Finally–a Finish

My Animal ABC quilt is finally finished, and it has been in hibernation for ages.  I’ve always said I had very old UFOs and this certainly proves the point.  Started way back in 2012 (read my first post about it here) the project started off reasonably well with my plans to stitch one alphabet block each month.  That plan fell by the wayside, and I eventually added this project to my List of Six where I  “roll the dice” each week to choose which UFO I will be working on.  But…….. the quilt was still uncompleted at the end of last year, so I decided to finish it,  before starting a new list for 2019.  So here is the last little bit  - machine stitching the previously prepared binding on.

Adding the binding

After a couple of afternoons hand stitching, the binding was done.  Finally-  photo time.  The extra animal fabric was used to make a pieced backing.

Back and front

Most of the animals were cut and applied from printed fabric but I had to get creative and trace out several shapes which I found in the Internet.  I couldn’t have a New Zealand made quilt without featuring a Kiwi, could I?

K is for Kiwi

The letters X and Y proved rather difficult.  Pristella maxillaris, is commonly known as the X-ray fish  because of its translucent body, and is found in the Amazon and Orinoco basins.  And what to do for Y?  I finally settled on Yak.

X for X-ray fish and Y for Yak

I’m so pleased I’ve finally finished this quilt, and it won’t be going anywhere for a while.  It will be kept safe and sound until one of my grand-daughters (both in their 20s) produce a great-grand child!

And if you think the border fabric seems familiar, you are right.  I used the same fabric on my Little Letters quilt, which I’m also keeping for future babies to arrive.

Little Letters

It’s Getting Closer

I’m not quite there yet, but I’m getting closer to the finish line on my Animal ABC quilt.  All the small blocks have now been machine quilted and I’m working on the Z is for Zebra panel across the bottom of the quilt.  Then I just have the borders and binding to complete.

Z is for Zebra

You may remember that I mentioned earlier that Gemma doesn’t sit on my sewing machine and watch me sew.  But lately she has decided that curling up on the quilt being worked on is a good idea.  She waits till she has the sewing room to herself then settles down for a nap, although she is not too sure if this behaviour is allowed.  But she looks so cute cuddled up on the quilt that I just let her be. 

Gemma on my sewing cabinet

We had a day out in Palmerston North yesterday and decided to treat ourselves to lunch at  China Town.  This is very reasonably priced, is always busy and offers lots of  interesting dishes to help yourself.  Another excellent point is that many local Chinese eat here, so that certainly shows that the food must be very good.  Mind you, the Chinese people seem to order off the menu, while most of the other customers are happy to serve themselves from the buffet.  It was a good day out in nice sunny weather, with several jobs being ticked off our “to do” list, and a lovely lunch.  At only $15 each it was certainly value for money, with soup, desserts and coffee included in the price.

Lunch at China Town

However, we did come across a couple of situations which were unusual, certainly as far as we were concerned.  The first was when we came across several police cars surrounding a car, the driver was out on road and was having hand cuffs put on him.  It was rather like watching a TV show and we did wonder what he had  done to have the police after him.  And the next situation would have been amusing if not for all the foul language being bandied about.  A middle aged grey haired woman  was riding a bicycle and was rather upset with a van driver, and the language being shouted out at the van driver was atrocious.  Perhaps he drove too close to her and her bike, I don’t really know, but she didn’t let up for a good five minutes, riding around and around and swearing and cussing at the top of her voice. My goodness, I’m not used to such carrying on and was pleased when we started driving back to our quiet little town!

Working away

Remember this?

Animal ABC quilt

I’ve been working away during the last week or so my Animal ABC quilt.  When I last left it last time, the layers were pinned together and I had stitched in the ditch around each block.  So now was the time to machine quilt around each letter and corresponding animal. 

Q for Quokka, R for Rhino

I’m not  a machine quilting expert, by any means, and don't find machine quilting easy or relaxing – so don’t like to spend too long at the machine each session.   Doing it in short bursts suits my back and shoulders better, an hour at a time, then going back to it again during the day.  The middle blocks have been finished, so I’m working my way around the edges of the quilt now.  

