Almost 2014

Can you believe 2014 is just around the corner? It only seems like yesterday that I was talking about 2013 being a brand new year! I'm determined to start the new year with an amazing new project in mind ... and I think I've found a contender!

This past week I worked a couple of days in the store at Hettie's Patch, and one of the sweet ladies that came in purchased a book that I hadn't seen before. Before I left the shop for the day, I knew I had to purchase a copy for myself!

The book is called Primarly Quilts, and it's by a lovely Australian lady named Di Ford. I've admired so many of her quilts, and I just knew this book would be right up my alley. I love everthing in it, but I particularly have my eye on this one:

It's called 'Antique Wedding Sampler Revisited'. Ohhh my word, I am in lust! I can definitely see this project in my future. Also in my future, a good deal of scouting around looking for the perfect fabrics for broderie perse. Fabric shopping ... I CAN DO IT!!

On a completely different note, I had a message from Nan V. asking a question regarding the Anzac Biscuit recipe I posted a little while back. I wasn't able to respond directly as Nan's profile is set to no reply, but I didn't want to leave her question unanswered. Her question was whether I used sweetened or unsweetened coconut in the biscuits. I have used unsweetened coconut - I don't imagine it would be a problem to use sweetened, but if you do, definitely reduce the amount of sugar in the recipe, as they're quite sweet already. Hope this helps Nan - thank you for your message.

I hope to check in again before we click over to 2014, let's see if I can manage it. Chatter soon! xox

Christmas Eve ...

This has been a busy week, I do love the festive season - the shopping, decorating and socialising really are all such fun.

This Saturday just gone was my turn to host the lovely quilting ladies that make up the 'Not the Farmers Wife' group. It's always so nice to catch up with them all, and the day just flies without fail. I remembered to take a couple of pictures, but not many - apologies ladies for the quality of the pics ...

Here we have Kay, Claire, Loz, Shay and Val.

Too many lovely ladies to fit in one picture, so here we have Shay, Val, Tess, Lorraine and Denise.

As you can see, we had plenty to eat - there was always lots of chatter, and the girls managed to convince me to change out the quilt display in the background there. Check in with Loz for pictures, cuz I was way too slack with the picture taking. Thank you all for visiting girls, it was super fun, look forward to seeing you next year! xox

And I promised I'd share a picture of my completed gingerbread house ... Marty took some cute pictures for me to send into the gingerbread house competition at our local Ikea:

I always have fun playing with gingerbread - for this one we were limited to use Ikea's gingerbread house and pick and mix lollies. For fun I lit it up from inside and made trees for the yard. Lucky me, I got a call on Friday to let me know I was one of three gift hamper winners, Yay!!

The hamper is amazing, so much fun stuff. We're going to have fun cracking into it tomorrow.

Well, that's it from me for now. We have a full house tomorrow for Christmas, so it will be busy busy busy. I hope all my dear friends have a wonderful Christmas, and a super happy New Year. Chatter soon! xox

Kitcheny ...

Yesterday my lovely hubby did something for me that I have wanted for the longest time. He installed a new kichen sink for me. Ohhh happy days!

I had a long look thru my archives to find a picture of what it was like before - because in my excitement I forgot to take a quality 'before' picture for you all. Sadly this grainy phone camera picture was all I could come up with:

From this distance it doesn't look too terrible, but let me fill you in ... the corotone sink was almost twenty years old, and had all sorts of scratches and gouges in it - especially in the bowls. The scratched areas get terribly stained, and it didn't seem to matter what I did - I just couldn't get it clean enough to make me happy. And I can't even tell you how frustrating it was not to have a drainer on the left side of the sink. Last on my list of grievances was the tiny second sink bowl. It was way too small to be useful in any way.

Interestingly, it all bothered Marty way more than me, so a few weeks ago, he asked me to begin looking for the new sink. I knew what I wanted - our last home had a double bowl, double drainer stainless steel sink, and I made it my mission to find one. They're not as common as I thought, and really pricey - but I got one delivered last week, and yesterday was the day for installation.

