Sylvia's Bridal Sampler....

Yesterday we got together to work on Sylvia's Bridal Sampler again.....

We started with a gentle foundation pieced block.....

Mothers Favourite (37 pieces)

 then moved onto another....

.. but that bit wasn't enough and we had to add more to it!!!

Mrs Clevelands Choice (65 pieces)

 ...after that we decided to end the day with some nice easy piecing....

Ohio Star (21 pieces)

We took a picture of our latest blocks together... you can see just how different they look in our chosen colourways... 

I've had quite a few comments on doing Dutch Treat.... and I've been thinking about colours...

I found these in my 'stash' and think they will be wonderful for the background colour (perhaps not he light one at the top) and I'm thinking a soft grey for the top.... sashing and border will have to come later!

I bought these for a bargain a couple of years ago - I can get at least 12 blocks from each colourway so there will be plenty... The quilt does take a lot of fabric so I'm thrilled to have these to use.

 Meanwhile my handsewing at night has been this block from Rosalie Dekkers Scandanavian Rose - preprinted on linen.  A lot of stitching but I love doing it...

Righto, I have sampler blocks for The Splendid Sampler to catch up on whilst I get some down lights installed in my sewing room..... woohoo... good lighting at last!

Have a happy rest of the week....

Outings.... and Blocks.....

I find it very easy to become completely house bound and so I kindof make myself do things and get out the house and socialise or go visit somewhere different... Of course these things are so much more fun to do with other people....

Hubz and I and the dog went for a short walk around a local Botanical park - it's realitively young but has been done so prettily and thoughtfully...

The trees seem to know it's Autumn - even if the weather doesn't (still feels like summer)

.. some plants that don't usually grow in this area - 

.. this little water feature filled with a little water plant - looked like grass and my silly little dog fell in when she tried to walk on it!!

.... I rather loved these giant ants ... clever...

...and these ones carved into the sandstone... 

Just a short walk around - there is a nice BBQ area too and lots of ground for children to play...

Us Sylvia's Bridal Sampler girls got together again this week and these are the latest blocks....

Love In a Mist (32 pieces)

Helping me to master Y seams! 

Mariners Compass (48 pieces)

The Mariners Compass took over 3 1/2 hours to do - and I was lucky this time not to have too much unsewing....   

Mexican Star (29 pieces)

To date we have done 116 of the 140 blocks - made up of 3691 pieces!  24 more blocks to go so of course we are starting to think of what our next sew together project will be....

This is a possibility.....

I am trying to think of two non tradtional colours to do these blocks.... They are 4 1/2" blocks and done in reverse applique.  Hmmmmmm .... 

Anyone else done this quilt???

For love of Tuffets.....

I really love my tuffet .....

 .. so I made another....

... it just happens to be a bit smaller ....

.... but it still has it's own dog to sit on it....

... a bit like mother and child?????

... filled with walnut shells and finished with a pretty little bead button at the top....

... I envisage there will be more in my future....

Righto, Gotto Go..... you have a wonderful day .....x

FNWF and something different...

Cheryl had us all over cyberly for FNWF - which is always fun...  I spent it over at The Quilters Angel with a lovely bunch of girls...

When I arrived there I stood a while to look at the sunset (it's going down earlier and earlier now!) and watched the bats fly over....  

I sat and worked on another of the Scandanavian stitcheries of Rosalie Dekker.... there is a lot of stitching in these but with one colour it is great for taking off to stitching evenings...

This week I have been  catching up with sewing blocks for The Splendid Sampler

and 

well one of those is not a block from The Splendid Sampler but a splendid use of one of my quilts...(I needed an extra picture to balance the collage!)

Today I popped along to the Library to take part in their monthly social/craft gathering....

This is the book I chose

.. and this is what I did with it....

a couple of hours of measure, mark and fold - a quick stop for some yummy scones with jam and cream.  Although it wasn't hard I did find I had to focus especially on making sure the marking was right so the folds are in the right places.

Righto, Gotto Go....  I've got some wool and linen out to play with

Have a lovely weekend.

A mini vintage style quilt....

I do love old 'vintage' linens, and I do love quilting and when I feel I really need some 'me' time I put the two together for a play....

This is a linen napkin and I used a cotton background and some French General charm squares (because FG goes with anything classic doesn't it?)

I do whatever markings that I want before I set it up to quilt.... and the linen is well starched.  Here I used a frixion pen (I know, I know there are lots of warnings but I have found no problems on whites/creams and its a lovely thin line)

I first added a layer of wadding under only the linen - so that it would have a little bit extra puff.  This is sewn roughly around the edge of the linen using water soluble thread.  It's amazing stuff just don't lick it when you want to thread the needle ....

 The thead was changed and I quilted carefully around the edge of the linen onto the background - which now is pinned onto it's own wadding.  Here you can see the line of water soluble thread holding the linen down - that will completely disappear.

little daisy feathers around the circles....

this gives a perspective of size ... they are pretty cute...

... after all the daisies were done I used a ruler to form a swag around the edge....

.. a lot of filling in of the swag and those lines seem to take ages - they are only 1/4" apart ...

.. here you can see how the centres have puffed out.. the lines I drew on are still there waiting for a bit of  'heat' to remove them...

  

It's at this stage I give the whole quilt a really good spray, to dissolve the water soluble thread and also to let the quilt just rest into a good shape.  Then it is gone over with a steam iron to remove the frixion markings.

I think making these little puffs took longer than anything else - at least that's what it felt like.  they are fiddly little things and I now have a new found admiration of people who make quilts using heaps of them!

I just attached them with a couple of stitches in the middle. 

... now for some trimming up and tidying....

.. and spending a lovely evening hand sewing down the binding... I love that part though part of me is always a bit sad to be finishing...

.. and here is my new textured, vintage piece

Not sure how useful these little things are - but sometimes we just need something that is pretty and has no use at all - just for fun!!

Righto, Gotto Go... proper size quilts waiting now - the holiday is over and so is 'me' time!!