Well, I have just had the best week so far. Really, the past seven days have been wonderful. Last Thursday I had lunch with a long lost friend, and I shared the little giftie I made for her. In the mail this week, I received a lovely card from Nat and the little book in the picture. We had shared with each other that we both love shoes, and just can never have too many, so the little book of quotes all relates to friendships and shoes. Just too cute! The card says 'I'm looking forward to kicking off our friendship again'. So sweet!
Also in the picture is a 'tumbler' template. I had seen the tumbler quilt on Dawn's blog, and thought it was wonderful, so cruised ebay once more to see what I could come up with. I have a different package of Pepper Cory's templates, so when I saw this one, I knew it would be a good one to have. The thing I like about this one is I can use it with my 3.5" pre cut strips. Yay! It arrived this week, and I really want to play with it, but I'm going to wait until I get some other things finished.
Also, by popular request is a picture of the 'Hat Boxes' quilt that Linda gave to me while I was in the US with her earlier this year. This quilt is one of my most treasured posessions, and it's on display on the quilt rack in my lounge room.
The quilt is just beautiful, and Linda has made it up beautifully. I can't tell you too much about it, as I don't know who the pattern designer was. I know Linda had it professionally quilted. The fabric is just gorgeous, I could just look at it all day long.
Also, one of my non-blog friends asked me when the picture in my profile was taken. Well, that's an easy one, it was taken in April this year while I was in the US. You can just see the corner of Linda's blue shirt on the bottom left there. We're in McClintocks bar at Pismo Beach. I'm amazed I look anything more than tired, as it was the same day I arrived in the US, so I'd just spent 16 hours flying, and several hours in the car that day! I think I was running on adrenaline!
Today I'm going to spend some time in Cameron's room tidying and culling the toys. Wish me luck people, this is going to be a big job!
Gosh I just love Bonnie's scrap quilt patterns. I never have to push myself to work on one of them, I just want to get sewing on all the scrap quilts I'm making. Maybe it's because her instructions are so inclusive that nothing ever goes horribly wrong?
Well yesterday was no exception, I made 5 more blocks toward my Double Irish Chain quilt. (I wanted to work on the blue and cream too, but have to wait for that one :-) weigh in on Monday) I really wanted to make some more blocks, but chores were calling. I made a big dent in the housework, so today after I'm done teaching at the quilt store I can work the sewing table in a big way!
I laid out the blocks I made, and I'm so thrilled with how they're coming together. With more blocks, it's super fun to see how the pattern starts working its way around the quilt. I don't know at this stage how big I'll make the quilt. I'm thinking that it'll either be 7 blocks square with a border, or 9 blocks square without a border. If I add a border, I'll add a narrow border the width of the squares, and strip piece a border also the width of the squares. That's a way off though, so I won't consume my thoughts with it.
I don't know how easy it is to see in the picture (still working with the phone) but there is actually a tiny bit of a plan with the blocks. There is a link through the blocks, scrap blue squares threading through the middle. Super fun!
I have six blocks toward the blue and cream quilt now. You see all six here. I made my 'pound loss' four blocks up last night after dinner. I had planned to make them a little earlier but did some chores instead. I really like the way they look together, and can't wait to make some more. I hope the anticipation of new blocks will give me extra motivation to stick to the points!
A parcel arrived on my doorstep yesterday while I was out at lunch. It's a little ebay find that I'm totally thrilled with. This summer we anticipate our reasonably young fruit trees will start bearing fruit. In past years we have been given fruit by a friend who's family owns a fruit block, and I have lots of fun preserving and making jam. Ohh, that would be 'canning' for my US friends :-)
Well, in the past I've used a 60 year old Fowlers Vacola unit, which is great, but it's a stovetop unit, and you have to bring it up to temperature, hold it at temperature, and when you're done, you have to clean, dry and oil the unit as it's made from steel. A bit of a pain, but still worth it.While cruising ebay, I found this electric unit that was sitting at a reasonable price. I decided to watch it, and on the final day bid for it. These units (the newest kind) retail for about $150, so I didn't want to rush out and get one. I also checked how much they'd been selling for on ebay, and the previous two (the same as this one) had gone for $102, and $80. I didn't get my hopes up that I'd get a bargain, and I told hubby I'd only bid up to about $50. Well, I got lucky, I won it for $31.55! With $20 postage, I'm totally thrilled, and for an extra bonus, it was packed with 8 x 1 litre jars! We gave it a test run last night, and it works perfectly! Today I'll give it a little clean up, and then ... rock on fruit season!