Some cats like to sit up close to their owners to watch this quilting business.  Not Gemma – she’s always ready for another afternoon nap somewhere comfy.

Sleepy time again

Monday is Roll the Dice Day

So I did, and the dice landed on number one – my Animal ABC quilt.  Haven’t worked on that one for a while, our long caravan trip over the summer meant that only a little hand work got done.  So I’m going to start with gusto today, and see how the rest of the week evolves.  Remember this?

Top and pieced backing

I had finished the top, and pieced the backing from my left over animal prints.  The quilt is now pinned, all ready for me to start machine quilting, so that will keep me busy for a while.

And talking about busy, we have had a very busy weekend away, with the pair of us being part of the organising committee for a caravan weekend away.  Not our usual caravan club type of weekend, this was a get-together for the Leisure Line Owners Club, a caravan manufactured here in New Zealand.  Here’s me at the Registration Desk waiting for the attendees to arrive, and Robin and friends cooking hamburgers for Friday night’s meal.

It was a great weekend away, and we enjoyed a delicious catered meal on Saturday, followed by live music and dancing in the hall. The duo played all those lovely songs we remembered from our youth, so we sang along, tapped our toes in time to the music, and got up on the dancefloor.  Robin’s knees give him trouble, so his dancing is now limited, but we did manage a couple of dances.

A Weekend at Home

As much as I enjoy travelling far and wide towing our caravan behind us, it does cut into my sewing time.  So it’s nice to have a weekend at home, like this weekend.  This means I had extra time to continue with my UFO of the week, number 1, my Animal ABC quilt.  You may remember that most of the top is assembled, but I had a problem with the letter Z.  So I got busy with my unpicker, and carefully removed the machine button hole stitches holding things in place.

I had seen an idea that I wanted to try, so started sewing beige, cream and pale yellow strips together.  Mindless sewing really, for this part of the block.

These strips formed the base of the African savannah, and then I added blue sky and hills away in the distance.  Next I stitched my letter Z back in place.  Then it looked like this.

Letter Z has progressed to this

Add a herd of zebra plus a young cheetah spying on them behind a bush, and this is the result.

African savannah

This last row was attached to the rest of the blocks, and then the borders attached.  And the top is now done – I’m rather pleased with it too.

Finished Animal ABC top

I have to admit that the Z panel was not my original idea – I had seen a picture of something similar in an older magazine and thought it looked great.  The original design had a strip pieced sunset sky, but I decided to go with the blue and white cloudy fabric I had tucked away.  The backing will be pieced from some of my left over animal prints, I’ve decided, then I’ll have to consider how I’m going to quilt it.

The Dice Rolls 1

Monday was a public holiday so there was no “rolling the dice” on my usual day.  So it’s no surprise that we were away for the weekend in our caravan, enjoying the cool winter sunshine, and catching up with our caravan club friends.  But now we are home again, I’m a little late this week to finally roll the dice to see which number comes up.  It’s number 1, my Animal ABC quilt, so that’s what I’ll be sewing this week.  So what stage did I leave this project in last time I worked on it?

Animals A to O

That’s right, I had assembled the top three rows, so that was a good start.  So there was more cutting sashing strips that needed to be done, and then I sashed the last couple of rows together.

Animals P to Y

One more seam, followed by some pressing under the iron, and the project now looks like this.  It’s coming along well, if I do say so myself.

But what happened to the letter Z, you may be wondering.  I wasn’t quite happy with what I had done,  so got my unpicker out to pull it to pieces.   You will have to be patient and wait till next time to see what I’ve planned for Z.

Work before Play

I’m feeling rather virtuous.  There was mending to do that had been hanging around – now finally done.  Robin’s favourite shorts needed repairing, the inner pockets are made of such thin fabric that they keep getting holes in them.  I’m repaired them several times now, and he is always thankful that the pockets are fixed up, once again.  I had purchased new navy trousers which needed the legs shortened.  Both jobs done, and once started, of course it didn’t take too long at all.

