More UFO's

I also found in my UFO cupboard a small plastic continer holding 265 -  5 1/2"
squares I had made from the fabric in my scrap basket. I had even trimmed them all so it was an easy job to sew them together.

The quilt is 80" X 80" so I hung it on the clothes hoist to take a photo. As you will see, as soon as I pegged it on, the wind came up. It has turned out quite bright, rather a 'happy' quilt and I am very pleased with it.

Wishing All my Blog friends a Very Happy and Healthy 2011.

UFO

I decided to go through my boxes and cupboards. I wanted to look at my UFO's and decide whether they were worth keeping. Was I ever going to finish them??? was there any need to keep them????? I didn't get passed the first container after discovering 25 blocks ready to needleturn and I was only on the 2nd one. Inspired by seeing all the lovely fabrics I have decided to get on with it and we will see how far I get before it goes back in the cupboard. Here is a photo of the first 2 blocks. They are all either red, yellow or cheddar in colour.

and here is a better photo with the centre broderie perse sewn on. I had my DIL look at the settings on my camera and it has made a great difference. They are a better colour now and not overly bright.

The Story of the Diamonds

My Diamonds are finished.

I have also been looking at pieces to add to the centre as Broderie Perse and found that the  small ring of roses that surround the centre medallion cut into 4 sits nicely around the inner side of the corner hexagons and makes quite a difference to the look of the 'bareness' [is that a word?] of the centre. I will get them stitched on later.

and.... I also finished my X-Stitch, Alphabet Sampler. I had to buy the trinkets online and unfortunately the key which sits beside the "F" is very small but luckily I do have a larger one and will change it over before it is framed. There is also a pair of scissors which are supposed to sit under the "8" beside the "V" but they are too large so I've had to leave them off. I have moved the reel of thread higher to compensate. The squirrel with his "acorn" trinket I think looks great.

The men in the family have gone off for a game of golf so I'm going to potter in my sewing room before it is time to make dinner for them.

A Gift in the Mail

Today I received a beautiful little quilt made by Taryn from Repro Quilt Lover. She had made it for a giveaway I was lucky enough to win. It has so many lovely little pieces of fabric in it and I just love it. Thank you Taryn, Christmas has started early.

Also in todays mail I received fabric I had bought online. They are a bit darker than the photo shows. I love the cheddar fabrics and the greens are Jo Mortons latest range.

A Parcel on the Doorstep

Today as I left the house I found a parcel the postie had left on the doorstep.
A box of goodies from Jeni .I was on my way to my embroidery class, so I put it under my arm and off I went. By the time I arrived there, I had an idea it could be the Secret Santa Swap I am in with an online primitve folk art group. 

I explained to everone what I thought it was so it was opened. Everything was separately wrapped in Christmas tissue. A lovely handmade Christmas card. A star made by Rug hooking, I look at the rugs online that people make and love them. This is now my very own piece. A cardboard snowman, wool thread, a very large bundle of felted wool in many different colours that I love to use in making things.2 Fq's of beautiful fabric, some roving for making balls or a beard on a santa, a quilt pattern and the most gorgeous little prim quilt with a black crow too, my favourite. What a marvellous swap to receive and I am truly delighted with everything Jeni has sent.  

I am waiting to hear that my parcel has arrived at my Secret Swap lady.  

  

The Christmas decorations come out

Here are some of my Christmas decorations that are handmade.

My Crow wallhanging I received in a Xmas swap online and is made with wool.

He has tartan slippers! and I love it.

This a wool penny mat I made for last Christmas as you will notice Mr Crow is there again. 

I hang this one from the handle of the door.The stitchery is done on linen but the rest of the heart is wool.

This is a Lynette Anderson pattern. I love the penquins on it. This was a great wallhanging to make.

I made this one at WoodnPots, a local shop before I had started making quilts. The shop taught Folk Art painting on wooden shapes that her husband makes. The centre panel and the wooden hanger I painted with a lot of help from the staff and although I don't tie the little bags on any longer it is an Advent quilt with 24 hearts on the border.  

