Busy week.....

This quilt is finished.....

Simple wave quilting to contrast with the blocks....  It is yet another quilt I have made using my fat quarter pack of Terra Australis....

A rather sweet backing....

This pattern is called Puzzle Box and is a free pattern by Christa Quilts.... you can find it HERE

I found it an easy quilt to make and think it would be great with scraps.  I will be using it again.

And I have finished the cardigan which was my holiday project....

Simple pattern and easy to work on in trains, buses, cars etc....

I haven't knitted anything like this for a very long time and didn't get the spacing for the buttons very good... the top two are closer together, but otherwise I am looking forward to wearing this next winter.

Another stitchery from Field Journal has been completed.  I would have liked to sew some other letters on it but it was pre-printed.... This stands for Cottage Garden Threads.... it can be used for something

One thing I seem to do post holidays is a bit of a tidy up.... I have gone through clothes and chucked out a bunch (there seem to be a lot that have shrunk rather a lot lately!!!)  and today I went through a desk top (I had saved back so many cards over the years - I still can't throw out the hand made ones)  There was a drawer with a whole lot of pressed leaves - can't even remember doing that so they have gone into the compost!

I hope this tidying lark ends soon - it's a bit distracting!

Righto, Gotto Go.... I have yet another quilt using Terra Australis to finish quilting....

Hope you have a lovely weekend....

Back to Club

Fun to get back to club today - and catch up with lots of different people.

We had a destash day - if there are 5 Tuesdays in a destash on the 5th - This month however we have our Christmas party on the 5th Tuesday so destash was early.

Members can bring in their goodies to sell, usually quilting related but not strictly.

Today there was (sadly) two deceased quilters stashes.... and there was a lot of fabric to choose from.  A really lot.

I chose some metreage of plain colours ($6/metre) as they are great to have to add in for backgrounds.  And a couple of bags of neutral light scraps (50c a bag).   There was so much more that I would have liked at very good prices.

Bargains for us, but sad for lost quilters - however the amount of fabrics that were there has made me resolved to use the lovely fabrics I have ....

Once I had finished shopping I sewed down these pies onto background fabric.  (The two packs of scraps were to find additional backgrounds for this quilt)

As usual there was show and tell....

This one is so clever with the use of colour 

This was a fun mat ....

She used cat fabrics to make up the strips...

Simple 4 patch placed on point with sashing and cornerstones.... lovely

I took my circles.... quite a lot of interest as it is simple but effective...

I would never have chosen turquoise to go with the brown... but how good does it look?

The pattern is a free on from Fat Quarter Shop.... found HERE - I think I will add this to my want to make list.

Sweet baby quilt...

Effective use of colours... that yellow really cheers  it up...

And a group of little quilts....

All in all a pleasant day.... I am looking forward to our Christmas lunch.  Usually we have an ornament swap but that is not happening this year.  Apparently too many people were taking gifts when they hadn't brought one in.  Seems a shame to me as I think it would be easy to just hand tokens to people as they handed in a gift to make sure that doesn't happen.  However, I am pleased to have the pressure of making something taken away this year.

Take care....

Back to quilting.....

This quilting on this quilt was done before we went on holiday..... so once I was feeling well enough (post jetlag) to use a power tool I sewed the binding on....

On Tuesday sewing with my regular group I sewed down the binding....  and here is the end result...

I used Terra Australis range (again) and mixed it with black and whites - machine appliqued the circles then joined the blocks together...

The backing is more circles - and you can see the quilting better... I used a curved ruler throughout...

I am happy with how this one worked out... it is a healthy sized lap quilt...

Another quilt using Terra Australis is on the quilting machine now.... this time I will go with an organic wavy line throughout to contradict those squared off edges...

Once I had finished the binding I did a little needleturn applique and sewed a few pies onto backgrounds.... my long term EPP project but I'm glad it includes applique too.

Good to be back sewing, catching up with friends etc....

Hope you are all keeping well....xx

Back to Blogging

Hello there friends,

It's been a while since I blogged.  We went to the UK and spent a lovely time with family there, and also managed to visit some places we hadn't been to before.

I am jetlagged and sad ... but also happy and grateful.

Whilst I was at my daughters a lovely gift of a new wall-hanging arrived from Lin...

I had been watching this being made, and love the colours and the detailed work in it.... thanks Lin, a wonderful surprise.

This is the grand total of my sewing in 7 weeks!  There wasn't a lot of opportunity to bring out needle and thread....

My lovely DIL gave me a bunch of used shirts (mostly my sons but also some of hers) and asked if  I would make up quilts for the two daughters with them....  Of course I would love to.

I spent a bit of time chopping out collars and seams to reduce the bulk bringing them back.  There is a good assortment so I will have lots of fun....

I did do a fair amount of knitting as it is an easy project for train rides, chilling with the family, etc

Plain and purl in this simple cardigan.... I am presently working on the sleeves.

I am not a shopper on holidays (my view is I can shop anytime here at home).... but I did mail order a kit from my favourite UK Wool Warehouse - a kit for an Attic24 pattern.

This will be my next winters project.

I have missed my blog reading and commenting and looking forward to seeing what people have been up to....

I have so many photographs to sort through, I'll try and get up some pics of various places we visited.

Take care.....

the Matriarch....

I have finished piecing the top for The Matriarch - my version of Elephant Abstractions by Violet Craft

I was totally obsessed doing this.... her pattern is so well written and it was like piecing according to instructions but not really knowing how it all fits together.  I struggle with seeing a picture backwards as working with foundation paper piecing feels to me....

She is going to stand guard on my design wall for a few weeks as we get to visit our real Matriarch - 92 year old Mother in law (we missed her 90th birthday due to Covid restrictions)

There are also children and grandchildren to visit.... most I haven't seen for over 5 1/2 years which is just too long and hard.

A few more Field Journal stitcheries have been done....

I will be taking a break from them for a while..... as well as a break from blogging and other social media.... I am a bit selfish with my family time

I'm sure I will get some catch up times but they will be limited so I apologise in advance for not keeping in touch....

See ya later Alligator, In a While Crocodile.... In a Swish Jelly fish...