The one where the music soars.....

in my head at least - and I danced a bit (my husband thinks I'm nuts) - because this evening, I finished the last FWQA blocks - yep, all 111 of them - and yes, I know I still have to sew the blocks together and finish the quilt - but Rome wasn't built in a day and all that - I started these blocks in June 2012 when I joined the FWQA and initially I made several each week.  However, as things go, my exuberance waned and I found it was months between blocks...they really did become quite tedious.....and then I got another spurt on and another til finally, they're done - the first 3 of the top row I finished last week and the remainder I've finished today - the bottom left block took me longer to make than the other 7!! - actually, that was the penultimate block and just because I really wanted to finish them all today, my sewing machine decided to start playing up - bloody thing - a clean out, a new needle and a change of thread and bobbin helped a little, but it looks like it needs a professional service.....but, it was ok enough for me to finish them all....YAY!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

....and the stack all together...

It must be the right sort of day - because this morning I finished the machine quilting on this baby...

rotten photo - it's night time!

I've custom quilted this - there's feathers and lots of stitch in the ditch (ish!) - I won't win any prizes for the quilting but it's a whole lot better than previous efforts - onwards and upwards!  I'm going to do some hand quilting too so it's not ready for an official finish as yet - I started the quilt top back in April 2010 - I didn't know how to foundation piece so I signed up for a BoM with Stitchin Heaven - it's called 'Dancing with the Stars' and every block is foundation pieced.  It's a big quilt (80" x 92") - but it's almost Oz Open time so the hand quilting can be completed whilst watching the tennis.

On that note, I'm off to add the FWQA photos to Flickr then go to bed - funnily enough I'm pooped!

Too, too long....

...and procrastination and duff sitting may have something to do with it....anyway, just finished a late dinner (home made gnocchi with prawns), having my coffee and enjoying the cool change after a stinky hot day in Melbourne.  Dr No is on the telly (I'm a huge Bond fan, but I've seen Dr No umpteen times and my husband really wants to watch it again), so what to do? Sew? - I could go and make some Christmas presents....or I could blog.....hmmm, what to do.....?  Well, blogging won - and for those who have commented on the last couple of posts (which were a few weeks/months ago - I'm sorry I haven't responded - I'm turning over a new leaf today)

It feels like such a long time since I actually wrote anything and I have done umpteen things in the meantime that I'm just going to record them as I remember them - so in no chronological order whatsoever...

1.  I hosted the delightful Caz of The Accidental Quilter for some time on the longarm - Caz had 2 queen sized quilts she was loathe to wrestle with through her domestic machine so she came to mine to do them - apart from an unexpected powercut, which curtailed tuesday afternoons' session, she got them both finished and did a fabulous job - most impressive for a first time - way to go Caz :)

2.  I made a frock - one of the 2nd year students at school made a beautiful linen dress and luckily the pattern is a new one.  It called for 4.5m of 150cm wide linen which wasn't very budget friendly so I searched through the clearance table at Spotlight and picked up some gorgeous voile for $5 per metre - the dress is a lot less structured in the voile and has beautifully soft folds - it turned out really well and I hope you get the idea from this crappy picture.....I'm saving for some linen to make another one but there'll have to be a few pattern adjustments....I don't think I can fudge them in the linen like I did in the voile!

3.  The Somerville Community House banner is FINISHED - yay - a lot of blood, sweat and tears in this banner - 12 1/2" pieces of calico was handed out to all the class/activities currently on at the Community House with instructions to fill the square with representations of their class or of Somerville itself.  We got back some very interesting blocks - they were painted, stitched, drawn and knitted and with a variety of mediums, from thread to paper to, in one case, a fan!  Putting it together was a bloody nightmare challenge but a couple of wonderful ladies in my Stitch and Chat group kept everything together and appliqued and stitched away with me to come up with a fabulous finish - there's a presentation/launch next week.....but here's a sneak preview....

4.  The veggie patch is growing strongly - we're already eating lettuce, silverbeet, zucchini's, sugar snap peas, asparagus, rhubarb, carrots and spring onions.  There's fruit on the tomato plants - many that self-seeded from last year and the first lot of corn is almost ready to throw up the flowers that will pollinate the ears of corn...there's also pumpkins forming...this abundant growth is thanks to the very changeable weather we've experienced over the past month or 2

5.  I joined the wonderful ladies of the Mornington Stitch Group for our Christmas breakup, hosted by the lovely Emma at Treehouse Textiles.  I've nicked the next photo from the Group mama, Cathy's blog...(Cabbage Quilts)....thanks Cathy and Emma :)

we had a Kris Kringle swap - what a talented bunch we are ;)

6.  I made 3 more Farmers Wife blocks - so that's 100 finished and I only have 11 more to make - YAY!!!!

...and now I've run out of memories!  So, I think I'll sign off - the sewing machine is calling and Christmas is approaching...til next time

Farming again..

