Recycling

My friend Helen came up with an idea a couple of weeks ago that the two of us should make bags from recycled fabric. We set aside a Saturday and spent the morning exploring the Red Cross, Salvation Army and Hospice stores. Helen fell in love with denim and chambray shirts for her bags, and I found tablecloths and scarves for mine.

This first bag is made from a small souvenir tablecloth and lined with homespun. The front:

The back:


The lining:

This bag is made from leftover fabric from an earlier bag project and lined with a 50 cent silk scarf.



It's challenging working with these fabrics because you have to make the pattern fit the fabric. Both bags turned out smaller than I planned and the designs changed along the way.

My April Journal Quilt was from another silk scarf bought on the same shopping trip. I wasn't happy with the first try so recycled it into this. It now has lots more texture (one of the themes for the month). I think some beads down the panel on the left would be good.


This weekend I also finished the Split 4 Patches for Bonnie's Orange Crush mystery. I cut far too many big triangles so now I've got lots ready for another project. Roll on clue 3.

Weekend catch up

Sandy at Comforter Quilts is working on an autumn quilt called Third Week in October and she is looking for autumn inspiration. It's still quite green here but this vine on the drive way is starting to colour nicely.


The border are on the Bargello Quilt and I love how it turned out. I think I'm going to call it "Bonnie's Bargello Quiltville Cat Quilt" because when making this quilt from Bonnie's Quiltville site I finally cut up some "precious" cat quilt which I had bought in bulk and never found the perfect pattern for.

This next pic is my first attempt at an April Journal Quilt. The techniques for the month are "painting on visofix" and "texture". This is a hand-dyed silk scarf that I bought at the op shop for 50 cents. The two pink flowers on the left are painted on visofix, ironed on and quite roughly stitched with gold thread. I have quilted to the background of the top (blue) section but the bottom (green) section is unquilted to give different textures.


I'm not all that fussed with the effect of the paint on visofix. I've seen other people do it and get great texture but this is quite smooth. I think I will have another try at this one.

I have a busy week planned at work this week with lots of visits to promote the community awards we run. I'm looking forward to being out of the office. Hopefully tomorrow the ruler I ordered for the Orange Crush mystery will arrive and I will be able to make a start on step 2.

Have a good week everyone.

Catching Up

Now that I have a lovely new camera I can catch up with sharing pics of some of my projects.


This is my March Journal quilt. The technique for the month was *abstract from photo* and the theme was *reflections and memories*. Our clocktower won an achitectural award in March so I chose to try and abstract a photo taken last year when the new lights were officially turned on for the first time after a major refurbishment (to earthquake proof the tower). The clocktower is actually white and very solid looking but I chose to just use the colours of the lights. The shiny patches are angelina which is a bit more subtle in real life and is meant to be rain in the sky and puddles on the ground.


This one is my first village quilt after hearing Karen Eckmeier (check out her website here) speak in February. Another village is in progress and nearly finished, and I'm even more pleased with it because I changed some of the techniques.

Thanks for looking!

Orange Crush in Person

These are my fabrics for Bonnie's *Orange Crush* mystery quilt. I had such a lot of fun choosing these fabrics. The blues are for the accent - I bought several because I couldn't narrow it down to just one choice.

The scrappy 4 patches look quite co-ordinated here but they are actually just a mix of scraps. The only effort I made to match them was to include some dark browns and blacks in the last few strips.

I'm looking forward to the next clue :o)

Look - pictures!!

As you can see I haven't got the hang of cropping images on the new camera software yet but here is the bargello quilt. So far it only has 2 outside borders on because I miscalculated the fabric I needed and I was short by 7 inches which is kind of crazy!!!

Thinking I was being smart I scanned a piece of fabric and phoned the store to get their email address so I could order more, only to be told they don't have email and could I "just post a piece down". I will just have to be patient and wait for it to come.

Doing the Orange Crush

I'm working on Bonnie's *Orange Crush* mystery quilt. I couldn't resist! Last weekend DH and I went on a shopping trip to the big smoke in search of fabric. I bought the most beautiful fabrics. The shop staff were really understanding - they left me alone to play until I found the perfect matches which was just what I needed. I wasn't going to use Bonnie's colours until I saw the range of oranges in the store and fell in love with them.

I have made all 150 scrappy little 4 patches. I think I might make some extras though so that I have a better mix of fabrics and colours (and cos they are so much fun to whiz up).

While I was at the store I also bought some very funky fabric for the borders of my scrappy Bargello quilt. The best part was that I chose fabric that was completely the opposite of what I had in mind. Instead of something quite solid to try and subdue the piecing I went with a wild print that just makes it buzz even more. Getting these on is going to be my very next project.

Daylight Savings finished overnight thank goodness. I'm convinced that shorter evenings will mean more quilting - LOL