Jan Mac's Quilts

Back again

2007-08-28T02:25:00.000-07:00

We've been travelling a bit but I've also taken a break from blogging. I'm still very busy making quilts to donate and have just given 14 to the local women's refuge. I'm trying to clean up my sewing room by sewing the scraps into tops but it's a never-ending job LOL.
I'm concentrating on making string quilts using the QAYG method and here's one I've just finished. They are an addictive way to use up fabric and batting scraps. Out of the donated quilts, the string quilts are often people's favourites because of the variety of fabrics and colours.

Going on the road again

2007-03-15T14:18:00.000-07:00

Ray's shoulder has healed enough that we are getting ready to leave on our next trip around half of Australia. We are just finishing our packing and I'm getting some quilting done when there's time. I'll ask Judy L. to suspend me from the ring again while we're gone.
Hope you all get plenty of quilting done while we're away.
See you again towards the end of the year.
Cheers

Figured my new blog- I think

2007-02-22T13:15:00.000-08:00

This is the quilt I made for a 3 yr old family friend. He loved it and didn't want to sleep as he wanted to "read" all the pictures. Don't you love it when a quilt you made is loved?
I've been having trouble after I swapped to the new version of my blog but I think I have it sorted now.
I've also been busy home-nursing as my DH has badly injured his shoulder while playing cricket. Hopefully he'll recover without surgery but his progress is slow so far.
In the meantime I'm busy with the charity quilts and I'm just finishing off my 3rd UFO for the year.

2nd UFO finish for the year

2007-02-07T17:16:00.000-08:00

This is the second UFO finish for the year. It is a 1940s top I bought from a US antique dealer. It had been used as a summer coverlet and I machine stipple quilted it. I had been going to hand quilt it but decided it was better to have it finished than still in the cupboard.
I have lots more to finish and I've been busy quilting other people's UFOs to donate to charity. I've been having trouble with blogger but as I finally managed to swap to the new version today, I hope the problems are over.
Catch you all later.

First UFO finish for the Year

2007-01-28T00:09:00.000-08:00

Thank you all for your prayers and kind words. I am finding it comforting to make hand made items to donate to charity in my Mum's name. Blogger hasn't been letting me play for the last few days so I hope to post a new post tomorrow.

This is part of a 1960s quilt I bought from an antique dealer in the US. It is machine pieced and machine quilted and only needed a new binding.

My Lovely Mum

2007-01-21T18:17:00.001-08:00

Thank you so much for your many kind words for my Mum's passing. I managed to give her eulogy and honoured her work for the family and all the charity work she did. She was a seamstress and not a quilter but put together many quilt tops for me to quilt for charities.
She will be sorely missed and I have pledged 200 hand made items to chairty in her memory.
I've been busy knitting and crocheting and will list them as they are sent off.
I hope to resume normal blogging tomorrow.
Love and hugs to you all.

Sad News

2007-01-11T12:19:00.000-08:00

My mother passed away in the early hours of this morning so I will be away for a little while. It's a blessing that she is now at peace but it will be difficult as my Dad's youngest brother passed away suddenly a few weeks ago.

New Beginnings

2007-01-06T16:17:00.000-08:00

Last year was one of challenges and mixed blessings and I'm hoping that this one is better. I have decided to make a concerted effort to finish off my own UFOs as well as keeping up with the number of charity quilts I donate. Most of my UFOs will be donated as well. I also need to clean out more stash and get the sewing room in order and I'm sure that most of us are thinking the same thing.
I've made a list of 20 UFOs and have finished two off the list so far and will post photos soon. I've also made a quilt using the QAYG method using strips of fabric and batting. It was a great way to use up those skinny pieces of batting and I have another one in progress. It hasn't made much difference to my sewing room yet but I'll keep trying LOL.

Busy times

2006-12-26T12:42:00.000-08:00

I thank you for all your kind words. Sadly my uncle passed away suddenly a week ago and my mother's condition continues to deteriorate. On a positive note I deleivered the last shipment of donated quilts for the year as well as 3 crocheted blankets, 32 knitted scarves and 28 knitted hats as well as some knitted socks etc. This brings the donated total of quilts to 277 for the year and although I have some more ready to go now they will go in next year's shipment.
I hope you all had a Merry Christmas and a peaceful New Year. I'm still trying to clean out my sewing room and have made some progress but it is a big job. I'm also sewing blocks into tops so I'll have plenty of tops to quilt when time allows.
In the meantime here's another donated top that I quilted for the last shipment.

