Successes ...

So, I was at Hettie's Patch today, and I remembered to hunt for the perfect background fabric for the Di Ford BOM. I had a huge win and found exactly the fabric I needed ... what do you think? It's a darling French General fabric, and I do so love everything they produce:

Tell me though, does the fabric look familiar at all? Oops, I have managed to bring home a fabric that is pretty much identical to the background I used for Mrs Billings. Of which I still have around 3 metres!! Oh well, I know I'll use the Mrs Billings background for something in the future, maybe a back for this quilt? I have no idea why I checked pretty much my entire stash for the perfect fabric, but not that one.

In the photo, the background fabric looks much darker than the chintz, but in the light of day at the store, they were a much better match. I'm still super thrilled with my purchase, I nearly got something else entirely different with little flowers on it, and I don't think that would have been half as good. And just so you know, I've decided to make myself wait until I've finished embroidering the tractor block before I'll allow myself to start working on the BOM - if I don't push myself that way, I'll never get the Chronicle blocks done, they're just not really my favourite thing.

And in other news, I finally got myself this month's copy of Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine (it's Volume 23 No 6).

The magazine has a review of our Festival of Quilts, and my Mrs Billings quilt is in there along with a whole bunch of the other prize winners. I do so love seeing my babies in print :-)

And last up for today, I've done a little baking this evening. If you're a long time reader, you'll know that each December our apricot tree supplies us with wonderful produce for me to make Apricot Jam. Last year I had quite a bit left over when it was time to make it again, so I was left wondering what to do with the excess. Pinterest to the rescue!!

I found this fabulous recipe for Marmalade Muffins, and decided the science would be just the same if I used Apricot Jam instead. For fun, I also tossed in some white chocolate chips, yum!. I first baked these on Tuesday afternoon, I didn't even get to eat one, and they were gone entirely by this morning (Thursday morning). I call that a success. Feel free to scoot over to Pinterest and see what I'm pinning, I think I may be hooked!

Well, that's it from me this evening, I'm heading into the family room ... I'm going to park my butt on the lounge and get busy stitching ... chatter soon! xox

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.

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? :-)

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

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 :-)

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

Still quilting ...

I know you all realise that I'm madly quilting away on Mrs Billings, I feel really naughty not checking in more often - but honestly, I can't imagine constant 'in progress' pictures of hand quilting are all that interesting for you ...

But I took a picture of the girl while I was moving the hoop this morning, so here you go:

I must admit, I'm really happy with how things are progressing, and I'm getting it done faster than I thought I would. Happy days!

And for a little extra eye-candy, while I was at work last week, Betty brought in a quilt she'd just finished binding for her Granddaughter:

Of course, with my mad photography skillz, I managed to cut the E off the end of Betty's Granddaughter's name, but it says Georgie down both sides. Isn't it adorable. I'm terribly flaky and don't remember the name of the pattern or the range of fabric she used, but if you're interested, please let me know, and I'll endeavour to get the details when I see her later this week.

Well, I'm back to the quilting grindstone now, I hope to get another 45mins or so in before I head to bed. Chatter soon friends! xox

Hand Quilty Love

Here's the new hooped area I'm quilting on right now ... it's such fun to get to a new space and try some new things.

Now, don't be fooled into thinking I'm this far along with the quilting on the whole quilt ... on a few of the sides there are still some of the hexies to work on ...  I'm just moving around a little to stop myself from lapsing into a 'quilting-boredom-coma'. That's a recognised quilting ailment ... google it (or not)!

In other news, recently I lost my Quilters Guild name badge, so at the last guild meeting I ordered a new one. Last week I learned that the new one has arrived and I can pick it up this week. Today of course I found the old one - it's the law of lost things. Buy a new one and you'll find the old one.

Chatter soon! xox

Don't worry ...

Don't worry friends, I'm still around ... but I've been quilting like a mad thing, and it's crazy busy here too. I promise to have a newsy post for you really soon, honestly, I promise!!

(Gratuitous Mrs Billings picture, just for fun) :-)

Still quilting ...

and I'm sure I will be for a good long time yet. It's a lucky thing I love to hand quilt, and it has been cold, so it's nice to snuggle under the quilt sandwich.

