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
Colourful Gum Nuts.
Posted on August 12, 2020 | 13 Comments
Although I am making several quilts in lock down, this probably represents the situation best of all.
It shows how I had to make do with what was here. I started off with a collection of fat quarters of each of the fabrics. I found the gum nut fabric at a local craft show then noticed they also had fat quarters in batiks which matched the colours of the gum nuts. I took a wild guess at what I would need and bought a selection.
A couple of years down the track and I decided to make a quilt. It really tested out my maths skills to get a design that worked. In the end I realised that whichever way I went it was going to be tight. My biggest problem was the blue – not enough. Thankfully, I found a piece of fabric in my stash that matched the blue in colour but not in pattern. I bit the bullet and used it. Then I found I was short on the gum nut fabric. I needed to piece together scraps to make just two of the remaining rectangles.
So this is the end result. It ended up as a small bed quilt in size.
I didn’t have much of a worry with the backing as I had a lovely piece of green I had picked up on sale. There was enough to use for the binding as well.
I used straight line quilting each side of the main seams. At least I kept that part easy.
Even with all the hiccups along the way, I do like the end result. The colours are vibrant and cheerful. I will keep it on display for a while as the days outside are overcast and grey. This will brighten up the studio.
Good to have another finish!
Cheers, Karen
Pelican Progress.
Posted on August 4, 2020 | 13 Comments
Okay. I am getting my head around Stage 4 lock down here in Greater Melbourne. There is a lot to keep track of but for us I suppose it is still stay home, don’t visit anyone and wear a mask if you have to go out. This time round we have a big stoppage of retail and manufacturing. I really hope people comply this time so we can relax the restrictions. I am starting to wonder if we will even be able to get together for Christmas!
Well, nothing more to do than keep on sewing. The kangaroo block was completed for the McKenna Ryan quilt and so the last two blocks have been attached.
I have gone through all blocks now to add animal faces – eyes, beaks noses. I have cut the borders and once they are on I can stitch any overlapping parts then finish the applique for the tree in the top right. The branches and foliage spread out over the borders.
Then I also have to add these patiently waiting pelicans to the bottom right border.
I enjoying knitting during the colder months so have been delighted to complete this little tunic/jumper for our youngest granddaughter.
It looks very ordinary in this photo so let me show you the pattern to get a better understanding of the design.
This pattern is available from Bendigo Woollen Mills and was so easy to knit up. It is done all in one piece with only side and underarm seams to stitch. So simple but really delightful. I have also used their yarn. Lovely to knit.
Cold here today. Snow in some nearby areas. Maybe the cold will make everybody stay home who should be there. Wishful thinking?
Have a lovely week.
Cheers, Karen
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