Reading 1820 Blogs Daily!


  • australian fabrics
  • Page 1 of 3 ( posts )
March 1, 2024
Three end of the month finishes (February).................... from Exuberant Color


First up is the Australian fabric 16 patch which I finished on Wednesday.  This is my all time favorite of all of the Australian fabric quilts I have made.  I love the wide border on it.  It ended up at 60" x 77".







The backing is also an Australian fabric which I was lucky to find on sale last year.

The batting is Hobbs 80/20.











Here is a closeup of the backing fabric.








I got a late start last night doing the binding on the two baby quilts.  This one is Donuts and 9 Patches and is 37" square ...

read more
February 29, 2024
Quilted a couple................ from Exuberant Color


I intended to quilt a bunch of small quilts this month so I got busy yesterday afternoon and quilted two.




I quilted loops on this one with white thread top and bobbin.








I used the same backing fabric on these two since they were made with the same group of fabrics on the front.




I decided on straight lines with the channel lock for this one.







Last night it was time to get busy finishing the hand stitching on the Australian fabric quilt.  I didn't think I would get it done but I stuck with it until 10:30 ...

read more
February 27, 2024
Flannel Hugs and Kisses............ from Exuberant Color


#3 quilt top for February sewn and pressed, 60" x 83".  I really like the assortment of flannels in this quilt top.  I'm finally making a dent in my flannel stash and I have a backing chosen for this one.








My longarm friend Robin dropped off 2 quilts last Friday so I got one trimmed and binding sewn on.  I'm working on the hand stitching now and have one short side and one corner done.  I first chose a black Australian print for the binding but decided that black binding and black backing would be too difficult.  I ...

read more
November 1, 2023
October 2023 monthly recap................ from Exuberant Color


 In October I had 2 finishes, both small....that's what happens some months.  On the left is Australian fabric zig zag which ended up at 34.5" x 45.5".  The colorwash is all batiks and is 31.5" square.


There were 4 tops finished and these 2 are the largest.  The African fabric and mottled batiks 16 patch with added batik blocks finished at 64" x 80".  I started this top in September and finished it in October.  On the right, the Bear Paw top is 69" x 84".  The blocks were made in 2021 and they waited ...

read more
October 13, 2023
More little things........... from Exuberant Color

 


I have made so many larger projects earlier this year that I'm enjoying just working on small things right now.  I sewed more flying geese with Australian fabrics in an effort to get my sewing machine cabinet cleaned off.  I need to quilt a small colorwash that is already basted and the table top has been a mass of clutter for awhile.  I have 110 sewn now and then I found another group of half square triangles that had fallen off the tray.  That means I need to cut some more quarter square triangles for geese.  I hope to ...

read more
October 12, 2023
Cutting and sewing.............. from Exuberant Color


More geese flew under the needle yesterday.  I decided to go ahead and cut some more pieces to match with the left over half square triangles.  There are 27 here, now 87 total.  There were 8 more to sew when I quit for the night.  The 2 light geese on the left (bottom group) aren't Australian fabrics but I thought they looked enough like them to work in these blocks.  I need to cut 8 more sets of light triangles in both sizes to match the remaining triangles on the tray.

We're back in a rainy period so ...

read more
October 11, 2023
Making a few flying geese............. from Exuberant Color

In my sorting I found a stack of 52 Australian fabric Flying Geese blocks.  There were 8 more goose pieces cut so I sewed 8 more for a total of 60.  I looked back on my blog and found that I had started sewing these in April this year when I was cleaning up from my series of quilts with the Australian fabrics.


There are still more half square triangles on this tray so I need to cut some more goose shapes (quarter square triangle).  Some of these are dark so that means I need light color geese.  I have ...

read more
August 9, 2023
First August finish.............. from Exuberant Color


The last hand stitches were in the binding shortly after lunch so it was time to take it to the basement to the double design wall for its photo.  The main objective for this quilt was to use the larger print Australian fabrics and fussy cut what I could and close enough on the ones that were smaller yardage or scraps. 

In 1976 when I was teaching my first sampler quilt class the first reference I found to this block called it Hole in the Barn Door.  Most everyone calls it Churn Dash now which really is another name for ...

read more
August 5, 2023
Quilted and trimmed........... from Exuberant Color


The basement was cool so I quilted this Australian churn dash quilt.  I had several thread shreddings, changed the needle midstream, re-adjusted the position of the needle three times and finally changed the thread to a different type in the same color.  Finally it was finished.


I used my channel locks for straight line quilting.







This is one of my favorite blocks.








I used a large print Australian fabric on the back.  I have enough of it left to do some fussy cutting for another quilt.

I chose a binding fabric last night and will look at it again today ...

read more
April 17, 2023
Another one quilted............. from Exuberant Color


My Fantasy Garden is quilted.  I took it off the frame and trimmed it and cut binding for it.





This one has all over loops with pink variegated thread.  (Click to enlarge)







I needed something to sew while I watched TV last night so I sewed on the binding and started the hand stitching.  I have one long side done and about 18" on one short side.




I finally got this Australian fabric top pressed and borders trimmed.  It is 51.5" x 75", a nice size for covering up on a recliner at nap time.


