Possum Magic - It's the Final Border

Yes it's true we are at the end of our Possum Magic Round Robin!

Even more frightening I've finished my border with days to spare???....I know ...What The Fancy Pants is going on in Casa OWB?!!

More on that later....lets get to the pics...that's the interesting stuff

 

 This is Alice's centre ( pic from her blog ) and if you click here she has a great post on all the centre's in their original state.

Alice had been saving this gorgeous Liberty fabric for a special project and I hope she doesn't mind that I used the last teeny scraps of it in the final border!

I knew that I wanted to repeat the Sawtooth Star block that Alice had used in her centre, so I just started hunting through my stash for some gorgeous girly prints and found a pile...yes a pile!...of Lecien that I had selected for a swap and then changed my mind.

I even threw in a bit of Bonnie and Camille and some vintage Oasis by 3 Sisters!!...I sooo need a sort out!

56 six and half inch blocks later....I could have easily kept these and made a really girly quilt!

 

I'd initially looked for the Heather Bailey Print that Wendy used in her first border but could only find the one in the corner with the dark green dots...it was too stark against all the soft pastels.....so I looked again...I was sure I'd had some ...then Voila!

Down the back of some other Yellows, 1/2 a yard....cue Happy Dance!

I added 1" strips to the ends of the Stars and alternated them so they would dance around the edge and hopefully give some movement.....and it meant less seam matching LOL

 

She finished up at 88 1/2" square and is a Monster quilt but she is very dainty and delicate filled with Butterflies, Vines and the most perfectly appliqued Flowers and teeny tiny Yo-Yo's I have ever seen!!!

Then because I had a gorgeous pile of scraps I had to make Blossom the Bunny, the heart in the bottom right hand pic is her tail.....the cuteness is sickening.....I hid her from Little OWB...mean Mummy!!

Pattern is in this issue of Love Patchwork and Quilting Mag

 

Linking up because I finally have a finish!!?? with Amanda Jean and Lindsey for Fabric Frenzy Friday

 

Possum Magic Border # 6 - Mrs Peacocks Quilt

Possum Magic is almost at it's end!!

Where has a year gone??

If you're new around these parts then you can read about Possum Magic here and here

Mrs Peacock as she has been christened by Carla is also known to her family as Wendy, both these ladies are prolific Crafters and very good Bloggers....they even keep their blogs up to date???...who does that these days LOL

If you haven't visited already I strongly urge you to, or even check them out on Instagram...my shameful bit on the side

Anyway, this is how Wendy's quilt was looking when it arrived lots of Blue,Purple,Teal ( hence the Mrs Peacock ) and with some gorgeous splashes of Cerise and Lime

So this is the stack I pulled, quite alot of Kaffe in there as I know Wendy is a fan

What I really wanted to do was the Sun Rays paper pieced block  but when I printed out the 44 blocks I needed I realised that the pattern was actually TWO HALVES pieced together making it 88 halves and a bucket load of point matching......I admitted defeat...there was no way I was going to get it done on time!

But I still wanted to repeat the spikiness somehow of the centre star, and neither the half X block or the Wonky Star block were cutting it....so when in doubt lay it on the floor and just stare at it...

AAAAAAANNNNDDDD Stare some more...then make a cuppa and surf the Net

 

Then Voila you see something jiggle it around on the photocopier, chop it in half and it becomes the perfect block...YAY...happy dance

 

Block is one half of this Quilt Pattern by Rashida Coleman Hale
 and all I did was replace the 4 segments in the diamond with lime string blocks so that they echoed the pointy star in the middle....whaddya think?

Auditioning very very thin borders....I think it was 1/4" finished....nightmare against the biased seams of the star edges

 

But I really did love the finished look

 

And some of the gorgeous accidental  fabric match ups and with careful fabric placement I think you could really highlight the 3D effect you get, which was difficult to show in these pics.

 

A whole quilt done like this is DEFINITELY being added to my Bucket list....

 

The last few borders are making these quilts a little large to photograph well

 

So the before work shots were pegged to the fence LOL

 

Even standing on Little OWB's table didn't make me high enough....the neighbours think I'm Bonkers leaping around my back yard at 7.30 in the morning!

 

I'm already over half way through with Alice's border for her Possum Magic Quilt and it's of a completely style, which is what keeps this Round Robin fun and stimulating.

I really will be sad when it's over, but can't wait to see all the finished tops!

Doing the Linky thing with Alyce

No I Haven't Been Smothered By My Stash!!

Contrary to popular belief I haven't disappeared under a pile of fabric!

I am also in complete disbelief and denial that its been 2 MONTHS since we last spoke??

Damn life that keeps getting in the way LOL

OK moving on.......Below is the gorgeousness that is Alison Glass fabric and her deliciously saturated colours and the basis for my Alison Glass Mini Quilt Swap run on Instagram.

Some of them really smack you in the eyeballs like the Corsage and Party Streamer Lines

And even the Bike Path range is colour heavy although it reads to me as more of a stash builder fabric as it's less of a dominating  feature fabric

image sourced from http://alisonglass.bigcartel.com/category/fabric

Text is probably the most familiar range on a visual level, simply for the big "text" following particularly in low volume prints these days.

Now you've had your brief Alison Glass lesson I will flood you with Pictures of my Mini

My first plan was something paper pieced....Surprise Surprise you say

But the more I played around with the fabric I wanted to try something that would showcase ALL the fabrics not just a select line or only a few fabrics.

I used the teeny tiny Dresden that I got from Westwood Acres for free with one of my orders...the cuteness was ridiculous!

Then I decided to add some Butterflies and hand stitch them down with Perle 8 thread.

It wasn't without a few trials and tribulations, including melting the invisible thread AFTER I'd appliqued the centres down, and having to redo two centres as the seam allowances popped out in the embroidery hoop!

But I think that's what these minis are all about? Trying something new, different or challenging on a small scale...but I do wish I was brave enough to be more adventurous with my FMQ. It's non existant!

And just look at this BEAUTIFUL mini I received from Shirley @simplesew

Shirley has used the Art Theory Panel in White and Charcoal and appliqued it down on some quarters  and also cut  a feature from another in the range to put on the "Bitch" background fabric which is a nod to the Profanity Swap I did back in February

My photo doesn't really do it justice but I'll try and capture a better on for Instagram tomorrow

Little OWB was suitably impressed and as excited as I was....I'm training her well LOL

Shirley packaged it generously with some lovely selvedges...which I do collect

And some generous extras, needle minder by @whatthebobbin and a nifty two finger magnetic sewing machine screwdriver, plus some charms.

A great Swap!!

Linking up with Heather and Meg cause I miss Fabric Tuesdays