Second post in two days ...........WOW!!

This is just a short post to show my final block of the Bunny Hill BOM from last year. It is the December block. I have 2 charm packs in blue which I am going to cut in 2 1/2 inch squares to sash the blocks. Not sure what I will do after that to finish it, will wait and see what it looks like then decide. Need to purchase blue buttons as well to add to the blocks so a bit of a way to go yet.
I managed to finish my Jelly Roll Sampler block today as well which was no mean feat as I was looking after my grandson who was sick and couldn't go to school. Anyway back to the block. I love the way it turned out. I am using Blush fabric by Basic Grey. Now just have to add the photo to the Flicker group.

I also had time to cut out my next blocks for the Pinwheel Sampler but just couldn't get to stitch them. Oh well, there's always tomorrow.

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........

What to Do?

I can't believe I haven't blogged for so long. Time just seems to be slipping away as we get closer to December. Need to start Christmas shopping soon as usually by this time of the year, I have most of it done. Trying to think of what to buy is the hardest thing for me this year, I don't know why, just seem to be out of ideas. Hopefully, I will get inspiration soon.......

I've been working on A Christmas Wish BOM by Gail Pan this past week. Have finally stitched all the 2&1/2 inch squares around the blocks and am about to add my last border. I have 2 choices of material, either a red floral or a plainer green stripe, both already used in the quilt. I thought I would go with the red and bind with the green but now, I'm not sure. Laying it out on the bed makes me think the red is just too much and when asked, my hubby said he thinks so to. 'Too busy' were his exact words. Below are the photos I took of the top laid out on both fabrics. I think I'm leaning towards the green. Watch for an update or if you have an opinion, leave a comment which will be most welcome.

Here is my Bunny Hill finish for October just in time for November's to arrive. Halloween seems to be catching on here more every year. My grandson Josh had a couple of friends over to his place and by the looks of the photos (sorry I don't have any) had a pretty scarey time. I could only recognize him by his red hair stitcking out from his mask. Good costume Josh.

This photo is of my grand-daughter having her first driving lesson with my son. She drove up from the Gold Coast. It took me back to when my boys first started to drive. Not a pleasant experience for me as I was quite nervous sitting beside them. Luckily we all survived, me especially. When it came the time for my daughter to get her licence, she opted for an automatic one and I had a manual car so no lessons from me. Phew!!!!!

Well, that is all from me this time. Great to see the rain here in Queensland, just need a bit more. 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!!!!!!!

Stitching Catch-up!

I haven't had a chance to do much else over the past few weeks but now I have finished Deb's quilt, I am trying to catch up on all my stitching BOM's before the August ones pop up on my computer. Below are the first two completed. Blocks 6 & 7 of A Tisket A Tasket, free block of the month from Bunny Hill. Block 7 had a flag with the 4th on it celebrating America's 4th of July so I decided to leave this off, although I have been thinking that as July is a big birthday month for my family( 3 birthdays- son, grandson,daughter-in-law), that maybe I might put family on the block somewhere and make my block a celebrate family one.

Now off to stitch Verandah Views and Gail Pans A Christmas Wish July blocks.

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

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.