With that out of the way, I sat down and updated my Quit Documentation folder.  Why had I let this slide, I wondered?  That’s right, I remember now.  Last time I wanted to do it, we had run out of ink for the printer.  With several finishes so far this year, everything is now up to date, pages printed off, small fabric samples added, and the pages filed away in clear plastic pockets in my folders.  And all the fabric from each project which has been hanging around has finally been put away.   It’s so nice to flick through my folders now and again, and remember what I have done over the years.

The dice called up UFO number 1 from my list this week - which is my Animal ABC quilt.  The blocks have all been stitched, so now I need to sew them all together.  Don’t know how much sewing I’ll manage this week, as the long Easter weekend will impact on both this week and the following one.  Of course, we will be tootling off in our caravan very soon.

Making a start, I laid out the blocks, cut some colourful  sashing strips and started stitching.  It was  a lovely warm Autumn day yesterday so  I took my blocks outside onto the patio table and did my pinning in the sunshine.  Then back I went to the sewing machine.  So I’m getting my sewing started, enjoyed a little time outside in the fresh air, and the walking to and fro stops me from stiffening up after spending too long at the sewing machine.

Pinning the sashing strips

So far, there are several rows stitched together and as the rain has now arrived today, I’ve spread this portion over the back of the couch.  Can you see where I’ve added a New Zealand touch?  K just had to be for Kiwi, I felt.

Animal ABC quilt so far

Not sure how much more I’ll get done –  once the rain stops and the ground dries out a little, there’s caravan packing to do for our long Easter weekend away.  Hope the Easter Bunny can track us down for the Easter Eggs and Buns!

Last three A B C blocks

I’ve been working away and have finally finished the last three blocks of my Animal ABC quilt – X, Y and Z.  The letter Z was easy, as I had fabric printed with zebras. 

Z is for zebra

As for X and Y, I thought I would see what I could find on Google and trace a picture of something off.

X was rather tricky, but then I found images of x-ray fish.  Yes, there really is such a thing.  X-ray Tetra fish have translucent skin and their bones shine though!  Here is my version of an x-ray fish.  Then today a blog reader told me about Xenops, a South American bird.  And I believe there is also a frog starting with X.  Who would have known?

X is for X-ray Tetra fish

As for the letter Y. I decided on yak, found and printed a picture, traced it off, and appliqued it down.  So Y is for yak, a big shaggy beast with horns.

Y is for yak

I’m really pleased that I persevered this week and completed the last ten blocks.  I’m so much further along with this project than I was last week.  Now all I have to do is put it all together.  And quilt it.  I’ll get there – one step at a time!

And tomorrow, I get to roll the dice again, and see what number UFO I get to work on for the next week - that's always exciting.

Animal Stampede

There’s been a stampede of animals in my sewing room lately.  All part of my “Animal ABC” UFO which I am working on this week.  I’ve been cutting, fusing and stitching and it’s been good to get some more done.  This project has been slumbering away undisturbed for much too long, so it is good to be getting back to it again. 

R is for Rhino through to W is for Wolf

So far I’ve completed a grumpy looking rhino, a cute squirrel and a majestic looking tiger.  Next  came a mythical unicorn galloping amongst the stars, a vixen and her cubs, and last of all a wolf, howling at the moon.

Unfortunately I don’t have any fabric with animals starting with either X or Y so I will have to work something out for those two letters.  I’ve come up with an idea or two so hopefully it will all work out successfully – fingers crossed for tomorrow. 

P is for Panda and Q is for….?

I’m working away quietly on my Animal ABC blocks – yet another UFO which I had started a while ago and then put away.  Out of sight means out of mind and it has only recently surfaced, and made it to my UFO list.  The next block to do was the letter P and I had some cute panda fabric in my bag ready to use.  But what animal starts with the letter Q?

