Sewing Machine Mat

I've had a number of requests - most recently from Anonymous - "Hi there :-)" asking if I would make the pattern for the Sewing Machine Mats available for sale. So, of course I'm happy to do it. It's over at my website. This weekend I have just made up an order for the Quilt Store for the pattern, I've also taken the extra steps to customise the directions for a PDF file, so it's now ready to go. Please remember that the prices on my site are in Australian dollars, if you want to check the US (or other countries) conversion, I recommend the website xe.com.

Thank you for being so interested ... x o x

Ohhh, aint it the truth?

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Treats and Tops

First up, I'd like to say a huge thank you to Linda Z. Linda was the winner of my one year bloggiversary table runner a little while back. What a sweet treat she sent me - it's a Thimbleberries pattern - and she had been to retreat at the Main Street Cotton Shop, and had Lynette Jensen sign it just for me! What a treasure! The pattern is really cute too, and I know I'll make up the quit sometime. Thank you once again Linda :-)

Here is the Sunbonnet Sue quilt top which I completed last night. The shop had offered to finish this quilt for a lady who was unwell, and I had been working on it in spare moments while there. Those spare moments have been becoming scarcer, so this week I decided to bring it home and finish it off. If I can manage it, I'd like to baste it today so I can start quilting on it tonight. My ultimate goal is to have it ready for binding on Wednesday. Lets see if I can keep up the momentum.

I'm also quilting another quilt top for a customer, and that's around one third finished. Also a project I'd like to have done by mid next week - as I believe I'll be receiving two more tops to quilt on Wednesday or Thursday. It's all hapenning!

Thank you also to Rose for a recent award, and to Elsie for tagging me. I hope I can get to them soon! Have a great weekend everyone :-)

Christmas Wreath

This project is so cute I just had to share. Pauline, who is one of the girls from class had made this wreath recently. I don't know much about the pattern or the technique, but it's called Snippets. The girls had the book (I'm sorry, but I don't remember the name to attribute the pattern to) and were oooohing and aaaahing over it, and I have to say I can understand why. It looks really cute, and would be a wonderful way to use up those scraps. Can you imagine it in Autumn colours too?

Pauline asked if I would stipple on the project for her so it could be finished up. Of course I'm always happy to do it. She had her first go at stippling yesterday on some leftover fabric and batt, and decided that perhaps this won't be the first thing she quilts on ... I can understand her thinking, it does take a little practice ... I remember very well when I first started quilting, and I'm still nervous when I try new things.

I'm off to the quilt store again in around an hour. I have some students again today, and if I have the opportunity I would like to get working on the Sunbonnet Sue quilt again. It's so close to completion, it would be nice to get it done.

That's it from me ... have a great day :-)

The fabric that just won't quit ...

Yay! I've finished making all the middle parts of the blocks for the new scrap quilt. you can see them all piled up there in the background. Now I just need to finish framing the blocks with the biscuit and purple fabrics. I think I've framed about half of them. See how I'm using purple AGAIN! I think it's my new favourite colour.

I made 25 of the star blocks, and 16 of the sixteen patch blocks, and of course, it seemed to make very little difference to my box of 2.5" scraps. Clearly I have a lot of scrap quilts left in me yet. One thing I did was make an effort to use the ugliest of the fabrics in the box. Amazing what fabrics make their way into the stash!

And see the light blue fabric in this block (I know it's hard to see clearly - I really do not take good pictures) but anyways ... that fabric was in the first ever quilt I made. Back in 1992! I don't know how much of that fabric I purchased - but we were newlyweds with a new house and not much money, so it can't have been too much. But this stuff is like a bad penny - I just can't get rid of it. It's popping back up all the time in my scrap boxes. I tried to use it all in this quilt, but I think there is a little more. And who knows what is in the other size scrap boxes ... I'm just never going to be rid of it! Thank goodness fabric is so much more interesting these days - it's not an attractive fabric!

And speaking of unattractive fabrics - get a load of some of the bad boys in these blocks! Ewwwww ... I have no idea where that yellow fabric came from - I know I never would have bought that one ... and the black and orange plaid ... and the little calicoes ... Ohhh and of course, there's a little more of the blue in there too *sigh*.

I hope I don't look upon my current stash this way in ten years time. I love my repro fabric ... I hope I never fall out of love with it!

More scrappage ...

Don't groan ... but yes, I've made two more sewing machine mats. One is a gift for a precious friend, and the other is a class sample. I'm sure I've mentioned before that I hand out a fun scrap pattern to my students each quarter at the quilt store.

What I had started doing was cutting the 3.5" strips required for the tumblers I showed you earlier. The fabrics I had selected to use, once I cut two 3.5" strips, there was just enough left for a 2.5" strip, so I decided to cut that up to use toward the machine mat.

This afternoon I'll write up the directions for the mats, and I can hand them out this week at the shop. I'm so looking forward to getting back to working at the shop - I don't work during the school holidays, and honestly - I think the kids in many ways are looking forward to heading back to school. The holidays have been busy, and it will be nice to get back into our normal routine.

Cuz they're just so much fun ...

... and because I really can't help myself - I've popped another one in my Etsy store. It's fun to use up my scraps, and I'm working toward building up my yardage. Just super fun!

Sisters Choice Medallion

Just a quick heads up - because many of you were interested, and not able to get your hands on the magazine - my Sisters Choice Medallion pattern is available for sale on my website.

I'll only have it there for a limited time, and remember, if you subscribe to Australian Patchwork and Quilting, you'll be seeing the pattern in February.