Aurifil July's Block of the Month

I have been making my Aurifil Blocks from my scrap box. It is an interesting concept for me as I like to be quite controlled with my fabrics. I rarely use more than 5-6 fabrics in a project. So I have no idea how this project is going to turn out or if I am going to like it with the mix of fabrics I have used. We will see what happens. I do like all the blocks but do they go together. Should I even be worried about this? What do you think?

Here is my block for July. I have finished this block just in time, as August's block is just around the corner.

Here is all seven blocks so far.

Until Next Time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Wishes Quilt Along - July's Block

I finally got around to my Wishes Block of the Month and I have completed July's block - Court House Lawn. Just in the nick of time. 

I love the size of these blocks. At 14 1/2 unfinished, this will be a decent size quilt with 12 blocks and the borders finished. 

Here are the first seven blocks in this quilt.

                                            Until Next Time                                           

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Camellia Hexagon Strip Quilt

This one was on my To Do List back in January and I am happy to say it is completed. Some of you out there would have seen some pictures of this quilt in various stages of production. I made this quilt using the Inklingo 1 1/2 inch hexagons and yes I did hand piece the hexagons strips but with Linda's excellent tutorials you can easily machine piece your hexagons together. You can find more about printing on to fabric at the Inklingo blog if you haven't come across Inklingo before and you will be seeing a lot more here on my blog as I complete my star project and get ready for my next Inklingo project.

Now for this quilt.

I started with some fabrics from the Sweetness range and added a couple extra fabrics.

I washed my fabrics and pressed. Then following the Inklingo instructions I cut the fabric to the right size to fit through my printer and cut matching freezer paper then pressed the freezer paper to the right side of the fabric so I can print on the wrong side.

You can just see my printed lines on the back of my fabric.

 I started by making a variety of hexagon flowers then I filled the sides with half hexagons.

This is how I press my blocks.

I laid out my flowers into 3 strips by 7 flowers when I was happy with the layout I joined each flower with a row of neutral hexagons until the strip reached the desired length. 

This pattern is easily increased in size by making the rows longer and adding more rows.
Next I measured the length of my hexagon strip and that gives you the measurement for your border strips. Cut the border strip then lay them out alternately with your hexagon strips. 

Then sew your rows together to complete your top. I did some free motion quilting over the hexagon flowers and did some straight stitching following a line or two in the border strip. 

To complete this quilt I picked the boldest fabric for my binding to finish it off and here it is.

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Globetrotting Block of the Month #7

Talk about cutting it fine with my block of the month blocks but I did manage to get my Globetrotting block 'Sydney' done just in time. This is the second city featured in this project that I can say I have been to.

My July block Sydney.

 There are four other projects still to be done before the end of the month they may not get done at the rate I am getting things done and I am slightly occupied with finishing the binding on my Camellia Hexagon Strip Quilt and my Layer Cake Sampler. The lure of finishing a couple of project was too great. Look out for the posts on these two projects shortly.

All my blocks so far.

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Celtic Solstice Update

I was planning to work on my BOM blocks this afternoon and catch up on July’s blocks but as I sat down at the sewing machine there was a few pieces of the Celtic Solstice pieced border sitting there ready for piecing. I really want to finish this one before we start this year’s mystery, so back to the cutting mat and I cut the remaining pieces to finish the blocks for this border and finished sewing them together.

 I got the top border on not a problem and look who turns up just in time for her photo to be taken. That is Ponchee, so cute sitting there behaving herself.

That didn't last long. There seemed to be a lump under my quilt when I returned to pin the last border on.

 On further investigation look who it is. Ponchee!

 Eventually I got to sew the last side of the border on. So there is only one more border left for tomorrow. 

Then that is 3 quilt tops ready for quilting. I think I see a quilting day in my future. This looks like a chance for some more free motion quilting practice. I did purchase some new quilting aids at last weekend’s event so this might be the perfect chance to try them out.

I would love to hear what you are working on this weekend. 

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Look What's New in the Shop.

I just thought I would do a quick post sharing the latest fabrics that have arrived in the web shop. The shop tab is at the top of my blog.

We have received some fabrics from the Unforgettable range of fabric by Jen Allyson for Riley Blake Designs. They are featured on the homepage for easy reference and the price is $21.00 a metre.

 Just remember the shop works in 10cm increments so if you want to order 40cm, you order 4 x10cm and you will receive a 40cm piece.

I can see me using these fabrics in an upcoming project. 

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

The Adelaide Sewing, Stitching and Handcraft Show Round Up

The Adelaide Sewing, Stitching and Handcraft Show is over for 2014. We had a big weekend so today I have spent the day completing all the orders from the weekend and putting the stock away. A special thank you goes to Cathy, Maureen and my long suffering husband for their help over the weekend. I hope they enjoyed the show. These show are great for us to get out to meet our customers and for them to see our latest products in  person. Of course you can purchase any of our products at www.cynthiasark.com.au  These shows are a lot of work and I know we were tired by the time we had everything packed away in the trailer last night.   I did find the time to learn a few new things. There were some great workshops to attend. Plus I brought a few things I needed to improve my free motion quilting. There was so much more I could have brought but I was there to sell. Here are some more pictures of my stall. 

  

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia              

Some Free Motion Time.

Finally after a number of weeks of sitting waiting to be quilted my camellia quilt made it to the sewing machine for some free motion quilting. If you have been following my blog this year you will know this is an area I decide to work on. I wanted to go past stippling and go somewhere I haven't been.

