Playing in the Pond

Here 'tis ... 'Pond Play' is practially a flimsy. I will add another wide border in a blue but because I've been so long getting around to making it up, I don't have the fabric. Oh well ... put it on my shopping list, lol.

Now I'm off for a cool drink before I become a melted blob in front of the computer.

Change of Colour and a Cute Giveaway

Isn't this little lady just the sweetest? If you visit Cath over at Cathron Country Designs, you could be in with a chance to win a similar young lady of your own.

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Yesterday I took a break from the log cabins and worked on another PhD.








Above and below are the 9 patch blocks for my fish pond wall hanging from my 9-Patch Pizzazz book that I bought back in 2008 along with the feature fabric. The blue and red fabric I bought on our shopping trip in January 2009. So you can tell I don't rush into these projects, lol.




Hope to be able to share a pic of the top soon.

Bedtime Bears and Bugs for Billy

My newest great nephew arrived in October and is now in possession of his very own shaggy quilt.


Cuddly bears ready for bed and the large white clouds glow in the dark.

I used the remaining blue check squares for a pattern on the reversible back ...

and found some cute butterfly/bugs fabric to finish it off ... just right for a little boy.

Sleep tight sweet baby boy.

Postcards and Family Craftiness

Two more fabric postcards ready to take the plunge into the red mailbox. This first is for a birthday . . .

the heart card is for our July swap so I've just scraped inside the end of the month.




As for family craftiness, DD made this folder cover while home from Uni, so no UFO box for this little project.

My mother is into all types of crafts. This denim quilt she made from hand-me-down jeans and purchased the border fabric. She also made the cream bed ruffle.

Another little wall hanging of mums, featuring stained glass work.

Happy sewing be it with family or friends.

Surprise! Surprise!

Saturday was full of surprises. The first being that I finished the T-block quilt. I've named it 'Double Choc' as it reminds me of a block of white chocolate with milk chocolate swirls.



Of course put a quilt down and a cat will always appear .
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Next is a close-up of the two cream fabrics used.

This log cabin quilt I finished in early March is 'Toffee Bon Bon'.

Both quilts were gifted last night at my brothers surprise "Big O" birthday party, and a big surprise it was too. He had no idea. 'Toffee Bon Bon' is his and 'Double Choc' is for my SIL who also celebrated her "Big O" with a surprise party earlier in the year. So I was able to deliver his and hers gifts.

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These pelicans winged their way to me for our April 'At the beach' Postcard Swap. So clever and well done. I'm loving them.

In keeping with surprises, my May postcard has also arrived. The theme for May is 'Stitchery' or 'Red Work'. Isn't it the cutest little quilt draped over a post and rail fence.

I'm tracing some designs today ready for lots of stitching at night. And next quilt off the starting blocks will be another log cabin, this time for our bed. Off to find the fabrics, I think I still need to purchase one more so need to sort that out.

Happy Stitching

Sewing, Sewing and More Sewing

I've been having a sewing good time! Every day last week I managed to get some sewing done. Yesterday and today have been more of the same. My machine is set up with the ironing board close by and I just keep sewing . . . with a few household jobs inbetween.

I'm getting as much sewing time in as possible before I head back to a work routine this Thursday, so sadly, 'ample' sewing time is coming to an end. Then it will be back to squeezing the sewing in.

So, what have I achieved.

This log cabin quilt I'm doing as a quilt-as-you-go. I'm just about to start joining the blocks.



I finally made a start on Red Delicious. Here's block one all ironed on, ready for hand blanket stitching with some embroidery on the bird tails and cherries.



And for this T-Block quilt, I used fabrics that I'd originally bought for the log cabin but I had twice as much fabric as I needed. For more pics of the steps to this quilt, see here.

Of course this means I've added more projects to my WIP list but I do have a time frame for these two quilts so hopefully they will soon be moved to the Completed 2009 list.

So it's back to the sewing machine for me, perhaps with a cup of coffee.

Happy Sewing Days

Forgetful

I've done it again. I was in such a rush to hand over the bag I forgot to take a photo of it. But I was asked if I would make another one by Christmas so I will make sure I get a photo of it if I have to tie the camera around my neck. I like to keep a photographic record of the items I make.


Here's the denim quilt I made for my daughter's single bed that I couldn't upload last week. I used a country striped fabric for the side and bottom borders with demin blocks in each corner. The top has no border. Sorry but I'm not the best photographer.





Next on my agenda is a small piece of about 2 feet square that I can sandwich and start practicing some machine quilting on. I feel the need to move on from ditch stitching and straight lines so i'll just start small at first and see if my machine can cope with it as well as myself.

Slow Week

I'm afraid this week has been very unproductive. I seem to have contracted some bug that keeps me in a constant state of feeling off colour and have little energy for anything but the basics.

Then there is the weather. The sky has been overcast and the wind has been blowing for days now but no rain to speak of. I much prefer the lovely sunshine.

I have made time to keep track of my favourite bloggers and oooh and aaah over their beautiful creations. My photo is of a single bed quilt I made for my daughter out of old denim jeans. Some pockets are within the patch of fabric and others have been stitched on later. I didn't put batting in this one as it was already quite heavy and warm. (Sorry, no photo. Blogger says unable to upload. In keeping with my week I guess. Hopefully next time.)