It took Marty most of the day - and I'm so appreciative. I made myself scarce while he was cutting a bigger hole in the bench - so nervous - but he's a magician, and it all worked out really well. Voila, here it is, complete with new tapware.

I think it's kinda fun that something so simple as a new sink has me so blissed out ... I keep wandering into the kitchen to gaze at it :-)

And today has me working in the kitchen, this time playing with gingerbread. I'm putting an Ikea gingerbread creation together, right now I'm waiting for icing to dry.

I'll check back in with you all later so you can see what I've come up with ... this is a work in progress, and evolving all the time! Chatter soon xox

Simple Tree Skirt Pattern

A HUGE thank you to all the lovely people who have ordered my Simple Tree Skirt Pattern over the past couple of weeks. There have been so many orders I've been really thrilled (and a little overwhelmed). Because I'm not super tech-savvy, when an order is placed on my website, I manually send the pdf out to my customers, which is great, but not super if someone wants to get sewing immediately.

I just learned that Etsy have an auto download for patterns now, so I've put my pattern over there for those of you looking to do a little power-sewing in the lead up to Christmas. You'll find the link over in my side-bar.

I've also put my Sewing Machine Mat pattern there, as I've had lots of interest in that one too - maybe people are working on Kris Kringle pressies?? Happy sewing my friends! :-)

ANZAC Biscuits

Finally I remembered to take a nicer picture of the Anzac Biscuits that I've been making lately. They are my hubby's very favourite thing, and he loves it that I try to keep some on hand at all times. This is a very traditional recipe, given to me by my sweet friend Norma.

Anzac Biscuits:

Preheat your oven to 180 degrees celsius.

One cup of coconut
One cup of plain flour
One cup of sugar
One cup of rolled oats
Quarter teaspoon of salt

Mix together the above ingredients in a large mixing bowl.

115 grams of butter
1 tablespoon of golden syrup
1 teaspoon of vanilla

Melt the above ingredients in a pyrex jug. One minute in the microwave should do it :-)

1 teaspoon of bicarb soda
2 tablespoons of boiling water

Mix the two above ingredients together in a small bowl, and then add to the melted butter mix. It will foam up nicely.

Add the melted butter mix to the dry ingredients and combine well. Roll into small balls and bake for 12-15 minutes. I place 12 per tray, and leave room between the biscuits for spreading. This recipe makes approximately 24 biscuits.

Note:
This is the recipe exactly as Norma gave it to me. I have made a few small changes to suit me (and my pesky oven). I set my oven to 160 degrees celsius as it seems to always run hot and burn things - but play with your oven and see what results you get. Also, hubby prefers cookies that are a little more crunchy than chewy, so I actually bake them for 18 minutes. Generally I add a little more butter to the mixture - not much - but I usually use between 120 and 130 grams. Just depends on how accurate I care to be when I'm chopping up the butter. And lastly, a couple of times I've forgotten to add the salt, but I don't think it really matters as I usually only have salted butter in the house - all balances out.

If you make them, let me know how you go, have fun!

Binding, check!

In stolen moments during the week, I was able to stitch the binding in place on Tilly's quilt. It's awfully cute, and I'm still in absolute love with the quilting pattern Lizzy used.

On the back of the quilt, just for fun I used a cute fabric from my stash. It doesn't really match the front of the quilt at all, but I do love a little whimsy. All that remains of the piggy fabric now are the off-cuts from the backing, so I'll cut the bits down and get them into the scrap boxes asap. You'll be seeing little white and brown piggies in scrap quilts of the future :-)

This quilt was made entirely from fabrics I've had on hand for a little while. It almost feels like a free quilt when you don't have to head to the store for any of the elements of the quilt - and believe me, that doesn't happen too often for me!

Thursday after work, I had to head to the store for a few bits and pieces for the guild meeting on Thursday evening. As is my habit, I headed into one of my favourite discount stores ... they often have Reece's Peanut Butter Cups, and I always seem to sniff them out ... but this time they had the most adorable Nutcracker people as well, so I had to bring one home with me ...

