A Colourful Finish.
Posted on May 2, 2021 | 12 Comments
My finishes have been few and far between lately. Same with posts. And now they will all probably arrive in a rush. That’s the way it often works.
I have completed my colourful, woolly flower quilt. Blocks together and binding done.
It has been a pleasure to work with the wool for this quilt. It is so soft and stitches easily.
The backing is a black and white print.
And the binding is a black and white text print.
Not lot of quilting was needed so I kept to simple meandering.
Cornerstones in wool.
After all that work I think it needs to be on display for a while so I need to find a wall.
I also managed to finish the final block for another quilt.
This will be the centre block. Hopefully these will be stitched together this week. And another one to be quilted.
We are getting into our colder days here now. We both managed to get our flu shots a couple of weeks ago, and after the recommended time period we are lining up our first Covid jab this week. Glad to have that one lined up. Plenty of other things to keep me busy this week including some sewing days and catching up with friends.
Hope your week is a good one.
Cheers, Karen
April Catch Up.
Posted on April 9, 2021 | 10 Comments
Time seems to be flying by with lots to do. Is it because we are all still catching up on things since our long lock downs? I know I am still putting in time with my sewing but progress is slow. I do have a few quilts sandwiched ready for quilting but they are a couple of weeks away from being ready. I do have some little finishes.
The rabbit block from Round The Garden Path is complete.
I am now working on the final block which sits in the centre. Nearly done.
I have been busy making doll clothes for an 18 inch doll. I wanted to have them ready for these school holidays when we will be having the grandies staying over.
The other big task has been setting up all the backgrounds for the blocks for Over The Hill. I have completed all the work on the top row but then decided I needed to get all the backgrounds done before continuing on with the applique and embroidery.
This is the missing block just about to get set up for applique.
In the middle of all this we took advantage of the lovely Autumn weather and spent quite a few days in Beechworth.
We did the jail tour.
Of course they featured the Kelly Gang stories.
We visited the historic buildings. The streetscape is gorgeous. The leaves on the trees are starting to turn and the colours are beautiful.
We had to check inside the old courthouse.
I was impressed that as well as all the rooms for jurors and legal people, there was a bedroom for the judge. No, not to have a nap during breaks in the trial. Because judges had to travel far and wide, there was provision made for the judges to have accommodation in the courthouse. But apparently most judges didn’t stay there – too cold in Winter. They preferred the hotels instead. Probably not just for warmth!
We had to check out a couple of the local breweries. Great pizzas, too.
And we even found a running creek where we did some gold panning. Yes, a few flecks were found, but a long way off the cost of a fat quarter.
So that’s where the last four weeks have gone for me. Just had the central heating serviced today so we are ready for Winter, but not in a rush for it to arrive.
Cheers, Karen.
Autumn Has Arrived.
Posted on March 13, 2021 | 9 Comments
Our tree out the front has been keeping a calendar and decided that on the first day of March it would start changing colours. It is still a very young Crimson or Scarlet Oak. This is what it looked like a week ago.
It has become a much deeper red and this is the colour today.
It will interesting to watch to see how deep the color goes before the leaves fall.
I have been working away on my woollen flowers. They are now ready to go together.
I have completed the stitching on all the corner stones so it is now a matter of cutting the sashing and borders to get it ready to go together.
We managed to get away for a week and went to the western end of the Great Ocean Road, staying at Port Fairy and Port Campbell. We stayed at the Gardens van park in P Fairy and it was lovely seeing these stunning wood carvings. There are quite a few throughout the park.
And of course we went to all the tourist attractions along the coast. We enjoy the views every time.
We are lucky to have such stunning scenery on our doorstep. And the bonus was that because of Covid and being cooler weather, there were very few people around. Perfect views.
Speaking of Covid, I do like it when our government departments can use a little bit of humour to get an important message across. This had to be one of my favourite signs.
You may also notice that on the sign there is one extra rocky outcrop compared to my photo above. Yes, it collapsed a few years back. ( The Twelve Apostles.)
Well, that’s it from me. It has started raining here and I must say that is very welcome. The tank we use to water the garden is empty and this should help fill it up some way.
Hope your weekend is going well.
Cheers, Karen
Chickens And Pigs Finished.
Posted on February 24, 2021 | 11 Comments
Yippee! My Dancing Chickens and Flying Pigs quilt has made it to the finish line. It has been a lovely quilt to work on and I am now looking forward to catching up with Anni Downs next design.
Quilting done and binding finished.
Lots of fun, quirky blocks in this quilt. They are all entertaining but here are a couple of favourites.
I think a quirky quilt needs a fun backing as well, so I chose these bicycles.
And to finish it off I used a blue batik for the binding, similar in colour to some of the wool used in the blocks.
I am steadily working through projects from last year, many very close to a finish. Two more quilts have been sandwiched and are patiently waiting. Lots to do.
Have a wonderful week.
Cheers, Karen
A Lot Of Years In This One!
