Happy Halloween!

Here in Australia, the younger folks are starting to celebrate Halloween - I have some treats ready for the little ones who come knocking this evening - they are usually accompanied by an adult - a lot of fun for them!

My Bird of Paradise is finished - I'm sure he will make a grand addition to my Civil War Bride Quilt - he took quite a bit of time to come to fruition but it has been worthwhile!

Five blocks completed - I haven't decided how big the quilt will be. Perhaps The Bride will be my next venture!

Siggie squares all ready to be posted to Melissa in the USA - this has been a fun swap and I am so looking forward to the return 74 squares - it will be the first Signature Quilt I have owned!

My Stitcher's Angel gift must be posted today, too - I think I have shown you this little potholder before - since then I have been able to find grommets/eyelets, so more are on my must-do list as stocking fillers!

Another weekend on our doorstep - hope yours is filled with nice things to do!

PS - Oopsy! One day early!

A Bird, Horses & Soldier!

I've been busy in the past week with obligations and some fun, social days - so not a lot of stitching to show!
Here is The Bird of Paradise block from The Civil War Bride Quilt - in progress, that is, but it shouldn't take a lot to complete now! Wow - what a tail - and as you can see, I am playing with the upper part of the bird, altering it to a Kim McLean look-alike bird!

Congratulations to Christine of Once Upon a Quilt ... - Christine won 2nd Prize in her section at the Queensland Quilt Show for her quilt 'Sleep Baby Sleep'! Christine is a very talented and enterprising quilter as many of you know and this quilt is very special to me.

Many years ago, I drew up this applique design and started to make the quilt, but was never happy with my fabric choice, so passed it over to Christine.

This quilt is beautifully appliqued and hand-quilted and certainly is a winner! With more reproduction fabrics being available nowadays, I have ordered the red and blue shown and am madly looking forward to starting another quilt!

To find out more about it's history, pop over and visit Christine! Maybe she will release a pattern soon!

Just look at this pre-loved hand-knitted toy soldier - Danielle found him at a market yesterday
and will put him aside for Byron for Christmas! She is thrilled with the find as their twins were conceived in England and she feels very sentimental about this and has quite a lot of collectibles for them!

♥

It's the start of a new week, so lots of happy stitching everyone!

Yo-yos & Hexagons!

Just popping by to say Hello! This has been such a busy week and it is not over yet!

I haven't achieved a great deal stitchery-wise, but here is a little of what I've been up to in the evenings! See below - I'm using the large Yo-yo Maker by Clover and sort of having success towards making a little cushion top - cute, and fun!

I have finished one of October's blocks for Green Tea & Sweet Beans, again substituting several fabrics from Nanette at Freda's Hive! Nanette has brought out a new pattern - teapots and houses - really cute and worth checking out!

Notice another new rosebud - this one is Seduction - well, the name seems inappropriate to me - more like Innocence, I would think, LOL!

♥

Wishing you all a happy day - and hoping I get a little more time to Comment and Reply!

Drawstring Tote!

Girlfriend! Robin and I had a lot of fun playing over the weekend and look what I made!

We trialled Texture Magic - a fun product to use! For those of you who don't know, it gives the appearance of shirring! It is a bit of a hoot to watch it shrinking before your eyes, 30% they say! For this effect, I first used a pencil to grid the product at 1 1/4" apart, then pinned it to the fabric, then stitched on the gridded lines, then held a steam iron just slightly above the Texture Magic and Voila!

I bought the product through Julie Woods, a Superior Threads rep living in Goulburn, NSW. I must say how efficient and helpful, Julie is - I ordered last Monday and it was here Wednesday, from one side of the country to the other - now how good is that!

♥

When and if I make another, I will make a couple of modifications/additions to the pattern. All in all, it was a very productive weekend for me. Today I might take a 40 minute trip to our closest big shopping centre and have a little look at the spring/summer fashions, as we had two lovely warm days over the weekend!

♥

Hope yours was a happy one!

Spring Fever!

Finally Spring is here - sunshine and warm days - just wonderful!

I stitched this quilt top yesterday from a jelly roll - aptly named Spring Fever! I intend donating it to our local patchwork group as second prize for an exhibition they are holding in January. Hope they like it!

My new roses are coming along nicely - every time I see yellow roses now I think of Miriam of Yellow Roses - I was fortunate to meet Miriam briefly on my last trip to Melbourne for the show! This one is called Friesia and the fragrance is absolutely delightful!

Angel Face - now isn't she so pretty - lightly perfumed, too!

For our guild Christmas Party next month it has been suggested we wear aprons. Some Girlfriends! are going to make and wear this little pinny! For me probably tights or black cropped pants and a black tee under this apron and I'll choose a lovely, modern fabric - for after use, I'll be the best-dressed gardener , in town and okay to pop to the local shop, too, LOL!

♥

Happy weekend everyone - I have a sewing date today and we are going to test Texture Magic - should be lots of fun!

Beyond the Dream, the Impossible Dream!

Congratulations, Jocelyne Leath! Our Past President of our state guild, Western Australian Quilters Association, has done us proud at the International Quilt Association in Houston !

Jocelyne is a truly talented and gifted artist and a fine ambassador for our country. She has won First Prize in Art-People Portraits and Figures. Please check out the meaning of what this quilt represents at the Royal Flying Doctor Service Our History/Birth of an Idea!

This pic was taken on my camera at our QuiltWest Show last May and I am sure I have mentioned it previously - I am a great supporter of this wonderful association and feel so privileged to have been able to help.

Congratulations again , Jocelyne, and thank you for your wonderful quilt and being able to spread the news. I believe other Australians have received awards - congratulations to all winners - wish I was there - I look forward to enjoying all the wonderful quilts!

Sew Many Things to Do!