This time I got the one at the back on the right with the red crown. He's super glittery, love it! I'm getting quite a collection of them now ... but let's face it ... a girl can never have too many!

Chatter soon :-)

Checking in ...

Once again, it has been way too long since I've spent any quality time with my blog. It's not that nothing is happening here ... it just seems all so uninteresting... you know, get up, run around after kids, do chores ... maybe a tiny bit of sewing ... head to bed, then rinse and repeat. Having said that, fun things are happening, and often, but part of it is I'm just too darn flaky to take pictures - and having a teenager has taught me that if it's not in pictures (and preferably captured in a selfie) well, it probably didn't happen ...

Moving on ...

I did manage to take a picture of the Moda Bake-Shop project I put together to help out my sweet friend Lizzy. She has quilted it for me, and I'm delighted with the result!

Lizzy used a panto called Will o'the Wisp - isn't it pretty? Over the next week or so I'll get the binding ready and stitch it in place. I have a busy week coming, so I know time will be scarce. This quilt is destined for our cousin Lucy who has had a baby girl - she is named Tilly, isn't it a sweet name?

And on the weekend I quickly put together a couple of the Spiderweb placemats as gifts for Camo's two teachers. I can't believe that after today there are only five days of school left for him this year? It has gone so fast!!

I was so surprised to find that I don't really have a lot of Christmas fabric in my stash any more. I don't know what I've done with it. I either tossed it in a Feng-Shui attack or I've hidden it so well that I no longer have any clue where it is.

The Spiderweb mats are fun to put together, if you feel like you could use a few leading up to Xmas, I put a little tutorial HERE, so get busy and make some - they're super fast.

While I was quilting on the mats on Saturday, I had a moment of horror. My new Bernie disgraced herself in the most awful way. There was noise and a fracas in the bobbin region - accompanied by metal shavings and thread all over the place - no one likes that kind of quilting disturbance! Bernie II was quickly supplanted for her older relative Bernie I, and 9am Monday morning I was on Otto's doorstep with the offender in tow.

Well, let me tell you that Otto is nothing less than a God, by 9.40 the same morning he texted me to let me know that Bernie II was ready to be collected. I don't know exactly what happened, but something got chewed up and spat out. Let's just hope my girl behaves herself for a good long time now. Thank you for the rescue Otto!!

Hexies

Are paper pieced hexagons still the flavour of the month? They are in my house, and they seem to be the only thing I'm interested in stitching on at the moment ... so I'm going with it! I know I'll find the next big love of my life project soon ... or perhaps it will find me, who knows!

So here is where the latest section of my hexie project is at right now:

The green floral print in the centre of the block was not in my original plan, but when I saw it at Hettie's Patch, I knew it had to be part of this project, and I really love it. But I shouldn't really talk about a 'plan' as most of this project has just evolved - who knows where it will end up. I've been asked a few times about how big it's going to be ... and I guess it'll be as big as it is when I become tired of it. When I get a few more of the units together I'll share another picture.

I've also been doing a whole lot of spring cleaning at home too. Latest on my list of things to tackle at home has been the laundry - it was terrible for a while there, and is looking a whole lot better. My laundry room is an odd shape, so Marty and I have been trying to come up with ways to use the space better - so far we're still scratching our heads.

And I've also had something of an epiphany. My sewing room has become everyone's favourite dumping ground - it's looking really messy. It's next on my list of rooms to tackle ... and I have been thinking ... it's entirely likely that my missing sewing mojo is directly related to the state of the sewing room. It's not nice to be in there when I feel edgy about all the stuff laying around. Perhaps I need to get busy cleaning in there sooner rather than later?? I'll let you know if there's any progress in that department.

Lastly - I have not forgotten my promise to share the Anzac biscuit recipe that my family loves so much - I'd like to take a nice picture to accompany the recipe - as soon as that's done, I'll be on it. Promise!! Chatter soon :-)

My news, though a little late ...

This past week has been entirely wonderful - I learned on Tuesday that 'Mrs Billings meets a French General' had won an award at the Quilters Guild of South Australia's Festival of Quilts. Of course, I couldn't find out until Thursday what I had won, and had to spend a couple of days chewing at my fingernails in anticipation ...

