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!

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 :-)

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 :-)

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 :-)

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 :-)

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!

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

Where in the world was I??