I've had two very relaxing evenings curled up hand-quilting - so therapeutic! You have seen this quilt before an oldie and a WIP. I should really get in and get it fiished , but oh, the months of those tiny stitches - will I?

I really am torn between two forces again - I have my CWBQ to applique and my two BOM's and lots of other new things I want to try/start!

I popped over to see DD and the Littlies yesterday, so took a pic of another colourwash I made and taught many, many years ago. This is what I call a utility quilt and it has been dearly worn and loved - a cuddle up quilt for cold evenings and we've had plenty of those this winter!

A view from the Cubby House!

Here's our big girl, Saskia! Well you know she's not really mine! My goodness, she has grown and she whines and rolls over for tummy rubs all the times - one very adored cat!

♥

Still cloudy, no rain, I hope - I'm off to talk to my roses! Happy day!

Happy Dilly Bag!

I've been playing today - all good fun! Another prezzie made!

This dilly-bag has a boxed bottom - a combination of my Happy Bag and original Dilly-Bag!

I badly wanted to try Texture Magic on the middle fabric - sad story, a shop assistant sold the last piece left from under my hands - she had measured it and all, 45cm, and I told her 'yes thanks, I'll have that piece' and was waiting for other fabric to be cut by the young gentleman there and when I came to pay up and asked about my Texture Magic, I found out it had been sold to another customer - you'll be very proud of me, my bottom lip dropped, but I didn't chuck myself on the floor and throw a tanty!

Soooo - I really, really wanted to have a little play today and went ahead anyhow and am reasonably happy with this little creation. The young man promised he would get some in and it should be there Wednesday - this business calls it Shrink Magic - I think perhaps they are confused - anyone in Australia heard of the latter? I will do a little tutorial as soon as I can!
♥
Stay tuned for the next episode - LOL!

Hire-a- Hubby Day!

When I do something, I do it properly!

Meet my new Hubby - kinda cute, hey! Sadly I have him for five hours only - see the weed mat going down, roses transplanted and new ones to go in - oh, yes, I am doing a happy dance!

Back to reality - here are my hexies for Green Tea & Sweet Beans! In this quilt, I have taken the opportunity to use little pieces of fabrics from Nanette of Freda's Hive even though fabrics are supplied in the BOM package - just a few nice little memories to have!

I recently read a tip to use Bottom Line thread for English paper piecing - wonderful - invisible stitches and will withstand the heat of a very hot iron - must have a little try on my applique!

GT&SB uses newspaper print for the backgound on a couple of blocks - I love it and quite a few people have been intrigued by it! good news - new from moda Authentic - so shop away, Girls! I noticed in Barbara Brackman's book When the Cold Wind Blows, some of the leaves in a particular pattern have been done in a pretty blue newspaper print fabric, so how very versatile is this!

PS - good news Aussie Girls - I have just opened an email from Busy Thimbles - woohoo! they have this range in stock

New book and a new jelly roll of Kaffe's 2009.

I rather fancy this gorgeous pattern by Kim McLean - very tempting, so we'll see! More Kaffe's to come, so my stash will be very healthy!

♥

Perhaps I should mention I do seriously support local and Australian patchwork stores - just every now and then I get a little distracted with armchair shopping and every day an exciting new range of fabrics seems to take my fancy - I think I have a lot of friends with the same disease, LOL!

♥
I'm looking forward to a productive weekend - hope yours is a happy one, too!

Girlfriends Day! - Another!

I have to finds different titles for our Girlfriends! days - now how do I do that? Lots of chitter chatter about what we have been up to and what we are going to do - rifling through books, magazines - all sorts of sewing and knitting - missing Julia, Teena, Shari and Jenny and having a lovely surprise visit by Patti who hasn't joined us for a little while!

Again, lots of gorgeous food, coffee, tea and a little tipple of wine with lunch! I made this huge Marshmallow Pavlova for sweets after lunch - lots of discussion about the origin and unfamiliarity to those outside Australia and New Zealand - this one used eight egg whites and was restaurant size, so there was some to feed the boys last night!

Gorgeous Barb showing us a quilt she is about to teach - hmmm, students will find it hard to come up with that sort of quilting, don't you think?

Whohoo!- Carole started me knitting a dishcloth of Canadian cotton Robin brought back from holidays - I think it is the sweetest ever knitted by an Australian, lol - I kicked back and relaxed last night and am now probably about half way there! Now I need advice where I can buy similar lovely soft cotton in Australia or buy on line from USA or Canada?

Kaffes from Glorious Color in the US and more to come yet from Hancock's!

Poor CWBQ - I abandoned the last block - hope I have more success with this one!

David cleaned my car the other day, lucky me! - so thought I would give this quilt a little freshen up! I taught this quilt 12 years ago and boy, would it ever have some stories to tell - kinda makes me think our quilts will reach antiquity - I guess a lot of us have quilts of this type - makes me so happy I'm in Blogland now and keeping a record of all the little things I do these days!

Happy Day!

Glorious Sunshine!

How beautiful is this - sunshine at long last! My young family have taken a trip to see friends in Bunbury and to ride the new highway. Our olive tree has been severely pruned, probably all at the wrong time and the last of the beautiful Kalamatas are falling to the ground.

I had some desperately needed fun yesterday - the gremlins have left my body and I popped up and down and made a present - all made in one day and bound last night!

Pretty Kaffe's - my fingers have been itching for a while and I am waiting on quite a lot to come, so I was able to throw these fabrics into a melting pot and now I have one of my presents done!
My enthusiasm for gift-making is at top peak, so must make the most of it!

Isn't nature wonderful - a newly hatched emu chick at the Royal Show - obviously this is a case of mutual curiosity - a wonderful memory for Heidi - check out the painted fingernails, especially for the big day out!

Happy Weekend!