Rememberance

I didn't realise this wasn't a very good photo of the finished quilt "Rememberance".... I usually like to take photos of my quilts flat, showing the binding... but this was taken while the quilt was in the hands of the recipient. I finished sewing the binding down last night... What a pleasant past-time it is to sit on the couch ... watching a funny movie... ("The Guru")....

It's been a while since I sat down and relaxed with handwork in front of the TV. I miss it. There are so many other things we do: mowing the grass, yoga sessions, dance classes, socialising, taking walks... This reminded me how important it is to make time for all the activities we lenjoy.. even if it is only once in a while...

Basket Case

Finding a good name for this quilt was really easy!! I certainly feel like a basket case!

I've just stayed up sewing and sewing... I can't put the baskets down!!

I filled six bobbins on a friend's machine. My machine really, really needs to be serviced... Tension bad, bobbins not winding, thread cutter on the fritz... poor workhorse!

A snapshot of a few blocks- each block has 2 borders... and I've joined them into rows.

I think they'll have a little ric-rac and/or ribbon for decoration, and some 3D flowers made with the clover flower maker... I'll keep you updated. *grin*

Oh, and hand-sewing? Mum has quilted my Flower Of The Month stitchery quilt. It's beautiful. I've machine-stitched the binding on... I'm off to a Christmas Sew-In at Susan's today, and I'll be needing some hand work.

Mad Sewing Tuesday

It's the first of the Mad Sewing Tuesday sessions... a few of us are going to get together to sew and sew... I'm glad I started today, or I would have been mowing...then grocery shopping.. then by the time I go to dance class and yoga that would be it!! The day is gone!!

I finished something off first (well nearly.... it needs quilting)... You know, I have this rule that I need to finish something before I can start something new... so, it's almost a finish.. because it's ready to be quilted by Mum. (Thank you!)...

This is the Flower Of The Month stitchery I started in 2006. The last time I worked on it was May 2010. This how it looked then...

oh dear... It's been waiting for borders for 18 months! I just love love the colours and fabrics... I would love to keep it... but I had an idea while I was finishing it today that my gf Janelle would love it. She lost her Dad last week - he was a war veteran... with poppies quilted on this, I would name it "Rememberance".

This bunch of flowers will last a lot longer than some real ones that would fade too quickly. I'm not going to tell Janelle why she is getting this quilt. I am just going to give it to her.

My next task was to prepare for Christmas...

This Christmas stocking panel by Julie Paschkis is stunning. The prints have depth, and the colours are warm. I quilted the fronts, then quilted black pieces for the back... then added straight grain binding to the tops, stitched around the outside... and added bias binding to the sides.

Two made, two more to go... maybe next Tuesday? I think they took an average of an hour each... that's not too bad.... Still to make the birds (I want them to be name tags for the stockings).... Fun! Fun!

Retreat show and tell

I've so much to share with you as post-retreat show and tell.

Yes, I slept very well, ate very well and visited the beach!! (What's the point of going to Phillip Island if you don't visit the beach?).I worked on these star pieces in the car on the way...

The baby shower quilt is actually the last thing I worked on - this is why it's not finished. I have chain pieced lots of the quilt. It won't take long to finish the quilt top now!

Lucky really, as it needs to be finished for this weekend now. Eep!!

I couldn't go any further on the flower of the month stitcheries. I changed my mind, and decided to completely frame the blocks in green, rather than use sashing. I ran out of the red, I do have more, I didn't have it with me though. Drats!

Don't they look good with those colours framing them?

This little golly quilt top was sitting around for about 5 years. I quilted it, then hand-stitched the binding on in the car on the way home (I didn't drive, it's okay). VBG.

I found lots of half metre pieces of fabric in my stash during the clean-up. They were all nice fabrics, but not something that would slot easily into a quilt without designing the quilt around the fabric. Know what I mean?

These fabrics were perfect for accessories - just like these bags!

The first bag took me 2 hours to make, by the time I made the last one I had it down to 45 minutes.

My first real go at zippers.... I used the walking foot - much easier than the zipper foot.

When I made the first one, the bag instructions said to sew the second side on with the zip half closed.

I found this difficult, so I sewed it with the zip completely closed on the second bag. Whoops. The zipper tab (what DO you call that bit on a zip that goes up and down) was on the leftover bit of zip on the inside of the bag. I had to unpick and put the zip on the outside of the bag.

The third bag, I sewed the side seams with the zip closed and couldn't turn the bag right side out. Whoops again! I had to unpick a seam to slide the zipper tab (or whatever it's called) along, then re-sew the seam... then I could open the zip to turn the bag right way out.

