Another Owlie Aussie Hero Quilt

I remember years ago telling people I wouldn't EVER make a quilt, and yet here I am showing off another quilt I've made....so far, all my quilts have been for Aussie Hero Quilts, but I hope to change that soon, and will have some up for sale!

Here's the latest quilt I've made for an Aussie Hero who is currently deployed overseas....I know this person wouldn't have a clue who I am, let alone be one of my blog readers, so feel safe in sharing pics of it with you.  Like me, this person is an owl lover (I really wish we had an official name, such as owlists or something, but we don't 'insert sad face' )

This quilt is made using the quilt as you go (QAYG) method, where you quilt each block individually then join them, I chose to join them where you add fabric strips front and back, then attach the next block to the back strip then flip the front strip over and sew it down.  Sounds confusing, but it's not really lol

I don't know why, but I seem to gravitate towards double sided or reversible quilts, and this one didn't escape!  The above pic shows either the front or back, depending on which side you prefer to call them!  Below shows what would normally be the back of the quilt, as it has the label on it, but I would happily use it as the front too....I quite like labels on the front, why hide them away I say lol

Yes, some of the blocks are wobbly....on purpose!

I actually 'free handed' the writing on the label....not bad considering I didn't have any lines to follow....even if I do say so myself  hee hee



At times, the recipients (or the person requesting a quilt on their behalf) also request a laundry bag for them....I had a few leftover blocks, so incorporated them into the laundry bag, so it matches the quilt.

The quilt and laundry bag went off in the post to it's forever home on Monday....hopefully it arrives safe and sound and the recipient loves the 'hooty hugs' in the form of a quilt.

If you have some extra quilting fabric you no longer want, or would like to become involved with Aussie Hero Quilts, then please pop an email off to the Matriarch (she'll kill me when she sees I've called her that again bahahaha) better known as Jan-Maree HERE  or if you'd like to see all the other quilts being churned out Australia wide then click HERE  You don't have to be able to sew to get involved....obviously that skill helps, but you can always donate some mailing bags/satchels/boxes or some fabric, or even Spotlight gift cards to assist JM with purchasing fabrics to be used on quilts and laundry bags.  It's a great way to say thank you to our guys and gals that get deployed overseas.

Another update

Edited 4th August 2014:  I am soooo, so very sorry, I thought this post had already gone up...and it was indeed scheduled for publishing on 18th July, but for some reason it didn't post.....with all that went on with the blog 'adjustments' I'm still trying to fine tune a few things, so I've been having a look here and there, and I found this in my draft folder....oh well, I'll publish it now so you can see the hooty quilt, finally!!

 I've just spent the last couple of hours trying to find more details about a quilt pattern I tested for someone...I know we were corresponding through my Gmail account, and I normally save 'special' emails into folders, but for the life of me, I can't find any from her to me or me to her anywhere in my Gmail.

I can however let you know that I first had contact with her a couple of years ago, and then her life got in the way and I didn't hear back from her regarding the test pattern again, until I think it was either late last year or early this year.....I'm going to go with early this year, because then I don't feel so bad at only sharing the pics of the quilt now.

As you may all know, I kind of have a soft spot for owls..well derr lol  So it was a no brainer when Sue Lynn contacted me to see if I was still interested in testing the pattern for her.  Here's the link to her blog, where you can keep updated with any future patterns she releases....now with disclosure in mind, I must tell you, that her owl quilt pattern is actually needleturned, which I didn't do....yet, but will be, however I did thoroughly read her pattern, and could follow it along, and found no errors.

Yes, yes, I know, stop waffling Naomi and just show us the pics!

 The test blocks were mixed in with both donated blocks and some I made to fill in the spaces....and was sent off to an Aussie Hero, to thank her for her time away from home.  Below are a few close ups of the owl blocks.  The quilt request was for owls and pastels....I think I nailed it didn't I?  I must've, because I received a lovely email saying how much the quilt meant to the new owner....R! (Name withheld for privacy reasons)

 Below you can see the 'cheater' Paris fabric I used on the back, this was donated to AHQ by Berri Uniting Church, and it works great as backing, even though its a bit too pretty really!

