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
December, 2020.
Posted on December 29, 2020 | 10 Comments
2020. Certainly a year that will not be forgotten in a hurry.
Here in Victoria, Australia we are having a lovely December. After our total lock down we have experienced 60 days without community transmission. That has been a wonderful achievement and well worth all those stay at home days.
With our new found freedom and a lot of sunny weather a lot of time has been spent outside. The garden is loving the attention. But the other side is that very little sewing has been done. There are a few bits to share. Even when I did have a finish, I couldn’t share it as we had all sorts of issues with our computers. We are almost back on top of it, but I still have to sort out a hiccup with comments. You can still make them but they don’t show up on the blog. I can see them in my dashboard but they are not transferring to my email. I will work on sorting that out next.
During the year I worked on these little felt caravans to send to friends and family. I think I ended up with about thirty in all. I even managed to make enough so that this year I could keep one or two myself.
Then there were the cards. I wasn’t going to make them this year but a little encouragement from a friend motivated me to get a wriggle on.
December has been a bit of an emotional roller coaster for us. We are able to catch up with family and friends at last. We are back to spending time with grandchildren and all had Christmas together. But at the start of the month we also found out that our family living in the US all tested positive to Covid 19. I must admit that was a difficult time just waiting to see how they all progressed. I wasn’t keen to write about it until we knew the outcome. Thankfully they were all very lucky as their symptoms were similar to a cold and stayed that way. They are now back to normal and were able to enjoy a pleasant Christmas.
I am looking forward to getting back into a sewing routine. During the lock down I was working on quite a few projects at once. Now that many of them are close to completion I have gone back to one at a time and hope to have a few finishes early in the New Year.
I will work on sorting out the comment section. I must apologise to several people who have posted and not had a reply. Hope I can sort that, too.
I am looking forward to 2021. A New Year and a fresh start.
Cheers, Karen
Nearly Missed November.
Posted on November 26, 2020 | 13 Comments
With everything that has been happening I nearly missed November. Talk about getting in by the skin of your teeth!
It has been busy here for two reasons. Firstly, the lovely weather has arrived and a lot of time has been spent outside, mostly in the garden. Sun and rain means everything is growing fast.
Secondly, and far more importantly, most of our restrictions have been eased and we are able to be out and about. We can now travel and are free of masks outside except in crowds. What a huge change that makes to everyday living. We have spent a lot of time visiting family – it’s been a long wait since July. That has been the best part. I am so thankful to our government for sticking to the strict lock down which has now resulted in 27 days without any new infections in our state. It was hard to do but worth it!
I have been sewing, but nowhere near as much as previous months. Half square triangles have turned into blocks, then into quilt parts.
I had several charm packs by Me and My Sister. They were different sets but the colourways matched. So I turned them into blocks that represent birds flying.
Each colour will be a corner with the birds flying out to the edges.
So two more sections to go.
I have continued to finish small woolen blocks for a few different projects.
Sue Spargo houses for Homegrown.
Blocks for Dancing Chickens and Flying Pigs.
And a few more pumpkins for Squash Squad.
The last two are incomplete but will be finished next week.
That’s it for me today. I am going to have some time stitching with friends this afternoon. That is something I haven’t done in person since February. I think there will be a lot of talking involved in this catch up.
Cheers to everyone, Karen
An October Post.
Posted on October 20, 2020 | 14 Comments
I realised October was getting away from me and if I didn’t post now I would miss it completely. I have been working away on lots of bits and pieces, but only one was a finish.
I am steadily getting the blocks done for the Sue Spargo quilt, Homegrown.
Lots more to go but a start has been made. At this stage I am putting down all the applique, then will return to complete the embroidery.
Next I have the first four blocks of another quilt from the book, Whimsical Wool Applique.
There are twelve blocks in this quilt, so I’m a third of the way there.
I am also following along with a Sue Spargo stitch along called Squash Squad.
I am making the effort to keep up to date with each weekly block so far. Two of the blocks have one stitch missing. That will have to wait until I learn them or get a lesson.
