Wednesday, December 30, 2009

Half Square Triangles

A fun side affect of the blocks I was working on the other day is the waste from the flying geese units makes wonderful half square triangles for my scrap box.

The strips and squares were 3.5". So, with little effort I'm getting a whole bunch of 2.5" HST's. Well ... when I say 'little effort' the trimming is a bit tedious ... but good for when I need something mindless to do :-)

I think I'll have around 100 or so when I'm done.

This morning I'm feeling a little tired ... now, I have to ask ... does anyone else ever dream up a quilt pattern at 2am? I had to get up and sketch it out - I just knew that if I didn't document it right away, it might be gone forever. Seriously ... I must need therapy!

Monday, December 28, 2009

As promised ...

As promised in my last post - here is a picture Marty took of the house around the corner. Each year they outdo themselves and their home looks just wonderful. There are always lots of cars stopping by to check it out - it's really that good. And in the spirit, slowly slowly many other homes in our street are catching on and putting lights up. It's super fun, and the kids just love it!

You can't see it well in the picture, but in the far right window, there is a projection of Santa, and he moves around with the candlestick, blows out the candle and so on. It's really clever, and I have no idea how they do it!

And just so you know I haven't been slacking off, I thought I'd share my progress on the Star Happy quilt. These are the blocks I've made so far, and I'd estimate I've cut out 75% of the quilt from my scraps. This quilt is going to be a big girl at 96" square, and I know I'm going to love every minute of making it.

I'll soon have to stop with the piecing and start preparations for New Years. We're going to have a gathering at home, which should be really nice. Good friends, good food and good wine. Not a lot more a girl could ask for :-)

Saturday, December 26, 2009

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to all my family, friends and blogging buddies.

We had a lovely day yesterday with visitors for both lunch and dinner - we of course ate and drank way too much and had lots of fun. After dinner we took a walk to a nearby house which is lit up in spectacular style, I'll share a picture soon.

We're having a quiet day at home here today - Boxing Day. The kids are playing with their new stuff - we're eating leftovers, and generally being lazy. Marty and I will soon formulate strategies about how we'll tackle the post-Christmas sales and make best use of our gift vouchers. Happy days :-)

Monday, December 21, 2009

Small People with The Big Guy

Slowly, slowly I'm getting things done before Xmas. One of the things on the list was to brave the crowds at the mall and take Camo to see Father Christmas.

Amy was a good sport and had her picture taken, but this is really all for Camo's benefit. In true form, Camo totally threw his sister under the bus and informed Santa that Amy has been bossing him around a bit lately. Hmmm ... sibling rivalry is alive and well ...

And in the spirit of the day, Camo wore his new favourite shirt - you can't really read it ... but it says "Dear Santa, I can explain ..."

Nuff said :-)

Thursday, December 17, 2009

Star Happy

It is said that sometimes a change is as good as a holiday, and I totally needed a change on the cutting table. I have grown tired of quilting, quilting and more quilting - and the projects I've been working on of my own have become stale in my eyes, so I grabbed a project box that I haven't looked in for a while.

This is a Judy Martin quilt - from her Star Happy book. It's super cute, and fits my love of using up scraps just perfectly. I think Linda and I are going to exchange these blocks at some point, maybe I'll have enough made to do that when I visit with her next year.

I only made up the two little stars you see in front, just to satisfy my piecing urge, but I've gotten a lot of the pieces cut out of the blues and creams I had put aside. I won't be able to play with it for too long - but hopefully I won't put it aside for quite so long this time :-)

Monday, December 14, 2009

Sashing & Critters

Things are a little busy here at Chez Tazzie. It's the whole gearing up for Christmas thing - accompanied by a special 15th birthday, and trying to finish off the last of the quilting (two to go! yay!). Hence the scarce blog posts - hopefully that will improve by the last of the year :-)

After a little time stewing over my 'turning four-t' blocks, I think this is the fabric I'd like to use for the sashing strips. Accompanied by repro yellow cornerstones - I think this DJ print could work. I'll have to lay all the blocks out and see if it flies. Hmmm ... I could have taken a better picture, but what do you all think about the fabric?

