Scrap Quilt Sewing, Aussie Scenery and Two Adorable Cats

The weekend has rolled around again, it gets quicker each week, I swear. It’s time for another update on all things Bonjour Quilts. So grab a cup/glass of something delicious, sit back and enjoy the read.

A New Scrap Quilt?

I mentioned in last fortnight’s newsletter that I’d finished my floral Irish Chain quilt top.

Floral Irish Chain quilt top with a brown Burmese cat sitting on top. A sage green and leaf green Irish Chain pattern, with pink, lilac and mauve flower quilt blocks incorporated. An upcoming quilt pattern by Bonjour Quilts.

It’s still with the long arm quilter (about 2-3 weeks to get it done). I’ve got my Laurel Green (Kona) solid fabric cut for the binding and ready to go.

A sage green and leaf green floral Irish Chain pattern, with pink, lilac and mauve flower quilt blocks incorporated. An upcoming quilt pattern by Bonjour Quilts.

Both my empty design wall and my overflowing scrap fabric bags have been whispering to me about starting a new scrappy project. Who am I to disobey the infinite wisdom of the quilty spirits?

I’m going with something based on log cabin (courtyard steps) blocks, because I really enjoy a long chain-piecing session. You don’t have to be precise with my type of log cabin blocks and chain piecing gets them sewn up so quickly. Very gratifying!

Squares of colourful fabric on a cutting board, ready to be sewn into a scrappy log cabin block quilt.

Although the actual scrap sorting, pressing, trimming and organising is definitely more tedious than cutting from FQs/yardage. The sewing room always looks like a disaster area!

A messy sewing room. Scrap fabric on the floor in piles, and strewn across the sewing table. Navy, cobalt blue and low volume scraps for a new scrappy log cabin quilt.

Some blocks are starting to go up on the design wall. While I do have a layout in mind, I’m looking forward to rotating and moving them around to see what else I could do with them. (Remember this post with all the layout options for The Plus Side? It was great fun.)

Log cabin quilt blocks on point on a design wall, getting ready to form a quilt top. These citron yellow and low volume blocks will make a log cabin baby quilt.

I’ll keep on sewing and hopefully have the quilt top wrapped up before my floral Irish Chain comes back from the long armer. I’ll keep you posted!

Around the Interwebs…

I’ve seen a few articles describing that patchwork is back, baby. This one surprised me with how traditional the interior design appears – a real lean into nostalgia. (Which is funny given they always seem to make a comment about “not being your grandma’s…., don’t they?)

A new-to-me artist. These doorway pieces express so much in a single scene. And these indoor aerials are stunners, full of quilting-adjacent prettiness.

The gorgeous collaborative embroidery project The Red Dress is frequently touring. I’m excited to see it coming to Brisbane (close to me) as well as Vietnam, The Netherlands, the UK and Rwanda. The exhibitions page has dates and places listed (scroll waaaay down to the bottom for the most current tour info.)

An interesting article on preserving a traditional textile type.

How cute are these coastal themed, quilted drink coasters? It’s a fun tutorial (and they could double as mini-mini quilts)!

And finally, these gorgeous illustrations might give you some free-motion quilting ideas.

Reader Quilts…

I always love to see quilts you’ve made from Bonjour Quilts patterns so please keep sending them in! Either email (Kirsty at BonjourQuilts dotcom), or tag me on Facebook or Instagram.

Not long until Hallowe’en! Suzanne put together a sampler of spooky blocks and used my Skull Quilt Block tutorial, amongst others.

Not long until Hallowe'en! Suzanne put together a sampler of spooky blocks and used my Skull Quilt Block tutorial, amongst others. You can find this patchwork skull block at Bonjour Quilts.

Wanda has sewn up a fiery version of the Diamonds in the Deep quilt. Pwoar!

Wanda has sewn up a fiery version of the Diamonds in the Deep quilt. This modern, log cabin based quilt pattern has instructions for 4 sizes and can be found at Bonjour Quilts.

Ziggy chose a lovely, ordered layout for her Scrappy Lattice quilt, which gives it a whole different vibe to my original scraptastic rainbow version.

Ziggy chose a lovely, ordered layout for her Scrappy Lattice quilt, which gives it a whole different vibe to my original scraptastic version. The Scrappy Lattice quilt pattern can be found at Bonjour Quilts.
Ziggy’s quilt
Scrappy rainbow Scrappy Lattice quilt by Bonjour Quilts. A PDF quilt pattern for this quilt, in 5 quilt sizes, can be found at the Bonjour Quilts website.
My original Scrappy Lattice quilt

Rosanna made a larger version of the throw-sized Triangle Twist quilt pattern. She continued adding blocks until she made it queen sized – brilliant!

Rosanna made a larger version of the throw-sized Triangle Twist quilt pattern. She continued adding blocks until she made it queen sized - brilliant! The Triangle Twist PDF quilt pattern for a throw sized quilt can be found at Bonjour Quilts.

I love a good colour block and Prue brings it with her version of the When You Wish…baby quilt. And doesn’t that yellow binding just sing? You’ll find a free tutorial for the baby quilt on the blog, and I also have a paid pattern for larger sizes.