P for Panda and Q for Quokka

An earlier  check with Mr Google told me all about quokkas.  This Australian marsupial is rather like a wallaby and is found on Rottnest Island, near Perth.  Not that I’ve ever seen one.  My Australian quilting buddy Janet kindly scanned a picture of a quokka onto fabric and sent it over to me to use some time ago.

I’ve also remade my J for Jaguar block as I was not happy with the previous one.  This jaguar is relaxing, ready to pounce on a passing animal at meal time.  And I’ve prepped several more blocks ready to sew, and trimmed some others down to size.  So I’m getting there, one step at a time.

J is for Jaguar

There are snippets of fabric and thread all over the floor – didn’t I just do the vacuuming yesterday, or maybe the day before?  But never mind, I’m being creative.

A New List for Monday

Monday is “Roll the Dice” day here, but before I did that, I wanted to get an extra step head and prepare the binding for my latest finish, “Whipped Cream and Raspberries.  Now it will be all ready to bind once I get it quilted.

Whipped Cream and Raspberries

Then I needed to amend my List of Six.  With my stitchery bag and the candlewick quilt now completed, I need to find two more projects to add to the list.  That wasn’t too hard, I’ve got more projects than I want to think about!

So the list now reads:
No 1:  Animal ABC quilt – still waiting to be called up
No 2:  Horse Quilt number 2 for grand-daughter Megan, replaces the stitchery bag
No 3:  Winter Welcome Wall-hanging – another one still waiting
No 4:  Candlewick table runner using extra gifted blocks, replaces candlewick quilt
No 5:  Christmas Stars and Nine Patches – needs some more machine quilting
No 6:  Polka Dot Apron – waiting, waiting

Six projects in waiting

And the dice roll today is………number 1, Animal ABC quilt, long tucked away in the brown woven selvedge bag.  And with the wonders of the internet and older blogs at my fingertips, it seems that I started stitching these blocks way back in 2012.  I had decided to challenge myself to make an animal ABC quilt, (for future babies in the family) and purchased a set of die-cut adhesive alphabet letters.  The starting point was a piece of left over fabric from a group birthday quilt I took part in ages ago, as it featured a good selection of wild animals.

Wild animals to cut and applique

After having things tucked away for so long, I’m never sure what I will find inside these long forgotten projects.  But I had done quite well it seems, and  had stitched up 15 blocks so far, from A for Antelope to O for Otter.

My first and last blocks

On looking through my collection of animals fabrics packed away in the bag, the next one will be P  for Panda.  Looks like I better get fusing and stitching.  And I wonder how many animal blocks I will get through this week?  There are a couple of meetings I need to attend, never ending laundry and kitchen duties, but I will do my best.

J is for Jaguar

I think I may have missed a week somewhere in my A-Z Challenge.  But never mind, I’m back on track again and the block this week is “J is for Jaguar”. 

J is for Jaguar

This jaguar came to me as part of a birthday block swap several years ago, and I received all sorts of appliquéd blocks with depictions of the letter J.  In the end I didn’t make up my J birthday quilt.  So the jaguar has a new lease of life on this block of my A-Z quilt.  I carefully trimmed around just inside the satin stitching to remove the big cat from the original block, used some heat and bond to fuse him to the new background fabric, and stitched it in place.  What a fine looking jaguar he is too, the choice of fabric is wonderful, and he looks all set to pounce on his next meal.

I’m getting behind with my sewing lately, I must admit.  Things have been very busy with our house being listed for sale, lots of things to organise.  And oh…..all that sorting, clearing out, putting things in piles.  This lot to be dumped, this lot to the Op Shop, and maybe we will keep those!  I’m sure you know how it goes.  Today Robin cleared out the shelf at the top of the wardrobe and dumped it all on our bed.  Because half of it is mine to deal with, he informed me.  After almost 30 years in this house, we are getting there slowly!

All this needs sorting, he said

I is for Insects

Where oh where do these days disappear to? We have had such a busy time lately, it’s been hard fitting everything in.  But here at last is the latest block in my A to Z Challenge, “I is for Insects”.