And speaking of Turning Four-T - it looks like it'll have to be renamed. After all, I've now Turned Four-T ... so I guess the quilt will too :-)

And I just had to share this giraffe from a quilt I've been working on today. I don't know any details re pattern etc, but I'll be sure to check for you all - this guy is adorable!

Monday, December 07, 2009

Hong Kong

So many of you were entirely correct - we spent some time in Hong Kong. It wasn't really a secret, I had discreetly mentioned it, but definitely hadn't said too much on-line. It was a little vacation for my 40th birthday with a couple of our friends. After all, if my birthday took place while I was out of the country, could anyone prove it actually happened?? Don't feel the need to answer that :-)

Kath and I indulged in one of my favourite cultural pursuits. A visit to the local Disneyland. Always good fun - and an extra treat to see the stars of the show early on. Plenty of shopping was done by all - and we had such a nice time that we've already discussed a return visit at some stage.

And in other news - in honour of my significant birthday, a stealth operation was underway at the quilt store. The Wednesday girls and staff got together and made me a series of log cabin blocks in my favourite reproduction fabrics. They also presented me with a set of 'tubby tenths' so I can go on and make some more blocks of my own. It was said that they were nervous to make an actual quilt - given that I'm known as the 'quilt police' they didn't want to risk arrest :-) Too funny! I love the blocks, and I can't wait to make something with them. Some of the Thursday girls are keen to add to them - so this will be a fun project to put together.

Well, I better run, I'm desperately tired tonight. Really need to catch some zzzz's. Talk soon xox

Tuesday, November 24, 2009

Prue's Next Quilt

Just a quicky photo for you. I took this with my cell phone camera at the shop the other day. This is Prue's latest quilt, and it is just adorable with a capital A!

It's hard to tell from my picture, but it's all made with Asian prints, and she has fussy cut a lot of them to highlight the little people, geisha's and lovely flowers. This is a quilt that could easily bully it's way into first place on my 'must do' list. Well done Prue, it's just gorgeous.

In news of my own, I've finally finished the four-t blocks, and as I have the time I'll start sashing the rows together. I've found the most wonderful fabric, so work can begin asap.

And just so you know, I'm taking a little blog break - probably no more than the distance between this and my last post. I'll fill you in the news shortly. Be good, and I'll chatter soon! xox

Wednesday, November 18, 2009

Blocks almost finished.

Things have been quiet on the blog front here. I've been super busy trying to get all the quilting done before the kids are on school holidays. There are three weeks to go, and I'm pretty sure I'm running on schedule :-)

I've done a little piecing though, I've made the blocks in the picture toward the Turning Four-T quilt. I only have three left to make, and they're almost finished too.

I'm not mad about the way the ones on the right turned out - love the fabrics, but not mad on the way they've come together in this particular block. I just don't have enough conversationals to make them up again, so the blocks will be used. I've chosen the fabric for the sashing strips, but not the cornerstones just yet. I'll keep you posted.

Please hold us in your thoughts tomorrow. We have a forecast of 43c (109f). It's been declared an extreme fire danger day, so I'll be hoping and praying that there are no fires.

I'll sign off here - need to do some laundry and hope to find a couple of minutes spare for the sewing room. Chatter soon :-)

Thursday, November 12, 2009

On Target

In September, Judy issued a challenge for us to 'Show us your Stash'. I shared mine, and declared that I would like to work at moving the big blue tubs out of my life.

Well, I can today report that one tub is empty (you can see the empty one in the foreground on the left). I'm one very happy girl! Now I need to get busy working on the second one. Go me!

Saturday, November 07, 2009

Guild Show Day

I had such a lovely day today. It was my day to demonstrate at the SA Quilters Guild show. My session was from 10am until noon, and I was working on needle-turn applique. You've already seen the project I worked on - the Christmas bauble mat. I made up some heart shaped 'baubles' this time.

