Ovarian Cancer: CYTL Blocks 16-19

Another squishy parcel in the mail!

These four lovelies are from Jean Swenson, who kindly offered to make three and then found a fourth block materialising (do you see what I did there?) out of the scraps on her work table. Funny how that happens, isn’t it?  Anyway, I’m delighted to have an extra!

So now we’re up to 19 blocks. Eleven to go. I still have blocks coming from Lynn and Gun and Sharon. Once they’re in, I’ll be able to start laying things out to see where the ‘gaps’ are in the overall effect, and can get cracking on making the ones I’ll still need.

I’m actually dying to get started, so exercising a little patience will be very good for my character.

But waiting is hard…

Ovarian Cancer: CYTL Blocks 11-15

And another batch!

Only one from me this time. Probably too much pink, but I wanted to do a really big heart and I got rather carried away with colour… So unlike me, eh? Yet another scrappy heart, and yes, I can tell you exactly what I used each fabric for, in the unlikely event you’re curious.

The other 4 were made by the lovely Robin, a regular Ovarian Cancer contributor, who has brought some much needed actual piecing to the table, rather than my appliqué frenzy!  I love those beautiful pale, gentle pinks, a great antidote to some of the rather strong colours I’ve, ahem, indulged myself with…

And now it’s time to stop, wait, and see what the mail brings me before I crack on with any more blocks. I may need to balance colour, fill gaps or add more of something or other. We’re halfway to the number we need now, so whatever happens, it won’t take long.

I love this bit. Opening mystery packages is fun!

Ovarian Cancer: CYTL Blocks 8-10

And here’s the next lot.

You saw Blocks 5, 6 and 7 for Can You Teal the Love in the latest ScrapHappy post, but today I’m returning to the partial use of new fabrics, specifically, some of the ones I was able to buy thanks to the Spotlight gift voucher donation.

It’s going to be important that there’s variety with these blocks. Some need to be dark, others light. Some colourful, some plainer to ‘rest’ the eye. Some will have a big hit of pink, others just a tiny dash. Quilts for this important cause need to be light-hearted and joyful, and playful, varied and colourful blocks is the way to go, in my mind.

So, I’m really looking forward to receiving the first of the several collaborative blocks which are on their way, so I can work to balance and create harmony with these creations from different sources.

I’m going to hold off making more blocks for a bit while I wait to see what arrives.

It’s all up to Australia Post, now!

 

ScrapHappy May: Sorry, it’s rather teal…

Welcome once again to ScrapHappy Day!

It’s the day my friend Gun in Sweden and I host ScrapHappy, a day for showing something made from scraps.

This month’s scrappiness is looking distinctly teal. Mainly because I’ve been gobbling up my teal scraps to make blocks for the latest Ovarian Cancer quilt. There’s another block done, but I’m not showing it because it’s not totally scrappy, even if it is totally teal-y 😊  I’ll probably show it in a few days together with the next batch of blocks.

ScrapHappy is open to anyone using up scraps of anything – no new materials. It can be a quilt block, pincushion, bag or hat, socks or a sculpture. Anything made of genuine scraps is eligible. If your scrap collection is out of control and you’d like to turn them into something beautiful or useful instead of leaving them to collect dust in the cupboard, why not join us on the 15th of each month? Either email me at the address on my Contact Me page, or leave a comment below. You can also contact Gun via her blog to join. We welcome new members. You don’t have to worry about making a long term commitment or even join in every month, just let either of us know a day or so in advance if you’re new and you’ll have something to show, so we can add your link. Regular contributors will receive an email reminder three days before the event.

Here are the links for everyone who joins ScrapHappy from time to time (they may not post every time, but their blogs are still worth looking at).

Kate, Gun, Eva, Sue, Lynda,
Birthe, Turid, Susan, Cathy,  Tracy, Jill,
Claire, Jan, Moira, Sandra, Chris, Alys,
Claire, Jean, Jon, Dawn, Jule, Gwen,
Bekki, Sunny, Kjerstin, Sue L, Vera,
Nanette, Ann, Dawn 2, Bear, Carol,
Preeti, Edith, Debbierose and Viv

See you next time for more scrappy loveliness.

Ovarian Cancer: CYTL Blocks 1-3

Can You Teal the Love has kicked off.

I have 4 blocks on the way from contributors already, more promised, and have finally got under way with my own.

Block 1 is a scrappy 16-patch with appliquéd hearts; the teal fabrics are from previous quilts and the pinks are scraps given to me by the Husband’s Aunty Marion when she had her big pre-move to Melbourne clear out. They’re perfect!

Block 2 is a mixture. The heart is a scrap of the fabric I used to make a dress about 6 months ago. The frame and background fabrics are new, bought with the donated Spotlight gift card I mentioned in the previous Ovarian Cancer post.

Block 3 is entirely recycled. The scrappy log cabin background was made for the In the Arms of the Angels quilt but wasn’t used as other blocks simply worked better in that space. (To the maker: You know who you are and why I haven’t attributed it 💗).

However, I never throw anything away, especially when it’s as pretty as this and it’s teal, and this made a perfect background for the tiny pink heart, itself a scrap from a previous quilt.

That’s where I’m up to so far. Only 10% of the total 30 blocks needed, but given how quickly these came together and how many more ideas I have, it shouldn’t be too much of a hassle to hit to total in a reasonable time frame.

Watch this space!

Ovarian Cancer Quilts: We’re back in action!

