Another job jobbed

Some more things off the list today - and it was the all important spring vegie garden planting that was completed.

So, we've got:

• tomatoes - 5 varieties
• pak choy
• bok choy
• cucumber
• zucchini
• leeks - 2 varieties
• spring onions
• capsicum
• beans - 2 varieties, both climbing
• snow peas
• sugar snap peas
• pumpkin
• lettuce - 3 varieties
• carrots - 2 varieties
• eggplant (haven't grown this before so we'll see how we go)
• french garlic
• sweet corn
• rhubarb (permanent crowns)
• asparagus (permanent - planted last year so it'll be ready to pick next year)

I still have watermelon in the greenhouse, which isn't ready to be planted out as yet - haven't grown this before either so it'll be interesting.

Winter rains certainly gave all the fruit trees a bit of a spurt - The lemon tree is groaning under the weight of its' fruit so lemon curd will be on the to do list, the apricot tree is laden - and hopefully the cocky's (cockatoos) won't come and strip it like they did last year.  The avocado tree has new growth, but it was only planted last year so it won't fruit until at least next year.  The apple tree is full of blossom which bodes well for a good harvest.

So a couple of photos:



Top left to right: Seedlings ready to be planted, the avocado tree, apricots
Bottom left to right: Lemon tree, vegie garden after planting, garden bed 2 with tomato and cucumber seedlings

 I'll post again in about 6 weeks to show how everything's going.

Now I'm going off to have a bath and a read before veging out in front of the telly with my DWR binding and a good movie.

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

Modern Christmas Table Runner Swap

You may have noticed a new button on the right - it's a swap I've joined, being hosted by the talented and very funny Susan of Canadian Abroad.

The idea is to make a table runner for another of the participants, in secret, which incorporates elements of their favourites - we've all added a mosaic in Flickr showing what we like.

Here's  mine - so hopefully there's enough here for my partner to get a sense of what I like - I'm pretty easy going so it shouldn't be too difficult......I love stars, wonky or otherwise, red & white (and a little Kaffe Fassett pop of colour theory) and a little hand quilting

When I started looking at the other participants, I must admit to quaking in my boots - there is some seriously talented ladies in the mix - so I can see some procrastination in my future - but don't worry Susan, I won't miss the deadlines!

There's still time to sign up if you'd like to join - you've got til the 2nd October - so jump on in and get your christmas mojo happening.

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!

Coming over all quilty

I joined the Quilty Trade with Sandra Kaye and have been working on my quilties - they've taken longer than I expected, but that's ok, I am really enjoying the creative process (the theme is buttons) - I actually drew a sketch for a couple of them (which I won't show you, my sketching leaves a lot to be desired) but found as I was working on them, my mind went a bit sideways, as it is want to do, and I came up with something different - and in one case, changed tack altogether.

After an email exchange with Sandie, we decided until the trade has taken place, we should only show a bit of a tease of what we've done thus far, so:

This is quilty no.1 - and that's a found button - this quilty I hand sewed together - there was actually something good on telly that I wanted to watch so I sewed in the front room while I watched it - and for the life of me I can't remember what the 'good' thing was!

This is quilty no. 2 - it's a bit of a theme - boys will be boys and all that entails - hope customs don't get too upset over big lippy kisses!

And quilty no 3 - a few more buttons on this one and a little more colourful.

So, a few more things to add, then label and send to Sandie in the US ready for the swap.

###%*&^@@#$) (or words to that effect)

Last thursday I was entrusted with someone elses quilt top and asked to quilt it on the long arm - the quilt top has rocket ship appliques, as well as planets and aliens and is asymetrically pieced - it's fabulous (I forgot to get permission to take a photo so I can't show you) - and after some discussion, it was agreed the simple, organic 'straight' lines with variegated thread was in order.  We also agreed it'd be ready tomorrow (wednesday).