The morning went very fast, and before long I was able to travel through the length and breadth of the vendors mall. I was really restrained with my purchases this year. I finally picked up my very own copy of 'Nearly Insane'. I've been dying to find a copy, and I predict that you'll see a few blocks before long. Why I would even dream of this before I've finished DJ II, I have no clue, but some things just can't be explained. I also purchased the Better Homes and Gardens bag, which is tradition for me. The pile of BH&G bags in my sewing room is blocking out the sun, but there are always such nice treats inside.

And my favourite bit of news: Yesterday morning I was so lucky to be able to meet up with Meredith and Keryn for coffee before work. It was so nice to finally meet them, and the hour that we had to spend together went way too quickly. It's so fun that we're into the same kinds of quilts and fabrics, we like to adopt old sewing machines and so on and so forth. We were able to chatter like old friends. I look forward to catching up with them again and again.

Well, that's it from me for today - I want to do some tidying in the sewing room before I hit the sheets. I'm really going to sleep well tonight!

Tuesday, November 03, 2009

Fabric arrived from afar ...

Recently I must have had a moment of weakness. Perhaps it was the shiny new catalogue they sent me. I'm sure the limited offer for free international shipping didn't help my resolve.

Well, something in me must have snapped, because yesterday's mail brought these lovelies into my life and ultimately my fabric closet.

Do I have plans for them? No way! Would I like to have plans for them? Of course :-) I'm rationalising it this way ... should I have any great expanses of free time in my future, I'm all set!

Monday, November 02, 2009

Starstruck Again

Poor Camo was not very well over the weekend, and because I didn't get much sleep, I'm feeling a little flat today. I knew I wouldn't be able to handle any work which was physical, so instead I decided to tackle something that required brain-power instead.

I'm afraid I'm struggling a little in that department too, so I'm taking it slow and steady.

What I'm doing is finally writing up the pattern for 'Starstruck Again'. Well, to be more specific, calculating the fabric requirements and changes that need to be made from the original 'Starstruck in Paducah' to suit this new colourway which is more scrappy than the original.

Before I constructed the quilt, I should have figured on using five different colours/neutrals/blues - it would have made the maths much easier. But it is what it is, and I'll just scratch my head for a little while longer.

Ohh, and if you are interested in the pattern, just let me know - I will probably make it available on my website once I'm happy the content is all okay.

Saturday, October 31, 2009

Tumblers

Last night I finished up quilting on a really big project, so today I've been feeling like a little bit of a weight has been lifted. Faced with some free time this afternoon, I wanted to sew on something mindless.

Rummaging around in my 'project' boxes, I found some tumblers I'd cut a while back. They're awfully cute, so I cut some more from my 3.5" scrap strips, and started piecing them together. Loving it! I think this can be a new leader and ender project. I'm growing a little tired of nine patches and similar things.

I have used the EZ Quilting tumbler template. I own quite a few of their shapes now. At first, I found the template slipped around a bit, so I put some clear grip on the back, and it stays in place like a dream. On the template, two of the corners are notched so that the shapes line up neatly - I love that! Makes piecing so much easier.

I'm going to do some chores now - I'm feeling like doing a little Flyladying, and when that urge hits me, it's really a good idea not to ignore it ... so ttfn :-)

Thursday, October 29, 2009

Can't Wait!

I can't wait for the Christmas Pageant this year. Here in Adelaide it's the time when hard core Christmas fans can officially begin decorating for the season.

Of course, lots of people wait until the actual month of December to roll around, but I love it and just can't wait that long :-)

And this year is no exception. I'm ready to begin decorating NOW! I wonder if it's inspired because some of our local stores started putting out their decorations last month. September for goodness sake. That's too early, even for me.

Anyways, I just had to share my most recent Christmas purchases. I've been looking for some Nutcracker dolls for a little while now, and I happened upon these ones yesterday. The one in back is 20 inches tall, and the three in front are 15 inches tall. I just love them, and had to bring them home with me. There were some other ones, but tried my best to show a little restraint and only bought the four. Now I just need to wait ...

Monday, October 26, 2009

More Quilting

Here's the reverse side of some quilting I did today. Finished the top - yay! - check one more off the list.