Another UFO finished

2006-12-02T13:36:00.000-08:00

I delivered 5 Christmas table runners to the dementia unti this week and one was a UFO so that makes 14 finishes for the year. That is, apart from finishing all the donated UFOs for my charity quilts.
I'm just getting the last shipment ready to send off before Christmas. I have almost 80 quilts and 3 crocheted blankets as well as 32 scarves and 28 knitted hats to send.
The ladies loved the table runners and sat and "petted" them for ages. One dear old lady even went to sleep clutching one. I'd forgotten how non-quilters may appreciate them and probably most of these ladies have some vague memories of their own sewing projects. It seemed to be very important for them to touch them so I was glad that I made them instead of a wall hanging they wouldn't be able to handle. They were made using up bits and bobs I already had and Mum was happy to look at them. She wasn't nasty but doesn't know me as her DD.
Many thanks for all your kind words. I've been busy with family things as my Dad's younger brother has just been diagnosed with inoperable cancer and his older sister 's health isn't good. I'm grateful for my friends and charity sewing as they help to keep me positive. Hope everyone is nearly ready for Christmas.

Another UFO done

2006-11-23T20:20:00.000-08:00

Thanks for all your kind words about my Mum. She has improved but her personality has changed and she thinks I'm one of her carers and doesn't like me. That may change again but I'm trying to stay focused on my Mum as she was.
I've been making Xmas table runners for the dementia unit so they can add a bit of colour to her surroundings.
In the meantime here's another UFO someone donated for one of my charities. The pansy fabric is beautiful and will be much loved by the recipient. I only quilted and bound this one.
I hope those who celebrate Thanksgiving are having a lovely peaceful family holiday. DH and I are enjoying watching Australia and England play cricket in The Ashes series, and I'm handsewing and finishing off UFOs. Hope to have another photo of a finish tomorrow.

Some more UFO's finished

2006-11-15T13:06:00.000-08:00

It's been a busy time as my Mum isn't well. She had another stroke and was unresponsive so we prepared for her passing and she woke up after 9 hours. She has improved a bit and is eating and drinking again now but the Dr expects she will have another stroke as they are becoming more frequent. I've promised some Xmas table toppers and a wall hanging for the dementia care unit where she lives, so that is next on my list of projects.
I've also been busy getting the next shipment of charity quilts ready to post and this is one of the donated UFOs I finished. I have over 70 quilts to send off and most are large so will be much appreciated. More photos to follow now that I'm back blogging again. I have been reading lots of blogs as time allows, but not always leaving comments so please know that I'm still here in the ring.

Finishing donated UFOs

2006-10-27T15:16:00.000-07:00

Blogger wouldn't let me play this week but I can finally add another post. I've been reading lots of blogs but not adding comments to many as time as been short this week. I have managed to finish off several charity quilts, including 2 UFOs which have been donated as blocks. I need to finish another UFO of mine as well to keep clearing them out.
As for the previous post and photos of needleturn applique, all will be revealed when I have done some more stitching.
Here's our 20 yr old cat, Tiger, testing one of the finished quilts.

Progress on another UFO

2006-10-16T15:46:00.000-07:00

This is another UFO from the 1990s. It was supposed to have 4 large blocks the same but I only had one block prepared so I'll make one block and put a border etc to finish it. The block size is 40" sq so it will make a nice sized quilt with one block.
I love the large scale print of this fabric. Here is another photo after a few hours work. The photos were reversed in posiition when they loaded and the photo on the left is the latest one.

New Cross Stitch Quilt finished

2006-10-10T14:59:00.000-07:00

This is the new cross stitch quilt to be donated to a boy with a life threatening illness. He requested a "fishing" theme. I can't take any credit for the blocks as they were stitched by others, so I just put them together and finished the quilt. I used fabric with fish for the borders.
Also thank you for your kind comments about the Classics swap blocks. We are all making them with red in the large sqs and white, cream or tan for the other large sqs and an assortment of colours for the dark sqs. I plan to get this one finished when I receive all the blocks back, so it doesn't become a UFO. I'll post a photo when it's done.

