Fourteen Down

Yesterday I sewed my little heart out and completed another 10 log cabin blocks. I had done 4 the day before, so now I have 14 and only 50 to go.

Oops, how did that get in here??? LOL

OK, so here is the photo I meant to select ... my log cabin coming together. It's a bit less exciting than the top picture.

And I'd also like to share with you a quilt I finished for a customer. This is Jenny Herring's Quilt that she has been working on for many years, and finally completed (one of those long term WIPS we all seem to have). I quilted in each block to give an overall double wedding ring effect and we were both very happy with the result.

I love how the pattern makes a secondary pattern of a diagonal chain.

Now I'm off to put another customer's quilt onto the frame, and hopefully get some more log cabin blocks done.
Jennidee

Simple Beginnings

This block

Is the first of 64 that will go into this year's show quilt.
I have never made a log cabin quilt and decided it was time to try.
I've made 4 of the 64 blocks now, in a quite involved pattern that I've mapped out on grid paper.

I have very few funds at the moment, so I asked for the cream and white fat quarters for Christmas (I went and bought them myself of course :) ).

I'm scratching around for enough purples of the right shade to make up the rest of the purple blocks, and then I'm making blue and pink blocks as well to form the pattern on the quilt.

I will have to wait until next pay day until I can buy some blues that fit in with the tones I've picked ... so it will be a few weeks before I can start those blocks. But in the mean time I'll be doing some of the all white and cream blocks that make up part of the borders.

I've never completed a quilt this way. I usually start in the middle and keep building outwards until the top is done. So it will be interesting for me to work in this way.

I'm sure I'll have the top done by the March deadline of entries for Sydney Quilt Show.

OK, now I'm off to do some sewing but I though tit was WELL PAST time for me to post.
Jennidee

A Prize

Wow, I still can't believe it.
I just got back from Wentworthfalls TAFE where I attended the awards ceremony for the Blue Fringe Arts Festival. I have entered once before many years ago. But the festival has become more well known and prestigious since then.
I arrived a bit late (I'd gone to the wrong venue) and missed 15 minutes of the first speech which was being given by John Fenely, the Commissioner for Mental Health NSW. He gave a great speech about how mental health issues need to be addressed at a community level before hospitalisation becomes an option. One of the things he said which really struck me was "As humans we are exceptional because we are so complex". (I spoke to him about it afterwards and he spoke passionately about the diversity of humans being something which makes us great).
Then the awards were presented and I heard the Highly Commended Prize for textiles and craft go to Monique Donaldson. Her entry was an amazing Regency gown. I heard someone behind me say "she only got Highly commended?".

And then they announced the winner for the textiles/craft section and they said my name.

I got up nervously and I was shaking. They took my picture and presented me with a certificate and a sealed envelope (which I later discovered had a cheque in it). It felt quite surreal.

Here I am with my entry which I called Plumage. The judge was Pam De Groot, an international textiles and felt artist. I am shocked and delighted.

This is probably a better photo of the entry.

I think Monique's entry was just as worthy of first prize, but I am very grateful for the prize and the cheque, which will go towards buying my daughter a piano (and aiding in her recovery from depression as well).

Sorry I haven't updated in so long. I really must write more often.

Jennidee

Handi Quilter Warning

I'm writing to you to tell you of something stupid I did in the hope that other Handi Quilters see it and I can let them know what NOT to do.

I ran out of bobbin. I had cleaned the bobbin cavity and squirted in some oil. I wanted to work it through the bobbin housing a bit so I unthreaded the needle and ran the machine on precision with nothing under it for a few seconds. All fine. The mistake came when I FORGOT to turn the precision off and started to thread the needle.

I had my left hand right next to the needle assembly ready to receive the thread I was feeding through the top hole in the assembly. But I bumped the machine forward and it started the needle going up and down, trapping my first finger of my left hand between the needle assembly and the spring. The machine sensed a needle strike and froze in place, my finger still trapped. I screamed out for help and my daughter and son were in the house. But I wasn't thinking clearly. I told them to turn the machine off, which of course kept my finger trapped. So I screamed at them to turn it back on and I started to press buttons.

Thankfully when I hit the needle up button after a few times the needle let go and my finger was free.

The only damage I got was a chunk out of my finger, a tiny bit of bruising and a very diminished ego. The machine (thank GOD) has no damage.

I read the manual this morning and it clearly says

• Keep fingers away from all moving parts. Special care is required around the machine needle.

• Switch the machine to the symbol “O” position to turn it off when making any adjustments in the needle 

area, such as threading needle, changing needle, threading bobbin, or changing presser foot, and the like.

so it is no fault of the manufacturers. I just had a lapse of concentration.

Just remember, this is a commercial machine and industrial accidents can occur. PAY ATTENTION when using it.

I haven't been afraid of sewing machines since I was a little girl, and I'm not about to start now. But I will be very careful around it from now on!!!

If you know someone who uses a Handi Quilter, or even another type of long arm , please pass this on.

Thanks for reading. Stay safe while sewing.

Jennidee

Time To Quilt

I forgot to show you this quilt.
It was published a few months back in Patchwork and Stitching. Didn't they do an amzing job of staging it for the photo?

It was features on the cover of Patchwork and Stitching Magazine Vol 15 No. 8.
I had a few dramas while making this. The most dramatic was when I had finished the middle applique and then cut it wrong (the sides sloped into a parralelogram) and I had to re do it.

I love the way it turned out though and it was an excellent way to use up the pieces of floral I had hanging around.