Quilts on Vacation - Part 1

Welcome to Sewmiriam!  I am so glad you dropped by. My usual weekly blogpost is a bit late this week because I took my quilts on a mini vacation. Last Friday I had the immense pleasure of meeting the RedBerry Quilters and sharing my love of quilting with them. Thank you ladies for making me feel so welcome. I even had the opportunity to see their ' show and tell.' What a talented and inspiring group of quilters! 

Evan and I decided to stay the weekend in the Southern Highlands. On our journey home we went to Mt Gibraltor near Mittagong . The views were spectacular. I could think of no better place to take some holiday snaps with my just finished 'Kakadu Dreaming' quilt - pattern by Kathy Adams. 

My good friend Jo Anne Philips machine - quilted Kakadu Dreaming and you can see the wonderful way the swirls complement the quilt design to perfection in the next 2 photos.

This quilt would make a luxury picnic rug too!

but I think Evan has found its ultimate use!!! 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx 

A Quilt Gathering

My quilts are coming home! I love making quilts and giving them away. But this week, I have been calling them back home. Why? Well for a very good reason. Next Friday I am traveling down to the South Coast to show my quilts and share their stories with the RedBerry Quilters.

Here is a sneak peak of just some of them. How exciting to have them back for a visit. It is wonderful to see them again. It is like looking at them through fresh eyes. 

I am a bit nervous. Will the RedBerry Quilters like the quilts and their stories? I hope so. I am looking forward to meeting them all. Lucky for me, it is their first meeting for the year, so I will be able to see their 'show and tell' too. I feel very honoured to be asked. Wish me luck! 

And , to top  it all off the Southern Highland Quilters' Guild Fourth Biannual Quilt Show is on the 27th and 28th of February at the Mittagong RSL Club, so I can go to that too. What a splendid weekend to look forward too. 

Happy sewing, Miriamx 

Liberty Love

I have had a delightful time over the last few weeks working on something really special. It hasn't been a rushed project, or a project with a deadline. It has been gentle and it has been a pleasure  every stitch of the way.

After her mother passed away, my dear friend Elaine gave me a tablecloth that her mother had embroidered and edge-crocheted. I fell in love with it immediately. Being of a certain age, this tablecloth had a few rust marks and a couple of wear holes. What to do to make it into a special, meaningful piece ? 

Being white on white embroidery, it needed a gentle touch. I chose to finally use my Liberty pieces that I had been squirreling away for years. I mixed these with some modern fabric pieces. 

The pattern I used is called Joseph's Coat.  I hand - pieced the rounds and then joined them together. What I adore about this pattern is the wonderful rounded edges that are formed if you work it in a circular fashion. To cover minor imperfections in the tablecloth I chose to make fabric circles and appliqué them on. Repairs were made to the crochet border.

I love the way this tablecloth has turned out. Thank you Elaine for sharing this tablecloth with me. Your Mum was a wonderful sewer and I hope that it honours her memory. 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx 

Meandering is Marvelous!

Phew! Who else feels the pressure already this year?  ENOUGH I SAY!!!

I don't want to feel pressured this year with my creative endeavors. Our lives are brimming over with things that need doing, things that need fixing, pressures from family and friends, demands of work and so the list goes on. .... Time slips by and we loose the joy, calm  and peace that comes from our creative time. Relax. Pause for a while.  The world will not end if you do. In fact, the world will look a whole lot better if you do.

I don't know where the belief came  from that a busy, stressed life is a better life, a more worthy life, our best life.That belief is just wrong. I see quilters and sewers do this all the time. 

Slow down. 

It doesn't matter if you have several projects in progress.

There is no race.

 Dip in and out of projects. 

It's okay ! 

Be generous to yourself and you will find yourself being generous to others. 

Quilting is a precious process.

Enjoy it to the full.

You can be a wanderer. You may even surprise yourself by what you discover along the way. 

Happy sewing, love Meandering Miriam x

A Wonderful Week of Workshops

I am still in energizer bunny mode, following a wonderfully busy week of workshops at Cottage Quiltworks in Warriewood. Over two days 12 ladies sewed up a storm, making a whole range of Sewmiriam patterns. These ladies were awesome! It never ceases to delight and amaze me when I see my patterns being made into something new and unique. Here is just a small sample of their work.

Caroline brought in this gorgeous fox panel. We designed a bespoke bag pattern around it.

Sue is well on the way to making her Japanese version of the Whopper Shopper bag.

Sue has a great eye for fabric combining and she really knows how to show her Japanese fabrics off to  perfection. 