 And of course, a close up of the quilt label.....I like to add mine to the front usually, but broke my tradition and added this one on the back.....I also like to add them before the quilting is done, so there's no chance of it falling off at some stage!

Ooooh, and before I forget, I FMQ'd this myself....and yes, I am crap at it....but it's done with love....now if I can just get my hand/foot synchronisation happening, I won't get all those loooonnnnng stitches every now and then, and those pesky eye lashes on the back.....need more practice = good excuse to make more quilts right?

Hero Uniform transformation

A while ago, I pleaded with an 'Army' friend, to part with a couple of his old Army shirts so I could make an Army bag out of it....such as the military bags you see in the U.S.A  After a little coaxing, and the promise that he could have one of the bags to give to someone as a gift, so long as I got to keep one for me....he relented and sent me 2 shirts.

I've sat and deliberated over them for a couple (maybe it's a few!) weeks, trying to pluck up the courage to cut into at least one of the bags....Yesterday became the do or die day....and I hacked and sewed and designed on the fly.....here's the fruits of my labours.

This is the shirt in it's uncut state.

In case you're wondering, I've smudged out his name badge, to protect his identity...but on the actual bag, the name shows up....I just don't think I should be brandishing his name about in cyber space....but around South Australia on my bag, it'll be fine lol

Then, after holding my tongue to the west and the scissors to the east, and with a snip snip here and a snip snip there, I had gone too far to stop.

I managed to get a fairly decent size tote/shoulder bag, a zippered pouch and a coin purse/phone holder out of the one shirt...you beauty...that means there'll be enough for me to make me a decent sized bag, and maybe a coin purse like the one pictured below.

I removed the Aussie logo off the sleeve and sewed it (yes, I must've had my eyes crossed when I lined it up for middle....I should've used a tape measure huh?) onto the panel for the zippered pouch.

So, there you have it, bag one.....bag two to follow soon-ish....as I have 2 baby bags to make ASAP and also some Christmas Pressies I hope to achieve, along with the binding on a very special Aussie Hero Quilt for one of the girls at my quilting groups son....who we get to present it to him on 18th December.  Hopefully I'll be able to share pics of him with his quilt...will let you know.  Till next time...happy sewing.

Latest quilt for an Aussie Hero

I made a few of these JRR quilt tops a wee while ago, and wanted to get some made up into quilts, so tah-dah, here's #1.  I decided to make another quilt top for the backing, to make the quilt reversible....to give the recipient a different look for his/her bunk.

This is the label, which makes up part of the D9P side of the quilt.

Here's the JRR side of the quilt.

Here's the D9P side....so both sides are quite bright and scrappy looking.....next time I'll make an extra couple of rows on the D9P so there's not so much 'black border' space happening....and maybe even adjust the size so no borders are required at all....what's the verdict????

How exciting, I've never linked any of my posts up (at least I don't remember doing it, apart for FNSI but that's a bit different) but I've linked this one up here.....TGIFF (Thank God It's Finished Friday)  I'm sure you've got a few minutes to spare, so take a couple of them and check out what everyone else has finished this week.

FNSI = Friday Night Sew In/Jelly Roll Race Quilt top

This month, I didn't think I was going to be able to participate in FNSI, but due to a change in my plans, I signed up late....although I've just checked over at Handmade by Heidi's blog, and several people signed up for it AFTER me, so I wasn't as late to the party as I thought I was lol

So here's the thing, I must be honest with you, I actually started sewing and then it dawned on me, "hey fool, it's FNSI and you haven't signed up yet"....at this point, I pressed pause (metaphorically speaking that is!) on the sewing machine and had a wee break from sewing, to come to the pc and sign up for FNSI.

Want to know what I managed to get sewn????  Well you're just going to have to wait as I want to explain a bit about it first....just in case any of you wonderful readers (I'm sure I have some still as I get the occasional comment from some of you!) have any other solutions to the Jelly Roll Race size dilemma???