Posted on February 18, 2021 | 11 Comments
It seems like this quilt has been a long time in the making. I think I bought the pattern and quilt kit over 10 years ago. I didn’t get around to starting it until 7 years later. A long wait. Then when I started making it I was only pulling it out once a month when I went to a Christmas sewing group. And then Covid put a stop to that so I had to get myself organised to work on it at home. I finally managed to finish last year but then had to wait for a while to finally get it quilted. But the end result is a quilt that is finally finished.
This is Chrissy Down Under by McKenna Ryan. I gave my long arm quilter all the patterns so that she could use the ideas in the pictures for the quilting. She also added a lot of her own ideas. I am very pleased to have finally finished this delightful quilt.
Santa at the beach with his animal friends was the centre panel.
I think the kangaroos at the beach is my favourite. Love the cossies.
Here are a few of the quilted blocks.
I am very pleased with all the quilting. I used a turquoise batik as the backing and also used the same for the binding.
It is a good feeling to have this one done.
Also a good feeling to be out of lock down again. Hooray!
Now onto the next finish.
Cheers, Karen
A Flimsy In A Flash.
Posted on February 12, 2021 | 12 Comments
Sewing here at the moment is still mostly taken up with finishing off different bits and pieces. But I did get distracted enough to make a quilt top.
I found a little bundle which contained some yardage and two charm packs. It was a line of fabric from many years ago – maybe 10 or so! It was Summer House by Lily Ashbury.
I had enough to pair us fabrics to make pin wheels. I had to add another fabric for the sashing, and the border was fabric from the same line. The result was this small flimsy.
I have just found out I have a few days ahead of me that will be spent at home, so some more quilting will be done.
Our state has gone into a rapid lock down from midnight tonight for 5 days. There has been another outbreak of the virus and it is hoped this can halt the spread. Only 5 days. I can do that easily after what we went through last year. It is definitely worth it if it gets the results we need.
I think most of the time will be spent stitching and hopefully the tennis will be on in the background. Hope there are some good matches at the Australian Open.
Good luck to you whatever your week brings.
Cheers, Karen
Lights And Tunnels.
Posted on January 20, 2021 | 13 Comments
After working on many projects last year with hardly any finishes, I seem to be finding that they are all now coming to an end within weeks of each other. Hence the light at the end of the tunnel. Or a mad rush.
I completed the last block for Dancing Chickens and Flying Pigs.
Last night I managed to trim up all the blocks, finish the outline stitching and start sewing the rows together. I need to look through my shelves to find a suitable backing so that it can be quilted.
Next up I finished another block from my Fig’n’Berry quilt.
There are only two more to go on this one so it shouldn’t take too long to get to the end.
I am still working my way through years of photos. I had made this one of my tasks during lock down and am pleased I did as I am also seeing light at the end of the tunnel with this project. I have photos left from 3 different years to put into albums. Not bad when I have 47 years of married life in photos to work through. I have found the years with both grandchildren being born and overseas trips have been the bulkiest to deal with. But, in comparison, back before digital cameras the albums were quite thin.
Over the years I have developed a habit of taking several photos of the home in which we live. It has been fascinating to look back over them to see the changes or how much growth there has been in the garden. I know we notice that with our family when we look at photos, but thought our homes might be interesting, too. I am curious to know if anyone has other things they photograph on a regular basis to see the changes. Open to any ideas.
Cheers, Karen
Nearly There.
Posted on January 15, 2021 | 11 Comments
Two more blocks finished for the Dancing Chickens. Flying Pigs top. Only one more to go so I am nearly there. They are such fun blocks. I will be sorry to get to the end but I do have the Christmas one waiting for me from Hatched and Patched, so won’t be concerned for too long.
The blocks have to be eventually trimmed down and a running stitch border has to be added to each one.
Not a lot of other sewing has been done as we have had a few days away at the beach with our family. The Monday was hot – 38c (100f) – but thankfully the Tuesday was better – 24c (75f). It made a huge difference to the crowds and the car parking. This photo is the second day. I do love our beaches.
We are now back home and there are forecasts for snow in some states. Crazy Summer.
Today will be spent reviewing works in progress and deciding which one to finish next after the blocks in this post are together.
Hope you have a lovely weekend planned.
Cheers, Karen
Sunny New Year.
Posted on January 3, 2021 | 10 Comments
A New year. Time to start a fresh year of blogging. Lots of sunny days already. And these beauties opened to start the New Year as well.
Some stitching has been happening. This is the second panel of Over The Hill (Wendy Williams).
I have really enjoyed selecting fabrics for this quilt – the deck chairs especially made sense to include in the background.
So, two down, four to go. Here they are on the design wall with lots of other blocks ready to go together.
Looks a bit crowded!
I do hope your year has started well.
Cheers, Karen
Farewell, 2020.
Posted on December 31, 2020 | 8 Comments
I think this message from the little gnome in our garden says it all when it comes to 2020. It has been such a different year, but not all was bad.
Let’s hope we can all start off fresh in the New Year.
I have positive news about my blog. My wonderful web master (son) has tracked down the source of my problems. Turns out some code in a WordPress update was interfering with comments. It looks like all has returned to normal and as a result I have received a pile of comments and replies from the last four weeks. I will get back to you as I sort through.
Best wishes to everyone for a happy, safe and very different New Year.
Cheers, Karen
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