quite a task from start to finish.  However, I'm happy with the overall effect and glad that I persevered with it.

While taking pictures of the finished quilt, I realized that the design resonates with the mandala I painted a few years ago.  I was inspired by the designs and meaning of mandala after my trip to India with Angeline.  The word 'mandala' is Sanskrit for circle and center.  It represents the visible world that we live in, and the invisible world which resides in our soul and body.  Mandala forms a representation that reveals an inner truth about oneself with the world around it (www.mandalaprimitivepop.com).

Angeline and I traveled to India together in 2008.  It was our first trip together even though we have known each other since we were kids.  Our love for yoga binds our friendship and the profound impact it has made on our lives since we started our separate journey with it many years ago.  It was a memorable trip for the both of us as we yoga, laughed, shopped, bargained, held our breath as we zipped around town in a three wheeler and ate our way from the south to the north of India.

This quilt is made for Angeline to thank her for our amazing friendship, to the many crazy experiences we had, and to the ones we will continue to make as we journey our way through life.

Quilt Facts:

Quilt design: Swoon

By: Camille Roskelly of Simplify

Size: 80" x 80"

Fabric: Various

Quilting: Machine quilted 1/2" lines

Sneak Peak 2

Surprise Quilt no.2 is currently at quilting stage.  I have OD on the safety pins but I figured no harm with over basting as it prevents it from shifting too much.  I have decided to ditch quilt so that it showed the HST configuration more prominently.  Also shown is the backing fabric in Bijoux Swirly Buds Gold by Heather Bailey.  I will post up more picture of the finished quilt once the recipient have received it.

Sneak Peak

Surprise Quilt no.1 is finished.  It's ready to be gift wrap for the un-suspected recipient.  I hope she'll  like it. I'll post up pictures of the quilt once she have received it.

HST Progression of Surprise Quilt No.2

I have been...

* Cutting 4" x 4" squares of Sew Cherry fabric and Emma Louise fabric in Mint

* Stacking mountain of squares

* Penciling with handy 1/4" ruler
* Chain sewing

* Diving 4" x 4" squares to triangles
* Trimming endlessly to 3.5" x 3.5" HST




Currently I am still trimming endlessly.

"Patience is a Virtue"

Surprise Quilt No.2

As Sweet as 'Sew Cherry'

Now that I have finished with surprise quilt no.1, I'm about to start on surprise quilt no.2.  I will be using Sew Cherry fabric bundle designed by Lori Holt for Riley Blake Designs.  Out of 27 fat quarter bundle, I have selected 12 for this surprise quilt.  Sew cherry fabric has a vintage, sweet and charming feel to the design which reflects perfectly the personality of my dearest friend.  I can't wait to get started on it.  The design I have in mind is a simple, my all time favorite HST configuration which I have blogged about in The Many Faces of Half Squared Triangles.  

Unfortunately I'm unable to say which of the configuration I'll be using for the quilt.  However, all will be revealed in due time.

Surprise Quilt No.1

Be Ready to be Surprised!  

  Here's a sneak peak into surprise quilt No.1 I'm currently quilting at the moment.  I have about 30% of machine quilting to finish up and it will be ready for binding.  This is the first quilt that I have personally selected the fabric colors and prints as opposed to all my quilts thus far which has been Charm Packs or Jelly Rolls from Moda Fabrics.  This fat quarter fabric bundle was purchased at the Melbourne Craft & Quilt Fair in July 2012.  I had some inspiration in mind in terms of colors, however it didn't help with selection process as I was spoiled by fabric choices and bundles and the variety of stalls at the fair (I was like a little girl in a candy shop that wanted everything! lol!).  This bundle took me over an hour to coordinate by just browsing through one single stall!  I also had to picture the overall effects of each print and color together with the design I had in mind for this quilt.  Even though I was satisfied with the fabric bundle, I was still unsure if it would turn out as I envisioned it to be.  Lucky for me, it turned out great when I pieced everything together.  In addition, on my previous blog The Many Faces of Half Squared Triangle, the scrappy fabric came from this fabric bundle.

In the meantime, Summer Lovin' quilt is put on hold till Surprise quilt No.1 is done and... there is Surprise quilt No.2 on its way after this quilt.  These projects will keep me busy till the end of the year