Even the checkerboard was painted!
Sewing is so much easier.

Finally Finished

This is my Primitive Garden quilt. I bought it as a BOM from Primitive Gatherings. It has a cotton Background and Felted Wool applique. This is the first quilt I made with wool.  I made it in 2008- 2009 and have just got it quilted and bound over the last few days. Working with wool that has been felted is wonderful. It is very soft on the hands to sew and as it doesn't fray only requires a whipstitch round the edge.

Progress is slow

My Drayton Hall quilt.

Progress is slow. I have been working on the middle part of the quilt off and on but now have cut enough diamonds to make the surrounds.                    

I started sewing the pieces together bit by bit for the first row and finally came to my senses with the second row that it would be so much quicker and easier to string piece it.                                                                     

This equals enough rows for 1/2 of one side. The strips have still to be sewn together. This was yesterdays work at the machine.                             

Today I was out on a bus trip to Patchwork shops with the AQA. [Aust.Quilters Assoc.] We went to 5 shops. The first shop was like a maze,
rows and shelves of fabrics ,braids ,threads tools. So many corners, cupboards, fabrics from way back when, an aladin cave. I found a fabric I had used in a quilt 10years ago. I loved this fabric and I had kept every little scrap of it because I liked it so much.Recently, I had finally used the last little piece for a berry.  And now, I found a whole bolt of it. Yipee!

The next shop was BRIGHTS, LIGHTS and 1930's.
So, not me but I found a pattern for a sheep. Shaun the Sheep. The sample in the shop had a black with white fabric body, arms and legs and over the top a white fleece Jumpsuit with a zip down the  front, so a child could dress/undress him.
The other sample was made with white with black fabric for the body and a black fleece jumpsuit....and as I'm going to be grandma next year had to have him.

Lunch was next and then off to a sweet little shop with a lovely selection of fabrics.

The next shop was another aladin's cave. This one had Xmas decorations too and afternoon tea on the verandah. This is when we really did feel the heat of the day. It was over 30C.  I bought a pattern to make 3 little Christmas penquins with my felted wool and a nice black/white cotton for making Shaun.

The next store had Japanese fabrics, red - navy and taupes. An enormous range of Homespuns [muslins], and a large range of florals.
and then it was back on the bus and home. I had a good day and didn't break the bank.

Updated

It was back in October when I showed you my Homage to Mary Brown and since then I have finished the applique on the centre and also the 1st corner with some small changes to leaf colour.                             

I have been returning to my Drayton Hall quilt to attach the hexagons to the centre panel and to continue cutting more diamonds for the surround, neither of which excites me.  I caught up with a few friends this morning and saw 2 other Drayton Hall quilts in the making and realised I have to have more colour variety with my diamonds. Time to pull the stash out and see whats there that I can use.
The other projects I have been busy on, are Xmas gifts. I like to make things for my sewing companions where I can.    My No.2 grandson starts school next year and I have an order for a Chair Bag with name clearly visible, this I must have ready for the end of January. He has grown so fast and lost his two front teeth to the tooth fairy on Saturday. Where did those 5 years go ?

Hot Days

The last couple of days have been hot, over30C so what was a green bud 10days ago quickly changed to a pink bud and then opened completely yesrday with the heat. It is not a reflection in the window it has two flowers from the one bud. Just glorious. I was given the bulb by a friend whose plant doesn't have a bud, yet, so her suggestion today was that we swap plants. I told her, No Way!                                            

It has been sitting outside all winter so the copper pot has turned green.                                                  

The Clematis at the front door has excelled itself this year. I didn't cut it back last winter and it has

flowers from the ground up. It is hard to tell in the bright sun but the flowers are pale lilac in colour.

Today, it has rained and cooled down. Much better for sitting and sewing.

Applique and Diamonds

I haven't posted all week but I've been busy doing preparation and appliquing. This one is my Drayton Hall. I have changed the centre around to have the broderie perse in the middle surrounded by hexagons whereas the pattern has the hexagons in the middle and they are surrounded by broderie perse. This week I made a start on cutting out the diamonds that surround the centre, I have about 500 cut so far.