Another Classic Swap

2006-10-04T20:16:00.000-07:00

I belong to a wonderful online group of quilters called the Classics. We met online about 10 years ago and have a closed list so we can get to know each other better. We started with 31 and now have 15 members who all keep in touch regularly. We conduct block swaps etc andthis is the swap to commerate our 10 years together. It's the Carrie Nation block and 12 of us are swapping two blocks with every member of the swap. It should make a lovely quilt and will bring us loving memories of my dear friends.
We've been there for each other through all our life events and it's like having your own cheer squad to support you.
Three of us are Aussies and the rest are scattered across the US. I'm very grateful that I'm a Classic and hope to meet all our members one day.
PS the bear blocks in my previous post are 4.5" finished so it was a quick finish and now I'm working on the next UFO as well as a quilt for a boy with a life threatening illness. I hope to get that one finished tonight.

13th UFO finished for 2006

2006-09-28T15:18:00.000-07:00

I found some more UFOs packed away and decided to finish this one. It was originally a small wall hanging and I had made all the blocks. Then the pattern was for appliqued hearts to be applied around the border. I decided to make it a bit bigger and leave the hearts off so it would be finished. I'm donating it to the local hospital for use with a premature baby and it's great to have another finish.
I also quilted a special quilt for donation to a child with a leukaemia. She had chosen horses for her theme and the sqs were cross stitched by volunteers.

11th & 12th UFOs finished for the year

2006-09-23T00:37:00.000-07:00

I had swapped some Christmas signature sqs in 1998 and 1999 and have combined them to make a Christmas quilt which gives me two more UFOs finished for the year. Our youngest DD and the cta, Tiger, are testing it out on the couch. It's good to have some more finishes from my list of UFOs as well as all the charity quilts I make. I wanted to finish at least 12 for the year so any more are a bonus now.

Early Christmas Gift

2006-09-14T21:01:00.000-07:00

I belong to a Christmas swap on one of my Aussie internet groups and we send our designated partner a bag and 12 gifts during the year. The gifts are put away until we open them on Christmas Day. We started this swap because most of us found that we were buying our own Christmas presents from the family and this way we get some lovely surprises. A lot of the gifts are hand made which makes them even more special. The first year I received a Christmas stocking for the gifts, the next year a Santa sack and this year I received this fabulous bag from my partner.
I'm still working on my bag to send her and will post a photo when it's done.
If the gifts are as lovely as the bag, I'm going to be a lucky girl this year.

Life gets in the way

2006-09-13T15:42:00.000-07:00

I can't believe that I've neglected to post last week and so much time has elapsed already this week. I've been on night duty and have been busy quilting charity quilts in between time. The last few days I've been sewing bindings on and hand quilting my vintage quilt when I can make time.
My Mum hasn't been well and seems to have suffered a minor stroke so I'm grateful that I was able to spend time with my parents too.
No photos yet as my youngest DD borrowed the camera for her school camp to take photos of her students. Hopefully I'll get some photos up soon.

Another vintage quilt

2006-09-03T22:01:00.000-07:00

This is one of my favourite vintage quilts. It's from the US and is a 1930s quilt which was probably larger and the worn outer area had been removed. I rebound it and I love the soft colours and how thin it is. It's beautifully quilted at 8 stitches per inch and every 1/2 inch is covered by quilting.
It's showing a few worn areas but I'm looking after it carefully to preserve it, but still have the joy of looking at it.
These vintage quilts I'm finishing are some of the few I keep for myself. Ibought them from a US antique dealer in the early 1990s. I have lots more to finish off and have added them to my list of UFOs to finish. Hope you enjoy them too.

Vintage Blocks

2006-08-30T23:33:00.000-07:00

Thank you for all your lovely comments about my hand quilting in my last post. My stitches weren't as small as previosuly when I started again but it was relaxing and that was the most important thing at the time. The top was one I'd bought from an antique dealer in the US. In the 1990s, I bought quite a few tops and blocks as well as a couple of quilts which need repair and now they are on my list of UFOs to finish. I must show a few more photos of the finished quilts soon.
In the meantime this is a set of 20 vintage blocks called Hands All Round, with fabric from the 1930s and 1940s. Half of these blocks were finished and I took the background pieces off and I've been hand appliquing them to new background fabric. I will sash them with a pretty pale mint green sashing and borders and hand quilt it. I only have 2 blocks let to hand sew so it's getting closer to the hand quilting stage. I'll finish the current top though before I move onto this one.

