Serendipity extended......

Apart from a family issue on saturday morning, the planets continue their alignment for my benefit...

Saturday evening I joined my besty and 2 other girlfriends for a night in the city - we went to see 'Bjorn Again', an Abba cover band and while I'm not a huge fan of Abba, they were fantastic.  The opening act, The New Romantics, had us up dancing to 80's hits - the lead singer had a fabulous voice and didn't take himself too seriously - very funny - and then Bjorn Again - they imitate the costuming, accents (they're Aussies) and songs of Abba in their heydey - so we continued to dance and sing along - and drink far too much wine!  Luckily we stayed in the city (at the Crown Metropole - very nice) and had a sumptuous breakfast overlooking Melbourne city. 

On sunday, I had a date with a group of ladies that have 'adopted' me - let me explain a little - I joined a quilting group last year - we sit and chat about stuff - no lessons or anything - it's mostly hand sewing on whatever we want to do - which is why my double wedding ring quilt got finished and why my hexy collection continues to grow.  Anyway, the woman who hosts this group (Ms CB) did a Textiles course some 20 years ago and she still catches up with the ladies she did the course with - they call themselves the TT  (I forgot to get permission to blog about them so won't spell it out). 

Now, I am doing that same course starting next year and Ms CB invited me to one of the TT gatherings - and these women are so talented - the stuff they've done (and continue to do) is amazing - a few make the most brilliant quilts, another makes the most amazing elfin dolls, yet another makes fabric boxes which are just beautiful - and a few of them teach too - so to fall in with this group is just the best thing to happen!  They are full of advice and ideas and books and hints and so willing to share it - and the lady who hosted yestrday's gathering owns a soft furnishing shop and GAVE me tons of furnishing fabric samples to make bags and pouches with....and they 'adopted' me into the TT's with the offer of help while I do my course.  How wonderful!!!

I was knackered when I got home - in bed by 9pm and after finishing this post I'm off to make a few things out some of the beautiful fabrics I was given yesterday - how lucky am I??

..........except the rail in my walk-in robe collapsed under the weight of my hanging clothes and they're now strewn all over a miners couch in my bedroom (and I HATE ironing!!) - I think those planets are suggesting I need a bit of a clean out!

I'm a WINNER!!!! (fantastic friday anyone?)

I received a very exciting email from Amy (the Bloggers Quilt Festival) to tell me that my linky number was randomly picked for a PRIZE - so my Jewelled Promise (I won't bore you again with another picture - but here's a link JUST IN CASE you want another look) has delivered a Promised Jewel (or it will, when the Postal Services of 2 countries have done their thing).

I won 12 - yes, 12 - fat quarters of Kate Spain's 'Terrain' from the very generous Ronnie of The Quilted Garden

I pinched this picture from Ronnie's shop

I am absolutely stoked - I have seen this range all over the place and have been secretly coveting it - and now it's coming to ME - yay team!!

Ronnie sent me an email straight after I confirmed my email address and has been so helpful, so I'll have to work out how to add Ronnie's shop on my sidebar because I said I would.....I have absolutely no issue promoting fantastic service - having been in the service industry for most of my career and being a receiver of service as a consumer, it's soooo refreshing to get great service - and I didn't even buy the fabric! 

Well, winners are grinners and that's exactly what I've been doing since that email arrived....hope you have a fantastic friday.

Another opportunity....

I'm linking up with Amy's Bloggers Quilt Festival because the opportunity to again roll out 'Jewelled Promise' was just too hard to resist - I know I'm hammering this quilt but I still look at it and can't believe I made a quilt by hand.  Apologies to those who have heard this story before ;>

I was never all that fussed about the craft - I'd sewn for years, mostly clothes and curtains - and I used to think my SIL was daft as she sit and sewed by hand, "where's the fun in that?", "it's too slow"....I was all about finding a pattern, buy the fabric and get it made ready to wear that night....