This is the first corner that surrounds the centre, of Homage to Mary Brown,
which is set on point. I added a few more leaves to the pattern as it looked a bit sparse. There are a few more ivy leaves to be stitched on and I think it also needs something extra to the right side. Hmm! and now that I have a photo to look at, I don't think the green leaf in the middle is right. Will have to work on this.

Over the last year or so I have been collecting signatures of as many friends that I have sewn with in different groups and also a swap of signatures of people online from a Yahoo group that I am a member of. There are others I haven't managed to catch up with but decided last week it was time to put it together.

I bought this book of Samplers and it shows the most amazing  antique stitcheries from the collection in the Glasgow Museum. It is just a little book but lovely to have to browse through.

A Parcel in the Post

I received my PIF in the mail today from Sharmayne. It is 2 washers she has crocheted with bamboo fibre and they are soo soft and some lovely homemade spearment soap. It smells wonderful. Thank you Sharmayne.  

I have been stitching away and have finished my Ann Daggs quilt top.

I am really happy with it. I have been getting together with a couple of friends that are making this quilt too, and working together has kept us from putting it down or it becoming a UFO. Our Applique Sundays are so nice

with plenty of chatter while we sew.

I have it booked in to be quilted in February which isn't too far away,especially with how fast this year has gone. They say time

flies when your having fun. 

A Lucky Streak

I won another give-away, this time from Elisabeth in Norway.
She has knitted little Christmas dolls. It is really
lovely and has a beautiful fair isle pattern.

Thank you Elisabeth.

Stitching Away

I am busy sewing the centre of my Mary Brown centre applique. It looks more open as the fabric get turned under.
This x stitch is called 16thCentury English Knot Garden.  The outer border shows the different herbs in flower.                                                              

This was a pattern I found in a magazine and the 1st one I stitched on 22count Aida.

This is the 2nd one on 22count Aida.

This is called Victorian Bouquet.

                                                                                                                                                                    

Where did you come from?

I have tall purple irises opening into flower now but there is a rogue in the garden, where did you come from? I love the colour. I hope it does well.

This is the 'Snowball' tree. It was here when we bought the house but I think it has enjoyed all the extra rain this year because it has grown and flourished  and the Echiums continue to be wonderful. They are humming with bees.

The X stitch continues to grow too but I still find the 'single thread' stitching
very tiring on the eyes so I will lay it aside again for a short rest. The next 2
areas to be sewn are a cat behind her chair and a little stitchery on the stand in front of her. Both are single thread work, then onto the last row. I need to get the trinkets, a key, an acorn, scissors and a heart to finish it off.

           

Homage to Mary Brown quilt

This is my centre of the Homage to Mary Brown quilt that is shown in my last blog from the Quilt show. I had cut all the applique pieces and attached them to the background fabric months ago but hadn't started stitching it until this week.  There is soo much sewing in this pattern that I can see myself putting it aside and bringing it out among the other pieces I have. Just now it is a lovely alternative to the close -up work of my X stitch. To give a better idea of size to you this centre is 37" - 94cms. The fabrics are from Reproduction ranges which I love to use.

Quilts, the Garden and X Stitch

These are the photos of the quilts from the Barn that I took. The light shining on the quilt has lessened just how beautiful this quilt is. It is called The Burnt Quilt and is Di Ford's latest pattern.

This one I was really happy to see because I have already started to make it. I took quite a lot of close up photos to show me the colours of fabrics they had used for the birds in the outer border, which will be quite a while away as I am only in the middle at the moment.

This was so different. The Broderie Perse was magnificent. I loved how the picture of the little temple had been surrounded by flowers and all needleturn-ed to the background.

As the first lot of Irises finish, the dark blue ones flower. It is lovely to have  continuous colour in the garden. Behind them the roses are out on the Rugosa hedge and the aphids have arrived enmasse. Time to get them sprayed.

I have spent the last week x stitching in the evenings. I have a really good light and a magnifyer but it is slow going. The verse is stitched over 1 thread.

