Magnolia – done and dusted. A Sue Spargo inspired pattern. Most of it is her design with the exception of the centre house block. That inspiration came from a google search. Sue’s house was just too ‘normal’.
Most of the wool was hand-dyed by me. Dharma acid dye.
Back is flannel, batting wool. It’s a heavy sucker. It was NOT a joy to quilt. It’s finished though. I’m guessing I’ll never do another wool appliqué quilt again.
The second finish is The Circle Games by Jen Kingwell. This was the first hand pieced quilt I’ve ever made. As with the wool appliqué quilt – this is another technique that I’m not sure I’ll ever do again. I love the finished project – but I wasn’t that thrilled with the process. There are too many other things I really enjoy doing to do things I DON’T enjoy doing. It was worth a try though.
The original pattern had a different border but I changed it to appliquéd circles. Now go figure…..I DO like to hand appliqué and hope to get another hand appliqué project prepped at some point in the near future. I hand quilted this one – Finca 12wt. Batting is Quilt Lite. I love that combination. Makes for a light weight quilt perfect for our climate.
And HERE is a picture of a delightful present I received in the mail last week from my dear friend Kris. I am loving the book by Kathy Doughty – such eye candy. If her store was more accessible to me, I know I would do serious damage there. And the pop-up bin (made by Kris) is perfect. It’s already over in the little house set up and being used.
Now – it’s time to do some yoga and meditation. The Wallabies play the All Blacks tonight. I’m not confident of a win but I am always hopeful. I support the Wallabies but I love watching the All Blacks play. They are simply AMAZE-BALLS! They are seriously in a class all their own. And I know I’ll pay for saying it…..but I miss The Cheat (Richie McCaw). He has a movie coming out, you know? 🙂
Coloring Outside the Lines 
Ha! I never saw you as a Rugby Union fan Kris. Just goes to show how we have perceptions of others that can be off the mark. I love rugby too. My dad and brother both played for many years and I ran up and down the sideline trying not to shout myself horse. Sometimes I used to run up and down the sideline with the ball in sight at the same time I was crocheting. I kid you not! I still have the rainbow coloured scarf to prove I can crotchet. I would have to teach myself over again as I haven’t used a crochet hook in years. You will not believe that I also played a couple of games in a women’s Rugby comp. I played hooker and then switched to half back then winger. The last being the least dangerous I thought. Being a hooker was not my favourite position at all.
Love your finished quilts! I have changed from doing one project at a time to having a few on the go. Now I am not so anal about getting something finished before I do another project. I think I get a bit restless just doing one thing at a time.
I’m loving your blog posts you inspire me. Cheers Robyn
Too funny, Robyn! You never know about people, really, do you? 🙂 I don’t know how you could crochet while running the sideline – but then I don’t know how people can knit without looking either.
Thanks re: my quilts. I need a few project on the go at one time also – although I’m whittling them down to a reasonable number now. I sometimes have ADHD of quilting projects. Plus – I like to have a hand project, a piecing project, a leader/ender project and a FMQing project. Oh, and sometimes a cutting project. It keeps me moving about and keeps my hips limber.
How’s the binding coming along?
Just got to join the tails of the binding and hand sew it so close…in Sydney for a few days so it’s on hold again. 💋💋
I just LUV your out-of-the-box approach to this art!!! LOL! Your appliques always put ideas in my head that I should do one…..BUT, I just know that THAT is not my thing…….really……I’ve tried! I do like the smaller “penny rugs” applique pieces, though. Enjoy the game and keep those crazy combos coming!!!!!!! Hugs from the other side……………………….
Thanks Doreen! I like the penny rug type things too – I just don’t like to keep them. That’s an idea for the left over wool that I have though. Hugs back atcha!
I love how you embedded slide shows into your post! I am going to have to learn how to do that. The quilts are beautiful! And what a lovely gift from your friend!
Thanks! And, I know…..totally an awesome gift. AND, I received another one this week. I’ll post pictures of that next. Who’s the lucky girl? That would be ME! ME! ME!
Wow! I’ve never had a mention in a blog before! I’m so glad you like your little care package. Hugs!
Love it – totally. Thank you again my friend!
Wow, I love both of them, but I love the Circles Game the best. I just love the way you use taupe-y fabrics plus add a few others of interest. And I love the way you quilted it. Its really a complex pattern–do you think it was just easier to hand piece, or could it be done by machine?
And thanks for the book recommendation. I saw that somewhere the other day, but then got distracted, and forgot to look inside!
Thanks Debby! So far – I haven’t gotten tired of that color palette – although adding some non-Japanese taupe fabrics to the mix has been a lot of fun. I still can’t find much for that fabric here in Australia so I’m thinking to do a stock-up on it when I come back to the USA in 2017.
I do love the hand quilting with the 12wt thread. I keep thinking I should do something more fancy – like you do – but I always revert to just the running stitch. Guess it’s just my thing right now. It’s meditative to me. (I wonder if it counts toward meditation homework?!)
Some people have done The Circle Games by machine. I’m not a very precise piecer though so I didn’t think it would be my thing. I found out that I’m not a very precise hand piecer either though so it did give me some struggles. One block I tried twice and couldn’t get it to fit so I just didn’t use that block. 🙂