Another Saturday post ...

I wanted to put a post up last night, and though my my mind was willing, my body wanted me to get some rest. So here we are. This has been the very best week - on Monday little Mushroom Chu-Chu arrived. Her name is Hazel Jane, and she is an adorable blonde bundle. Hazel was my Great Grandmother's name, which is such a lovely tribute, Amy has always been very family oriented, and Nanna was so pleased that her mother was honoured in this way. I won't share a picture just now, I want to run it past Amy first.

In other news, I finished the top of Cameron's aviation themed quilt, and it went together so easily. Once I got sewing I got it made in two days. Why did I linger so long over finishing it?

I do know that the blue fabric in the sashing was running low, and I have some recollection of being concerned about it. My original plan for the quilt is long gone from my mind, so I just built on what I'd assembled so far and put a border on it with the fabrics that I had on hand. And I think I have a 2in x 6in (approx) strip left over of the blue fabric, so it definitely was a close run thing. My darling friend Lizzy is going to quilt it for me, so I can check this project off my ever-long list. There are bits left overs from a couple of the fabrics, and they'll be great to use up later for donation quilts.

Later in the week I wanted to get busy on some mmmCrafts ornaments - I have a lot to make this year and don't want to leave it to the last minute:

These are the ones I've started off with - from the 12 days series. I'll be able to show them when they're finished too, but some of the ornaments I'll have to keep on the down low. They're lovely hand work, and somewhat portable too.

Last picture for the day - week 18 of the tiny nine patch blocks:

I'm so enjoying the little nine patches, and I think I've settled on how I'll set them together for the final quilt top. I'm not sure if I'll start working on that though, I should probably keep going on some of the other things I have on the go. It's not like me to have so many projects in various stages of construction, I'm flitting from one thing to another lately!

So that's going to be the extent of my post today, I have been busy painting bead heads for orders today (as well as visiting with my grandies) and I need to get back to painting. I'm always amazed by how many orders head out the door in a week, and very much appreciative too! Chatter soon friends xox

Oops, I missed September!

Yesterday I was certain I'd have time to get a post up on here - I'm not sure I've ever gone a whole month without blogging. But before I knew it, it was midnight and my eyes really needed to close - guild work, cardio tennis, school holiday kiddo appts - my day had disappeared.

I have been busy hand quilting on Montmellick, and I'm super excited that I'll have the quilting done in the next day or so - then it's on to binding, hanging sleeve, label etc. I can't wait! There's no picture to share on that project, but soon I promise!

So that I have a little eye candy for you - I wanted to share a project that one of my sweet friends Chris brought to class a couple of weeks ago:

Chris has been working on the Civil War Love Letters quilt for a couple of years now, and she was thrilled to share that she's finished hand quilting. Isn't it just lovely?

The blocks are just lovely, and Chris stuck closely to the fabric and colour combinations in the book. She told us all it was a big learning curve working on the quilt, but so very well worth it.

Doesn't this quilt look just like something I'd work on? I have to admit that I'm very much tempted, but I think I already know what I'll be working on next. And you know I'll share when I begin :-)

Also in the eye candy department:

Betty brought more show and tell - this is a quilt she worked on for her sweet grandson. Isn't it striking made up in solid fabrics?

Betty said she wasn't super happy with her quilting, but we all thought it was absolutely wonderful, and another fabulous finish. How lucky I am to have such creative ladies coming to classes?

Better dash - I have to run Camo to tennis training, and then it's a quick drop off and dash to guild. Tomorrow will be a much quieter day, and I will be able to get back into the hand quilting.

Chatter soon! xox

New York Beauty Workshop

This weekend just gone, I was so thrilled to be able to participate in a workshop with one of our most wonderful local teachers, Lessa Siegele. We were working on foundation pieced New York Beauty blocks, and had the very best fun. This is a project I've wanted to make for the longest time, and though I'll be waiting until I finish Mrs Billings before I work on the project any more, I can't wait to get busy with some of the brights in my stash.

Here are the blocks I created over the two days:

The block above was my first one, and I decided to test myself by adding the extra ring of points. Made for a mighty tricky insertion of the small quarter circle in the corner ... but I finally did it!

And a bright one with more points for the second day in class - definitely having fun rifling through my batik stash.

Those of you who know me will remember that I'm often a slowpoke in classes (but not always). In this class though I made only one block each day - I made them up very carefully ... and chattered a whole lot too :-)

There were 15 or so of us in the class, and here is a quick snap - one of each of our blocks (although it looks like there is a duplicate in there). It's amazing how different they all are, how fun!

Apologies for the blurry picture - I was shooting from a distance ... and let's face it - my pictures aren't the best even when I'm working with ideal conditions! ;-)

Lessa is a fabulous and generous teacher, we received the most informative handouts, and on the second day there were even more notes on other techniques she loves to teach. And for your viewing pleasure, she also generously allowed me to take and publish pictures of her class samples:

 This blue and white one is right up my alley don't you think? I can definitely see one in my future, being the vintage girl that I am.

And this one was the inspiration for the blocks I made - I figured while I'm in class, I may as well step outside my comfort zone ... way out of it!

