At last. a finish...

Here is my Verandah Views hanging finished. I am really pleased with how it looks. Thank-you to Cheryl from Willowberry Designs for this wonderful BOM design given freely on her blog . I have had many friends comment on how lovely the stitchery designs are. I used Aviary fabric from one of my favourite fabric designers 'Three Sisters' and I think it compliments the stitcheries perfectly. I will have to find a special place to hang this.

I have also finished Block 11 of A Tisket A Tasket from Bunny Hill. Only one more to go. Below is a stained glass block that I completed a few weeks ago. I forgot to take a photo but was able to get one last week at quilting group. Everyone at my group did one and they will be put into a quilt by one of our members, Robyn who taught us how to do the stained glass technique. Not sure at this stage what will be done with the quilt but a decision will be made when it is complete. My block is of Sturt's Desert Pea. Each block is of an Australian native flower. They should look lovely together. This block was quite a challenge as it had many little pieces. Sorry about the block looking creased, should have pressed it before taking the photo.

Well, must get back to it as I have lots of things on the go at present. See you next time........

Back Home from Quilt Camp

We had a great time on our weekend at Boonah, a rural area about an hour away from home. We stayed at a place called The Outlook which has a lovely big room where we can set up our machines and just sew. Even though we did our own cooking, we still had plenty of time to devote to our projects as we were only rostered on to prepare one meal and cleaning up afterwards was a combined effort and completed in no time.
As you can see by the photos below, I managed to get a fair bit done amid all the eating, laughing, talking and joke telling. My daughter's quilt top now has the borders on it with of course, the quilting still to come. I am quite happy with how it turned out as it is the first time I have made a quilt without using some sort of pattern so it was a bit of trial and error at times. My Verandah Views wall hanging is ready to quilt and I also got a fair bit of A Christmas Wish stitched together but forgot to take a photo so next time I am in my quilting room, I will take one.

Kym's Quilt - Sophistikitties.
Verandah Views.
By the time I got home, I was pretty tired but I just love going, it is such a fun weekend. Our next one is in March, I'm planning already.........

Ekka Trip & BOM's Nearly There!

Above Verandah Views. Below A Christmas Wish with 1 block to go. The red fabric on top is for the last block.

Block 8 completed.

Here are a couple of photos of A Christmas Wish BOM and Verandah Views BOM. I have the sashing on all the blocks and are up to date. Only 1 more month of blocks then borders and they will be finished. Looking really good even if I do say so myself. I have used Aviary material for VV's and Holly Go Lightly for A Christmas Wish. It will be lovely to see these when they are completed.

Here is Jake in the animal nursery with a calf who looks like he's trying to get away from him. This was taken yesterday when I went with my son and grandsons to the Brisbane Ekka. We went in by train which worked out quite well. The boys started eating the minute we hit the station with Jake tucking into a chocolate chip cookie purchased from the vending machine. We all had a great day enjoying a variety of foods including a dagwood dog and a strawberry icecream which are usual Ekka fare. The boys had some rides including the chairlift which is to be dismantled later this year due to the area being redeveloped. They played some games and won the usual stuffed toys. They checked out the animal nursery and of course bought some sample bags to take home. As everyone was quite tired by days end, we decided to forgo the fireworks and head on home before dark. Boy, did I sleep well last night with no waking up till morning.

Here we are at the train. Oh, I really hate photos. I looked tired even before we got there!

Below, the boys on their way to sideshow alley.

Tomorrow, Chris is off to the Nostalgic Drags at Willowbank and I am going to have a quilting day. Need to get my projects for the quilting camp ready as only 2 weeks to go............

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!!!!!!!

Catching Up Slowly!

Above are 2 more blocks of my BOM's finished. A Christmas Wish Block 7 and Verandah Views Block 7. I have almost completed Block 8 of VV as well. I am slowly catching up but still have a way to go. While watching TV the other night, my hubby asked me if I was back to doing the ordinary stuff now? It made me have a bit of a laugh as most nights when I look over at him he is sitting beside me having a snooze so I guess he does take notice of what I am doing sometimes. I suppose I was a bit stressed when I was trying to get Deb's quilt done and he is just happy to have things (me in particular) back to normal till the next time.

Yesterday was my group day. A wonderful day as always catching up with some lovely ladies who have become great friends. We are all working on a Stained Glass window block to put into a quilt. The blocks all contain Australian native flowers. My block is Sturt's Desert Pea. I have traced the design on my background and now have to add the fabric, then the black bias. Robyn, one of our ladies, has done a class so is helping us through the ins and outs of how to apply the bias tape to the block. We are all enjoying learning this new technique.

