An Incredible Surprise!

Posted on August 9, 2013 | 16 Comments

This is where I have been during the past week.

I have had the craziest week I think that I can ever remember! I didn’t know we were going to the snow until 2 days beforehand. I also had no idea who else was going.

A brief explanation is needed. It is my birthday next week and it happens to be a good one – one with a zero. No big plans – or so I thought.

We had planned to visit our son, DIL and grandson last week. They live a couple of hours away from us. We headed down there as normal to stay overnight.

Imagine my surprise/shock/delight when I walked in the door to also find our other son, DIL and 2 grandies who had flown in from the USA to surprise me!!!

They had been planning this for a long time and to their credit did not slip up once. I had absolutely no idea!!!

Just having all our family together in the one place has to make for the best birthday!!

Okay, what does all this have to do with the snow? That was the next part of the surprise. We were all booked to spend time at Mt Hotham. So off home we went, packed and headed off. We all stayed together in the one lodge having a wonderful time. We had plenty of snow falling each night making a great cover for use the next day. The big kids went skiing or snow boarding. The two older grandies had ski lessons and the youngest had fun on a toboggan.

Testing the toboggans and getting a ride on dad’s skis.

Watching Harry the Snow Dragon at the ski school.

Loved the icicles hanging off the roof.

These trees looked beautiful in the snow.

We also took a ride to Dinner Plains and enjoyed the scenery. In one area there was a playground and the two sculptures caught my eye – a stainless steel brumby and emu.

That is only the beginning! Many more plans are now in place. I am going to make the most of having all our family together in the one country for a month.

Cheers for now.

Category: Uncategorized

Out And About.

Posted on July 30, 2013 | 13 Comments

I have been lucky enough to have recently had eight days in a row that have involved crafty things. Several days were classes and another was joining friends for a sewing day. I had a day of art journalling and another working in a crafty capacity.

But two busiest days were visiting the Craft and Quilt Fair at the Exhibition Centre in Melbourne and then having a lovely day at Friends in Stitches in Glen Waverley.

I enjoy wandering through all the beautiful quilts at the Fair and of course spent time looking at all the vendor stands.

I did attend a workshop with Indigo Niche to learn Sashiko embroidery/quilting. This is the start of the sampler done in class.

I am looking forward to working on this project during the week.

Together with a group of friends I attended Friends In Stitches with Leanne Beasley, Gail Pan and Natalie Lymer.

I think there were about 100 ladies there each day. I was there on the Sunday.

We were given fully kitted projects from each designer.

These were Leanne and Gail’s.

And this was Natalie’s. I was able to complete this one. It makes up into a pin cushion.

We also received postcard patterns.

And then to top it off, we were given a lovely pendant as a gift.

A great day was had by all.

I will finish the post with pictures of the display of designs for each designer.

Natalie

Leanne

Gail.

Category: Embroidery

Seeing Stars.

Posted on July 24, 2013 | 14 Comments

I am finally seeing some quilting finishes. This quilt is full of stars and is based on a pattern called Happy Birthday in the Memorable Scrap Quilts book. The name is appropriate because this is a gift for a birthday.

This quilt was made using lots of bits and pieces from my stash. Only the background fabric had to be puchased.

There were two basic blocks – the star and the square. I was surprised at how quickly it came together.

I had this one professionally quilted in a very simple pattern of swirls and stars – of course!

I like the way it looks in the border, too.

As you well know, one of my favourite views of any quilt is when the sun is shining in the window creating lovely shadows showing off the texture in the quilting.

I will finish off with something a little different. Guess who has been busy spinning and knitting again? This time it is with Alpaca wool/fleece.

Category: Quilts

Little Leftovers.

Posted on July 22, 2013 | 12 Comments

I had a few little bits of fabric left from the Holiday Frost quilt. Not enough for even a small quilt but too lovely to just toss in with the scraps.

After a bit of playing I made a small wall hanging. It is now waiting to be sandwiched and quilted.

The centre panel is simply a larger piece from one of the fabrics.

I found this next piece of fabric on a discount table. I was going to cut it up for a quilt but in the end decided it worked perfectly for a table cloth. All it needed was hemming on each edge. It is tucked in the cupboard ready for Christmas.

There are more doll clothes to be made.

And to finish off, these are the quilts I am binding.

Category: Christmas, Quilts, Work in Progress

Is It Really Winter?

Posted on July 13, 2013 | 14 Comments

I am really in two minds as to what season it is at the moment. I know it is officially Winter and today is suitably cold, but all sorts of odd things are happening.

Last week we had our hottest July day on record. So of course we were getting around in short sleeves on several days.

Our trees still have Autumn leaves on them. The leaves have not been prepared to let go even with some extremely windy days.

This weather seems to have worked well for our citrus trees. They may be small trees but all have decent crops ripening on the branches.

Lemon.

Mandarin.

Orange.

A few days back I joined a couple of friends for a day of playing with paper. We made this delightful Christmas decoration. I think it is the same one that was on the front of one of the Stampin”Up mini catalogues.