It was cold enough ...

read more
April 16, 2023
Outdoors in the sunshine........... from Exuberant Color


Brunnera is usually the first thing to bloom in my back garden.  It has dainty blue flowers like Forget-me-nots.  I have several plants but only 3 have blooms so far.





Lungwort is the other early flower and it bloomed first this year.  I have them coming up all over the place.  It's a good thing I like their spotted leaves in my garden.




The earliest Peony is over a foot tall now.  They don't show up very well in this photo in the shade.






The best thing in the backyard is the pink buds on the Redbud trees ...

read more
April 15, 2023
Mindless sewing.................. from Exuberant Color


Yesterday afternoon I cut the large triangles for the Flying Geese blocks to match up with the leftover light triangles of Australian fabrics.  There are 50 here with another 30 or so left to assemble.  No plan for them right now, just mindless sewing because I was too tired to do anything else.



I forgot to take a photo of the other Lenten Rose until 7 p.m. yesterday.  I would call it green but maybe this is really considered a white flower.  Whatever color it is, it is pretty.

Yesterday morning I raked leaves onto the backyard grass and ...

read more
April 14, 2023
Lots of little things............ from Exuberant Color


Last night I sewed the borders on this Australian fabric bars quilt.  I haven't trimmed the ends of the wider strips yet so I'll give measurements when I get it pressed and trimmed.

In the morning I did my grocery shopping. 

In the afternoon I trimmed off the dead blooms from my Annabelle Hydrangea in front of my house.  There were already leaves growing on it.  I'm usually farther ahead of this stage with my trimming and actually I usually trim it in the late fall.


In spare minutes a few times yesterday I was reading my ...

read more
April 12, 2023
Top sewn, not pressed............ from Exuberant Color


 The top took a lot longer to sew together than I thought it would.  I'll get it pressed today and take its photo.

I spent the morning yesterday in the garage flattening cardboard boxes that had accumulated all winter.  It was 78 degrees yesterday, the first day the garage warmed up.  Today is supposed to be warmer.


The front flower bed was the next project of the day.  It doesn't look like too much right now but it is coming to life.






The Hostas are coming up.  Each plant has its unique growth.







This one has curly leaves ...

read more
April 11, 2023
A few more blocks........... from Exuberant Color


The last 2 strips sets that were already sewn had white backgrounds in the light fabrics and I wasn't sure they were going to work.  I went ahead and cut the 7" segments and then pieced one more set to have enough blocks to finish.  I wanted to be sure I like this before I sew it so I took the photo and brought it to my computer where I could analyze it.  I'll take another look at it this morning and make a decision.  This one is calculated to finish at 45" x 64" so it is ...

read more
April 10, 2023
More Australian fabric fun............. from Exuberant Color




First up, I sewed the zig zag quilt top, pressed it and did the staystitching around the perimeter.  It is 36" x 45".  









Then I moved something and discovered a tray with more triangles.  I remember I had put it aside because I needed more dark ones.  Oh, well, there will be another quilt top because the one pictured above is done unless I decide to add the borders.


Next up was using the remainder of the strip sets I used for the border on the Australian churn dash quilt.  There was 29" left so I could get four 7 ...

read more
April 8, 2023
One top finished, another started.............. from Exuberant Color


The last 2 seams were sewn on this colorwash, the iron turned on for a final press and staystitching done around the perimeter.  It is 32" x 51".












I finished sewing all of the Australian fabric triangles into squares and during TV time I did this layout.  This one is going to be small.  When sewn together this will be about 36" x 45".  I have the leftover long strips left from the border fabric on the 16 patch quilt so I'll audition it and see if I want to add borders or just keep it small.


 

read more
April 6, 2023
A long day............. from Exuberant Color


I'm not an early riser so yesterday's cellphone weather alert of a tornado warning had me up at 6:15 and in the basement for 30 minutes until the storm weakened and the warning was dropped.  This was the same storm front with tornados that went through Missouri while people were sleeping.

With the extra hours added to my day I did a load of laundry, went grocery shopping and sewed 4 more columns and added the three sections together on the colorwash.  There are 9 more columns left to sew.


Yesterday afternoon I cut some more triangles ...

read more
April 3, 2023
Rest and recharge.............. from Exuberant Color





Yesterday was a lazy day, time to recharge.  It was 31 yesterday morning and 55 in the afternoon.  Maybe the temperature swing is why I had no ambition to work on anything.  Last night I took one of each of the triangle squares I sewed the night before and tried my favorite layout, zig zag.  I think they look pretty good and this design would make me happy.  Now I need to sew up the rest of the triangles that are already cut and then cut up some scraps for more variety. 

read more
April 2, 2023
Sewing pieces and parts..................... from Exuberant Color


When I cut the triangles for the Hole in the Barn Door/Churn Dash quilt I cut extras.  I sewed 98 of the squares last night.  I'll be playing with them on the design wall soon.










There were also some strips left that I didn't need for the border on that quilt so I sewed the last 5 strip sets.

I don' t know where I will go with these parts, it was just mindless sewing while I caught up with 3 TV shows I missed last week.

There were 12 tornados in IL Friday night but none ...

read more
  • australian fabrics
  • Page 1 of 3 ( 48 posts )