Christmas quilt. Block two.

G'day. After getting some housework and a bit of gardening (weeding and watering) done yesterday, I sat down and finished this stitchery.It has been some time since I have had the pleasure of sitting down for long periods to do some sewing, so I am making the most of it.

 Each pattern that I get in this BOM has three stitchery panels in them. Two, like the one pictured and a verse. I haven't started the verses yet, thought I would get a few of the larger stitcheries out of the way first.

This one is actually from block two. I may get to start the other panel today at some stage. I have let the blocks accumulate as I have had other things to finish first. So there are still the three panels from the next block waiting in the wings to be stitched as well. By the time I have finished that (if not earlier), the mailman will be putting block four in the letterbox.

It is going to be a hot one here today so the weatherman tells me. Looks like I will be inside most of the day. I have been for my walk early this morning (6.00am) pulled the awnings down and closed the drapes, watered the plants that needed it, done some housework, so a few hours stitching under the air conditioner this afternoon sounds good to me. Back to work tomorrow and Thursday and then a full day out and about on Friday, so that means the stitching stops for a while. Take care. Liz...

Christmas quilt. Block two.

G'day. Because the weather has been so bad here over the weekend, it has given me a chance to sit and do some more of the BOM that I am making.Normally I would probably be out trying to get our garden on the go. Though the sun came through yesterday afternoon and was actually quite warm, so in a burst of inspiration I put the stitching down and got the lawn mower going and made the front and back yards respectable again.

Hubby has a very bad cold at the moment and has either been laying down or sitting quietly in the lounge room reading a book, so because of this and the weather and the fact that I need his help in the garden design, doing some stitching seemed like a good idea. So, block two is now finished. I have already started on block three and now that I have some shopping and housework and a bit of gardening out of the way, I may be able to sit and do some of it today. This is my short week at work where I only work Wednesday and Thursday, so I am hoping tomorrow may see a bit more of this lovely quilt coming together as well.Take care. Liz... 

A Christmas Quilt

G'day. I have finally started my Christmas quilt. A bit late for Christmas this year, but that doesn't matter.

This is a Vivian Robinson design called "The Joys of Christmas Thyme". It is a truly lovely quilt. Instead of using the DMC threads that Vivian recommends in her pattern, I have used Cottage Garden Threads. These are a variegated thread and are just  delightful to use.

I have seen this quilt completed (with the DMC threads) and fell in love with it and of course just had to make it, but with the change of thread. I am very happy with how the first block has turned out. I have nearly finished the second block, it is coming together nicely. My hubby saw me working on the above block and I was stitching the two snowmen and he commented that he thought "snowmen had to be white, not multi coloured" !!! I advised him in a nice way, to go back to the book he was reading. Take care. Liz...

A gift for baby.

G'day. Some time ago I posted a picture of a couple of blocks that I had made to go into a quilt  as gift to a workmate who is having her first child in another six weeks or so. The above photo is the finished quilt. This quilt was my idea and I approached two other work friends who also like to quilt/sew. Two of us had completed our blocks, but the other girl decided that she just didn't have the time to commit to making her blocks, so she handed over her fabric and work friend and I completed them.

Seeing that the quilt was my idea, I felt compelled to have a greater input into the finishing of it, which is exactly what I did. Luckily (!!!!) I had been home from work this past week with food poisoning and it gave me the time to get this quilt completed. The farewell dinner was held last night at a local hotel here in the town where I live/work, but due to still not being well, I couldn't attend. Fellow friend/workmate/quilter, picked the quilt up yesterday afternoon, it was all lovingly wrapped in tissue paper and in a lovely gift bag all ready to be presented last night. I am eagerly awaiting to hear if the recipient liked it . It's a shame the quality of the photo I took is so poor, but in my haste to have a photo of the quilt and my outdoor clothes line was full of washing, I hung it on the line under the "entertaining" area, which is in the shade. It really did turn out lovely. If I say so myself, we did a great job of it.I can now settle down and continue on with my Christmas stitchery quilt that I started some weeks ago, though it is not going to make it in time for this Christmas, but there's always next year... Take care. Liz...

Another one nearly finished. I'm on a roll

I've been on a bit of a roll lately and have managed to get a few quilting projects happening.

I started this quilt some time ago and am happy to say that it is now up to the stage where it just need the binding done and the eyes on the owl and dog to be finished.

It's a fabulous quilt and I am really happy with how it has turned out. I did all the applique on the machine with blanket stitch.I really do love that feature on my machine. I have friends who tell me that it's a cheating way of doing it and it's not as relaxing as doing it all by hand, etc, etc.But I don't care. I just love how quick and easy it is(sometimes)and the results are just beautiful.

