Three Blocks!

This week I got most of block three finished. All the pieces are in place, and I would say I'm about one third the way through stitching the shapes down. I cannot wait until the fourth block is made - even though I declared I wouldn't, I know I'm going to want to trim and sew them together!

I can't even tell you how thrilled I am with how it's coming along. And I just love the background fabric that I chose - it's a backing fabric from the Jane Austen at Home range. It was like to treasure hunt to find it a few months back - and I had some slip through my fingers when I waited a few days to order it. But now some places have had it come back in stock so I've ordered more so that I can use it for the back of the quilt as well if I choose to do so.

In this post I wanted to share a couple of my absolute favourite 'tools' I've used so far while making the blocks:

The wonderful tutorial for glue baste applique on Teresa's Fabric Therapy blog is something I have read repeatedly, and on one of the pages she talks about using Elmer's school glue for positioning the applique pieces. I wasn't sure if we could get it here in Australia, but when I looked - OMG, it's everywhere, so I bought some, and found the little bottles on ebay. It was a revelation! I had been using a different specialist glue that will remain nameless, and despaired over how much trouble I had with blockages in the fine tip nozzle. Well - I have had no trouble since!

I had also been using the tiny fabric glue sticks for turning the edges of the applique pieces under - and I've trained myself to use the somewhat larger (but still small size) purple disappearing glue sticks. The glue goes so much further and it's great with the purple colour seeing where you've got the glue in place. I'm also saving so much money because the refills of those little sticks were kind of expensive.

Lastly, I invested in a 3/4" circle punch - I have soooooo many circles to make for this project, and it was tedious tracing and cutting out freezer paper circles. They really only last for about three uses before the plastic side of the paper doesn't adhere anymore. At some point I think I'll buy some more sizes - they will be handy!

These are some of the extra circles (berries) I've been making as I go - I have lots of red scraps (some pieces are just shards) and I'm making as many circles up as I can so I get a big variety across all the blocks. It's always fun seeing the bits and pieces of fabric and remembering the other projects they've been in.

I don't have any pictures of baking to share with you this week - I didn't have time to make any macarons, and the cupcakes I made for one of the quilting ladies birthday, I managed to forget to take any pictures. Even after all these years, I'm still not in the habit of taking photos often!

Last of all, I made a couple of pattern purchases this week, Bonnie Hunter's Tulip Time - it's delightfully scrappy and I thought it would be something lovely for a little granddaughter some time. And also the Lovely Quilt Pattern by SherriQuilts on Etsy - I bought it for the very same reason.

Which leads me to the lovely news that on the 13th of this month I became a grandmother for the very first time - Mary Louise has arrived and we are all absolutely beyond thrilled. I now have a new reason to make little quilts and toys and outfits, and I promise to share with you all as I can.

That's it from me for this week, chatter soon! xox