OPAM time....

Thanks always to Kris who keeps up the OPAM tally for us... I have 25 finishes 

Safari Snaps was a finish this month....

and so were the 21 Bird House Tags...

I made myself a sewing tray and thread catcher....

And this week I finished off this baby quilt....

I did these sweet stitcheries (designed by Michelle) in 2015 and put the top together....

Finally got to quilting it in December last year....

... and this week sewed the binding on and hand sewn down at Sewing Day....

the backing is rather delicious I think....

This trough was once a worm farm, then a compost heap and now has graduated to a herb garden (with a few lettuce and rocket to fill spaces for now)

I have started this sweet baby quilt, I bought the pattern a few years ago and am finally doing it.... at the moment going through all the colours and cutting up the little pieces.... a big painstaking...

I saw Jennifer's lovely knitting and got enthused, I don't have one hand made jumper and I need an easy carry project later this year..... nothing like a bit of preplanning!  Delicious colour wool from Bendigo Woollen Mills....

Fits perfectly in my drawstring bag - a gift from Michelle....

This picture is a wierd colour, I took it off our TV.  Hubz has been keeping an eye on this Bald Eagle in Canada, yesterday it was protecting bubs from the snow but late afternoon her Hubby came by and we could see a second egg (which apparently they don't expect to hatch)....  Youngster has grown lots of course.

Technology is wonderful for this sort of thing, we also watch the birds and flowers in his brothers garden and a number of waterholes in Africa.

I have made a decision about what to do with the rest of Terra Australis.  Found this free pattern on the internet and I have bought some creamish grunge to be a contrast.  It is a good jelly roll pattern too.  If I don't have enough of the fabric it will be an easy one to add a couple of plains to.

A good month, I am getting through some of the quilt tops I have, but also making new ones!!!  

Righto, Gotto Go, some more giraffe blocks to cut and perhaps I can make a start on Puzzle Box chopping...  I should be nice and bake a cake though..... Hubz has a birthday tomorrow....   hmmmmm

Terra Australis

I loved this range from when I first saw it ....  and wanted to use it for some more modern quilting...

Naive Melody was an online sewalong with Lucy Engels in 2020/21.  I used needleturn applique for mine....

(I don't think I ever shared the completed top here)

We tried for a stain glass windows look in the sunshine .... hmmmm

I have that delicious teal/blue/green backing and some binding done in the same fabric as the orange background blocks in the quilt...

I will have to think hard about the quilting....

Then I used leftover fabrics for this online BOM by National Quilt Museum...  these blocks are all finished now ... shown HERE ....

Still lots of fabric left so I have cut up big and little squares to go on that dark grey for  a Chandelier Quilt... (free online pattern) by Lella Boutique

Then I cut up a whole bunch of circles which will go on top of black and white 4 patch blocks

Pattern by me (though I expect there are similar out there)

I have to put notes in the boxes ... since I tend to forget what it was all for!!!

... and I still have a good little pile of the range (though a couple of them are finished - eg my much loved lizards)

- so I will need to think of something else to make with it.... any ideas?????

Righto, Gotto Go ... I have black and white fabric to slice and dice....

Been quilting blocks....

When I joined in the National Quilt Museum BOM last year it was to challenge myself and try some different things....  I also had these vibrant Terra Australis fabric leftovers that I wanted to use...

Each month a different designer gave instructions for a 12" blocks

In this block the 'thread' was appliqued but I chose to quilt mine (4 rows of thread)

I mostly tried to keep to their instructions....

My gem is an Opal..

This block I changed completely as it was a building I was never likely to see... but no additional fabrics on the background as they did .....

Some quilting was very textured and detailed....

Some just highlighted the work in the block....

I enjoyed the more modern look even though found it quite challenging...

The patches weren't pieced in this one but layered on....

Some blocks had all piecing...

sewing circles and lines....

and quilting each differently.....

So that is all 12 blocks done.  I have got some dark teal on order at my favourite LQS which will serve as the sashing and binding.

The quilting has made the blocks quite stiff so this won't be a snuggle quilt... another piece of art for the house!

And I still have scraps for more quilts in this range...  amazing how far a lovely bunch of fat quarters goes...

Righto, Gotto Go..... I am off to chop up some of those scraps and plan another quilt (or two)

FNSI for March

Friday Night was Sew In night with friends .... thank you Wendy for hosting us

I did a whole day Friday Sew In....

First I finished off my stars for March.... they were mostly done so this didn't take long....

Then I sewed my Scrappy Yellow Fish, the pieces were all cut so just the sewing and chopping to shape ... which didn't take too long

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Then finally worked on the last few blocks for last years National Museum BOM....  these took the rest of the day!

All the blocks are made but I still have the QAYG quilting to do on 7 of the blocks...

... and I will need to go shopping for some sashing

In the evening I did some stitching on my little cottage

This weekend we finally decided on a spot and hung up this little piece of art (foundation paper piecing)

It's in a little passageway corner and the dried flowers/sticks etc seem to match with the orange and the green in the wallhanging...

Righto, Gotto Go.... I want to get some of those blocks quilted and I have rather large scrap pieces to chop chop chop and sort

Have a lovely rest of the weekend and a happy week ahead....xx

First finish

First finish is when you finish the first part of a project... but there is still more to finish it more...

For instance I have finished the stitching for this blackwork project....

It has been such a fun project to do.... the stitching took much longer than I thought and the target of one sweet a week kept me focussed....

This was sewn with a group of friends (online for me) and makes it such fun to do. Thanks ladies.

I will either frame it or put it on a canvas... still thinking about that....

I received a lovely parcel from Shez this week.... for some reason (like moving interstate) she was late for my birthday.....  I guess it is a valid excuse!....

Shez has been making lovely lovely clutch bags and now I own one.  Just love these colours.  I now like to only take my phone shopping, I need glasses so either sunnies or plain need to be in the bag while I wear the other pair....  this size bag is perfect and easy to hold over my wrist whilst carrying shopping bags...

Thanks Shez.... love them all

I sew every night after eating and in front of the TV..... every night unless we are out.... and every night I drop something... a thimble, my thread, my scissors and Hubz eyes roll so hard I am worried they will stick at the back of his head....

Some scraps got sewn together... and some firm bag wadding

sew in the corners and a tray was born.....  although I love the pretty stripes I thought a light inside would be better so I can actually find what I need!

then I needed a matching thread catcher so that was born too.....

It is a size that sits comfortably on the arm of the chair and I can fit quite a bit in it.....  so far so good and Hubz eyes are in less danger of being stuck!

There are loads of video's etc on line.... these are a couple of free ones which I used as a guide

https://aspoonfulofsugardesigns.com/2015/05/charm-square-fabric-tray/

https://seekatesew.com/diy-fabric-tray-tutorial/

Grandieboy Widget had footy this weekend.... we got front row seats ... sitting in the car with my crochet....  this blanket is growing very slowly and is very wavy but it will be good for snuggling under.

My new recipe for the week is Magic Slice, Lou made some and it just sounded too deliciously wicked not to make...

It is so easy peasy and yummy scrummy... I used this recipe HERE but there are several variations online of course....

Took some to stitching and it went down a treat.... will definitely be making it again.

Righto, Gotto Go... a piece of that slice with a cup of tea would go down well!

Have a lovely rest of the week.....x