Fast forward to today - time to load the quilt and get cracking.  I was thinking to myself this will take a couple of hours, go to whoa, easy peasy japanesey, then lunch, then maybe a bit of my sewing.....so, quilt was duly loaded and because it was a quilting commission, I changed the needle and threaded up.....and then noticed the light on the machine wasn't working - oh well, I can get around that until I can buy a new bulb, or whatever it has....

The first couple of rows were ok - these stabilise the quilt and are necessarily slowly worked - and then it was time to start the organic lines - so switched to 'regulated' and off I went. About 2 seconds into the first line, the top thread broke - so checked the threading, rethreaded the needle and off I went again.  About 7 seconds later, the top thread broke again - did the usual checks, rethreaded and off I went again......and you guessed it, the top thread broke again.....what the????

Took the bobbin out - gave it a super clean, put it back - took all thread out of the top and rethreaded from scratch, rechecked the tension and then started a little sewing off the quilt to check - now I was getting skipped stitches and more broken threads - starting to get very frustrated now, and swearing.  My organic quilted lines were now starting to resemble something with a nasty growth...

I took the commission quilt off the machine and loaded my practice piece (thank goodness for zippered leaders), located my instruction manual for the machine and went through their check list - same result....and I'm hoping it's not a timing issue because resolution of that is a great big pain in your posterial end. 

I was thinking I'd have to quilt this quilt with my domestic machine and I wasn't looking forward to it.

In the end, I phoned the company I bought the machine from - and the wonderful Rick of Elizabeth Machines suggested a few more reasons why the thread kept breaking - including the dreaded timing issue - and I was to try with different thread, check to see there wasn't a piece of broken needle in the hook which was shearing the thread and failing that, check the timing.  While I was on the phone, I ordered a few supplies and mentioned I needed a new light bulb - Rick asked me to check whether it was a fluoro or an LED - it was LED - so he said, "might sound like a dumb question, but have you switched the light on??"  Switched the light on???  I didn't know there was a seperate switch for the light...........and lo and behold, I flicked the switch and the light came on.......hallelujah.......and that's when I noticed the needle I had so professionally changed at the beginning, wasn't in straight (the long-arm needles don't have a flat back like domestic sewing machine needles, they're round all the way round, so you have to be careful that they're exactly aligned front-on, or you get skipped stitches and your top thread breaks.....).

Funnily enough, once I fixed that, the stitching behaved beautifully.........so, unloaded the practice quilt, reloaded the commission quilt (after spending an hour removing all the previously stitched lines) and  an hour later, I had one, very nicely quilted quilt - and the only time it stopped was when the bobbin thread ran out. 

I had plans to make a couple of farmers wife blocks this afternoon but after my quilting adventures, I've decided a glass of wine and a veg in front of the telly is much more beneficial to my mental health!

Stormin'

After a beautiful spring day (almost 30c - nice and warm) with plenty of sunshine and my great neice and nephew over for a few hours, which meant a picnic next to the pool (no photos of that because I was too idle to fetch my camera after balancing home-made lime cordial, crisps, sultanas and boiled eggs, courtesy of my girls, outside on a tray, with a blue cup for Stella and a green one for Cam and which lasted all of 5 minutes because Ben 10 was on the telly so we had to go back inside :0)) - anyway I digress - I'm now in front of the pc and listening to a magnificent storm - big rain, thunder (Buster is going nuts!), lightning and strong winds - I love electrical storms - we have some crackers here, and I remember sensational storms in Berlin when we lived there when I was a kid - you could literally lean against the wind and it'd hold you up - well, until it changed direction then you'd fall on your backside, much to the delight of so-called friends.

Oooooh - another big thunder roll - it's quite possible we'll lose power tonight so I'd best hurry with this post.

After Cam and Stella went home, I got stuck into my 2 blocks for this month's do. Good stitches for the Cherish circle - Kristy painstakingly cut out templates for us all and sent individual instructions - I got to do the bluebird and the horse - and they turned out really well - there's a few more on Flickr which you should go and have a look at....

Hope these are ok Kristy......