Great news! Ovarian Cancer Fundraising is back on the agenda.

After a two year event hiatus thanks to The Rona, The Trudy Crowley Foundation is back in action, and a fund-raiser is on the agenda for early September, to help support the work of the newly-opened Trudy Crowley Centre. Take a quick look at the FB page on the link to see the amazing work they do at the newly opened Centre. I was there for the opening, and it was fantastic. They’ve created a marvellous safe space, conference room, self-care and advice haven for those with ovarian cancer and their families. It’s sterling work, and I’m proud to support it.

For those of you who previously worked on Ovarian Cancer quilts, you’ll be happy to know that the In the Arms of the Angels quilt is hanging prominently in the main meeting area for all to see.

As stated above, the event will be in early September. In order to co-ordinate, quilt and assemble the quilt in time for their photography deadline in mid-August, I’ll need the blocks mailed to me by the beginning of June. If you can fit this into your schedule and you’d like to participate, either for the first time or as a regular contributor, just email me (details on my Contact Me page) or leave a comment below and I’ll email you a brief.

And the name? Can you Teal the Love?

Scinteallate #16: a glorious constellation

It’s done, finished.

Scinteallate is bound and labelled, and waiting for me to hear where and when to deliver it. The photos have been sent, I’ve hit the deadline, and I feel a big sense of relief.

I did a lot of work on this quilt when I was feeling fairly bloody average, so I’m glad none of that shows. It looks great, team, fantastic work from all of you. The Nude Lunch is on 6th September, so we won’t know till after that how much it raised at auction, but I’ve asked to be kept informed so I can let you all know.

For those who are interested, a few stats:  Design and call to action 12th May. Quilt completed 9th August, a whisker under three months! Blocks contributed by (in no particular order) Robin Murphy, Nanette Gilbert, Margaret Creek, Lynn Hutton, Sharon Sabin, Lynda Swink, Gun Adrian, Sue Brown, Kerry Davidson, and me. Techniques include foundation paper piecing, traditional piecing, appliqué and Quilt As You Go. It was quilted and assembled on a domestic Janome DC3018 sewing machine and I got through two 800m reels of Gütermann cream thread.

To the new members of the team: it was great having you on board, and it would be lovely to have you participate in the next ovarian cancer quilt, if you’re up for it.

And now, I’m going to go and clear away all the snippets of teal fabric and thread, de-fuzz the design wall, and get out something completely different to play with 🙂

Till next time.

 

Scinteallate #15: the inspector approves

The Quilt Inspector has been hard at work today.

With thanks to the Husband of Chiconia for holding-up services, and to the Quilt Inspector for encouragement and company

Thanks to his constant attention and encouragement, Scinteallate is all together, despite one decidedly hairy moment in the middle when I realised I’d sewn two medium-sized pieces together wrong way up. Much cursing and reverse stitching of three seams later the problem was rectified. The Inspector suggested a cup of tea and a bickie to calm things down, and he was right. He got a nice liver treat for his helpful idea. Good boy, Mouse.

In spite of, or maybe even because of, the increasingly silly deadline for this quilt, it has come together with remarkably little fuss.

I still have to cut and assemble the binding pieces and machine stitch them down tomorrow morning after my tai chi class.

After that, I have to make the label, and then hand stitch down the binding and attach the label. And then it’s done, and I can deliver it.

Just a couple more days to go, and I’ll make the deadline with the quilt complete 🙂

Scinteallate #14: coming together

I’m getting there.

Just over halfway, 15 of the 25 blocks joined together. I have another block of 6 and another block of 4 to assemble, and then three more seams and it’s done. It’s hanging a bit wonkily in this photo, but is nice and straight in real life. A couple of places where it doesn’t quite, quite line up, but in my view they can have it perfect, or they can have it fast, but not both. Since they’ve chosen fast, I’m getting it done, but it’s not so bad that it offends my eye, and I hope not yours either.

I’m really pleased with that sparkly teal front sashing; the slight glitter of the narrow bands adds to the overall sparkle of this scinteallating quilt! Even the backing supports the theme, with the tiny print of white stars on the cream background. I’ve selected a dark teal splashy batik for the binding, which will frame the whole nicely.

Looks as if I’m on track to get this finished in time to provide photos of the finished item by Friday. I credit my sleek black supervisor with keeping me hard at work! He’s taking his supervisory duties very seriously. So long as there are treats, of course.

Nearly there. Just a few seams to go…

Scinteallate #13: quilting’s done

Another landmark passed.

All the Scinteallate blocks are now quilted and trimmed out. You can get an idea of how the finished texture will look, although the teal sparkly sashing will have quite an impact, I think.

I’ve started to cut the many, many pieces required for the front and back sashing. I planned the cutting quite carefully so that offcuts from the backs of the blocks could be used as sashing on the back. There weren’t quite enough, but still, it helped to cut them as I went. What size you cut and how many depends on how you plan to join the blocks, so that was my first decision. This quilt is a row shorter than my usual size, so I couldn’t go straight to the default process. However, it shouldn’t be too tough; I’m still minimising the number of long, cumbersome seams.

More cutting tomorrow. I’ve found it quite hard to spend a lot of time at it with a pointy black nose suddenly inserting itself under my arm to see what’s happening on the table. High time I got my cutting table up on its blocks to make that a bit more difficult, or there’ll be a nasty accident with a rotary cutter one of these days…

And now I must go and check the cumquat juice…. It sounds like a code phrase in a spy movie, doesn’t it?