Quilting and Binding.....

I had a fun weekend doing some quilting...... swirls and circles for the superheroes after going around  all the applique pieces in an invisible thread.

I used a variegated grey for the swirls and it has kept the quilt soft whilst giving it a bit of texture .....

then came binding...... sewing the strips together. (I had bought half a metre and realised the stripes went between the selvages so there was a lot of ends to sew together ....

.... I get excited at getting the ends to meet perfectly on the stripe ....

...most of the time....

I have a few old thread cones and they make useful binding holders....

... do you ever get the feeling you are being watched while you work???????

I have my evening hand work ready to do now....

Righto, Gotto Go....... I want to play catch up with Splendid Sampler blocks this week.... only 32 plus behind....

It's that time of year.....

... for visits to the Post Office....

This parcel is off over the sea for the SSCS hosted by Chookyblue....

.. and this set of parcels is travelling Southwards for the FHFS hosted by Peg and Shez...

... and I have been busy making up decorations for sending to overseas family ...

I love these Ausi themed hexagons designed by Michelle....

Last weekend Hubz and I decided to work in the garden....

This was the view from front of house......

...here is work happening..... (I was providing support and encouragement and a bit of supervision)

... and by the end of the weekend Hubz had done this.  We are getting some more blocks to level out the bed and once it is planted it will be a vast improvement.....

Just goes to show what a bit of support and encouragement (and a bit of supervision) can achieve!!!

Righto, Gotto Go....  I still want to get some more ornie's done....

Superhero's.....

Young Jack is in the superhero mode - he loves dressing up as them and the action toys too ... and he is a bit of a superhero himself (in my nana opinion) .....

I have been working on these superhero blocks giving them some outlines in glow in the dark thread...

.. in this one the white on the glasses have been buttonholed with it and round the outside using a triple stitch ... and the same with the white patch and the J.....

.. again the mask in this one and around the edge of the lightening flash...

... all the blocks have a little bit on it....

This week I sewed the blocks together with the sashing.... 

... the stripes on the table is for the binding.....

don't they look great..... I need to go out and buy a bit of backing - then guess what I am doing in December????

The Superhero's quilt is one of the wonderful patterns in Toni's book Happy Quilts...

Thursday brought a once a month sewing morning ..... I am stitching more Christmas decorations.... 

tea in a pretty mug and some fresh baked scones with jam and cream helped.....

Righto, Gotto Go... the Wild Things want some attention now!

Christmas stitching.....

This time of year always, but always, surprises me with it suddenly arriving!!!  As such my Dutch Treat and Splendid Sampler have been put aside for a while ... sigh

So..... I have started on my turning UFO Christmas star blocks into placemats by sewing an extra 6" on the sides to make a nice big rectangle..... 

.. there were quite a few!!!  Oh well, perhaps some of them will do for gifts or perhaps one day I will have enough family members over here at Christmas to get them all dirty!  Here's hoping!

I didn't account for needing fabric for backing.... so now that lot is on hold till I get metreage for backing and binding...  meanwhile they are bright and happy on the design wall....

Since I was tidying up I cut up this white towel I was never going to use..... 

... and made more mess with ribbons and lace....

... and now I have half a dozen pretty hand towels......

I added binding to the sides where I had cut them so they have ended up quite nice and tidy.  I have a couple of used white towels so more of these may happen...... hmmmm

 This set of Australian Christmas ornament stitcheries (Michelle's designs) are ready for backing and binding so that will be my handwork for a while....

Righto, Gotto Go..... off to get those self binding backings ready.....

Christmas UFO challenge.....

I wonder who else has an unfinished Christmas project..... I seem to have a few...

Joy has put out a challenge specifically for a Christmas UFO - you can read about it HERE...  I seem to get things done when I sign up to a challenge or sew-a-long so I thought I would join in.....

One of my Christmas UFO's is this bunch of blocks that I received a few years ago doing a Christmas block swap.  I want to make each block into place mats ..... there are at least 12 but I'm not sure I will get them all done - the challenge is for 2 so I will work on that for a start ....

I just need to find some pieces to go along the sides to make them rectangle shape - I am going to use up scraps as much as I can.......  they may not end up the most beautiful but they will be functional!

Once again there is a big mess on the table.... sorting scraps kindof does that?????

The weekends hand sewing has resulted in a couple of birds being stitched up 

... more from Michelle's Christmas ornament stitcheries....

Righto, Gotto Go.... I want to at least have the top of the blocks ready by the end of the day....

