Tuesday, October 17, 2006


A few quilts to share.....

This quilt was my daughter's 7th Birthday present. It's entitled, "Fit for a Princess." There was no real pressure to make it great ..except it was all that she wanted and it had to include all of her favourite things and be in her favourite colours!! It has stitcheries coloured with those good pencils that don't wash out, there's "an angel watching over me" one, (to stop bad dreams!) chooks, cats and the "Constant as the stars above, always know that you are loved" quote from Barbie as Rapunzel. I made up the castle and added Princesses, a blonde little mermaid and Peter Pan. The big colourful prints are princess and dragon based and the rest you can probably see. I should perhaps take some closer shots, I'll see. It has rainbow coloured flannel on the back and is quilted in the ditch-the actual quilting is not the fun for me!



These next two were part of a quilting challenge I organised for our little quilt group. We all contributed about 6 cotton shirts, then cut them up into fat quarter size pieces and divided them up. We took turns choosing from the piles until they were all gone. Most went to charity, from unwanted to useful. I made a few, I really like this chook one, the combs are only attached at the bottom so give it a lot of movement. Working with shirts was very liberating and also gave a very cosy end result. We all loved the idea we were doing our quilting the "real" way!

The house one was made with the absolute last of the shirt pieces, I had to make every bit work but I love it. I never follow patterns, I just make things up as I go along which drives the perfectionists in my group crazy but provides a real challenge and lots of fun for me. Especially when I have to make things fit!

12 comments:

Quilts And Pieces said...

Tracey! I love all 3! They are so fun! The princess one is so special when it contains all the things that your daughter loves! I made a dog quilt like that for my daughter! I LOVE the chook one! You wouldn't by any chance have the instructions on those chooks you could email me would you? I love them! And of course you've seen my house quilt, so I love your houses!

Welcome to blog land! I checked for your blog last week but it wasn't up yet - so I'm glad you finally did it! And I think your the Tracey on some yahoo groups with me aren't you?

Angie said...

Hi Tracey, welcome to blogland! I love all of your quilts!!! But most especially that house quilt....no pattern, huh? :) Wow!! I LOVE plaids and combine them with houses, and I fall in love with it!! LOL

Libby said...

Hi Tracey -- glad you decided to take the jump into blog-land. Your quilts are just great. Isn't it fun to make the perfectionist's squirm a bit? *s* Using the shirts up is a great idea -- especially since they are plaid, my favorite.

Joyce said...

Welcome to Blogging! I love your quilts and especially the idea of using old shirts. A friend of mine used op-shop silk shirts and made a fantastic queen sized quilt for her bed. It looked sooo expensive but wasn't. Quilting with silk is a whole other story though!

Dianne said...

Hi, Tracey,

Love your quilts...so cozy and sweet. The chook one is just great!

I'm coming your way...moving to Australia next week. I'll be in NSW, though.

What kind of sewing machine do you have, and where did you buy it?

Tonya Ricucci said...

Welcome to blogging. I love that you made your daughter's quilt without a pattern. With all these important things in it,will always have meaning to her. You've piqued my interest with the reference to colored pencils that don't wash out... The chickens are fabulous.

Linda C. said...

Welcome aboard, Tracey. Have to admit, I love the chickens/chooks, too. On some levels, I guess I would qualify as a perfectionist, but I love the folk art look. Mostly, my friends call me a digit-head, because I keep the math formulas in my head for patchwork. I like to design my own quilts, but sometimes, I make a pattern just so I won't have to think quite as much!

Your kiddos are adorable. They grow so fast, as my visit with grandchildren as just confirmed.

Melzie said...

Welcome to blogging :) Love the quilts! I love how you use scrappy fabrics but still have defined patterns! xoxo melzie

Carrie said...

Welcome to blogland! You'll enjoy it!

Looooove the quilts, you did such a great job. I'm new to quilting, and am loving it.

Have a great Wednesday, I'll be back again!

Elaine Adair said...

What talent! These shirt-quilts are marvleous - can't wait to give something like this a try.

Your view of the mountains, sky are incredible. Amazingly, I have one similar to yours, only mine is in the U.S. Take a look!

Welcome - your projects are wonderful.

Beth said...

Tracy,
Lucky you! Lovely kids, lovely view and lovely time to sew! Welcome to blogging. I set mine up by accident. I thought I was commenting on my daughters blog~ I was setting up my own! I wish I was as brave as you to not use a pattern. I love your scrappy colors.
Beth

McIrish Annie said...

Tracey, you are a quilt maverick. Welcome to blogging!! love your princess quilt. looking forward to peeking in on you from time to time.