Bondi Tops

Bondi Tops are a favourite of mine - comfortable and tidy ..... I make and use them a lot and wanted some fresh ones for next Spring/Summer/Autumn and the latest Tilda fabric started me off...

I chose this fabric for the main part

and one of the smaller prints for the yoke at the back...

This green fabric was left over backing from a quilt.... it's quite a loose weave and will be lovely and light

A friend gave me a length of this polycotton so it got used too....

... and another length of left over backing... this one is a lovely quality and perfect for clothing...

.. and this was a length of poplin I scored for $7 some time ago....

They will all be perfect for our warmer days.   The neckline was adapted for a better fit when I first started making them....

I took a short break from Field Journal blocks to knit up some little baby shoes to go in a package.  I did make a pair before but got some finer yarn and smaller needles and now they are very cute.  they are just over 3" long.

These are my 6 finishes for the month... quite a bit of progress was made on other projects including the main centre of the flannel quilt

There is a row of blocks to go all around the side now...

Righto, Gotto Go..... prep work for the next lot of Churndash blocks needs to happen.

Progress

Evenings and day time sewing with the girls has been good time for me to focus on my Field Journal stitcheries.....

 Some take an evening...

Some take several evenings...

I enjoy learning new stitches and ways of putting them together...

... and of course I just love the thread colours and variegations....

I am working on my flannel quilt... having to do a little bit of adjusting and fiddling around but I can sort of see where it is going.... I am following a pattern but some of it needs thinking about...

Today I hope to work on this quilt a bit ... and add to those blocks.  I also have a shop sample to make and a quilt to quilt.... so I better get some coffee in me and hop to it....

Hope you have a lovely day whatever you do.... xx

FNSI (and all day)

Thanks to Wendy for hosting FNSI.....  I had more of a FSI......

I went and pulled out a bunch of fabrics to make into new Bondi tops..... it started with the new Tilda fabrics but if I am making one I may as well make 5 and have a bit of a factory worker routine going....

The pattern calls for some binding around the neck and I didn't have matching binding for a couple of the tops so I made some.... 

a 10" square gives double what I need but a smaller piece would mean too many seams.... I use THIS method to make continuous bias binding....  

I draw and cut my strips at 1" and then fold up to make 1/2" bias using this gizmo (I have 3 sizes - 1", 1/2" and 1/4" and use the smaller ones quite a bit)

Then I got to chain piecing a bunch of Churn Dash blocks for Chookyblue's sewalong.... I am trying to make quite a lot at the moment while I can....

Not sure how many I will do but I need at least this amount again....  I will swap the colours round next time....

While I was chain piecing..... a new recipe was being tried....

Secret ingredient in this one is Sweet Potatoe.... I had a huge one I was given which needed using and this recipe just happened to be in a chain supermarkets free magazine this month...

It makes a large bundt cake... I adapted the glaze to maple and honey (as I didn't have enough maple) and used almonds instead of hazelnut (as that is what I had in the house)  The recipe is HERE and I can recommend it.... 

Friday Night was stitching another Field Journal embroidery ....

Yesterday I woke up to a message letting me know there is a new baby in the family coming along - I went scrummaging in the cupboard and found a kit I had bought some time ago and never made up...

Lovely soft flannels....

Sooooo.... in spite of not wanting to start a new one and work on others... I am doing just that ... starting a new one!  But it's a lovely excuse to do that! (you know I love starting new things)

Righto, Gotto Go.....  I might have a slice of my new cake.... then make some tops and start slicing and dicing those yummy flannel fabrics...

Hope you have a wonderful rest of the weekend..... 

Terra Australis....

Stayed at home this week (cough cough sniffle sniffle) and have been getting on with some sewing.....

I have used up nearly all my pieces from a Terra Australis fat quarter pack and this is the top I sewed together this week.

Black and white 4 patches then appliqued a circle by machine blanket stitch to the centre of each 4 patch... then joined to make a checkerboard effect.

These are the other quilts I have made using the same range - and I've shown before but thought I would include them here for a comparison

Chandalier Quilt is a free pattern by Vanessa Goertzen (TA plus charcoal grey)

Puzzle Box is a free pattern by Christa Quilts (TA and Grunge)

Mystery BOM 2012  hosted by National Quilt Museum - I have done the blocks but not yet put it all together....  Individual blocks are QAYG and just need sashing and binding.  I am going to go with the charcoal grey again... it needs bold framing I think.

TA and light grey

It all started with Naive Melody (pattern by Lucy Engels) and done using needleturn technique....

TA and various low volume greys/beiges

5 very different looks and I met my challenge of using almost all of the fabric - and I still have smaller pieces left over which I will chop and make some card wallets....

All of these are yet to be completed!

Still going with the Field Journal embroideries...

Hope all is well with you ..... xx

Righto, Gotto Go..... that new Tilda range is calling to be played with!

Another week gone....

Still working on using my lovely Terra Australis range....

This quilt top was made (had to finish off sewing the blocks into rows)

The background is a dark grey though it looks closer to charcoal/black.  I love the bright contrast.  the other two I have made using this range are HERE on this post ...  I still have another to go with black and white background that I worked on the blocks this week...

I have started making the pieces to put together for Chookyblue's Churn Dash Sewalong.....

Sewing loads of HST's by going through both sides of a diagonal line in a square - I cut up many blocks at a time this way...

Line them all up with a bit of an overlap (not too close or the fabric gets too thick for a clean cut....

I use a line on the cutting mat to keep the marked diagonal nice and straight....

Set your ruler carefully to line up with the lines on the fabric and rotary cut....

there we go.... lots of HST's cut in one slice....

Now of course they need to be pressed and trimmed neatly (no short cut to that part)

So far I have been sewing the 2" strips together to cross cut to 3 1/2" for the sides and making up the HST's.... I am using these two fabrics throughout....

I did some 'couching' on my quilting machine this week......I had some sheets I had bought cheaply to try this out and it was a lot of fun.... using 4 ply acrylic yarn and a matching thread in the machine....

there are certainly areas I need to improve on (even though I did a large quilt) I kept going too fast and it didn't catch in places....

The top was a dark grey sheet and the bottom a sand coloured one...

I'm not sure if I will cut it to make 2 smaller throws for spare beds or leave it as one large one.... then of  course it will need binding... which I am thinking a teal matching the yarn....

Of course hand sewing at night continues ... and I am going steadily with Field Journal

All different.... which makes them a lot of fun....

Righto, Gotto Go, the mist has lifted outside and the sun is brightening the rooms, the air is cold so I will stay indoors and stitch!

Have a lovely weekend.....