I'm happy with this one - no thread bobbles on the reverse. Some more practice with the back-tracking, and I'll be entirely thrilled. Happy days :-)

I noticed after I posted my 'Turning Four-T' blocks last time that I have made them up wrong! The newest blocks should not have the background fabric in the middle. Makes sense now - I couldn't figure out why I hadn't cut that piece. I had - but with the correct fabric. After I've finished my chores tonight, I'll put the blocks to rights. I don't think I can live with them as they are.

Thank you to everyone for the lovely comments about Jenny's quilt. I don't know if there is a pattern available for the quilt - I learned when she collected it that she made it up at a workshop. When I next see her I'll check to see who the designer is and if they have released the pattern for sale. Chatter soon. xox

Saturday, October 24, 2009

Stitching Saturday

Today I decided I would allocate a day all to myself. No working on projects for others - only mine - and it was wonderful! I put the final borders on the little Christmas project, quilted and bound it, and finally added the little bows. I think it's kinda cute - and especially love the gold thread I used for quilting - even if I did have a few breakages today.

And next I worked on a few more of my Turning Four-T blocks. I shall have to get a hurry on with these - or I'll have to rename it 'Turned Four-T'. I've got sixteen blocks now, so nine to go and I can start putting it all together.

Tomorrow it's back to quilting like mad - if I'm really good I may get some piecing time in the evening. I'll have my fingers crossed :-)

Tuesday, October 20, 2009

Jenny's Quilt

Isn't this quilt just lovely? It was made by Jenny who kindly agreed for me to share a picture with you.

Jenny has made so many gorgeous quilts, and I've been so lucky to be able to quilt on a number of them for her.

This pattern is just delightful and I feel like I may have to make one for myself. I'll add it to the very-very long list that I have.

Sunday, October 18, 2009

Some progress ...

I've only had a little sewing time to myself this week, so I was really glad to get some more of my Xmas project put together today. It's starting to look like something now :-)

Next I need to add the side borders, put a small red bow where the ribbon meets the baubles, and then it'll be ready for quilting.

Will I be able to make a series of these before Christmas is upon us? I hope so ... but I don't think I'll be making too many gifts this year. Sometimes the merry-go-round of life spins very quickly, and we just have to hang on!!

Sunday, October 11, 2009

Little by little ...

Even though I haven't progressed very much, here's a sneaky peek of where I'm at with my little Xmas project.

Doesn't look very interesting yet, does it? I hope to get a chance to work on it some more later on today.

First on the agenda is to clean out the TV cabinet in the family room. We've purchased a new one, and I'm really looking forward to putting it in place.

Wednesday, October 07, 2009

New Project

I've quilted 8 quilts in the past week, and I'm just dying for some piecing time. I need to have a demonstration piece finished in the next four weeks, so I decided it was high time I get on it.

I picked up a couple of bits and pieces at the quilt store today, scratched up a plan that really could only be understood by myself, and I'm about ready to get going on it.

It's not a secret project or anything, so I'll share my progress - and if it looks anything like the idea I have in my head, it could actually be quite pretty. Let's see how this goes :-)

Saturday, October 03, 2009

Feather Quilting

I love quilting feathers, and I'll take any opportunity to practice. These ones can be seen best from the back of the quilt. Love love love them!

Need to work on those thread bobbles though. Every quilt is a learning experience :-)

Thursday, October 01, 2009

Website Housekeeping

I've just had to change the hosting site for my website tazziequilts.com. Please let me know if you have any trouble accessing the site - I'm pretty sure all has gone well, but you just never know.

Also, I know that a few may have bookmarked or linked to the site with the old hosting address. This would have been as a result of me still learning finer points about hosting and things like 'forward with masking'. But anyways, the upshot is this: If your bookmark/link doesn't work anymore, change it to: http://www.tazziequilts.com and everything should be fine.

Thank you so much!

Tuesday, September 29, 2009

Alliance Nine Patch

Last night I finished the quilting and the binding on my little 'Alliance Nine Patch' quilt, and I have to say I'm entirely thrilled with it!

Because I'm home alone right now, it's totally fine for me to stitch into the night. So I didn't feel at all naughty when I popped the finished item into the washer for a quick rinse and spin at 1am!

