Stitch-A-Long, Jelly Roll Block, Love is

I have joined the Gardeners Journal Stitch-A-L0ng. I have had the book and the materials for several years and when I came across the site by chance a while ago, I decided it might be a way of getting this started. Due to my kitchen, I am running a little late so have only completed my first block this week (should have been done by end of April). Lots of little pieces to cut out which was time consuming but as I have now done this, construction of the later blocks should not take so long.

Block 9 of Love is......

Here are two photos of my next block for the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along. With this block, we had to make the two and a half inch centre square a feature. I found this little bird lurking on one of my strips so thought he would enjoy being the centre of attention. I think he looks quite at home, don't you?

I love doing these blocks. The fabric is Blush by Basic Grey.

Well, must go, till next time, take care........

New kitchen but little sewing....

I finally got back to doing some quilting. One good thing about having a room in the shed is that once I leave the house, I can't see the mess so I can sew without feeling too guilty. Since the kitchen has been completed, I have not had too many spare minutes but decided yesterday, after a stress full day, I needed a break, so this is what I got up to.

Sorted out where my blocks would go for the Pinwheel Quilt Along. Put sashing between 2 rows.

Finished Block 8 of Love is.... and joined the first 2 rows together.

Worked on the next block for the Jelly Roll Quilt Along. Here is the previous block which I completed a couple of weeks ago but haven't had time to post photo.

And below are the photos of my new kitchen. Still needs flooring replaced but painting has been done just a few fiddly bits to do around the cornice. I am very happy with how it looks but am sick of unpacking boxes and working out where everything should go. Have managed to throw some things out but still have 3 more boxes to unpack. Then the rest of the house needs a good clean as there seems to be a layer of dust everywhere.

Today I am looking forward to seeing one of my grandsons. He lives about 5 hours away but is coming for a 4 day visit with his Dad. We are going to Dreamworld tomorrow as a treat. Can't wait to give him a big hug as I miss him a lot. Well best go and get back into those boxes. Till next time........... Take care.

Last 4 Pinwheel Blocks

I have spent a busy week packing up my kitchen. Tomorrow, out with my 20 year old one and in with the new one. I am getting excited now as I will have new appliances including a dishwasher which I haven't had in this house before. Of course, learning how to use them all seems like a daunting task. The worst part will be putting all the stuff I have just taken out, back. I am determined not to keep things I don't use anymore and have thrown out a few things already. Only the food in the pantry to go now and some tiles to pull up off the floor. I only have a small house so it seems like every room except the bathroom and toilet has kitchen stuff in it. One good thing is that I will need to be home for most of the week so I am hoping I can get a bit of quilting done as I won't be able to do much in the house.
I have managed to get the last 4 blocks of the Pinwheel Sampler Quilt done. The last 2 blocks were ones that we had to pick ourselves. Rachael from ps i quilt gave us several we could choose from so I chose to make one called Rangers Pride. I am really happy with the block and found it easy to do. I must admit that I am more comfortable with making pinwheel blocks now. Need to make another quilt so I can make okay blocks from the start. Might wait a while for that though as I have lots on the go.

Rangers Pride blocks above and below.

I think my favourite blocks might be the two above.

This is Block 7 of my Love is stitcheries. Block 8 will be ready to download today so at least I am keeping up with this BOM.

Well must go now, the pantry awaits.........

More Pinwheel Blocks, Jelly Roll Block 4

This week has been a very busy. We have been in the planning stage for a new kitchen for quite a while but as usual, unexpected things happen which delay the best made plans. Well finally, it is all happening and in two to three weeks time, our old kitchen will be replaced by a new one. Of course between now and then I have to empty every cupboard which I am not looking forward to. Guess it will give me a chance to have a good clean-out even though the new one will have more cupboard space.
With this in mind, I have tried to spend a little time in my quilting room today and so I managed to get the next four blocks done for the Pinwheel Sampler Quilt along. Only 4 blocks to go now. Have cut out 13 and 14 with the block instructions for the last two expected this week or early next week so need to get a move on to keep up and not fall behind. Blocks 9 & 10.

Below are blocks 11 and 12.

Sorry this photo is a bit dark and doesn't show the lighter coloured fabric very well.

Below is block number 4 in my Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along. The block instructions were to use darks for the outer pieces and lights for the centre. As this jelly roll does not have a lot of darks in it, I decided to go with these. I think the block turned out quite well. I am really enjoying doing these blocks.

Well that is all for tonight. Will take some photos of the old kitchen and then post the new one when it is finished. Hope all goes well without too many problems.

Playing Catch-up!!!