But then, one Easter - about 5 or 6 years ago -  while we were away camping, I really liked how she could get out her sewing, pretty much anywhere.  So, in a nearby town, we paid a visit to the LQS and I bought my first quilting fabric.  Robyn said she'd sew a quilt top for me, by machine (patience isn't one of my virtues) using the fabrics I just bought (I still wasn't anywhere near ready to sew one myself - and certainly not by hand).  While the fabrics weren't exactly awe inspiring (think those dull country colours), she duly made the top and it sat in my UFO box for several years.  It's finished now (I bought a Gammill long-arm and it's one of the first quilts I loaded) and I love it because Robyn made it for me - and she lit the fire.

Every time Robyn and I got together, we visited quilting shops, or shows and my interest (and stash) grew - the fabric ranges got more diverse, more colourful (I fell in love with Kaffe Fassett), the patterns less fussy and twee - really started to see the possibilities.  Quite a few machine pieced quilt tops ensued.

Fast forward to May 2010.  Lloyd (my husband) and I planned a 4WD camping trip across the Nullabor from home to Western Australia - so I needed a project I could do by hand, as we weren't always guaranteed powered sites - notwithstanding my dear husband flatly refused to allow me to pack my sewing machine.  So I cut out all the pieces using a template - lots of Kaffe and other brights from my stash (like Fossil Fern), as well as a vanilla background, and packed them all in the trailer for the trip.

I think I made maybe 2 or 3 'melon' shapes while we were away and I thought it might lanquish in the
UFO box for a while.  However, within a month of our return I had the opportunity to transform my life - which gave me lots of time to get this beauty finished. 

The quilt is hand pieced, hand quilted and the binding (proper bias binding!) is both hand dyed and attached by hand.  The only parts sewn by machine was piecing the back (2 large pieces of fabric, straight down the middle) and sewing the binding together.  I love it - and smile every time I see it!

Thanks for stopping by.

TGIFF

I'm going to link up with TGIFF (Thank Goodness it's Friday Finishes) because M-R kindly asked me too!!

.........and I'm wheeling out Jewelled Promise again - so for those who have seen this already, apologies - but I am a bit proud of it and any chance to show off sounds good to me (my ma would be horrified!)

So, blogged about here and here's another photo....

Pop over to M-R's blog and have a look at what others have finished.

Cheers

WIP Wednesday #7

I'm linking with Lee at Freshly Pieced - I didn't get to do it last week because we were away camping, so I have a couple of weeks to show.

I had a great finish - the DWR (recently christened 'Jewelled promise') all bound and labelled and washed and rolled..

blogged about here

I've made 2 more Farmers Wife blocks, bringing my total to 50, so only 61 to go!!

I made a big bag to carry my stuff around for class

 I got my October do.Good Stitches blocks finished and also created and made 12 sampler blocks for my new teaching gig - no photos as yet - will blog about this in a seperate post.

and I'm sure there's lots of other stuff that I haven't mentioned - been quite busy really!

To summarise:

Finished:
DWR

Quilts in Progress:

2 more Farmers Wife blocks completed

Blanket Box Hexies - made another 2 and have 1/2 of another done

No action at all:

none!!

UFOUFN's:

Psychedelic tartan - who knows??
Double diamonds - still needs something......
Which way to go - needs quilting
Dancing with the stars - needs quilting
Kimono mini - needs binding
Sashiko qayg - needs finishing!
Red and white challenge - needs properly starting
Whirleygig II - needs quilting

Please click on Lee's "Freshley Pieced WIP wednesday" button on the right to see what others are up to

DWR Finish



the sun's shining through which is why you can the see the 2 tone effect of the backing

 This quilt started life in May 2010 when I cut out all the pieces ready to take with me when my husband and I went West.  I used a template from Matilda's Own which has handy little 'holes' so you can mark where the joins need to be - I found these invaluable.

