... fun times....

This Friday is

Sign ups are HERE (thanks Cheryll for hosting it) if you feel like having a bit of stitching on Friday night when lots of others are doing the same....  I stitch most evenings anyway but I do try and do something specific on those nights ... it's a good motivation to get something done since it needs to be blogworthy???

FRIENDS

This week we had the big FarmFest which is only a few kilometres from where I live and Narelle visits it annually .... the company Hubz works for always has a stand there so I pay him a visit and Narelle and I catch up for a coffee and a chat and a bit of walkabout....

Forgot to take a picture of us together .... at first we had a bit of a communication difficulty.....

(Narelle might forget to tell me her name but at least she can spell!) - we both had a good laugh

..... when we said goodbye Narelle surprised me with a lovely parcel of goodies...

Very, very spoilt...... thank you so much!

QUILTING

I have been toying with the idea of being a bit more serious about quilting for others..... I do love it so I have set up a page showcasing some of the work HERE I have done for other people (with permission from them) and also one describing a little bit about my process HERE ...

There are links in my sidebar for quick access and of course the pages can be found on the page bar of the blog....

The plan is not to turn my blog into a 'business blog' but just to have the links and show the occasional work I am doing.... this is my play time blog!!

There has been a few enquiries so I though this is the easiest way to let people know .... comments, suggestions and questions all welcome....

STITCHING

This is the finished stitchery (one from Rosalie Quinlans Scandanavian Rose and stitched in Cottage Garden "Lavender") ... I just need to get some coordinating fabric and make it up...

Righto, Gotto Go..... I have a pending swap gift to make..... it requires legs... and arms... and little fiddly sewing ... and Tilda fabric ...... 

..... maybe some coffee to start? ..........

Keep Calm and Carry On Quilting......

I have a new blogger to introduce you to....

..... meet Joy ......  I hope you can pop over and say Hi and welcome to the world of blogging....

.... now I know I am a bit star struck with Joy .... you see I just love her quilting and she has taught me loads in the two workshops I have attended.... she is my quiling heroine after all!!

.... although quilting is Joys forte' she also does beautiful stitching.... I am sure you will find lots of inspiration.....   when you look at her work remember it is not computerised... 

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Righto... so now on to what I have been doing.....

I have started another Scandanavian Rose stitchery... this one I wanted to have a bit of the shabby chic look so I am using Cottage Garden lavender..... I think it is so pretty....

... and here is the quilting I have done... the borders.... about 7 hours of work there... I did the curves and straight lines using my new rulers.... and the feathers in the curves were free-hand....  I am learning on the way....

the inside curves (on the green fabric)  were a challenge because I had to fit the whole quilt inside the machine arm - and get out the ironing board on my right hand side to hold the weight.... but it worked...

lots of straight line ruler work does take a long time... but I wanted that bit of formality so it was worth it.... by using the rulers I don't need to do much marking...

.... probably wouldn't do so much intricate work on such busy fabric... you don't really notice the quilting... but as this was a learning experience that's okay....  practice on busy fabric with a thread that doesn't stand out.... mistakes don't show ....

.... now I want to do the lines on the other side and circles in between the curve lines and then work on some of the inside blocks .....

..... I have heard it said to work from the centre of a quilt out..... but as Joy taught me if the blocks have all been stitch in the ditched it's not going to move anywhere ... much easier to do the parts you want first with no pins in the way....

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Hubz had some office stuff to do yesterday so I had a bit of a look around....

found this fold up table ...

.... the legs extend so it becomes a great height for cutting...  (or be short for a great working table for grandies to sit at!)

....  it is a bit wobbly so will need to lean against a wall when doing the cutting ....

Hubz has already tried to hijack it for his beer!  hmmmm... it may just become a multi-purpose table!

... folds away to easily fit under the bed.... great if you are short on space ...

... also found another pair of gloves to try... these are quite snug ... so far I like them....  As I like my hands flat when I am quilting full gloves with the whole base rubberised seem to give me the most control....

 ..... maybe not terribly exciting shopping but they are both things I will get a lot of use out of in the sewing room ... and relatively inexpensively.. 

Do you use 'everyday' non sewing objects to help your sewing?  I'd love to know what....

Righto, back to the quilting today.... it's a beaut of an Autumn day and I will be in the garden later.....

Qu.....Q..... qu.... qu .... quilting.....

I am always a bit nervous when it comes to quilting... whether it is my quilt or someone elses... the only time I am not is when I am quilting on my little tension practice scrap piece....

I think it is because I really hate unpicking ......

I started by lots of stitch in the ditch... around the borders and the applique..... this does take a long time as I go slowly and try and keep neat....  you can't really see much from the front but this is how it is ....

there are a couple of big blocks with no applique in the quilt so I had a bit of fun with that....

my favourite quilting is free form like those feathers .... though I used rulers for the circle and crosshatching 

... looks better from the back... maybe this will be an upside down quilt???

... today I am planning the main border ...... again I am going to use the rulers and do some freeform feathers and circles..... this more formal border is something new to me......

I still love a bit of hand stitching at night and when I meet up with the girls....  this block is finished now (one from Rosalie Quinlans Scandanavian Rose - I am only doing backstitch)

... it reminded me of this lovely little brass bell that I remember adorned my grandparents dining table (we lived in colonial Africa when you rang your bell for the plates to get collected!)

The Dutch settled in South Africa in the early colonisation... I expect that is the origins of this little bell... it has a lovely ring.....

I have been doing this secret project.. in secret of course......

Righto, better stop Procraftinating and get on with that quilting..... wish me luck!