I have been trying to play catch-up on all my BOM's over the last couple of days. The above photos are of Block 4 from the pinwheel Quilt. I have Blocks 5 and 6 cut out and half stitched but still have to sew them all together. So 4 blocks to go with Block 7 due out anytime. I love the pinwheel blocks but am finding them challenging.

The photos below are of Block 4 and 5 of Love is and Block 3 of the Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt. I am really happy with the Blush fabrics that I am using for this project and can't wait for the next block. Everyone who is doing this quilt is adding their blocks to a Flicker group and it is amazing how different they all look. If you get a chance go over and check them out.

I have also put up a picture of the quilt top I made while on camp. I love the fabrics in this also. Not sure whether to use this as a single quilt or as someone suggested at my quilting group, a tablecloth. Usually when I put a new tablecloth on the table, we promptly spill something on it so this may not be such a good idea.

Well just a quick post tonight. Hopefully I will be back soon with more finishes.

HAPPY EASTER, Tamborine Camp, OPAM

Photos above : Raffle prizes , examples of Sue's Amish blocks that decorated the room.

What a wonderful camp at Tamborine Mountain put on by the Beaudesert Quilters. I had a great time. Met up with some girls from NSW who had been there last time. They are all such fun that the 4 days just few by. Below is the place-mat I made for the Place-mat Challenge. There were some great designs and of course I forgot to take a picture of the winner. We used our mat at meal-times and were given a coaster to bring home. I was lucky enough to get one that matched by mat. The co-ordinator, Sue, made about 40 small dolls and we each got one of those as well. They are so cute and made perfectly. Sue also made all the name tags using different blocks in each. We had to unravel the pieced cube to see if we had won a fat quarter which I did. I was also lucky enough to win one of the raffle prizes which was a cylinder fan/heater. The fan had its own cover made with Amish Retreat written on it. All the other prizes were presented in there own little bags as well as can be seen by the photo above. I managed to finish off a quilt top . The quilt is called Beach Days and is in muted blues, tans and white. Will show you next time as I forgot to take a photo.

I am so behind in all my blocks that I am hoping I will be able to catch up over Easter. I would like to wish all my blogging friends a very HAPPY EASTER. It is an extremely happy one for me as this afternoon, I will see my grandson Tom for the first time in a while. His Dad is on his way back from picking him up. He is spending Easter here so we will be having a family get-together tomorrow to celebrate.

Oh by the way, the place-mat is an OPAM finish. Will add to April list as I forgot to add it for March.

Hotrod Weekend & Boonah Retreat

I have been quite busy of late with the last two weekends away. I also have a quilting camp on this weekend at Tamborine Mountain while my hubby goes to Tasmania for his niece's wedding so in all March is just flying by for us.
Photo below shows preparations for my placemat for the Beaudesert Quilters Amish Retreat - 25th-28th March.
The quilt camp with my quilting group this past weekend, was most enjoyable. I didn't take anything big to do, just decided as life has been a bit hectic of late, I would try to catch up on some bits and pieces that I am falling behind with. I managed to finish 2 more blocks for the Pinwheel Quilt Along and Block 2 of the Jelly Roll Sampler. I also had to make the challenge project for the camp next weekend. This time it is a placemat to be used at camp. The theme for the camp is Amish based so I have made my placemat using a block pattern called Amish Boxes. I have used tone on tone fabrics in black and blue and am quite pleased with the result. Of course, I left my black cotton at home and so it still has to be quilted and have the binding attached. I did a few other prep things for more pinwheel blocks and stitcheries but will show them later when they are finished. Usually when I go away for camp I have everything cut out ready to go but this was not the case this year so that means by the time I sorted out colours etc, it took a lot longer to get things done. I also helped a couple of other people along the way so by the end of the weekend, I felt I had accomplished quite a bit even though I don't seem to have much to show for it.


Above Pinwheel Blocks.
Below Jelly Roll Sampler Block 2.

The photos below are of our trip to Toowoomba for the High Altitude Rod Run weekend. We always have a great time catching up with our friends and joining in the activities that the Toowoomba hotrodders arrange for the weekend. This time I was asked to ride in our friend's son's car as he had to have a licensed driver with him. He doesn't have his P plates yet but even when he does get them, because the rod has a V8 motor in it, he will have to be accompanied by a fully licensed driver. A bit of a downer for a 17 year old but for safety reasons and with so many of our young people getting killed in road accidents, it probably isn't a bad thing. The car is called a Rat rod and is very basic inside, quite low to the ground and tends to bottom out when you go over bumps in the road. Quite an experience and made me appreciate our roadster which is the yellow one ( it's not quite as bright as it looks in this photo) in the other photo.

On Thursday, we also celebrate our 15th wedding anniversary. Where have those years gone?