Sandy is nearly finished her absolutely beautiful Parisian Whopper Shopper too. Here is the front..

Marg is always an inspiration to me and those who know her. She sews tirelessly and beautifully for others and has raised thousands for charities. Here is her almost finished Comfy Carry Bag  complete with magnetic closure flap.

Marianne and Christine were working on their Tote bags. Here is the front panel for Christine's bag. How stunning are those colour combinations.

 I am sorry Marianne that I don't have a photo of your pineapple themed bag, but I think it is wonderful and can't wait to see it completed.

Jill made a beautiful Handy Ziptop Bag. Here is a photo looking in. How clever is that red base! 

Sisters Sherry and Jayne chose beautiful fabrics to make a tote with a British theme

 

and to start the Pony Express Quilt As You Go Quilt . Here is block 1

Here is Block 2. The colours glow! 

Roddy took to this technique like a duck to water producing these vibrant blocks

This quilt is going to be fabulous Roddy.

Kim is new to Quilt As You Go, but you wouldn't know it by looking at her beautiful blocks . Well done Kim!

Margaret is putting the finishing touches on her exquisite table runner. She has combined soft blues and taupes and the effect is delightful.

How clever are these ladies! I hope you have enjoyed viewing this inspirational showcase, as much as I enjoyed teaching these workshops. Thank you all so much for coming.

Happy sewing, Miriamx 

Birth of a Star Quilt - Part Three

Welcome to Part Three of this series Birth of a Star Quilt. This week I will be sharing how I pieced the quilt together. You can find Part one by clicking here, and Part Two by clicking here

The pattern for this quilt can be found in Kaffe Fassett's Book Caravan of Quilts. It is called the Wheel of Fortune Quilt. English hand paper piecing  is recommended in the book. This would give very accurate results but would take forever. Being an impatient quilter, and time poor as well, I thought I would try and machine piece it. It worked! As recommended in the book I divided the quilt pieces into 8 segments as shown in the next photo.  

Then I pieced each segment in rows as shown below for the corner segments. If you have cut your diamonds and squares accurately, and you use a consistently accurate  quarter inch seam, you can achieve very accurate results machine piecing. I recommend taking photos of each segment before machine piecing, to make sure you don't mix up the order. ( don't ask me how I know - aargh! ) 

When all the segments were complete, I joined up the top 4 segments, and then the remaining bottom 4 segments, and then joined these 2 halves of the quilt together. It was much easier than I thought.

For my finishing touches to the quilt I hand basted and then hand quilted the quilt using Perle 8 thread in a variety of colours. I quilted in lines that went around the quilt

The back shows this best in the next photo. 

I used a Tula Pink wide back fabric, and it was truly a joy to quilt. 

To bind the quilt I used the deep pink and purple dot found in the quilt...

I hope you have enjoyed this three part quilt series. I can truly say this quilt is one of my favourites.

Happy sewing, love Miriamx 

The Birth of a Star Quilt - Part Two

Welcome back to Sewmiriam. In this series I am sharing my take on the Wheel of Fortune Quilt by Kaffe Fassett. This  quilt features on the cover of his Caravan of Quilts book. This is Part 2 of the series. To find Part 1 click here.

In this blogpost, we continue my creation of the quilt by looking at the rows as they are added . Each row significantly changed the look of the quilt and dictated which direction to go for each row/round. I laid out  each row/round before stitching the  pieces together. There is a trick to piecing them together so come back for Part 3 next week.

Using the cheddar colour that appears in small amounts in the floral centre square pieces I placed squares of this colour ( the fabric I chose actually has a tiny dot in it too) alternating with a Tula Pink aqua /lime fabric. I loved the way this row makes the quilt colours pop.

The next row I chose was this initially ... 

I liked the movement that the Kaffe stripe provided, but then as more layers were added I thought that the stripe was too distracting and later replaced it with an irregular spot which I was happier with, so the quilt went from this 

to this

to this

to this

The red spot row really added a new dimension to the quilt and completed the circular pattern of the quilt . I put little birds in the four corners, taken from the Katy Jones fabric that was used for the central flowers. I repeated fabrics from the circular pattern on the rows of corner squares. This worked well to complete the quilt and provide  a frame for the circular pattern. 

 The final quilt when pieced measures approximately 62 inches by 62 inches. 

I think that is enough for one post! Next week - I will share how I pieced the quilt together. There is no one 'right way,' but I tried a few ways and will talk about those, so that you can chose for yourself which method appeals to you. 

Happy sewing, love Miriamx