Colourful Trees.
Posted on June 22, 2022 | 13 Comments
These trees are quite different to the ones I have been watching outside as the leaves change to Autumn colours. In fact they remind me more of lollipops or raindrops.
This pattern is called The Avenue and is by Louise Papas. I bought mine through Amitie in Torquay.
I bought the set of templates available with the pattern and it made the process of cutting the curved pieces a lot easier than making a pattern.
I enjoyed selecting the tree colours and then using a huge range of black and white background fabrics. In fact, I think I became a little obsessed with finding as many as I could.
I used a lot of different batiks for the tree sections, too.
I decided to get this one professionally quilted and love the rolling circles going through the entire quilt.
I was able to finish off with a pale green batik inner border, a black and white spot outer border and then another darker green batik for the binding. I also found a lovely text wideback for the backing.
I have one more quilt waiting for binding but not a lot was done this week. I ended up doing some damage to my lower back and was spending most of my time lying down and feeling sorry for myself. Thankfully I have a good physio and once I had my session I was up and about again. Maybe a little slowly, but at least upright and mobile.
So now I have some catching up to do. No blogs have been read and no comments made. Time to fix that!!
Cheers, Karen
A Finished Blanket.
Posted on June 15, 2022 | 11 Comments
This is another of my projects that was so close to a finish and was then put away due to distractions of my own making. I had made the large mandalas and had pieced them together, but knew I had to make smaller sections to fill the gaps.
It took me a while to play with the small pieces as I worked out which colour combo worked best. Once that was done I was able to complete the crochet and sew them together. I think it is about 40 inches square.
It has been made from 8 ply cotton from Bendigo Woollen Mills.
I would like to use it as a bed topper with a simple white spread under it.
The needles have also been busy making a couple more of these. They are gifts for more babies. Lots of friends are having grandies arrive.
I was also able to spend some time with friends getting a few cards made. Something I haven’t been doing lately. It was good to get motivated and get back into it.
It is still very cold but there was some sunshine today, so that is a bonus.
Happy to stay inside and warm.
Cheers, Karen
Trellis Work.
Posted on June 11, 2022 | 12 Comments
Time to catch up again. As always, lots in the works, but not a lot of finishes. But there are several projects ready for completion in the next few days. That seems to be the way it works for me. Everything all at once.
This is a quilt called Trellis by Jillily Studio. I started it a long time ago – years – and finally rediscovered it and made a finish.
It comes in at around 40 X 40 ins.
I had finished the piecing quite quickly and then it sat for a long time. I wasn’t confident about working with the needle-turn applique. I finally bit the bullet and did the vines but then decided to change the flowers, berries and leaves to wool instead of fabric.
That done, I was able to quilt and bind. A finish at last.
It is very cold here but my trees have only now decided to let the leaves change colour. They are looking great.
But of course there is a lot of work that goes with this.
Like everyone, we are working out how to manage with all the products that are unavailable and the price rises that come with it. A lot more car pooling is happening and I refuse to pay $10 for a lettuce. I am glad we have grown some of our own produce for freezing. Time to be patient.
Enjoy your weekend.
Cheers, Karen
Yarning Away.
Posted on May 21, 2022 | 12 Comments
Lots of little yarn projects have been worked on and some have even been completed.
This little doll is a pattern from Mary Jane’s Tearoom and is called simply a Little Yarn Doll.
A lovely pattern to follow and lots of variations included.
I have kept to the basics for the first one, giving her a removable hat and skirt. I may get a little more adventurous when I knit another one.
The yarn theme continues with these two beanies. They are crocheted from a You Tube pattern called Easy Breezy Beanies. There are 5 different patterns for different yarn thicknesses. I had a Caron cake and was able to make two beanies with a small amount of yarn left over. Mine was about a 10 ply thickness.
You can see the colour change in each beanie. These were my keep my hands busy activity when we were away in the caravan in Beechworth last week. The weather was drizzly but we still found plenty to see and do. About 25 km from there is a small location of Stanley. We drove past all the chestnut orchards and of course we bought bags of chestnuts from roadside stalls.
We were searching a particular stand of trees. The area is surrounded by pine plantations but hidden away down some logging tracks is an area filled with Sequoias – Californian Redwoods. I had no idea we had them growing here. No sign posts, just lots of tracks and turns. We finally found the track and walked in. Definitely worth it.
