Heather Bailey Charm Along with Ms Midge

My Mum, Norma and I have been having fun participating in Ms Midge's Heather Bailey Charm Swap and Charm Along. I really love the fresh colours and floral tendencies that Heather Bailey combines into her fabric ranges, so i couldn't resist this charm swap. Over the last couple of months Mum has worked hard and has completed a great quilt top. She says this about it.

'This is my first charm swap and I was encouraged to participate by my daughter, Jen. I found it challenging to be given fabrics I hadn't chosen and to use colours I normally avoid, but I soon realised that all the colours and patterns had been designed by Heather Bailey, so from one designer, all different fabric colours would melt together into a harmonious whole'.

'Of course, loving gardens, my choice of pattern was to imitate rows of flowers, all unique, but growing beautifully together. I hope, in a small way, I have achieved that. By the time the double bed quilt is finished with the edging on, I will have used every scrap of my 224 charm squares'.

'Thank you Ms Midge for making this possible'.

Norma

As for me, well, I haven't made quite as much progress as Mum, but my quilt top is shaping up nicely and today i managed to play around with the layout a bit while The Hurricane was sleeping.

My Heather Bailey charm quilt is all about half square triangles (HST's) and orange peel petals and was inspired by Amy Gibson's (of Stitchery Dickory Dock) Tuileries quilt which was put together as part of the True Colors blog tour back in January, 2014. She used the True Colors and Lottie Da ranges of Heathers' fabric (read more about it and see some pics here).

 I've decided to sew on my orange peel, petals by hand, so i'm still a long way off getting the quilt top all into one piece.

I'm not sure how to go about quilting something like this, so would love to hear your suggestions if you're happy to share them.

Thanks to Ms Midge for hosting another great charm swap and charm along.

Jen

Linking up with:
- Ms Midge for the Heather Bailey Charm Along and
- Lorna for Lets Bee Social 

Boho Road Trip: My Anna Maria Horner Charm Quilt

Not long ago, i participated in the Anna Maria Horner Charm Swap organised by Ms Midge. It was lots of fun and such a great way to work with an amazing designers' collection of fabrics. 

I reckon Anna Maria Horner has a real knack for making gorgeous and wonderfully colourful fabrics. Many of them remind me of modern bohemian styles that together combine to make what i reckon turns into a delicious, funky, almost folk-style quilt.

I wanted to make a something to showcase the beautiful diversity of fabrics and to keep in style with the bohemian vibes. Our family is fortunate enough to have a VW CamperVan (Transporter) that we use regularly to get away to the coast and take our travelling holidays in so I wanted a quilt to snuggle under on our road trips around the country; something we could wrap ourselves in while watching sunrises and sunsets and while we watched for humpback whales as they migrate along Australia's east and west coasts. I wanted a quilt that would keep us warm while waiting for good surf on nippy coastal mornings.

And this is it, all quilted, bound and finished and i love it. Thanks again so much to Ms Midge for organising the charm swap.

Of course i choose the most blusterous, gusterous, windy day at the National Arboretum in Canberra to take some photo's and will try to get some better pics on our next trip away in the Van.

Quilty Specs:
Size: almost 2x2m
Fabric: 100% cotton designed by Anna Maria Horner
Batting: 100% wool
Quilting: Edge to Edge Vintage b2b by Jeanette at Gone Aussie Quilting.

Thanks for stopping by,
Jen

Linking up with;
- Lorna for Lets Bee Social and
- Amanda Jean for Finish it Up Friday

Autumn and Lime Splice Cushion Cover

Autumn is coming to an end here in Canberra and winter is knocking with temperatures falling below zero at night and icy frosts welcoming us each morning.

I've named this cushion cover my 'Autumn and Lime Splice' because its colours sing of the lemons and limes that we've had in seasonal abundance here with a hint of autumn deciduous orange.

I'm currently participating in the Heather Bailey Aussie Charm Swap organised by the lovely Ms Midge and made this cushion cover using the scraps left over after my Mum and i had cut all our Heather Bailey yardage into wee, little charm squares.

We recently hosted a Cancer Council: Australia's Biggest Morning Tea at our place and i placed the Autumn and Lime Splice up for silent auction bidding. The cushion cover was generously purchased, as was the beautiful Love, Peace and Fun cot quilt that my Mum donated (more about that here), and both will be soon on their way to new homes.

It was a wonderful morning and we managed to raise over $1,700 for the Cancer Council which i know will go towards cancer research and the wonderful services that help people suffering the awfulness of cancer.

Thank you to all for your well wishes and lovely comments which have been so encouraging and to those who have donated so generously. Thank you, thank you, thank you.

Measuring 41x41cm, i've made the cushion cover with some lovely green, checked piping and a Heather Bailey Nicey Jane backing with hidden zip. The top has been quilted with really close, straight lines.

I'm looking froward to receiving all the Heather Bailey charms and have a bit of a plan ready for an orange peel and half square triangle quilt. Stay tuned....

Thanks for stopping by,
Jen

Linking up with;
- Lorna for Lets Bee Social and
- Amanda Jean for Finish it Up Friday

Anna Maria Horner Charm Swap: Boho Road Trip

I reckon Anna Maria Horner (AMH) has a real knack for making gorgeous and colourful fabrics. Many of them remind me of modern bohemian styles that (as I've discovered by participating in Ms Midge's AMH charm swap) together combine to make what i reckon turns into a delicious, funky, almost folk-style quilt.

Boho Road Trip: A finished quilt top

Ms Midge's AMH Charm Swap:

It has been so much fun participating in the AMH Charm Swap organised by Ms Midge . It was such a great way to work with a designers collection of fabrics. Mostly though, i found it totally fun working out what to make with the charms that i thought would suit the collection and also seeing what other people design and come up with. 56 people participated in the charm swap and we all contributed 2 sets of charms from a fabric line each. That meant we all received 112 unique charms. 

While my quilt design was fairly simple, there have been some awesome and unique quilts made, very different to mine, despite being based on the same collection of fabrics (Visit Ms Midge's Charm Along to check some of them out).

Boho Road Trip:

After seeing the AMH fabrics, i wanted to make a something to showcase the fabrics and to keep in style with the bohemian vibes. Our family is fortunate enough to have a VW CamperVan (Transporter) that we use regularly to get away to the coast and take our travelling holidays in so I wanted a quilt to snuggle under on our road trips around the country. Something we could wrap ourselves in while watching sunrises and sunsets and while we watched for humpback whales as they migrate along Australia's east and west coasts. I wanted a quilt that would keep us warm while waiting for good surf on nippy coastal mornings.

I'd seen some lovely quilts made from charm squares, but never made one myself. I decided to make a quilt based on a disappearing 9 patch and thought the AMH fabric collection would suit these blocks well. The resulting blocks were really simple to make but I like the way that the charms aren't cut up too small and so some of the fabrics with larger designs can still be appreciated.

At nearly 2x2m, this quilt was a little on the big side for me to quilt on my Bernina, so I've asked Jeanette at Gone Aussie Quilting to quilt an edge to edge design on it for me. I can't wait to get it back!

Would i recommend participating in a charm swap?

I sure would! And i can't wait to do another one. I'm so thankful to Melissa for all her hard work organising this swap. Thanks Midge...you're the best!

Jen

Linking up with:
- Ms Midge for the Anna Maria Horner Charm-Along and
- Lorna for Lets Bee Social and
- Amanda Jean for Finish it Up Friday