So here is my attempt at branching out, I have had a go at flowers in my hexagon flower strips. Circles have been a problem, so I need to practise them. I want to be able to flow through the design rather than stopping and starting all the time. That is how I end up pointy circles. Maybe I should create a design that uses pointy circles instead. I know more practise is the key.

I just have the binding to go.       

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia                          

The Adelaide Sewing, Stitching and Handcraft Show

We have had a busy two days and still one more to go. There is lots to see and do with two events on at the same time so come down to the Adelaide Showgrounds Wayville South Australia. We still have plenty of bargains to be brought so visit stall 134.

Let's Get Acquainted

Welcome to the final round of the 2014 New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop. I hope you have been enjoying it so far. I know I have, I have met a number of new friends and learned so much about blogging and quilting. A big thank you goes to Beth at Plum and June who organised this blog hop.

Let me introduce myself. My name is Cynthia Woodham and I live with my husband Ian and 4 cats Cisco, Ponchee, Saffy and Denim in the small country town of Mallala, South Australia. 

I am a long time crafter. I have tried lots of needlecrafts, I started with knitting, cross stitch, tapestry etc but it wasn't until 2006 that I tried quilting and it was all to a friend who suggested I sell fat quarters on my craft stall. I resisted at the start saying I didn't know anything about patchwork/quilting but that didn't stop her. So I added them and after a few months of selling them and of being asked quilting questions I thought I should learn the basics, so I joined a beginner class. Just to learn the basics was my attitude as I had very little machine sewing experience.

While doing my beginners classes I met Kate, one of the other teachers teaching there. Kate was teaching a hand piecing class and after seeing her Sunburst blocks I wanted to learn. So I took her class and discovered I love hand piecing even more than machine piecing.  What do you prefer machine or hand piecing? I would love to hear your thoughts.

My first hand pieced project.

 You will always see a mix of machine piecing and hand piecing here on my blog as I always have multi projects on the go including block of the months, sew alongs, my latest crazy creations and who knows what else I will get up to.

 The other thing I love is batik fabrics I always have something going in batiks and I love showing others how to use batik fabrics with the mainstream quilting cottons and how different a batik version of a pattern looks. You can always find a great range of batik fabric plus loads more on our website Cynthia's Ark .  

Jasper's Trail

My Lone Star Quilt is my favourite.

My favourite quilting tip at the moment is I use bandage tape on the back of my rulers and templates as it has a rough texture to it, it helps grip your fabric when cutting and we all know how important cutting is.

My blogging tip has probably already been mentioned but it is important. Take Good photos! Do the best you can when taken your photos (I take more than one), as a good picture can often say more than words. It is an area I am still working on, not all my photos are as good as I would like.

Until next time 

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

Make sure you visit the other wonderful quilters participating in this blog hop. I know I will be.

Sharon @ Fabrics and Flowers

Serena @ Sew Giving

Carmit @ Quilting Rainbows 

Jehn @ Jehnny And The Boys

Jenny @ Jack's Room

Deborah @ Sunshine Through The Rain

Jennifer @ A Quarter Inch From The Edge

Jane @ Where Jane Creates

Carla @ Granny Maud's Girl

Lost! Where has the time gone.

We are halfway through July and I am wondering where the last 6 weeks has gone. I just don't seem to be getting anywhere fast. I am falling behind in most of my projects and the pile is building as I have now found another UFO in a box that I started God know when. Does this happen to anyone else? or is it just me who finds forgotten projects.

There are a number of these blocks in two colourways, I have English Paper pieced these blocks. At least there is some extra fabric, papers and instructions all together in a ziplock bag. Not like my star quilt which is now ready for some quilting when I am free. I think I was going to make a lap quilt with these blocks but I am thinking I might make a table runner instead. 

Until next time

Keep Stitching 

Cynthia

Jump Start Sew Along #4

I know I have fallen behind, on a number of projects. Here the last block in this project. 

There were a few design options for the final layout but I was thinking of something a little different, as sewing them in a block of four doesn't appeal to me. In the end I have sewn them into a row for a table runner. Now I have to decide on the borders. One border or two borders. I am thinking of two borders. What do you think?

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia

PS I collected my Layer Cake Sampler Quilt from the long arm quilter today. It is fantastic. Now it is binding time.

Unfinished Projects #4

Not at lot of sewing has been happening here, at least not at the machine. I have managed a little hand piecing on my star quilt and consisting it is the Independence Day long weekend in the US, I thought I would share an update on my reworked star quilt. If you saw the last post on this quilt you will know the pattern and most of the fabric used in it has vanished. While looking for a triangle ruler I found a handful of offcuts from this project in the bottom on my project drawer in my filing cabinet but still where is the rest! I didn't find the right triangle ruler either; I have used it and not put it away. Damn it! You know I will find the pattern, fabric and the missing ruler after I didn’t need any of it, don’t you.

Maybe today I can get to the sewing machine as the sewing pile is growing. I may not have time to sew but when I have had a spare 5 minutes here and there I have been cutting for projects. It make me feel I am at least going the prep work done so when I have time at the sewing machine I am ready to sew.

Only one more row to sew on this quilt.  Maybe by the end of this coming week the top will be finished. Then it will be quilting time. Then I will have to think up a name for my new quilt. Any ideas on a name for this quilt? Please share any ideas.

Until next time

Keep Stitching

Cynthia