The Creation of SangSang!

Not a lot of eye-candy today! Still all pretty exciting!

As you can see, I have been doing Redwork - Rosalie Quinlan's Little Patchwork Village! I'm just loving it - haven't embroidered in years and this is done using backstitch which seems to be very much in vogue these days! Stitch length and tension is not perfect, but oh, the whole thing is so relaxing. I'm using DMC 107, a variegated thread, and a Birch Straw 10 needle - strange?, yes it is, but this needle is sort of my utility needle, very fine tip with little bit of extra length. On the back of a nice muslin? (out of the stash) I have used Staflex Fusible Interlining - apparently Rosalie recommends that these days! Now, I am not a variegated fan, but this thread is oh, so pretty, red and pink!
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I'm off to make a start on SangSang - another gorgeous softy by Melly & me - 'me' is Rosalie, too - you can see I'm a big fan! DD, Danielle is coming over this arv to make a SangSang, too - never sewn a stitch in her life, so is she ever going to be on a steep learning curve! She has chosen fabrics, the pinkies Chooky sent me for my birthday and as I am making a start this morning, I have had to promise Danielle not to use her selection. Hhh,hmm - don't know how the day will turn out - could be interesting!
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Happy weekend!

Rainbow Quilt Swap 2009!

These gorgeous blocks arrived yesterday - I am so thrilled! Thank you Jane for organizing the Swap and thank you to all the block makers in my group - they are all so nicely made with just wonderful fabrics - no cut off points in this lot - everyone must have read their instructions carefully! My block is the red pinwheel, bottom row!

In the same parcel - on the right, lovely little gifts from Jane, 4 little happy, bright coasters - wow, Jane have you slept lately? - there has been so many in this swap! And, on the left, gorgeous cherry fabric I asked Jane to get for me - I just love pink and red and the little white spots make it such a cute fabric! See Jane's button on my Sidebar - click on it to see her fabrics on eBay - I like whimsy cute fabrics and there's lots of those and Jane is just so charming to deal with, it is worth ordering from her in the USA for a nice little change!
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Another weekend is nearly here - a long weekend for Western Australia - maybe lots of sewing will get done - let's hope so!

My Studio!

Just joking! The Aussie girls seem to be showing their workplaces, so here's mine! Actually it is the formal lounge room of our home, just inside the front door with views to lovely neighbourhood homes and lawns and my rose garden! It was hard to make the move into it, but now I appreciate the lovely light, bright room so much - aka My Studio!

Nothing too formal here - lots and lots of fabrics hidden in every nook and cranny! I have been talking to Janet of Quiltalott and have been discussing some sort of film to go on the windows to protect all my goodies from the bright light!

WIP Corner - see the 9-patches, little baskets, linen fabrics and the box has current 'wanna do' patterns!

Another junky spot - two large boxes of repros, a pair of Mums pyjama pants to have new elastic inserted (I tell her I'm a quilter, not a mender!).

Imagine the bright sunshine in the backgound with the drapes just ajar! Tuesday I met up with Girlfriends at Woolly Latte - the yarn shop with coffee shop attached, just a delight! We had a great day, three of the girls sat there knitting while sipping coffee, wish I'd taken my camera! I took Missy Perkins for her first outing - quite the star she is! Then I popped next door to Hot Possum and bought the couple of pieces of limey green Kaffe to make the pincushion for the swap. Had to stop by Materialise on the way home to check it out for linens and wow! the 4 on the left were on sale for $12 a metre!

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If anyone is still with me - yawn! - who is very experienced in shaggy quilts - tell me, do you think one layer of linen, backed with flanelette, will make a suitably cosy quilt? Or should I go another way? Christine, you should be able to help, thanks - I would appreciate opinions from anyone, thanks!

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Off to my local sewing group - I haven't been for ages, so hope I am not ex-communicated! Happy day!

Mrs. Perkins!

From here on in she's Missy Perkins! Certainly not old enough to be a Mrs! Oh, what fun I had making her (except for those tiny wee horns!) - what a lovely way to spend a day!

Here she is doing her exercises - not quite as supple as Janet's Mrs. Perkins, but then she has been made by an ex-dollmaker and is pretty heavily stuffed!

Here she is with another softie from Melly & me designs, Birdie! The family are so impressed - I will be making lots more!

PS - Janet, I managed to make our self-set deadline, whew! C'mon, Joy!

Guardian Angels!

'If you sleep under a quilt, you sleep under love' - so the saying goes!

I made this quilt for my Danielle, now 35 - she left home alone, travelled to the UK , Europe and the Caribbean when she was just 24. You can imagine with just a backpack, this quilt formed part of that luggage, sort of 'I've been everywhere'! This quilt travelled for 5 years, well worn, well loved and may more years left in its life.

