Broderie Perse

So here's where I'm at two days later - not much progress really ... but I have been plugging away at the BOM ... slowly ...

One of the hold ups was that I decided to wash my chintz fabric. I know, I should have done it at the beginning, but I didn't ... you see, after the first broderie perse flower, I NEEDED that darn chintz fabric to be a little softer - it is INCREDIBLY hard to needle turn and frays easily. I'm no beginner when it comes to needle turn appliqué, and I was finding it a tough job! I'm not sure that washing was a huge help, but hopefully it'll be easier going forward. The flowers that have points to clip into are the tricky ones ... a question for anyone working on the block - is the Petra Prinz fabric easier to work with than the glazed chintz?

Anyway, here's where I'm at:

I used a little section of the chintz fabric for the centre of my hexies as well, given that I don't have the red circle fabric. It's a very different choice, but something a little unexpected is always fun. I'm looking forward to being done with the appliqué and getting the border stitched in place, let's see how quickly I can get there :-)

Di Ford BOM Progress

I've made a little more progress on my BOM applique block, it has been a super busy week, but I've managed to put a few fiddly bits in place.

The stems are now in place - I didn't use the technique in the pattern, I used my trusty quarter inch bias tape maker, and I'm happy with the results. Once the stems were done, I could finish off the basket. I'm still thinking that I'll slightly move the handle on the right, but I'll wait until I'm done with the broderie perse. I may be prepared to live with it by then.

Something that is super exciting - my sweet friend Linda is going to be making this project too - Linda and I always seem to love the same quilts, and it will be such fun to be able to keep each other motivated.

I'm hearing whispers (and seeing evidence) that Issue 100 of Quilt Mania is out now, and that means that the next instalment of this project is going to be in my hot little hands soon. I better get motoring along, as I don't want to fall behind! Chatter soon! xox

A little appliqué progress ...

Just a quickie post for now - if I procrastinate, I won't have any stitching time at all - there is so much going on at home today.

Here's where I'm up to with the Di Ford BOM right now. All the diamonds are appliquéd in place, the little flower circles are all stitched down, and I've made a good start on the basket. I'm not happy with the handle on the right side, so I may take it off and try again. I'll wait until I've done some more stitching and see if it still bugs me.

I will have to stitch the bias stems in place before I can add the top of the basket, but I just didn't have it in me last night to be fiddling with those. Hubby and I settled in to watch Downton Abbey, and time just got away from me.

This morning I've been doing chores and baking - I've made more muffins and Anzac biscuits. The hubster and kids have been eating me out of house and home lately. Cameron has grown a lot and is really developing quite an appetite - I can't even imagine what he'll be like as a teenager?!? Amy has kindly gone to the grocery store for me, it's so helpful to have a small person with her own wheels, and she loves to do the shopping - I just know it'll wear off *lol* After school it's directly to Camo's tennis training, rush home to organise dinner, and then Amy and I have to go to a clothes party that my Mum has organised at 7.30. I can't imagine where I'll find a few quiet moments, but I'll try hard ... chatter soon!

Nom noms ...

I've made a little progress on the appliqué block since I checked in with you last - it has been hard to find stolen moments to just sit and stitch ... perhaps tomorrow will be the day? Here's where I'm at ...

The print I've used for the diamonds was a lucky find in a box of repro scraps that I have ... not even entirely sure where it came from, but it's cute! The next steps will be to add the circles at the swag intersections, and then the stems followed by the basket. After that, it'll be working on the broderie perse ... eeek!

This morning I spent some time baking. Wednesday was my brother's birthday, and tonight we're having the family over for coffee and cake. Normally I would buy a cake for a special occasion like a birthday, but I've been on a bit of a baking bender lately and decided to challenge myself. I made him the Lemon Chiffon Cake that I pinned on Pinterest.

I'm really thrilled with how it turned out - my cake isn't quite as tall as theirs because my tins were a little larger in size than the recipe used, but apart from that, I think it has gone well. I hope it tastes as good as it looks.

And because my brother will be so surprised that I actually made this cake, I took an 'in progress' picture in case he teases me that I bought it ...

See, here it is in all it's imperfect glory. Thank heavens for icing, it covers a multitude of sins.

Well, that's it for today, I'll check back in soon - hopefully with some more appliqué content. xox

I've started Mountmellick, and I'm excited!!

I'm so excited, I've finally started working on the Di Ford BOM - doesn't it have the best name? Mountmellick ... sounds rather posh really :-)

It doesn't look like much yet, but I've made up all the templates I'll need for the moment and marked out the placement for the applique shapes. Now that I'm happy with the placement of these swags, I'll glue them in place and get ready for a little needle turn applique. I can't wait to get busy stitching.

Other than the border print, chintz and background fabric, it's my plan to pull all the fabrics for this project from my stash. Surely I should be able to get everything I need in there ... it's hard to believe I could possibly need anything else?!? Famous last words :-)

As promised, I'm checking back in with the results of the muffin baking over the weekend. I made up the Double Chocolate Banana muffins I found on Pinterest for the first time, and we really like them.

