Fiona's 4000

Back in April I clocked up 4000 Followers over on Instagram so I decided to host a little giveaway.  As I had just completed my Circle Game Quilt, I decided to offer the winner a custom made mini quilt or cushion cover of their favourite Circle Game block.  

Here is a copy of my original post with the T&Cs: 

@BendigoLioness : "Wow, my counter has just clicked over the magical 4,000 followers! I cannot thank you all enough for the support, encouragement, laughs, friendships & inspiration that you all give me. As promised, I have decided to offer a little giveaway to celebrate. 🍾 I know that a lot of you have shared my journey as I have made my "Circle Game Quilt" over the past 12-months. Many have commented on it, some have conspired to "steal" it 😜 & some have offered to buy it, but sorry, I won't be parting with this baby - it was my therapy after the death of my purr-baby Gemma and has helped me to cope with the anguish of her loss. However, as a way to say THANK YOU I would like to make one of you either a mini quilt or a cushion cover in the colour scheme of YOUR CHOICE, based on one of these blocks (I'll let you choose which one too). Yep, I will custom make it for you! 😃 

To enter: 

1) Regram this picture on Instagram with the hashtag #fionas4000 

2) On your regram tell me how I can colour your world - what is your preferred colour scheme? (Some examples: brights, mono, pink with purple polkadots, low volumes with a pop, whatever YOU want. Individual designers not guaranteed but I will do my best to accommodate your colour preferences). 

3) Please state your preference of "mini quilt" or "cushion cover" on your regram. 

🔸I will close this off on Saturday 09 April 2015 at 5:00pm AEST & after verifying entries will aim to announce the winner during #saturdaynightcraftalong . 

🔸Entries open to all Instagram friends & followers worldwide with a public account. 

🔸No private or giveaway accounts & human accounts only please 🙀 I will contact the winner directly to get further details from you before I start to make your prize.

🔸 For the record this giveaway is purely of my own and is no way endorsed by @jenkingwell . "The Circle Game" is a licensed pattern by Australian designer Jen Kingwell and I have bought the pattern for my personal use."

@nanaani83 - Anita Sharp was the winner

The winning entry was number #6 which was Anita Sharp from Fresno, California (USA). 

Anita is a fellow Kaffe Fassett fan and she requested a mini quilt made from bright jewel tones.  She chose block number 13 and after consulting with her on colours & fabric options, I set about making her prize.  

Anita's finished prize.

#Repost @nanaani83 with @repostapp.

・・・

This thank you is a few days late, and I hope that the lovely Fiona @bendigolioness accepts my apologies.

I was the winner of her 4000 follower giveaway, and she created this incredible mini-quilt just for me! The colors are so vibrant and beautiful- absolutely stunning, and her handwork is impeccable!!!

Miss Fiona also included some Australian tea, an adorable spoon rest, and a variety of chocolates that I have had to protect from the maws of my greedy menfolk! 

Fiona - I absolutely love this package - Thanks from the bottom of my heart!!! 💗💜💙❤😻 

#fionas4000#instagramfriendsarethebest 
Pattern by@jenkingwell 
Fabric by #kaffefassett

The Circle Game Quilt

My completed Circle Game Quilt

Further to my post the other day, I realised that I hadn't provided any specs about my Circle Game Quilt.

The pattern booklet.  Available through all good quilt shops.

Pattern: "The Circle Game" by Jen Kingwell

Fabrics Used: 

• I have used a mixture of fabrics by the Kaffe Fassett Collective which includes Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably and Philip Jacobs.
• The black & white spot is "Spot On" design #14868 by Studio RK for Robert Kaufman
• The grey is "Architextures" by Carolyn Friedlander for Robert Kaufman.  I think it was the "Shale" colour. 
• The charcoal is "Quilter's Linen" screen rint D#9864 by Robert Kaufman
• The Sashing - is a Kaffe Fassett print called "Freckles".  It looks yellow in some photos but it is actually a very pale lime green with flecks of red, pink, brown and green through it.

Techniques: Jen's quilts can be made using a variety of techniques and I am sure that everyone does theirs differently.  I estimate that at least 85% of this quilt was sewn by hand.  There were a few simple blocks which I machine pieced but mostly I hand sewed them.  I did machine piece the borders and the sashing.  It has taken me approximately 12-months to complete this quilt.  

Quilting: I have hand quilted this quilt using Aurifil threads in a combination of 40wt, 50wt and 28wt that I ordered through Ms Midge.

The individual blocks:

Block 1

Block 2

Block 3

Block 4

Block 5

Block 6

Block 7

Block 8

Block 9 - this is one of my favourites

Block 10

Block 11

Block 12

Block 13

Block 14

Block 15

Block 16 - another one of my favourites

The finished quilt top:

Here is the flimsy hanging up above my bed prior to being quilted.

Miss Amity's "schexy pose" - it's a shame I had the window open when I took this photo as the wind blew the right hand side, but Amity's pose is just too cute!

Basting & Quilting:

My mother helped me baste the quilt in the craft room at her retirement village.

About to pin baste

Ironing and basting

These are all the Aurifil threads that I used to hand quilt this quilt.

Hand quilting

Hand quilting

Hand quilting with Aurifil

Hand quilting with beautiful Aurifil threads

When I was too tired to hand quilt, Miss Amity took over for me ;0)

Norma's Kaffetastic Kaffetivating Circle Game Quilt

What do you give a friend who is the best kind of friend?  A friend who is always there to prop you up whenever you are feeling down; one who will always bring a smile to your face and have you doubled over from laughing; one who is always there to share a cuppa (even if only via Instagram); one who is not only spiritually encouraging but is always up for a bit of secret squirrel mischief; a fellow lover of Kaffe Fassett fabrics and one who has been drooling over your latest quilt creation... hmmmm a smaller version of the quilt that you are making made in Kaffe Fassett fabrics of course!

