Windmills of Your Mind

This is my favourite quilt.  I finished piecing it in 2013 and quilted it the following year.  It is named Windmills of Your Mind after the song with the same title which I have always loved.

The design started with Michelle Yeo's Giant Dahlia, a quilt I have made a few times now as it is so easy to make with her templates.  One day when Michelle was dropping off a quilt I asked her if she could make me smaller sets of acrylic templates, which she kindly did for me.

I only added borders on two sides, partly because it was so large, but also because I wanted to offset the circles.  I also used two background fabrics to enhance the frame.

I quilted it with circles and straight lines.  The two borders were more formally quilted with half circles and feathers.

The lighter thread shows up nicely on the back with darker thread on the circles.

If you are interested in how I made the quilt, the first thing I did was make three full dahlias in the three sizes.  Then I lay them out in various configurations to see what appealed to me. I didn't like this straight line arrangement below at all.

You can see even small differences like the placement of the smallest dahlia either above or below the large dahlia make a difference to the look of the quilt.  The second photo below is the arrangement I liked the best.

I then pieced the largest dahlia into its frame on three sides, leaving one side open (this side is under the smaller dahlias in the picture below)  I also added part of the outer frame to the point where it will meet the smaller dahlias.

I pieced in the smaller dahlia first as I wanted it under the medium sized one.

I then pieced the medium sized dahlia.  To piece both of the smaller dahlias I lay them over the top until I was happy with the placement.  Then I marked the circle with erasable pen.  I also marked registration lines that I used to match up when I sewed them together.  I then carefully cut one quarter of an inch within this circle.  

I nearly had a disaster when I was cutting for the smaller dahlia.  I had a moment of inattention and started cutting one quarter of an inch outside the marked circle (instead of inside the circle).  This would have made the hole too big.  If you look at the picture below, imagine it with the cutting line outside the marked line - the hole would have been too big and I had cut into the large dahlia.  

Luckily I realised my mistake before I had cut more than about a third of the circle and was able to slightly move the placement of the small dahlia and mark a new circle.  If I had not realised when I did, the quilt may never have been finished because I would have either had to remake part of the large dahlia or completely change the layout I had chosen. I could have been so annoyed with myself I might have put the quilt in a cupboard and never gone back to it.  I am so glad that didn't happen.

Whimsy

This is one of my quilts which I have recently finished.  It is called Whimsy and is designed by Judy Newman.  

It was a project that a friend chose for us both to make to keep us connected even though we now live in different states as she moved to Brisbane a few years ago.  

I think this is the first quilt I have made along with a friend where I have finished it first.  I am usually the one that is distracted with other projects.  However in the first lockdown of March/April last year I found it therapeutic to work on this quilt picking the fabric for each block to make them different.  For anyone who knows my quilts, this is not my usual colour palette, but I liked working with the soft and pretty florals in the centre of each block, and I enjoyed moving out of my comfort zone.

I quilted it with an allover freehand rose pattern which keeps it soft and pretty.

I had a pile of the striped triangles remaining after piecing the blocks so added a border to the quilt which wasn't in the pattern, but I think it frames the quilt nicely.

Allover Flowers

Another quilt from Kay.  I love her fabrics, but I am a sucker for neutral tones.  

Kay chose an allover freehand flower that is similar to the print in one of the fabrics which I think was perfect for the quilt.

The quilting shows nicely on the back.

Maribyrnong River

With my husband injuring himself training for the Sunset Series runs, and my brother getting a new job, I have lost my hiking buddies.  Luckily there are some great bike and walking trails near home, especially along the Maribyrnong River.  These photos are all taken within 5 kms of my home so I could walk here during lockdown.

This photo was taken in July so everyone is rugged up for winter, and shows the ferry tram cafe serving coffee to people out for a walk.  Not being a coffee drinker myself I don't get the appeal, but Melburnians are renowned for their love of coffee, and small speciality cafes and coffee stalls are common.  There is a little coffee cafe at the end of my street and on weekends you often see a socially distancing line up outside of people waiting for their caffeine hit.

Another picture of the Maribyrnong looking peaceful.

Here you can see the Maribyrnong as it snakes through suburbia.  I am lucky that there are these areas close to home where I can walk and feel like I am getting away from the city.   