I was lucky enough to win a pattern from Gail Pan on her blog last week. It arrived in the post yesterday. The pattern is called Buttons and Bows. How exciting is that? Thanks Gail.......

A Blog Catch-up........

Here I am at last. Where has time gone, you ask?............. Quilting, stitching, painting, babysitting (although my grandsons would not like me using the word baby), a little housework , some plant repotting and that's about it!! Whew ....... I feel tired just reading that.

I have finally finished my Punch Needle Holder. My first WISP for June. I am quite pleased with it as I really like doing punch needle. Have one of Rosalie Quinlan's designs from a Stitchers Dream Day Out I went to in Toowoomba a couple of years ago, so will have to find the pattern and maybe use it for my next project .

The first photo above is of the Verandah Views Blocks, 4, 5 & 6, to which I have added the sashings. The next photo is of the 6 blocks I have done so far. I am using 3 Sisters Aviary fabric. The blocks are arranged where they will sit in the finished hanging.
On the stitching front, I have been busy working on my Paper Bag Swap. Almost finished the stitcheries then all I need to do is put it together. Have already cut out the pieces so am hoping to have it finished and posted by next week. I have enjoyed reading some of the other blog updates on the Paper Bag Swap site and would like to thank Maree for hosting the swap.
On the babysitting front, I had the boys over whilst their parents had a well earned break at the movies and my grandson Thomas stayed with me on Saturday while his brother was at a football carnival. Tom gets a bit bored if it is a long day at footy and Grandma seemed like a better alternative. We played lots of board and computer games, as well spending time in the yard in between downpours. He enjoyed helping me pot some cacti I had been given and eating most of the food in the pantry so in all, we had a great day together. They grow so fast so its good when you can spend time with them and all those extra hugs you get can't be too bad either.

Parcel Arrives !!!!!

I have been stalking the letter box for the last couple of days waiting for my Paper Bag swap parcel to arrive from New Zealand. Well today, it did just that and I couldn't wait to open it. I was not sure what I would make with the materials until I received them. They are just lovely and I straight away thought they would look nice made into a ................. Will just have to wait until it is delivered to my swap partner to see how it turns out and I can share a photo.

The above photos are of the next blocks in the Verandah Views BOM and A Christmas Wish by Gail Pan. Both Block 6. I managed to get them done quite quickly and am now working on block 6 of a Tisket a Tasket.

Last week our quilt group went on an outing to Cleveland to visit some quilt shops as well as having lunch on the waterfront. It was the second anniversary of the group I am in and we wanted to mark the occasion by doing something together. I was very lucky as I had run out of the purple material I am using for Kym's quilt and didn't have enough for the last border. I was going to use some black I had in my stash but found the very same purple material whilst we were at one of the shops. How good was that!!! Now I can finish the quilt as I had originally planned.

Progress at last!!

Today I managed to get into my quilting room for a few hours. I worked on my Giggle Button project so need to quilt it tomorrow (if time permits) and then add binding. I added some ric rac to it and am quite pleased with how is has turned out. Will post a photo soon, I hope. I also completed the middle section of my daughter's quilt. The purple colour in the photo above isn't very good, I'm afraid. I really want to get this finished soon as I have quite a few tops to quilt and once I complete this one, I will try to get most of them quilted before I start any other big projects (I know, I know, famous last words).

I have caught up on my BOM's. Verandah Views and Bunny Hill completed with just a few more lasy daisy leaves to go on A Christmas Wish. This is my favourite block for VV so far, I just love chooks although my girls aren't laying any eggs at the moment.

If you check out my side bar you will see a button for a Paper Bag Swap. Check it out, you can still join in until end of May. This is the first swap I have joined so I am looking forward to it.

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..............

Bits & Pieces / Punch Needle Class

This week I managed to put some of the sashing on my first 3 Verandah Views blocks. The blocks go in different parts of the hanging so I am anxious to see how it progresses as more blocks are completed. I decided to use some leftover fabrics from my stash. I love fabrics by 3 Sisters and have bought quite a few of their fabric lines over the years so will mix and match from the bits I have left from other quilts.

The photo below is of the second Fire Appeal Quilt that I have put together for our group to send down to Victoria. It is a combination of applique and stitched blocks each done by one of the ladies from our group. The detail is a bit hard to see but is lovely when you get a close look at it. I used blue and pink for the sashings. I think it turned out quite well, don't you? The room where the photo was taken is my 3rd bedroom where you can find my bear collection. You can just see the bears at the side of the quilt and my bear collector wall-hanging which I stitched some time ago on the other side.