They're very like the Chocolate Banana Muffins I have made many times from Nigella's website, but the addition of cinnamon to the new recipe really made them sing. I only managed to get 12 muffins from the recipe, but maybe I used larger muffin liners than they did? I'll definitely be making them again :-)

Alrighty, I'm off to get busy on some applique ... hopefully I'll have some exciting progress to share with you soon :-)

PS: A big hello to Celia in England who's working on the BOM also. Thank you for your email - I couldn't reply to you personally as your profile email is set to no reply. How fun that you're working on Love Entwined too, that project is on my 'must make' list! xox

Chronicle Block Complete

Go me! I have finished embroidering my first Chronicle quilt block. It's the second block in the pattern series, but being me, I'm stitching out of order ... ohhhh, I'm such a rebel! *lol*

I strongly recommend that you don't look too closely, my embroidery skills are sadly lacking, and the little farmer there looks like he's been made from wooden blocks. Maybe I'll get him a little more human looking with some pigma pen action later on. I'm thinking some hair and perhaps a face would be a great start?!?

But the great news with this small finish is that I can now start work on the Di Ford BOM block one that I shared a little while back. I'm really dying to get busy on it, and I very much hope I can do it justice given that I've never tried broderie perse before. How many of you are also working on it? I've heard from a few people, and would love to hear from more of you out there!

In other news, the muffins I baked the other day are gone already, and I have a few 'past their best' bananas in the fruit bowl. On Pinterest, I pinned this Double Chocolate Banana muffin recipe recently, so I'm going to give them a whirl tonight. I'll let you know how they go. Chatter soon! xox

Successes ...

So, I was at Hettie's Patch today, and I remembered to hunt for the perfect background fabric for the Di Ford BOM. I had a huge win and found exactly the fabric I needed ... what do you think? It's a darling French General fabric, and I do so love everything they produce:

Tell me though, does the fabric look familiar at all? Oops, I have managed to bring home a fabric that is pretty much identical to the background I used for Mrs Billings. Of which I still have around 3 metres!! Oh well, I know I'll use the Mrs Billings background for something in the future, maybe a back for this quilt? I have no idea why I checked pretty much my entire stash for the perfect fabric, but not that one.

In the photo, the background fabric looks much darker than the chintz, but in the light of day at the store, they were a much better match. I'm still super thrilled with my purchase, I nearly got something else entirely different with little flowers on it, and I don't think that would have been half as good. And just so you know, I've decided to make myself wait until I've finished embroidering the tractor block before I'll allow myself to start working on the BOM - if I don't push myself that way, I'll never get the Chronicle blocks done, they're just not really my favourite thing.

And in other news, I finally got myself this month's copy of Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine (it's Volume 23 No 6).

The magazine has a review of our Festival of Quilts, and my Mrs Billings quilt is in there along with a whole bunch of the other prize winners. I do so love seeing my babies in print :-)

And last up for today, I've done a little baking this evening. If you're a long time reader, you'll know that each December our apricot tree supplies us with wonderful produce for me to make Apricot Jam. Last year I had quite a bit left over when it was time to make it again, so I was left wondering what to do with the excess. Pinterest to the rescue!!

I found this fabulous recipe for Marmalade Muffins, and decided the science would be just the same if I used Apricot Jam instead. For fun, I also tossed in some white chocolate chips, yum!. I first baked these on Tuesday afternoon, I didn't even get to eat one, and they were gone entirely by this morning (Thursday morning). I call that a success. Feel free to scoot over to Pinterest and see what I'm pinning, I think I may be hooked!

Well, that's it from me this evening, I'm heading into the family room ... I'm going to park my butt on the lounge and get busy stitching ... chatter soon! xox

A beginning ...

I've made a start on something this week. It's not the BOM that I'm excited to start ... I have decided I don't have the perfect background fabric for that project just yet, and I'll find that while I'm teaching at Hettie's on Thursday.

What I've actually gotten busy with is some embroidery blocks for a Chronicle quilt that is on my list of things to make. The Chronicle was a newspaper here many many years ago, and it published a series of embroidery designs for quilters. The patterns were being sold at the Royal Adelaide Show last year (as this year is a significant anniversary for the patterns), and I made a promise that I'd make up a quilt using some of the designs during the course of the year.

Well, I realised that these things aren't going to just happen unless I get my fingers moving, so I tossed the procrastinating aside, and just made a start:

I've never been excited by embroidery, and that lack of enthusiasm is part of the reason I was having a hard time getting my fingers stitching. The other reason is that I'm really not all that good at it - maybe I could get better if I practiced, but maybe not. Anyhow, I'm under-way, and it will be interesting to see if I get any more than a block or two made.

I'll check back in and share my progress with you ... chatter soon! xox