Paw Prints All Over My Quilts!
Posted on March 9, 2015 | 13 Comments
Yes, there are paw prints all over my quilt but I am very happy to see them there.
This is another UFO done and dusted. This is a simple strip quilt based on Mary’s pattern.
I have made it slightly longer, then added borders.
I loved the dog fabric when I saw it and decided to put it into a simple quilt so the fabric wasn’t cut into small pieces.
Note to self – use the lint roller before taking photos.
There was a matching argyle pattern so I used that together with a solid to make the strips.
I am so pleased I used a solid in the border because it really lets the paw prints show up strongly.
The binding is the same as the backing fabric.
I love the paw prints on the back, too.
This is such a fun and easy quilt to make. I am sure there will be more of these.
It is a long weekend here with Monday as the extra holiday. And the weather couldn’t be better. Sunny, warm and a cool breeze. Lots of outside time with a 3yo playing with water and digging in the garden. Perfect.
And a Friday evening concert to see Dan Sultan. Wonderful.
Hope your weekend was wonderful, too.
Cheers, Karen
A Quilted Garden.
Posted on March 4, 2015 | 7 Comments
I spent a lovely day at the Royal Botanic Gardens in Cranbourne where the beautiful Australian Garden has been developed.
But on this visit I wasn’t there to see the gardens. I went to view the Australian Textile Exhibition featuring Leesa Chandler’s gorgeous fabrics and many other displays.
These are made with Leesa’s lovely fabrics.
There were beautiful felted wool hats.
And lovely silk embroideries.
A few more pictures of some of the quilts.
This is only a small portion of the quilts on display.
Well worth the visit. I hope you enjoyed having a little taste of the exhibit.
Cheers, Karen
A New Month And Season.
Posted on March 1, 2015 | 12 Comments
Welcome March and Autumn. We are being spoiled with a beautiful, mild sunny day here. I suppose I should make the most of it before the cooler months arrive.
I have been working on several projects at one time, but when this happens there are not a lot of big project finishes. Here are some little completed projects.
I made a popcorn edging for my ripple blanket.
I need to start stockpiling a few more monkeys for gifts. This is the first.
I have started making some Easter Chicks. This is a design from Plushka’s Craft.
I am working on the quilting for two tops and have sent another to my long arm quilter.
I also have a Christmas penny rug underway.
There is a lot happening in the Melbourne area in February and March. One festival was the White Night Event held in the Melbourne city area last weekend. It ran for one night from 7pm to 7am.
We went into the city early in the afternoon so we had time to have our evening meal and then wander around some of the venues before it was dark and the lights began.
Here are just a few of the sights.
This is the Melbourne Concert Hall with tentacles spreading out all round.
And bit of yarn bombing near the City Square.
This is an amazing dragon sculpture viewed from different sides as the night became dark. It changed colours and had different lighting effects. And then, of course, it breathed fire.
We viewed the Mambo exhibit in the Ian Potter Gallery.
The projections of the story of Alice In Wonderland looked amazing along a whole block of buildings in Flinders Street.
This part was amazing because the pictures were designed to match up with the physical features of the buildings.
And in the end, if your feet were getting tired, you could watch a variety of movies on a screen in Bourke Street (one of Melbourne’s busiest) and sit in a comfy plush sofa while doing so!
It was a wonderful night and definitely worth going to. We only saw a small part of what was on offer. I do hope there is funding to run it again next year.
I hope the first day of March has started well for everyone.
Cheers, Karen
Another Under The Australian Sun.
Posted on February 19, 2015 | 15 Comments
This is my third quilt using fabrics from Leesa Chandler’s fabric line – Under The Australian Sun. And I still have more fabrics from this range to play with. Obviously it is a favourite.
This quilt is made from the lattice garden pattern.
Here is the fabric in the backing.
It has taken me a while to quilt this one. I worked on some areas then set it aside for a time. Then when I decided what to do to the next section I would get it out again. It would then wait for the next stage a few months later.
Straight lines around the borders and fans in the corners and setting triangles.
Flowers in the edge blocks and lots of pebbles.
Outlining for the waratahs and stippling around the outside.
Gorgeous flowering gum blossom in the binding.
Quilting from the backing.
I was very excited to have this finished as it has been worked on over several years.
But !!!! … I was too confident! When I was getting ready to take photos I noticed that one of the flower blocks in the bottom left corner had not been quilted. Thankfully that is an easy fix. I will do that this evening.
Then I can truly take it off my UFO list.
I do hope you are having a great week and catching up on some UFOs as well.
Cheers, Karen
The End Of The Month.
Posted on January 31, 2015 | 11 Comments
If it’s White Rabbit for the start of a month, what is it for the last day? I have no idea!
This has to have been one of the mildest Januarys in this area for a long time. It has certainly made daily living in the middle of Summer very easy.
On the sewing front I was recently the lucky recipient of a pattern from Elizabeth at Sunflower Fields Pattern Company.