So you can imagine how thrilled I was to learn that I had placed first in my category (Open Traditional) and that I had also won the 'Retaining the Tradition' award.

I am such a lucky girl, and I can't wait to put my new ribbons on the pin-board. Happy days!! And a hearty congratulations to all entrants and prize winners - this years show was of such a high standard. We have a lot of very talented quilters in our guild. Be sure to check out our guild's webpage to see pictures of all the prize winning quilts.

Monday Catch-Up

I've been using my sewing machine this past week (and a little more). Seams are being sewn, and that thrills me! Perhaps my passion for all things quilting is returning to me slowly :-)

So what have I been working on?

I put together a small quilt to help out my dear friend Lizzy. It was using this jelly roll:

I've had it sitting around for quite a while, so it was nice to put it to use. You can see by it's messy state that I'd unrolled it and rolled it up again - never sure what I would make with it. The pattern Lizzy selected was from the Moda Bake Shop, and it's called the Cross Terrain Quilt.

Our cousin Lucy has recently had a baby, and thinking this quilt would be perfect for her sweet baby girl, I decided to make it half size for a cot. Here is an 'over the ironing board in my shadow' work in progress shot:

And then finally, the finished top:

I did end up making the border a little differently to the original pattern, I just didn't have the stamina to cut up SO MANY tiny pieces, but I'm still happy with the end result. Lizzy has kindly offered to quilt it up for me, so I'll be thrilled to hand this one off to its new owner soon :-)

And just this morning I finally finished putting all the rows together for the Rail Fence Variation quilt top that Linda, Donna and I exchanged blocks for. I really like this top - it worked out a little larger than I realised, so I'm not sure at the moment if I'll add borders or not.

Between the three of us, we don't even seem to have too many fabric repeats in the blocks which is a lovely surprise. When I decide on the borders, I think I'd like to hand quilt this one - but of course I'm prone to changing my mind.

And last of all for today (and those of you who are my friends on Facebook will have already seen it), here is the result of my biannual trip to Ikea:

It's always such a dangerous place for me - all those things I didn't know I couldn't live without until I got there. I'm really looking forward to making dimensional gingerbread trees with those cutters - they'll look fabbo with the gingerbread house at Xmas time. Bring it on!!

Chatter soon friends xox

Hi friends!

Hi there everyone, have you missed me? Actually, you don't have to answer that, I've had questions and emails from all over the place asking me when I'll be blogging again, and it's so nice that you've all cared so much. The truth is, along with my sewing mojo, my blogging mojo disappeared too. I don't think I've ever neglected my blog for so long.

And just an aside, a big HI to any new readers visiting from the lovely shout out I received in Down Under Quilts magazine, I'm glad you've stopped by :-)

So, what have I been doing? Well, let me see what I've managed to capture on my phone-camera ...

I made this little table mat for my Nanna on her birthday last month from a couple of left-over applique blocks I had on hand. It was a fun little project, and I really hope she uses it on her table. Nanna is a bit of a bandit for putting her 'best' things away in the cupboard. I'll have my eye on her :-)

I learned how to make Anzac biscuits. My sweet friend Norma shared her recipe and assured me they're sooo easy. It wasn't hard to convince myself to bake some, they're my hubby's absolute favourites, and I've made four batches since getting the recipe. These are going in the regular rotation for sure!

My sweet friends Vicki, Wendy, Gail and I went on a mini-break weekend down to Middleton. We stayed in Vicki's sister's house which was so lovely - this is the view from the front window. We did bring our quilty pleasures along, but didn't really stitch a thing. We were very much diverted by shopping, and spent a good deal of time gazing out the window, glass in hand.

And why would we be gazing out the window? Because we were able to spend simply ages just gazing on the whales in the water right out front. Now, I'm no photographer, and there's only so much I can do with my iPhone, but let me assure you, we had spectacular views of many little groups of whales, and we were in the box seat. It was so special!