Lots of sewing happening here but no finishes. Hopefully I can show some completed projects in a few days.

Category: Ornaments

Red Again.

Posted on June 10, 2013 | 11 Comments

It seems that once the red theme hits I have to work it out of my system.

I recently received a fat quarter bundle of these lovely fabrics.

They are Holiday Frost from Henry Glass. Gorgeous reds and greys in this bundle.

I had a lovely experience with this purchase when I went through a new on-line store – Stash Addict Quilts. Have a look at their stock and their prices are good, too.

I wanted to use large pieces in the quilt so I made a very simple design from Leanne Beasley’s book, Romancing The Road Trip.

So easy to put together!

I still have a panel to use from this pack and am looking forward to sewing that one very soon, too.

I am also on a bit of a self-imposed deadline for a couple of birthday quilts.

These are the main blocks in one of the quilts.

I have already made the 17 square blocks and 17 stars, but I need one more star. Must have miscounted there, unless one is in hiding!

These have been great to make because so far all fabrics are from my stash except for the background.

We have a public holiday here today for the Queen’s Birthday. Maybe I should bake a cake?

Have a good week.

Category: Quilts, Work in Progress

Mostly Red.

Posted on June 6, 2013 | 11 Comments

A whole lot of red seems to be happening around here. And why not? It certainly brightens up a Winter’s day.

I have been doing a little bit of knitting for our grandson and this sweater just happens to be red. It’s fun knitting for littlies as the item grows so quickly.

We also found this great little red wagon for him. We will take that down when he is a little older.

During our recent trip to the US we had to call into a local children’s’ hospital for a visit. In a room off the entrance foyer there are dozens of large red wagons. These are for parents to transport their children around to the various sections of the hospital. What a fun way to start a visit.

Just out of interest, they also had a free valet parking service for parents. You could bring your child right to the front door and then the car would be parked for your. It was then also brought to the front door when you were ready to leave with your child. How sensible is that?

To keep the red theme going, here is a pic of the trees outside my front door with all their red leaves.

I do make clothes for our grandson in other colours besides red. This is a blue sweater in the same pattern as the red one.

I also made a few more bibs in an extra large size now that he has grown.

Okay, lots more to sew. Hope your week is going well.

Category: Colours, Knitting

No Longer A UFO.

Posted on June 3, 2013 | 13 Comments

I am delighted to be able to report that another UFO has been completed.

This is the quilt made with the double hourglass blocks using pastel colours. I think the fabric is Moda’s Sleepytime, which I had in a jellyroll. Added to that was a Bella white jellyroll as well as some yardage. I also had to add some solid pastels. I still have half of the strips left over from the jellyroll as they were more along a baby theme. I can use those in another quilt.

I did lots of straight line quilting on this one. I secured all the blocks then stitched tram tracks along vertical, horizontal and diagonal seams.

Love it when the intersect.

I continued the straight line theme around the borders.

I found a soft blue on white spot for the backing. And the binding had yellow and white stars on blue.

I was having a lot of trouble getting these photos as the weather did not want to cooperate, so I threw the quilt over a spare bed thinking I would have to wait for another day.

Just as I did that the sun shone in the window and created a lovely play of shadows on the quilt.

Couldn’t resist a couple of photos when that happened.

I can guarantee that sun did not last long that day. We had a huge thunderstorm come through delivering a lot of rain, which was very welcome for our garden.

June is well and truly under way. Have a great week.

Category: Quilts

Another Block.

Posted on May 25, 2013 | 11 Comments

A busy week of sewing here but a quiet week for finishes.

I have completed Block 4 of Lynette Anderson’s Fernhill BOM. This is it, minus the cute button.

I have also had a few birthday cards to catch up on.

I am looking forward to lunch with friends and an afternoon of stitching.

I hope you have a good weekend planned, too.

Category: Cards, Stitcheries

Plates For The Blogger’s Quilt Festival.

Posted on May 17, 2013 | 21 Comments

It is once again that wonderful time of year to view all the amazing quilts featured in the Blogger’s Quilt Festival hosted by Amy at Amy’s Creative Side. There are hundreds of quilts and so much inspiration. And you get to meet quilters from all parts of the globe. I hope you have a great time. Click on the button above or this link for Amy’s Creative Side.

This time I am going to share my Dresden Plate Quilt that I have only finished quilting last week. It probably fits into several categories.

At the moment it is simply my favourite! And I will add it to the Throw Quilt section. I have used my Bernina 710 to do the Free Motion Quilting.

This quilt was started a couple of years back. The blocks were made and then it sat for a while, waiting for me to take it out of the UFO pile.

The fabric is from Moda and is called Maypole. Each blade is a different colour and pattern from the range. I originally hand stitched the full plate onto the block, but when I was planning the quilting I realised it needed to be top stitched onto the block. I used a variegated thread for all the stitching on the coloured fabric. I was surprised at how long it took to top stitch the blades!

( But it was worth it!)