Quilts Quilts and more Quilts

Unfortunately photos are not loading at the moment. So this is just an update. 
I spent Friday, Saturday and Sunday at Quilts In the Barn selling tickets for the entry and the raffle.
Linda has a quilt show in her barn every year to raise money for Breast Cancer Research. It was terrible weather the whole weekend which included rain, hail and snow but it did not stop the Quilters from coming.
I didn't take many photos because Linda will show them on her Blog. @ http://www.quiltsinthebarnaus.blogspot.com/
  and you can see them all and maybe make a donation to this worthy cause.  Each year a different Australian quilters' quilts are displayed. This year it was Di Ford's and her ladies of the Secret Sewing Sisterhood group, who also have a blog, under that name.  You can see their amazing beautiful work there. These ladies spent the weekend chatting to the visitors and the workers and are just lovely. Everyone had a wonderful time.
I have been spending the last few nights x-stitching but it is very slow going. I will add a photo of it later,too.

Applique with Felted Wool

This is the first quilt I made with felted wool for all the applique. It is called Primitive Garden and I got the pattern and kit from Primitive Gatherings. It is lovely to work with and soft on the hands. I made it in 2009 but only got it back from the quilter yesterday hence the untrimmed edges. This will be a winter quilt as the wool makes it heavier than normal.

This one is wool applique on cotton as well but I have just finished it and did the quilting on this one myself. It is called The Scrapbook quilt and I used my own material and wools. I now buy old wool coats and jackets and felt them myself. Depending on what colour I want I have also dyed some of the wool

myself. I have combined my love of Prim with my Reproduction fabrics which I used for the small pieced blocks in the centre. This quilt was designed by quiltsbycheri.com

 

 

Putting Together

                         

                 

I have stitched the borders of my Ann Daggs quilt to the centre piece.It took 

a bit of time to get the sawtooth border to match on all 4 corners. There is still quite a bit of applique to be sewn over the mitred corners and the pattern has a dark border on the outer edge.

 

 I get together with a couple of friends that are making the same quilt, monthly and it is keeping us motivated . We all sew other projects too and this one hasn't ending up in the cupboard as a UFO.

            

Ready For The Quilter

I won a voucher towards the cost of having a quilt quilted by Kelly of Fernview Cottage. The quilt is booked in to be done in November, so I knew I had to keep sewing and get it finished in time.
Having had the last two weekends busy with 'footy' finals and this week with the Commonwealth Games on the TV, I have happily sat at my machine and sewn.
The pattern called for a 4 1/2"wide border but as there had been more than enough fabric supplied in the kit I cut the border at 6 1/2". This has now made the quilt 82" square.

A Touch of Summer

This my border for the Ann Daggs quilt.

The border has mitred corners. The next job

is to attach it to the centre then there is more applique to be sewn over the seams.

The sun is out and it is 23C, a beautiful day.

Because it has been a little bit warmer the irises have all flowered at once.

The Echiums are all in flower too, so my garden
is full of colour.

The next photo is one I took on holiday. We are

sitting in a beach-side restaurant having breakfast.

This is the beach at Noosa in Queensland where they have a saying.

"Beautiful one day, Perfect the next"

It certainly was.

Holiday Time

While I was away DH and I went to the Botanical Gardens in Brisbane with my daughter to see her artwork on the Bandstand.

We also went round the Japanese garden. It was soo quiet and tranquil. My daughter spent a lot of time here when she was 'Artist in Residence' last year.





I also visited a sculpture festival called SWELL. The sculptures are along the foreshore of Currumbin in Queensland and as you walk along looking at all the sculptures, in the background is the Pacific Ocean. It was a beautiful sunny day with blue skies which made it just perfect.There were 56 different sculptures. Here are three of my

favourites.

The Sandwich

The Race

The photo shows the actual Lifesaver flags on the beach.

The Picnic is Over

This was made of wool check fabric and it was in a perspex box.

The one behind was called Fiddlesticks.

All the sculptures were for sale and ranged in price from $2000 to $80,000 AUD

I have been sewing too, I am putting the Prairie Bound blocks together and will show you a photo of it when I get this finished.