And last of all, it's entirely possible that a little of my sewing mojo has returned. I've begun putting Camo's aviation themed quilt together. After Mrs Billings, working with such big pieces feels like working with bed-sheets. But at least I know it'll go together quickly - and Camo is really looking forward to this one.

Well, that's it from me for now - I promise I won't leave it best part of a month before checking in with you again ... trust me!! xox

Scrapping ...

So that I can track down my missing sewing mojo, I decided to just piece away on something mindless, but also fun. My little box of scrappy stars came out to play:

They're always fun to mess around with, and I love to reminisce over favourite fabrics. Soon it's going to be necessary to raid the scrap boxes for more bits and pieces - let's not have too much repetition.

And when my mojo strikes with force, I've got the fabrics and pattern ready for Camo's aviation themed quilt. I'll share when I'm busy cutting.

Chatter soon :-)

More pictures ...

I've had so many friends send me pictures now, it's just wonderful A big thank you to my sweet friend Roz for taking these pictures. Isn't it just thrilling??!!??

I just can't wait for Friday when I can visit with them myself! Chatter soon :-)

First picture ...

Hi there friends, I've been a slacker this week - seriously - can't settle to anything properly. But I do have something I want to share ...

I finally have a picture of my quilt with her ribbons!!

My little brother and his family visited with my quilt and got a happy snap. Thank you Timmy! The pic is a bit grainy, but isn't it fun to see? :-) I know some of my other friends have been and taken some pictures too, but I don't have them yet - I'll share when I can.

I plan to go to the show on Friday with Camo and I'll be able to get my own pictures then. His school has the day off for the show. It will probably be super chaotic, but totally worth it!

Chatter soon! xox

Great news!!

You've seen this picture before, but I'll share it again, because I have the best news!! ...

My Mrs Billings quilt placed first in it's category at the Royal Adelaide Show! And it also won Best in Section!! I'm just so happy - beyond thrilled actually!! Thank you all for your kind words while I've been working on it, so much appreciated :-)

I'm not sure if I remembered to share what I actually named my quilt ... its called: Mrs Billings meets a French General.

Almost sounds racy doesn't it? :-)

A new beginning ...

Last night I got my act together and decided to try sewing something. I'm really winging it here, but I've started on a cover for my sewing machine.

My machine comes with a cover of sorts - it's more for travelling. But because I have the machine lowered in the sewing cabinet all the time - and I don't ever close the cabinet - the cover is kind of too tall (and also not very pretty).

I don't know if this little project will work out as I imagine it - I'm making it up as I go along, but it's looking quite pretty at the moment. My inspiration is here - a project by CJ Tinkle. I had pinned an entirely different cover by the same lady on Pinterest, but the pin leads me to a forum rather than her website, so I don't think there is a tutorial. However, you can click here to see my pin.

So, it's safe to assume that if you don't see my sewing machine with her new cover in the next month or so, I probably haven't been happy with how the cover came out. I will persevere though, because I really want one!

Chatter soon xox

I love bling!

So I bedazzled my sewing machine ... Marty thinks it's odd ...

But you know what, if bling is wrong, I don't want to be right. And I've got plenty more space for bedazzling!!

I thought it would happen ... and it did ...

I just don't know what to do with myself ...

It's most likely 'Post Billings Blues' - I was warned and I knew. I've experienced similar afflictions before, and I will again. I know it hasn't been long ... but I'm just not one to sit around doing very little!

Is it possible that the projects I can jump right into are just not that appealing anymore? What's not to love about my hexagon projects ... or getting back to the Civil War Crossings quilt top - it just needs to be pinned and quilted. Should I start something new?? I have an aviation themed project in mind for Camo, or a cute sewing machine cover that I pinned on Pinterest ... I even have three quilt tops basted ready to go ... blah!

Or much less interesting, I could do paperwork ... but naaahhhh ...

What to do???

Catching up ...

Now that Mrs Billings has been sorted, I can work on a few things that have been niggling at me in the background.

First up, I had promised a sweet friend that I'd quilt a little project for her. I checked that off the list this morning. Here is a little of the border:

I find the hardest part of machine quilting is deciding what to put in each area. It's something I need to work on. Also, it had been such a long time since using my machine - my quilting was a little wonky in the beginning. It's like riding a bike though, and soon I was charging along nicely.

