Slow start but getting there at last....

Well finally I have some enthusiasm back and have been working on several projects at the same time. Below is my Giggle Button Project for August. Stitching all done, just need to decide how to finish it off. May just go with what Sonya did and add a felt backing. Of course haven't the right colour in my stash so may require a trip to my local quilt shop. Used Derwent pencils to colour the flowers and leaves and waterproofed them with fabric medium.
Finished off my last block for A Christmas Wish. Have cut out the small squares for the sashing and have been trying to work out where they need to go. This is always a task that takes me such a long time. Does everyone else have this same problem? Luckily, I could purchase, from Honeysuckle Cottage, some more Holly Go Lightly fabric so I can add the final border and binding using the same fabric as in the rest of the quilt. It was on special too so how good was that? Below is the middle section of my Beach Days quilt. I started this on the Tamborine Quilt Camp after I had finished the Mistletoe Madness quilt top. Only managed to get a few of the rows completed at camp. This quilt has borders on either side of the middle panel so shouldn't take too long to complete. The pattern is by Camille Roskelly of ThimbleBlossoms and is called Mama's Boy. I am going to make mine a little bigger than the pattern, so hopefully I will have enough fabric. I really love these fabrics as they remind me of summer and the beach.

I've also been stitching the holly & berries as well as Merry Christmas in each of the borders of Mistletoe Madness. I'm then going to quilt it with perle cotton. That may take a while but I do enjoy hand quilting.

Of course, the 9th Bunny Hill block is completed as well. Just in time for the next one. I did have a photo but accidentally deleted it when I tried to move it up, so will add it to my next post. Bye for now.........

And still more BOM finishes

Well here I am again with 2 more block finishes. Block 8 of Verandah Views and Block 8 of A Tisket A Tasket. Just have to add borders to Verandah Views Blocks 7 and 8 and will be up to date with both these ones. The stitching on Block 8 A Christmas Wish is also nearly completed and then I will be really up to date with these three BOM's.

Last week my Giggle Button Club pattern and buttons arrived and it is a very pretty stitchery. This time Sonya included a transfer of the pattern so it was great to be able to use that instead of having to trace the pattern onto my fabric. I have used my Derwent pencils to colour some of the flowers and sealed them with some fabric medium. It is already to stitch but I must admit, I still haven't got around to stitching the needlecase one I received in June so a bit of work to do there.

I also started to stitch the borders on Kym's quilt and had put the first one on when my machine decided to play up. When I turned it on to do the second side, it decided to start on its own and stitch really fast. Before I could quickly turn it off, the needle had broken. I gave it a good clean but it still did the same thing afterwards so I will have to take it to be looked at. Luckily I have another machine, a Bernina, but have not used it much as I tend to stick with my old familiar one so will have to get out my book and do a bit of practise as I have the 'Think Pink' camp coming up in a few weeks and plan to do a fair bit of machine work while I am there.

Anyway must go now as my hubby has the day off today (for show day holiday here in Brisbane) and he and I are going to spend some time together by going out for lunch. Our first date for a while. How exciting!!!!!!!

WISP May Finish

Here is my Giggle Club Project for April. I have been working on it for quite a while and finally put the finishing touches to it today. I had originally thought I would put it in a frame but didn't have one big enough to suit so changed my mind and made a hanging. I added ric rac to it and offset the stitchery which I think looks nice. Will have to add a photo to the Giggle Button Club site and see what other people have done with their project. That is the good thing about the club, you can make the stitchery into whatever you want eg: a bag, cushion or something else of your choosing.
Below is Block 5 of A Christmas Wish BOM from Gail Pan. I had this one completed just after my last post but hadn't got around to adding it to my blog until now. I know....... I can be a bit slack at times. Already half way there with only 4 blocks to go. Each time I do a block, I think it is my favourite. I wonder if anyone feels the same?
It has been a bit slow going just lately. I haven't been able to get into my quilting room without keeping a watchful eye on the glass doors. My dog, Cain, a staffy, has decided that when I go out there, it's the signal for him to get out of the back yard by digging a hole under the side fence. He has become quite adept at it and all of a sudden he is looking at me through those damn doors. We decided to put a piece of pipe on his collar to stop him but he keeps trying and sometimes still gets through. How he can work his way through such a small hole is beyond me. So we are trying to work out how to stop him without pulling down the old fence and putting up a new one ( Hubby's brain is working overtime so he doesn't have to add that job to his list). Any ideas ???? I'm just worried he may get knocked as he doesn't have much road sense.

Happy Mothers Day / April BOM's completed

Tomorrow is Mother's Day and we are going to see my youngest grandson play footy. He plays in the under sixes. All the family are coming to the game and then we are going for morning tea. Not sure where we will have it but surprises are always good aren't they : just like the flowers above which my hubby gave me today when he arrived home from work. Love you Chris.

'HAPPY MOTHERS DAY TO EVERYONE'

Verandah Views Block 4 Bunny Hill Block 4

A Christmas Wish Block 4

At last I have finished block 4 for Bunny Hill, Gail Pan's Christmas Wish and Verandah Views. Going away at Easter certainly put me behind but HOORAY, they are done. Of course, today, I prepared all of the blocks for May but am hoping to get them done much faster.

