October....

This month spent by again.... but we did have some lovely rain

Jacaranda's are blooming.... I love this view off a corner in our yard..... the blue Jacaranda's not so visible in the photo but we can see them well.... they are behind our white jacaranda....

This was my main finish this month.... an old UFO from hand printed blocks I got many years ago.... linking up to WOOFA and OPAM today... Thanks Cheryll and Kris

I backed it in white sheeting and gave it a black binding.... it will be a nice soft quilted throw...

I also made this little quilt this week!  Pretty cute I think ..... not much will snuggle under than though... maybe a small elf.....

All these blocks are stitched together and the borders added....

I just love these soft Spring William Morris fabrics.... I added the gold as the designs have just that little spot of gold in them....

Layer cake which I cut in four and then set gold in the corners....  it has made a good single bed size or topper for queen size.

Of course I have lots of little HST's from the corners... so perhaps another mini quilt in the future

Intense quilting on this panel was done..... it took me ages and at the time I was frustrated with my wobbly lines.....

but they don't show up too badly now it is all done....

A lot of time was spent stencilling on the design.... then of course slow going on the quilting....

but I love it.....  

... and I adore the backing too.... I have chosen a rich brick for binding....

... should be a finish by the end of the week.....

My other finish this month was my new peg apron..... made from a vintage tablecloth

Here is a close up of the white Jacaranda... typical little bell shaped flowers ....

Righto, Gotto Go...... coffee is ready

Have a lovely Sunday ....xx

Quilt Group Show and Tell

For many years I have belonged to our local quilt group but not always gone to meeting days with one thing and another...

Lately I am trying to get there for a few hours every fortnight where I sit with friends and try and meet other people 

I am going to try and showcase some of the quilts that get brought in for show and tell.... I know I love looking at peoples quilts... 

This week I took 2 of my own in...

Modern Mandala - about 50cm square.... foundation paper pieced . 920 pieces

Scrappy pinwheels.... I had been given the blue triangles so I paired up some coordinating pieces and some plain fabric...

Here are the other quilts that were shown... and the explanations provided with them....

It's not all quilts .... many members knit and crochet... some with a great sense of humour!

Righto, Gotto Go.... still plugging away at my quilting and sewing...

Hugz

The weekend.....

Rain and storms were forecast over the weekend so we didn't make any outdoor plans - the fact that we didn't get them was annoying but we did get the humidity.... Hubz spent some time in the garden and I opted to stay indoors and sew...

I pulled out my box of William Morris 'Road to Tennessee' blocks....

... and the binding for a friends quilt....

And trimmed up some incy wincy HST's to make into pinwheels...

... and set up a panel on the Moxie for quilting....

... and found a piece of lovely cotton tablecloth from an opshop.... I love those old cotton tablecloths and vintage sheets.... I'm always scavenging for them...  such lovely quality cotton

By the end of the weekend... the binding is on (need to do some handsewing now)

I have a new clothes peg apron....

The HST's are in pretty little pinwheels (cut at 2")

.. and a plan is together for my blocks.... they have been sewn into pairs so far....

I did a load of washing this morning (having held off over the weekend due to said rain expected) ... and so far it has had 3 rinses of lovely clean rain water today..... of course ....

I do love those weekends when I just sit and play with my pretty stuff ...... I put on my earphones and listen to books.... I listened to  The Dressmakers of Yarrandarrah Prison

- a fun story.... 

This week I got hold of some new pins.... I have for a long time used good quality glass head pins... they have been reliable and easy to use..... I got some of those 'Magic Pins' at great expense with little silicone heads and also some fine  'Quilting Pins' at a much more reasonable price...

The fine pins are just wonderful..... they really make a difference.  I'm not sure I will iron much with pins in but the extra length is good on the silicone ones... the much finer quilting pins are really great... 

I am officially a pin snob now....

Righto, Gotto Go... that quilt isn't going to quilt itself.... and those blocks need sewing together...  after some pinning with lovely new pins of course ......

Have a great week... I hope you get rain if you need it... and get some time to do something you love....xx

What Was I thinking?

I have done a bit more on some of my projects....

Another column has been joined to 'Inner City' (thanks Jennifer for the name) (last on the right) but I haven't joined it to the main piece.  I think I will make a larger piece then wrangle it all together.....

I also glued a whole lot more half hexagons - very slow going but I am trying to set myself a little goal each week to keep some progress happening...

Still wondering 'What was I thinking?' with this one....

This is progress to date of my little lollies blackwork with a bit of blue sparkle...  I have 4 more to do for this month now and need to catch up a bit on the borders...

I thought this year my Christmas decorations sent to family and friends could be with my newfound skill of blackwork.....

I purchased some 'plastic' canvas to work on and the pattern from Peppermint Purple (where the lollies is a free pattern).....

This took 3 nights and is only a couple of inches high...... 'What was I thinking?'  I will try another shape and see if I have more luck...  I won't be in time for this Christmas at this rate!

The nest of eggs is completed with all the rest of the work in the block....  this is the 9th block for Civil War Bride....

(all those leaves and there are lots more in the other blocks.... what was I thinking?)

As you can tell I have been doing a lot of "What Was I Thinking?" this week....

So to calm down I ordered another pattern... and a template for another quilt.... and now I just want to go and sew......

Righto, Gotto Go.... hopefully I will get in a bit of machine sewing for myself this weekend

Hope you all find something fun to do this weekend