Eggs And Santa.

Posted on February 22, 2012 | 17 Comments

Summer. The perfect time to be working on a Christmas quilt? I suppose it means it will be ready for Christmas.

This is a small quilt I had sandwiched and pinned a while back. It has waited for a few months before I had time to do the quilting.

I only had a small amount of the main fabric and decided to make a simple quilt with strips using the Santas, Penguins and the Polar Bears.

Because it was small I was also able to find a suitable fabric in my stash for the backing and binding.

I also decided to work on a project from another holiday – Easter. This is a cute little felt egg and a bunny. I hope to make a few more of these before Easter arrives.

The idea comes from a lovely design found here.

Earlier this morning there was a lot of noise outside. It turns out that a flock of cockatoos was enjoying a party on our front lawn and in our trees.

Looks like we have a few warm days ahead of us. Hope your week is good.

Category: Christmas, Quilts

Owls Finally Finished.

Posted on February 11, 2012 | 12 Comments

This week has seen me busy with a lot of preparation work. I seem to be tracing patterns, transferring designs and cutting.

I sometimes feel I have been busy with not a lot to show for it, but we all know that it is worth doing to the preparation right to have a good end result.

I did manage one finish. I finally found time to quilt this little owl quilt and complete the binding.

I recently caught up with a friend who gave this lovely little Christmas tree.

It was made by a lady in a retirement village. She had made them for their fund raising stall.

It’s a very simple design but so effective.

I admire her patience when working with these fiddly pieces.

I hope you are enjoying a lovely weekend. We are hoping to enjoy some of the activities in the Ficifolia Festival.

Hoping to see lots of lovely Flowering Gums.

Category: Christmas, Quilts

Cutting And Stitching.

Posted on February 4, 2012 | 22 Comments

I have once again been very fortunate to attend some workshops with Deborah Louie as the tutor.

The first day saw us working with raw edge applique and different machining techniques.

We also made drunkard’s path blocks and explored techniques for making circles.

This is my sample from the morning for the raw edge applique.

On the second day we worked on stitches for machine quilting. I enjoy learning these and Deb has great tips for using them.

Here’s one of my samplers.

I even like the look of the back.

In the meantime I had been making a few coloured circles using drunkard’s path blocks. These are going into a baby quilt. :)

All in all, a very colourful and productive few days.

Category: Colours, Work in Progress

Garden Maze Completed.

Posted on January 29, 2012 | 23 Comments

I had my Garden Maze top quilted by my lovely LAQ just prior to Christmas, but of course with all the excitement of the season it had to wait a little while to be completed.

With all the good tennis in the evenings lately I have been hand stitching the binding and enjoying the matches.

The sunshine made it easy to pick up the texture from the quilting.

I was planning to take a close up photo of the back of the quilt to show the quilting design, but instead loved this look with the sun shining through. Almost a stained glass window effect.

I still have a smaller version of this design but I will do the quilting on that one myself. One day.

Category: Quilts

Australia Day, 2012.

Posted on January 26, 2012 | 10 Comments

Happy Australia Day.

How about a day at the beach? And BBQ?

Sit under one of these? (Photo credit : Paula McManus)

Have a wonderful Australia Day!

Category: Uncategorized

Tangling.

Posted on January 24, 2012 | 20 Comments

Summer is lovely with all the warm days and the many outdoor activities. The only downside is that not a lot of sewing is being done. I suppose there is always Winter to catch up.

I was able to attend a one day class today for quilting with Zentangles. We spent the morning drawing on our tiles and selecting designs. In the afternoon we were busy stitching designs on to fabric with FMQ. I am not quite finished. I still need to stitch the binding down. I certainly learnt a lot from our teacher, Lee, and can see where I need to improve, but I definitely enjoyed the day.

I have also been playing with a tumbler quilt. Only a few rows done there. ( Yes, it needs ironing.)

On another day a group of friends spent an afternoon here making cards. I still have these examples.

And these cheeky birds have been making a lot of noise outside in the tree.

They definitely know how to enjoy the Summer days.

Category: Cards, Quilts, Work in Progress

Blue And White Triangles.

Posted on January 14, 2012 | 18 Comments

The blue and white HST quilt is quilted and bound.

Simple and basic but perfect for this fabric.

Straight line quilting was all that was needed.

The binding was the same blue that was used in the small highlight around the centre.

This flowering gum is just starting to blossom. The bees are loving it. I tried to catch a photo of the rosellas having a lovely time in the tree, too, but before I could reach my camera, a flock of cockatoos flew over and frightened the rosellas away. I may be luckier next time.

Category: Quilts

Four Seasons.

Posted on January 11, 2012 | 12 Comments

Anyone who lives in or near Melbourne knows exactly what I am talking about! We have the ability to have all four seasons easily within a day. And today is it!

I look out the windows on one side of the house and it is beautiful blue sky and sunshine. Try the other side of the house and there are heavy grey clouds heading this way. We have had bursts of heavy rain filling the water tanks and then we have lovely warm sunshine. Some areas nearby have had hail and the mountains just to the north reported snow falling this morning. It’s never boring here!

I have completed the blue and white quit top I had been planning last week. A very simple design for a lovely fabric.

And because yesterday was such a pleasant day, I was able to work outside in the shade of the pergola to sandwich and pin this quilt. So this afternoon will be spent quilting.

I had packed away all the Christmas decorations a few days after Christmas, but there always seem to be a few bits and pieces that hide or escape collection. I have to find a home for this rather whimsical reindeer, although he may have to stay out a little longer.

There are always a few silly bits and pieces around over the Christmas season and these pens found their way into our home.

Wonder what the next half hour will bring with the weather?

Category: Quilts, Work in Progress

Planning Ahead Or Catching Up?

Posted on January 3, 2012 | 11 Comments

Once Christmas had come and gone I realised that most of the Christmas sewing I had done was for gifts. And all the Christmas projects I had wanted to make for our home were put aside. So, instead of leaving them until the end of this year, and probably putting them aside again, I thought I could spend some time sewing now.

It does feel a little strange to be sewing Christmas items in January, especially considering the temperature yesterday made it to 40 degrees C (104F). But I am determined not to miss out again.

So yesterday I made this small throw to use on a chair or a small table – about 50 inches square. It is using a Northcott fabric called Wonders of Winter. The red fabric will also be the binding.