I stumbled across a formula for calculating how many strips you'll need to make whatever size Jelly Roll Race quilt you want (I think it was on The Quilting Board) anyhoo, I calculated it out.....or at least I thought I had....the best made plans for me, are usually wrong and in the end, this was no different!

One of the FQ's I stripped up, was a small fq and was only 18" square (who sells fq's that size??? lol) so I just did 18" strips and sewed them together, and to make up the shortfall in those, I added a black 2.5" square between each of my main strips....without giving it much thought, I forgot about adding those into the calculation....ooops, my bad!

The first 'pass' of sewing the strip together seemed like it was a Toy Story side.....you know, to infinity and beyond!  Have you ever made one of these quilts?  I know several of you have, as I've seen pics on your blogs, and now I've tried it too....maybe I should've just made the original 1600 JRR top first, and used that to help with the calculations for the right size for Aussie Hero Quilts.

I got carried away, and sewed it one too many times, so then I had to reverse stitch and now I have this really obvious SEAM down the middle, but it'll still work out...I hope lol

Now, I can unveil my FNSI JRR for AHQ (don't ya just love all the acronyms...in English for those not familiar with them, that all stood for - Friday Night Sew In Jelly Roll Race for Aussie Hero Quilts)

Today I have a swap present or two to make and get ready to send, so I can't share them with you, but if I have time, I'll have another attempt at the JRR quilt, but with the amount of strips I think I'm supposed to use to get the right size.....I want it so that it just needs trimming up when you're done with the race part....not cut some off and attach it to the top of the quilt to make the right length....fussy much?  Yep, you betcha!

Here's the two formulas I've used now, and as I said, one is definately from The Quilting Board, and I can't remember where the other was from sorry, as I looked at so many in my research phase of my first ever JRR quilt.  If you can think of any other formulas I can try, please let me know!

METHOD 1:

Width of the quilt required (42") x 36 (number of rows needed to achieve the length of 72") divided by 41 (which is the length the jelly roll strips end up after being sewn) = 36.87 or 37 strips if you round it up.

METHOD 2:

Length of the quilt (72") divided by 2 = 36 Rows
Width of the quilt (42") x 36 = 1512" of strips divided by 41" (finished length of the Jelly roll strips) = 36.87 or 37 with rounding up

So, as you can see, either method gets the same result....now to trial it with just 42" x 2.5" strips and see what size top it ends up being.  Wish me luck.  The thing I think confuses me at the moment, is if you have 42" strips, and you join them together using the bias method, wouldn't that make them shorter than 41" finished???  Or am I over thinking the method?

OMG, check these blocks out

A short while ago, I started a group up on Facebook called Orphan blocks for Aussie Heroes, to give people somewhere to send any stray/orphan quilt blocks they had laying around, and would like to see put to good use.

In the last couple of days I received 2 large yellow envelopes, and a 3kg pre-paid satchel, all containing gorgeous blocks to be used on quilts for Aussie Heroes.

Coral P sent me the following blocks:

Here's a close up of a couple of the blocks:

 Now for some more from Coral:

And last but not least, the last few from Coral:

Then we have the pics of the contents of the 3kg satchel:

Lots of possibilities with that bunch hey?  Ok, then there were a few spares of the plain fabrics from the above pic

Next we have lots more gorgeous blocks...can definately see a few star quilts being produced from the two lots of donations, can't you?

Don't ya just love the coffee/tea pot and tea cup in the bottom right corner of that last pic?

See the far left pinwheel?  Nah don't squint, it's ok, I took a close up so you can see the gorgeous print that looks plain yellow in the above pic....check it out below

It's like the road signs on our highways in Australia....such as Koalas for the next 4km's or whatever!  Cute hey?

Look at all that Bliss....there's one more block of it, top left corner, two pics up from this one, so there's 10 blocks in all....can see a gorgeous quilt for a 'girly girl' Aussie Hero, can't you?



Thank you so much to Caroline and Coral for all the wonderful blocks....stay tuned to see what I make or get made (if anyone local wants to help piece some quilts I'm more than happy to share blocks with you) from them.