Paper Owls.
Posted on October 12, 2011 | 9 Comments
Today I needed to spend some time catching up on card making. I had a few thank you cards to write so had a little fun in the process using the owl punch. They are cute little guys and seem to look good in most colours.
I now need to find out if the punch can cut fabric with a stabilizer ironed on to the back. A little bit of experimenting needs to be done.
Borders Times Two.
Posted on October 10, 2011 | 7 Comments
My machine has decided to play funny games and as a result is waiting at my LQS for some maintenance. This means I am now using a very old and basic machine until mine returns. I can straight stitch and zig zag, but no FMQ or even stitch in the ditch. Oh dear!
I have been able to add the borders to my Garden Maze quilt.
I had a lot of blocks left over because I didn’t add as many rows to the quilt as the pattern directed. So I made a smaller lap quilt.
Apart from size. the only variation is in the borders.
These will now have to wait until my machine returns. I do hope it is nothing major!!
A Tree With A Twist.
Posted on October 5, 2011 | 23 Comments
Over the last two weeks I have been able to attend a class to make this special Christmas tree. It is constructed in similar fashion to an Etui box.
So it starts off looking like this.
Then the little cap comes off allowing the sides to open and reveal the centre.
The little box in the centre can also be removed.
The idea is to fill the centre box with little goodies like trinkets or chocolates.
The workshop was spread over 2 days with homework in between. I had a great time with a lovely group of ladies. We all went home at the end of the day with our trees completed. That’s a good feeling.
Do I Have A Parliament?
Posted on October 2, 2011 | 13 Comments
I know the collective name for a group of owls is a parliament, so I am wondering if my little group of 3 is considered a parliament.
After making the one owl I posted about earlier I have continued to sew with felt to make several others. I think they always look good when they multiply.
These are made using a pattern from Laura at Bugs and Fishes. Here is the link to the owl tutorial. While you are there take a look around at her gorgeous work.
Laura has also recently released her own book with lovely felt projects.
While I was playing with the owl pattern I was tempted to try out a Christmas theme. Just using red, white and green, then adding a hat can make a huge change. So now I also have a Christmas owl.
I also received a lovely parcel in the mail this week from Melody as a thank you for participating in the Teddy Bear’s Picnic. Melody is an incredibly talented lady who shares her many projects at The House On The Side Of The Hill. Melody regularly shares patterns and also finds links to many more projects.
Have a look at the lovely goodies I found in the parcel. The special ones are made by Melody herself.
Melody has made a lovely felt brooch, a gorgeous teddy needle keeper and delightful beaded scissor keep. How lucky am I? Thank you, Melody.
When you visit Melody’s site you will find there s always a lot going on.
Just Stitching Along.
Posted on September 24, 2011 | 19 Comments
Totally unrelated to sewing – but I have been enjoying the fun home page on Google today. I can’t help but push the buttons and play with the monsters. They are muppets to mark Jim Henson’s 75th birthday!
Now back to my regular sewing. It seems to have been a busy week but I have still managed to do little bits of stitching here and there.
I have finished this one from Natalie at The Birdhouse. It is called Deck The Halls.
I have used a Cottage Garden Threads, perle 12 variegated thread. Lovely to use when stitching.
I am also working on these Christmas trees in two different formats. They are from Marg Low and are simply called A Little Something.
The second group of trees still need to be appliqued.
I am afraid the Jacobean embroidery has been a bit neglected, but I have managed to make some progress.
I am steadily putting borders on two quilts, and have also taken another to the LAQ. Always good to see progress being made.
Thinking Of Quilts.
Posted on September 17, 2011 | 18 Comments
It’s really hard making decisions about which projects will come next. There are so many new patterns I want to do but I also have a lot of older patterns that I love too. They are quilts I have made many years ago but now want to make again in newer fabrics. Sometimes it is a real tussle inside my head as to which way to go.
This is a quilt top I made earlier in the year – and yes it is still waiting to be quilted.
And this is the same quilt made 20 years ago in very different fabric.
It really does show how a fabric can change the appearance of a quilt. And also a few years of skill improvement.
So here are few done many years back that I now want to make with current fabrics.
Too many decisions to make. None are complicated quilts but I think they would look great in some of the lovely fabrics available now.
Garden Maze.
Posted on September 14, 2011 | 10 Comments
This has been a very interesting quilt to make. None of it was hard as it was all straight sewing with squares and rectangles.
What I did find interesting was that the pattern of interlinking squares didn’t become apparent until right at the end when the rows were sewn together. So even though I knew what it was going to be, it still wasn’t obvious until the end.
I still have to complete the borders -lots of squares and rectangles again but only in the blue and black. I will wait to see how that looks.
The pattern for the quilt is called Country Garden Maze and it was in an early copy of Irish Quilt and Craft Magazine.
An Even Dozen
Posted on September 12, 2011 | 7 Comments
I have managed to finish a set of twelve stitcheries from the Tis The Season booklet. I trimmed them down a little to tidy them up.
I will tuck them away for a little while until I have time to turn them into a quilt.
It’s good to see the photo posting correctly today. I had a few problems last week when photos would not download.
Then something very strange happened. I posted on Sept 8th for the Teddy’s picnic. That went fine. Then on the 10th I posted about completing the strip tube quilt, but it set the date as the 7th and it comes up on my website in that order, too! Still haven’t worked out how that can happen.
And have a look at what I spotted in the garden. Looking forward to enjoying these in Summer. Yummm!
And as a very proud Aussie I have to say congratulations to Samantha Stosur on her great win in the US Open. Go Sam!!
A Spring Bear.
Posted on September 8, 2011 | 14 Comments
Now that Spring has arrived we are having a chance to enjoy a little sunshine.
It’s a perfect day to join Melody at The House On The Side Of The Hill for her Teddy Bear’s Picnic. We have to take the opportunity to enjoy the sun before the weather turns.
I made this bear when I was testing out some different fabrics. I used a a plush upholstery fabric to make him. It seemed to work quite well.
I hope you have the chance to visit the other members of the picnic party.
The Next Finish.
Posted on September 7, 2011 | 6 Comments
I am steadily working through my quilt sandwiches. Good to have another finish.
I was happy just to quilt with a simple meander.
Because I used this quilt as a bit of a trial run for strip tubing I decided to try out a few things I don’t normally do.
I have always hand stitched my binding on the back of my quilts, so as a bit of a challenge I machined the final binding down. I did find that I needed to pin very carefully and often.
It worked in most parts and looks okay. But then in other parts I missed completely.
I think I will still be hand stitching most of my quilts but I am happy to try this method again.
I also decided to wash and dry this quilt after finishing. I liked the look after washing – fluffy and crinkly – but found that after drying on a very low heat there was some loss of shape. So, yes, I would wash again, but may not choose to tumble dry again.
This will be a good quilt to take on a picnic or for snuggling under at a Winter BBQ.
I have been very fortunate this week to receive some lovely goodies.
This is the delightful pattern I selected from Toni’s give away at The Red Boot Quilt Company.
Pop over for a visit to see Toni’s lovely work and her patterns.
Thank you, Toni.
I am looking forward to making this quilt.
I also received this book from Rebecka at RASmataz.
Rebecka has been making blocks using this method and has joined some swap groups. Take a visit to see her work.
Thank you, Rebecka.
And just to finish up, here are some gratuitous Spring garden pics.
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