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October 8, 2023
Christmas Connections from Moda Lissa

Nothing better than a new Christmas magazine arriving in October, This gives me plenty of time to drool over the designs and actually get one made before the holidays. I think I am going to tackle the cover quilt from Lisa Bongean and Alysha Haran. The quilt is made using 2 1/2″ jelly roll strips so it should be fast to jump on in. Fingers crossed.

the 3 images shown here are Used with permission from American Patchwork & Quilting® magazine.
©2023 Meredith Operations Corporation. All rights reserved.

The magazine has lots of great quilts/projects including projects from Wendy ...

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July 21, 2023
Oh! Christmas Tree from Wendy's Quilts and More

Yes, it's true - I've escaped New Zealand and like many other Kiwis and Aussies I'm travelling in Europe right now.  In fact by the time you read this I think I'll be in Amsterdam.  You can follow my travels on Instagram - @wendysquiltsandmore  or Facebook - Wendy Welsh - if you're interested.  

But I know a lot of you look forward to reading a blog post from me each week, and linking up to or following the Peacock Party links, so I've prepared five weeks of blog posts to keep you covered while I'm away.  Each ...

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June 19, 2023
Weekly update: enjoying the sunshine, a finish, and a start from With Strings Attached

 


I'm happy to report that my husband was released from the hospital Friday afternoon.  The tests were negative, which is the right outcome.   We are very grateful to our good friends who took time out of their busy day to drive me into Chicago to get him (and bring him back).  He's re-oriented and all is well.

# # # # #

We had two good excursions, to Grant Woods Forest Preserve on Saturday and Chain O' Lakes State Park on Sunday.  (Left photo:  Fox River is on the horizon at Chain O' Lakes.) 


Wildflower medley:  spiderwort, yarrow, sorrel.  Cinquefoil, bird's foot ...

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June 16, 2023
Friday Finish: Two Old UFOs from Patchwork Sampler Blog

I am still clearing out the basket of old UFOs and now I am two projects closer to finishing. Right now it is hard to find time to quilt, so it is nice to finish a couple of things and feel somewhat productive. 

 

The newer (haha!) project is another from the weird Blitzen fabric line by Basic Grey. This fabric came out in 2012 so it has celebrated a few birthdays. I hope I don’t come across any more UFOs with this fabric. I probably had a fat quarter bundle and should have separated the fabrics into a whimsical ...

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December 27, 2022
A Quiet Week from From My Carolina Home

Did you have a wonderful holiday? We had a lovely day, with a prime rib dinner. This year I made fresh Brussels Sprouts for the first time. I looked online for the best method to decrease the bitterness, and found that cutting them in half and charring the cut side would do that. So, I prepared the sprouts by cutting off the bottoms, removing the outer leaves, then cutting them in half.

Toss with a bit of oil (I used a garlic oil that My Sweet Babboo gave me for Christmas) and put cut-side down in a pan. Cook on ...

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December 26, 2022
Merry Christmas To Me from Wedding Dress Blue

I am not a big seasonal decorator, but I do love Christmas. And for a while I had considered a Christmas quilt.

When I saw the Fall 2022 Scrappy Mystery at QuiltingGail, it was the answer. I made mine a little larger, but the idea remains the same.

And I added a smaller complementary quilt for the back of my husband’s comfy chair.

It is based on this tutorial.

Both were built entirely with fabric on hand. The last stitches were put in the binding about 3pm Christmas Eve. Still plenty of time to enjoy them this year before ...

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December 24, 2022
Merry Christmas 2022 from Stof genoeg

Merry Christmas! I have 3 Inklingoable Christmas quilt designs for you, with 5-pointed stars, Ribbon Flowers and Dresden Plates. XXX Annika Continue reading

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December 23, 2022
2022 Christmas Countdown - Oh! Christmas Tree from Wendy's Quilts and More

 Day 23 of my Christmas Countdown and it's my "Oh! Christmas Tree" quilt designed by Wendy Williams.  



I love that this quilt represent Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere.  We still like the snowy images on Christmas cards, but we know Christmas is the start of our summer holidays and it's going to be hot.  Many people have a BBQ for Christmas lunch and eat it outside, before taking a dip in the pool (if they're lucky enough to have a pool in their back yard).  



I loved choosing all the bright colours for this quilt, and then ...

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December 21, 2022
Christmas Placemats from Baby Boomer Quilting Bee


In 2021, the Fat Quarter Shop offered a mini Christmas Quilt Sew Along which I finished and gifted to a sister.  I was so in love with the trees, I quickly made six more blocks ..... then they sat for a year.  With a push to finish lingering Christmas projects this year, I added a gift box block and made placemats.  

My inspiration for color is from a collection of Horizon Blue Vintage Diamond Point Glassware and dessert plates gifted to me years ago.  


 

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2022 Christmas Countdown - Flocks by Night from Wendy's Quilts and More

Day 21 of my Christmas Countdown and it's my Flocks by Night quilt - pattern by Wendy Williams.



Once again, I loved making this quilt.  The decorations on the trees, and the sheep on the hills are just so cute. 