I really wanted my little project to get a head start on drying overnight. I laid it out on towels on the dining room floor - I really think giving it a rinse gives all the elements of the quilt a chance to settle and the quilting really 'pops'.

This morning I plan to pin another quilt and get busy. I shall have myself a little quilting marathon and see how many I can get thru before my home gets populated again!

Sunday, September 27, 2009

Show us your Stash

Judy has bravely shared her stash, and has also asked us all to share our own, with a view to tidying and shrinking it during 2010. I'm always up for a challenge, so here are my pictures. We aren't allowed to tidy up, but for those of you who know me - my stash is usually fairly neat anyway. The scraps - they're my bug-bear.

This is my stash closet. There are no surprises here, and you've all seen it before. I don't really mind if I don't make a dent in the supply in this closet - and given that I'm heading back to the US in April/May next year, it is quite likely that you'll see in increase in this area. These fabrics are generally my favourites, and sometimes I have a hard time using them. I'll try and work on that :-)

These boxes live on the top of the closets in the sewing room. They contain my scrap strips (inspired by Bonnie's Scrap Users System),charm squares, 10.5" backing squares, 6" squares etc, orphan blocks, my works in progress, and also some works in very slow progress (think Dear Jane). I REALLY want to use up more of the scraps. I do love scrap quilts, but don't want to be making them until the end of time ... somehow though I think I'll always be scrapping in some respect.

And here is my dirty little secret. Two bins of assorted scrappage, hidden under some of my favourite quilts. My particular goal is to eliminate these entirely. If I can't get rid of both, I'd be really happy to have one gone. About two years ago, I had four of these - I just can't believe it!

So there you go - my stash, as glorious and also shameful as it can be. If only I could buy a block of free time so I could get busy sewing and tidying it all up. Thank you for the challenge Judy :-)

Saturday, September 26, 2009

Fridge Magnets

The family has spoken. They like the clean look of the new fridge without my precious magnets all over it.

So, a compromise was reached. I have moved my magnets on to the side of the fridge, where they're not seen unless you're actually working in the kitchen.

I couldn't just give them up after all - they're precious mementos of my/our travels, and they make me happy.

And I'll confess ... the kitchen does look a lot less cluttered ... but I'll just keep that to myself :-)

Thursday, September 24, 2009

Prue's Quilt

Well now, will you look at those tumbleweeds blowing through my blog - it's like a little ghost-blog :-) I've thought of you all often, but really haven't had anything to share. It has been work, work and more work - and nothing the slightest bit interesting.

But today, at the shop, I insisted that Prue allow me to take a picture of her with her lovely quilt. That's her on the left, and Carol from Maine on the right. I quilted on her top during the week, and handed it back to her today. Isn't it so pretty? She made it up from a really cute jelly roll, and the border fabric she selected is just to die for. You can't see it, but the back is pieced from coordinating fabrics, and is just sensational too.

The picture isn't the best quality, it's from my phone-camera - but let's face it, no matter what camera I'm using, photography isn't one of my finest skills :-)

Marty is away with work tonite, so once Camo is in bed, I plan to stitch into the night as late as I can manage (while still being able to get up in the morning). It's just the two of us at the moment. Yesterday, Amy (the very lucky girl) flew off to Vanuatu with my parents. My goodness, what a wonderful school holiday she'll be having. Camo will be off at some point spending some quality time with Marty during the holidays, and I'm going to spend some solo time catching up on a million quilting projects and just generally recharging. Bring it on!

Thursday, September 17, 2009

Alliance

A new range of fabric came into the shop recently, it's Moda's Alliance.

I so love reproduction fabrics, so this week I've been putting together a little sample based on the quilt pattern that came with the fabric.

I've made all the blocks, and I've started putting the rows together. I hope to have the top finished quite quickly after I get home from work, and it would be really nice to be able to start quilting on it tonight too.

You could call me an ADD quilter right now, I seem to have had a LOT of starts on new projects, but very few finishes. It would be so nice if I could reverse that trend and finish something up before the end of the month. I have my fingers crossed.

