Dresden in french

Apologies for having a couple of weeks away from the blog, I hope you havn't all given up on me.  There have been lots going on at home, but also wanting to get this finished so I could show it to you in one piece. The latest range of French General fabric came out awhile ago, and I loved it the moment I saw it, and straight away I thought it might make a great dresden, something I have been wanting to do for awhile.

So I started with the idea of 3 dresdens and just a simple table runner,

These are the fabrics I used,

I got it all cut and sewn together ready to quilt.  The next day when I looked at it, I thought that it was not right, it needs to be bigger, so I unpicked it all and made another 6 dresdens.

This is it, below, with all the borders.  It is now ready to quilt, and I am NOT unpicking it again!

Just a little of bragging to be done!  If any of you have a copy of the latest Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine, you will recognize the quilt below.  Level Crossing is made from some of my favourite reproduction fabrics, and I feel very lucky to have it in AP&Q's lastest edition, also a great project by Chris Jurd using another of my favourite things - hexagons!

MICHELLE HILL CLASS - If anyone is free on the weekend of 4 and 5th August and would like to do a Michelle Hill workshop, she will be at Simply Stitches in Wagga.  Please give Faye a ring on 0269 216 722 for more information as there are just a few places left.  I went to Michelle's workshop last year, and she is brilliant at what she does and I learnt so much.  This is a rare opportunity so don't miss out.  Ring now!

I shall leave you for now, hope you are all doing lots of stitching while the weather is cold and wet, stay well and safe,

Janelle.

Young Quilt Show

Last weekend I travelled over to Young, where the Lions Club put together a quilt show in the Town Hall.  I set up a small trading table on the Sunday to hopefully meet a few of the local people and convert them to my style of patchwork.

Below are Roxanne, Cynthia and Aunty June, who came along to have a look at my quilts, I will have to say that it's great to have family connections to come along and make the stand look busy, not to mention the wonderful help they gave me when it came time to pack up. Thanks cous's.





This is Roxanne's quilt, a tribute to her father, it is made from all of his jeans and flannelette shirts, it was very effective, and had a couple of family photos included as well.

A closer look,

This is Cynthia's gorgeous quilt, my photography doesn't do the quilt and the fabric justice.  Made for a special little girl.

This is one that I entered, Secret Garden, designed by Cindy Lammon with a couple of changes.

I just had to take a photo of this quilt, it was my viewer's choice pick, maker and designer unknown,  the centre and colours were stunning.

And, not to brag, I was thrilled to have been voted viewer's choice in conjunction with a second quilt, judges declared it a draw between my version of Breast of Friends and an amazing embroidered quilt.  Thankyou everyone for your votes and coming over to say hello. It was a great day and hopefully everyone will be back again next year for another great show.

Until next time,

Janelle.

Head Spin

Well, I certainly did not expect the response that I got from all you lovely quilters out there regarding the blog tour last week. 

To say it was a success is an understatement, I was just blown away by the amount of comments and lovely things you all had to say about my blocks - I had to go and buy a bigger hat!  I want to thank all of those people who left a comment and made the time to come and visit my blog in the last week,  and trying to pick just a handful of winners was extremely hard.  It is the positiveness and inspiration of your words that make me get into the sewing room and want to keep sewing and working on new things (and finish old ones) and knowing that there are so many great sewers out there in the world wide blog world is just fantastic, simply amazing.

It took some time to sort through all the comments and emails, but the winners of patterns and magazines are:  VickiT, Racheldaisy, SewLindaAnn, Nancy Sue, Chris Jurd, Donna, May Britt, Kwitnkat, Quiltsue, Hafza, Rachell, Lisa, Kris, boutscholsis, bairdmtn.  Congratulations and enjoy your little prizes when they arrive in the mail, hope you like them.

Back to the cutting mat, got some more work to do, see you all again soon,

Janelle x

Today is blog tour day

Hello and welcome to my blog, as part of Quiltmakers 100 Blocks Blogtour.  If this is the first time you have been to my blog, or you are a repeat visitor,  I invite you to make a coffee and have a browse.  I am excited to be part of Quiltmakers Vol 5 magazine,  and thank them for inviting me along.  

This is Desert Dash, block 489 on page 68. 

I have always been a fan of the churndash block, and then when I saw this amazing orange print it had to be a feature in something. The name comes from the colour and the block.

Below are four blocks made, joined together.




And placed on point gives another perspective,




This is another colour combination, using only two lights, 2 mediums and one dark,



Four together



And on point,

And finally, a blue version, and in this one used only four fabrics.

I had in mind to create a repeat block, giving a secondary design when joinged together, so the size of the finished piece is only limited to your time and fabric.  All you would need is a plain border and some basic quilting.

If you leave a comment, you go into the draw to win some great prizes, including a copy of 100 Blocks magazine, have a look at some other blogs  www.quiltmaker.com/blogs/quiltypleasures/  and for another visitor who leaves a comment, they will receive a selection of Country Matters patterns.

I hope you have enjoyed your time here, and I invite you to come back and visit me again soon.

Thanks for coming,

Janelle

Blog tour coming up...

 

Okay, the day is nearly here, my day for blog touring is Friday, May 4, so if you have time to come and have a look to see what all the fuss is about, also check out some other great blogs, that would be great.  There will be prizes and giveaways and inspiration galore - www.quiltmaker.com/blogs/quiltypleasures/

This last week, after cleaning up from school holidays, and cleaning off my sewing table, I had a bit of time to fiddle with a dresden plate using the gorgeous French General range.

I loved working with these fabrics, good quality and great colour, you could make lots of things with this range.

And getting to a more finished stage, not sure about a border or not, more on that one later.

Lots to do and time for a cuppa, I hope some of you will come and see me on Friday, stay safe till next time,

Janelle.

Whirlygig show and tell

Thought I would share with you this post some class photos from Simply Stitches in Wagga.  It is a busy place to be, run by Faye, catering for patchworkers and knitters and stocking everything else in between. 

This is Doris' version of Whirlygig - isn't it amazing.  It was emailed to me and I love to see the different coloured versions coming from people.  Thankyou Doris for sending it to me and congratulations on doing a great job with it. 



This is the ground floor of the shop, where the classes are held, and finally I remembered to take my camera and do some snapping.  Looking to the camera lens is left to right, Sally, Carole, Linda, Faye and Betty. 




Below is Linda's version of Whirlygig, abit hard to see the fabrics from my photo, but it is all coming together now and also looking great. 

This is Bev, also doing a quilt as you go adapted from another design in gorgeous florals.




Now Karen and Alison are looking to the camera, it was all heads down as they were getting on with their projects.  They were all quite busy and wanting to get on with the job. 

Just in case to missed my last posting, I am very exciting to say I will have a block in the new Quiltmakers magazine that will come out in early May, or have a look at the link,  www.quiltmaker.com/100blocks.html, and the Blog tour that is coming up at the end of next week. 

Shall leave you for now as I am wanting to do some stitching myself, stay safe and well,

Janelle.

Exciting News!

It is just the best exciting thing to happen to me since I have joined blogland.  Not only has my block been selected to be in the new Quiltmakers 100 Blocks Vol 5 edition, but I am going to be part of their Blogtour from April 30 to May 4. I will have more information and details as the dates get closer.

  The magazine should be on sale here early to mid May, check with your newsagency for details.

www.quiltmaker.com/110blocks.html

 I am sorry I have not got alot of other news today, still recovering from Easter and a bout of tummy bugs that went through the family.  School holidays tend to mean a little more family time and less sewing time.  But the fingers are itching, so stay tuned....

Janelle.