Perhaps I should have a cup of coffee first?

The gloves are on.....

.... and I am enjoying some quilting....

... this is the quilt made last year with Michelle (Quilting Gallery) helping "Aiming for Accuracy".... 

... it's going to be a bit of  a 'sampler' quilting with different things in all the different blocks.... hope it works!!

Another Michelle (Rag Tag Stitchin) has brought out a new set of alphabet... this time for babies.... I love her alphabets... and I love sewing for babies.... wonderful.. the stitcheries are ultra cute....

This is another of Rosalie Quinlans blocks in Scandanavian Rose.... I am doing all the stitching in backstitch .... really fun blocks... loads of stitching but wonderful for pick up and go hand-work...

I have been through my cupboards and I think I have found all my lost UFO's.... and got so ashamed and overwhelmed by the idea of having so many things started and not done....

.... so I started something new......

... Oh dear.....

Righto, Gotto Go..... get those gloves back on.....

... and the story continues....

The next block is the ship

.. it seems to be a pirate ship.....

... there is the threat of spells which girls don't like! ...

... there are also more placid past times.....

... and here is the applique kite....

... and the first row of blocks is finished....

(54" wide)

I am continuing slowly with Scandanavian Rose blocks as my hand work in the evenings.... slow but steady and I am just doing it all in backstitch .... I do love the pictures on these...

Righto, Gotto Go... still more blocks to get together.... and the Queens Birthday to enjoy.... perhaps we need cake?

Preparations ......

This time of year is very exciting as our local city begins to get ready for Carnival Week... there are always loads of activities happening...

I like to get involved in a Creative Fields quilt display at Highfields (no surprises there!) and yesterday a few of us met together at Quilters Angel to sew up background curtains for the displays...

You can see Kris over there helping Marion with the pressing and marking, whilst Bev and I are stitching away and Steph is in control of photographs!

we are allowed to drink our tea out of those beautiful teacups you can see on the dresser... makes it so special

I love the quilt display and this year there will be quite a nice selection of quality craft items for sale from various vendors as well as about 200 quilts.

I also like to visit Toowoomba Quilters display in the city, some of the gardens and the teapot display - (which also happen to serve lovely home made scones and jam) ......

I baked a Gingerbread Loaf to have for some sweet sustenance....

... it is of course an easy peasy recipe ....

OLD FASHIONED GINGER CAKE

225g (8oz) flour
1/2 tsp bicarb of soda
2 tsps ground ginger
100g (4oz) butter or margerine
100g (4oz) brown sugar
4 Tbsps treacle
2 Tbsps milk
1 egg

Stir flour, bicarb and ginger in a bowl.  Melt butter, sugar and treacle.  Cool slightly then beat in milk and egg.  Stir liquid ingredients into dry ingredients.  Beat well. turn into greased and lined loaf tin.

Bake 180 C (moderate oven) 40 - 45 mins...

We had slices toasted and spread with butter.... yummo

Marion gave us each a bunch of beautiful roses ....

they are just gorgeous...  

Thursday night whilst we were waiting for it to stop raining in England so we could watch some cricket I finished off my Scandanavian Rose (Rosalie Quinlan) stitchery

I did this preprinted linen totally in backstitch with a Perle 8 thread .... I think it will  make a lovely cushion cover.....

Righto, Gotto Go ... the weekend is upon us..... hope you have an excellent one

Bits and Bobs .....

Has been very chilly here... and I just happen to be housebound... so what could I do but sew a few blocks...

These are all 9" squares .......

Kurume kasuri tsunagi masumon
(Linked square pattern)
31 pieces

 I'm adding up the number of pieces I use as I go

Kurume kasuri masu tsunagi
(Linked squares)
53 pieces

 .... it's not hard... I just add up from the instructions in the book....

Kurume kasuri gakubuchi
(Frame)
21 pieces

 ... but you can count on the actual blocks if you feel like it...

Kurume kasuri masumon
(Kurume square pattern)
21 pieces

... I would appreciate you letting me know if I got any wrong...

Kurume kasuri sanju masu
(Triple squares)
33 pieces

These are going into my Scrappy Japanese block collection HERE.... trying to do a few a month but I have only done 19 since Feb 2012!!

I really like this block here in two colours...

There are only 53 pieces in the 9" square....

 I thought we could do a Kurume kasuri masu tsunagi exchange and each make 12 blocks (thats only 636 pieces) and send them to each other and swap colours and then send blocks to other people and then make things with them and then see what we come up with ..... anybody want to join in?

Perhaps it is not challenging enough?  I will try and find another block then.... there are still another 113 to choose from 

(PS... I'm sorry I won't be able to organise the exchange - I really can't understand what I have written so if there is anyone who does do let me know)

But the blocks are fun aren't they?  

This is what they look like all together

This is the second block of Scandanavian Rose (Rosalie Quinlan) that I have been stitching at night.... done lots... there has been so much sport on TV!!

.... and I never showed this finished giant pincushion I made for a shop sample ....
(can you believe someone stole their original sample from the shop!)

... lovely and big so no chance of the pins going through and stabbing you ...

... and so pretty to have sitting on the desk ....

it has 8 little pockets around the edge for bits and bobs, scissors, buttons and threads etc.

... so pretty with the lace and trims

(Quilters Angel has this pattern and some kits made up)

It was originally one of the projects from "Stitchers Dream Day Out" about five or six years ago and was designed by Debbie Magee from "Always Stitchin'"
Thanks Kris for letting me know

Righto, Gotto Go .... time for tea.....