I found the black trunks stunning against the green foliage and the forest floor looking rusty red.
This pic is just to give an idea of size.
Found a few of these looking pretty, too.
And the keep the colour theme going, this is how the trees in the caravan park are looking.
I have been distracted with the doll and the hats, but there have been a few rows added to the Attic 24 Harbour blanket.
The wool theme keeps going but in fabric form. I am receiving the Sue Spargo BOM called Tinsel. Because of delays with US Postage, mine arrived at the end of March. I decided to start on the March block first and manged to finish it.
April has arrived so I have started on that one next. I am sure the order of completion does not matter.
Several quilts have headed to my LAQ, another is being quilted by me, so there will be lots of binding to do.
We have the ABC on in the background and are listening to the election count. Looks like it is getting interesting. Not sure I will stay up late enough to see the results though. Happy to find out in the morning.
Have a good week.
Cheers, Karen
Easter, Yay!
Posted on April 16, 2022 | 13 Comments
We are having a gorgeous Easter long weekend with beautiful sunny days. Even the resident magpie family agree and have been out and about checking out the Autumn foliage.
Easter decorating has been happening and there are a couple of new additions.
A little crochet bunny.
And a new hoop embroidery.
This is a Kathy Schmitz design that I was lucky enough to receive from Marina. ( Thanks, again, Marina.)
I reduced the size so that it would fit a hoop.It is ready to hang on the wall.
I found this cute little paper tree that I was planning to use for Christmas decorations, but obviously plans changed when I saw the lovely little egg decorations. Couldn’t resist playing with them. And then I spotted an egg wreath to complete the table centre.
The old Singer machine was put to use to display lots of rabbits and eggs.
I managed to get a quick photo before one of the grandies had a lovely play and rearranged the display to her satisfaction. She had a lovely time.
Lots more on display. This year I kept it all in my sewing room.
It is surprising how many Easter items I have accumulated over the years. I don’t buy lots, but I do add one or two items each year.
Have a wonderful Easter in your home this weekend.
Cheers, Karen
Pandas And Zebras.
Posted on April 8, 2022 | 9 Comments
The blocks using the Tula Pink panda fabric grew very quickly. I liked how they looked together, but they were not going to get very far on their own. Too small.
I was able to find some of the zebra fabric as well, to make alternate blocks. I also managed to find a solid to match one of the colours in the zebra fabric.
The picture is a bit untidy and obviously the fabric needs a press.
So the end result with the fabric I had was a small quilt top.
It’s about 40 by 55 ins at this stage. I wasn’t sure about the fabric for a border, so visited a friend with a large supply of Tula Pink. Strangely enough, nothing worked. It all seemed too busy. So I have come back to the idea of adding the same fabric to the border that is in the sashing. That is the next task to finish.
I need to follow up on a previous post regarding some blocks I was trying out. This photo simply shows that although they are a similar design, there is a size difference in the two blocks.
The one on the left is cut from a ten inch square.
Left to right, the down strips are cut 2, 3 1/2 and 4 1/2. The bottom strip is 2 ins. I then mix and match with another colour and sew a centre piece between the 2 larger ones before I cut them also. The rest can be worked out from the block photo.
The red and white block uses rectangles cut 3 1/2 by 4 1/2. The strips are 1 1/2.
We have managed a few days away again in the caravan before it gets too cold. Back to Beechworth again where we found this friendly flock heading across the road.
School holidays are coming and so are the grandies for a few days. And of course Easter is just around the corner. Lots to look forward to.
Cheers, Karen
A Quick March.
Posted on March 31, 2022 | 10 Comments
Everything seems to be moving along very quickly – including the month of March. I know we are trying to catch up on all we have missed during lock downs and so there are a lot of requests for social activities. But also I think we became very comfortable with the slow pace of lock downs and now we are finding it hard to return to being busy. I am surprised that I am only just sneaking this post in at the end of March.
Along with all the new projects I mentioned starting last time, there were a few extras in the knitting area. The first one was this gorgeous little Tea Room Bear.
There is an extra pattern for his jacket. But the scarf and overalls are part of the original pattern.
Even as an undressed bear he is still adorable.
This is a pattern from Mary Jane’s Tearoom. Mine is the 8in Tearoom Bear.
The next ones are From Little Cotton Rabbits. It is a pattern that can be either a bear or a rabbit. It can also be knitted as dressed or not.
