More baby blue Jane's and Ester's quilt

My daughter, Prue, is off to Tanzania in Africa in September with school. They are going to visit the school of St Jude.  http://www.schoolofstjude.org

The girls will be involved in the school activities for 2 weeks. We have sponsored a young girl, Ester, at the school for the last 5 years, so Prue is very excited that she will finally get to meet her in person. We decided it would be a lovely idea to make a quilt for her, which Prue can take with her, as the postage would be prohibitive. Here is the finished quilt top, being admired by Hailey, our 'cavvie' pup (why do cats and dogs love to sit on our quilts during construction???) The top is made from Australian indigenous inspired fabrics, the back from African prints.

 Here is the quilt ready for basting. I am machine quilting it, so will post the finished product soon....

I have also managed another few baby blue Jane's - hope to finish the last 3 before the end of the month - we'll see...........

G-6 Papa's Star

G-7 Indianapolis

G-8 Justin's Comet

G-9 Mary's Journey

G-10 Woven Meadow

Crazy Quilting drives me crazy!!

I am very busy with my ATWQB II and have done 2 blocks so far as well as my own. While I am waiting for the next one to arrive, I thought I would have a go at the 'Crazy Quilt' block for Suzy. I don't have to do this one yet but as we are sending directly to her, and a few people have done theirs, I thought I'd give it a shot!! How hard can it be?

I rummaged around in my fabric stash (which is largely made up of quilting cottons) to find fabric of varying textures. I found some blue satin (top left) which I had leftover from a gorgeous pair of disco pants in the 80's..........yikes!! Also fished out some lace, ribbon and some silk samples a friend gave me a while ago. A navy silk scarf, which was on it's way to the 'Brotherhood' and some of my favourite butterfly fabric.

Several hours and grey hairs later - here it is so far.........

Now I have to embellish it with fancy stitches and beads, etc.

Will post the end result before I send it off.

Think I'll stick to cotton and geometrics in future. And I thought 'Nearly Insane' was insane......

Too busy sewing to be blogging!!!

I am trying to do one row of my Blue Jane per month....so July is row G. Here are the first 5 blocks and I have a few others under way!!

G-1 Hattie's Hen House

G-2 Mohawk Trail

G-3 Four Leaf Clover

G-4 Shutter Bug

G-5 Poof

I have also been very busy with the Quilt around the world bee (QATWBII)

My block for Judy to add to her starter Dresden plate block.

Her blocks so far......

I then send them to Elizabeth in California and she adds hers, sends it on to the next person on the list, etc, until all the blocks arrive back to be put together to make a beautiful quilt.

This next block is for Pam, who wants the contrast of brights on a dark background. I was inspired by a photo I took last year in NY of the skyline at night.

Here is my block and Judy's with Pam's - they look great!!

Well...........back to the sewing room............

Starter Block for Around the World Bee

Our Around the World Bee II has now started. We have 25 eager and very creative quilters from around the world joining in the fun!!

Each person does a 'starter block' to set the theme for their quilt. The block is then sent to the next person in the loop, who makes a block to compliment it...........and so on, till you end up with your block (plus 24 complimentary blocks) returning home to be assembled into a fantastic quilt.

Some of us have also included a signature block so everyone can add their name and hometown for the back of the quilt.

All lots of fun - watch this space for more photos as the bee progresses!

Around the World Quilting Bee

My great friend Tanya has recently moved back to New Zealand and is sorely missed!!! She is the one who introduced me to quilting bees via Flickr, and I'm absolutely addicted to them! It's a fun way to meet new friends from around the world who all share an interest.

We decided as a way to keep in touch to start a Quilt Around the World bee. Tanya has participated in one before and loved it. Each member makes a block and then sends it to the next person on the list. The blocks make the rounds until everyone has their block back, along with blocks from each member. It's really exciting and the finished quilt will make a great keepsake. So far, the bee has members from Australia, New Zealand, US, UK and Switzerland. It's still looking for a few members, so if you want to join up in the next week or so visit this page!

http://www.flickr.com/groups/qatwii/discuss/72157629958724196/

A-E joined together!!

Here is the quilt so far........rows A-E!!

Row E is complete!!

Well I have achieved my goal of completing row E before the end of May!!

Now onto row F.

E-7 Bread Basket

E-9 Quilt Jail

E-10 Five & Dime

E-11 Wagon Wheel

E-12 Mary Ruth's Corset

E-13 Moth in a Web