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 - 

... more progress....

Hubz has been away for a few days so I take advantage of that time by making up a big bowl of soup, staying in my pyjamas and stitching the days away....

Firstly I added the next border onto In My Garden....  the stitcheries are not that clear in the picture but they are very sweet 

... then I started work to catch up on The Splendid Sampler blocks....

hmmmmm

 .. that's better .... 

Hand in Hand designed by Kari Carr

Inspector Sidekick designed by Michele Foster

Derby Day designed by Pat Sloan (bonus block)

Goose on the Loose designed by Amy 

I have two more prepped up which I will take to Friday night Sew and Stitch tonight .... 

... lots of HST in today's work - rather satisfactory seeing a pile of little trimmings...

Last evening I finished off the stitching for my eye mask.... you can see the shape in the stitchery...

.. the next border of In My Garden needed lots of 1.5" x 2.5" rectangles - I chose to make them by sewing strips together and cutting them back... 

... there is some regularity in the strips but they worked out okay ..

... and that's the top finished for that quilt - I love it....  I think I will get a bit more of brown for binding?

Hubz and I have been filling spaces with some new plants... this little hibiscus decided to flower - the flower is almost as big as the plant... so pretty...

Righto, Gotto Go - I can probably finish off that eye mask this afternoon...... Hope you have a wonderful weekend....

Progress

Another 4 blocks for Sylvia's Bridal Sampler done this week - 

Sawtooth Star, Silver and Gold, Sister's Choice, Square and Star

... I've also been doing a bit of sashing - there is lots to do as I'm going around each side and then trimming back to sort out the fact that my blocks are not all the same size!  I've done these 20 so far (they are not joined yet)

Loving the look of it... exciting... 

The centre of In My Garden is completed now - those hexagons took me a while and then were appliqued on with the little oval stitcheries.... looking very sweet I think,,,,,

the next step is cutting more fabric to go around the edge with these other stitcheries...

... meanwhile I have another hand sewing project on the go - I want an eye mask to use at a sewing retreat I am going to in a couple of weeks ...  

Our little Australian native bees are very sweet and little, don't sting and I think it's a compliment that they come into my garden.  The garlic chives in my herb planter have gone to flower and the bees have been collecting pollen like mad.... I hope you can see them here - looks like they have big boots on -

Righto, Gotto Go ...... border fabrics to choose and cut.....

Blocks and blocks...

Yesterday us girls sewed another 4 blocks in Sylvia's Bridal Sampler....

Queen Charlotte's Crown (22 pieces)
Rambler (33 pieces)
Rolling Star (28 pieces)
Rolling Stone (29 pieces)

We have now done 130 of the 140 blocks and these are made up of 4209 pieces 

It's hard to believe we are on the last 10 now - all being well we will have them all done by the end of the month

Christine and Lyn both came over with their vintage Featherweight machines, Christine's is the white one and she has been using hers for some time... Lyn has just got hers and it was her first outing to sew these blocks with us.

As you can see we spread out a fair bit - very much a working day with tea/coffee on the go all the time

They really are dear little machines and piece beautifully - it's really fun having them over 

I have started with some sashing - as my blocks have not all turned out perfect 6 1/2 " I am adding sashing around all edges and trimming back to 7 1/2" so they fit well - I think with the neutral sashing any variations in the sizes will be disguised

The Splendid Sampler blocks come in at 2 per week - with the occasional bonus block as an extra

These are some of the latest one's I have done .... they truly are a set of Sampler with different techniques and styles - great fun 

For my handwork I have started appliqueing the stitcheries on In My Garden (Natalie Bird) - they really are very sweet - there are hexagons to add also...... hmmmmm

My traditional Mothers Day dishtowel from my daughterwholivesnearme arrived early for me this year.  She always finds such fun ones...

Righto, Gotto Go and be Badass.......

Sampler Blocks.....

Tuesday Sewing Day with the girls added another 92 pieces of fabric to our sampler quilts....

Album 2 (23 pieces)

 A lot of the time is spent cutting up these little pieces

Churndash (17 pieces)

 .. the sides on these rosebuds are only 1" ....

Rosebud (28 pieces)

 ... 6 " blocks and they can get quite fiddly .....

Sickle (24 pieces)

.. so far we have done 25 out of the 140 blocks....

... starting to look like a quilt....

here are some catch up pictures of the 3 different styles.... it's very hard to get pictures that show off all the colours well...

I am learning quite a bit with regard the use of colours for contrasts and how placement of the colours highlights something different in the blocks

Susan and Dzintra are both also making these blocks ... pop over and see what they have done ... anybody else game to join in??????

For my handsewing in the evenings I have got back to my In My Garden stitcheries (Natalie Bird)

I'm working on them by colour rather than finishing a stitchery at a time so it's taking a while to have any done...

Righto, Gotto Go.... I have sampler blocks homework to do!!