'tis done......

At the beginning of the year this is how my Patchwork Village looked.... I had the stitcheries done and the fabric for the blocks chosen.......

It's taken me a while but not I can say my little patchwork village is built

This is a Rosalie Quinlan design

lovely pattern

I used a variegated thread for the quilting which you can see I made quite big designs in the large empty spaces drawn on using a template and frixion pen 
(personally I'm not really happy with that part but I am still a learner quilter so I have to accept what I can do)

orange peel loops on the triangles
just a small wavy line around the stitcheries
(those I like)

then some waves and feathers on the borders

(I do like feathers and I think they look okay)

Dawn and Wendy host Sew It's Finished and the quilt is now a finished UFO

and so is the May stitchery - a little pattern is sent to us each month we finish a UFO

Not much of June left now...... enjoy the weekend

Righto, Gotto Go... I need to practice the FMQ.....

June FNSI

G'day

Thanks to Heidi for hosting FNSI this month .... there is something about gathering up particular sewing jobs to do and getting myself all comfortable for some quality time with my stitching....

... footy is on a Friday night so Hubz is happy ....

... and later on we switch over to Silent Witness and watch that together ....

.... well, I need some quality time with him too....

... and it gives me some time for handstitching...

So while the footy was on I pinned my Patchwork Village quilt....

I had already drawn out the patterns I want to quilt on the blocks.... I think if you enlarge the picture you will see them... just simple hearts and flowers that match the stitcheries....
... and I'll free hand orange peel the sides of the stars ...

... of course I also need food for a sewing marathon...

... or I would get all weak and maybe faint and that would be disturbing for Hubz to deal with...

Fresh Raspberry Pie

Hubz likes his with icecream...

... I like sour cream ... 

...that has no extra sugar...

... that means it is good for you....

Just mash up a cup of raspberries (I used frozen since it is not raspberry season here) with about 1/2 cup of sugar, 3 Tbsp of cornflour, 3/4 cup of water and stir whilst heating to boiling... let it boil for a bit so it all thickens up nicely....

You need a pre baked pastry shell.... 

don't you like my fancy one with the pretty edges?.... 

so clever aren't I?.... 

I bought it ready made..... 

(I wonder what preservatives were in that to make it last for months on the shelves.. rather negates the no extra sugar in the cream!!! but still... it looks nice and tastes nice)

Anyway, pour your fresh, or defrosted raspberries in the cooked base - enough to cover it very well and then pour over the lovely thick raspberry mixture.... and put it on the windowsill to cool.....

I think it will be nice with blueberries, or cherries ........

.... and then a bit of handsewing (after I washed my hands of course) ....

.... no.... I haven't got hexie fever.... but I am making some of Cheryl's Little Bit French items and these 3/4" hexagons are part of it.... 

...oh my....

... I'm not sure I understand the hexie addiction...

Righto, Gotto Go... there's a quilt ready for quilting.....

I hope your weekend is outstanding.....

Borders and Blocks......

I've joined the blocks and put some borders on my Patchwork Village

I'll do the binding in the same red as the border

Hubz likes this one... he says it is controlled and organised

what does that tell you about him.... and me.....?

I posted about my latest My Favourite Things blocks here 

Spot the difference.....

When I saw others on the Stitch-A-Long blog I noticed that I hadn't 'finished' my blocks so I had a bit of homework to do

.... it does look better now....

The weather is changing... rain is promised..... we hope it comes.... so, so dry

Righto, Gotto Go ... need to figure out a quilting plan

Patchwork Village Stars and some WINNERS ..

I managed to do a bit of machine piecing over our long weekend.....

The stars surrounding the houses in the village are all done

(Little Patchwork Village by Rosalie Quinlan)

I'm not sure what I will do about the borders.... I will have to think a bit longer .... I would like to pick out the pale sage green in the fabric.... and the red..... but I'd also like to have some more of the light.....

....... decisions... ..... decisions.....

but something I didn't have to make a decision about (thanks to Mr Random) was the winners of needlecases....

I always want to give out to everyone who comments... but Mr Random is very strict....

First up we have:

# 21 Maree from On My Veranda  .... who said

Fiona they are all Gorgeous I love all those designs...But if I had to Choose one right now it would be the Basket... Thanks xx

and next we have:

# 31 Annette from Jindi's Cottage ... who said 

Quilt as you go/self-bound hexies...my favourite...they have so many applications...love them as needlecases...and pincushions, now there's an idea I hadn't entertained, you've got the wheels turning...

They are all gorgeous but I like the top row ones best...the bottom row hearts and bunnies are cute too but just not as much "me"...

Enjoy making your pincushions...I'm sure that banana muffin is but a distant memory now!...

and then Mr Random thought he would be Mr Smarty Pants and decided one should really go international... so he drew another number......

# 12 Linda from Living the Dream .... who said 

Oh my goodness get my name in the hat!! They are gorgeous, and such a good idea! I like them all so would leave the choice to you. Hugs x

Excellent... these will be in the post next week.....  I'm so glad there was no duplicate favourite... and I'm sorry I couldn't send one to all of you

Oh... and did you know I am quite famous now?

My wool/chenille quilt made from Toni's design in Australian Homespun was selected as a readers entry winner....
well... great magazine, great designer, great prize - it's a win, win, win... for me that is!

Righto... Gotta Go... decisions to be made....

Weekend stitchin....

It all started with a UFO ......

and I realised I didn't have enough light fabric to make the stars for them....

so I finished off the quilting on 2 of the Trapunto blocks... this is giving me good free motion practice

most definitely a time of going into la-la land....

then I mowed the dirt grass ....

and put the borders are on the butterfly garden quilt

maybe I should keep it as a flimsy... I like it from the back too!

this is a close up of the very pretty border fabrics

... there is a darker pink for the binding and such a pretty backing...

I am not going to hurry into quilting

I have done most of the stems on my star flowers ... now these leaves need to be needleturned on... 

and then I started something new....

I also went to buy some background (this is some pretty from the Papillon range) 

so now I can get back to my UFO that started off my weekend ....

can you tell I've been eating chocolate?

Righto.... gotta go... not sure why but I better do it .....

Little Patchwork Village ...

I first saw these lovely little village stitcheries on Peg's blog... and I knew it was one I would love to do....

Little Patchwork Village is a Wall Quilt designed by Rosalie Quinlan

all the blocks are done now .....

I have used a lovely Cosmos variegated thread... the changes are so subtle and it was very nice thread to work with.... 

The blocks sit in pretty stars - I think I will use this fabric... I will need a couple of other fabrics too  ...

Righto - Gotta Go.... weekend to enjoy


hope you have a good one

... and that was the weekend.....

A couple of hours down the road and we went to the Abbey Medieval Tournament this year....

wonderful banners and lots of people dressed up

medieval birds of prey

harpist

swordfighting training

knights in shining armour

fighting over damsels

musicians serenading

so much to see and do......

I've been playing with my Wiscasset making Half Square Triangles....

... into pinwheels...

Three different sizes

and planning how to join them together

This is my first block for Little Patchwork Village by Rosalie Quinlan

which I first saw over at Peg's (thanks Peg - I love these)

I am using a Cosmo thread for the first time

it does sew lovely and smoothly and I love the subtle variegation

........ and, and, and.....

 do you remember my Bag with Nanatude?

well Wanda is making one but at the same time turning her skills into making a proper pattern.... so exciting and I got such a kick out of someone wanting to make it, oh, oh, oh - I can't wait to see the rest

I do hope you can spend some time in your Happy Place this week