We had decided to go from Somerville, Victoria to Margaret River, Western Australia so we hitched up the camper trailer and spent the next 4 weeks camping across the bottom of Oz, through South Australia, along the Nullabor Plain and into the Great South area of WA - Esperance, Albany then onto Margaret River.  All up we travelled some 8,000 kms.  We had a fantastic time and saw some beautiful places - what a land of contrasts we live in - and I kept a journal - this is the cover:

I traced and embroidered the lower part of the Australian coastline onto a piece of my hand dyed fabric (except Tassie - sorry Kathy!) I then embroidered 2 lines to represent where we stopped - the red line is going to Margaret River and the blue line, coming home

While we were away, I completed about 3 'melons' - I can't sew while in the car (I get carsick - have done since I was little) so I only got out the sewing if we stayed longer than 2 days and only then if there wasn't anything to explore.




A 'melon' is the eye shape - 4 of them together make up the 'ring'

 Most of the fabrics for the rings is Kaffe Fassett and the white is a quilters muslin by Emma Louise in vanilla - it has the softest feel and the needle goes through it like a hot knife through butter.

This quilt could then have sat in the UFO box but I had a chance to join a little group of quilters at the local community house.  This group, quite a bit older than me, is fantastic - we don't take sewing machines as there's not a great deal of room, so I took the DWR along and just kept stitching.  Everyone was so encouraging and before long I was joining melons to make the rings.  Then I joined the rings.

I decided on a 5 x 6 combo - but later decided to do another row so it finished 5 x 7.  I machine sewed the back together (just 2 pieces of fabric, so one long seam) and put it all on the long-arm to baste, in preparation for hand quilting.  Hand quilting was a simple stitch in the ditch around all rings and melons using quilters thread, then a stencilled heart in the middle of the rings using perle no.8.

Lastly, some hand-dyed fabric that should have been red, but finished orange (must read the maunfacturers instructions again) was made into 'proper' binding and it was hand stitched on - and I finished hand stitching it down last night.

Given it's been a long time in the making and I have pets, I put it into a pillow case and threw it into the washing machine on a delicate setting - so it's on the line now, drying - hence these pictures.

I'm really happy how it turned out - the colours glow (that's Kaffe for you) - and I still can't quite beleive I hand stitched a large quilt.

I will make another of these, in different clours and probably with solid arcs instead of the pieced arcs, and I'll make it bigger - but I think next time I'll sew it by machine.

Ker-knackered with a capital K

My husband is taking 3 weeks off work - so this week has been about maintenance jobs that never seem to get done- he's bogged the joins in the new posts my son built - which was changing this (and I just realised I haven't shown Benjo's work - will rectify that once we have the new posts painted - which won't be for at least 2 weeks because my darling read the instructions on the wood putty after he'd used it and you have to wait 2 weeks before you can sand and paint.... )

He's cleaned the pool and mowed front and back.  He's snipped the growth from from the root stock on the fruit trees and spent some time examining the inside of his eyelids....and today he ordered 2 cubic metres of vegie patch grade soil.  It arrived at mid-day and given we've been inundated with heavy showers all day, it's amazing that we got the lot shifted where it needs to be - I can't say how many barrow loads we moved - it was a hell of a lot - and how much onion grass we removed - again, it was a hell of a lot - but it's done.  We then set up a huge A frame (surplus pool fencing) to accommodate sugar snap peas, beans and snow peas.....and tomorrow morning I'll be planting.  So just now, I'm pooped.  I don't normally do that much physical labour - my physical labour usually consists of moving fabric from one spot to another, cutting it and sewing it - the most strenuous part of my day is shifting the rolls of batting around - or fabric around, because I can't find anything in my sewing room - heh!

But, whilst chatting with my bff last night, I got out some of my hand-dyed fabric that I chose to use as the binding on my double wedding ring quilt - she's convinced me that because I have done the rest of the quilt by hand, I should put the binding on by hand (hmmm - it grieves me she's right!!)- and made up some 'real' bias binding to accommodate the curves...



this hand dyed fabric was supposed to be red, but turned out a gorgeous watermelony orange - poifect



and started to sew...




pardon my toes!

