Good News, and a new beginning ...

I could have shared this news in my last post, but I was in a rush ... however, now I have some time on my hands to share my happiness:

My Caswell quilt has done me proud, and won some ribbons at the Royal Adelaide Show. I feel so incredibly blessed - it placed first in its category, was selected as the best quilt in show, and won the prize for the best art/craft exhibit in the show. Oh my goodness, I was gobsmacked when I heard the news. Supremely happy!

A big thank you to my sweet friend Lizzy for taking the picture above for me (and to the many other sweet ladies who've done the same) I haven't been able to get to the show yet, but tomorrow is the day we've planned to head over there. I cannot wait!

In much less interesting news, I've made a couple more HOQH blocks, and here they are:

Block 26 - Domino Net

This was a super easy one (in the scheme of this project) - don't forget that the blocks are 6 inches finished! The floral fabric in the large squares is a favourite, I used it in the Caswell quilt on one of the tricker applique blocks as part of a flower and I love how it looked.

Block 58 - Gentleman's Fancy

This block looks kind of wonky in the picture, but all the points are meeting up nicely, so hopefully it'll look just fine when it's sewed into the quilt top. Most of the fabrics in this block were from the 'Donna scraps' again (but not the green print) - I love rummaging through them ... you'll continue to see them in this project ... and also the one I'm just getting geared up for! And I have a feeling that the pink fabric in Block 26 might have been from Donna too!

I had pretty much decided even before I finished the last quilt that the next BIG THING I would be working on would be the Phebe Quilt by Di Ford Hall. I just love all the things she does, and I simply fell in love with Phebe - possibly because I've been itching for a lot of piecing rather than working on so much applique. Definitely google search on pictures of the quilt - it is just darling. Or, if you go to my Pinterest page and check the Quilts-Di Ford Hall tab, you'll find pictures in there.

Anyway, I've been reluctant to just leap into working on it - I was worried that it'd become an addiction for me and I wouldn't be disciplined enough to work on some of the other things I've needed to get finished. But today I threw caution to the wind, and made the first tiny square ...

This block is a little cutie, at 4.5" square. You'll see a lot of fabrics in common between this project and the HOQH one, and hopefully from my end I'll see a reduction in the amount of scrap fabrics I have kicking around. Who'd like to place bets that I see no discernable difference at all?

Soon I'm going to get busy working on the applique centre block, but for the moment I'd like to enjoy some fairly easy piecing and have fun selecting pretty fabrics that play together nicely.

So that's all my news up to now, I'm going to spend some q-time in my sewing room, and I'll check back in with you all soon! xox