Stress relief

2006-08-26T19:23:00.000-07:00

I I pulled out one of my UFOs to work on today. It's a vintage 1940s feedsack quilt top which I'm hand quilting. I haven't worked on this one for 3 or 4 years so I thought it was time to get it finished. I was going to try a new hand quilting technique but decided to continue with my usual style as I don't want to make it more stressful for me. I find hand sewing is peaceful so I've also been hand sewing 1940s blocks to new backgrounds and only have 2 left to finish out of the 20 blocks. I want to finish this quilt before I start hand quilting the next one. I'm quilting flower shapes in between the star blocks and I was surprised to see that it's over half finished already. I'll try to do some every day and see how long it takes me. I didn't wash this one before I started as I wanted to wash it and shrink the batting when it's been quilted to give it an aged look.
Many thanks for all your kind comments.

Stressed Out

2006-08-23T15:17:00.000-07:00

I didn't get back to showing some more photos of quilts as one of our children has been very sick and has moved back home. We're very stressed at the moment and I haven't been able to sew much. I wish I was one of those people who cleaned the house when they were stressed as it would be spotless. I'm hoping that some support services may be able to help a bit today.
The photo is of my 11th and 12th UFOs which I'm combining into a Christmas quilt. It's at the stage of adding borders and I'm hoping to get to that as soon as things settle down here.

Sunday update

2006-08-19T17:45:00.000-07:00

Here's some of the photos of our trip showing Ray and I at the northern most tip of Australia and some of the river crossings we did to get there. It was a great trip and we plan to do it again in a few years. This weekend I've been finishing bindings on charity quilts and hand stitching my vintage blocks to a new background. I also found some 1940s star blocks that I'd started to hand stitch to a new background and I'm working on those as well and showing progress. I'm taking my Dad to visit Mum this afternoon and I'm grateful that we live closeby. More quilting photos of my progress tomorrow.

My 10th UFO finish

2006-08-17T19:48:00.000-07:00

This is my 10th UFO finish for the year and it was one of the more recent ones. It was a siggy swap with other Quiltswapper (internet group) quilters in 2003. I like the way it looks and made it to fit the quilt hanger I have in the family room.
I am still busywith my charity quilts and am busy getting another shipment ready. I try to finish 8 to 10 a week and most of them are other quilters' UFOs. I put photos of those on my webshots page.
Most of my UFOs are also being donated to charity and it's wonderful to have them off the shelves and being put to use. A few days before we went on holidays I was invited to be a paid guest at a Quilt-In in Melbourne. The wonderful ladies passed the hat around and donated enough money to pay for a roll of batting which was a fabulous gift.
I haven't started Judy L's challeneg yet but plan to get on to it soon. LOL

Getting back into my routine

2006-08-13T23:23:00.000-07:00

These are the 8th and 9th UFO finishes for this year. The photos aren't great but you get the idea. I'm just hand stitching the binding down on my 10th UFO and will post a photo soon. I made a list of the UFOs I wanted to finish first but seem to be working on lots that aren't on the list. It's just good to get them done so I'm going with whatever I feel like finishing at the moment. The basket quilt was to have 12 hand appliqued blocks and is about 14 years old. I found that I'd finished 5 and 1/2 blocks so I finished the 6th block and then found 2 blocks I'd made with the same fabric. I used white for these blocks and cream for the others so I tea-dyed them to match the basket blocks. I was going to piece the inset triangle blocks but found the fabric looked pretty without being pieced so now it's done and will be donated to the local women's refuge. The other quilt was a family siggy quilt from a family reunion on my mother's side and it's now hanging in her room at the care unit. I gave it to her the day before we left on our trip and I'm very happy that I got it finished as she loves it and it helped her transition to being in "care".

