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

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..........................

WIP Wednesday - well it would be, but now it's Thursday and the link is closed :(

omg - I knew it had been a while since linking up with WIP Wednesday at Lee's, but just saw that the last time was 9th Feb - definately a long time between drinks!

So obviously there's a little bit of creativity going on in the meantime - most of which relates to the Textiles course I'm doing, but I got a few things done outside of that too :)

I have a finish which started about here....

Totally inspired by this

Here's the back........

there's actual sunshine in Melbourne today!

I finished up another quilt...

I'm in the process of adding hand quilting to this next one...

Completed some farmers wife and projects for school, sewing bees and my teaching classes...

I also managed to complete a few quilting commissions on the long-arm too - I'm sure there's more but it's been so long I think I'd be here forever finding all the photos!

Anyway - pop on over to Lee's and check out everyone else's awesome WIP's - huge amount of inspiration out there :)

Farmers Wife Frenzy

Using fabric scraps I received from the gorgeous Shay I went on a bit of a sewing frenzy given I haven't made any for over a month........my fave is the Silver Light and I have to say I detested making Shooting Star - it was a bugger to do even though it was foundation pieced - never, ever making one again...

silver lane

seasons

rosebud

sawtooth

ribbons

shooting star

so that's 79 down - only 32 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...

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...

Half time, 50.45%, downward slide, etc, etc

I have been doing a little farming this last week and made 4 blocks - which now means I am just over half way to becoming the ultimate Farmers Wife.  56 blocks are now completed, leaving 55 to go - half of me feels just a bit excited and the other half thinks, "meh, I've still got to make 55 blocks...."!!
So, in the bag are: jack-knife

loved how this came together - points met, right size finished - awesome!!

kitchen woodbox

looks fab-o on point

linoleum

obviously needs to be replaced with slate, or tiles...

maple leaf

in homage to my canadian friends

I still go to fabric shops and look at red fabric, thinking, "ooh, that'd be good for my farmers wife" - I think I need to wean myself off that now - I've got enough red fabric for 12 Farmer's Wives - maybe I should start a red Dear Jane quilt along (although I'm sure there's already one out there), or a 'better red than dead' quilt along - aaah, the possibilities.

Whatever, here's to no. 56 block and let's get on with no 57.

cheers

A little Farmer love

After the last couple of weeks, which seem to have been secreted away somewhere I can't find, and which were filled with other things I do besides sewing, last night I decided on a little Farmer love.

Blocks 45-48 were completed which means there's 63 more to go - and I'm still determined to do them all - even though there's nowhere in my sewing room, nor a spare wall to display them all (because I won't be putting the quilt together as suggested - my reds need to be evenly distributed and I've noticed that there's a couple of concentrations), so when that time comes, it'll be a bit of fun on the floor methinks!

Maybe I can cajole my youngest son into making me a folding display screen.....

Anyway,

Grape basket, block 45 - I really wasn't all that fussed about making this one as I was a little over 'basket' types - but it went together somewhat effortlessly so now I don't mind it at all!

Block 46, Hill and Valley - this was a bit of a chore - and there'll be a couple of cut-off points when I join it to the rest of the blocks - but not so 'pointless' as to make me want to do it again - I have a cunning plan with regard to my varying block size finishes anyway, so the points on the edges won't be such an issue....

Block 47 - Homemaker - I foundation pieced this one, but still had a little trouble with the 'Y' seams - again not enough to worry about.  I like it though - painting, pets, flowers and sewing - very important elements to making a home huh?

Block 48, Homeward Bound - I changed the corners of this block - couldn't see the point of making 2 x 1 1/2" squares when 1 x 2 1/2" x 1 1/2" would suffice - and the bottom right isn't wonky in real life, it's just my rotten photography!

After I finished these last night (well, very early this morning really) I printed out the instructions for the next 24 blocks and there are some doozies coming up....should be fun!

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

Red & White Challenge

At the beginning of June, whilst wasting time researching, I came across a Red & White challenge issued by Elizabeth. The idea was that Elizabeth would send red and white fabric to the respondants and she would later make a block for them as a thank you.  As one may have gathered, I'm a bit partial to red, so I picked up the gauntlet and made a Shoo Fly block for both Elizabeth and her friend Leisa.  These were duly sent to the US, along with a couple of pyramid purses* made with Aborigine fabrics:

.....and look what arrived in the post this week:

The block on the left was made by Leisa and the one on the right, by Elizabeth - these will go very nicely with the additional 2 blocks I managed to make.  In fact I liked the idea so much, I ordered more fabric from the Temecula Quilt Shop in the US (there was another reason I had to order more fabric and it involved my great-neice and a muddy dog, but that's another story) so I can a make a usable sized quilt.  Thanks Elizabeth and Leisa - they really are gorgeous.

Speaking of that great-neice - she turned 2 yesterday -she is such a wonderful little girl - she can talk the hind leg off a donkey, she's fearless, loving and full of beans.  I had already made a sampler quilt for her, which was to be her birthday present - but when I was at the Melbourne Quilt show, I bought a gorgeous little frock pattern from Nicole Mallalieu (the Tulip dress) and I've made one up for Stella

It's a little too cool in Melbourne to be wearing this just now, but a little long sleeved T underneath, and thick tights should keep her warm while we wait for summer.  I will attempt to get a photo of Stella wearing the frock at some stage.

The pattern was very easy to follow (it's got pleats, a cute little vent at the back of the skirt and buttons).  I chose to make the sleeveless version and I included the optional flat bias trim around the waist.  I also got a bit artsy with the buttons - I used some largish flower shaped shell buttons and sewed a tiny button on top, at the same time - you can't really see them in the above photo (and I used 3 different coloured centres) but suffice to say, they look really cute.

We're off to an animal farm on sunday to celebrate her birthday - hope it doesn't rain!!

Happy birthday Stella.

*the purses were designed by the very talented Nicole Mallalieu, designer of the Tulip dress - it appears the free pyramid purse tutorial is temporarily unavailable - so keep checking back - it's easy and very, very handy