My dear friend Norma may live on the other side of the world in Savannah, Georgia (USA); but despite the distance, it feels like she is always here with me thanks to social media.

The last few months since I lost my precious purr-baby Gemma, I have immersed myself into making my Circle Game Quilt (pattern by Jen Kingwell). I initially started to post photos of some of the blocks on the blog earlier in the year however the quilt started to head in a different direction style wise and my earlier blocks no longer fitted with the new scheme.  I had four "spare" blocks and despite telling Norma that I had thrown them out (as if!), I put them aside with her name pinned to them.  Initially I sewed the four blocks together but they didn't feel right, so after discussing options with a mutual friend I decided to make some extra blocks and enlarge it into a lap size quilt for Norma to snuggle under.  

Norma's favourite colour is aqua so I used an aqua wideback fabric for the backing and I hand quilted it using black and grey Perle 8 threads. Before I posted the quilt to Norma, I took it with me on a recent Probus day trip to the Melbourne Docklands - here are some of the photos: 

Our first stop on the tour was at the "Organ Pipes National Park" a national park located in the Central region of Victoria.  Sadly we didn't have time to explore but I did manage a few quick photos near the car park. 

Later that day as we stopped for lunch at "Pier 35 Bar & Grill" in Port Melbourne, as the group sat and chatted I grabbed the quilt and my camera and took a few more photos along the waterfront:

 

Here are some close ups of the front and the back of the quilt which I took when I got back to Bendigo (the lap quilt measured approximately 41"sq):

Front of Quilt

Back of quilt showing the hand quilting.

The quilt was posted in November with some other goodies and after an extended delay by the USPS in New York, it EVENTUALLY arrived at Norma's house a month later.

Just to clarify it was actually a Lap Quilt & not a mini.

Kaffe Mini Quilt Swap

One of my favourite swaps this year has been the Kaffe Mini Quilt Swap which was hosted by Leslie Piper via Facebook.   I have recently developed a love of Kaffe Fassett's fabrics as I have been working with them to make Jen Kingwell's Circle Game Quilt. Kaffe's fabrics are loud, bright and happy.

This was a secret swap. I was making a mini quilt for someone, and someone else was making one for me.  I did not discover who this was until my parcel arrived.  Partners were assigned in mid July and we had until October to send our gifts.

Our mini quilts could feature only fabrics from the Kaffe Fassett Collective (KFC) -- Kaffe Fassett, Brandon Mably, and Philip Jacobs. We could use solids or near-solid fabrics (including shot cottons!) in conjunction with KFC fabrics, but the aim was to let those beautiful prints really shine!

Our mini quilt had to be no larger than 24" on each side, and no smaller than 12" on a side.  If we wished to include extra goodies with our mini quilt (scraps, notions, candy, etc.), that was entirely up to us, we were not obligated to include anything other than our mini quilt.

What I Sent:

My assigned partner was Denise {@hotpossum } in Western Australia.

I actually didn’t know Denise so I set about Instagram stalking her straight away.  I was very happy when she sent me a friend request so I could then legitimately add her as a friend without it looking obvious that I was her secret partner.  

Denise had given me pretty much free reign to make whatever I wanted in the swap as she hadn’t specified any particular favourite prints, designs or colours; but now that we were Instagram buddies I set my secret squirrel investigators to work.  They quickly discovered that she was a fan of Jen Kingwell.  Although she did not have the Circle Game quilt pattern, it was on her wish list to make one day.  Immediately I knew what I would make for her – a block from the Circle Game Quilt.  I decided that Block 16 offered a lot of scope to play with and set about making it in rainbow colours.  The top was entirely hand pieced.

The Mini Quilt that I made for my partner was based on Block 16 of The Circle Game by Jen Kingwell.

The parcel that I sent to Denise

Included with the mini quilt was a block of Lindt Chocolate; a key fob; a coin purse made out of miniature hexies; some charm squares of Kaffe Fassett fabrics; and a pin cushion.  Everything was wrapped up inside a fat quarter of Kaffe Fassett fabric and then tied with coordinating ric rac.

What I received:

I didn't post a mosaic for this swap, however I did create a Pinterest  board to give my partner an idea of my tastes.  

My secret partner ended up being Brenda Moore { @eroomkb } from Wilmington, North Carolina, USA. 

The mini quilt that Brenda made was based on the pattern "Kool Kats Kwilt" by Patti Carey and I absolutely LOVE IT!!!!!

The quilt label on the back of the mini quilt

The "extras"

The awesome "Extras" that Brenda included in my parcel included some Peppermint chocolate tea bags (they are delicious too); a Dilly Bag made from one of my favourite Kaffe prints - "Swirly Baskets"; a mini lint roller; a gorgeous lion mug; a toy for Amity - they are cat toy tea bags filled with catnip; some mini Nutella satchets; Junior Mints AND a block of Dove peppermint swirl chocolate; some hand cream; and a lovely bundle of Kaffe Fassett fabrics in various sizes. 

This is a mosaic of the photos that I posted on Instagram as I opened the parcel.  I was completely and utterly blown away by Brenda's generosity and how carefully she had chosen each item to reflect my likes and personal preferences.  What was even more exciting is that I had signed up for this swap with my friend Norma in America, and by chance, her parcel arrived at the same time as mine and we opened them together and shared the experience on Instagram.

Other photos from this swap can be viewed on Instagram using the hashtag #KaffeMiniSwap