Where is my focus?

In December every year my thoughts usually turn to all the projects I'd love to tackle in the new year. It's so exciting, you know how it is? Just because it's a new year it doesn't mean I have a clean slate but somehow this is how it feels. Am I deluding myself? Well it's nearly February and I have to admit that I've lost my focus, my grand plans have gone...somewhere.
If I had only a few quilts on the go at any one time until they were done, I never would have made some of my favourites like this DWR in the process of being hand quilted. (sorry about the sun blurring this photo)

I've been itching for new projects and I have started a biggie, a loooong slow one, OK that's not unusual for me, the trouble is I have a few of those in the works. You'll see as they get revealed that it's the journey not the destination for me, that's why I'm not a prolific quilt maker. You won't find me bragging about the total number of quilts I've made in the last 15 years.
I need to get organised! I need to focus! I've been wanting, longing for a new, mindless piecing project for the machine so I slapped myself on the hand, came to my senses and decided to return to one I started last year.
I saw this quilt on Nannete's blog and thought what a great scrap quilt, why I could use up some fabrics from the scrap bin and they don't have to be matchy. Ill do some more on these for now.

Here's an Ohio Star quilt, totally scrappy, made mostly out of the scrap bin and finished in 2001, I enjoyed playing around with value to get the stars looking different. I hand quilted this one.

See, sometimes I do get there!

What about you? how many UFOs do you have? are you likely to return to them and how do you stay on track and does it really matter if you are enjoying what you do?

Flowering Vines

I don't have much to show while I'm working on my vines so I dragged this one out.In 2006, I made this to teach to a small group of ladies who wanted to try applique, and they also got an introduction to simple paper foundation piecing.

It is a compilation of two Piece o' Cake patterns from their book Flowering Favourites

It has Quilters Dream Request cotton batting and is machine quilted by moi with Mettler 60 wt cotton so it's not too stiff.

Appliqueing the vine quilt

I've had a productive burst on starting the vine quilt and I'm loving it so far. It's coming out quite a bit more vibrant than I had imagined.
There are four participants for making this quilt. Tracey who inspired us, Kathie, Meredith and myself.
I'm not following the pattern by Fons and Porter in the book because all the branches are the same and I also wanted to re-size my version. You can see an image of the original quilt here where they give some measurements which have some discrepancies.
I have cut my panels wider to allow for distortion and it will finish at 5" wide. See how I've used a pinking blade to cut them? this means no unravelling while stitching and handling. I also basted a mid line as a guide for trimming later.

The leaves are strip pieced, Tracey clever clogs can eyeball and freehand cut leaves, I need a template so I am drawing them out and using freezer paper on top of the strips to cut them out.
The main vine and branches are basted so that the leaves can be tucked under, then it's appliqued down afterwards.
I've also been nibbling at some other projects, this bird border needs a lot of circles on it yet. Original quilt pattern available here.

I was in the mood for a little hand quilting so started on this with some outline stitching. It's just too hot to handle a full size quilt.

I'm starting a new quilt

This is how I spent my afternoon, drawing. I was so wrapped up in it I didn't notice the smell of burning eucalyptus trees outside from a bushfire. The smell of Aussie summer, now there's a storm moving in after two days of hot hot weather. Thank goodness our air con was fixed yesterday! Read on if you want to know why and what I've been drawing.The book "Quilts from the Henry Ford" features some amazing quilts and this is one made by Susan McCord made around 1860.
How on earth do you make quilts like this when you have seven kids, make all the clothing and work on the farm, plus plus plus? No wonder she was called a quilting genius!

There are stupendous quilts in this book that I'd love to reproduce and when Tracey announced she was making this one and invited anyone to join her, I jumped in. Click on the picture for a closer look.

There is a pattern inside by Fons and Porter but as I'm changing the measurements, I'm drawing my vines myself. The leaves are all strip pieced and at this stage I have yet to work out how I'll do that.

It's not a quilt for the faint hearted, after all there are around 4,000 strip pieced leaves involved here on thirteen panels.This is my initial fabric selection, including a natural coloured background. Just waiting for a different green to arrive to see if I like it better for the vines. I will add a heap more fabric as I go along.

Don't expect this quilt to be made in a short amount of time, I'm the tortoise not the hare. I'll post about it as I go and hopefully, you will cheer me on, or you can join us.
If you expressed an interest in the footstool I made before Christmas, like the one above, you can get it here.

If you do make it and strike any problems, I'd be happy to help out.
Also, I did say I would add a link to a free online puzzle quilt pattern. You can find that at Jukebox Quilts

A new book

This book arrived today after much anticipation. It was scheduled to come out last year but there was a hold up with printing.
I'm in two minds about this one. If you are looking for an historical book on Australian quilts, this is it. It certainly should be in every guild library in Aussie.

My disappointment is in the way the patterns are presented.

There is a CD included which gives instructions and photos of the selected quilts to reproduce and there is also a pattern pullout. They need to be increased by 200% and 400%

I wanted this book specifically for the patterns and I have to say the photo quality of them on the CD is very poor and there are no close-ups to see the fabrics. I suggest checking it out before you outlay the money, it's not cheap.

Janet