This and That!

Sunbonnet Sue is so old she certainly looks like a vintage quilt, if not antique. The dear little thing has been with me since my early days of quilting and I can't believe I was lucky enough to get Thirties fabrics here in Australia then. I drag her out every now and then to lay out crockery and cutlery for visitors. I did my first machine quilting workshop on her with Lee Cleeland (Quilting Makes the Quilt). Lee is a great teacher and I learned quilting with the walking foot very easily, but have never mastered free-motion.
Here is my attempt at vegie growing - poor little beetroot - hardly worth bottling!
Southern Cross Quilters - Squilters are having an 1800 reproduction fat-quarter swap run by dear friend, Prue. We can swap up to 42 fat-eighths with no more than 7 of one fabric. I have prepared 20 so I am looking forward to seeing the 20 I will receive. All good fun!

Believe it or not - I'm off to another sewing day/luncheon tomorrow, so must do a little cooking and a few other chores.

'Bye for now!

Four Block Applique Quilt

I have resurrected this four block quilt this week and showed it to friends who oohed and aahed and thought it was lovely. It is basted, stencil design marked and ready to hand quilt - so guess what I have been doing the last couple of nights - quilting it!

It was probably made early 2000's with inspiration from a medallion design by Colleen Archibold in an Australian magazine. I was madly into 4-block antique quilts at the time and went a bit quirky with with repro fabrics and one of the very first In the Beginning fabrics to appear in Australia. The border is very bold but when I look at it now, it somehow all works. I have even used a small animal skin print in the berries and framing border!

Maybe now I will finish it as we are having wild, stormy wintery weather, just ideal for cuddling in the lounge and quilting.

DD, Danielle and I went shopping to Garden City Shopping Centre yesterday - twins, Byron and Heidi in tow. I enjoy a good read and Nora Roberts is a favourite of mine, so bought a new release of hers. She writes some good thrillers - I enjoy Mary Higgins Clarke's books, too. I also bought a little Chamilia bead for my short gold necklace - quite nice and modern. Needless to say stocktake sales were on. It was a lovely day to shop - with a wild storm outside. We were warm and safe enjoying retail-therapy.

I am having a couple of days at home over the weekend, so I think the slow-cooker will go on and maybe I'll start a new creation - or maybe I'll just quilt, we'll see.

Have a nice weekend everyone - 'bye!

Cancer Morning Tea!

Today our group, Rockingham Patchwork Group had our Cancer Morning Tea, participating in Australia's Biggest Morning Tea. This event is The Cancer Council's foremost fundraising event and since it was implemented in 1994 has raised over $40 million dollars.

Through our quilt raffle, door entry fee and rolling raffles, we today raised $1,500. We are proud of this achievement and had a lovely day with lots of fun and food shared by members and visitors.

Our group also contributes to dear wee quilts to cover the humicribs at King Edward Memorial Hospital for Women, which is West Australia's premier tertiary maternity and gynaecological hospital. The quilts measure 16" x 24" and just look at this gorgeous little hand-knitted set for some lucky premmie baby!
Debi, above, is Leader of the Pack, always ably assisted by Karen. Tremayne, Debi's grandson turns five tomorrow and Deb has made him this great dinosaur quilt. Happy Birthday, Tremayne and Happy Birthday to Karen for today, too.

After all this fun and frivolity it was off to the Red Cross Blood Bank to give a donation.

Hope your day has been enjoyable, too - best wishes!

Dolly Quilt Swap 4 ... In Progress!

Swap Quilt Mama, Susan , would like a sneak preview of how we are progressing with our dolly quilts!

I am really enjoying doing this little cutie. I am in the throes of hand-quilting - some yo-yos have been made for the border, but I think I will need to do quite a few more. I have been using the Clover yo-yo maker and it is quick and easy.

I have been doing quite a bit of fabric-buying lately, so must try to add another photo to show you. Looks like that worked! Several of these are from the new Merrimack collection and the purple at the back is the border for my hexagon quilt. Naughty ... but good fun!

Off to do some work now, so have a lovely day.

Girlie Pinwheels

Here is a bright "little girl baby quilt" that I designed using my favourite little pinwheel blocks again. I made a "little boy baby quilt" that I gave to my neighbours, when their little boy, Dusan, was born.

I enjoy whimsy, as you know, and it is fun having a change from repro fabrics every now and then. It was a challenge to use black and white fabrics and still keep a baby feel to the quilt - great for modern Mum's! The pinwheels are 3" finished and I make them using the trim-back method - fiddly little things, but I love the movement they put into a quilt.

Have a great weekend everyone - 'bye!

Books for Byron and Heidi

My four-year old twin grandchildren visiting regularly and stay over at times, too. These three books are so popular with them and I am sure the back two, classics worldwide, are enjoyed by children all over the world.

Mother Earth and Her Children - A Quilted Fairy Tale is by Sieglinde Schoen Smith who is an award-winning quilter, expert embroiderer, and gifted artist. The quilt is stitched and embroidered by hand and I feel it won Best of Show in Houston one year.

On my trip to the US last year, I was lucky enough to find the book in a bookshop in a museum in Chicago - there was also a wonderful display of antique quilts - so all in all it was a really fun day.

Here are Heidi and Byron clowning around on Australia Day - see their fake tattoos! Boy, they are so full of life this pair, they keep parents, grandparents and all around on their toes.

Have a great day everyone!

Sweet Mustard Pickles

Yesterday I did manage to get a little more done on my Dolly Quilt Swap and also some re-designing on my Dancing Dollies Quilt.

Most of the day was spent preparing for carpet cleaning today and making pickles. Number one gransdson, Tyler, loves Nanna's pickles and can't get enough of them ... consequently I have made two batches this week and had the house smelling of vinegar.

It is a cold, windy, wet day here, which is wonderful for the environment, but not so good for carpet cleaning. Oh, well, I must carry on - so all you happy sewers, have a nice day!

Dolly Quilt Swap #4 In Progress

This is something new for me - both the swap and making Suffolk Puffs using a yo-yo maker. The yo-yo maker is not quite as neat as the old method we use, but very easy and quick.
I am having fun doing the swap and looking forward to the outcome.
Best wishes!

American Beauty

Here is another of my quilts. Humbly, but proudly, I won First Prize in Professional Small Quilts Category in the Sydney Quilt Show in 2004.That was a great thrill as I really enjoyed making this quilt in my favourite reproduction fabrics.
It is foundation pieced and hand quilted and although it doesn't show up too well, the border fabric is a beautiful stripe I ordered from the US.
Off for another day of socializing and I'll work on my Dolly Quilt Swap while chatting with good friends!
Best wishes -

Hexagon Quilt Without Borders

My Hexagon Quilt is to the stage where it is finished without a border - whew! that has taken years. I am waiting on fabric from Reproduction Fabrics in the US to do the border and then the big job of hand quilting will begin. I think it measures about 45" x 60" at this stage, so it will be easy to handle.

I'm off to a Friendship Day at Roleystone today - I always look forward to that once a month. It is probably about 80 kilometres away and I meet up with lovely friends.

Thanks for visiting and best wishes!