And next on the list: I had purchased a cute nightshirt from an online store a couple of months back. I just love it, but the buttons are so far apart on it that it gapes terribly. Solution: Add extra buttonholes. Something I have never done on my machine before!

In the top right picture, you can see the 'before' situation with the buttons. Bottom left picture, my terror getting ready to cut the opening in the button holes. Thankfully it worked. And bottom right picture, more buttons, happy wearer!

I don't have to procrastinate over this project any longer, and I'll be toasty warm in bed tonight!

And we're all done :-)

My goodness, what a flurry of finishing activities. The quilt is bound, labelled, ticketed and bagged ready for delivery on Thursday. I'm really surprised that I have a couple of spare days - actually, colour me amazed!

Today I hung the quilt in the dining room - I didn't do myself any favours by having the quilt scrunched up on the lounge overnight (mid hanging sleeve application) but hopefully it'll be alright on the day. Can you see my fingers crossed??

And because a blog post always needs some eye candy, here you go:

This quilt is just a touch smaller than my Nearly Insane quilt. Not by much, just an inch or two. Forgive my dining chairs for photo-bombing. It would not have killed me to move them out of the way, surely??

And here's another close up of the quilting. You can't even imagine how relieved I was to know with certainty that all the blue lines are gone.

So, now all I can do for Mrs Billings is wait. Sometimes it's the hardest part, but I'll fill you in if I have any interesting news. In the meantime, I'm looking forward to working on some other projects. Nothing big just yet - I want to be able to flit from one thing to another ... I haven't done that in a while!

Chatter soon :-)

Wow!!

Thank you all for your overwhelming response to my (almost) Mrs Billings finish. You're all so incredibly kind. And of course you know I'm entirely thrilled to have gotten it done under deadline ... only just!

Some sweet ladies have asked to see a close up of the quilting, and I'm happy to oblige. Please note that because of our dark wintery days right now, it's hard to get good pictures. That coupled with my complete lack of photography skills makes a picture haphazard at best. But here goes anyway:

This is an area out near the margins of the quilt - I will take some more pictures when it's hanging and I can get close.

I'd like to also say a big thank you to Sheila - she rescued me from my thread near-miss. I wasn't able to find the same thread I'd been using anywhere in the state and Sheila had a reel to lend me to help out. Thank you so much hon - very much appreciated. I had no idea I'd need two reels and a good portion of a third!!

And the good news is this: I've blocked and bound the quilt - that is a relief! The label is made, and now I just need to make up the hanging sleeve and sew the two items in place. Whew!!

And it was done!

HOLY ACHING FINGERS BATMAN!! I HAVE FINISHED QUILTING!!!

And trust me, my fingers are genuinely aching!! Now I just need to block, bind, apply a hanging sleeve and label ... before Wednesday evening. I CAN DO THIS!!

More soon!!

And I quilted some more ...

Yes, yes I did. I quilted some more ... and then when I felt I just couldn't quilt another stitch, I bribed myself with some Reese's, and my worn out fingers have quilted beyond a mere mortal's endurance.

But it's so worth it, because I'm mainly working out in the last border now ...

I'm starting to get nervous though, as I've nearly run out of my second reel of YLI hand quilting thread - and I haven't been able to locate another here in Adelaide. If I order one in, I don't know if it'll get to me in time if I do actually need it. Decisions decisions ... what to do??

Ohhh, and please forgive me - I have been spending virtually no time at all on the internets, so my blog visiting and message returning skills have all but vanished. I promise I'll catch back up with you all soon! xox

Happenings ...

So much has been happening - it really gets difficult to find time to share - my blog has been quite neglected lately.

First up: This weekend I'm teaching a class at Hettie's Patch. Such a delightful store, I'm looking forward to it. It's a Christmas in July project, click here for details. I do hope you can make it!

