Thursday

Well not a lot of sewing today. I decided to pop out to Lincraft to check out the 1/2 price fabrics. I did really well, as you can see.
19 metres in all!!

 

The top one will be the backing on a quilt I started last year.
The blue under it will be background fabric for the quilt I’m planning for ds#1, it’s a lovely bright sky blue. The others just go in the stash. I have to say they are all a lot richer & brighter than the pic shows.

It was just too hot to do anything that required much effort when I got home so I put on a Midsomer Murder & pieced another Dear Jane (Marple) block. I’ll start piecing the red & white monkey wrench tonight.

A simple churn dash. I’m not sure if there is one in the original Dear Jane. My quilt is simply blocks I like drafted to 4 1/2”, some are from the Dear Jane, others wherever.

Wednesday

Red Delicious Day

I’m making two versions of the Red Delicious BOM. The first I started is a combination of needle-turn appliqué, blanket stitch appliqué & redwork. The 2nd is redwork on a white on white fabric.

The first version was put on hold while I looked for some more reds, now I’ve added to the collection I can get stuck in. There seems to be quite a few red & white quilts popping up in the quilt magazines & I thought it would be easy to find some more reds. Wrong, when your only local choice is Spotlight you have to pick through the same old bolts that have been sitting there for years to find something.

Well I did get some work done to block one & I’ve vliesofixed & cut out all the components for block 2. I have to say I’m a little concerned about how I’m going to blanket stitch all the very pointy bits. I guess the answer is ‘very carefully.’

I didn’t get as much done as I’d hoped coz a friend rang for a big chat, so I think I’ll work on these blocks again tomorrow.

I also marked all the sewing lines on the monkey wrench block I cut out the other day & cut & marked a 2nd one. One to send & one to keep.

Tuesday

Tuesday was French day. Well it was in my sewing room. I even played my Piaf cd’s without any children on hand to moan & groan.

I started this bag a couple of months ago & it keeps getting put aside as I work on too many other projects. The pattern was in Magic Patch magazine late last year. I’ve made a few changes to the original design.

I started the day with a bag in 7 pieces. I was hoping to end the day with the bag in one piece & layered ready to quilt.

I laid the pieces out yesterday & decided I really needed to add something to the back panel, at this point it was just 8 windows. I cut out some freezer paper ‘bushes’, chose some great green bush fabric & tacked the first bush on ready to appliqué. Only problem was it looked like a blob or a big green rock. Not quite the look I was after. Even dh agreed it didn’t look good & he usually lies to save my feelings, so I knew it was really bad. :-)

This morning I browsed through some quilt books thinking I would find a good bush pattern. Funny they all looked like blobs or big green rocks, soooooooooooo I decided to simply add some more of the trees I’d appliquéd on the front. So three trees later I was ready to join up the pieces.

Here’s a close-up of the front.
The little mini quilt will be pegged on later.

I decided to use cotton batting & would you believe I actually had a piece big enough left over from another project & it was washed. I’m sure this bag will be washed in the future & I don’t want the batting shrinking.

Just as well Tabitha was on hand to help with the layering. I’m not sure I would have managed without her.

So I now have my bag all ready for quilting. I would have taken more pics but the camera battery is on it’s last legs.

Tomorrow I’ll be working on my Red Delicious blocks.

Monday

With Rowan off to at camp this week I’m going to get stuck in & achieve heaps this week. I hope. :-)

Well at least it won’t be cold in the tents with the weather we’re expecting.

 

First I planned to finish this set of ATC’s.
I nearly finished, then I ran out of green cotton for the edging.
The theme was ‘Fave Movie Title.’ I bet you can guess the movie. The little white blobs are meant to be sheep. I love this film & there is a family history. My Uncle’s family owned the land & still ran sheep on it after ‘The Dish’ was built.

 

I made 2 of these dragonfly ATC’s, one to send for a Birthday swap, the other to add to my collection.

 

I also cut out a red & white monkey wrench block for a Birthday swap. It was only after I cut it out I realised it was for a 12 1/2” finished block & I needed a 12” finished block. I usually draft my own patterns & handpiece but I thought this time I would choose a block from ‘Around the Block’ & just cut it out to machine piece. I should have paid more attention to the finished size. So now I’ve drafted the block & will mark the pieces & hand piece. I’m just glad I realised before I sewed it together!!!

Tomorrow I’ll be working on my French bag, it’s absolutely yummy!!!!

Too hot to handle

 

Tabitha decided it was just tooo hot so she went in search
of a cool spot to chill.

What you can’t see is the air conditioner on the wall above the TV.

Cats aren’t silly. :-)

Dear Jane (Marple)

I finished one block on Friday.

1, 2 Buckle My Shoe.

Here’s Tabitha helping me make this block.

Rowan’s First day in Year 7

 

The years from Kindy to Year 7 have flown by!!!!