Stars aplenty!

This past week I've enjoyed spending time with my Bernina. While I was working on all that lovely applique all I could do was wipe the dust off my sewing machine periodically. I've made up for it though, and here's where I'm up to:

Just the rows at the top of the quilt to go now, and it's onto the next steps. Please don't think I've made all those stars since I checked in with you last, all the stars were already made and patiently waiting for me to pick them up again.

The centre of the quilt just glows next to all the scraps doesn't it? Seeing all this come together has helped me to make another decision - there is a thousand pyramid style border coming up soon, and though I was going to make that scrappy too, I think I'll use the same cream fabric I used in the applique for that. Probably another choice I'll make on the fly when I see how it looks. And I'm entirely thrilled that my lovely quilting friends were able to help me out with the Civil War Dressing Gowns fabric for the sashing strips, I can't imagine anything looking better - it's just how I saw it in my mind's eye. You can see it better in these next two pictures:

There are some fun fussy cut squares throughout the quilt top, and where I could I've tried to keep any stripes running in the same direction. One of my favourite things about working with scraps is remembering the other quilts they've been in and also remembering how the fabrics came to me. Some from lovely friends and from shops on my travels - or from lovely local shops - all fun memories.

Hopefully in the next few days I'll get the rest of the stars in place, and then I can start thinking about the next stages of the quilt. Happy days!

From my last post I had some messages I wasn't able to reply to - so a big hello to Holly Field, Co Coya, Alejesnat and Guusje. Thank you so much for stopping by and leaving comments, they're always appreciated.

Speedy Sawtooth Border ...

As predicted in my last post, I thought things would move much faster with the Phebe project once the applique was done. So far, that's exactly what's happening. Less than 48 hours after the last applique stitch went in, I had drawn up the foundation papers and stitched the sawtooth borders. Then trimmed them all to size and removed the papers, and finally stitched them in place. Loving it!!

Doesn't it all frame the applique so nicely? It has been great to spend some quality time with my sewing machine after so much hand work. And I'm excited to get busy with the next frame of stars - hopefully I'll get one side done tomorrow.

In other news, this week I had a little retail therapy after not having purchased fabric in a while. The thing is that I just haven't needed anything as I'm largely working with scraps in this project - and let's face it, even if you don't count scraps, I still have a lot to work with already! Anyway, I found a backing fabric that I felt would work for Phebe, so needed to grab it.

I'm a lazy girl and don't much like joining fabrics for backs in projects I know I'll hand quilt ... I liked this one, so it had to be mine.

And these ones appealed to me too. For no reason other than they look like something I may use one day :-)

Last of all for this post, I just wanted to share the cake/cupcakes that I made for Amy's engagement party. I didn't know for sure that I'd be able to make the 'naked cake' that she wanted for the top tier, but it wasn't as difficult as I thought it might be. Pinterest to the rescue with helpful links to tutorials. What did we ever do before the internets??

There were 100 cupcakes, half decorated with a swirl, and half with flowers. Bless those wonderful flower piping tips! Her theme was gold/pink/black and I managed to get all the colours in.

The two pictures on the left in the collage are the finished cupcakes - top right are most of the flower cakes prior to piping the leaves on, and bottom right is how it looked at the venue. I'm so happy I managed to get it all done, and I have a year to think about how the wedding cake will work!

It's getting late here now, I'll dash and get some zzz's so I have a bunch of energy for piecing tomorrow. Chatter soon! xox

Phebe's applique complete!

I'm so thrilled, last night I finished the applique on my Phebe project, and I'm super happy with how it's looking.

I do have a couple of things I'll get back to - the first is to give the people their faces, and the second is to put a basket or some flowers into the lady's hand. I haven't decided which I'd like, but I'll know what I want to add when I see it.

Some of my favourite things are the small flowers, I had such fun fussy cutting pretty fabrics for the petals and the centres:

The next steps for the quilt are to add another sawtooth border, and then I'll be able to put all the lovely scrappy stars in place. The quilt will grow quickly from this point I think!

Before I sign off, I had some comments I wasn't able to reply to directly, so a big hello to Diane Smith, Lynn S and Deb. I also had a question from Terry regarding how I went about the sawtooth border. I did foundation piece the border, and drew the pattern up on the computer so I could print it out and know it would be accurate. I use Corel Draw, but I'm sure there are many programs that would do the same thing. Hope this helps!

I have some emails to catch up on, so I'll sign off here and check back in with you soon xox

And a little more progress ...

It seems like I'm sharing such tiny details with you on my Phebe project - only if you compare the last three pictures side by side would you realise that anything is actually different. But it does seem like I'm getting closer to the finish line with this applique border, and I predict by the end of next week I'll be all done - all that is left now is to fill in the spaces with leaves.

It would be nice to get busy with the stitching this week, but there are much more exciting things afoot. This week my sweet baby girl has her engagement party - and we could not be more thrilled. Her man of choice is just wonderful, and they are sure to have a fabulous future together. 

So, this week I'm getting busy making their engagement cake/cupcakes - also making sure we all have our outfits, and helping out with the decorations. It's all such fun, and it will be a great practice run for the big day next year. I can definitely share the shoes I bought for the special occasion - you all know I'm a shoe gal ...

Aren't they yummy? And of course I love the bling :-) Not sure exactly what outfit I'm going to wear yet, but I have three to choose from, I'll most likely decide at the last minute in a panic after I've tried each of them on again.

And now on to something completely unrelated - this past week I had a hankering to make a pie ... I've only ever made one in my life before, so it was a little scary ... but here's a pic of my apricot pie - before and after baking ... just so you know I really did it!

Yay, I can make pastry! I found a simple recipe on Pinterest - you make it using the food processor, so it really could not be any easier. I feel like there will be more pies in my future!

Well, that's it for me - I have a tier of the cake to get out of the oven shortly and I'd like to be ready for the next one soon. Have a great week! xox