Sewing is a Happy Place....

.... especially making a Happy Quilt from Toni's book "Happy Quilts".....

I am doing a quilt for a superhero called Jack - one of my grandchildren who needs a new quilt ....

I was lucky to have fabrics to work with in my stash and only needed to buy the grey backgrounds for the blocks.....

Toni's book comes with a CD so one just needs to print out the pattern for the particular quilt.  I like that it's then printed on one side only which helps with lines when tracing (I always get mixed up with lines on the back of the page!)

The other thing I like about Toni's instructions is that the pieces are colour coded and numbered so it's easy to see which order to place them down on (another part I always manage to make mistakes)

Bits of fabric everywhere when I'm choosing ....

Even Hubz said that he had never seen my sewing room in such a mess....

(and you can't see the floor here!)

This is how far I had got in one day!

.. the next day I got all the blocks stuck down.  There are some parts I will iron glue down when I have sewn what's underneath...

The coloured strips are for the sashings around the blocks - there will be white cornerstones.

All put away in a box now awaiting a retreat next month where I will be machine blanket stitching madly....

I am also hoping to get a Wild Things quilt from the same book prepared for his brother...

On the quilting front I have lately been working with some threads with a bit of a sparkle.... it's hard to photograph sparkle but this Christmas star has a fair bit of it....  I used a ruler to get the lines straight....

... and of course Dutch Treat blocks still take up my evenings....  

Some of the colours I am working with are a bit dull but they will be fine when they are all together with the other blocks....

Righto, Gotto Go..... today the weather looks just lovely here.....  I hope you have a great rest of the week ....

A visitor....

Monday was a pupil free day for the schools and whilst Mum was at work Widget came for the night and day with us....

I enjoyed watching him read this quilt with stitched cartoons - the backing is flannel and so nice and warm for our cool spring nights...

This stitchery by Fee Ransley for The Splendid Sampler is finished.... its sweet isn't it?

Widget loves ball games.... Nana is useless at them.... so he suggested sewing since he knows Nana can do that!!

I had been given some fabrics by a friend from her Mom's old craft stuff - and found this really fun piece of vintage style fabric 

He sewed pockets!

.. and in less than a day he had a pair of sleeping shorts - I was impressed, but most of all so was he!

We decided we needed to go out for lunch after all that effort - there is a nearby cafe/bead shop and we watched this lovely peacock wandering around....

... then he spotted a girl and started showing off!

.. he let me get in quite close - just stunning detail on him....

... even the back end is pretty impressive....

We went the scones for lunch option!!!

(no prizes for guessing who has the most fun on these days!)

I have diligently kept on with my Dutch Treat blocks - some take a whole week of evenings to finish, some a night or two....

 I am enjoying doing them - though I have to admit some of the tiny curves frustrate me a tad!!

Righto, Gotto Go - the weekend is here...... 

Quilt As You Go.....

I have kept in touch with Joy over the years and at the moment she is doing a series on dealing with UFO's - most, if not all of us, have them.  Everything we work on is a UFO isn't it - or it would be something to go on OPAM.....

Personally I list mine at the beginning of each year.... I photograph them and post them on their own special page on my blog.  I do make an effort to work on them (in theory something all the time) and mark off when they are done.  

One of the things Joy mentioned is inheriting UFO's and this week I took out one I inherited some time ago.....

Some flannel squares from Kris at Tag Along Teddies

There was already some made with wadding inside so I went and dug out my odd bits of wadding to cut out more.  (I always keep those strips cut off along side quilts if they are a reasonable size)

and soon I had a nice pile of layered blocks ready for sewing....

Diagonal lines across each corner and by the end of the morning I have this nice pile of ready to put together blocks.... they are going into a drawer until further notice...

Sometimes I like to work on a UFO in steps... this is one of those times.  It did clear out a good number of those little bits of wadding I had hanging around...

On Friday night Kris gave me an OPAM prize - how fun is that.  One of her newer patterns with the Beetle Boogie which is so sweet and bright, some embroidery threads and a piece of fabric (which will go well with my Splendid Sampler blocks so it went straight into that drawer)

Thanks Kris, OPAM is such fun and prizes aren't expected but are such fun! 

I also splashed out on some background fabrics - I've been wanting to make quilts from Toni's gorgeous book HAPPY QUILTS and now I have the perfect reason.  Grandieboys needing quilts for their beds at Dads place.... I wanted a variety of blacks, whites and greys for the backgrounds....

Wild Things .....

... and SuperHeroes....

As you can see I have already started gathering up some fabrics from my stash/scraps for the applique...

These will be fun!!  It really is the most delightful childrens quilts book (and stuffies to match)

Righto, Gotta Go - there is a heap of tracing to do for these blocks.... I want to prepare them for a retreat next month.... hmmmmmm, maybe some late nights????

A new sewing machine....

My friend Christine spotted this little machine at an op shop recently.  As she has a vintage singer she offered this little cutie to me - only $40 so I didn't hesitate....  I have always fancied a 'vintage' machine but not enough to spend too much money on one!

My first Elna... and she is a cutie....

the sides open up and can slip off....

I am still working out turning the dials.... the one on the right is hard but I believe there is a knack to it and need to have the one on the left in the correct place... so far no luck so I will be taking it to my wonderful machine servicing man.

I just love this little speed control with the hare and the tortoise... I always loved Aesop's fables....

... she can sew.. the tension is not perfect - she will go for a service and check over and I'm sure we will become great friends....

.. she doesn't have all her accesories ... I will look out for some of the missing ones, including the darning foot and plate as I would like to try quilting on her....

... speaking of quilting I worked on this lovely quilt a couple of weeks ago... I rather like those hearts in the border....

.. and I have done a few of the Splendid Sampler blocks ..... I am a bit of a way behind but not too worried.... they will get done in time....

Shell designed by Jane Davidson....

Homeward Bound....

At Home Anywhere....

I had a space on my design wall so I put up my Dutch Treat blocks to have a look .... you can start seeing the idea I am going for with the colours... I am still working on blues and then I have some greens and browns to do....

Righto, Gotto Go.... I need to trace out some more DT blocks .....

Road Trip....

Last week I boarded a bus and went off to the Brisbane Craft and Quilt show...

One of the things on my 'to do' was to see the work and listen to Akiko Ike from Japan....

Chiku Chiku is so named as it describes the sound of the needle going in and out of the fabric so I understand...

I had a wander around some of her work before I went to her talk.... these lovely flags...

... and banners which are used at a special celebration (these days small plastic ones are used she says with a rather disapproving look on her face)

Here she is with her translater next to her.... she seems such a delightful character and a lot of the time one could get the drift of what she was saying with her expressions and hand movements....

I think I would have loved a whole day listening her stories and instructions...

Here is a sample of her work that was on the table for us to touch and look at ...  Akiko Ike gets special cotton yarn woven and dyed for her to use.....

She used old fabrics... here you can see holes which patch up as the fabrics are sewn together...

These are fabrics from old baby nappies... muslin and again one could find holes as they had been well used....

It was a lovely thing to go to and I'm so glad I had a chance...

I spent most of my time looking at the many varied quilts.... lots of really original and amazing work.... though I have seen pictures on social media I'm afraid I am sticking to what they requested....

but there is a gallery of winning quilts that were there on the Queensland Quilters website HERE

You will have to make do with some more of my Dutch Treat blocks ...

Righto, Gotto Go.....  I want to start looking out for and collecting muslin pieces to do some Chiku Chiku....