Danielle married an Australian boy while in England, and she and Adrian came home to Australia to have their baby twins, Byron and Heidi, who I talk about frequently. She still cuddles up under this quilt on cold evenings - I stole it from her place yesterday, and she would have needed it last night - wet, chilly winter has set in!

Happy Sunday!

Regency Dandy Circa 1810 !

A Quick Post is a good one, so here I go!

I think I have just about caught up on Replies and I promise not to get behind again! There's lots more Browsing and Commenting I want to do.

Have lots to talk about later on the articles in the latest Down Under Quilts magazine, but will leave that until next time - thanks to all who have commented already!

Look at the above - with all the repro projects I want to do I ordered some metreage on sale from Sophie at Materialise - as you can see by the title 1810 - who would believe it - not everyone's cup of tea, but I certainly love the range - the package of fat-quarters on the right, must be a gift, thank you so much Sophie! It was a thrill to open the parcel late yesterday!

Happy Weekend!

Quilts and Creatures!

Here she is again - Saskia! She's growing more beautiful every day and just loves her family - she cries when the little ones are at school!

A pic of my sweet Alice - and sweet she is! She has such a lovely nature. I'm so smitten with Saskia I feel like a traitor of a Mum to my two little pups at times!

Oh, yes - a little bit of shopping at the show! These gorgeous linens to make a shaggy quilt, a few gorgeous novelty prints at the back and a new pattern. I must think about a start on Mrs. Perkins over the weekend, Janet and Joy ! - anyone else care to join in - see my Sidebar!

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While thinking about Blogland Girlfriends - you must pop over to see Robyn of Daisy Quilts - she has a gorgeous quilt published in the latest edition of Down Under Quilts - congratulations, Robyn! I believe there is a project of mine in that issue, too - must try to pick up a copy today!

This is a better pic of the Block of the Month project I have joined - Green Tea and Sweet Beans - certainly is colourful and interesting. It will be a challenge for me to keep up - we'll see how I go!

From the quilt show - Monet's Garden by well-known WA quilter, Jan Rowe! Wow, all those little hexagons - beautifully executed!

Created by our well-known Australian quilter, Jenny Bowker - will this creation be at Houston this year?

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Off to the doctor with Mum for scripts today, then maybe to Garden City to have a look about for some new shoes/boots - it is starting to get chilly here now! Some new clothes are in order to suit the extra kilos - not good in recession times, pity the body hasn't recessed, too!

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Happy weekend!

PS - for all you Happy House builders - Julia and I will start the trimming and sorting this weekend!

Baskets and Nine-Patches!

PS - oh, this is all Topsy Turvy, I know - this is for Christine, who is running our 9-Patch Swap!

I have managed to get all twelve finished with no interruptions, whoopee! Also, thought I would mention about my gorgeous Satchmo roses - see the black edges forming around the petals - consequently the name!

Also, (yes, I do stop sometimes, I don't talk in my sleep!) - I had run out of 80/12 needles and wanted to use a new one, so used a 75/11 Schmetz Quilting Needle - beautiful stitch on my Pfaff - I had read this hint somewhere previously!

Now to the original Post below!

A quick Post today! I'm grabbing a little time to post now as I know I am going to be inundated later this afternoon ... I really love my Family, but!!!

I've started my 9-Patches for the Swap - yep, they are pretty for repros, a double pink and a shirting! Two repro baskets - fun to applique - I can feel an antique crib quilt coming on , knitted edge and all! It is so relaxing to kick back at night, watch a bit of tele and mindlessly knit!

Off to charge the camera battery for the Quilt Show tomorrow, and, with a bit of luck, maybe finish twelve 9-Patches!

Happy Day everyone!

Diamonds and Hexagons!

Oopsy, I'm on a bit of an angle here! Never mind, just trying to show you the pretty reproductions fabrics I so love! This quilt has been in the making almost as long as I have been quilting - English paper-pieced and it does have a regularity in the way the hexagons are pieced.I had seen a small pic of part of a similar antique quilt, so stitch away I did using my own design.

As I have mentioned, I have borrowed The Fabric of Society from the library and here is the original antique quilt - Frederica Josephson's Quilt of Diamonds and Hexagons, c. 1850. Mine has been basted and a little bit of hand-quilting done - will I ever finish it? I hope so!

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A new week and I am fairly organized, so let's hope it will be a productive one. There's a few things on the agenda - it would be nice to be productive in the sewing room, without interference from the outside world, that is running a household - so let's see what happens!

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Happy Sewing!

Tulips for Mothers Day!

To Mothers everywhere - Happy Mothers Day 2009! For all who nurture friends, pets, and for those who spread kindness and compassion - Happy Mothers Day to you, too!