It's my aim to move the hoop once per day, and I've pretty much been able to do just that. This is my favourite area of quilting at the moment - but I'm fickle and my favourite area changes almost daily.

I'll check back in later in the week - in the meantime, you know where you can find me :-)

Another shot ...

I had another try at taking a picture of the quilting on Mrs Billings. It was such a grey day that I had little success, but I'll share my efforts with you anyways ...

Not great huh? When Marty gets back, I'll get him to do some pictures. He's a much better photographer than I am, and he has a fancy camera that he knows how to use :-)

And while I'm remembering to take photos, I had promised earlier this week to share the cute slippers I received from the tiny people on Mother's Day:

I just love them, and they're so warm and cosy. I'm wearing them right now. It's all glamour all the time here :-)

Well, I'm going to make dinner for Camo and I, and then settle in for a night of being toasty under my quilt that I'm working on. Chatter soon! xox

Still Quilting!

I'm still hand quilting away on Mrs Billings - and I'm really happy with how things are coming along so far. I've learned it's really hard to capture a good picture that shows off the quilting at night ... let me try again tomorrow ...

In related news - I've decided to shorten my deadline by a couple of months. Nothing like putting a whole lot more pressure on myself, but I have a feeling I can manage it. But I better get my skates on ... there's still a LONG way to go!! Chatter soon :-)

Angry Birds

I'm still quilting away on Mrs Billings. It's so relaxing, and it's keeping me warm in this cooler weather too. Here is one of my favourite sections that I've worked on recently:

Doesn't he have angry eyes? It looks like he's glaring at me! I'm sure he's telling me to get busy and quilt some more! Chatter soon xox

A visit with friends :-)

Today I had a lovely outing at Hettie's Patch - I was on a mission: To meet up with Sue, Pip and Sheila (no blog). Sue is over on holidays from New Zealand, and it seems having a great time! She and I have corresponded for quite a while over our blogs and mutual love of repro fabrics, so it was like meeting up with an old friend.

In a moment of complete dim-wittedness, I managed to leave not only my camera, but also my cell phone at home, so I had no means of recording the outing for posterity, but when I get the chance, I'll steal a pic from Pip or Sue.

Here are my modest gatherings from a little retail therapy:

A small pack of batiks, perfect for the Gloria Loughman workshop I'm attending soon. A really neat set of templates to make up the cog wheel block, and a back up blue washout marking pen. I'm doing a lot of marking on Mrs Billings, and it would really make me cranky if I ran out of ink in the middle of a quilting session!

And speaking of Mrs Billings:

I moved the hoop last night and started on a new area of quilting. I'd ideally like to move the hoop once per day - the middle section was very heavily quilted and took two days. I have a deadline, and I'd like to reach it. I have my fingers crossed ... but not for too long, it'd make quilting tricky!

A few comment follow ups: A bit thank you to Lin and Kim for putting me on to some leads for the cute pink repro fabric I'm so in love with. I'd say given the age of it, I've probably missed the boat, but a girl can hope right?

And thank you also for the lovely comments from the following 'no reply' commenters: Laura in IA, and Lynne from Hawaii. I do try and respond to everyone personally via email unless I don't have an email address to contact you on.

Sjoukje from the Netherlands asked why I don't hand quilt more often. I'd really like to, but I reserve hand quilting for the most special of my projects. Like the Nearly Insane that I finished year before last, now Mrs Billings, and the occasional wholecloth project. Because hand quilting takes so much longer than machine quilting, it's just not practical for me to hand quilt a lot of the things I make. And I love to machine quilt too, so it's win-win for me really.

Alrighty, I'm going to tidy up the dinner dishes and get busy with some more quilting - chatter soon! xox

Ready, Set ... Go!!!

Quilting on Mrs Billings coverlet has begun, and I'm thrilled with how it's coming along already. Getting up close and personal with all the little bits and pieces and deciding how to quilt them is really fun.

While I was stitching just now, I found a little area that had come undone. I'll have to applique it down to secure it - you can just see it there on the left side of the square, by the lighter floral fabric. I'm sure there will be lots of little bits and pieces that will need fixing up as I go along.

This is going to take a looooong time ... hopefully I'll still be able to find interesting things to share with you over the next several months. I'm  heading back to the quilting hoop, chatter soon! xox