Back home

2006-08-10T23:06:00.000-07:00

We came home a bit early as my mother's health deteriorated and she had to be admitted to a dementia care unit. We had a great trip though and did manage to see most of what we'd planned.
I'll post some photos of the trip soon but in the meantime here's the 6th and 7thUFOs I've finished this year. It's good to be back and catching up with all the blog news.

Undecided

2006-06-15T15:39:00.000-07:00

I haven't posted for a while and am undecided whether or not to continue as I will be away for July and most of August. We are travelling to the "last frontier" in Australia which is Cape York. We've just bought a 4WD (off road) vehicle and have done an advanced 4WD driving course in preparation. Since then we've been away from home a lot as we get used to driving in different conditions.
I have managed to finish off more UFOs and am about to finish my 9th. I'll think about my blog some more and whether or not to continue as I've cut back on most of my computer use so I can get more quilts finished. See you later.

Canberra Retreat

2006-05-11T15:46:00.000-07:00

I've had a lovely busy time retreating in Canberra at the end of April for 4 days and meeting 150 Aussie and NZ quilters from my Aussie online quilting group. I had a fabulous time chatting, laughing, eating and even a little hand sewing. This is one of my quilts I showed for Show and Tell. It's a blue and cream quilt with hand quilted feathers, which I love. The quilting bag I made as a UFO is also on my arm on the photo.
Then I was busy catching up with work and sleeping before attending another retreat the following weekend. I did a hand applique class with Robyn Falloon and chose that as I knew it would be relaxing. I've also been hand appliquing my vintage Hearts All Round blocks to new backgrounds and have done 8 of the 20 blocks so far. I'm still busy getting my UFOs finished and will post new photos of them soon.

Latest finish

2006-04-20T21:05:00.000-07:00

This is the quilt of cross stitched sqs for an Aussie boy with a life threatening illness. He'd asked for a Clown's theme and it was lovely and colourful.
Love Quilts organizes stitchers to cross stitch sqs for the kids, based on their chosen theme and I was honoured to make the quilt. Quilts are made for kids in the US, Germany, Brazil and Australia. Now off to work again. I worked all of Easter on night shift so not much work done on the blog.

2nd try with photo

2006-04-04T04:32:00.000-07:00

New webshots photos

2006-04-04T04:26:00.000-07:00

I've been busy loading all the photos of quilt tops I've finished to my webshots page at http://community.webshots.com/user/janmacxs. I've also tried to update my blog stats but not sure if they worked yet. We've also been busy checking our camping gear as we pick up our new 4WD tomorrow and are planning a big trip in July.
In the meantime here is a photo of some donated blocks that I aseembled into a quilt.

5th UFO Finish

2006-03-29T16:23:00.000-08:00

This is the 5th UFO finished. I had some blocks from about 10 years ago and needed a quilt for a Chook Challenge so just put them togther with a few extra blocks made from chook fabric.
This will be donated after the Challenge. Not as much quilting done this week as I'm still culling the stash and have donated another 6 bags this week.
Time to quilt now and get some more bindings done.

4th UFO quilt again

2006-03-26T19:50:00.000-08:00

This is a close-up of the quilt to show that beautiful border print. It was a sampler quilt I made about 10 years ago and it's great to have another one finished.
I seem to have lost time this week as I'm back at work and have also been busy busting stash. I've donated15 large garbage bags of fabric unsuitable for quilts and thrown out another 2 bags worth. I'm also folding my fabrics as I handle them and they are fitting on the shelves better. I have also beeen measuring fabrics and labelling them for backings to make it easier tio find the right size for the tops. Time to get some more quilts done now.

2006-03-19T17:03:00.000-08:00

4th UFO finished

2006-03-19T00:29:00.000-08:00

I finally got my photos downloaded. This isn't a very good photo but you get the general idea. It's my 4th UFO finish for the year and it's great to get another one off the shelf. I used wonder fabric on the back (as in "I wonder why I bought that) and pieced a few pieces with it. Then I started to think I should save it for another quilt and had to remind myself that they are still making fabric and I can always buy more if I ever run out LOL. The photo won't load so I'll try again later

Making UFO Progress

2006-03-15T22:01:00.000-08:00

I've spent the last two days working on my 4th UFO for the year. It was at the stage of 12 blocks so I've sashed them and put the top together and today I machine quilted it. Now I've sewn the binding down and just have to hand stitch it down to finish it. I wanted to get it ready for TV viewing tonight as Australia are playing Sth Africa in a Test Match. There's also the Commonwealth Games which started today so I'm planning on doing some handwork while they feature events I like to watch. Now I'm off to put the blocks for my 5th UFO into a top. I seem to stall when the blocks are made as that is the stage that most of my UFOs are at. What stage do you all stall at or is it different according to each project?
Here's another art quilt from the AQC as well as a close-up of the stitching. There was incredible detail in this piece.