The bag I mentioned in my last blog is still waiting for handles which I purchased this week. Perhaps later today.

Kaleidoscopes Completed

My deadline has been met and I can add three new quilts to my completion list. At present they are part of an exhibition by our local, small but talented patchwork group in Mt Perry. I've never actually named my quilts before so even that was a challenge. Photos of the exhibition will be posted on mpquilters.blogspot.com over the coming weeks.

The two smaller ones will have pride of place in my sewing room, either side of a tall window.

The other will possibly hang in the hallway, not sure yet.


The weather has been very cold and miserable the last two days. Yesterday rained all day and turned our dirt road into slush. Today has been overcast and showery and the wind has been howling non stop. An excellent day for staying indoors and sewing but sadly the housework and paperwork have had to come first after my sewing frenzy last week.

Next project is a patchwork nappy bag as a gift for a friend and then back to those unfinished projects. I seem to always have a couple on the go, then I can work on whichever I feel like at the time. And browsing through magazines, I always manage to add to my to do list. Oh well.

The Home Straight

Finally I can see the finish line for the kaleidoscope quilts. One 36" x 42" is 99.9% completed. One 18" x 46" completed and one 18" x 46" half basted. The small one won't take long to quilt and the binding is a breeze. My next blog I will be able to post photos of them hanging in our local gallery as part of a combined quilters exhibition.

Our small group of quilters held a workshop in June and the time has now come to exhibit our hard work.

The last week has been very eventful. With all the lovely rain we received, the grass has greened up beautifully and the daisies are open in time for the arrival of spring. Hubby is grounded at the present time with the Standstill on horses so he has been getting those jobs done around the house that often get put off.

I had a lovely day Thursday when my two best friends and fellow quilters arrived for the day.
After a quick cuppa, it was needles and threads at the go till lunch. Then back to the sewing. Of course plenty of chatting as we worked. We had tried to plan this day a couple of times previously but something always came up at the last minute to postpone it.

The quilt pictured is my first flannel quilt. I purchased the fabric at a closing down sale with the intention of making it up 'one day'. However, I liked the feel of it so much that all other projects were put on hold while I designed it and made it up. The border fabric was pre-cut into strips so my design started from the outside in to use the full strips. I've now benn able to snuggled under this quilt for two winters.

I've also included another one of my mothers' quilts. The patchwork and quilting is 100% hand sewn. Each butterfly flower block was quilt as you go and joined to the next with the floral sashing. She also made the valance around the bottom.

Blessing In Disguise

Sometimes things happen for a reason and I look at my sewing maching breaking down as one of those times. I had hoped to get the binding on my kaleidoscope quilt but the maching had other ideas. Actually it was the feed dogs that wouldn't co-operate. They were staying down and no amount of pleading on my part was going to change their mind. So after the initial frustration of it all, I spread out the first of the two narrow quilts for sandwiching and I am 7/8's finished. I also done some hand embroidery on another project, which reminded me of why I enjoy hand sewing. It's relaxing and nothing can break down.

While home on holidays from Uni, my daughter decided she'd like to make her own lap quilt. I'm proud to say that it's all her work, from design to completion. I forgot to take a picture so she sent me a photo when she got back.

I would like to include a photo of one of the quilts my mother has made. She prefers to hand sew, so Dorothy Clark's 'Cottage Gardens Wall-Hanging' was just the one. Here it awaits being sandwiched and bound. It now has pride of place on one of her beds.

It also goes to show that a love of sewing, patchworking and quilting runs in our family as in many families, passed down from mother to daughter. I might add that my grandmother is an avid hand embroiderer, knitter and crocheter and her hands are never idle at the age of 90.

The weather man forcasts rain for today and tomorrow. It's getting bleaker by the minute so I hope he's right. A lovely day for staying indoors and ... quilting.

Kaleidoscope Quilt

Here's a sneak preview of the quilt I've been working on since attending a kaleidoscope workshop. This is before I sandwiched and I am currently in the process of quilting. I've gone with a jungle leaf repeated 8 times over the quilt in free motion. I'll fill any large spaces with perhaps a hibiscus outline.

This is only half of the hexagons that were made from the fabric. These are all the ones that had any blue in them. The other half I sorted again into orange/green and red/white/green and am making two longer narrow wall hangings.

Here is the original fabric.

Empty Nest

Well, daughter went back this morning ready for Uni tomorrow and son goes back to the city in the morning for the week. Then we are back to our empty nest again. Peace and quiet, but we do miss them.


This cold weather has been getting me down, I just don't seem to be able to warm up. The weather man says the temps are rising so I hope he's right.


I've set my sewing machine up and put the word out to hubby that I'm on a schedule to finish my newest quilt by a deadline. And that deadline is coming up sooner than I like. So when I can't be found, I'll be in the sewing room, sewing madly.

I'm including a picture of a third quilt I started while on Long Service Leave late last year. Now that it's finished I'm donating it to a hospital which distributes quilts to some of the very ill patients.

My fourth and final Long Service Leave quilt is sandwiched and awaiting quilting. But it will have to wait until the deadline quilt is finished. And then there's a Patchwork Bag I'm making for a friend's soon to be newborn. Of course I have a couple other quilts on the go somewhere. Their turn for completion will come.