GW progress and a challenge quilt

Quilting is a very slow and frustrating affair when your sewing machine (Brunhild) is still awaiting a visit and surgery from the technician. I dropped in on my dealer again this morning, but still no sign of the technician. I am considering swallowing the cost of couriering the machine across country, just to get the loose screw removed.

Meanwhile, lots of hand sewing is going on, and the GW is about ready for binding. I keep adding little bits of quilting while watching documentaries in the afternoon, but it doesn’t really need any more quilting. I have enjoyed the process more than I expected, especially as my stitch length grew more even, and the end result more visually pleasing. Now it just needs some trimming, and the binding attached. I am tempted to hand quilt the next GW too, but using fewer colours, aiming for a Kantha quilt  look to the finished product.

Of course, not having a machine doesn’t stop you from buying stash, and I am proud to say I am now the owner of some Aurifil thread, and some Liberty art fabric. A quick trip to Wellington on the weekend resulted in four shops being visited in a matter of a few hours. My Hubby got a little bit mixed up, and delivered me to the Busy Bee Quilt shop instead of Stitchbird, which enabled me to buy some cheap fabrics at $10 and $12 per meter. The ladies there gave him a bit of a hard time about loitering in the entranceway, to stop me from bolting with too much fabric (excuse the pun). Onto Stitchbird in Kilbirnie which now stocks Aurifil thread, both 50wt and 12wt, though in a limited colour range. Now all I need is my machine fixed, then I can load her up and try it out. Meanwhile I have used some of the 12 wt on the GW.

While at my quilt group last Monday, I was handed a package of scraps from Grandmothers Garden. They had been in town for two days selling their wares, but unfortunately I hadn’t gotten the memo. Pat, one of my fellow quilters, generously purchased scrap bags for us all and issued a challenge to make a top from the scraps. We could add only one other fabric to the mix. My scraps were mainly reproduction fabrics, just the inch or two left next to the selvedge after cutting 5 inch strips. My heart skipped a beat when I saw them, as they included some Best of Morris by Barbara Brackman. I have wanted these fabrics for some time, but hadn’t found a New Zealand supply. Now I had some, for free! The next morning I decided to make a quilt in a day. Not my normal operating procedure, as I usually aim to finish a quilt in weeks, months or a year depending on the difficulty level. I broke into a Bella charm pack, and started attaching strips and charm squares together. After I ran out of charms, I cheated and threw in some neutral scraps to create more blocks.Unfortunately the scraps turned out to be a little variable in width, so all the blocks got cut down to 4 3/4 inches in size. I attached the scraps entirely randomly, then arranged the blocks to alternate between white and other neutral coloured  blocks. I had an enforced stop during the middle of the day, while my daughter slept, but made up for it that night by quilting till late, since everyone else had plans for the evening. By the end of the night I had a quilt top!

One fast and simple quilt. Excuse the wrinkles, but the sun was out, so I rushed outside for a quick photo shoot.

I offered it back to the Church quilt ministry, but they requested I finish it first. That of course won’t happen for a while, since I am sans machine. Given how much I love some of the fabrics, I suspect that after quilting it, I may well keep it after all. Is it okay to withdraw a quilt, once you’ve offered it?

One thing I discovered while making this quilt, is how much I love my Husky. Especially its quarter inch foot, with its little guide. I hope the technician turns up this week, I miss my Brunhild.

Linking up eventually with WIP Wednesday and Lets Bee Social.

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