2 UFO quilts and a World Map panel quilt

YIPPEE here are the 2 quilts I finished this week. The green border on this fabric is great, but it was hard to stitch with, I kept going cross eyed! Those little nine patches are 2 1/2 inch squares, with 9 x 3/4" squares...what was I thinking?? I love the quilting on this with the multi coloured thread! This one is being donated as a raffle prize for school. We have our Summerfest (school fete) next Saturday. I was panicked that I would not get it finished in time, but yesterday I worked really hard on it! I love the backing of this one, a panel I bought back in Australia. As we are at an International School, I thought this was really appropriate. I quilted "in the ditch" on the front, and then just to add a personal touch, I quilted around the map of Australia! (it probably not easy to see in this picture...but I did it in yellow thread. Why not, it's my quilt! :)

#5 Angel - Faith

Number 5 angel complete. A bit slow going this week...with so much football fever, late nights watching games on the German TV (my German is getting better), early mornings, not much stitching done in the evenings!
now...onto Number 6..She is called Happiness.

3 UFO's to complete

I am determined to finish these 3 quilts in the next few weeks. This one is 1997 I made it originally for the side of a bag to carry my quilting cutting mat. But I didn't like it, so I dismantled it, and it has sat like this for many years. It just needs a backing and binding, and I think it will make a good table runner! The psychedelic quilt top is from May 2001.  
The bright triangle quilt top is from 2004. I can almost see the bottom of the UFO box! YIPPEE!! Stay tuned on the progress....

#4 Angel - Hope

These are stitching up really nicely and I am enjoying doing them almost every evening! Next one is Happiness and Faith....stay tuned!

Purple Tumbler Block - Quilt Top

Here is a picture of the top of the quilt I have been working on for the past 2 weeks. I am really pleased with how it looks...single size quilt, with a lot of overhang on the end! Busy trying to make the backing with some of the scraps and other pieces of purple fabric that I have left over from other backings. So far it looks quite good.....just a bit more to add for the back to get the width. This one was a tricky one to photograph..only being 5'2" (and a half), makes it hard to photograph quilts that are lying on the floor. So I stand on a chair Attempt number 1. Me standing on a chair trying to fit the whole quilt into the digital screen.

Purple Tumblers backing

Here is the backing sewn together for the Purple Tumbler Quilt. I love the idea of using up the last pieces of leftover fabrics sewn creatively in the backing.

#3 Angel - Love

Here is the 3rd angel in the series..."Love", and I have started on the 4th "Hope". These are really nice to be stitching on. I am using lots of thread, because it is a large count..no idea what size fabric, it was something I pulled out the stash. So I am using 3 strands of cotton. Phil cannot believe I actually ran out of a few colours (I have 2 of almost every DMC colour). So, he was a bit shocked when I said I needed to buy some more! :) mmm...DMC have released some new colours...may have to do a bit more shopping! I get a lot of stitching done on Sunday and Tuesday nights, when we stay up until 11 to start watching the latest episode of 24 and Lost. So I need to do something to keep me awake! well...

Purple Tumblers - change of plans

Change of plans with my Tumbler blocks. After cutting 200 light and 200 dark blocks, I sewed them up into groups of 8, then ended up with this formation. Then after looking at is for awhile, I think I would like to make it into a single size quilt (no idea who it is for) So, back to the cutting board for about 150 more light and 150 darks, and see what theat looks like! At least I am using lots of my purple strips and fat quarters that I had no idea what to do with! (I already have an idea for my pink scraps...but am going to try and be good and finish this one first!)

Purple Tumblers

Here is the next work in progress, using lots of purple scraps.
Here are all the purple strips and fat quarters I have...smallest strip 4 1/2 inches.



I cut out 200 light and 200 dark, this is how I have started to arrange them, just the lights laid out first! It will be about the size of a lap quilt.
Now to sew....to be continued

Dylan's 10th birthday quilt

Sorry Dylan, this is so late in coming.....but it is finally all finished! xxx Happy 10th Birthday!

Lizzie Kate Xmas Stocking

Yippe, it is done..only 5 months late! Charlotte, please forgive me!

#2 Angel - Friendship.

Second Joan Elliott angel completed.  I ran out of White DMC, and had to go into the city to the only shop I have seen here in Berlin that stocks DMC....other places have Anchor..but I prefer DMC. Got lots done last Tuesday night when the second series of LOST began....at 11pm...then the TV station decided to do a double....It was 1am when we finally got to bed. Needless to say, there was a lot of stitching done before hand to ensure I stayed awake! Phil went to Media Markt (kind of like Dick Smiths) and finally got the adaptor we needed to link the sky box to the video...so at least we can tape the shows now, and watch them at a reasonable time of day! I can't get the french knots right for the eyes. So I think once the whole thing is finished, I will cheat. I will remove the french knots, and use mill hill black beads! That will be better! :)

#1 Angel - Kindness.

