ButterZ

A good old fashioned sewing day.
I moved to Lancefield 16 years ago. My neighbour moved in a year later. We slowly got to know one another and have become very good friends. When she found out I was a patch worker and quilter we even became closer. V dragged out a bag of goodies that were passed down from her grandmother. Lots and lots of HEXIES.... Well I'm not a fan I can tell you.... BUT I did help. I showed V what steps to take to finish a beautiful quilt. They are the traditional EPP.. Of course she is also English. So over the years of travelling to and fro, England to Australia her quilt was finished.


This is a quilt that took 30 years to do by a grandmother and granddaughter.
http://jobutterfield.blogspot.com.au/2014/01/grandmas-flower-garden-hexagons-go-go.html
That was the easy project.
Then there was something quite out of the blue that stumped me.
V was not a quilter but she had a vision. Started a quilt and had no idea what she was doing.
She showed me what she had done back about 13 years ago. She had very limited fabric. It was done in Chintz... Not really available here that I know of. I hadn't really used it. To me it was for curtains... So the next best thing was to find something similar.. We live in an area with Parrots. So they were added. Well what can I say. We all have our own ideas. Sorry I didn't get any photos of those early stages...BUT we have managed to get it to quilting stage...
It was so big. I am not used to it. 240 cm x 270 cm. Where could we lay it out to piece.
That's where another quilting friend comes into it. Nikki helps out in town at a lot of community things. Even in the CFA. So she asked. YES we can use the large room at the station.
On a day of TOTAL FIRE BAN due to high temperatures, high 30s, and not so good conditions, off we go.
WWOW. WHAT A GREAT SPACE.
Well we got the quilt stitch basted ready for hand quilting.. This will take another few years for V to do.. At least she won't get bored. There were so many tables that it made the job so easy. My back doesn't think so. I am tall and the 3 hours of leaning over doesn't help. But it is done now....
What do you think. Enough of babble and look at the photos...

The orange lifts the design and will be used as the binding too

It is covering 6 tables

All these pieces were done using the EPP method and hand drawn.

Look at those parrots. Just like on the bird feeders.

It is designed to go over the pillows and sit at the end of the bed.  Hang down the sides to cover the mattress

It is wider than longer but oh so lovely...

After we got it basted, got home and unpacked the sirens went off. There is a large fire burning in the nearby Forrest. About 20 kms away... So far 36 trucks attended in the first 2 hours.. Hope all is under control soon.

Up nice and early, grab a coffee and hit the road. Through the city peak hour traffic and then we arrive. Yes, e are in Narre Warren East for a Gail Pan & Debbie Busby stitching day.
Here is my friend Nikki happily getting ready to stitch....

Nikki

Here is my friend Nikki happily getting ready to stitch.. She was surprised when I took her photo

Jo & Illene

Then I caught up with the sweet, lovely Illene from
http://retdairyqueen.blogspot.com.au

It's always good to catch up with blogging friends.

It was the first time all 3 of us attended one of these days

some of Gail's work for show..

This is my first project I decided to work on. I have not used wool before so this was a great introduction for me....
I decided to start with the wool project for the day instead of a stitchery. There was a choice of patterns to start with. 4 in all. 2 wool kits/patterns were included, 2stitchery patterns were drawn out and you could buy the finishing kits for them. There was also a wool pin cushion for us all. Made by Debbie, a container of lil pins, a reindeer cookie, a pencil with a cotton reel topper and a Xmas ball decoration. We were all very spoilt.
I will add a photo of the contents of my goody bag later when I show my finished elf...

My friend, Nikki and I went for a long drive this morning and ended up in Drouin. We attended a seminar with Jinny Beyer. There were quite a lot of ladies, none of which we knew. We sat there and listened in depth to what Jinny was saying about colour. It's all about colour. Yes it was a very interesting talk. Jinny showed us quite a few of our beautiful quilts. So inspiring.