Retreat Weekend.....

I am very lucky to be part of a group of stitchers who meet regularly at The Quilters Angel and where Marion organises local and affordable 3 day retreats a few times a year.  I can go all day and sew without disturbance, eat tasty food, enjoy amusing company and all at a lovely peaceful venue.

First thing on Friday morning I was off with my box of tricks and started sewing Wild Things .....  my block backings came from Marion's lovely shop and the shapes from my scrap bin and I had worked hard to have them prepared and ready to start stitching..

Late afternoon saw us gather under the shade of a tree outside for some catch up time, chatter and snacks... and bubbles.....

  

I didn't take pictures!!! sigh.  I really was head down and bum up working through Wild Things and Superheroes....  with the help of bubbles.....

However Kris did take some pics and she shows a couple of lovely quilt tops and dollies that were finished at the retreat.....

Packing up late Sunday afternoon and I still had blanket stitch to do so I did more when I got together on Tuesday with Lyn and Christine.

The blanket stitching is all done now and I am doing some edges of the applique with glow in the dark thread to highlight aspects...  The white parts are blanket stitched with glow thread but I am also doing across the mouth (you can see the white line against the red, and around the horns using triple stitch.

This one is finished and it looks amazingly fun when the lights go out but it wouldn't come out in a picture (you will just have to trust me!!)  I have now run out of the thread and placed an order which should arrive soon....

Wild Things is a quilt pattern from Toni's book Happy Quilts.....  a couple of the girls at the retreat are planning to order the book - we notice it is at a great price at Book Depository at the moment.

This week I have put together this journal cover for a gift - there is an alphabet letter on the front so I won't show you until after Christmas since it is a secret swap pressie ...

I enjoy exchanging hand made postcards and when Sheila suggested doing one with a Christmas theme I decided to do a little quilted one.  I have to say the metallic threads I used were a challenge and I won't be using them again for quilting (they have no name on them so that could be a good clue as to their quality!! haha)

This little card is going off to Portugal.....

.... of course I am still hand stitching at night and working diligently on Christmas ornaments (Dutch Treat has had to go and sit in the sidelines for a while!!)

This roo is from Michelle's Christmas ornie set....

planning some Christmas projects is terribly messy..... I just seem to be doing messy a lot these days!

... and of course, I am quilting.  This is Toni's upcoming Lions pattern.  It is just delightful.  Do you remember the song "In the Jungle, the mighty jungle, the lion sleeps tonight?  

Yes... 

now you have that song stuck in your mind?  

Yes.... 

You're welcome

When I do applique quilts I go around the 'ditch' using a monofilament thread.  It is 'invisible' (which makes threading a challenge for me!!) and therefore can go over any different colour without showing up.  It secures the blocks which means I can take out a lot of the pins before any additional quilting.  Slow speed and just a couple of threads away from the blanket stitch is what I aim for.

The quilt is done now and will be in the post in the morning.  Keep an eye out on Toni's blog for it....

Righto, Gotto Go... I want to do a little bit with some of those Christmas scraps.....

It's scary....

How fast time is going.....  I am not ready for November but here it is!!!

I am participating in Chookyblue's Secret Santa Swap so having to do some behind the scenes sewing for a gift to go overseas..... 

I'm also in a Friends Having Fun Swap so that also needs organising but it can be posted a little later as it is within Australia.

I do love swaps but this year I have limited myself to these two

This weekend past I made more mess as I prepared another quilt for blanket stitching....

This one is called Wild Things... and is for the brother of the Superhero.....

It is another quilt from Happy Quilts by Toni .....  I love it.... I am going to use glo-in-the-dark thread around the eyes and teeth.... hope it doesn't scare our little Wild thing too much...

This pomegranate bush is flowering at the moment... such lovely bright flowers.  It doesn't get any fruit though (well it didn't last year) but I bought another kind which I hope will fruit for us....  I looooovvvvee pomegranates....

Another spot in the garden I am enjoying is the yellow/lime leaves of this Acer (Maple) with the bold blue/purple of maybe salvia????  Anyway they look splendid together....

I started sewing some Ausi Christmas stitcheries this week - these are from a new set of designs by  Michelle  and don't take too long to stitch up.  I am doing stem stitch with a single thread ....

... and of course the Dutch Treat blocks are going along ... those little flowers in the square nearly broke my resolve but then the big flower cheered me up!

Righto, Gotto Go - I've got a sewing morning planned at The Quilters Angel - and I need to prepare a new block to take with me.

I must say this is a very portable project -