Caswell Block C4

Here is my latest C4 block - further evidence of my addiction:

Caswell Quilt - Block C4

I finished the last stitches in this block yesterday afternoon while I was cooking for the hubster's 'significant' birthday party dinner we had last night. It was a really fun time, but I'm feeling mighty tired today. Because it was such a late night, we left most of the aftermath to deal with for today, and the sweet guy has already tackled most of the dishes before I even climbed out of bed this morning. He's a keeper!

But back to the block - I didn't necessarily use the same colours as the original block - that purple flower definitely wasn't in the plan. Also, on the blue and yellow flower at right, the two outermost petals I had originally stitched a yellow batik fabric down - when the block was finished I just didn't like them, so I swapped them out for the petals you see now. The yellow ones were just the only thing my eye rested on, so out they went.

Not sure if I'll get another block started today - I still have chores to get through, and some guild work to tackle ... here's betting I'll find a few minutes for my stitching though ... :-)

Caswell Block C5

Ohhh yes, I need someone to divert me away from these blocks ... I genuinely have so many other things I must do, but I keep heading back to this completely addictive applique! Here's my next completed block:

Caswell Quilt - Block C5

How fun to find that I had the same fabric in my stash that Corliss used for the vase in her original block. I have the print in three colourways and chose to use the one that has a little pink in it - my thinking was that I could then use pink in the centre of the flowers. 

Two of the fabrics in the block are almost 20 years old. The green in the centre leaf on the vase - it was a gift to me from my sweet friend Linda when I visited with her in the USA in 2000. And the yellow/black print is a Smithsonian print that Sue from NZ sent me a little while back. The Smithsonian collections were around when I started my original Dear Jane quilt back in 1997. I had long ago run out of the yellow, so it was just so kind of Sue to send me some more. What lovely friends I have!

Tonight before I head to bed, I'm making a list of the things I must achieve tomorrow. I'm a compulsive follower of lists, so hopefully I won't get distracted and head right on back to the appliqué ... here's hoping!

Caswell Block B5

And here I am again - my addiction is in full force. I've been doing the things that MUST be done - like feeding the family, chores and taking the Christmas decorations down ... but every spare minute I have is spent on tiny appliqué stitches ...

Caswell Quilt - Block B5

This is my tenth block now, and I'm loving how they're coming along. It's so much fun looking into my scraps for the perfect piece for each of the elements. I don't necessarily think I always get each fabric combo right, but that's okay, I do love to throw zingers into the mix.

My sweet friend Donna in Folsom sent me home last year with some of her scraps, and I've been having fun using those too - have you seen them in so many of the blocks Donna? I think 5 of the red petals are from your stash hon!

I've also been enjoying the NZ fabrics I mentioned a little while back, The larger light pink flower is made of one of those, and I just love the little highlights of gold - it really appeals to my bling-loving self.

Tonight I have some cutting out to do before I head to bed - I need to get some HST's ready - and another project entirely, a sweet baby has arrived a little early, so I'm going to get busy on a treat for the precious little bundle. Chatter soon! xox

Caswell Block B2

Another quickie post today, I just wanted to share that I've completed another Caswell block:

Caswell Quilt - Block B2

I'm hopelessly addicted to these blocks right now, and lucky for me I'm on holidays so I can indulge my addiction. Chatter soon - I'm off to prepare my next block!

Caswell Block C1

Just a quickie post today before I begin to get ready for NYE festivities:

Caswell Quilt - Block C1

I appliquéd the last four leaves in place this morning. My goal was to finish it up last night, but those leaves just weren't going to get done after 1am, so I put it aside. This block has been the easiest so far, love it!

Caswell Block A2 and Christmas :-)

Now that the craziness of Christmas has died down in our house, I've been able to put another Caswell quilt block together. Every time I finish a block, I think it's my favourite - and this one is no exception:

Caswell Quilt - Block A2

I did have one hiccup while putting the block together - the original highlights on the far left flower just weren't speaking to me, so I redid it - here's what it looked like before:

In hindsight, the base of the flower probably should have been a slightly darker/more interesting fabric, but I just didn't have it in me to change the whole thing, and it looks okay now.

I'm loving this project, and it's time to select the next block to put together, I just can't decide!

Now I have a couple of happy snaps from Christmas to share with you - first up, another one of Camo decorating his gingerbread house:

Camo continued decorating the house, even after the big day. You won't recognise the house now though, I'm sure it was completely delicious!

