Quickie post ...

Just a quick note to say 'Hi' and to let you all know that I haven't fallen from the planet.

I have been super busy quilting, and probably will be for a little while yet. I'm slaving away to make sure I have plenty of pocket money to take with me when I travel to Paducah in April.

I'm so looking forward to my trip, and most especially spending time with Linda. I'll also be spending time with Donna who will be hosting Linda and I at her home for a couple days. And the three of us are travelling to Paducah with Karen, Kate and Gerri as well. It's going to be a blast!

Fruit Applique

On Friday evening I started working on a couple of the blocks from the pattern I mentioned here.

I'm just loving how they're looking so far. The cherries and the pink part of the watermelon are cut from the same fabric, aren't batiks amazing?

The cherries have been blanket stitched by hand, and the watermelon by machine. I'll do the seeds on the watermelon by hand though, they're really quite tiny.

I see myself making some more of these blocks in the not too distant future - they're really fun!

Scarcely Stitching

I haven't had many opportunities to stitch at all this week, but I've made the best of the little time I've had!

Here is my latest Dear Jane block. It's D4 - really quite a cute one. When I look at this block though, it doesn't look much like the block photographed in the book. I made a template of the applique shape from the line drawing, (and I'm being fussy here) but I feel the melon shapes should be a little slimmer. I'll be leaving it like it is however, and can't wait to get busy on some more blocks. I'm really inspired right now.

On Tuesday I did a little shopping while I was at the store. I brought home these little tubbies, some of which are from the Dear Jane range of fabrics. They'll be wonderful in my Nearly Insane quilt. I really love the yellow, and it'll be so useful as I don't have much yellow in my stash at all. I also stocked up on a little freezer paper - I'm really using it up right now.

And on Monday, my family may well have thought they were hallucinating. I baked!! Here you see the Banana Bread I made. I also made an Apricot Pie. That didn't last very long - so there is no picture. I've been inspired to cook lately as I've been watching Martha Stewart shows regularly. She made a pie on a recent show, and she made the pastry look so easy - I have to admit that being a novice pie maker I didn't have quite the same experience, but it was delicious all the same.

Last week I also made a Meatloaf recipe from her website - and it was declared delicious by the family. Amy has requested it for dinner again tonight - I hope I can make it as nicely once again!

A little more Dear Jane

Here are nine blocks of my 30's Dear Jane stitched together. Now you can see a little of how the colours are coming together in the trip around the world scheme. The seams are really showing through the white fabric - but I'm not stressing - I've placed the pieces on top of something darker, and it's really exaggerating the issue. With white batting, you'll never notice :-)

I'd like to get really busy and put a whole lot more of the rows together, but I have several blocks missing from Rows B and C before I can tackle that. Possibly also one of the blocks from Row A, but I'd have to check on my chart. I'm very much enthused to work on these blocks right now, the Nearly Insane project has me hooked on the little blocks again. If only I didn't have Quilter's ADD and hop from one project to the next - I may have a little more progress to show for my time!

Fruity

Happy Valentines day to all my buddies out there. I hope you're having a very special day :-) And also a happy Chinese New Year. So much activity in one weekend!

On a quilty note, when I was in the US 18 months ago, I picked up these patterns at PIQF from Quiltin' Cousins. They're by Lynn Clark from Cozy Nook Studio (can't find a current website) ... but anyways ... I'm feeling a hankering for some applique, and thought these might be just the project to get a quick fix! But where to start ... those cherries look good ... but so do the grapes ... Decisions, decisions!

DJ Change of Direction

Posting has been a little scarce on my blog this past week - things do tend to slow down for my own piecing and quilting a little when I get back to work and my quilting schedule returns to normal. I will endeavour to get here as often as I can though :-)

This week my 30's Dear Jane quilt took a different direction. I had started to set a few of the blocks on point with white setting squares as alternate blocks, but it was starting to look too 'white' so I unpicked what I'd done.

I thought it could look nice to set them together with sashing strips like in the original quilt, but make them a little wider and have coloured cornerstones. So, I'm mirroring the trip around the world theme with the cornerstones, and I feel sure I'll like this arrangement a lot better. This time around I don't plan to make the corner triangles - after all, I made them all last time, and there's no need to make the whole quilt again. If I can find something I like, I may add a 30's print border and then still do the scallops ...

Let's see if I change my mind again :-)

Dear Jane - L1

My Nearly Insane blocks have definitely re-kindled my interest in my Dear Jane blocks, and I've made up another one :-) This one is L1 - Widow's Pane. I just love these 30's prints!

I did a quick count after I finished the block, and I've made more than 70 now. So, that means I've got less than 100 to go. This time around I'm not going to tackle the triangles. I was thinking of setting the blocks on point with white setting triangles inbetween, but I'm not sure if that's how I'll go now. I don't need to decide any time soon - at the rate I'm going, I've got years to decide!

Nearly Insane Fans

We're having such a nice time sharing blocks over on the Nearly Insane Fans blog. It's so nice to see different colourways and get to know new people.

Are you working on the Nearly Insane Quilt or thinking of it? Won't you join us? Just send me a message, or comment on the blog and I can send you the permissions. These blocks are addictive, and you'll have fun playing along. Trust me!

Ballet Flats

This week a further two pairs of shoes came into my life. They were on sale, and (for me) just irresistible. And if I look at it from a practical perspective, flats are always great to wear to work. Also, those quilted flats are so Chanel-esque :-) and just adorable.

If you're a regular reader, you'd know that this year I made a promise to myself to pare down in the closet. While it may seem that bringing more shoes into the house isn't really helping (and let's face it, it isn't). But in good news, I've just today 'de-cluttered' ten pairs of shoes, so I'm definitely moving forward.

Green Nine Patches - Setting?

These nine patches have been on my mind lately. I've been puzzling for a little while about what fabric I'd like to use as setting squares.

I'd really like to get busy sewing them into a top, but can't set my mind to a particular fabric.

I saw this brown print in my stash and wondered if it might be 'the one'. What do you all think - I'm still just not sure - I'm thinking perhaps a little too dark. Perhaps I should use the paisley I used in the setting triangles here?