Saturday, September 12, 2009

Out Damn Cupboard

It seemed like it would be so easy. We needed a new dishwasher, and we'd talked about getting a new fridge, so why not get both at the same time?

Goodness me. Easier said than done. We wanted the side-by side kind, and only two would fit in the space height wise and width wise. All the research we did - and the fridge we ended up getting has this odd plastic bit at the back which made it too tall!

So, today Marty got busy taking out the cabinets above the fridge. We are so lucky one of his besties is a cabinet maker and is going to shrink the cabinets down for us.

I had no idea this was going to be such a tricky exercise!

Tuesday, September 08, 2009

Absent

There has not been much interenet surfing or blogging here. Our internet service has been slowed to a crawl as we have exceeded our download allocation - so we clearly surfed and downloaded up a storm earlier in the month (billing month). It's really a drag waiting for pages to load, so I'm just doing the bare minimum until Thursday when all returns to normal.

In much more important news, Amy had surgery yesterday to remove her wisdom teeth and two other teeth that were slowing progress towards her braces. Poor love, she looks like she's been in a fight, but I'm assured by the surgeon that all went well and she'll be back to normal in no time.

So, on Thursday or Friday I'll check in with you all. Happy stitching :-)

Wednesday, September 02, 2009

Fabric ... yum!

At work today, I simply could not resist these two fabrics any longer - they'd been calling to me softly, and so far, I'd been strong.

I love love love the border print in front, it just speaks to me. One thing disappoints me though, there are three border repeats across the width, and a half repeat at each selvedge edge. The manufacturer really could have put the four repeats across the fabric if they wanted to. Just bunnies like me fall in love with the stuff and have to own it regardless.

And the fabric in the background is a back for a special quilt. I will have quite a bit leftover, and I can really see myself using it in a lot of scrap quilts. Super fun.

I will have to show some restraint for a little while - we have some big ouchy expenditure coming up in the next few weeks. Appliances growing old and all that. Ouch.

Also, I had a couple of questions asked of me recently - from people with no-reply on their email addresses. Some about the thread I shared recently (and thank you to Emma for the email update!) - they wanted to know where to get it. I get mine at Quiltaholics here in South Australia. Emma updated me to let me know that she had found it in multi-packs at Spotlight - and it's called QA Embroidery Thread.

There were also several questions about the size to cut the triangles for the cross blocks. I have been cutting 6.5" squares and then cutting them apart diagonally twice. You can then use any size strips and squares to add the crosses. Works really well.

I know we've all heard this before, but it really helps to have your email address selected in your profile. It means that when you ask a direct question, it's easy to give you the answer you're looking for.

Well that's it from me - a little more quilting to do before making tomorrow's lunches and then bed - can't believe it's September already ... where is the year going??

Monday, August 31, 2009

Chris' Crosses

One of the lovely ladies from the quilt store made up a quilt using cross blocks, and it was just delightful. She put me on to the pattern, and I knew I'd be making some crosses of my own in no time.

The pattern called for 3" strips and squares, but because I don't cut that size for my scrap boxes, I decided to use my 2.5" scraps instead.

I made myself a promise today that I could spend up until midday in the sewing room, and then after that I need to do chores. Most especially - clean Camo's room. Something I really have to psyche myself up to. I've got 12 more minutes to myself ... wonder if I can crank out one more block!

Thank you so much Chris - I'm going to be calling my quilt "Chris' Crosses".

Sunday, August 30, 2009

Addicted

My goodness I'm easily distracted. I've gone and got myself addicted to Farmville on Facebook. Send help ... please ...

Thursday, August 27, 2009

From Betsy

Today I received the most lovely gift - it came to me all the way from Betsy in Maine.

Betsy had been living here for a couple of years, and for the last several months had been coming along to classes with me at the shop. It was so sad when it was time for her to go home to the USA, but she will always have wonderful friends here.

Isn't the sentiment in the stitchery just lovely? Truly words to live by. Thank you Betsy, I miss you! xox

Monday, August 24, 2009

Scrap Bag

Quite a while back I placed an order at Hancocks of Paducah, a Moda Scrap Bag being one of the items. I guess they were out of stock at the time, as I quickly received the rest of my order. I duly forgot about the scrap bag - until last week when a little parcel arrived.