My new go-to gift

Loving making these little pouches - I've tried the lined one (too fussy and the finish wasn't as professional as I like), the batting plus interfacing one (sewing machine almost turned up its' toes) and now this one - not lined, but finished with zigzag along the edges (and I really should get out the overlocker - that'd be even more finished), a good weight canvas outer fabric and a heavy interfacing inside - holds its' shape well and looks just ducky (har har!!) - I stamped it as well and gave it to my nephew's girlfriend for her birthday, filled with some nice smellies for a bit of pampering.  This pouch is defo on the 'to sell' list...............

A little bit of what you fancy..........

I actually sat down yesterday and made three Farmers Wife blocks - numbers 42-44.  There was a basket (yes, another one and number 45 is yet another one - think I'm a bit over the baskets), a garden path and a gentleman's fancy - not sure why this block is called gentlemans fancy - there's not a great deal to it...

Here's the Block 42, Fruit Basket up close - it looks wonky but it's not in real life - the points didn't turn out too badly and there wasn't any unsewing - although up close I can see the basket base is off kilter - I'm going to say that at one stage, the Farmers kids knocked it over and broke it and had to glue it back together - unfortunately, it's a bit NQR.

The next one, Block 43, Garden Path - I got a little fancy-schmancy with this one and fussy cut the 'paths' - again, a little bit wonky (but not as bad as how the photo is showing - it - need some photography skills obviously!) so I'm going with the paths were affected by flood waters from the swollen creek in the far paddock, and last, but by no means least....

Block 44, Gentlemans Fancy - this was foundation pieced so is the most accurate of the lot - still can't see what's fancy about this one - anyone any idea?

The next block to be made is the Grape basket - same as the Fruit basket but with a different stand - and I just couldn't bring myself to make it yesterday - maybe next week.  So, 44 down and 67 to go - here's hoping the grape basket is the last of its' kind....................

How's your Farmers Wife coming along?

WIP Wednesday #5

I've hardly blogged this week - we've had a few family celebrations on and I've had a few deadlines - but I've got lots done.........

Finished:

These have been blogged about here

I also made these.....



A new journal cover for me (it's opened out) - free motion quilting as well as some playing on an embroidery module - i'm testing a 2nd hand sewing machine with a view to buy and there's lots of features...




Boxy pouch prototype - it's a bit wonky so now houses some of my perle threads




A birthday gift for my ma-in-law - a (non-wonky) boxy pouch and a pair of house slippers to match





Quilts in progress:

Made 1 more hexagon:



No action at all:
Farmers wife
Double wedding ring
UFOUFN's:
Psychedelic tartan
Double diamonds
Which way to go
Dancing with the stars
Kimon mini
Sashiko qayg
Red and white challenge
Whirleygig II
Please click on Lee's "Freshley Pieced WIP wednesday" button on the right to see what others are up to

Sunshine and finishes and following your bliss

After my breast cancer last year I made the decision not to work in the City nor in financial services ever again but to follow my bliss instead.

I've stepped onto my new road and progressed a little way - I'm teaching patchwork and general sewing (with 2 new classes starting next term in our local community house), I've hung out my shingle for long-arm quilting services, I'm starting a Diploma in Textiles next year on a part time basis and I'm still planning what items I want to make and sell on Etsy, or the markets, or wherever.

Today, as I sat outside, in the sunshine, and pinned and sewed, I thought to myself - this is SO right.  I'm smiling right now - and truly hoping you get to follow your bliss too.

I have been very industrious in the glorious Melbourne sunshine today - I have TWO finishes:

Do.Good Stitches 'Cherish' quilt:



The Hills Hoist shot!

Eight other members of the Cherish Circle made 2 blocks each, in pinks and greys, and sent them to me for finishing.  Yesterday, I bought an Op Shop quilt cover which has a real retro feel about it and put it in the Napisan for a really good clean.  Once it was dry, unpicked and ironed, it became the backing for the Cherish quilt and I quilted it on the long-arm using an edge-to-edge pantograph called 'Deb's Swirls'.  I was going to use a grey and white stripe for the binding (a bit safe), but the backing, plus quite a few of the blocks on the front, suggested green - so out came a piece of my green mottled hand-dyed fabric and I made the binding out of that.
Today I completed the binding (all machine stitched) and made and attached the label.  I've spoken with the director of the Charity it's to go to, to arrange delivery and can't help smiling about how beautifully it's all come together - thanks so much to the wonderful ladies of the Cherish Circle - an inaugural quilt to be proud of and one which should bring comfort to the recipient.

