Authentically twisted

Two more quilty items finished. Woohoo. And in the nick of time too. Table runner #1 is for Romily's Friday playschool teacher Carol. We gifted it to her this afternoon - it was finished just before midnight last night! You can't see from the below photo, but the rail fence blocks are bound in a solid black fabric. As you can see, I used up some more of the Authentic jelly roll I used in the quilt I've been making. You can also see that I used some of the stone colourway, which I omitted from the quilt palette.
Here's a close-up of the quilting. I quilted triangles on one side only, all the way along. Carol was pleased as punch!And today I sewed the lable onto 'Authentic Twist'. It's now on its way to my sister-in-law's dad in Melbourne. I'm really happy with the way this quilt turned out. I am loving the combination of pistachio, black and white. I even like the green border now that it's bound with black. The quilt measures 43" x 55". (Design is from Bonnie Hunter's Strip Twist design)I am also pleased with the backing - it's a repurposed doona cover that had met its use-by date. It goes really well with the quilt. (I also used it to back the table runner - its final use for now will be the second TR, which is also using the Authentic strips.)
Here's a close-up of the loopy quilting I did up and down and across the quilt in a semi-random pattern.Next up is the second table runner, which will go to Romily's Wednesday playschool teacher next week. I can't believe after three years Romily is finishing up at Noah's Ark and heading off to pre-school. Our association with the centre will continue though, as Tristan starts Playgroup there in February :)

Airing of the quilts

We had an almost lovely family outing over the weekend - I say almost, as Tristan had two meltdowns in the car. The poor kid has bronchiolitis again and was a bit sad. We took a drive into the countryside to visit Braidwood and Bungendore, two lovely old towns each having a quilt festival. I try to make the Airing of the Quilts in Braidwood each year, as well as checking out the quilt exhibition at the Bungendore hall. I'm yet to make it into the hall at Braidwood - there are only so many quilts you can see in one day :)This year I found a lot of the quilts to be a bit ho-hum, very traditional designs in traditional fabrics (not that there's anything wrong with that - it just doesn't float my boat). Not a lot of inspiration, but a stark reminder that contrast is KING when designing quilts. There were a couple that did catch my eye.I did, however, find a lot of inspiration in a different medium. We were very fortunate to stumble across an exhibition of painted leather masks at the Bungendore Wood Works Gallery. The artist, Michael Taylor, is an ex-Californian who now lives in Queensland - very much Australia's gain. His masks were simply exquisite. I wish I had the $4500 needed to buy one of his masterpieces. Photos from the website will have to do.
In other quilty news, I finally forced myself to get back to work on Authentic Twist! I had to unpick one of the wide border panels, as it did not match the new stuff I bought locally. The strip was from a dessert roll I purchased online. I've never had the same fabric from different bolts before, so now I've learnt my lesson - make sure you order enough of what you'll need or be prepared to buy twice! I'm not too sure about the green border, but it's on now, so it will have to do. (I'm planning on binding in solid black - the same as the inner border.) So the top is finished, and, since I took the below photo, the quilt is sandwiched and awaiting quilting. I have two twirly skirts to make and tees to applique before I can do any quilting though - one of Rom's friends is having her fifth birthday party on the weekend and of course I have to make a matching set for Romily :)

Authentic Twist - WIP update

Getting there! Here are the blocks finished, assembled and stitched. I wish now that my greens had a bit more contrast - there are a couple of 'dead' spots, but I'll have to live with them...or, rather, Michael will. Two borders to go tonight and it'll be ready for piecing. Anyone looking for Bonnie's strip twist tutorial should look for the link two posts back.

Next please!

I've made a start on the next comfort quilt - this one I think I'm going to call Authentic Twist. I've made half of the quarter blocks I'll need for the size I'm after. The others are ready to go - these blocks assemble fast when you're using pre-cut strips. (I personally LOVE quilt designs that look really complicated but in reality are easy and quick to piece - with the little time I have available for crafting, these designs are a godsend!)

I'll piece the rest tonight and hopefully finish the top. I'm planning on two borders - one dark and skinny, the other lighter and wider - it just depends how big the top looks once all the blocks are pieced and joined. This quilt is for a man, so it might need to be a smidgin bigger than the previous one I made.And you can see you've got to be fast around here when you want to take photos during daylight hours - Tristan thinks it's hilarious to stomp all over whatever it is I'm photographing. Then his big sister joined in on the act (after she had carried him off twice already!)