I weighed in this morning, and to my great surprise, I am missing 600g from my frame. I think that's around a pound and a half. It could be a little more, or a little less as my scales only weigh in 200g increments. It's not a lot for a week's effort, but it's much better than last week, and it's so much better than the way I've been working the pantry over winter!
So, I get to make four of my blue and cream blocks today. I'll do it after I collect the kids from school. This morning Cameron has a play date with one of his little kindy friends, and this afternoon I'm having lunch with one of Amy's friend's Mum. The social whirlwind is so tough *lol*.Yesterday I didn't do much in the way of stitching. I had planned to have a very 'stitchy' weekend as Marty is away, but I just wasn't in the mood yesterday. The kids and I went shopping for fun stuff.
Amongst other things, we picked up two movies that were on sale, the one on the right we watched in the afternoon together, and the kids really loved it, it was a fun movie. The one on the left I watched after the kids had gone to bed. I sort of planned to do some hand quilting while I was watching it, but as it turns out, because of the Shakesperian language I needed to concentrate on the movie, so no quilting last night.One thing I did manage to do last night before I put the movie on was 30 minutes of scrap cutting. I set my timer (of Flylady fame) and cut up some of my 'scrappage'. I still have a lot of scary scrappage in my large fabric bins. Maybe I'll get to some of those before the end of the month too.
It's finished! After two years sitting around, it's finally off the UFO list. I put the last quilting stitches in at around 11.30 last night, I was really ready to be finished too, I just wanted to go to bed.
In all honesty, this has not been an unfinished quilt top for nearly two years. I only pieced it earlier this year, but it has been sitting in my box of unfinished Thimbleberries club projects since October 2004, and because most of my T/B club buddies worked on their projects right there and then, it was the same as a UFO for me, because it just played on my mind in the most terrible way. I was the one who went along to club and chattered and enjoyed everyones company, and got very little done! I think I still have 5 of the 12 projects to do from that year, and that doesn't even include the quilt to be made with the bonus blocks from the year. I won't beat myself up over the UFO's however, and I'll plug away at them as I get the chance.
The picture shows the hand quilting I did yesterday. I've done between the pumpkins (like they wanted us to in the directions), and I've outlined the pumpkins, and cross hatched in the checkerboard section. I think I mentioned yesterday that I was using a black perle cotton for the quilting. It's been a while since I've quilted with such a thick thread, it was fun! Apologies for the quality of the picture once again, I'm still working with the camera phone, and there is also a shaft of morning sun racing across the quilt. Gotta love that morning sun!
Today I had grand plans to show you one or two of the quilts on the rack in the lounge room. Best laid plans have gone to waste however, as I discovered that DH has taken the camera with him on his mini break to the sheep-station.
Armed only with my camera-phone, I'm showing you what I worked on yesterday. The quality of the pictures I get with the camera phone aren't that good so I'll save the quilt rack items until next week.
On my list of goals for this month is to start hand quilting the October 2004 Thimbleberries Club quilt. Yesterday morning I was able to baste the quilt, but while I was doing that, I discovered that I'd managed to ripple the top and bottom border a little. :-(
Because of the ripple, I decided I'd machine quilt the border with a loopy meander to hopefully take in the ripple a bit, and I think it has come out okay. The quilt looks a little lumpy on the floor, as I just had to rescue the quilt off the lounge from under Amy's tushie! I couldn't just set to quilting the border without doing anything else, so before I started on the border, I quilted in the ditch around the inner borders and the inner part of the quilt. I also bound it yesterday.
