Irish Chain Twist Finish

I joined in with the last Quilt Along with Melissa Corry of Happy Quilting

Each of the weekly steps were very acheiveable, and , judging by the link up numbers, most people seemed to keep up to date.  I always enjoy Melissa's quilt alongs as she has great patterns, plus she is an involved and supportive  host. Her instructions are great- all step-by-step photos.

The fabric was all from my stash, which made me very happy.
I quilted this after watching a video tutorial by Lyn Durbin of the Loopy Clam free motion quilting.
I loved doing it and love the look. it gave this quilt. I have learnt to do it nice and big for the best look.

I took my quilt along to my favourite quilt photo place. It is a footbridge in Feilding (New Zealand)  the town closest to us.  The frame of the bridge is a  nice bright red, which  photographs well, plus the rails are easy to put a clip on to hold the quilt. The height above the stream means that even a big quilt hangs nicely so the whole design can be seen.
My quilt is "picnic" sized so it 79 by 79 inches.

My husband really likes this one, and indeed, it is one that men seem to find pleasing with it's regular irregularities. He says it is going nowhere, so I can see it will be on top of  our bedcovers this winter.

I am entering this into the Grand parade on Happy Quilting

Irish Chain Twist Quilt along- Finished Top.

The quilt top is now waiting in the queue for FMQ.  Melissa from Happy Quilting is such a great host, and really encouraging which makes me want to keep up with her quilt alongs. I really like the colours in this. All of the quilts look great and there are so many colour combinations.
We have until the Grand Link on April 23 to try to get them finished.  I think I should make this deadline, all going well.

 

Linking to Melissa's blog.

 

The Walrus~ Quiet Play Zoo Animals April Block

The Walrus is the 4th of the foundation paper pieced Zoo Animals from Kristy at Quiet Play.

The 4  blocks together

Linking up with Quiet Play

Pantone Colour of the Year Challenge ~ Marsala

After seeing the beautiful quilts in last years Pantone challenge,  I wanted to join in this year. I looked around for some examples of Marsala fabrics. I bought a few fabrics online. but only one was the right colour - Amy Butlers Queen Ann Butterflies. Consequently, I wondered about just using the one fabric but a good variety of backgrounds. When I saw the Low Volume Plus quilt I thought it might work for that idea. Once I started I could see it needed a little something else. Using the origin of the colour name the alternative block  became gold,  representing a cork

The quilting is uneven parallel lines, which I thought worked really well.
I took the quilt with me  to the Hawkes Bay which is a big wine growing area in the North Island, to keep with the theme. Grape picking time was underway there when I took the photos.

This is "WHAT A CORKER MARSALA"

Size 53 1/2 inches by 65.
This is not a prize winning stunner, but it is an honest quilt and is very masculine. It keeps well to the Marsala theme, and I really like it.

The colour and the making of the quilt resulted in a little research about Marsala, which was an interesting exercise.   In the 1990s we did a visited several North Island wineries one summer and I bought a bottle of Marsala from one of them. I remember making Chicken Marsala  once, and used it regularly in lieu of sherry in trifles. I have been inspired to buy another bottle and experiment with it again.

I am linking to On The Windy Side for the parade of quilts

Charm Dash Quilt Along

Earlier this year I joined in with the Aussie Charm Swap with Ms Midge. This time the designer was Anna Maria Horner. I took 2 places when the swap had a few  extras, so I received 2 lots of 112 five inch charms.

With one set of charms I decided to make Charm Dash- a pattern by Ms Midge. I thought this was a way to thank Melissa for her work with the swaps.

The Free Motion Quilting took the longest of any I have ever done. The elements were not hard but the planning, unpicking and making all of the elements work together took time.  This was my first time doing Feathers as I wanted to make a feature of the large white snowball area. They were fun to do and I will definitely use them again soon, especially on a more traditional pattern.

The photo above is with our eldest grandson, Cooper.

I love my binding print- Stocking from AMH's Lou Lou Thi range. I loved it so much that I  bought a border sized piece of all 3 colourways.
Size: 64 1/2 inches by 77 inches.

Linking up for the Finale with Ms Midge