This year's big cross stitch project will be a series of 12 angels. They are being published in the World of Cross Stitch magazine throughout the year. They are designed by Joan Elliot, the designer who did the Angel of Cross Stitch many years ago. Cross stitch friends may remember that was the design that used all the DMC range to celebrate the 100 year anniversary of DMC threads...of course I did that pattern when it came out, just for the challenge of using every single colour! ;) 

The design was to be stitched on an afghan blanket, but I am working them on a piece of evenweave that was in the stash...so far stitching up quite quickly! We have borrowed the 1st series of LOST DVD's from a friend.....so this gives me lots of stitching time each evening! This is where I am up to at the moment.

Here is the 1st angel completed.

Wadding has arrived

I ordered this wadding in November from a quilt shop in Berlin. It is a 30 metre roll, so it should keep me going for awhile! :) They don't carry this brand in Germany. So the quilt shop here in Berlin ordered it from America for me. I have no idea why it took so long to get here. It has been really frustrating, as I have really wanted to get into my quilting again, but have been reluctant to start new things, as I don't want to end up with heaps of UFO's. So I have a few things I must get done......mainly Dylan's 10th b'day quilt....sorry Dylan it is so late....but it will be finished now!

Scissor Keeper for Sonia

Here is the finished scissor keeper that I began on the train down to Munich last week. This design is a freebie from the Drawn Thread company. My friend Sonia, has got the itch to do some cross stitching, and bought a frame from England. She has a couple of kits and is going to begin soon. So I thought I would make her this to put on her scissors. She loves snowmen, so I think she will like this one. She comes back from a holiday in Egypt on Wednesday, so I will give it to her then!

Lizzie Kate March and more

Well, if I put a positive spin on it, I am 11 months ahead for next year! Here is the March series of cross stitch that I am doing. The first 3 are from Lizzie Kate, the next 2 are from Rainbow Gallery and the last one is Bent Creek designs. These one took a bit longer to do that I thought (with Munich and Legoland in between). Still I am happy with how they turned out!

Lizzie Kate Angel Stocking

Finally finished the Xmas Stocking I had hoped to have finished for Christmas 2005! Only 3 months behind.

Now I have to sew it into a stocking, which I hope to do this week sometime. I like these Lizzie Kate designs, they stitch up quite quickly once you start them! This was part of my Commonwealth Games challenge with one of my cross stitch groups, and I have managed to finish this one before the flame is put out...just! Now to concentrate on some more Flip Its!

Floral Bouquet #1

Horray!! It is finally finished! I am so glad to get this one over and done with! Help, it has a partner too. I won these 2 designs in a competition....the saving grace of these patterns by Lauren Tucker is they have no backstitching! I have some other stitching to do and will work on some Lizzie Kate stuff, then think about doing the second picture to this one in the second part of the year! I have no idea what I will actually do with this finished picture, but at least I can cross it off my "Things to Do list"

Lizzie Kate January

This afternoon I put in the last stitches of the January Cross Stitches that I had been working on. I will work on the March designs next, in the hope that I can finish them before March actually begins! The first 3 are Lizzie Kate designs. The last 2 are Rainbow Gallery designs. I used the same colours in the Rainbow Gallery design as I did for the Lizzie Kate designs for continuity, rather than use the colours suggested. These will eventually be sewn up into bell pulls to change over each month. I am waiting for a couple of Bent Creek designs to complete the bell pull. Now onto the March designs. To be continued...

Stash Quilt #1 blocks

 I managed to get a bit of sewing done last night when the boys were asleep. This block is a variation on the Beggars Block, (see 5500 Quilt Block Designs, Maggie Malone Page 56). Although I didn't want pinwheel patterns on every corner, so just did the red connectors on one side each. I ran into a bit of a problem with the border, but I think I can manage this OK...just need to pick out the colour for the next border ,and I can start to sew all the blocks together.

Stash Quilt #1

OK...so I started to go through the boxes of scraps of green and blue strips for the quilt I am working on. I thought I would go through the boxes and get as many strips that I could. Then I could attack the shelves and get some fat quarters out to cut up..... I needed 96 green strips 2 1/2 x 6 1/2" strips. 192 blue (same size)....I managed to get enough from just the strip boxes, and not even touch the fat quarters on the shelf.! :) And this is for a single size bed! What was I saying about too much fabric in a previous post? I managed to cut all the strips today, and 192 red connectors to sew to the blue strips. Over the day, I sewed all the strips together. Tonight when the boys are sleeping I will try and sew up the 6" blocks. Hopefully I will have 96 altogether. Then tomorrow, or Sunday I can play around with placements before I sew the top together! My photos came out in the wrong order....the second photo is all the strips cut, the second picture is all the red connectors sewn onto the blue strips.