I worked on Kym's quilt today and did a bit of unpicking as I am not happy with how it looks. Will have a bit more of a play around with the blocks tomorrow if I get time. I am also almost finished my Giggle Button project. I was going to put it in a frame but didn't have a frame big enough so am going to make a wall hanging out of it instead.

Well this has been quite a long post so I had better close until next time..............

Giggle Button Club

I thought I would do a quick post now as Chris is off to the Nostalgia Drags at Willowbank today and I need to download my photos before he goes. He will be taking the hotrod but as I am on baby sitting duties tonight, I won't be going with him. I must admit that I am not as keen on the drags and am looking forward to the 'High Altitude Rod Run' next weekend at Toowoomba. We have attended for the last few years and we always have a great time catching up with other rodders.

Last night I finally put the finishing touches to my Giggle Button project called Butterfly Magic by adding the lovely flower buttons. It's a small bag to hold my stitcheries in progress or my coffee mug when I head off to my quilting group. I have enjoyed making this bag as it has different techniques I have not used before. Below is a photo of the project.

Busy Week, Family / Quilting

This week has flown but I have managed to get quite a few things done. I also caught up with my sister who I haven't seen for a few weeks. We went to the first of a concert series of 5 put on by the Logan City Council. It was called a Tribute to Frank Spencer and was really enjoyable with some comedy as well as singing thrown in. The next one in March will be a Tribute to Julie Andrews. Afterwards Sue and I went for lunch to the Coffee Club and caught up on what we have been doing since we last saw each other.

I have been busy stitching this week and have completed Block 2 of the Christmas Wish BOM by Gail Pan (see photo above). Also finished stitching Block 9 of my Sunshine Frolics quilt. The border fabrics have arrived so now I will check the blocks are square, stitch them together and put the borders on. This quilt has a scalloped edge so should be interesting as I have not done this before.

I also made good progress with my Giggle Button project. I finished the butterfly stitchery and stitched the bag pieces together so I could attach the stitchery to the bag front. Not much to go to finish it off, just add the handles, lining and buttons of course. I changed the thread colours a little bit to better match the materials I am using. I am pleased with the way it is coming together.

I added some hand quilting to my Merry and Bright table runner and machine sewed the binding today ready for hand stitching next week. Then I can add another WISP to my monthly list. The final border has been sewn onto my Mystery quilt. I was very lucky as I thought I may not have enough material but just scraped in with the tiniest bit leftover. See photos below. That's me holding the quilt up for a better view. I even combed my hair for the occasion unfortunately Chris couldn't get both the quilt and me in the photo so a headless version of me will have to do. So now all that's left for me to do, is to quilt it. Helen (Hugs from Helen) explained how she quilted hers on her blog, so this will help as I find the quilting or what design to use, is the hardest part for me. I have just set up, with Chris's help, a John Watts quilting frame, so will attempt to learn how to use it over the next few weeks, months, years and hopefully get all the quilt tops I have completed, finished. Won't that be great!!!!

Better go as I have lots more to do today. Tomorrow we are going to Warwick to see a friend race his Mustang, here's hoping it's a good day. Not too hot or raining or too many flies (Aeroguard is already packed).

First WISP for February

I have finished my first wisp for February. It is a small wallhanging I started about 12 months ago for a present and didn't get it finished in time so put it in my to do basket. It is a Bronwyn Hayes stitchery and I have done it in bluework. I am still working on my Merry and Bright runner which needs a bit of hand quilting on some of the blocks , the binding and of course a label. I have pinned the first borders on the Mystery quilt according to Helen's instructions and they are looking good but have not had a chance to sew them as today I went to the Tamborine Markets in the morning and then the whole family came over for lunch and a cooling swim as it was quite hot. It was nice to catch up and hear how school is going for the grandkids and what the big kids are up to as well.

As well as the WISP photo, I am posting a photo of my first Verandah Views Block with the second one nearly finished. I also have a photo of the fabrics I am using in my Giggle Buttons project. I am making steady progress on all my stitcheries so hopefully I will be able to keep up to date and not fall behind.

Giggle Button Club Project

My Giggle Button project arrived Monday. It is a pieced bag with a lovely stitched butterfly on the front. I spent today cutting out the background and tracing the butterfly ready to stitch. I bought some new threads for the stitchery part yesterday so I am ready to start. Just have to complete another stitchery first : Verandah Views. I have also sorted out what fabrics I will use. Will take a photo of them tomorrow and post. I also received my last block, Block 9 of Sunshine Frolics so got that ready to stitch as well. I think I am going to be very busy stitching over the next couple of weeks.

I was very excited yesterday because when I arrived home from shopping (my least favourite task), a parcel from Express Publications was in the letterbox and it contained Sonya's (Giggle Buttons) Granma's Quilt Book. I forgot I had entered the competition in Handmade sometime back and I was lucky enough to win one. I will have to put this on the back-burner for a little while though as I have lots on the go at present. The quilt is really lovely and has an olde world feel about it. I will have to drop a few hints to hubby about the buttons that go with it. It's a shame I've just had my birthday, they would make the perfect present. Are you reading this Chris!