Goo Goo Socks Quilt:

I have lots of gorgeous nieces - and one of them is having her first baby soon.  She's also having a baby shower on Saturday and my sister, another niece and I are travelling up to country Victoria to attend - we'll probably stay the night so we can all properly catch up - so a baby quilt was definately in order for the mum-to-be.

I wasn't really sure what I wanted to make - until I went to amitie back in June and found some gorgeous fabric called 'Goo goo socks' by Alexander Henry.  I played around with the layout in my journal but once I started putting it together, I realised my original ideas wouldn't work 'in the flesh' so to speak.  So I faffed around a bit more, added some more prints, discarded a solid or 2 and came up with a layout I liked.  I pieced the backing and yesterday I quilted it on the long-arm - again using 'Deb's Swirls' (it's fast becoming a favourite).  I also did some hand-quilting on selected blocks, in different colours, using Perle no. 12 thread.  Today, I put the binding together (one of the original discarded solids) and machine stitched it all on (loving this - it's soooo much quicker than hand stitching the binding down as well as more robust).  Then the label and ..............voila

Another Hills Hoist shot - it was beautifully sunny when I took the photo and the Hoist just shines on through!

Here's where I 'worked' today.....

aaaaah, Bliss indeed..............

WIP #4

We had a few birthdays this week (my sister, my neice and my eldest son)  and Fathers Day on sunday so there's been celebrations and family get togethers along with too much cake!  Outstanding!

So, onto WIP's - I've decided to add a new category - UFOUFN's (Unfinished Flippin' Objects Until Further Notice - so these are things that I'm not actively working on, nor expecting to in the near future).....

Finished:
Omnitrix bag (although this wasn't on the list last week, I'm still claiming it!)



Cam hanging onto the Omnitrix bag for dear life!(blogged here)
Stella modelling the frock I made her for her 2nd birthday (blogged here)


Quilts in progress:
Do.Good Stitches quilt for the Cherish circle - made 2 more blocks for a missing member, put the top together, decided against a border, sourced a backing, loaded onto long-arm and quilted with an E2E pattern.  I've also cut the strips for the binding, but haven't yet sewn them together - that's for tomorrow.

Baby quilt - pieced the back, quilted on the long-arm and then small areas of hand quilting completed - just needs binding (all ready cut out) and labelling

Hand quilting using Perle 12 threads on these patches only and have used whichever colour relative to the stripes

FWQA

Only one block completed this week, due to impending deadlines of abovementioned 2 quilts..

Block 41, Friendship star

No action at all:
Hexagons
Double wedding ring
UFOUFN's:
Psycadelic tartan
Double diamonds
Which way to go
Dancing with the stars
Kimon mini
Sashiko qayg
Red and white challenge
Whirleygig II
Please click on Lee's "Freshley Pieced WIP wednesday" button on the right to see what others are up to

de de ede deded that's all follks

Trading quilties with Sandra Kaye

When I added my blog name to Lily's Quilts Small Blog Meet I looked at some other blogs listed there and came across Sandra Kaye.  Sandra makes fantastic and gorgeous little quilties and she's hosting a swap, so we can all get our hands on these little pieces of art - they're only 4" x 6" and can take any form you like - except they must incorporate buttons.  I'm getting out my button tin and my ideas journal (and my stamps, and my inks, and my crayons, and......) out as we speak......

The rules are pretty simple - go take a look and join in - the more the merrier......