My Quilting Stash

mmm.....do I really have too much fabric...
Am I in the running for "She who dies with the most fabric wins?". Not even close...you should see some of the quilters cupboards that I have seen! I like to show these pictures to Phil, so he realises my stash isn't so bad! :)
In my quilting internet group it was suggested that we should name this year as "International Year of the Scrap Quilt". I like to think of it as "International Year of Use Your Stash Year".

Here are 2 photos of my stash. The shelving is most of the fabric that I have (there is some stashed away in a few boxes, but this is the majority. The second is the boxes of scraps. These are sorted into widths. These are left over strips of fabric that I have used in other quilts over the years...but couldn't bear to throw out!
I hope that by the end of the year, I will be able to see a dramatic difference in these shelves and boxes...I will keep this photo as a reference, and see how it goes. I am trying really hard not to buy any new fabric....but I tell Phil that sometimes I think the fabric on these shelves are breeding...there cannot be any other explanation??

Floral Bouquet #1 UFO

Here is the current cross stitch that I am working on. This kit I won in a magazine, and it isn't really to my taste, but I am determined to finish it, and get it out of my "To Do" list...then I have the matching design to do as well. (I won 2 kits) I have no idea what to do with it once they are completed?? The weather here has been really cold, around - 10 -to -14 each day...I have had a cold this week, so not much of anything done. But today I put a few stitches into this picture....almost 3/4 of the way through it now! YIPPEE....

Table Runners for gifts

Here are a couple of table runners I sewed up for the boys teacher's for Christmas. Great pattern, and easy to sew up when you need something quick....(check out this site for the instructions, quilters) http://www.quiltbus.com/tabletopper.htm

The Wedding Quilt

Here is the photo of the quilt I made for Jane and Stephen when they got married in November. It was a pattern from Quiltsitters, based on the Judy Hooworth seminar I missed in July (sniff sniff). Those that know the pattern will see I ran out of fabric and needed to adapt the pattern, but I really like the effect that I was able to achieve. It is in between queen and king size. I finished the top, and sent it to Ellen in Padstow to quilt for me....what a great job she does!
Thankfully she helped me out and stitched the binding on for me as well. Phil picked it up when he flew to Sydney, and then took it to Melbourne for the wedding....so this is a well travelled quilt! made in Berlin, quilted in Sydney! Thanks Ellen, you are a life saver!!!!

Lizzie Kate December

Got this one completed just in the nick of time....30th November! I am enjoying doing these Lizzie Kate designs. They do not take long to do, and I am enjoying doing some smaller designs, something I haven't really done before! On to the January ones now...to be finished before Xmas....we will see. I still need to knit a couple of scarves for birthday presents, and something for teachers for Xmas presents. I am not sure how I will go for time??

Teddy Alphabet

Yippee, this one has been a long term project, and finally I put the last stitches in last night! What a relief. The backstitching on this was a killer, and in the end I gave up looking at the chart, and just made it up as I went along....I don't think you can tell! Next on the list of kits are 2 floral charts that I won in an English Cross stitch magazine. Not really my usual type of scene, but I both kits have no backstitching, so they should stitch up quickly....then it is on to the Teresa Wentzler Peacock Tapestry...that will keep me busy for quite sometime!

Mrs Taft

Finally sewn the last seams for the top of the QuiltSitters Challenge for this year. Now I need to sew the borders and quilt together. Would like to get it finished by this week...but not hopeful. The boys are on half term break (for the week), and we are off on a holiday as well.....so perhaps next week! :) Off to a festival this afternoon run by the Berlin International Women Association..no idea what it will be like, but they have face painting, and you can't beat that!!! :)

Lizzie Kate - November

The credit card got a bit of a run a few weeks ago in a craft shop in America (gotta love internet shopping!) I have fallen in love with these Lizzie Kate designs. They are quick to stitch, and a nice break from the large projects I am working on at the moment. These are the 2003 and 2004 monthly designs. Once December 2005 is out, I will buy the complete set (to save on postage). Each month I will work on the following months bell pull. I will buy 1 hanger, and some velcro. Stitch the velcro on the back, attach it to the hanger, and change them each month..instead of buying 12 hangers! Nice to be sttiching these in the Northern hemisphere....where it actually is Autumn, and there are heaps of leaves, acorns and chestnuts falling to the ground! The fabric is long enough for 5 or 6 designs...depending on how big next years designs are!

What I am working on?

quilting.....I am working on our quiltsitters challenge for this year....here is a colour picture of the quilt...can't reveal the real thing yet...sorry! But it won't be long! A really nice pattern to work with...(name of block is Mrs Taft). X stitch, still working on a teddy bear alphabet sampler, over 1/2 way there now. I really want to get this finished before the end of the year. Also got some Lizzie Kate designs that I want to start working on. These are quick designs, and I have to prepare the fabric to start stitching on these as well. There is a pattern for each month of the year, and I want to have November's done before the 1st Nov