On Thursday, I went to my local quilt shop Homespun and Beautiful for a 3 hour punchneedle class. Here are a couple of photos of my punchneedle project. When finished, it will go on the front of a pouch that holds the punchneedle and the needle threaders (Sorry forgot to include the pattern photo). I thoroughly enjoyed this class and love the look of the design as you fill in more stitches. You draw the design outline on the back of the weavers cloth and then punchneedle from the back. There is a bit of a technique to threading the needle and getting the fabric tight in the hoop but after that it is just a matter of getting a rhythm as you punch and making sure to keep your stitches even. The hoop sits in a holder which is a must have as it frees up your other hand from having to hold the hoop, allows you to turn the hoop in the holder as you work and stops you from stabbing yourself accidently with the needle.

Back side of design.

Right side of design.

I was a bit naughty when I was at the shop doing my class as I couldn't resist buying the bag pattern by Bronwyn Hayes and also the panel with shoes on it. It is by Sandy Gervais and the line is called Objects of Desire. It was our anniversary on Wednesday so I think Chris will forgive me for my extra purchases, I hope.

Catching Up with BOM's

A Christmas Wish BOM by Gail Pan. Block 3.

Verandah Views BOM. Block 3.

Here are a couple of photos of the stitcheries I have been working on. Block 3 of a Christmas Wish completed and sashing added. Verandah Views Block 3 is finished as well. This month we were given the instructions to complete the first 3 blocks so sorted out some fabric for the sashing today. Hope to get that done sometime next week.

My room isn't very tidy at present as I have a few other things in the planning stages. I always seem to be thinking of what my next project will be even before I finish the one I am working on. Is it only me that does this or there other quilters out there who do the same thing? I must say I love being able to leave projects out when I'm in the middle of something and time runs out as I can pick up where I left off when I return and save lots of time and energy. I am so enjoying my hideaway, I'm afraid housework isn't on the agenda very often these days.

We have our Retreat at Boonah, coming up in a couple of weeks time and I have been sorting out what I want to take to work on. I saw a pattern in a Country Threads magazine for bags to carry your quilting mat and quilting ruler. It uses a jelly roll so I have been working on these, hopefully will have them completed for the retreat or if not will take them along to finish. I am also hoping to start on a quilt for my daughter, Kym. It will be black, white and purple (her favourite colour), just have to work out what design I will use.

Photo update.

Over the last couple of weeks I have been putting together the above quilt. Last year, all the ladies in my group, The Jimboomba Quilters and Stitchers, stitched a block to go into a quilt which we were going to give to a hospital or charity to raffle. In the end, we had enough blocks to make 2 quilts, one for a boy and one for a girl. When we saw the devastation of the fires down south and how so many quilters were rallying to help the fire victims, it was decided by everyone to put the quilts together and send them to Victoria. I have finished the first one and am now working on the girl's quilt. I am happy with the way it has come together and hope some little boy will love it when he receives it.

I have also been doing lots of stitching over the last week and have now finished three Bunny Hill blocks. I like the way the blue variegated thread is looking although it is a bit hard to see in these photos . I am almost finished Block 3 of Verandah Views and the 3rd block of a Christmas Wish. Trying very hard to keep all these up to date and not fall behind, so far so good.

No WISPs done for March as yet but am working on a couple of things. Just need a few more hours in each day.

Missing in Action!

Here is my first post in a while. The last few days have been spent in Toowoomba at the 'High Altitude Rod Run'. We had a great time catching up with friends as this is the 4th time we have attended. The activities included going on some rod runs around Toowoomba, doing a tour of the beautifully restored Empire Theatre, built in 1911 and rebuilt in 1933 after it had been destroyed by fire, a fancy dress dinner on Saturday night and a show and shine car show in the centre of town on Sunday morning. Chris had to do some running repairs to the car early Sunday morning after he discovered a problem with one of the backwheels on Saturday night. Luckily he could fix it with a bit of help from one of the other rodders and we were back on the road pretty quickly. We managed to get home safely with no further problems.

As we had some free time on Saturday, Chris drove me out to The Village Green at Highfields to visit The Quilters Angel. It is a great shop for browsing with lots of little nic-nacs and things to look at. They even have a chair for bored husbands to sit on outside which Chris put to good use. I was very good and only bought a couple of DMC threads which I had run out of.

I have been working on the Bunny Hill BOM and have decided to do bluework stitchery instead of red. I am using a variegated blue DMC 103 and have completed Blocks 1 & 2. Will post photos next time. I have added the Bunny Hill logo to my sidebar. I am also working on Block 3 of Verandah Views and have just printed out the next blocks for Gail Pan Christmas Wish and Bunny Hill so another big stitching week ahead, I think.

Update on Projects

I have a couple of photos to show. Have put the first borders on my Mystery Quilt and also finished Verandah Views stitchery Block 2 so here they are :-

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.