Raffle quilt for Sunraysia Patchwork Friends

A few years back, at our quilt show, Judy from Cornerstone Creations donated a fabric pack. It was beautiful and was just sitting there without any plans to use it. I suggested we use it to make a raffle quilt for our next exhibition.

So off I went and calculated out a plan.

Dragged in some members to help sew it. Then it became a group effort.

The centre of the top was completed without too much trouble. 

I took it home and added the borders.

Choosing the backing. I chose the denim/floral looking one. I didn’t realise it was a directional print when I bought it so it will just have to go on sideways. BUT when I went to iron it and trim up ready for the quilt frame the lovely store had cut it 2” too short. That’s not all. It was cut so crooked I would have had to cut off another 4” to straighten it. Not happy Jan. Therefore it definitely wasn’t suitable for a frame. So back to the lovely Spotlight to get it replaced. Oh no!!! The last piece they had was 12” too short.

Now  to choose another fabric. So I went with the same print but in a lighter colour blue. It was on special for a cheaper price and as I didn’t have the receipt, it had been handed in to the quilt guild’s treasurer who was on holidays in Queensland, they were only going to refund the lesser amount. I took the opportunity to buy another 75cms to put it the right direction and convinced them to give me back what I had previously paid. I only had to add $7 but I would be keeping the leftover fabric.

The rush was on because I had the quilt frame booked and needed to drop it all off. Well, now at home to iron and trim up again. Wide backs are not folded straight and yes, it was crooked again. Luckily the staff member had cut a bit extra and by the time I had finished trimming it was 1” less than what I had paid for. As I had bought an extra 1/2 metre we were safe.  Dropped it off to the quilt shop.

Okay, I’m ready to quilt this. The quilt shop hires out the frame for you to quilt it yourself. The staff load it, line it up, fill the bobbins and roll on each and every row for you. You just have to press start and follow the groovy board for one side to the other. As I only wanted to quilt within the braid panel due to the flange and sashing it was to be a little more precise than a basic edge to edge. I did a simple flower vine. 1 1/2 hours later and the centre braids were done.

I took it home and finished it. I decided to quilt in the ditch down each flange to hold it nicely and stitch around both sides of the sashing. Then I cross hatched the border which made it look like a lattice.

 This light colour backing worked better than the first choice as you could not see the sewing thread on it.

Here it is before I dropped it off to the next person to hand stitch down the binding.

Thanks to all the helpers for stepping up.

Also, thanks Judy

https://newsfromjude.blogspot.com/

for donating the fabric pack

and Mandy @ Lesley Mays for donating the time and help for the quilting frame

https://lesleymays.com.au/

The start of a raffle quilt

Judy from Cornerstone  Creations was a trader at our quilt show a few years back. She donated a fabric pack to our group. 

Well, it’s time to use it. After a few calculations I have designed a quilt that we can make and have a few ladies to help. This also allows for different abilities with their stitching. This is a quilt I made many years ago and fits well with this fabric.

So I got it all cut up

and sorted into rows

And the first strip sewn together. Phew, it measures about what I thought.

Now to get a group together to finish the top. 

Waikerie sew in day and my raffle win

 We had a great day sitting, sewing, shopping, listening and learning. Then going through all the raffle prizes. Yes, there were 120 of them…..

So many times the number called was either side of my ticket.

Some people on our table won a few prizes. Colleen got drawn, collected her prize then she was drawn again. She kindly said I could claim the prize as I hadn’t won anything yet and it was my birthday coming up. She is so kind.

Colleen also bought me some sashiko thread for my present.

Then we got to nearly the end and everyone was just wanting it to finish. My number was drawn for 2nd prize. Wow what a gift. Here is what I got.

An A4 light box, a table runner pattern, a $25.00 gift voucher for a local store (so I have to go back for a visit)

And a beautiful little quilt.

This quilt will now be a gift for a work colleague who has recently had a premie baby girl. Even though itis blue the butterflies are suited for a little girl.

SLOW STITCHING SUNDAY

While I was enjoying my FNWF and when I had done working on my X stitches I was drawing out the blocks for my local quilt group.
KILMORE QUILTERS.
Anyone from the group can take part in the making of the blocks for next years raffle quilt.
I chose to do 4 applique blocks.
So on Sunday I was sitting here sewing and joining in with everyone on Slow stitching Sunday.
http://kathysquilts.blogspot.com.au/2014/11/slowly-stitching-and-not-multitasking.html
Here they are.....
I made these 2 easier blocks

 And 2 of the sunflower blocks.

They are to be handed in at our next meeting.
KILMORE QUILTERS BLOG

And on Friday I received my swap blocks from ANNA. We were partners in the paper piecing block swap.

Anna made this lovely Hunters Star block. It measures 12" and is lovely.

We have been partners in another swap do she also made me a scissor fob.

Anna coloured in the block, hand quilted it and then finished it off into a fob.

It is lovely. Thankyou Anna.

Unfortunately I have decided to no longer take part in these swaps. They were really great for me when I didn't want too many commitments and large projects. I now am wanting to do more sewing and have a lot of projects that need finishing and quilting so I have decided that my time is needed there. It has been great for the past 18 months but we all need to move on.

Thankyou Sue for all the organising you do in these swaps..

http://paperpiecersswapclub.blogspot.com.au

Heathcote's WIP baby quilt

Part of being a member of a quilt group is to help out where & when needed.

We have our quilt show coming up at the end of the year so we are working on the raffle quilts.

We have a larger one being done and this little beauty.

A cute little baby quilt. 

The embroidered blocks were donated.

A few of the ladies pieced the blocks together.

Fun quilting with a giraffe, rabbit,whale & dolphins

Then I added a dog, cow, pig, horse & birds

 Next to come was a cat, sheep & an elephant.


 

Then to add some framing colour I did a double binding of blue and orange.

I hope the girls like what I have done. 

All that is left is to finish the binding.

This is my.    WIP WEDNESDAY project today.
I'm also linking to VALS QUILTING STUDIO for Archive Tuesday FMQ...