Tuesday, June 28, 2022

June finishes!

It's not Friday, but I wanted to quickly check in before the end of the month to share these June finishes:


This is my June monthly mini quilt. I used an applique block from Sue Garman's Afternoon Delight quilt. I just love everything that Sue ever made! I was able to use plenty from my scrap drawers, and had fun with the quilting too:


Thankfully my machine behaved itself this time, perhaps fooling with the bobbin tension was just what Bernie needed.

And I've made ten blocks towards Chooky Blue's Churn Dash sew-along. Click on the image in my side bar to take you to Chooky's blog and see all the participants.


There are nine blocks in the picture, one didn't make it in. I'm going to sash the blocks using 2" strips, I'll need to rustle around in the stash to find something nice and bright.

I'll leave off here as this is only a quick catch up post, and I'll check in with you all again on Friday! xoxox

Friday, June 24, 2022

Checking things off that infinitely long list ...

I don't know if anyone can relate, but I love a good list. And when I have huge amounts of things to get through on a list, it never seems to stop me from adding more and more things to the list. Fortunately, I'm not easily stressed, so I just keep plugging along and get to most things EVENTUALLY!

One of the list items was to get this month's mini quilt together - these are a joy to make as they come together so quickly.


This is 14 inches in size, and has a lovely Sue Garman applique block in the centre. It's made entirely from scraps, some of them quite small, so I wasn't able to use the same fabrics all the way through, but I suppose that adds to its charm. I'm yet to quilt it, but that won't take long and will be something fun for this weekend. If you'd like to see the projects from other sweet ladies working on mini quilts, do check out Wendy Caton Reed's blog.

I enjoyed the applique block so much I made another:

The green and yellow fabrics are golden oldies - Smithsonian prints from the late 90's. I just loved those collections so much. The green was in the big box of reproduction fabrics kindly gifted to me by Pam Holland, and the yellow was a gift from lovely Sue Flego in NZ. Quilters are so kind! I'm really enjoying the glue baste applique technique these days, it's hard to imagine I'll return to needle turn any time soon.

Other sewing I did this week was a couple more churn dash blocks, but I neglected to take a photo, I'll have to save that for next week. But on my other churn dash project, I finally settled on a fabric that I will use for the border:

It's a pretty William Morris print, and it seems to go with the rest of the quilt. I'll have to make sure I cut it out so that the grapes are all even across the quilt top or it will drive me crazy! It feels good to have finally made a decision toward finishing this top.

I had a little happy mail again this week, this time in the form of patterns:

I have absolutely loved the Morrell quilt from the very first time I saw it, so I will be super excited to make it. Before I can even consider it, I need to finish some other things, so who knows when I'll begin, but let me tell you, it's all I can do not to rip the pattern open and start sewing right away! The other birdie wreath pattern is just gorgeous also, and though I know it will be in my future sometime, it's not keeping me awake at night planning which fabrics I'll use :-)

And last of all for today, I shopped for a little fabric for Miss Mary, as I've decided I'd like to make a Dresden Play Mat for her. Here are the fabrics I chose:

You can't see in the picture, but the fabric is irresistibly sparkly. I can't wait to cut into it. I often joke with my friends that Amy and Mary have no idea of the tsunami of quilted and crafty items that are heading their way haha!

I feel like there are more things that I should be sharing with you, but I'm feeling flaky and can't think what they might be. So if I remember, I'll check back in on another day. I hope you've all had a great week, and I'll chatter soon! xox

Friday, June 17, 2022

A slow start, but I got a little done ...

This week got a off to a rough start - a nasty gastro bug swept through our extended family, it was violent and persistent, so I had very little energy for a few days. Once the worst was over it was actually nice to lay low for a little bit, but I did miss time in the sewing room.

Before all that happened though, I put together another sweet little Alice Dress for Miss Mary:

I just love the Llama Drama fabric, both it and the lining were from Spotlight. The pattern is an instant download from Rebecca Page, and because goes right up to size 12, I'll be making these for many years to come. It's super easy, and since I'm not really a confident garment maker, I'm learning each time I make one.

During recovery I spent time online ... as you do ... and put a lowball bid on a box of random china bits and pieces at my favourite local auction house. I really didn't expect to win, but I did and here is my loot:

I was only really interested in the Spode Byron pieces, which are the green rimmed dishes at the back there. But the Myott dinnerset in the foreground is just lovely, and as well as the other bits and pieces, there were five pieces of Carltonware in there too!