Lots of learning, lots of show and tell. No, I didn't finish everything... Never mind.

Oh my stars!

I found these vintage flower of the month stitchery patterns on the web a few years ago, and stitched them. Today I trimmed them down ready to join into a quilt top whilst on retreat with the Phillip Island Patchworkers (VIC).The large floral fabric is from my stash. It's going to be the outer border.
I will frame the blocks in green and use the red and green print for cornerstones. The red is for binding.

Last night I started this project. I looked in my (mostly) sorted stash and saw I had a HUGE pile of green fabrics (I am very comfortable with this, I use them for stems and leaves in applique all the time). I noticed I also had a large amount of blue fabrics.
I am going to use this picture as a basis for my repro paper-pieced stars.

I herby name this quilt "My Stars!". When you say it or read it, you must pronounce it just the way Samantha would in "Bewitched" episodes.

I've already prepared some diamonds to take away on the weekend for handwork.

My favourite things...

I got a really funny email. It had a picture of Julie Andrews (she is around aged 70 now, I can't remember exactly). She had sang an alternate version of My Favourite Things - it was all about ageing.

Well, borders on stitchery could easily be added. It's one of my favourite things, at the moment, because it's all the quilt-making I have achieved in the last few days!

I have finished the last embroidered stitch on the final center stitchery block. I hadn't done it because I ran out of that colour. It's done now!

These poor blocks look a little bit funny without their buttons, especially the lavendar.

I can't wait until I finish the whole quilt!! I will work on it all day Monday (holiday)...

Oh Mammy!

Uh-oh! Not only has my list of 29 UFOS remained static (I keep finding more UFOs hidden away!)... I scrummaged through the box where I was keeping one of these UFOs -free flower of the month stitchery patterns (see some finished blocks below), and found some Mammy doll stitcheries I had printed off.

I want to make the Mammy doll dresses brightly coloured in variegated stitching with almost all other stitching in plain black (I think they will need red lips).

They are traced off and ready to go. I will post pictures as I progress.

The Mammy stitcheries were originally on the same site as the flowers of the month, but they are no longer on it.

Is the term "Mammy" politically correct? These girls are gorgeous and they will brighten up my kitchen. I think that's where I will put a little wallhanging I plan to make. I have some lovely 40s inspired prints that I think will work well with them.

Sorry no time for photos! Stay tuned!

More and more old-fashioned

Last night I worked late. Everyone I saw reminded me I am ageing. Young people were turning into young men and women. I looked into the faces of people only 5 or 10 years older than me, and I was imagining how they looked as 20 year olds.

Is 20 the age we always imagine ourselves? I have heard that's why a lot of farmers die at around age 50 of accidents on their farms. They forgot they are no longer the strapping man of 25, and try to do the physical feats that were easy in their youth.

Last night one young man looked at my name tag and saw I was married. I first met him 5 1/2 years ago when he was about 12. He looked nervous around me, but in a kind of "I hope you still respect me" way. Sometimes he is so confident. I guess it's a compliment. Was he comparing me with his parents?

Maybe I am just feeling older... and more old-fashioned.

What a lot of melancholic reflection! I am definitely ready for a holiday from work. Soon....soon...

In the meantime, here are some old-fashioneds I am happy with:

They have photographed slightly different colour backgrounds, but I have used the same fabric for all of them.

Old-fashioned flower of the month stitcheries

Last night I got my jobs done and I wanted to sit for an hour or so and watch a crime show I had taped. It's called "Underbelly" - the story of Melbourne gangsters, enlightening, not too grim, not too nice either. I am quite enjoying it.

So, I was looking at my list of four which currently includes Noddy, The French Collection and Christmas Mice.. and has an opening for something else! Well, they were all at the "nutting out" stage, and I really wanted something mindless to stitch while I watch.

My eyes travelled over my blog list of UFOs (I knew they would come in handy for something!) and I saw the Flower Of The Month stitchery blocks. They are all traced off and ready to be finished.

I finished this block last night.

I love that the pictures look old-fashioned. Just like those teacups with the months and flowers on them. So pretty! This morning I decided when I put them together they will go with my opp shop d'oyley collection. I bought about 20 at a garage sale once for $1 each. All embroidered. If any have holes or stains, they will be cut in half or whatever so I can use the good bits.

I have d'oyleys I embroidered myself, but I won't be cutting them up.

This is where I found the free patterns. I printed them off in May 2006, but they are still there.

These are a few of the blocks I have done so far. I will post more tomorrow.

I would suggest you use an unbleached muslin or osnaberg or pastel backgrounds to ensure the white flowers show up on all the pictures.