And last of all is some more knitting. Our weather is starting to warm up now so these will not get used until next Winter, so I deliberately made them in a larger size. I think a little girl will enjoy them when she sees them.
We are gradually starting to get an easing of restrictions here. We can travel a little further, but there is not much that is open to travel to. But in another week or so the shops will reopen and maybe there will be some discussion about opening the barrier between regional Victoria and Metro Melbourne.
I have kept myself busy over the last weeks catching up on making my blog books for the previous two years. I used to get them done overseas but unfortunately now their program is no longer compatible with my blog. So the answer is to do it the slow way by setting it up with one of the local photo stores and getting it printed when they have a good offer available.
Spring is keeping us on our toes with both the weather and the garden. I hope you have lots to keep you busy, too.
Cheers, Karen
The Wool Theme Continues.
Posted on September 27, 2020 | 14 Comments
I may as well make the most of working with wool while the temps stay low. Spring has given us some lovely days but it is not getting hot anytime soon.
I have added to my baby gift supply with a couple of sleeping rabbits.
The design is by Twins Knitting Patterns, the same designer as the monkey in the previous post. Great patterns to use and easy to follow.
I think I have enough of these done for the moment.
I have finished the first panel of the Wendy Williams quilt called Over The Hill. Each panel is made up of six blocks and all have curved piecing.
I am using wool felt and perle cottons.
Lots of lovely colour. I have also pieced the next panel and am ready to start cutting the applique pieces.
I am enjoying playing with the fabrics. In the new panel I have used beach chairs, umbrellas, crabs and turtles. This is the beach panel so the fabrics go with the theme.
I used a bee fabric in the previous panel – under the tree.
Plenty of stitching waiting to be done. It was announced today that we have three more weeks of lock down for the metropolitan area. That is a week sooner than planned as our infection numbers are dropping quicker than expected. Great news.
Have a lovely week.
Cheers, Karen
Keeping Busy.
Posted on September 10, 2020 | 13 Comments
Welcome Spring. It has been lovely to get outside in the sunshine over the last week. But there has still been plenty of time to fit in some stitching, too.
Three of these little friends have been put together. I tuck these away for gifts. They are an easy project to have on hand.
I have managed to finish blocks 6 and 7 from Dancing Chickens and Flying Pigs. Past the half way mark now! I am starting to think about how to put these blocks together. I can follow the pattern but I am also thinking of other alternatives using sashing and corner stones.
In the middle of the project piles were these little guys as well.
They are now complete and have been delivered to their new home.
I have also managed to get all the border applique ironed on to the McKenna Ryan quilt. It is ready for the final stitching.
Still staying home here. Hopefully only a few more weeks. In the meantime I will enjoy the sunny days.
Cheers, Karen
Wool And More Wool.
Posted on August 23, 2020 | 15 Comments
Working with wool is a delight in Winter. It always feels cosy and warm.
First up is another knitted finish. This is a cardigan for our granddaughter.
This is made with a wool from Bendigo.
I sent a photo through to her when it was finished and had a selection of buttons grouped by colour next to it. The idea was for her to select which colour she would like. I should have thought about how the mind of a 5yo works because her reply was one of each colour.
Not a problem. That works for me so that is what I did.
The pattern is lovely. It created a faux cable that is quite pretty.
There is a lot more going on with yarn. These are the start to another crochet blanket. I looked at different combinations a while back and this is the end result.
Eight blocks across seems to be a good width so I will keep going with these African flower blocks until I have eight or ten rows – 64 or 80 blocks. I think I have done 30 so far.
I am also stitching wool as well. Some new and some old. I am up to the leaves in the border of my wool quilt.
I have also started Homegrown, a quilt design from Sue Spargo.
And just because I can, I have started Wendy Williams quilt, Over The Hill.
I have plenty to do, but there are only three weeks left of this lock down, so I had better get my skates on.
Hope your week goes well.
Cheers, Karen
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