It really is the cutest thing. I thought they were leftovers from when they make jelly rolls, so I was very puzzled when all my strips have selvedges attached. It took me a while to figure out that these must be the leftover edges from charm square packs and layer cakes. Makes sense when you think of the maths involved.

Now, I need more fabric like a hole in the head, but the dedicated scrapper that I am, I know I'm going to have fun with these strips!

Ohhh, and I have to report that the Peach Pound Cake from my last post was a huge success. There are no photographs - I'm sure you can imagine that it barely had time to cool from the oven before it was devoured!

Thursday, August 20, 2009

In the mail & a little piecing

Earlier this week I received the most delightful treat in the mail. My dear blogging friend Michele from Sugar Bowl House had recently achieved a blogging milestone, and I was one of the lucky recipients of her celebratory gifts. Michele is the sweetest person, and I feel so lucky to be her buddy - do stop by and say 'Hi', she has been working on some Very Special Projects lately. The gifts are so sweet, I love the Christmas project, and I especially love the book and the sentiment behind it. Thank you Michele!

And on the sewing front - these are some blocks I've been putting together over a long period of time. Many of the blocks were already made - they're Double Irish Chain blocks inspired by one of Bonnie's Leader and Ender projects. I just had to make a couple more blocks, and I've now started putting the top together. I'd like to start quilting this weekend if I can - fingers crossed :-)

I'm definitely on the mend now - my doctor prescribed some fabulous antibiotics and my cough is really starting to clear up. I did have a little nap today, but I definitely have more energy. I even felt like moving around in the kitchen! We have roast beef, onion gravy and potatoes in the slow cooker, and I'm toying with making a peach pound cake this afternoon. I found the link on someones blog (sorry - don't remember who's) but I feel sure it is going to be super yummy!

Last of all - a big HI to JulieJaz who has come out of lurkdom to comment recently. I visited at your blog to add my greetings, but for some reason the commenting wasn't working. And thank you to everyone who has stopped by to check up on me - you're treasures :-)

Saturday, August 15, 2009

Scrapping a little more ...

Marty got called away to a work emergency this evening, so I've put in a little time in the sewing room.

I've now finished the last of my current 'leader and ender' blocks, so they're ready to be sewed together into a top.

I'm not sure right now if I want to just go ahead and put the top together (because I'm not sure of fabrics yet), or if I want to get busy organising my next leader and ender project. I'm feeling like I want to make braids again.

We have a lazy day at home tomorrow, so it's going to be filled with lots of quilty possibilities. :-)

Friday, August 14, 2009

Nine Four T's

In the foreground are my latest three 'Four T' blocks. It's fun hauling my reproduction blue fq's out of the closet and putting them to good use. For some reason I don't seem to go to the fq's as often as the scraps or the yardage.

I'll be making a total of 25 blocks - then I can start the search for 'The Perfect' sashing and cornerstone fabrics. I had a quick looky in the closet today and I'm just not sure yet. I think it will depend somewhat on the variety of blues in the mix.

Thank you to everyone for the well wishes. I'm still not 100%, but getting better everyday. If I could just stop coughing so much, everything would be rosy. I'll be patient, and my energy will return.

I'm heading back into the sewing room for a little play, and then an early night for me. Toodles :-)

Monday, August 10, 2009

More Four-T's

Whew - a little housekeeping needed here. Let me just blow the dust off this blog - it's been a little time since I've been around. Not because I've been desperately busy leading a fabulous life, but because I've caught a nasty flu bug. Hopefully the worst is over and I'll have more energy again soon :-)

This morning I was just pining for my sewing maching, so I made up another three of my Turning Four-T blocks. Love love love them. And like a good little scrapper, was able to run a few seams on my leaders and enders blocks. I'm going to enjoy this project once I can really get my teeth into it.

But now, I'm actually quite exhausted, so I'm going to get a quick nap in before I go get the kids from school. Amazing how much energy can be sapped and how quickly. I'll check in soon xox

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