Full details on this quilt, including where to buy the pattern, is here on my blog

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December 19, 2022
2022 Christmas Countdown - The Candy Man quilt from Wendy's Quilts and More

It's Day 19 of my Christmas Countdown and it's The Candy Man quilt.




A few weeks ago I blogged about a spur of the moment Christmas quilt I had started.  Well, now it's finished and all ready to be used this Christmas. 








The pattern (Watling Street) was designed by Sheila Christensen and is in her book, Quilts with an Angle.  I made my quilt smaller because I only had a limited number of scrappy Christmas fabrics in my stash.  Can you believe I made a whole quilt from stash? Even the backing and the binding? Well I ...

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December 18, 2022
This Little Light of Mine Mini Quilt from Baby Boomer Quilting Bee


 "This Little Light of Mine" Quilt pattern by Wendy Shephard, Ivory Spring Quilts is just the sweetest. For Christmas, our Quilt Bee chose to play Secret Santa and make a homemade gift.  A mini wall quilt made with one block and my stash of Tim Holtz fabric was a great combination.


I started early one morning, sewing off and on, and finishing late that night.  My favorite process of quilting is piecing (just ahead of cutting), so this one block was so enjoyable.  I  quilted feathers with holly berry leaves and hand bound for a finishing touch. 

On my 2023 ...

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December 14, 2022
Weekly Word: People Pleasing + Books, 2023 Reading Challenges, Stitches and Gratitude! from Faith, Trust and Breast Cancer

 

Hello There, 

I hope you all are doing well!  Life has been slow and with just a bit of the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  It's been a nice balance, thus far! 

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December 13, 2022
just desserts . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

Aaaaah!!  Can you believe it?  Here it is, December 13, and there are TWELVE days until Christmas!  And I'm blogging (speaking of Christmas miracles)!  That can only mean on thing . . . it's my day for the Advent Blog Hop, hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching!

One of my biggest projects and happiest finishes this year, was a UFO that I started in 2008 (I first blogged about it here).  Yes, you read that right ... 14 years ago.  It was a BOM by a local quilt shop. I finished all the blocks, but the setting was a feathered star, and ...

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2022 Christmas Countdown - Holiday Patchwork Forest from Wendy's Quilts and More

 Day 13 of my Christmas Countdown and it's my Holiday Patchwork Forest quilt. 


This quilt still makes me smile because it started out as just a few test blocks from scraps in my stash.  I didn't have an overall colour plan before I started, but I really like how it's turned out.  


I did some basic machine quilting on it, but then accentuated the trees with hand quilting. Both Kaffe Fassett borders were from my stash, and the thin red strip border adds a finishing Christmas touch. 




It's another small lap type quilt that I can ...

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December 11, 2022
Fat Quarter Shop Jolly Box from Baby Boomer Quilting Bee




The 2022 Fat Quarter Shop Jolly Box project is quilted and bound.  The charm packs were from Kimberbell Designs, by Maywood Studio.  The binding came from my stash and blends right in.



 

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December 10, 2022
2022 Christmas Countdown - Holiday Homies Quilt from Wendy's Quilts and More

Day 10 and it's my Tula Pink Holiday Homies quilt.  

I made this cute quilt back in 2017 when Tula's Holiday Homies range was first released.





I didn't want to lose any of the motifs so I designed my own pattern which you can find here in my original blog post. 




My Holiday Homies quilt is just 37" x 37", but it can cover the box in the hall nicely when it's Christmas.  



Tula Pink has re-released Holiday Homes in flannel, but I was fortunate enough to get the original cotton version. 




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December 3, 2022
2022 Christmas Countdown - Redwork Christmas from Wendy's Quilts and More

Day 3 of my Christmas Countdown and it's time for a Christmas Quilt.  

We don't need many quilts at Christmas time in New Zealand because it's summer, but I couldn't resist this Redwork Christmas pattern when I saw it advertised in a magazine.



This quilt was designed by Rosalie Quinlan more than 10 years ago, and I'm not sure if the pattern is still available.  But here's a link to some of her other designs which are similar.  Sadly Rosalie passed away from breast cancer which is such a pity because she was a ...

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November 29, 2022
Fat Quarter Shop Jolly Box from Baby Boomer Quilting Bee


My First Jolly Box from the Fat Quarter Shop .... won't be my last.  Among the goodies, a Christmas Quilt pattern with two packs of Kimberbell, by Maywood Studios, Cup of Cheer Charm Packs. I used a navy background from my stash.   Relaxing after Thanksgiving was the perfect time to whip this little throw together.  I'll share again as soon as she is quilted and bound.

 

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November 18, 2022
A Little Christmas Quilt from Wendy's Quilts and More

I hadn't planned to start anything new before Christmas, but when I was pulling out Christmas quilts to  show Wellington Quilters last week, I realised that I could do with a couple more small Christmas quilts to use as table runners.

So I checked what I had in my stash and found these fabrics: 


They're not all especially "Christmas" but they are red and green and that says Christmas to me.  

Surprisingly I settled on a pattern quite quickly, and was cutting and piecing within an hour of pulling the fabrics.  


I made as many blocks as I ...

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