So, that was my weekend, and the week previous was super busy too - in fact, I have a lot of quilty work ahead of me for the next month or two, so I hope I don't neglect the blog too much. And further to that, thank you so much to the sweet ladies who emailed me to check on me - what honeys you are! :-)

Let's hope before the end of the week I'm back up to date with my emails ... and if I'm really lucky I'll be back reading some blogs again too, I've missed you all! xox

And it's done ...

Just last night I put the last stitches in the binding of the cot quilt. This was really fun to put together - a treat after working with such small pieces for such a long time.

Such large strips meant I could go to town with the quilting. So of course I got busy with my favourite thing - feathers ... with a few swirly tendrils thrown in for good measure.

I have missed working on my NI quilt though - so I'm looking forward to getting some more hand quilting done soon. Perhaps tonight while I'm checking in on the next installment of Downton Abbey - how I love that show! Chatter soon :-)

Simple Sample :-)

I just wasn't feeling like hand quilting tonight - first time in a long time! So I decided to put together a little shop sample I kitted up today.

It's a very simple strippy cot quilt - 6.5" strips. It went together so quickly, and the fabrics are very sweet. Of course Holly had to get in on the act - check out the devilish eyes!

I've done a little of the quilting - and I'll finish it up tomorrow evening. Hopefully I'll have this project bound and done by the weekend :-)

What shall I finish?

Now that I've finished the top of my Nearly Insane quilt, I thought it would be a great time over the next month to work on a few projects that are laying around unfinished. First up, I've quilted and bound my Kaffe fabric quilt.

All that is left is to stitch the binding down on the reverse side, and then it's all done. I have my wonderful friend Linda to thank for the gift of this kit while I was staying with her last year in the US. Can you see the cute fabric that I selected for the back peeking out there. It was one of the fabrics I thought may become a border - but I'm glad I didn't choose it in the end :-)

And here is the latest item from what has become one of my new addictions:

I'm entirely hooked on Masons Vista pink dinnerware, and when I saw this piece, I just had to snap it up. It's a cheese wedge, and it arrived here safely all the way from the UK. Amazing!

I have the house to myself for the weekend, so I foresee some late nights, some sleep ins, and plenty of stitching time. Bring it on!

Happy 2011!

Happy New Year everyone! Isn't it nice that 2011 is stretching out before us like a blank slate to be written on? Do you have any resolutions for this year? I don't always make resolutions, and certainly almost never manage to keep them, but for this year, I'm going to make it a very broad one. 'Do Better'. I would like to think I'll try and look after my health a little better, my family, my home, and my friends too. Nothing specific, perhaps more a state of mind than anything.

So that I could end 2010 on a small personal high, I decided to work on a UFO I'd been stewing over for a little while. You can see where I left the project here.


I purchased four different border fabrics for this quilt, and I still don't think that I've chosen the right one. The thing that was really holding me back though, was the black and white inner border. I wanted to piece the border from squares, but it didn't matter what maths I used, I couldn't get a measurement that worked for the sides as well as the top and bottom. Then the answer hit me yesterday and I'm really happy with it.

I'd like to get started on quilting today, but first I want to get a few chores out of the way. Start the new year with a nice tidy slate ... :-)

Hungry Caterpillar Quilt

Soooo exciting! I'm really on the home stretch with Camo's Hungry Caterpillar Quilt. All I have to do now is hand stitch the binding on the reverse side and it's done.

The quilting is just very simple and done with a monofilament thread as I really wanted the lovely fabrics to shine. Camo is thrilled, so I hope I can finish it up tonight.

Since this project first appeared on my blog, I've had a lot of comments and emails regarding the pattern. I purchased this as a kit from Fons and Porter in 2008. I don't think you can get the kit any more, but they seem to still have the pattern, it's located here.

I'll finish up here, and get busy hand stitching :-)

Kaffe Prints

While I was in the USA recently, my wonderful friend Linda gave me a fabulous gift , it was a kit she'd made up. It included the most vibrant Kaffe Fassett fabrics, two black and white prints and a pattern by Artichoke Collection called Urban Chic.

Yesterday I started putting the blocks together, and I'm simply loving my progress. It's super easy piecing, and the simple design allows the wonderful fabrics to shine.

I just have to stitch the blocks into rows, and then the rows together and I can start working on the borders. I think I'll make up a different border treatment for this quilt, but it's gone together so quickly to this point that I can have fun playing and not feel that I'm wasting precious sewing time. Happy days!!

Daisy Chain

Recently I was asked when I was going to release a couple of my patterns from a few years ago for sale. Because I've been working on other people's quilting, and other magazine projects, some of my quilt work has fallen by the wayside.

Because of the 'free' time I had recently, I was able to finish up the pattern for my Daisy Chain quilt, and uploaded the details to my pattern website.

This is one of my dearest quilts, because one of my favourite friends made it up for me. I had designed it at a time when I had a LOT of quilty work going on, and my wonderful friend Linda offered to piece the blocks. I had a selection of pink prints I liked, an example of the background fabric, and sent them with a very rudimentary diagram across the Pacific to her.

To my wonderful surprise, a short time later, a completed top winged it's way back to me. Linda had sourced a background fabric, added more pink fabrics, and had also selected a border and cut binding strips. I was amazed, entirely thrilled and so thankful. Linda is such an amazing friend, and does so much for me, I am so lucky to have her in my life. Love you to pieces Linda!