Not sure what came over me - but I'm thinking getting those do.Good stitches blocks done has spurred me on - so while waiting for the painted and inked pages of my journal to dry, I whipped up 4 more Farmers blocks - so that's 97 done now and only 14 more to go....feels like a marathon!

no 94 - Tall Pine Tree

no 95 - Temperance Tree

no. 97 - Waste not

no.96 - Tulip

Hoping to do a few more and get them finished - but if Melbourne continues a lovely run of the weather we had today, it's unlikely

smiling...

Nothing like a visit from your bestie to add some much needed perspective - thank you Miss Lizzie - you always make it better :)

We spent the day yesterday loading up the long arm with a quilt that Liz is making for me - I feel so spoilt - it's a beautiful quilt - and there's going to be hand quilting as well - soooo looking forward to this one being finished and I can show it off in all its glory then....

While Liz was quilting, I actually got some Farmer's Wife blocks done - another 6 making a grand total of 93 complete - only 18 more to go - last time I did anything on this was about 3 months ago - so an attack of the miseries substantially increased my sewing output this last week....hopefully it continues (not the miseries, the output - I have an assignment due on Friday and my piece is still only at concept stage...)

blocks 88 - 93

....and here's me trying to get a good shot of my new top - some say it is a good shot because I cut off my  head  - and I will never win prizes for photography.......but, check out the shoes - these are so high I can only just about  stand in them - although the first time I wore them, at a wedding, I managed to do the 'Nutbush' without falling over - they are highly impractical but I love them..

Hope you have a good week

Steppin' out with the Farmer

I pulled my book out today and saw that it's been 2 months since I made any of the Farmers blocks - I think I'd had enough of them and as the next few are either foundation pieced or involve a huge number of pieces, it seemed like a really good idea to put them in the shelf for a holiday.  Anyway, I did manage to complete 3 - Blocks 85 - 87.....

Square dance

Squash blossom

Star gardener - this one finished 1/4" bigger than expected!

I also noted that's it's been almost a year since I started this quilt - and given the disparate sizes of the blocks it'll likely be a few more years before I can muster the enthusiasm to put it together : \

24 to go..........................

Happy Mail

I've been following Shay's blog, Quilting in my Pyjamas for quite a while now - she writes with an irreverence, in what could be termed a totally Oz style - she doesn't take things too seriously and has a healthy attitude to rules, eg, if the rules don't make sense, ignore them!  Shay's take on life, whether it's of a quilty nature or life in general is a seriously funny read.  She doesn't like housework and avoids it all costs (obviously a long lost sister) and to top off all this wonderfulness, she's incredibly generous to boot.  Let me explain......

At the beginning of February, Shay mentioned in her blog that she's starting the Farmers Wife Quilt Along and had decided to 'Rock the red and white' - now, I've been doing the FWQA too - I started ages ago - and am also rocking the red and white - so I suggested we should do a swap of reds (you need an awful lot of reds for the FWQA blocks)........and look what arrived....

This little bunch of lovelies doesn't include a further 6 or so pieces that I already have - I've sent those back to her with pieces from my stash - it's fabulous that we both live in Oz and we're still able to find many pieces of red and white that we don't have in common - fantastic!

I will get organised with a few more FW blocks - soon I hope - but school has started in earnest and I already have quite a bit of homework - coupled with my teaching and a few quilting commissions (plus a new commission to make a complete quilt) and several other things I have on the go, I beleive that my own personal sewing will be a very poor last on the list - not to mention the frequency of my blogging.

Thanks Shay - love the fabric - and this blogging quilty collective is just such a wonderful place to be...

WIP Wednesday #12

I'm linking up with Lee at Freshley Pieced - thanks Lee - this weekly summary really helps in identifying what I've actually done (and still to do) - although the last time I linked up was 16th November last year..............so there's some progress to report!

I also love having a look at what others are doing - it provides so much inspiration - there is a seriously large group of very clever people out there.

I did some sewing for Christmas..

pj's x 3, boardies, a pincushion, a cushion cover, 2 stuffed dollies, a matching bag, journal cover and a little drawstring bag, and a frock for my ma-in-law

Made a skirt for me..

7 bags and pouches (other than christmas ones)

2 do.Good stitches blocks...

a Quilting Australia Bee block...

2 baby quilts with matching soft baskets...

14 Farmers wife blocks....

total finished is now 72, so 39 to go

put the hexy quilt together and am now working on the 2nd border...

loaded and started quilting the batik medallion...

made a journal cover for me...

started knitting a pair of socks..

and completed the first 4 of the QAYGFMQQA blocks...

I've decided to review my list of stuff I'm reporting on to keep it more in line with the winter/summer stitching lit - but not tonight - I'll do that when I post my progress against that list, maybe tomorrow...

Jump into Lee's blog (button on the right) and see what everyone else is up to...

De-cluttering, the weekend just gone and more Farmers

I was catching up online and reading Helen's Archie's Blog and she's got a fantastic idea - she got it from Di, who got it from her sister Geri....and no doubt there'll be heaps of folks adding a 'LIKE' button on their blogs to reduce the amount of wordsmithing - you know, when you want to acknowledge you've read a post, and enjoyed it, but have nothing really concrete to say about it - I say lame stuff like 'lovely colours', or 'great block' and while I genuinely love whatever it is, lame comments create additional work for the blogger who feels compelled to respond to every comment - even the lame ones!  So, in order to declutter and reduce time spent on the computer when I can be sewing, I'm going to use the 'LIKE' button if it's available and I have nothing pertinent to say - that way the blogger can see their post is appreciated without having to send a reply to me, the bloggee - and I've added one on mine - mine is 'What's not to....' and you click 'LIKE' if you're so inclined - and/or leave a comment obviously - I LURRRRVE those........and Bob is very much your uncle, as Fanny is your aunt...perfick!!