Here is a picture of the table ready for our visitors to arrive:

It always thrills me to use the Masons Vista dinner set, it's so pretty on the table, and I love taking the time to make sure everything looks nice and coordinated. I have to confess that I wish party poppers would come in more traditional colours, they do stand out on the table don't they?

And just so you don't think it all stays tidy, here is a snap of the aftermath:

Ohhh heavens, what a mess! It's not a very flattering picture of the guys - they're caught deep in conversation.

A sweet friend Janet was eagle eyed and spotted my gingerbread Advent wreath when I posted the above picture on the facebooks. She asked for a close up, so I thought I'd share with you here too:

I went a little gingerbread crazy this year - the no spread gingerbread recipe I shared in my last post really made it easy to be enthusiastic about baking. It's also quite a delicious recipe, so give it a try if it's your thing.

Going forward we're having a New Years gathering, then two weeks later a dinner for DH's 50th, then after that we can relax a little. Happiness!! :-)

A happy win, and the lead up to Christmas ...

Not so long ago my lovely friend Vicki sent me an urgent message - she asked me if I'd checked out the upcoming Small and Whitfield auction. There was a Masons Vista dinner set coming up and because she was going to the auction wanted to know if I'd like to bid?

Of course I would!!

This is the picture from the listing. Though I don't really need dinner plates, you can never have too many. But the serving dishes and salad/bread plates are what I was excited about.

Sweet Vicki managed to win the auction, and for the bargain price of $300.00. Doesn't sound like a bargain, but if you check out how much serving pieces and plates go for, you'll know why I was thrilled :-) Here is the state of my little cabinet in the dining room now:

I think I'm good for quite a while. The only thing I'd really run for is a lovely soup tureen, and maybe some coffee mugs. The mugs are hard to find!

For those of you that are my buddies on Facebook will have already seen all about this next thing, but I thought I'd share my baking in the lead up to Christmas. You all know I love my gingerbread ... and so do my family - but for different reasons. I tried a new and much more elaborate gingerbread house this year, and I'm thrilled with the results.

The house design has been around for a while and I'd seen a few on Pinterest, the templates can be found here. I also found a recipe for 'no spread' gingerbread on Pinterest, and let me tell you, it's my new favourite thing. Trimming gingerbread house pieces after baking is a bit of a pain, and with this recipe, I didn't have to do it at all!

Here are the pieces after baking:

It was like a delicious jigsaw puzzle.

Here is an in progress shot, I was super worried about the roof fitting.

The blobby bits on the back wall of the house are the supports I used to hold the string of battery operated LED lights in place. Once the icing was dry, I looped the lights over the supports and used more icing to anchor them. You can see the mansard roof in the background. I had to wait until it was super dry before I could attach the tower, and then carefully lift it in place.

And here is the finished article. I'm so pleased with how it looks. The trees in the foreground are icecream cones iced to look like fir trees. I can't even imagine what I'll work on next year - perhaps this one again with refinements ... who knows!

Camo loves to work alongside me with his own creation, and here he is:

The Ikea gingerbread houses are so much fun for little people to work on, and he has fun creating with the icing and sweets.

Last of all for today, I thought I'd share a couple of the mats I've made up during the last week or so:

I always have fun making them, the quilting is my favourite bit. I genuinely think I've made more than 100 of these over many years, and it always makes me laugh that I only have one of my own. I think I might have one left over this year, so if that's true, my personal collection of spiderweb mats will be two! Don't forget if you'd like to make one of these, there is a free tutorial at my website - feel free to download it.

Well, that's it for today, if I don't have an opportunity to get back before our big day, Merry Christmas from my family to yours! xox

Two finishes ...

Last week I had two finishes, but because of preparations for Amy's 21st birthday party, I didn't have a chance to share.

Here is my latest Caswell block:

Caswell Quilt - Block D1

D1 was a fun block to put together. The original block used the same fabric for each of the petals, but I thought it'd be cute to use different ones and I'm happy with the look. The bottom of the block is a bit messy with a tangle of leaves, but it's fun to hunt down lots of greens in my stash.

And this is the finished Dresden Topper, I'm just loving it:

I love how the ric-rac and ribbon trim just completely change up the look of this project. While I'm on holidays I'm going to make one up in cute kid fabrics. I thought it'd make a sweet playmat for a friend who is expecting a baby soon. But first I'm making up a few spiderweb placemats. They're destined to be gifts for the sweet ladies in my Saturday tennis team. I should have the piecing completed tonight - and we have some hot weather ahead, so I'll have plenty of indoor time to finish them up.

Chatter soon!