Stitching, stitching....

Nothing unusual going on here.... stitching and stitching.... I am an addict I know...

A few more blocks for Sylvia's Sampler.....

New Mexico - 77 pieces

Ocean Waves - 49 pieces

Sarah's Choice - 24 Pieces

This is now up to 122 blocks and 3964 pieces if I have counted properly as I go along...

Over the weekend I took out a long forgotten UFO this week having seen Jeanette take hers out...

My stitcheries have all been done and fabrics chosen....

.. these are all the main stitcheries....

I made up half square and then quarter square triangles..... I always find the trimming rather satisfying and then getting nice squares to work with.....

these little oval stitcheries just need turning in to sew them down...

.. they will be attached to the outer border on this piece - with a bunch of teeny weeny 1/2" hexagon flowers which are yet to be made.... that is this weeks job!

... rather fun seeing a quilt take shape... 

This quilt is called In My Garden and is designed by Natalie Bird at Birdhouse Designs

So that is on my Design Board this week (hosted by dear Cath at Bits 'n Bobs)  

Righto, Gotto Go - those hexagon fabrics need cutting out.....

I hope you have a wonderful stitching week

ANZAC DAY 2016

Australian and New Zealand forces are remembered for their service and sacrifice to this wonderful country.  My family are not Australian - we are the first generation who have made this our home.... however, I do have family that served in several wars in different capacities  ...

My paternal grandfather was a Minister during WW1 and I like to think that his service included supporting and praying for ANZAC's in their service.  I never met the man as he died before I was born.  This is inside the front page of his bible, which I now have.

Righto, Gotto Go.... widget is spending the day with us and wants to make some ANZAC biscuits....

Cooling Down...

I have been wanting to make up this heat pad from Anni Downs book "Some Kind of Wonderful' for some time..... this week I finished mine...

A brown linen background and lovely wool for the flowers....

I filled mine with barley since I haven't been able to find wheat - but rice would also work...

Our evenings are definitely cooling down (traditionally we have our first frost at Anzac weekend which is this upcoming weekend ....

At last I put on my huge big scrap happy quilt on the bed... so glad to be using it ....

We tested out our fireplace which we haven't used before - I was surprised at just how quickly it warmed up the room.  I'm really looking forward to having this fired up...

I finished off my practice recessed applique trial - it took me ages but I did enjoy it.  I have actually gone with a different fabric for the top but also in the bluegrey colour...

I decided I wanted a special case to put this long term project (Dutch Treat) in so pulled out this pattern which I have made before by Marilyn....

I did this stitchery ages but ages ago and it is the right size so I will be using that on the front

... and I found some pretty fabrics to use in a bundle of pieces passed on to me by a friend 

Late yesterday afternoon I noticed Superman having a fly-by.... 

did anyone else spot him????

Righto, Gotto Go - that bag needs cutting out....

Food Festival

A couple of weekends ago my daughter-who-lives-near-me and I went off to the country to the Felton Food Festival.....

.. there are heaps of stalls of lovely home made and home grown produce under the shade of some lovely gum trees....

fresh veges amongst the dry dust with friendly stall holders....

... these strawberries were so yummy and sweet.....

.. lovely pate's and pickles which came home with me for our supper....  very very delish....

... a bit of Ausi humour at the hay bale....

.... splashes of white on the way home with the cotton ready for harvesting...

A lovely few hours - country people really know how to put on a spread.... I think this may be a regular annual go-to event for me...

I have picked up a Christmas UFO to work on - it had been traced but no stitching done - naughty little Christmas elves....

... but I also wanted to try out some reverse applique which will be used in Dutch Treat - I found some fine cotton I like for the top and wanted to see how it goes with the very small pieces - its good so I'll be purchasing that...  I also need a better coordinated thread - and more practice on this technique especially for the small bits.  

Any tips are welcomed.......

Christine, Lyn and I are going to sew this together in a few months time - and Michelle and Helen are also going to make it.... Kathy is considering it too.... we will all be encouraging one another which I think is necessary for me to keep going - there are 196 hand sewn 4 1/2" blocks..... 

Today I am going to sew together my heat bag  - the hand sewing is all done...

Wishing you all a wonderful week - I am hoping we get some Autumn rains - the evenings have finally cooled down a bit so it feels like Autumn here .... stunning days and cool nights - just how I love it...

Foundation paper piecing in The Splendid Sampler ...

I have had lots of foundation paper piecing practice with the Sylvia's Bridal Sampler blocks and this week we had our first one in The Splendid Sampler....

On Wednesday I needed to remove myself from my sewing space ..... - it's a lovely big room with a huge window (it was built as a 'formal lounge' but it's not so formal now!!) but that centre fan/light is the only light I have..... as you can see I just get shadows over my working space ...

A nice young man with a lovely artist tattoo down his well developed calf came to sort things out for me.... sorry - no photo's ladies - he might have thought I was a bit wierd!!!

Tarka kept a close eye on him!! (she thinks anyone who comes to the house has come especially to see her!)

Anyway - I set myself up on the dining table where I could keep a watchful eye on the proceedings (I had to make sure he was getting it right you see????) and caught up on my The Splendid Sampler blocks...

First up was Foundation Paper Piecing.... now I hadn't done a lot before Sylvia's but we girls are using the Freezer paper method which I hadn't heard of until a few months ago ....

THIS online tutorial shows how I like to do it...  I even have one of those add 1/4 inch rulers shown in the tutorial, and find it invaluable for cutting those edges to line it all up (see above picture).  This method saves picking out all the little pieces, and I keep an old needle in my sewing box especially for piercing the paper.  Reading up some people do not find it as accurate as the traditional method, but I'm happy with it.

First up I tackled the Foundation Paper Piecing block called Family Affair and designed by Janice Ryan....

Then I did the Bonus block designed by Pat Sloan ( there is officially 100 blocks but we are lucky to get a few bonus ones thrown in too!)

For the piecing of blocks I like to use the double pronged pins ... they hold the edges securely when stitching to get those squares joining nicely (which still doesn't mean I get them right always though!!)

Pieces of Friendship designed by Lindsay Mayland was up next....

 And then the latest block Family Stars designed by Kimberly Jolly... which is the one I found the most challenging with making sure the right colours were in the right places ..... 

.. another one I finished during the week was Flying High designed by Janet Clare.... I have done some raw edge applique but not on this small scale - and found it lucky that it was okay to have it quite scribbly!!

While I sew, and iron, etc I am enjoying listening to:

I loved the movie, which is a bit different to the book but just as much fun....  We are so lucky to have free access to a good number of  e-audio books through our library

So, a good mornings work and this is where I am up to with my blocks..... 

(lots of people comment on my light - my daughter bought it for me especially because I love my blog and all the pictures).  They are available in Kmart (and probably elsewhere) and there are packs of extra letters which I got too.  Sooooo fun....

... By lunch time I had my lights all done.....  what a huge difference...

Righto, I better get back to customer quilts!!!  Have a lovely stitching day....