Beautiful saturated colour in this When You Wish...baby mat sewn up by Prue. The yellow binding to match the central star brings real zing! This easy modern baby quilt pattern can be found at Bonjour Quilts.

Chez Bonjour

It’s been a real mixed bag here on the Sunshine Coast, weather wise. Sun, then a week of rain, now we’re back to sun. The grass is going to grow like crazy! We found a break in the rain to go on a little boardwalk trek in a local mangrove area.

Mangroves are really interesting and important coastal habitats. It’s crazy the way the flora has adapted to live in such a saline environment. Salt pushed out onto leaves, roots that grow above the mud/water, plenty of clever survival tricks.

Maroochy Wetland Sanctuary

Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary at Bli Bli, a lovely 900m boardwalk amongst the mangroves and Australian coastal bushland.
The boardwalk starts in a more forest-like, paper bark tree area
Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary at Bli Bli on the Sunshine Coast, Australia is a lovely 900m boardwalk amongst the mangroves and Australian coastal bushland.
Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary, a lovely 900m boardwalk amongst the mangroves and Australian coastal bushland. A father and son walk on the boardwalk.
Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary, a lovely 900m boardwalk amongst the mangroves and Australian coastal bushland. Two white ghost gums amongst the darker bushland.
I love these two white ghost gums in the dark woods
Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary at Bli Bli on the Sunshine Coast, Australia is a lovely 900m boardwalk amongst the mangroves and Australian coastal bushland.
The vegetation changes when you get into the marshy mangrove area
Mangrove seeds inside the flowers of the bush. Seen at Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary
Seeds ready to drop from a flower
Mangroves sprouting from seeds in the marshy mud at the Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary
New mangroves sprouting from seeds
Mangrove root shoots at the Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary boardwalk in Bli Bli on the Sunshine Coast, Australia
Lumpy, above-ground roots, and their snorkel-like shoots
Kirsty lying on the boardwalk at the Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary trying to get a good photo of the mangroves sprouting from seeds.
Getting a good photo angle
Pretty orange fungus growing amongst the forest floor litter at the Maroochy Wetlands.
A male Fiddler Crab with his oversized orange claw used for signalling, seen at the Maroochy Wetlands Sanctuary
An adult male Fiddler Crab with his big orange claw

Just outside the entrance to the Wetlands there is a pick-your-own Strawberry Farm.

Gorgeous Glasshouse Mountains view from the McMartin Strawberry picking farm, on the Sunshine Coast, Australia

We were too late to indulge (they were closed, and we are honest), but I did take a few photos.

McMartin's Farm - strawberry picking in winter, yummo. On the Sunshine Coast, Australia.
McMartin's Farm - strawberry picking in winter, yummo. On the Sunshine Coast, Australia.

The fields smelled absolutely divine. I don’t know how they manage to keep the critters from devouring the crop overnight. Next time we visit the Wetlands we’ll have to be sure to finish before strawberry closing time (4pm).

McMartin's Farm - strawberry picking in winter, yummo. On the Sunshine Coast, Australia.

Cats’ Corner…

And last but not least, some photos of our two Burmese cats Tigger (orange) and Lulu (brown). The wet weather was perfect for snuggling and sleeping. Although I’m pretty sure they find all weather perfect for this.

An orange and a brown Burmese cat sleeping, curled toward each other, on a furry grey cat bed. They are siblings and best friends.
An orange and a brown Burmese cat curled up together on a green corduroy bean bag. They look like a light/dark ying and yang symbol.
An orange and a brown Burmese cat curled up together on a green corduroy bean bag. They look like a light/dark ying and yang symbol.
An orange and a brown Burmese cat curled up together on a green corduroy bean bag. They look like a light/dark ying and yang symbol.
An orange Burmese cat fast asleep, on his back, on a grey cat bed. He looks incredibly relaxed and comfortable.
A brown Burmese cat cleaning her front paws, sitting on a timber table in the sunlight.

Have a good weekend!

May the sun shine on your weekend as it is for ours! I’m hoping to enjoy some outdoor time with family as well as some sewing. Those scrappy log cabin blocks are calling!

Until next time, take care,

Kirsty x

Share or Pin for later:

8 thoughts on “Scrap Quilt Sewing, Aussie Scenery and Two Adorable Cats”

  1. Love your kitty cats, who actually get along. My daughter has 2 ragdoll cats, sisters, who can’t stand each other! Meow! LOL

    Reply

    • Oh boy, that would be painful. Ours have spats every now and then, but on the whole they are good buddies and absolutely best of friends when it comes to napping.

      Reply

    • The only bad thing about quilting is that it does tend to take a while to get things finished. Especially with a long armer involved. I wish I had one on retainer!

      Reply

  4. Thank you again for my little pick me up. Still in a shoulder sling so I can’t sew right now. Boo! Vicariously enjoying the pics. God bless!

    Reply

Leave a comment

You'll be the first to know ;)

Quilting tutorials. Behind-the-scenes fun. Great deals on patterns. Join 14,000+ subscribers & stay in touch.

"*" indicates required fields

This field is for validation purposes and should be left unchanged.
Bonjour Quilts logo nameplate