Doing Good Stitches

I host the Cherish Circle of do.Good Stitches here in Oz.  It's the first one in Oz and I was very happy to be the Quilter for our inaugural quilt.  The rules are pretty simple and the Circle members have been busily sewing and pressing and posting their blocks to me.  Today I put them all together on the design wall and fashed about until I liked the layout:

I've got them half stitched together and tomorrow, if I can find a suitable fabric, I think I'll add a border - then it's onto the long-arm for quilting.  These blocks have come from wonderful ladies in the UK and here in Oz and they've all searched their stash (and bought in when they didn't have anything appropriate) and skilfully created 2 blocks each to give to someone they don't know - it's enough for them that this will bring someone comfort.  I love quilters......

The Omnitrix factor

My  great-nephew, Cam, is obsessed with Ben 10 (Cam is 4).  He brought round a whole posse of alien action figures and proceeded to tell me each of their names and what powers they had.  He then split them up into two groups - he gave four to me (2 of which are 'bad' aliens) and he had about 24  - all of his being 'Ultra' aliens with greater powers than the others. 

After discussing the merits of sharing, the aliens were redistributed and we then roughly had the same number (although the 'Ultra's' remained under Cam's control).  There ensued a 'fight' whereby all his aliens knocked out all mine - not much fun because of course I had all the rotten aliens....so I suggested that perhaps instead of fighting, we could have a barbeque and all the aliens could get together and have a sausage sizzle and tomato sauce and a bit of a party.  This went down a treat - and even the two 'bad' aliens were allowed to join in the festivities  - I think it's because I gave one of them a scottish accent, a la Billy Connolly (without the swearing - he is only 4 after all!!) and the other one a kind of East End, Ray Winston twang - I also played on Cam's compassion with my Ray Winston alien whining about having no friends - I tell you, I should have been in the movies....anyway, we had a fabulous time at the 'barby' until it was time for Cam to go home.

During the course of the game, young Campbell decided I should make him a special bag to keep all his aliens safe, and it should have an Omnitrix on it so we could tell it was Ben 10, and it should have a zip in the the front to make it easy for him to get them in and out.  A sketch was duly completed in my journal (including a sketch of the Omnitrix), because this was where I wrote down my 'quilt things' (Cam had seen me write down info about his quilt previously)



Pretty basic - drawing isn't one of my strong points!


Young Campbell has an amazing memory  - and the first thing he said to me this morning when I saw him, was "Have you made the Omnitrix bag?"  Well, no, I hadn't, but he's coming over tomorrow to share lunch with all the family (it's fathers day and his mum's birthday, so all the Melbourne family on my side is coming for roast beef with the works - can't wait!) so I thought I'd best get cracking (even though there's a list a mile long BEFORE his Omnitrix bag)

Anway - some canvas, some webbing I've had for years, an old recycled zip, some heat and bond and his favourite orange robot fabric (initially used in his quilt) and, ta daaaaaaah, we have, the Omnitrix Bag....



A pocket at the front (with the all important Omnitrix) so he can store the Ben 10 book, and an adjustable strap




Robot aliens canvas - appropriate huh?



More robots inside

I also have a photo of my husband modelling the bag - and while I'm tempted to post it, I'd best not lest his reputation (in his own mind) as a big, bronzed Anzac be sullied.....

Small Blog Meet

Was just reading Lynne's latest post and thought I might introduce myself and my small blog - I've been blogging since May and finding it quite therapeutic - and that's not mentioning the amount of time I spend reading other blogs, coveting unbeleivably talented folks works and generally faffing about.  I do get some sewing and other crafty pursuits done too, as my previous posts will attest - but it's spring Downunder and my vegie patch beckons so other pursuits may have to be carefully stowed lest I forget to pick them up til autumn........yeah right!!  Spring means more daylight so all the more time to create - bliss!

Please feel free to have a look at what happens at Shocking Hocking and I'd welcome any comments (helps to quieten that little voice in my head that suggests 'there's no one really out there......')

My ambition is to have at least 5,000,000 followers so that I can be the Queen of Blogland and the Mistress of all I virtually survey *ooh, did I say that out loud???*

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....