I love to sew, mainly quilts and bags. I am 66, married to Fred and have one son, Matthew, who is 27. I enjoy embroidery and applique and prefer to machine piece and quilt my projects. I love my vintage Singer sewing machines especially my Featherweight 222K. I’m enjoying treadling on my 201K Singer and I collect Miniature Sewing Machines and currently have three Essex , one Singer 20, one Singer 40, two Vulcan Miniatures and my latest, a Grain. My love of sewing I believe comes from my Grandmother - I still have the drawings she made for me to embroider on tea towels many many years ago!

Sunday 11 November 2012

IT'S ALL ABOUT TWISTING!

Hello!

It's definitely time I did a catch up post...  little bits of sewing happening here in Aunty Henny land... 

First up is a 'Lil Twister mini quilt I made for my friends birthday back in September.  I love using the 'lil twister ruler, the finished quilt always looks much more complicated than it is:-)


'LIL TWISTER - GIFT FOR A FRIEND
Next up is another version of the Hey Diddle Diddle quilt, which I call my Toy Twist quilt.  This one is for my new great-niece Maisy who was born in February.  This one is larger than the first two I made, you can see those HERE.  The original pattern (by Karen DuMont of KariePatch Designs)  has the twist block in the middle of the quilt but I always leave that area clear so baby has somewhere to actually lie on the quilt!  

Once again I used a favourite binding method - the Wide Binding Method as seen HERE.  This "totally by machine method" is great for kids quilts - stands up to lots of washing and cuddling!
TOY TWIST QUILT FOR LITTLE MAISY

CLOSE UP OF TOY TWIST BLOCK

I USED MY FAVOURITE BINDING METHOD!
I never did show you a photo of the finished Lullaby in the Night Sky quilt I made for little Maisy.  It is such a BIG quilt!  I had fun with the free motion quilting  -  did some stars and fish scales and lots of "waves" in the ocean - so much fun and good practice for me!  I put a hanging sleeve on this one, so it can be hung on the wall until Maisy has a bed big enough for it:-)
Lullaby in the Night Sky
for Maisy

Currently on the go is a quilt for my Aunty Jean.  I recently moved sewing rooms (from a very small room into my son's old bedroom) and during the move I found a stash of fabric I must have had for YEARS........  I immediately starting cutting and piecing and now have a lovely big quilt almost ready to deliver.  I'm just hand sewing the binding down (yes, I do sometimes attach binding using the traditional method!)  Photo soon.

I'm loving my new sewing space....  it has a walk-in wardrobe which I managed to fill with no trouble! ....  room for my cutting/pinning table which used to be outside on my verandah and my Horn sewing cabinet plus two plastic fabric drawer units.  I put up a new black felt design wall (love it - the black felt works so well!).  I'm still setting everything up, but when it's done I will take some pics and show you how wonderful it all is!


Update on Fred.....     

All goes well!  Fred had the liver operation of October 18th, came home from hospital October 25th (yes, he is a good patient!) and is recovering really well.  He is improving each day.  Eating better now and back to light exercise (walking around our tennis court).  Another round of chemo begins in a week or two.  It will be the same as last time, every second Monday for three days.   This should finish around February 2013.  After that, he has to have scans and check-ups every year but the outlook is very positive!  

Thanks for all of your emails and prayers, I feel very fortunate to have such a wonderful group of friends supporting me and of course Fred and yes, Matt too!  (Matt is still working, will commence back at college in February).


Oh dear....  this is a big post!  I had better get back to sorting the new sewing room!

Happy Sewing!!
Cheers from Helen


12 comments :

  1. That's fantastic news about hubby!!!
    Would love to see the new space when you are finished... sounds exciting! And all those wonderful quilts...yummo! Well done Helen! :)

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  2. Great news about your 'boys'!
    Oh I would love to find a pile of fabric I had forgotten I had!

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  3. Your Lil Twister is great! Glad to hear the family are on the improve!

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  4. great news about Fred Helen and love all your quilts you have been very busy,gla dyour new sewing room is bigger.xx

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  5. Lots of lovely quilts Helen.
    I love the machine binding..I very rarely do a binding by hand.
    Pleased alls going well with Fred and Matt.

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  6. So happy to hear the great updates on the guys!!!

    I love the Twister quilt. Your work is wonderful and I am sure it feels great to be back to quilting time again.

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  7. Great news about your husband and Matt. Please tell them to keep up the good work! Love your quilts. You do such pretty things. Thank you so much for sharing.

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  8. So glad to hear such positive news about Fred.

    Lullaby in the Night Sky is gorgeous! Love those waves.

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  9. Love the twisters and Lullaby in the Night Sky is special.

    Hope your husband continues to improve and that your son does well in school.

    Lillian
    lillianscupboard.wordpress.com

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  10. Glad to hear the good news about your family!!!! Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers!!!
    Enjoy your new sewing room!!!!

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  11. Glad to hear the good news about your family!!!! Keeping you in my thoughts and prayers!!!
    Enjoy your new sewing room!!!!

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  12. Oh Helen! I had no clue what you and your family had been up against. My heart goes out to you and my prayers are certainly with you all. Last year, my husband was found with Spinal cord cancer. It was a long process, but, he is doing great! Hang in there!

    The sewing is scrumptious as usual!
    Love, Glenda

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