 I hope to have this finished by next wednesday's WIP - and given we're going to be watching the AFL grand final on saturday afternoon (Liz, we are coming to yours on saturday for the GF and for dinner - will call you tomorrow!) I think I've got a good chance.

Now it's time to rinse out the wine glass (cheeky NZ rose) and go to bed - lots to do tomorrow with planting and visiting and card making and sewing.

Next week I REALLY will have to make the samples and lesson plans for my new class (which starts the following week) but this has to fit in with the fact we're going camping to Daylesford with my sister-in-law and her husband for a couple of days - omg, running out of time.....

WIP Wednesday #6

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshly Pieced, who despite being under the pump, is hosting WIP Wednesday again - thanks Lee.

 I missed out on doing this last week, so there's a couple of weeks worth of progress (and I say that loosely!)

The Farmers Wife and do.Good Stitches got a little work out




  The last 2 blocks are the Cherish Circle's do.Good Stitches for September.  We've just got the instructions for October so they're now added to my list.

I got my 3 Quilties made - just have to post them off to the US now - and I made a birthday gift for my nephew's girlfriend,

Finished:

Quilties
4 long-arm quilting commissions (yay, we can have bacon with our beans now!)
1 birthday gift
3 birthday cards

Quilts in Progress:

7 Farmers Wife blocks completed

No action at all:

Blanket Box Hexies - need lots more - but we're going camping next week and given these are hand pieced, I think I'll get a couple done
Double wedding ring - needs binding (and all by hand, so could be a while!)


UFOUFN's:

Psychedelic tartan - who knows??
Double diamonds - still needs something......
Which way to go - needs quilting
Dancing with the stars - needs quilting
Kimono mini - needs binding
Sashiko qayg - needs finishing!
Red and white challenge - needs properly starting
Whirleygig II - needs quilting

Please click on Lee's "Freshley Pieced WIP wednesday" button on the right to see what others are up to

WIP Wednesday #3

It's actually thursday afternoon - 1st September - which means it's the first day of spring and it's my sister's birthday (happy birthday Alison).

So, this week for WIP action:

Finished:

Nil

Quilts in progress:

Another hexagon - now I have 10.

These are all drawn onto the fabric (using templates from the Blanket Box), the seam allowance marked and cut out with scissors.  They're then hand pieced - it's what I do when I join the ladies at the Stitch 'n' Chat group on wednesday mornings - saves me having to lug my sewing machine about - and I find I quite like doing it by hand.










Received more blocks for the Do.Good Stitches quilt (only 2 members outstanding now)

This is really looking lovely - I'll be machine quilting it on the Gammill - but I also bought a beautiful variegated thread in pink and grey so it'll have a little hand quilting too.













Remade the Farmer's Wife Block 37 that I wasn't happy with, then went on to make 3 more.  This means I now have 40 blocks completed - only 71 to go!!!!

Started - completed the quilt top for my niece - we're going to her baby shower next week so have to have this quilted, bound and labelled by next week - easy!!!!! (Gulp..........)

This turned out nothing like I first envisioned - and drew up in my journal.....it's based around the gorgeous 'Goo goo socks' by Alexander Henry and I originally thought I'd use a lot more of it - but it was a bit too cluttered so I added another couple of prints (no idea what they are!) - I had already planned on using the solids, small dots and the Drunkards Path blocks.  I think a little straight line quilting (my absolute new favorite) and some selective hand quilting will really set this off.








No action at all:

Double wedding ring
Psycadelic tartan
Double diamonds
Which way to go
Dancing with the stars
Kimon mini
Sashiko qayg
Red and white challenge
Whirleygig II

Go see what everyone else is up to on host Lee's blog....

Aimless, but now with a plan

I find that unless I have a specific goal in mind, and I get onto to it almost straight away, then I usually achieve it, plus more....but if I have something I want to do and can't start it (for whatever reason), then I become sort of, like this.....

However, once in a while I take stock - and spurred on by the WIP wednesday hosted by Lee at Freshley Pieced, I've decided to join the ranks - and first things first, what am I looking at??

