Something old, something new.

It's nice to be back in the land of blog. VBG. I have the internet again!!

I have so much to show and tell!! Where will I start?

I met Fay in real life (do you remember she named my Eureka Chain quilt?), and Frou too!! What a lovely surprise to meet friends who say "I am Zen of Needle" or "I am Fay, I read your blog!".

I finished a quilt, and started another one!!! LOL!! Well, that's my way. Finish something so I can start something new!!


This is the Joy Of Life quilt (designed by Rosalie Quinlan during her cancer treatment - so it is very pink!). I pieced and appliqued the top in 2007. Mum just quilted it for me. The applique is outline quilted, then surrounded by freehand hearts and swirls. A feathered border completes the quilting.
Ok, that's the something "old". Now for something new!!



I bought a "Paris Holiday" panel and cut out some of the blocks. There are 15 blocks in the panel, I am using 10 in my quilt (there are some left over for a bag or two! Fun!!).

That's me on the left - all the way to Paris to buy fabric!!

It's very pink, so I wanted to churn it up a little.



I have nearly finished the quilting, but I want something to show you tomorrow!! So you will have to wait to see more!

The Ballan quilt show is on in March and the theme is France - so I might enter it in their display just for fun. Perhaps it will inspire others to be a bit whimsical! It's been a while since I made something whimsical. Have I showed you my North Pole quilt? Some other time perhaps!!

What am I working on? Here is the list of five:

• Paris holiday
• Christmas mice (just found it again, and am in the mood to finish it)
• Jo Morton Little quilt (a new start, to show you later)
• 1950s stitcheries - only 2 blocks to go before I design then make the quilt
• friendship block for a friend (it's a secret!)

What will I finish next???

Relief quilts

The Victorian bushfires have really taken their toll.

I am busy organising some quilts to send to a quilting friend of mine, who is also the principal of a primary school in Eaglehawk. She will be able to distribute quilts to friends of hers, and families in the school who have lost their homes.

I dug through my stack of quilts, now I am going through my stash, have I got anything partly made? Dunno.

Gotta go... hope you are going fine!!

A little re-arranging

I have just spent half an hour on the phone with a patient man in the internet support branch of my Internet Provider. I couldn't get the internet to work on my laptop!

The internet security settings were turned up way too high. LOL!!

I need days to catch up and read so I will post later. I am sorry if you feel neglected!!

We are experiencing extremely hot weather - prediction of 43 degrees again tomorrow.

Back soon....

I love vintage and repro

And so does Violette over at the blog Hand Quilting. She has interviewed various fabric designers such as Barbara Brackman, April Cornell, and Darlene Zimmerman. Sharon and Jason Yenter are still to come, and so is Gudrun Erla.

I feel like I am in love with Violette's blog - it takes my breath away!! LOL!!

Here are some photos of the stitchery patterns I am working on (The 1950s Collection). I have finished about 2/3 of the stitching on each one (none are completely finished - I was missing some thread colours).

Maybe I will have a finished block to show and tell this week!

Funky Monkey gains sight

This poor monkey had no eyes since December 6th 2008. (Yes, I just looked it up on my blog to see how long he has been waiting just for eyes.) I started making funky monkey on November 21st 2008. Maybe I could attach a label to his bottom like a Cabbage Patch. LOL!!

This is one of the things I love about my blog - it is my quilting diary. I can't tell you how many times (pre-blogging) I thought back and tried to work out when I started a quilt and when I finished it (for it's label, you know...). My bugs in bottles quilt still doesn't have a label. Hmm... note to self, post a photo of that.

I love Sharyn's idea of making a quilt journal to document all of this (my book covers would do well for those). I have a couple of ideas books that I have scribbled in over the years. Perhaps I will take some photos of pages and the finished quilt sometime to show you. (OK, that thought is also filed away - not in my brain, but on my blog, VBG.) I should make more book covers for them.

Did you get a spare calendar over the New Year period? Perhaps one from the dry cleaners or something like that? I guess businesses are cutting down on such things, but you could still pick up a calendar for a good price now that the year has already started. Keep it next to your sewing machine and write in some of the ideas Sharyn suggests here.

It is such a clever idea. Although I write in this blog, I don't post every time I change a sewing machine needle. LOL!!

I have a new panel. The design was inspired by an object book from the 1940s. I am going to make a soft book from it, but the pictures would also make good blocks in a quilt.

The flash didn't go off in the bottom photo, but I can't be too picky, I haven't had time to post for days!!

I am really enjoying the warm weather - BBQs outside in the cool of the evening after a hot day.... we have been eating lots of salads, unusual combinations that we rustle up so we don't get tired of lettuce and tomato. Another warm day today, 30 degrees C (it's been 2 days in a row at 39, so it is some respite, but still certainly not gardening weather).

Finish #1 for 2009

The French Collection quilt

I actually finished this quilt 2 days ago... but haven't been able to get onto the computer!! LOL!!

The close-up above gives a better idea of how good the quilt looks in real life. When the images is smaller (as below) it loses a little bit.





This last picture shows the overall look before binding and buttons.

Now I am working on a new series of stitcheries with buttons "The 1950's collection". I am nearly finished the stitching!!

The town where I grew up

Imagine seeing the town where you grow up from someone else's eyes - especially if they are a quilter and interested in the elements of design.

Well... here is Ruth's blog post describing parts of Bendigo - my home town. I never thought it would look so inspiring. I guess, I just forgot.

I am madly finishing, finishing! I will post photos tomorrow!!