Show and Tell

Today at class, one of my sweet girls - Julie, brought in show and tell for us. She's been working hard on this project this year, and it's a gift for her best friend's birthday. Julie even delayed the gift giving so we could see the finished result:

Isn't it adorable? I believe it was in an Australian Patchwork and Quilting magazine recently, but I don't know the details of the issue etc. If anyone has those details, feel free to share :-) I just love the fabrics Julie chose, they're so bright and cheerful.

In other news, I've been Weight Watcher-ing these past two weeks, and I'm thrilled that I've lost just over 2kg. Early successes will give me the motivation to keep at it. Yesterday Marty wanted to go with me to the grocery store after work, and then he had to dash out to a meeting soon after we got home. So that dinner was easy, I grabbed a couple of frozen pizzas for him and the kids, and I picked up a Weight Watchers one for myself. Check this out:

The temptation of the picture on the box certainly didn't match up to the reality of what was inside. Not very inspiring at all! See on the box there it says 'Now even Better' - makes you wonder what it was like before, doesn't it? It's not often that I grab fast food like this, and you can be sure I won't be doing it again! Ugh!

Hopefully I'll be able to stick to the plan and be good over the Easter break. Wish me luck people! xox

Ooops!

I lost a week there! Where did it go?? Probably the same place that the odd socks and biros go I'd suggest! Does everyone else have the same problem, or is it just me?

Anyways, I've been busy appliquéing the hexagon units down on the Mrs Billings border. I think I'm two thirds the way done now.

I'm trying to be super neat, so it's taking some time. See the quarter inch mark on the raw edge there ... that's where I unpicked all the borders before re-attaching them again. I had a brain wave - if I put the old seam on the outside edge it would give me a reference to make centering the hexie units easier. Not bad eh? *grins*

The last part of last week and Saturday were busy preparing for The Big Dinner Party. It was a huge success, and for my usual baffling reasons, I managed not to get any pictures of the event other than a bad shot of the table in progress:

Given that I had such good luck with the candelabras, it stood to reason that the extra Masons Vista plates didn't get here in time for the big day. I had to giggle when one arrived today - yay! I expect six more to arrive this week *lol*. In another life I promise to get hooked on dishes that are current ranges, and not ones that ceased production around 50 years ago :-)

Just for fun I did those cute Martha Stewart napkin folds again - it took a little practice to get them right after such a long hiatus, but it's so effective - totally worth it. Mine don't look quite as crisp as hers, but still cute :-)

The menu consisted of pumpkin soup first. Next, rack of lamb with roasted potato, pumpkin and parsnips, steamed broccoli, carrot and beans. And last of all, my favourite, a double chocolate frozen dessert. This one I should have taken pictures of - it was wonderful. I didn't make it in a loaf tin as the recipe suggests, but made it in a silicone muffin form, so it made individual round desserts, then I swirled chocolate sauce around the plate and added crushed pistachios OMG, it was yummy! One of the guys had three helpings! I'll be making it again for sure. But be warned - it's not Weight Watchers friendly :-)

Before I go, I wanted to mention that I've had a LOT of questions and comments from 'No Reply' and 'Anonymous' users. I do want to answer and say thanks for all of them, so as soon as I'm done with the appliqué I'll go back and answer all your messages. Please be patient with me - I do love hearing from you all.

Well, I need to get back to the appliqué - when I'm on a roll it's best to go with it. I'll check back in soon and let you know where I'm up to. Chatter soon!

How you like me now?

Haha, I've got that song running thru my head - I just heard it on the TV, and it's like a worm. It wiggles on into your brain, and it won't let go! But anyways ... I just had to reveal my progress ...

I'm sorry this picture is so blurry, it's almost 11.30pm here, and I just couldn't wait a minute longer to share where I'm up to with you! So blurry and dark it had to be :-)

All the hexagon units are glued in place (except one small unit in the top left corner that I've lost or forgotten to make). One complete border has been appliquéd  so I just have three sides left to stitch down, and I can send this baby in for basting. I'm so entirely thrilled with how it's coming together!