In progress:

1. Double Wedding Ring - hand pieced and quilted - now needs binding
2. Double Diamond - not sure what to do with this - it's only about 45" square and has been on the go since at least 2008
3. Blanket Box Hexagons - hand piecing, and just started (not related to Lynne's of Lily's Quilts Hexalong, but I can see we were both inspired by the same quilt - Broderie's Candied Hexagons)
4. Which Way To Go - batik medallion - all pieced, needs to be quilted
5. Dancing With The Stars - this was a bom through stitchin' heaven in Texas, USA, all pieced, needs to be quilted
6. Kimono Mini - needs binding
7. Cam's Ispy - needs to be quilted, but I do have this loaded and ready to go on the Gammill
8. Farmers Wife - stalled again - have 36 blocks made
9. Sashiko qayg - have about 12 blocks made but need at least 24 for a halfway decent size
10. do.good.stitches cherish circle quilt - currently have 6 blocks and waiting on remaining 14, then it'll need putting together and quilted by 10th september
11. red and white challenge blocks - I have 4 blocks but need a lot more
12. hand dyed convergence piece - not sure what to do with this - i just started playing with my hand-dyed fabric one evening
13. Whirleygig II - this was put together after finding I had quite a few patches leftover from the whirleygig quilt I completed last year - it's not all that big so probably needs a border or 2, before quilting and binding

To be made (cos I have the fabric and notions):

1. pouches - need to make many, all different sizes, for sale
2. soft baskets - same as pouches
3. other stuff for sale - yet to determine exactly what that means
4. baby quilt - for neice who is expecting a baby - want to do Drunkards Path but haven't got the templates yet - and it'll need to be completed by 10th September (arrrrrrgh)
5. quilt artistry quilt - from the genius of Yoshiko Jinzenji
6. new york beauty - using thai silk
7. layer cake quilt - I have 2 layer cakes, just sitting there, looking at me
8. shirt - I bought chambray last year for a long, casual shirt...
9. skirt, using fabulous pieces I bought from Kelani's at the Melbourne show
10. pants - although might have to hold off on these - the fabric I bought is a tartan and completely unsuitable for our upcoming summer
11. slippers for my ma-in-law's birthday by 18th September

Here's a mosaic of some of my Works in progress


1. sashiko qayg, 2. cam's I spy in full, 3. Dancing with the stars, 4. Playing, 5. Which way to go, 6. red and white challenge, 7. do.good.stitches cherish quilt, 8. double wedding ring, 9. blanket box hexies, 10. whirleygig II, 11. double diamonds, 12. cam's I spy

 So - unless something really urgent comes up, I'm going to complete the items on this list first - especially those with deadlines!

and I'll save what I've completed this year for another post

WIP - 13
Stuff to be made - 4,356,692

Just one more...........................

.............and then I'll step away from the rotary cutter.................or maybe not - I have gone nuts and made another 8 FWQA blocks - staying up quite late too - but there's a reason for staying up late - Wimbledon is on and I do love to watch the tennis....so, routine is:  make a couple of FWQA blocks in my sewing room, then make a coffee, pick up my hand quilting project (Double wedding ring) and into the front room to watch the tennis - sorted (said in a dodgy London accent).

Here's the result of my labours so far:



L-R.  Bow tie, Broken dishes, Autumn tints, Basket,
Attic windows, Birds in the air, Box, Buckwheat,
Basket weave, Big dipper, Bouquet, Bat wing,
Calico puzzle, Buzzard's roost, Broken sugar bowl, Butterfly at the crossroads.



The names of the blocks are authentic (and very traditional) and some are easier to put together than others - there may have to be some remaking of some blocks, but then again, there's 111 of them all together so I may run out of enthusiasm by time I get to the last one!
There's over 450 crafty people that have signed up to do this quilt along and the sheer range of colours, fabrics and creativity is absolutely fabulous - pop into Flikr and check them out - absolutely awesome.

OK - have to go and pack - away for the weekend so ttfn.