Two more FWS blocks

I wanted to stitch a couple more FWS blocks today, but after a big night out last night, they needed to be simple ones :-)

Block 29 - Economy

Block 111 - Wrench
See what I did there? I made some blocks out of order ... I'll have to fill in the gaps. Ohhh, but Wrench is the final block in the book ... I'll have to get a move on :-)

TFW - Block 27

It's so hot today (39c or 102f) - a perfect day to stay inside and sew. I did just that, and completed the next Farmers Wife block.

Block 27 - Darting Birds

Once again I used my 1" thangles - they really make small HST's easy. And even though the block in the book is made up of only two fabrics, I've been trying wherever I can to use all four. I did some calculations - now that I've made 27 blocks - once I'm 3/4 the way through piecing the next block, I will have sewn one quarter of the total number of blocks! Yay!

While I've been sewing, DH has been busy servicing my new minty featherweight - we've no idea how long it has been since her last grease and lube, so I didn't want to put her thru her paces until I was perfectly sure she'd be fine. Marty is a qualified Electrician and Technician, so I trust him to work on all my machines entirely. I've been lazy getting a transformer though, so I'll still have to be a little patient before I can start sewing with her :-)

And some advance notice - I'm going to be selling one of my black featherweights - so if you're in the market for one (and in Australia) you may want to let me know. This is the one I'm selling (it's not a great picture - I'll get more when I'm ready to list it):

This machine is in wonderful condition and comes with a box, manual and an assortment of accessories. It has lovely gold work, and if memory serves me correctly, it's from 1949 (and it's 220-240v). First of all though, Marty is going to go over it completely and make sure it's electrically sound and ready to sew. While I made sure it ran when I purchased it, I have never actually sewn with it. So, if you're in the market, give me a little time, and it could be yours!

Chatter soon! xox

Bits and Pieces :-)

Today I indulged in just a little stitching. It has been a while since I worked on any Farmers Wife blocks, so I thought it would be fun to put the next one together:

Block 26 - Cut Glass Dish

The Quilters Guild of South Australia asked me to demonstrate machine pieced FWS blocks at the meeting in March (which is Thurs next week) so I thought I'd better re-acquaint myself with the project. Why have I stayed away so long?? This block was really fun to make - and I used the 1" thangles that I picked up while I was in the USA.

And speaking of the USA: I can't believe how few pictures I took while I was away this time. But I'll share some of what I have anyway.

Do you remember seeing on Bonnie's blog about her visit to M and L Fabrics in Anaheim? Well, the four of us that had travelled to Road to CA together had ALL read about her visit, and made it our business to stop by too ... I mean, we were in the area right? M and L Fabrics is FILLED with bolts and flat folds:

 

I probably didn't spend as much as I could have, but I still managed to get a stack of fabric together! It was definitely worth checking out. Thank you for the heads-up Bonnie!

And because we were close by, I really wanted to visit Disney again - after all, it's the happiest place on earth! On the Sunday we spent the day at California Adventure, and while we were waiting to watch World of Colour, I got this pic of Mickey's Ferris Wheel. I just love the colours.

The World of Colour show was mesmerising, I enjoyed it so much. 

And on Monday we visited Disneyland - I just love that place more than I can even describe! It was a wet morning, which we didn't really mind at all. And because of the weather, the park was really quiet.

It fined up in the afternoon though, and we just had the best day - we were able to get on all the rides with virtually no wait. I have never before been able to do some much in one day at Disney. My kids would have loved it!

After our adventure, we went back to Linda's beach house for her quilt group retreat. I shared pictures of that while we were there. In between all this, we shopped and shopped, and shopped some more!

 

And here is my pile of bags once I was all packed and ready to come home. I can't believe I managed to buy so much! Three suitcases, a rolling carry on crammed full, and I can't even imagine how much my handbag weighed. But it all made it home relatively unscathed, and I still haven't found spaces in my sewing room for everything.

Well, I've rambled on and on ... I hope to get some more stitching done this weekend, so I'll keep you posted! xox

Edging closer ...

On Friday afternoon I was able to assemble the last pieces of the diamond border and stitch it in place - and today I've put the next framing border on my Mrs Billings Coverlet project. (It's looking odd in the picture as it's draped over my ironing board ... and also because I'm a really hopeless photographer!)