Thank you, Elizabeth. I couldn’t resist it for long and ended up making both little pillow ornaments.
They are made with wool and have lovely embroidery embellishments on them.
I have been wanting to work with wool for a long time and have slowly been collecting little pieces. This is my first play with it and I must admit it was lovely to work with.
I will have to keep my eyes open and collect more as I can see more of this in my future!
I have also noticed the FHFS group has a wool challenge so I will watch for that one with interest, too!
Earlier this week a group of friends came over for a card workshop. With the careful guidance of Christine we all made these cards.
Lots of fun was had and of course more talking was done than work.
There is a lovely weekend waiting for all of us.
Have a good one.
Cheers, Karen
Red Again.
Posted on January 27, 2015 | 14 Comments
Can’t help it. Red just keeps featuring!
This is a little wall hanging using the left over pieces of Holiday Frost from a quilt I made a couple of years ago.
I did some straight lines through the centre panel simply to secure the layers.
Then I did some echo quilting on the red triangles as well as meandering and pebble quilting on the white triangles.
I tried some petals in the big corners and added more pebbles. I need to work on the petals.
Then some swirls, loops and raindrops in the different borders.
Even a little meandering in the strips across the top and bottom of the panel.
I used a grey and white spot for the backing and another red in the binding.
Of course I had to have a photo with shadows!
All I now have left of this fabric is a panel with a variety of blocks. I hope to play with that sometime soon.
This is the original quilt I made with the fabric.
As always, it is lovely to have another UFO off the list.
Just how long can I stay on this path?
Cheers, Karen
January 26th.
Posted on January 26, 2015 | 7 Comments
Happy Australia Day.
Here in Gippsland we are being treated to a lovely sunny day with a gentle breeze. Perfect for a BBQ.
The flowering gums are looking a treat.
The flowers are beautiful. No wonder Leesa Chandler chose to use them on her fabric – Under The Australian Sun.
Congratulations to Rosie Batty who was last night named as Australian of the Year. Such an amazing lady. And congratulations to all the women who took out the major Australia Day awards. It is stunning to see the work they all do.
And what about the tennis! That was an incredible match last night. Congratulations to Nick Kyrgios.
He will play Andy Murray in the next round of the Australian Open. Can’t wait for that one.
I do hope everyone has a wonderful Australia Day.
A Winter Finish.
Posted on January 14, 2015 | 15 Comments
It’s the middle of Summer and I am finishing a Winter quilt.
This is a little lap size quilt using a free design from Erin Russek of One Piece At A Time.
I started it several years ago and then it was set aside as I found other distractions.
I appliqued each mitten with satin stitch using a variegated red and blue thread.
The quilting is a simple meandering pattern.
It is backed with a lovely snowflake fabric.
Good to have the first quilt finished off my list for 2015. Not a big one, but a finish all the same.
Now what’s next?
Cheers, Karen
Starting 2015.
Posted on January 8, 2015 | 16 Comments
2015 has definitely started here in true Australian fashion … heat, fires, beach and thunderstorms.
I suppose I should be used to this by now. We did have a mild start to Summer with few really hot days, but as soon as the calendar kicked over to the New Year that changed with days up to 40 degrees. Sadly some areas have experienced bad fires with a lot of homes lost. What a hard way to start the year.
We have had crazy thunderstorms going through yesterday bringing good rain in some areas. It was quite an impressive lightning display outside.
We have spent a few days travelling around catching up with family members. One day at Wye River we had the true Aussie experience with wildlife.
This sleepy fellow was in the tree out the front.
We then had a visit from a family of 9 kookaburras, all expecting to be fed. I could only catch 3 at once in the photo.
Next to arrive were the cockatoos checking out the bird feeder.
Apparently we missed the wallabies. They had visited the night before.
Only a little sewing happening here. I did finish a couple more of these. I finally have some to keep for myself.
I have packed away the Christmas decorations and quilts, but found there were a few bits I wanted to keep out a little longer. So I set up a corner in a spare bedroom.
I see lots of people making plans for new projects for this year and I am sure I will have a few to do as well, but at the moment I think I will try to focus on reducing the UFO pile.
I wonder how long that will last!
I do hope your year has started well.
Cheers, Karen
Post Santa Day.
Posted on December 29, 2014 | 15 Comments
Christmas is all over for another year. So what’s next?
I didn’t do a lot of decorating so that has been easy to pack away.
Lots of gardening seems to be on the cards with netting needed to protect the fruit on the trees being first priority.
And maybe a Spring clean in Summer.
I have a couple of photos I couldn’t show before Christmas.
These are scarves made for grandies in the Northern Hemisphere.
The cards I made this year.
A gorgeous gift box.
And a lovely biscuit tin. Loved the design and couldn’t resist.
That’s it for me for Christmas. Done and Dusted.
I do hope you had a lovely time with friends and family.
Cheers, Karen.
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