This photo was taken just before sunset.  On the left you can see a track which is part of one of my regular walks.  In the gully is the river.

This is a lookout on one of my regular walks about 30 minutes walk from my home.  I don't often get out to see the sunrise, but this was after a hot night with a further 40 degree day forecast so I knew the chances of a spectacular sunrise was likely.  It was worth getting up before dawn to walk to the lookout on time to see it.  You can see the city of Melbourne in the background, and in the foreground is a former defence research site.  And on the right you get a glimpse of the Maribyrnong.

An old, and still used rail bridge over the Maribyrnong.

Not a picture of the Maribyrnong, but I thought this was cute.  Out walking along the streets I was amused to see three postie vehicles putt putting along.  The posties where I used to live on the other side of Melbourne would deliver the mail on a scooter.  Where I live now they have these mini all weather protective vehicles.  I asked my brother who used to be a postie why they might be travelling in this little convoy of three, and he said probably training.

Liberty and Embroidery

Judi made this gorgeous quilt for her daughter.  

It was quilted with an allover medium meander in the centre so it didn't distract from the embroidery, and an allover leaf pattern in the border so the quilting could be more of a feature. As I quilt freehand I switch between the two designs as I go. By having allover quilting the quilt is lovely and soft and will be beautiful on a bed to sleep under.

Judi's embroidery was exquisite and I enjoyed looking at each one as I was quilting it.

This one is my favourite.

Bears In My Garden

Sometimes, even after spending an inordinate amount of time working on a quilt, I am not happy with the result.  Sometimes it is because I am too close to it, and after a little time will change my mind.  Sometimes it doesn't turn out the way I had visioned, and I will never be happy with it.  This is an example of a quilt I worked on for months last year during lock down that I just don't like.

I like the piecing, but the quilting is too busy.  There needed to be some space between the quilting elements so they could shine.

You can see this more clearly on the back.  The quilting seems to blend together and everything looks flat.

If you compare it to the back of say Stars and Diamonds you can see the difference where the lines of unquilted space allowed you to see the details of the quilting.  This is what I needed to do with this quilt.  

After I finished the quilt I needed to soak it to get out the blue water erasable pen.  When I went to block it I noticed that one of the red fabrics had run.  I was so indifferent to the quilt I didn't care, and didn't even bother blocking it at this point.  A very different reaction to when a fabric ran in this quilt where I was devastated, but luckily it all turned out in the end. 

I am not sure what I plan to do with this quilt.  Maybe I will keep it as a teaching tool when I am next giving a lecture about machine quilting as an example of what not to do.

Some Allover Quilts for Customers

Since October last year I have started quilting for customers again.  I am only taking allover quilting at this stage.  

Even though I have moved to the Western side of Melbourne I have been flattered with how many of my regular customers have both waited for me to come back to work after my sabbatical, and were willing to mail their quilts to me, or to drive further to drop them off.  

When I happen to be in the Eastern suburbs, which is usually around once a month, I am doing car park drop offs and collections - swapping quilts between cars - and it has been wonderful to catch up for chats with customers that have become friends.

Below are some of the quilts I have completed recently - all with freehand allover patterns.  I only quilt freehand as I think it looks organic and beautiful as well as being fun and creative for me to do.

This quilt was made my Donna who tops my list for quilts given to me since October and who has been incredibly prolific in lockdown.  I love the colours in this quilt, and how simple but effective this pattern is.  Donna chose to have it quilted in an open loop pattern which is simple and modern. 

This quilt was made by Kay who is only just behind Donna for number of quilts given to me since October.  Kay always surprises me with how creative she is by using every last bit of fabric she has remaining from a project with the secondary quilts made using up this fabric. Kay chose to have it quilted with a pattern I call reflections as it looks to me like the ripples in water.

I snuck in a second quilt from Kay.  This is an example of a quilt she made with the left over fabrics from a large red quilt she made.  Kay chose to have a pointy leaf design on it and I like how the quilting shows in the cream blocks.

This final quilt is made by Sue.  It is a cute panel and is a present for young girl. Sue chose an allover heart and loop pattern for the quilting which I think looks sweet.