The next border is going to take some time to piece - it's another with those little squares that are around 1" in size, and when the next framing border is in place, I can move onto the third installment. I'm sure I'm due to get the fifth in the mail soon - so I'm only three months behind *lol*.

On Saturday afternoon I whiled away a few hours with some 'a little bit new, and some completely new to me' quilting friends. They are the most darling group of Farmers Wife sewers, and also bloggers - Claire, Val, Loz, Kris, Mrs P, and ... (I'll get back to you with links and fill in the blanks ;-)). They're hand sewing their FW blocks, and all got quite a bit done. I think I got the least done of all - but I've always been a chatterer :-)

In other news, I'm finally getting caught up with my emails, and I've recently been asked a few direct questions by people with their email set at no reply, so here are some answers for them:

Fran asked what line of fabric I'm using for my Mrs Billings project: I'm using about five different ranges of fabric, all designed by French General. I'll try and remember all of them, Maison de Garance, Pom Pom de Paris, Panier de Fleurs, Rouenneries Deux and La Petite Ecole. I think that's all of them. I just adore anything by French General - it's my current love :-)

Claudia asked after the Noah and Friends project I shared a little while back. I'm sad to say you probably won't be seeing that one again. I was repairing the project for a lovely customer of mine, and now that the top is complete I've handed it back to her. She has some blanket stitch work to do, and then she will decide what she's doing about quilting. It was just adorable though, and fun to work on.

Quilter Steph asked after the hexagon tool I was using to cut out the hexies before I went away. It is a sweet little template that was supplied with the Mrs Billings Coverlet block 1. I have seen other hexagons like it before - it's basically a template that has the middle cut away so that you can trace the sewing line and the cutting line. Very cute. I suspect that Somerset Patchwork and Quilting had the templates made especially. Hope this helps.

Alrighty, I think this has me somewhat up to date with my emails - I hope I don't get too far behind again in a hurry! In my next post I hope to share a few more USA pics ... chatter soon!

Slow progress ...

I'm slowly adding pieces to Mrs Billings Coverlet. Believe me when I say that this project is addictive! It's the time that I'm short of right now ...

French General treats :-)

Just made a flying visit to Hettie's Patch and found some things that had to come home with me! These lovely fabrics are going to look wonderful in my Mrs Billings Coverlet project. Yum!

Working at Block 2

I love the precision piecing that's required for this project. All the careful cutting and pinning is time consuming, but really worth it.

Some sweet treats ...

I don't seem to have it in me right now to sit down and write a huge post about my trip, so I'll take it in small bites and post little bits and pieces over a little while.

While we were at Road to CA, we took a mystery class with Tracey Brookshier, it was really such fun, and here is the top I created as a result:

In the class I got the blocks almost entirely finished, and then put the top together while were on retreat at Linda's beach house.

Because I couldn't bring my own machine over (travel weight and voltage issues) I used one of Linda's dear sweet featherweights while we were travelling. She's such a darling - she let me use her precious white/mint one. Well, let me say this: I fell in love with that dear sweet little baby, and I made it my mission to find one of my own! This is the precious machine that came home with me:

A big shout out to the baggage handler that gave the bag this beauty was in such a terrible beating, but luckily for me everything made it home relatively unscathed. I realised afterwards that I should have put it in fragile freight - but I guess that's by-the-bye now.

And here is a picture of 90% of the fabric I dragged home ... I still have no idea where I'm going to put it all. Plenty of my friends have offered me good homes for it ... but I'm still a bit attached to it all at this stage :-)

Well, that's it for now ... I'll check back in again soon! xox

Sidetracked!

I SHOULD be preparing a newsy post for you about my wonderful trip to the USA, and instead I find myself consumed with the second installment of Mrs Billings coverlet.

Bear with me while I get this out of my system, and I'll get on it really soon! xox

In the mail :-)

Got this in the mail today, what a nice surprise!

Quick check in ...

Just a quick note to let you know that I've made it home safe and sound from my wonderful trip to the USA. I have stuff to sort out and a bazillion things to find new homes for, so when the dust has settled, I'll check back with you all and give you a newsy post. xox