Another Project

2006-03-13T01:03:00.000-08:00

As well as the quilting, knitting and crocheting, I also love toi cross stitch for quilts for kids with terminal illnesses. Mostly they are for kids in the US and I have one to put together for an Aussie kid this month. This square is for a girl who has chosen teddy bears as her theme. It will make a very cute quilt.
I don't know where the time has gone for this last week though as I seem to have been very busy without a lot of finishes. Hopefully this week I'll get more done. I did go to a local quilt show on Saturday and saw some lovely quilts and stitcheries. It's always good to see other quilters' work to get some inspiration. I need to do some blog visiting now to see what my blog friends have been up to for the last week. I don't seem to have had much computer time either but plan to catch up tomorrow.

Another shipment of quilts

2006-03-07T21:28:00.000-08:00

It's been another busy week with another quilt shipment going out. I was able to send out 92 quilts this month as 68 finished quilts were donated by others. The rest were mainly large quilts with many tops being donated by generous quilters.
I also sent off crocheted blankets and all the donations are going to the areas of Pakistan affected by the earthquake.
Here are some of the blankets I sent.
Now I'm back to finishing off UFOs as well as quilting more tops. I have so many 2" strips from all the fabric I've been cutting that I can see another Braid quilt in my future. The reason it took me so long to make the other was I used a template and lost it when we moved house. Then I realized that 2" strips of about 5" long would match and then I trimmed them to 4.5". Using sashing between them made it easy instead of trying to match the braids up.
Thanks for all your kind comments.

3rd UFO finished

2006-03-04T13:48:00.000-08:00

I didn't finish off any UFOs in January but did manage to get 3 done for February. I've also bought fabric for sashings for the next UFO and plan to get that one done this week. I've been busy quilting and getting the next lot of quilts ready to be shipped out. Yesterday I also picked up a large bag of curtain fabric which was donated for the charity quilts and I've cut half of it into 10" sqs. It's heavier fabric but it will be ideal for quilts for Pakistan. I want to get some of those tops put together this week too.
Here's the 20 year old Braid Quilt I finished last week. It was 3/4 done and has fabric from my kid's clothes etc. It's going with the Pakistan shipment this week and it's great to have another one done.

2nd UFO finished

2006-03-01T00:53:00.000-08:00

These are the siggy squares that I made into a quilting bag and it's my second UFO finished for the year. The other side also is made from the squares.

More UFOs finished

2006-02-27T00:55:00.000-08:00

This is the Birds in the Air miniature quilt I've just finished. I scanned it so the last border is missing. I'll take a photo of this one soon. It was my first attempt at foundation piecing and it's about 8 years old.
Yesterday I finished my second UFO for the year and today I quilted my third one but just need to finish the binding before I can claim that one as finished. I quilted 5 quilts today and my back is sore now but it was great to get them done. I haven't been able to quilt as much last week as our DS was home and the machine wakes him up. Tomorrow will be a day of binding and taking photos of the finished UFOs. It's great to get some of my own projects done.

Progress

2006-02-23T23:53:00.000-08:00

I've been working away at quilting the quilts to be donated but haven't had much time to work on some of my other projects. However, I made good progress for the last two days. I made a set of 9 patches I owed, 3 sets of curtains for my DD1, and almost finished a quilting bag which has been a UFO for about 9 years and am just finishing the binding on a miniature quilt which has also been a UFO for about 8 years. I'll post the photos ASAP but in the meantime here's another of a quilt at the recent AQC. The Baltimore Quilt was too large to fit in the whole photo but was so stunning I took a photo of part of it anyway.

