Happenings ...

So much has been happening - it really gets difficult to find time to share - my blog has been quite neglected lately.

First up: This weekend I'm teaching a class at Hettie's Patch. Such a delightful store, I'm looking forward to it. It's a Christmas in July project, click here for details. I do hope you can make it!

And I've been cooking! Something I don't do enough of ... Last weekend we were invited to dinner at the home of our oldest (as in longest time) friends. I wanted to bring dessert, and so I made Lemon Curd Tarts. I pinned the recipe on Pinterest, and I'll include the link here for you.

I didn't think to take a picture until I'd put them in the container to travel - next time I'll do better and show you how I presented them! Lemon Curd is something I'd never made before, and I'm still amazed by how easy it was. Since we have an abundant lemon tree - filled with Meyer lemons - you can bet I'll be making them again!

Now here's a dirty little secret - I've been watching the Great Australian Bake Off on TV - and I might be just a little hooked! Lo and behold, after my Lemon Curd success, the technical bake off on the Pies episode was Lemon Meringue Pie!! I made it my business to recreate some myself!

Click here for the GABO Lemon Meringe recipe. And another confession: I didn't follow their recipe really. I used a frozen shortcrust pastry sheet, and I used the Lemon Curd recipe from the tarts that I had made earlier in the week. I did use the meringue recipe from GABO, but I piped the extra into a dish just for Camo as he's not really into the curd. You see, the GABO recipe made a pie that could feed up to 10, and I just don't need that much temptation in the house! Anyways ... the pie was delicious - love love loved it! Definitely not Weight Watchers friendly, but Amy has requested it be made again ASAP!

And this last picture was taken by one of our lovely Guild ladies, Candy. I was so happy to lend my Nearly Insane baby to the Guild for display at the Sewing, Stitching and Hand Craft Show at the showgrounds this weekend just gone. And here she is in all her glory.

I was bummed not to be able to get to the show - it was a kid logistics thing. This was the first time this event has been held here, so I'm hoping I'll be able to get to it in coming years. How fun!

Ohhhh, and the class at Quilt Encounter on Tuesday was super fun, I had the best time with lovely students - I'm pretty sure they all went home happy. Once I've done all my homework, I'll share the project with you all.

Have a great week, and I'll chatter 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 :-)

Quilting and writing notes ...

I'm still quilting on Mrs Billings - had you guessed? I try and move the hoop each day, so I'm progressing really well. It's school holidays here, so I'm spending time with Camo too ... life is busy, busy busy!

Today I finished off a task that I've been working at slowly for a little while. The notes for my class next week are finished - and now that they're done, I can relax and look forward to seeing the girls at Quilt Encounter.

Here's another sneaky peek of the project:

Once the class is done, I can share a picture of the whole thing, and I'm going to make arrangements to sell the patterns on my web page.

Alrighty, it's off to start on dinner, and then I'll be back into the quilting again. Chatter soon! xox

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

Have you missed me?

You don't need to answer that :-) I'm still quilting on Mrs Billings, and while I'm progressing really well, there's still plenty to go. But this is noteworthy:

You all know I'm a glutton for punishment with huge time consuming projects, well, I've lined up my next one. It's a block-of-the-month project at Esther Alieu's blog. Do check it out.

The first instalment will be issued tomorrow, and I'm really looking forward to it. This time, I'm not going to set myself a ridiculous deadline to complete the quilt, and I'll really enjoy working on it. Of course, I won't be able to get busy until I finish with Mrs Billings - and hopefully that will be within the next 8 weeks or so.

Alrighty, it's off to finish up some chores before I head off for the guild exec meeting tonight - Thursdays are just crazy busy days in my house! Chatter soon! 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

30 Minute Zippered Pouch

I have to ask, are you addicted to Pinterest? I definitely am, it's like crack for Quilters. Or Crafters ... or Cooks ... or whatever you're into, you'll find inspiration on Pinterest ... seriously! If you'd like to see what I've been pinning, follow the lead of the Pinterest button on my sidebar.

While browsing around amongst the Pinterest pictures, I found a darling pouch tutorial, and decided that I'd have to make one sometime. Only thing is, I didn't really know where I'd find some woollen felt - the stuff has never been on my radar before, so I never had my eyes open for it.

Fast forward to today, I teach at Hettie's Patch on Thursdays, and while browsing their wares after class, BAM!, I spy a whole box of woollen felt in the most darling colours. And then a selection of delightful trims ... and then some zippers ... and guess what has come home with me today? All I needed to make a zippered pouch. Want to make one too? Be sure to check out the link above, and here's what I did ...

Lorraine from Hettie's Patch loaned me some decorative edge scissors, so I scalloped the edge that abuts the zipper - because we're working with felt, no need for any fancy seams :-)

 The scissors were great, and I can see I'll be investing in some for the future!

This darling trim looked so nice with the felt - I just had to have some. Use the ruler as a guide to affix the trim in place with the glue pen before sewing.

The zipper foot seemed to be best for stitching the trim in place - and with the handy dandy glue, it didn't budge an inch!

Hmmm ... a couple more pictures wouldn't have gone astray here, but do refer to the tutorial at the blog linked above for help. I sewed the zipper in (gluing it in place first) still using the zipper foot, and then turned the project inside out. Ohhh, do remember to open the zipper up first.

Flatten the project in half ready to sew the side seams - you can have the zipper near the top, bottom  or centered - whatever you like. Sew the side seams, open to the right side, and you're done! Ohhh, and if you forgot to open up the zipper, you'll have the devil of a time turning the project back to the right side ... thankfully I didn't forget that step!

And here is the finished article - I thought it was very cute! This pouch is quite large as I used the whole piece of felt, but you could make them absolutely any size you like.

Two great things for this little project: First, it took me less than 30 minutes to put it together - I started after I got home from work, and I was done before it was time to pick Camo up from school. Second, all the supplies I needed came to less than $7.50. Bargain!

I DO love working on Mrs Billings, but I was just dying to work on something a little different for a change, so now I feel like I've been able to do something else ... and I can happily get back into quilting tonight. I also have a little eye candy to share from class this morning, so I'll share that in the next day or so. Chatter soon!

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