I is for Insects

It’s probably no surprise that I’m not a great lover of anything creepy-crawly.  And most insects seem to come into this category, don’t they.  Except for ladybirds, bees and butterflies, and others which are deemed “pretty”, most other insects seem to be treated with dislike, or even fear.  As for those wetas, big nasty spiders, and flies – yuk.  But in all seriousness, insects have an important role in the chain of life, and usually they just go about their busy little insect lives and leave me alone. 

H is for Horse

This week’s block in my A-Z Challenge is H for Horse.  My horse and foal came from a piece of left over backing fabric from a previous project.  I’ve never really had much to do with horses in my younger days.  If I’m honest, I’m a wee bit afraid of them.  Horses are so big, and then they have great big clompy feet too!

H is for Horse

My two grand-daughters and their Dad don’t share my fear.  They are all very keen riders and take part in all manner of events and competitions.  Both girls have had their share of falls and broken bones while riding, but that hasn’t seemed to dampen their enthusiasm one little bit.   Some years ago when they were much younger I stitched both girls quilts for their beds.  Emma’s quilt was full of horses, just what she wanted.

Emma’s horse quilt

Younger grand-daughter Megan’s quilt showed her life on the farm.  There are a couple of horse blocks, as well as her Dad Robert on his big blue tractor, Babe the Border Collie, Fanta the cat, sheep, a calf and some chooks, all found on the property. 

Megan’s quilt “Life on the Farm at Kiwitea”.

G is for Giraffe

I’m running late, I know, for my A-Z Challenge block this week.  What with a couple of day trips out in the car this week, and a visit to the doctor, the days have  just rushed by.  But better late than never, and I chose G for giraffe.

G is for Giraffe

My giraffe came from a piece of African savannah fabric left over from a much earlier project.  Mr Google told me that the the giraffe is an African even-toed ungulate mammal, the tallest living terrestrial animal and the largest ruminant. The name is derived from the Arab word “Xirapha”, which means “the one who walks very fast”.  There are nine species of giraffes, and the average life span in the wild is 20-25 years.  Auckland Zoo is the only place I have been up and personal to a giraffe.  The zoo has been is the news lately as they have recently sent a young bull giraffe to Australia, and taken delivery of a young female,  to help with their respective breeding programmes. 

Now – about that doctor visit. The bad news is that the doctor confirmed that my cough and sore throat is viral, and is likely to last for three months.  The good news is that I’ve already been coughing and spluttering for six weeks, so the time frame is half over.  As there are no anti-biotics given for viral infections,  I’ve been told to sip lemon and honey drinks, gargle salty water to help my throat, and take Panadol to ease my sore head, which is probably caused by all that coughing.  Let’s hope I feel better next week!

F is for Fish

This week’s block in my A-Z challenge is F for fish.  The brightly coloured fish fabric was purchased in Hawaii on our trip way back in November 1993. We visited three islands, Oahu, Hawaii (known as the Big Island) and Maui. The island of Oahu is the most commercial and we loved staying in Honolulu and visiting Waikiki Beach. Next stop was a short flight to the Big Island where large parts of the island are covered in black lava. We visited the Kilauea Visitor Centre, gazed in awe at the huge Kilauea caldera and walked through the 500 year old Thurston Lava Tube. Flying on to Maui the highlights were taking a ride in a submarine and dining al fresco at the Maui Hilton one steamy tropical evening.

F is for Fish

I used some of the fish fabric when I made my Hawaiian Rainbow Fish wall-hanging in 1996.  The fish blocks were foundation pieced using graduated yellow and orange fabrics, on a pale blue background, then bordered with the Hawaiian fish fabric. I used gold thread to hand quilt around each fish, and quilted curvy lines through the background fabric to signify wave action.

Hawaiian Rainbow Fish wall-hanging

Hawaii is a fabulous holiday destination, and we have been lucky to visit this island paradise twice.  Here are a couple of photos from our first trip, (when we both had darker hair).

Under the Banyan tree

Procrastination – there’s just too much choice at Hilo Hattie’s