year end.......

Wishing you all a wonderful 2020..... may it be full of stitching..... and other stuff that you like....

Yesterday I went and bought cold meats, cheeses and pickles for us to snack on at NYE....  we seldom sit up till midnight, preferring just to get to sleep when we feel ready..... boring ….

This week I quilted up this little quilt (the top was given to me) …...

… and this Chevron quilt top that I made a few years ago.... I did leaves in all the whites and lines in the colour… fairly heavy quilting but it gives a nice texture and is not too stiff....  will be even nicer after a wash....

My hand quilting is done, this is a smallish lap quilt size and I did make myself do a bit each day so it would get done....  some ovals in the blank squares to copy applique'd stitcheries

.. and some orange peels in the corners and wavy lines in the borders...

 mostly very simple but it holds it all and gives a nice soft feel....

I now have a binding queue starting... the binding has been sewn on by machine and I will hand sew when it is cool enough to be prepared to have a quilt on my lap! (my postcards quilt is also there)

Today I am pinning work quilts in preparation for next year..... well one of them needed to be finished before I could pin it ------ YOU know who you are!!!.... haha.... just a bit of blanket stitching around stars....  I thought it was a bit funny that it got posted to me not quite done....

.. and another United Stitches block done.....  you will still be seeing these around for a while...

I have updated my WOOFA list on the side bar to reflect my long UFO list.  Cheryll is hosting a bit of motivation to work on unfinished projects, and maybe even finish them!!  You can read about it HERE.

Thanks Chez..... great idea....

Righto, Gotto Go..... ALL THE VERY BEST FOR 2020 .....

Phew......

We survived.....

It's been a bit like that this year

Just before Christmas I received lovely post with ornaments

From Susan

From Jeanette ….

and from Karen …. and extra card from Raewyn...

Thank you I just love them

My tree looked lovely with only hand made ornaments on it.... and so many memories and thoughts go with them.... 

I did make some and sent them off... I only took this picture of the backs!

….. but I have 'stolen' this one from Michelle's blog...

I used some glitter cork fabric on some, and some glitter felt on others and some sweet Tilda angels....  some raw edge applique and pinking sheers and finished off with hemp twine.....  a real mix of textures....

WE had a quiet Christmas but I had a good giggle at my mug with mugshots... (Hubz and I got one each.... the motley crew making silly faces)

… and up to date pictures of the grandchildren.....  As most of you know they live far away (bar 1) so having these is very precious to me.....

I have continued with my hand quilting, and the last couple of days done some machine quilting of my own......

Handstitching has continued …. as always.... and this sweet butterfly is done....

… and this one which is very apt for the end of one year and the beginning of the next....

This last couple of days I have been doing some sorting and updated my pages (at the top of my blog page) for UFO's and the Quilting Queue... both very long.  

I always make great progress on my UFO's which usually results in increased quilting queue... and then of course I start a whole lot more to be UFO's for the following year.... that's the way it works in this house....

Wishing you and yours all the best, and may we have a wonderful year full of blogging friendship.....

Les Courtiers

I purchased Les Courtiers off a destash site some years ago because I love the French General fabrics (and it was a bargain price)

Since I had finished all the individual blocks I started putting them together...

Rows 1 and 2 …..

Rows 4 and 5….. (it seems I didn't take a picture of Row 3!!)

Joining them together..... only fitted sideways on my design wall.....

then I added 10" wide borders all round..... (I  made them wider than the pattern said as there was enough fabric and also I wanted it a bit bigger)

Love the colours…. it is 98 x 86" and will be a challenge to quilt...… one fine day....

I have the pattern set available should anyone like to have it (Aus only for postage I'm afraid)  however there is NO fabric requirements (it came as a kit with fabric included) and I did find I needed to make a couple of changes to blocks but that could well have been maker error during the different stages....

 It's now sitting in the quilting queue with the binding ready cut to sew.....

Another sweet United Stitches stitchery was completed.....

 … and I am slowly getting the hang of working my thimble to do hand quilting....

Trying to do at least 6 threaded needles a day.....  so I have it at the table and when I get a chance I go and sit and do a bit..... 

… am finding the hoop helps a lot for the middle bits... on the edges I just grip with my left hand....

This quilt is "In My Garden" by Natalie Bird... such a gorgeous design with stitchery, applique, piecing, EPP and the most gorgeous sayings and pictures....

Righto, Gotto Go... last quilt job for the year is waiting for some attention.....

Hope you have a lovely weekend wherever you are...… xx

Sampler done...

I have completed my Sampler Quilt done with Jane at Loopy's place

I did my blocks half the size of the patterns so my quilt measures 22 x 19".... doll quilt size

I had a bit of fun with the quilting....

… each block is different....

fabrics were scraps from another quilt where I used a fat quarter pack.....

I love these colours together.....

Jane is going to do another sampler next year... I can't wait to see what we do....

I have been working on my Les Courtiers (a bit neglected for a while)

This is the pattern for the blocks down the side..... 44 needed...… hmmmm

done by hand and appliqued and I just knew I wouldn't get that done

so I made 9 patches instead (thanks Michelle for the idea)….

My math is not good and I made them all 1/2" too big so trimming around each edge was needed....

It was good to have them nice and square for the next bit though.... which also needed trimming....

I have all the blocks constructed for the quilt now and hopefully I can start putting them together....  lots of different ones ....

Hand stitching has resulted in another sweet United Stitches block

Righto, Gotto Go... I want to start putting all the different blocks for Les Courtiers together...... quite a bit of work to do on that

Field Journal

Last year I joined up a monthly club via The Quilters Angel.  Field Journal is put out by Cottage Garden threads and each month there are 4 little pre printed stitcheries and 4 new CG threads and liberty fabrics for the borders.  

 I haven't started mine yet but it's my plan for next year …..

Here is the first one with the threads I need for it ready and waiting …...

In a lovely little thread holder gifted to me a couple of years ago by Chez....

4 new threads a month (plus the ones I already have) are much more than can fit into the folder...

I purchased a zip file from a local stationary store....

and ordered currency file sheets via ebay….

They are just the right size and fit each month into a sheet...

the long top is where it is open which makes them very easy to slip in and out...

This one is already full so I will need another zippy file....

I love CG threads and although they are quite dear I do find they are perfect for so many of the projects I like to do... this is an excellent way to collect up a good number of threads

Meantime I continue doing these little stitcheries... also in CG thread but all the same colour ....

I need to get moving on them so I can start the ones I have been saving from Field Journal (32 at the last count plus a larger design)

Rosalie Dekker/Quinlan who designed the United Stitches has been a favourite Ausi designer of mine for a long time (sadly she has now passed but her designs live on) also designed some fabric and I had purchased a bit of it.

I am using some at the moment - it has an almost linen feel, thicker than cotton but really really nice...

I found a fat quarter pack at The Quilters Angel and so this came home with me last week

My Christmas treat to myself, I have no idea at this stage what I will use it for but very glad to have it.... 

Righto, back to the sewing room....