Quilting Helper

2006-02-21T03:10:00.000-08:00

Here is Tiger, the head of the house. She's 20 years old and still very lively. She is shown testing some of my quilts and if I put any new ones on the couch to show the family, she will invariably want to lie on it. She also loves to lie down in my sewing room on all the batting off-cuts, so I've made her a cushion of her own.
It was the least I could do as I cleaned the room and she didn't have a comfy place to lie. Now I need to get busy with more quilts as the room is tidier but I have some clothes sewing to do first, as Stephanie needs skirts made for work. I did manage to put some donated blocks together into a top and tomorrow I have several quilts to finish off. In the meantime I've been knitting hats and scarves to send to Pakistan.

More UFOs

2006-02-16T17:31:00.000-08:00

I couldn't resist adding another close-up of one of my favourite quilts at AQC. I love feather quilting but will probably have to continue to do them with hand quilting as my machine quilting isn't good enough yet. I must post a photo of one of my blue and cream quilts with hand quilted feathers.
I'm still plugging away on sewing up my box of 3.5" sqs into 4 patch blocks and I'm about to move onto the 4.5" size. They will be set with plain alternate blocks and it will be good to clear some of them away.
Not satisifed with having an unlisted number of my own UFOs to work on, I bought 2 more sets of vintage blocks to piece into quilts. It was the first time I've bought from ebay and now I'm strongly resisting checking out any more possible buys. I love rescuing old quilts, tops and blocks but need to work on what I have now. I'll post photos when they arrive. Of course just looking can't hurt can it? No I better not just yet!

Cleaning out batting

2006-02-13T20:34:00.000-08:00

I've worked the last 3 days and have today off which is lucky as Australia is playing Sri Lanka in the final of one day cricket. While I was waiting for the game to start I've been making large cushions for Stephanie's class room. It's her first teaching job and she has grades 2 and 3 and wanted some large cushions for her room. I'm using fabric which wasn't suitable for quilts and stuffing them with all those bits of batting I've had taking up room in the sewing room. I've made one and half filled another, hopefully the sewing room will look emptier but it hasn't happened yet.
The photo is one of an Art Quilt from the AQC. The cigarette butts and bottle tops are real. I love these types of quilts but I'm not artistic enough to make them myself. Enjoy!

More quilts from AQC

2006-02-10T18:17:00.000-08:00

This is one of the lovely quilts from the Australiasian Quilters Convention. There were shops, classes and several quilt displays as well as the Best of the Best from New Zealand and the States of Australia. The quilts were so beautiful I'm not sure if they inspired me or caused me to despair about my own quilting. LOL
It was crowded so difficult to take good photos of the quilts so I concentrated on getting some close-ups of the quilting.
I love blue and cream quilts and also applique so these stood out for me.

2006-02-09T13:48:00.000-08:00

Another busy week with my birthday as well. I took the day off and went to see Walk the Line with my DH, Ray. We really enjoyed the movie and met up with my sister for coffee afterwards. Ray went off to cricket practice and my sister and I chatted for 2 hours LOL. Now I'm busy quilting again and have 6 quilts waiting for binding. I finished the rainbow scarf and have knitted 2 hats as well. I didn't work on any of my UFOs though. The photo shows part of a handquilted wholecloth quilt by Narelle Grieve. She was awarded the Rajah Award last year in recognition of her contribution to quilting in Australia. She is known for her handquilting. I took the photo at the Australasian Quilt Convention a couple of weeks ago and will share some more photos soon. Back to the charity quilts for now.

Vintage blocks

2006-02-02T00:03:00.000-08:00

I've managed to show a photo of the 1940s blocks before I work on them. So far I've hand stitched 2 to a new background and they are looking good. I had hoped to do more but I've been busy getting a shipment of quilts, blankets and warm garments off to Pakistan and East Timor. I only managed 49 quilts this month as well as 7 boxes of clothing and 8 crocheted blankets. I just heard that there are over 3 million people left homeless by the earthquakes in Pakistan so it's harder to fiddle with my own sewing when I can get quilts finished and sent where they are most needed. Of course the quilts I'm sending a a mere drop in the ocean but will help a few people. Now I'm back to knitting a rainbow coloured scarf while I watch TV.