Last Friday, my husband and I (Queenly wave) drove to the Bellarine Peninsula and spent a couple of days with a whole host of folks, including family and friends of family with lots of babies, in a luxurious holiday home complete with lap pool, quad bike and tennis court.  Wow - it was wonderfully relaxing and wonderfully entertaining with all them babies (because I don't have babies at home, I can say that it was the best wake-up call - babies laughing and playing together - not sure their parents would agree!).  My sister, niece and I made a huge roast dinner for 12 adults on saturday night and overall there was a lot of talking, watching tennis, lazing, reading, playing tennis, swimming, quad biking and football (the AFL type - all the blokes were Aussies and have not yet succumbed to the Beautiful Game).  I even managed a spot of stash building at a wonderful LQS called The Naked Sheep (she hasn't got a website yet, but the shop is inside the Gateway Plaza Shopping Centre, 621-659 Bellarine Highway, Leopold 3224) and the service was absolutely sensational - Amanda offered to cut a FQ from any bolt in the shop as well as searched, downloaded and printed a sock pattern for the Noro wool I bought.  So if you're ever in the vicinity, go and check her out.

just picked what I like - nothing much matches!

and already started the socks - easy to do when watching the Tennis

 Before we left for the weekend, I had a bit of a spurt on and made 6 new Farmers blocks, so now I'm up to 72 (wow, only 39 to go....).  The Pine Tree block (no. 67) was a stinker - I had all sorts of issues with the points - I could say it was because I'm using my new machine and the 1/4" foot is really 3/16" and I'm having a couple of issues adjusting from the old 1/4" foot - but good workwomen don't blame their tools and all that - so instead of unpicking I got out the Inktense watercolour pencils and some fabric goo and coloured a couple in - stepping back you can't tell and I won't ever make the block again - not my cup of tea at all......

Top row: 69-Practical orchard, 71-Puss in the corner
Middle row: 72-Railroad, 68-Postage stamp
Bottom row: 67-Pine tree, 70-Prairie queen

I think number 68, Postage stamp is my favourite of these - red, asymmetrical - no wonder the fabulous Rita of RPQ  made a complete quilt using this block.  Now I really must make some more patterns up in EQ for the remaining 39 blocks so I can keep going - not this week though, too many things to prepare for class next week....arrivedeci

More QAYGFMQQAL

Laura posted requirements for the next 2 blocks and yesterday, without having another look at what they're supposed to look like, I had a go.....

This is the spirals block - and I  obviously need a lot more practice - it didn't help that the needle kept skipping stitches now and again  (apparently that means I have to change the needle) - the spirals aren't uniform at all - but as an old Polish fellow once said, "The first pancake is always lumpy" and it just means I have to beat it a bit more....

The 2nd one was supposed to be a stylised and loopy flower - but as I mentioned, I didn't go back to view Laura's, I just remember her post mentioning adding all the elements we've done so far, together (loops, flowers and spirals) - so off I went....and unfortunately, the 2nd pancake is lumpy too..

It looks a bit better from the back....but still looks like the huntsman after I sprayed and sprayed last night!

For all that, I'm enjoying the FMQ on the domestic - it is making a little more adventurous on the long-arm and that's always a good thing!

BTW, look what came for a visit it my house yesterday..

A cormorant decided to stop by - he sunned himself on the rocks next to the pool, then every so often dived in to cool off.  He stayed for about an hour having a high old time then flew off.  We get ducks on the water, minahs, cockies, grassies and wattle birds fly in for a quick drink or a splash, but this is the first time I've seen a cormorant.

Slowly getting back up to speed............a dance with the Farmer

Well I took a couple of weeks or so off, imposing a technology ban on myself, mostly to complete Christmas sewing, Christmas planning and cooking and then camping planning, packing, actually camping, coming home, unpacking, cleaning camper trailer etc etc - it was quite a lot of activity packed into so few days - and I know I wasn't on my lonesome there either. 

But it's over for another year and now it's 2012 and I have so much to blog about - but I don't want this post to be the bloggy version of War and Peace, so will limit myself to one topic only - and it's good old Farmers Wife.  My previous dance in the Farmers arms was a month ago, so yesterday, in a quest for a little quick gratification, I made 4 blocks...

Block 63 Ozark Maple Leaf

Block 64 Peace & plenty

Block 65 Peaceful hours

Block 66 Periwinkle

...and because I can, I put all 66 blocks made so far onto the design wall for a look see - I didn't put them up very straight, but you get the gist - this is going to be a huge quilt!

only 45 to go - but I won't be able to get many more onto this design wall - must find bigger area...

I guess I really should start thinking seriously about sashing if I want this finished this year - although I do have 12 months...