27 snowballs

I caught up with Mum on the weekend, and had another go at setting up the Statler Gammill.  This time on an initial quilt... the blocks were swapped in 2004, and the quilt top was completed in December 2010!! Mum's had it nearly a year and a half... my finished items for the year list is looking a little bare... so let's snap to it Mum!! We didn't quite get it totally quilted on the weekend... It will be good to have a quilt to keep for myself when I have completed it.

I know it's not always about quantity... quality is also key. But, I love to sew... I should be finishing things... otherwise I don't get to start anything new... and that keeps the creative juices working....

What I have been working on is the Snowball In Hell quilt... Oh yes. A few more blocks to show today.

I've made only another 3 blocks, but I've done a lot of cutting and sorting. Ready to sit and stitch!

I'm using the Hipstimatic app on the iphone to take some of these snaps. I love the little frame, and the random way the flash is applied, but the colours aren't always true, so I've put the photos in here twice for show and tell purposes.

What else has been going on? There's the Be Seussical quilt just getting its binding hand stitched.. and the Basket Case quilt is also ready to bind...

...There must be some other things I've worked on this year... what's have I been blogging about? I'm gonna see what I can finish.

6 out of 30

Woohoo! Just loving these new snowball blocks.

I did quite a bit of cutting, then sat to sew... then I'm making the first 9 patch, and I can see straight away that there's not enough contrast. It doesn't look like a 9 patch at all...

So I make a few snowballs in another colour, then take a photo to test it out.

It works! And so, the rest of the block is made.

Yes, the other light colour looks fine in the second block of the evening.

I happily sewed away on four blocks, took a lovely pic.. then made another one.. heh heh

So, that's a total of 6 blocks out of 30... still got a bit to go... but enjoying the Snowball In Hell quilt. :)

Friday night sewing... so it's crappy weather, and Fiona has a cold... well.. I'll sew on my own!

I traced off 19 foundation piecing thingees ready to stitch, and now that I've made two of  'em, I realise I've miscalculated and drafted. They don't work! There is no way those seams are going to match... Well, it's Friday night, and my brain won't work.....

I'll have to redraft on Tuesday when I've got Andrea's brain to lean on! So... what to do...

I've been looking at this magazine, and drooling over a quilt.. imagining it in all sorts of colourways....

 So, I cut up some Australian Aboriginal prints to make a test block. I love it!!

One block took 45 minutes, another 29 to go to make this quilt....

Ooh! And here's the magazine in case you want to make it too...

Well, I didn't get up to finishing the second Cat In The Hat quilt top in time for quilting over the weekend...

So, guess what I brought out this week on the Tuesday sewing session with Rosie and Andrea?

You guessed it! And I'm pretty chuffed that the Quilt Top #2 is now finished. Oh boy, I can't believe there are another 2 Dr Seuss quilts to be made... I'm going to be quite tired of it when I've done them all... Anyway, it's relatively easy to make: only about 8 hours in the quilt top.... that's why they are all getting (nearly) the same. I'll just mix around the arrangement of block backgrounds and appliques for a bit of variety.



I've accidentally rearranged the background, so I've also altered the positioning of the appliqued bits. Rosie says it's the "Wonky Quilt"... very true that... I mean, have you seen the Cat In The Hat movie? It's enough to make anyone see sideways.. hahahahhhah

After working on the "mundane" task of another Dr Seuss quilt, I rewarded myself by taking out a project I've been hankering to work on....

These Baltimore album blocks have been sitting in a box since August 2009. I made myself finish 16 blocks before starting the Civil War Bride applique blocks..... and I've had an idea of what to do with the sashing for years...

First I needed to draft the cornerstone to see if it would work... then calculate the sizes for the sashing...  and make a test bit to see.

Oh yes, loving it... I over-stayed my time a little bit, because I was enjoying the way the blocks were going together... Friday night sewing with Fiona - and I'll be foundation piecing my little fingers off to make the cornerstones.

After the centre is complete, I can think about the borders.... I must show a closeup of the red sashing fabric: is it ombre when the fabric changes from light to dark? Anyway, it's an 1800s reproduction fabric. And it looks smashing! If I say so myself... *wink*

Cats and Dogs

Well, what a strange combination - cats and dogs! I never thought I'd be quite as fond of animals as I am now.... but it's a bit like babies really... I enjoy giving them back. (shhhh)...

Rosie, Andrea and I followed up last week's sewing day with another busy day of sewing. I machine stitched bindings onto the Pokey Puppy Quilt and Be Seussical. The couch awaits! Hahahaah.. perfect weather for sitting indoors with a movie actually....

Then I worked on the next Cat In The Hat quilt top.... pieced the background together and fused on the appliques. If I am able to get the quilt top finished by the weekend Mum and I will put it on her big machine... and zup zup.. another one done.

But wait, I've already had couch time.. and I've finished the Pokey Puppy quilt binding.. It just needs a label.. Yay!! Baby Finn is going to love it... (Finn is the one in the braces jumpsuit... and Marcus is having a swing at his lil' toy).

What I forg...

What I forgot... and what I just realised.....

Whoops.... feeling a bit blonde at the moment... I've just realised that I didn't share the finished hexagon triangle from the weekend... stitched while I watched The Hangover 2 with Mum, and while the bones were stitched onto the Poky Puppy Quilt...

And while laying these out to take a photograph, I've just realised that the latest one I made is a different size! I've used a different size hexagon template... derr....

I am using the same sized hexagon template to make another piece... but this is part of a diamond. Oh my....

Do you know this means I just started ANOTHER project? Oh no!! hahahahha... I have no idea how many projects are on the go now...

Mother's Day.

The last few years I've spent Mothers Day weekend in Phillip Island on quilter's retreat... yes, one of those years was with my mother... hahahahah... but this year I didn't get my form back in time, and missed out....

This Mother's Day weekend I spent some time with my Mum... awwww... yeah ....

I made her panda cupcakes (pandas are black and white... and that's her fav footy team colours) .. she loved 'em!

So what did we do? Mum showed me how to use her sooper dooper HUGE quilting machine... yay!

 Here I am working on the Dr Seuss quilt... yep... that's done...

Quilted with circles....

After lunch we had time for me to practise again.... quilted an allover bones design on the Poky Puppy baby quilt.

What a relaxing time with my Mum.. I love you so much Mumsy.... I don't know what I'd do without you. xo

Now there are two quilts ready to bind... Better get the binding machined on and prepare to watch some movies... ooh, what a hard job that is.... *wink*

...

Doesn't take long...

It doesn't take long to knock up a few of these hexagons... just a couple of hours at Wednesday night sewing..... oh! I hadn't been there for about a year! I'm so glad I went.... I have a feeling I will be sewing a lot more in the next little while...