Wednesday, February 25, 2009

What have I been doing!


Well, I keep hearing that question, and it's about time I sat down at the computer and did a little show and tell! My daughter, Sarah, has been on to me to update, not to mention Roseanne and Isabella. And there is also my cousin Andrea, in England, who we have just learnt is not only a blogger, but a quilter as well! And I must not forget Kerry, who has taken the plunge and decided to get back into the blogging world. I must say hello to Jen the Bum too. I called into the "Quilter's Shack" in Bundaberg where she works, on my way home from Brisbane just after xmas, and I met that lovely lady. It was only afterwards that Sarah pointed out that I should have taken a photo! Hindsight great! Next time! This picture is of a quilt I made at Xmas for Shane and Kisty's little girl, Ella in Tassie. I took it over uncompleted, playing crafty and hoping Sarah would help me! I had made a BIG stuff of it! It was the first time I had used the really thick wadding, and I had so much trouble. Broken needles, cotton breaks, big problems. The last straw was a broken needle and the quilt was stuck to the machine on my frame, I tried to carefully ease the quilt out, but I couldn't get it free without the scissors! Huge mistake! I had cut through the lovely purple backing fabric! After I cleaned my machine of the cotton jam, what did I see was missing? Only the steel plate that covered the feeddogs so that the machine was free to allow for quilting! After my very first cotton jam, I must have removed it and forgot to put it back! Well, I was just so frustrated! I was ready to throw it to the tip! But I packed it in my suitcase and took it on holiday. One sunny afternoon in Tassie, husband gone to play golf, I sat outside in the sunshine and unpicked the half quilted quilt for hours. I didn't know I had that much patience, but for some reason, I loved that little quilt and I was determined to finish it! Sarah, though busy as per usual, helped me pin it with new backing, and instead of quilting it again, I just tied it down. I mucked even that up! Puckkered like mad, so again my little girl came to my rescue! Sarah unpicked some of my tie downs, sewed a couple of cute buttons on two tiny cuts to the quilt top, and behold....this is my "Sweet Baby Jane" Quilt using the Jelly Sandwich pattern. Love it, never want to see the bloody thing again!

1 comment:

Sarah said...

Glad that quilt is finished!! Looked good in the end!
x Sarah