Morse Code

Apart from its label, "Morse Code" is finished.

 It represents a few milestones for me; my first quiltback, pieced from different fabrics;

the first time I have machine quilted a quilt larger than a cot quilt;  the first time I have designed a block rather than referred to a book.

Knitting is also on the agenda.  I've made two sleeves so far

and also undone the first few inches of the back several times.  The edge pattern is complex and I lose track of where I am up to very easily.

This weekend saw us take a trip three hours drive west of Sydney to a town called Bathurst.  On the way we went for a bushwalk into the amazing Grose Valley where my husband, big kid that he is, couldn't resist "planking". 

Nearby, I was having kittens.

Spotty Outcomes

I do love a spot.

Ever since I saw Becky Golsdsmith's "Everyday Best" from "Quilts in a Spin" written by her and Linda Jenkins in 2005 I wanted to make a scrap quilt using only spotted fabric.

I knew it would be bright since the market is flooded with saturated coloured spots currently so it seemed like a good time to do it.   I now have a drawer especially for spots.

I drew up what I hope is an original design.  So far so good.  Then I realised I couldn't be as single-minded as I had planned.  I had to let stripes into the club.  I wish I had taken a photo of my first few blocks.  It was  a turbulent combination, it would have made you dizzy.

Then I decided to use only warm stripes and cool spots.  Things were starting to look up.  A few more blocks down the road they still felt chaotic and would have produced a grade 3 headache.  The club needed a dress code and eventually the quilt calmed down.  Well relatively so, to the point where only sunglasses are required.

According to my new challenge, (see sidebar if you haven't been following) a small amount of the blue fabric was added after the blocks were complete.  I didn't feel like any more stitch unpicking on this quilt.

This quilt was meant to be 64 blocks, not 36.  Partly because I didn't have enough of the first sashing I spent days auditioning a second sashing.  In my mind it was going to be red and white, or black and white.  See what I got.  Maybe I will add a border.  It was never in the design though.

The final product is not what I envisioned when I started out.  The outcome was not what I had planned...

...a little like life.

By the way, if there is anyone out there who can give simple step1, step2 type instructions on how to move my sidebar gadgets into a nicer order, please take pity on me and send some advice.  My latest gadget just wants to star in the show.