Now I plan to hand quilt some cute details in the middle part of the quilt using the same black perle cotton that I used to blanket stitch around the pumpkins. It should like kind of cute. Darn the quilt looks really wrinkly in this picture. I hope the quilting makes it look a little better!
Yesterday Patti was curious to know about the reasons why people quilt. It's a really good (and fascinating) question.
I had to think about it for a little, and I can only say that in the beginning I was just drawn to it. I actually went to a pumpkin bag workshop with my Mum when I was first married and when I saw the quilts on the wall at the store, I just knew it was something I had to do.
Quilting satisfies a creative drive in me, and I love that it's an a pastime where you have something tangible at the end of it, something beautiful, and something warming. Patti talked about the fellowship, and that is so important too. I have made some of the most important friends in my life through quilting. I can't imagine where I would be in my life right now if I hadn't started quilting. I don't even want to imagine it!
Have a great weekend!
Judy of Sunshine Quilts fame is having the most terrible technical issues with her blog. You can visit with her at her new blog, which she is hoping will be a temporary one.Hope things get sorted out for you Judy*hugs*
Thank you to everyone who expressed an interest in seeing my applique quilt 'Christmas in the Garden' unfurled and in all its glory. I really like this quilt, it's Christmas-y but not Christmas fabrics. The applique is needle-turned, and it's hand quilted. I don't hand quilt so much any more, I want to get back to it.
A big hello to Dawn's friend Kathie who emailed via Dawn to have a closer look!
This quilt was in Australian Patchwork and Quilting, Vol 14, No 1, the February 2006 issue. If you have that issue, you're also going to be able to read more about me than you're ever likely to need to know!
To take this picture, I had to tidy away the Thomas the Tank Engine railway that had magically appeared in the lounge, there were tiny clues around the place about who had put it there ... little piles of sultanas ... and tiny shoes ... it must have been a tiny man ...
And to give you a little perspective of where we are in the house, I took a picture looking forward from where I'm standing ... I'm in the lounge, looking toward the entry at the front of the house ... you can see where the quilt 'would' have been ... and where it soon will be again. The ultimate plan for this quilt is for it to live on the wall over our bed. I just need to get myself organised and put a hanging sleeve on the back.
My little quilt rack is there on the left. The quilt on the front is one of my most prized possesions. It's a quilt called 'Hat Boxes' it was made by my wonderful friend Linda, and presented to me when I visited with her earlier this year in the USA. In the middle is a wholecloth cot quilt I made when I was expecting Cameron. I hand quilted it, and I was so lucky that it won best hand quilting at our guild show. The quilt on the left side of the rack is my 'Faith of Friends' quilt, which is special to me as it's the first one I ever had published.
I know many of you are interested, lunch with my friend yesterday was AMAZING! We had the very best time, it just flew. It was like we had just seen each other yesterday, not 20 years ago. We just talked non stop. To hear names I'd forgotten about was super fun, and to hear all about what she'd been up to ... well, Nat has been living a huge life. We have made plans to catch up again. This time we won't let 20 years pass by! I'm so pleased we bumped into each other that day at the village, and I'm so glad I found her number again after losing it!
Well, that's it from me ... have a great day everyone!
Well, I have just had the best week so far. Really, the past seven days have been wonderful. Last Thursday I had lunch with a long lost friend, and I shared the little giftie I made for her. In the mail this week, I received a lovely card from Nat and the little book in the picture. We had shared with each other that we both love shoes, and just can never have too many, so the little book of quotes all relates to friendships and shoes. Just too cute! The card says 'I'm looking forward to kicking off our friendship again'. So sweet!
Also, by popular request is a picture of the 'Hat Boxes' quilt that Linda gave to me while I was in the US with her earlier this year. This quilt is one of my most treasured posessions, and it's on display on the quilt rack in my lounge room.