Jan Mac's Quilts

2006-01-25T18:27:00.000-08:00

Australia Day
When i think of Australia Day, I think of football, meat pies, kangaroos and Holden cars. I also think of beaches, BBQs and bushfires. Sadly we have too many bushfires and very hot and windy weather conditions. I'm heading off to work now but have been busy finishing off a knitted sweater tosend to Pakistan with the next shipment. I've also made a start on putting together a set of 1940s blocks. They are Heart in a Hand and 20 blocks sized 15". 13 have been finished and 7 need to have the outer pieces added. As I don't have enough of the origianl fabric, and some of the outer pieces are stained, I'm going to hand applique the pieces to a new background fabric. I have taken photos of the first block and was amazed at how the owner had tried to piece togther tiny poieces to finish the block. She evidently gave up and included a different piece of fabric for two of the sections. If Ray's computer is ever on talking terms with mine again, I'll put photos up.
Cheers, Jan

Jan Mac's Quilts

2006-01-19T02:43:00.000-08:00

Jan Mac's Quilts

2006-01-19T02:35:00.000-08:00

Neglecting my blog

2006-01-19T02:31:00.000-08:00

I have been absent with my blog partly because I've been busy but mainly because I haven't been able to load photos and I love to see everyone's photos when I read other blogs and like to put my photos up too. It's still a problem so I'll show some of my older photos until I get the new ones on board.
I've been making 9 patch blocks for swapping and also getting my next shipment ready for East Timor with summer clothes and quilts and warm clothes, quilts and blankets for Pakistan. Our family room is covered with quilts and boxes and it will be lovely to send them off and reclaim the room for the next shipment.
Back to watching the tennis and knitting a scarf now. Cheers

2006-01-06T18:46:00.000-08:00

Back again

2006-01-06T18:23:00.000-08:00

Well it's been a difficult week. We had temperatures of 112 degrees F for a few days which put our phone and internet service out of action. Hopefully they have fixed the problem now as it happened last summer too. It's not usually that hot here so I'm hoping it doesn't happen again. Then our air conditioning broke down so we repaired that with DH climbing on the roof to replace the motor. Then yesterday I woke to find our neighbour's cows had eaten what little garden I have. They even ate almost all my little lemon tree which had just started to bear fruit.
As for my quilting, I managed to get some quilts finished in the evening when it cooled dwon a bit as well as cutting more fabric into sqs for simple quilts. I'm also finishing off the second crochet blankets and I still have one left to put together. Better get ready for work again.

Multi-tasking

2005-12-28T17:29:00.000-08:00

I've been doing my usual multi-tasking on my projects. Yesterday I was finishing off a crochet blanket by joining the sqs together and today I'll be working in the edging. I also made nine patch blocks for a swap and quilted a top, as well as the usual household chores.
This afternoon I have to work so there won't be much done craft-wise. I want to get the blanket finished to send to the Pakistan earthquake victims. I've found I have enough sqs on hand to make another 1 and a half blankets too. I just crochet the sqs when I have time for hand work and keep them in a plastic tub. When the tub gets too full then I put them together into blankets. Looks like I need to crochet a few more sqs for more blankets and take some time to watch cricket on TV.

Update on quilt progress.

2005-12-27T15:59:00.000-08:00

The photo shows a quilt on a bed in an orphanage in East Timor from the first shipment I sent.
I'm trying to get as many quilts finished as possible before the end of year as I've just been asked to supply quilts to people in remote areas of Pakistan affected by the earthquakes in Oct 2005. They will also take the crocheted woollen blankets, knitted hats, shawls and scarves I have on hand. I'm now busy getting some more warm things made so they will receive them before their weather becomes too cold, but I beleive that they are already having snowfalls.
I was very excited to hear that I have a way of getting quilts to them as it will save me a huge amount on postage costs. I'm very fortunate to have so many generous quilting friends who have also offered donations of wool so I can make more blankets. Usually when my supplies of wool are getting low, I buy used jumpers in good condition, pull them out and re-use the wool in crocheted blankets.
At the moment I'm quilting and binding two quilts a day thanks to my new quilting machine. I piec tops and blocks during the day and quilt and bind at night. The quilts I'm making are mainly larger ones of at least single bed size so they take longer to make but are a more useful size. Back to the machine at Quilt Central Kialla

2005-10-07T05:42:00.000-07:00

I thought I'd create a blogspot so that I can show some more of my quilts.