Whoohoo! Dear son, David, bought a new you beaut tele for our entertainment room - now I'll be able to listen as I compute!

A tidy desk, once again - 'tidy desk, empty mind' is the saying - not true in this case! All those quilt designs buzzing around up there! Lots more tidying to do today - into the sewing room!

For those interested, this is part of Kim Mcleans 'Old Brights' inspired by Sarah Evan's Applique Quilt 1806, featured in The Fabric of Society! My 'True Friendship', done in conjuction with Christine, see previous Post, is inspired by Kim's quilt! These colours are not accurate - it is truly one of the most beautiful quilts I have ever seen !

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Check out my Sidebar and you will see Joy of Joypatch is joining in creating Mrs. Perkins! Anyone else like to join in? - no swap or anything like that, just a bit of funtime together!

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Well, feet up this evening, Mums - we are having beautiful fresh Prawn Rolls - simple, but what could be better!

Friendship Finished!

Oh, boy, I bet that title attracts a lot of attention - doesn't sound good does it? Well, I have just finished 'True Friendship', Christine's and my quilt, so it is all good!

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Now to block the knitted edge and put the label on - this quilt is so special to me, I really procrastinated about adding the edge. I thought I may detract from the quilt, but, I'm quite happy with it and it was such a pleasure to stitch the edge on - warm fuzzy thoughts and memories, lots of them! The reproduction fabrics alone brought back lots of memories and some blocks have up to five different fabrics - Christine knows what this quilt means to me - and to our great Australian designer, Kim McLean, thank you for the inspiration and incentive!

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A little bit of nonsense, as usual! See that little smear on the pavers to the right hand side of the little ornament - well, when I went to pick it up a spider ran off and fell to the ground - I looked down and it was a redback - now, I hate killing any kind of creatures and have no fear of spiders, but that is all that is left of it now - squished!

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Lots of apologies to lots of you folk - I need to Browse, Comment, Reply, Happy House, post Promises! It will all happen - please forgive and be assured how much I treasure my Blogland friendships! I am sure the dust will settle next week, though with my family one never knows - oh, I just remembered, I have a baby-sitting job this arv and dear son, David will be home soon with a new big tele and a nice new stand to set up, with the thought of enjoying the rugby league game Australia versus New Zealand tonight!

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Happy weekend everyone!

Fabric Twaddle!

I'm the Lucky Girl ... again! Look what arrived in the mail yesterday - Kaffe Fassett Kashmir fabrics- pink for a girl, blue for a boy - Mr. and Mrs. Perkins, I think so! Gorgeous Janet of Quiltsalott sent them to me, so next week I'll start making giraffes! Thanks, Janet!

Now, Happy Houses - lots have arrived and still waiting on quite a few, and a few more to finish! Hopefully by the end of next week, I will be able to get everything sorted out! Thanks to everyone who has posted already!

I've started thinking about fabrics for the 9-Patch Swap, see Post below - all very exciting and some girls have started stitching already! I will kick off with the pink and send some of the blue to Chookyblue - both Judie Rothermal fabrics. Christine has asked that we work with reproduction fabrics or similar - to me this type of reproduction refers to fabrics 1800 - 1900, not necessarily from the Civil War Era - there are so many bright, rich colours that I love so much and I'll be using them!

Look what I discovered in our shed! My quilt rack, an antique ladder I bought at Mt Tamborine many years ago - I will have to find a spot in the house for it - I will load it with quilts and show you next time!

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I'm off to experiment putting a knitted edge on my Angel Quilt - wish me luck! Happy day!

Christine's Nine-Patch Swap!

An exciting new swap that you will enjoy! If you are an Aussie resident or you are owed a favour by an Aussie, love Reproduction Fabrics and love making Nine-Patches - pop over to visit Christine of Once Upon A Quilt ... ! You will looove the quilt on her header and this will be a great swap to be in time-wise and the results will be stunning!

I participated in the particular swap Christine's quilt came from and just haven't got around to making them into a quilt - I'm sure a lot of you know that feeling!

This quilt top above is from another cottage-group swap, in which Christine and I participated many, many years ago - I actually made it into a top many many years ago, too - so far, so good! I could never get too enthused about it and have recently dragged it out and put it into my WIP stack and am now very fond of it with all the happy memories!

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If you have never worked with reproduction fabrics, this will be a great opportunity to branch out and get involved and you will be delighted with the sparkle you can get with the right fabric selection and it should not take a lot of fabric and for those of you fortunate enough to have access to repro fabrics, just a little of two fabrics is all that is required!

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No, I am not Christine's Publicity Officer, just a very dear friend!

Prayers for a Son!

I am deeply touched by sad news from a Blogging Friend - if you have faith and compassion, please pop over to visit Linda at All Stitched Up - thoughts and prayers do help!