I don't know if I will hang this quilt, but it seems a shame to have it folded up somewhere. Maybe I will throw it over my bed. Or have it folded across the end of the bed. That's a decision for another day.

A few problems with this bag

The bag is finally finished. I sat down yesterday afternoon and completed the last of it.

I can't say that I am happy with it. I read and re read the pattern numerous times. No where in it did it mention the border around the top and yet clearly on the pattern picture there is a border. So I made one, taking a guess at what it should measure. I even added an inside pocket that wasn't on the pattern.

All was well up to this point.Then disaster struck. Hubby was impatient for me to help him with something in the garage, so out I went, got the job done, then back to the bag, determined to get it finished so I can go onto another long awaited project.

Phone rang, visitors want to call in and well, visit. Hurry, hurry, hurry with bag. Not a good idea at the best of times. I attached one of the handles on back to front, didn't realise this until I had put the lining in. Silly, silly me. Unpick it all, put handle on right way. Sew lining in again. Somethings not right. What this time? Lining is about 2 inches from the base of the bag. What have I done wrong? Back to pattern, can't figure it out except that by adding the border, it has thrown the pattern measurements out. Of course that's it. I can't work out why the picture on the pattern has a border and yet it's not in the instructions.

I now have a bag for a Christmas gift that has a lining shorter than the actual bag base. What a nuisance. I have decided to still give this as a present and will explain why it is not quite right. I know the recipient will get a laugh out of it and it will not worry her.

 I have been making bags for a very long time and used to be know as "The Bag Lady" with friends, family and work mates and over the years have made and sold many, many bags. Have never had a problem like this. This simple little bag has defeated me.I intend to make one of these bags for myself, so will see what happens and I will be aware now of the problem.  I even contacted the store owner where I originally bought the pattern. She told me it was an old pattern and had no idea about the cause, only to suggest that maybe it was originally made without the top border and for some reason that border was added later, but not put in the instructions. Oh Hum................

A Christmas gift.

I attend a quilting group on a part time basis (very part time at the moment) and some time ago a former member donated a lot of patchwork fabric.

This then was divided up into bundles and put into gift bags.The current members were asked to pick a bag and the material in that bag (we didn't know what we would get) was to be made as a gift for one of our group. We pulled a name out of a hat and that person would be the recipient of this gift. We could make anything we wanted, no restrictions. I chose to make a bag for my gift. It is a great pattern. All the five inch squares are sewn together to make a rectangle, with the base and top border added. Couldn't be easier. The three feature squares with their whimsical Christmas embroidery are very cute. I chose to use a variegated thread for each. This will be the front of the bag.

I also decided to free motion quilt the bag before sewing the side seam, but, during this process I lost concentration and the FMQ went awry. So some considerable time was spent unpicking the stitches in these  areas. Today I will finish this stitching and also finish the bag. I do hope she likes it. What do you think.?

I am also planning to make up this bag pattern for myself. I have some lovely charm packs with a Christmas theme, that would look just great.

Meet Miss Millie

I have finally found a spot for Millie.

She now hangs on the wall just outside the main bedroom. Of course, hubby said "Does she have to hang there?"

I made Millie some time ago, but I had

 not found a good spot for her, so she has been sadly left to her own devices, sitting in a cupboard.

She now hangs proudly for all to see.

Hubby will come to terms with her being there, but then again, it's just bad luck if he doesn't .................

Take care. Liz...

Sometimes things turn out right.

I have finally put the white borders on this lovely little quilt.

Though now that I look at it, I have decided to put another wider border around it

My perchant is at the moment for pink, or maybe the soft sage green.

No doubt I will sit and ponder this for a bit and a bit and a bit !!!!

Maybe one day the finished quilt will appear here.

Take care.

Two little dicky birds

I decided to make a few placemats for our kitchen table. And,because I love the colour pink at the moment, it seemed fitting to use a lovely spotted pink that I just happened to have.

I also had a fair amount of quilters muslin, so to save buying more fabric, I decided to use it. But, in hindsight a tone on tone would have been better.But, not to worry, it still looks good. This also was my first attempt at satin stitch, though I did do some practice pieces first and I am rather pleased with how they turned out, of course they are not perfect, but who cares !!

The branches will have some green wriggly bits shooting out from them as well as lots of red berries done in french knots.

The pattern is from Val Robinson and it is just delighful, though I will do it a tad different from her original one. I will back them with pink homespun. I will post a finished picture at some stage.