There won't be any more interesting pictures of the top until it's being quilted, so be sure to get your eye-candy fill for now. I better go catch some zzz's, so I'll chatter soon :-)

Appliqué under-way :-)

Last night while I was waiting for Downton Abbey to start, I got busy and glued some of the hexagon components in place - I was so excited to see how the final pieces of the puzzle would change the look of the quilt top. Here are a couple laid out on the ironing board:

I was nervous about how hard it would be to space the sections out evenly, but I needn't have been concerned - it was really easy - I just placed another unit in-between and it was great. I'm doing my hexagon section a little differently to the pattern. The pattern requires that we make hexagons from the background fabric as well, and the pieces are made into a huge strip before being appliquéd along the border - so that little four piece hexagon unit would have been surrounded by hexagons too. I decided that all that extra work wouldn't really add anything to the finished quilt, so I'm doing it my own way :-)

Here is where I'm up to so far with my appliqué - I worked on it this morning, and I have one half of one border done, so from here it shouldn't take too long at all. I'm beyond thrilled with how it's looking, and it won't be long before I can send the top in for basting. Yay!!

An inch can make all the difference ...

So, what have I been doing these past few days? I haven't been slacking off - I promise! On Friday during the day I completed the last of the hexagon units I shared with you, and then in the evening I attached the outside borders to Mrs Billings Coverlet.

And then on Saturday I removed the borders. As I feared, they were just too full, and even with the addition of the appliquéd hexagon units, I felt they just weren't going to work.

Today I've cut an inch off each border and sewed them back on again. I'm much happier with the end result. The picture above was taken after I took the fullness out, so you can imagine how bad it was before. It still looks a little puffy, but some of that is because the previous border is so heavily pieced that it pulls on the outer border, and also because I need to give the top a good press. When the appliqué is in place, this top will look perfect!

Other than quilting, this has been such a busy weekend - Friday Camo came home from school camp. He had such a great time, and he was just worn out. Piles of laundry came home with him, so I've been busy getting on top of that. Sat night was Amy's boyfie's 21st birthday party. In the morning my friend and I went to the plaza, and I had make-up done for the event. It was such a lovely treat, and something I've never done before. Loved it! In the afternoon, it was stitching at Claire's house - always fun to see the girls, plenty of chatter and giggles. Then in the evening, the party - super fun. Today we're watching the F1 GP and catching up on all things that need to be done.

Hopefully I can get a start on the appliqué this evening, I'm dying to see how it will look! Chatter soon :-)

Almost there ...

I'm soooo close ... I've almost finished making up all the hexagons I need for Mrs Billings final border.

There are only 8 more units to go... I feel sure I can finish them up tomorrow. The next step is to add the large background fabric border that the units are appliquéd to. I don't mind confessing that I'm a little nervous about that step. Because the previous border is heavily pieced, the final border has the potential to be wavy. Very wavy indeed. Let's hope that the measuring and cutting pixies are on my team tomorrow. Chatter soon!

They're here!

Today the parcel postie hammered on my door, and I was amazed and surprised that he had two very similarly sized boxes for me. My candelabras had arrived! One not so surprising, it had only come from NSW, but for the one to arrive from Scotland on the same day, that was AMAZING!!

Here they are on my table:

They're completely identical in every way (though one needs for me to give it a good polish) and given that they're from opposite sides of the globe, it's a miracle that they're even similar! Kudos to the two sellers for giving such great descriptions - they made it easy for me.

For the big day I think I'll have a nice arrangement of fresh flowers in the centre rather than the vase with silks - I'd still like to have some room for platters on the table too.

Now I just have to wait for my extra plates to arrive, and all will be perfect! Yay!

Hex-alicious

It's not news that I'm still plugging away at my hexagon units. These smaller ones are easy to put together, and I should be done with them in the next day or so. I'm so looking forward to it! I think I have just over 20 completed so far.

I've almost run out of prepped hexies, so I'll get some more basted this this afternoon. It's the perfect activity to combat this run of hot weather we're having.

Summer mustn't have got the memo - it's over! Only it's not! We've had a heat wave for a week, and I believe we still have a week of it to go - temps around the 100f mark for our far away friends. Ugh - it's lethargy inducing. Thank heavens for air conditioning.

Even the local wildlife are suffering. This little guy was found on the road:

That's a deadly brown snake. Marty says about a year old judging by the size of it - he put it on the side-walk for my photo opportunity :-) It must have been basking on the road and gotten run over by a car. I'm just glad it hadn't slithered into our yard for either us or our cats to find. I just know Gracie would have thought it a plaything - and that would have been about the end of her. I hope this snake's family stay down by the creek - much safer for everyone, including the snakes!

Well, it's into the kitchen to make some dinner preparations, and then back to the hexagons for me. For my friends nearby - stay cool! And for everyone else, hope you've had a great weekend!