This was the prettiest of the Carltonware dishes. I've given them all to a sweet friend as she loved them so. And the Myott dinnerset is going to another lovely friend, she's picking it up to grace her new historic home. I'm so pleased to have found some pieces I was looking for, and was also able to bless others with the pieces I don't need!

And then I was able to get quilting on one of the tops I made:

My machine gave me the devil of a time with this quilting project. I broke a needle, bent a needle, and had all kinds of backlash issues. I ended up having to change the tension on the bobbin, hopefully it won't mess anything else up. I did use a new to me batting - a Quilters Dream poly, and also used King Tut thread which I don't usually use, it's just so hard to imagine they could affect the tension so much, but who knows? Anyway, it's finished now, and I'm very happy to call it done! 

This week I have some more churn dash blocks to make, a secret squirrel project, and the binding for the quilt above. I'm sure that will keep me busy and I'll report back soon!

Friday, June 10, 2022

A Churn Dash start ...

Whew! This has been quite a week! Happily though, I still managed to spend some q-time in the sewing room and checked a couple of things off my list:

I got a start on my Churn Dash blocks for the Sewalong that Chookyblue is hosting:

Though a lot of people are making 9 inch blocks (which is the size I was working on recently) I decided to make mine 7.5 inch finished. I'm going to use the blocks to make up some more donation quilts, and the smaller size will work better with their finished quilt size criteria. 

I found the light background hiding in my fabric closet along with the green, and the centre square as well as the blue dot print were from the fabrics donated by lovely Jean. She is so very generous. I've put three tops together so far, and I've some batting for them now, so hopefully I'll get busy quilting them soon.

Also checked off my list ...

I finished binding the tree skirt with the pretty Edyta Sitar Noel Christmas fabrics, added a button and took some pictures. I was able to update the pattern to reflect the new fabric and update my Etsy listing. I've been wanting to do this for a long time, so it felt so great to have this completed!

And last of all, I made a couple more Moda Blockheads blocks:

Block 10 - Autumnal by Chelsi Stratton

Bonus Block 1 - Roundabout

For Block 10, I changed the stem a little, on the small block it looked a little thick, and I'm pleased I altered it. Next on the list was Block 11, but when I looked at it, I just wasn't ready for such tiny pieces, so I'll tackle it another day when I have more energy ;-) Bonus Block 1 got made instead - the red fabric being a leftover from making the tree skirt recently, and the other three fabrics from my 1.5 inch scrap box. 

I have no clue what this week will bring in the sewing room/ladies lounge, but you can be sure I will never run out of things to do in there! Chatter soon friends! xox

Friday, June 03, 2022

Unexpected sewing ...

Hello friends! This week I didn't do any of the sewing I was expecting to do ... in fact it was all unexpected sewing! I had ordered some Edyta Sitar/Laundry Basket Quilts Christmas fabric a little while back with a view to refreshing the Christmas Tree Skirt pattern that is always so popular on my Etsy site. The fabric arrived recently, so rather than let it sit around I got busy making the new skirt. It's my plan to have it on sale for Christmas in July, so why not give it a new look too!


I'm so glad there are scraps of the fabric left, it's so pretty and I can see it playing nicely with so much of my stash.

I also got back to putting some of the Kaffe Fasset tops together - I love how this one is looking:

Lovely Jean donated these fabrics, and did some of the piecing, and we're going to send these quilts on to Cranio Facial Australia. If any of my local quilting friends are looking to make some donation quilts, please do consider their cause. They're also running a quilt competition to coincide with the Royal Adelaide Show - get your entries in friends!

Today I received some happy mail - sweet Karen from Somerset Quilts had an Instagram sale over the weekend, I was able to click quickly and secure some scrap bags. And I ordered some floral fabric at the same time - I'm always looking for things that will work for broderie perse, and this one was lovely:

Whoops! The picture came thru sideways and I'm feeling too lazy to change it! :-)

Last of all for today, here is something I've been forgetting to share for a couple of weeks now:

I bought this Tiffany style lamp to go on the china cabinet in the hallway. When I got it all unpacked and in place it was a little busy, so I've swapped it over for the lamp that was in our bedroom and it's living on the tallboy now. I just love how it looks. It's pretty hard to take pictures of a lamp that's switched on apparently, so please trust me when I tell you how pretty it is!

Anyway, that has been my week, not super exciting, but it feels like it's been a busy one. Thank you to everyone that has stopped by and left a message - it always makes my day! Chatter soon xox

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