The clothes are actually knitted on to the doll. These ones are getting ready to be part of the Easter activities.
And on a totally different note, a while back I mentioned growing some marble corn. I left the ears on the stem to dry out and finally picked them. They didn’t end up as colourful as the picture selling them, but still came in with some interesting results.
I am now curious to see what will happen next season when planted. Not sure if they will take on more or less colour.
I can’t believe Easter is nearly around the corner. And just this week the leaves have started to show their Autumn colours.
Enjoy the weekend. Cheers, Karen
Lots Of New Starts.
Posted on March 13, 2022 | 13 Comments
Time to work out what to make next, so I have been trying out a few patterns to see if they are what I want. So, lots of new starts.
I started with a test block using the Tula Pink pandas.
It was a bit fiddly finding the right size to cut the centre block to use the fabric without too much wastage. I stuck with the black and white theme in two of the rounds and then mixed colours in batiks in between. I was even silly enough to try to match the colour at the top of the panda block with the nearest block. I am happy with this one and will keep going.
I then started making some blocks that represent Christmas gifts. I had this range of fabric for a while that I wanted to try, so two test blocks resulted.
I was happy with the end result, so there is another project to pursue.
I blame this next one on Linda. She had been making blocks with gorgeous fabrics and I liked the look. However, I want to play with red, white and black. Couldn’t help myself.
So that makes the third project that I am taking on.
Thankfully the next one is small and way past the halfway mark.
Just a little bit of stitching to go and some red to add. Okay, the red, white and black theme happening again. It’s the Party Penguin Hoop from Bustle and Sew, bought as a PDF.
And the last project has been planned for a while. It is The Harbour Blanket from Attic 24. I received the wool before Christmas but had a few other commitments that needed work before i could consider starting this one. But I am pleased to now have time to get a start.
So, there I go. Five new projects started within a week. The biggest bonus is that all of them except for the crochet are made from my stash. That has to be a good thing.
We have been having lovely Autumn days here and yesterday I finally caught up with my mum, brother and sisters at the same time for the first time in over a year. It was a great get together.
Have a great week, Cheers, Karen
Yay! I Have A Finish!
Posted on February 19, 2022 | 14 Comments
I feel like I have been spending a lot of time preparing projects and I know this is worthwhile, but it is always good to get a finish as well.
This was an easy finish in the end. I did leave it a little while after the quilt was sandwiched, but once I started, it was a breeze.
I kept to straight line quilting through the centres of the triangles in each quarter. The picture of the backing shows that quite clearly.
And I finished it off with striped navy and white binding.
I have had the umbrella backing for a while and was glad there was enough to do this quilt.
I have managed to get all the trees together and have added a couple of borders – print fabric and a soft green. It is now waiting in the quilting queue.
That will have to wait as I need to go outside to mow. We are not used to that in February as the lawn is usually brown from the heat.
Hope all are having a lovely weekend.
Cheers, Karen
Getting Projects Moving.
Posted on February 9, 2022 | 10 Comments
Happy February. The year is moving along. I have been working on several projects and they are close to a finish. I am also spending a lot of time getting the preparation work done for a few more.
The trees for The Avenue are completed and are ready to come together. I played with several layouts and they have been sewn together. But this photo is from when the blocks were still being rearranged.
Since then I have added a couple of borders and it is waiting to be quilted.
The weather has been warm but I have continued with my crochet – in cotton. I have all the mandalas ready to be joined. I am now working out what to make to go in all the gaps. Probably a small circle.
I have spent a lot of time cutting out all the pieces for The Santa, The Tree, The Turkey and Me. Last time I did one of Anni’s patterns I cut out the pieces each time I finished a block. This time I decided to get it all done in one hit so I wasn’t constantly packing and unpacking all the fabrics and wool felts. Almost ready now for the stitching.
The garden is still keeping us busy. Lots of passionfruit are ripening and they are delicious.
We also planted lots of corn and we wanted to try a few different types. This one is called marble corn and hopefully will have kernels that are all different colours. But at this stage I am really impressed with the colour of the silk at the top.
Our weather here has been lovely and we were able to enjoy a week staying in our caravan at Beechworth. Great to be getting back to doing a few of these activities. Hubby has been given the all clear by the surgeon and we are able to start planning a few more get-aways. Yay!
And, yes, I did visit the patchwork shop there.
Cheers, Karen
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