And I've been cooking! Something I don't do enough of ... Last weekend we were invited to dinner at the home of our oldest (as in longest time) friends. I wanted to bring dessert, and so I made Lemon Curd Tarts. I pinned the recipe on Pinterest, and I'll include the link here for you.

I didn't think to take a picture until I'd put them in the container to travel - next time I'll do better and show you how I presented them! Lemon Curd is something I'd never made before, and I'm still amazed by how easy it was. Since we have an abundant lemon tree - filled with Meyer lemons - you can bet I'll be making them again!

Now here's a dirty little secret - I've been watching the Great Australian Bake Off on TV - and I might be just a little hooked! Lo and behold, after my Lemon Curd success, the technical bake off on the Pies episode was Lemon Meringue Pie!! I made it my business to recreate some myself!

Click here for the GABO Lemon Meringe recipe. And another confession: I didn't follow their recipe really. I used a frozen shortcrust pastry sheet, and I used the Lemon Curd recipe from the tarts that I had made earlier in the week. I did use the meringue recipe from GABO, but I piped the extra into a dish just for Camo as he's not really into the curd. You see, the GABO recipe made a pie that could feed up to 10, and I just don't need that much temptation in the house! Anyways ... the pie was delicious - love love loved it! Definitely not Weight Watchers friendly, but Amy has requested it be made again ASAP!

And this last picture was taken by one of our lovely Guild ladies, Candy. I was so happy to lend my Nearly Insane baby to the Guild for display at the Sewing, Stitching and Hand Craft Show at the showgrounds this weekend just gone. And here she is in all her glory.

I was bummed not to be able to get to the show - it was a kid logistics thing. This was the first time this event has been held here, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get to it in coming years. How fun!

Ohhhh, and the class at Quilt Encounter on Tuesday was super fun, I had the best time with lovely students - I'm pretty sure they all went home happy. Once I've done all my homework, I'll share the project with you all.

Have a great week, and I'll chatter soon! xox

Progressing!!

I've been quilting away this weekend, and yesterday I came to something of a milestone ... I reached the outer border for the first time!

I can't get too excited, as there is still plenty to go ... but it does help with the feeling that the finish line is in sight. Alrighty ... I have a couple of chores to finish, and then I'm back to some more quilting! Chatter soon :-)

Quilting and writing notes ...

I'm still quilting on Mrs Billings - had you guessed? I try and move the hoop each day, so I'm progressing really well. It's school holidays here, so I'm spending time with Camo too ... life is busy, busy busy!

Today I finished off a task that I've been working at slowly for a little while. The notes for my class next week are finished - and now that they're done, I can relax and look forward to seeing the girls at Quilt Encounter.

Here's another sneaky peek of the project:

Once the class is done, I can share a picture of the whole thing, and I'm going to make arrangements to sell the patterns on my web page.

Alrighty, it's off to start on dinner, and then I'll be back into the quilting again. Chatter soon! xox

I must be half way!

It's fair to say that I'm hand quilting my Mrs Billings project reasonably heavily ...

I guess I'm about half way through, and I've just finished my first reel of thread. I love this YLI thread for hand quilting ... it's just delightful. I'm hearing great things about the heavier weights of Aurifil too, so I think I'll try that for the next bit of hand work - the YLI will be a hard act to follow though.

Alrighty ... enough of a break for me ... it's back to work ... hand quilting while watching Wimbledon - someone needs to do it, and I nominate myself! xox

Have you missed me?

You don't need to answer that :-) I'm still quilting on Mrs Billings, and while I'm progressing really well, there's still plenty to go. But this is noteworthy:

You all know I'm a glutton for punishment with huge time consuming projects, well, I've lined up my next one. It's a block-of-the-month project at Esther Alieu's blog. Do check it out.

The first instalment will be issued tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to it. This time, I'm not going to set myself a ridiculous deadline to complete the quilt, and I'll really enjoy working on it. Of course, I won't be able to get busy until I finish with Mrs Billings - and hopefully that will be within the next 8 weeks or so.

Alrighty, it's off to finish up some chores before I head off for the guild exec meeting tonight - Thursdays are just crazy busy days in my house! Chatter soon! xox