Sew busy and happy

It's the school holidays, and we are busy busy busy!


There wasn't even time for Social Sewing Group today... family is amazing though. What a journey we get to travel watching children grow.

This is my show and tell from yesterday...



A little bit more to do and this block (one of 6 blocks in  Bronwyn Hayes' design "The Wish Quilt") is finished.

I've had so many ideas, and am quite excited to go shopping for Christmas fabric at $5 per metre... I just can't help myself when it comes to Christmas! Trying to stay away...

Mum leaves tomorrow, which was a surprise to me. I thought she was staying for longer, so I have been forsaking my sewing for family time. Stay tuned for more "Christmas in July" progress.

Stitchy fingers

I've been gagging to start something with these challenge fabrics. And finally, it's July!


My self imposed (or is that self allowing) month where I get to put aside the long term projects I've been working on all year, and finish off/work on/start some projects with a Christmas theme, or for Christmas gifts.

First up, I started another small redwork stitchery for the Bronwyn Hayes Christmas wallhanging. This little birdy block is stitched. It will become the centre of a tiny sawtooth star. There is another little one traced and ready to stitch.



Last night after little man went to sleep with his Daddy, I was in the right frame of mind to cut and measure fabric pieces for one of the redwork blocks, but the fabric was nowhere to be found! Dangnabbit. I'll have to work on something else. It turned out to be in a box under our bed where he was sleeping with Dad.... No way that I  would have been able to rummage around without waking up Bub, and that is why I couldn't find it last night.

Well, with itchy fingers (or should that be "stitchy fingers"? hee hee) I went searching for something else to cut and stitch.

Ta-da! Ooh, these fabrics are lovely. The challenge is to make an item no bigger than 50cm x 50cm using only these fabrics.

I liked the look of these flying geese blocks at Temecula Quilt Co. This link shows a photo tutorial for making the blocks starting with 5 squares to make 4 geese units.

I made these last night. It took no time to make 18 blocks.


All pinned together, and little confetti triangles cut off...



And here is the tiny quilt top ready to quilt. This is going to be a table centre. This will fulfill the challenge requirements and then it will be given as a gift to one of the children's class teachers for Christmas.



Then I really liked these green fabrics with the oranges.



I couldn't use them together for the challenge, so I decided to make something else with the leftover orange prints from the challenge.



 This will become a quilt about a metre square.



 Hmm.. I'm going to need some more orange and green fabrics. What can I find?



More geese!!



Uh-oh. I cut these squares too big! Back to the board to cut them down...





I've made 44 geese blocks... I think that will be about half the size I'd like.  I'm going to have to look for another 6 or so fat quarters.... that's all I could get up to today... school holidays! Busy Mummy!!

Earlier this week I took little man and my Mum (Grandma) off to the Townsville Show to look at the exhibits.



The craft and baking sections were so small.... I feel bad for not entering this year. I want to keep the exhibits going. Now, I know how to present everything, I am excited to enter a few sections next year.

It's an amazing thing to see everything new in the eyes of a child.



I feel totally blessed to be a parent...
Ooh! The Ferris Wheel.



Who is looking at Who?

Little Man couldn't take his eyes off the Dodgem Cars. I know he's going to love them when he's older... or maybe he will have a go-kart and won't need them. He's definitely a car buff like his Dad.

Suddenly switching projects

I've stopped working on a few projects abruptly to commence Christmas In July!!

Another small (6 inch) block from The Goblin King is finished, and another 6 are traced ready to stitch in August.

And Toby is started, and almost finished. He reminds me of my own son... walking.. blonde.. blue eyes... doesn't say much (well, not in words we can understand)... looks cute in a stripey onesie, runs around like a garden gnome/playful goblin.

That's the end of the thread I had stockpiled in that colour. Time to go buy another swag of threads.

Secret Garden month 6 has been released. It's four intense centre applique blocks that require deadly accuracy as there are interlocking circles. In August it will be back to embellishing the first 3 blocks, appliqueing block 4, and machine piecing 40 x four inch blocks. Crikey! That should be a good warm up to the very specific centre blocks.

Stay tuned for Christmas in July projects!

Head down...

Only a couple more days left this month, and I am excited to do as much as I can on Diamond Hill, Secret Garden and the Goblin King quilts before July starts.

And when July starts, I will be just as excited to start a new challenge project, and to make Christmas gifts and Christmas themed items during the entire month. Ooh! What a great idea to insert a (hopefully) whole lot of finished items onto the annual list (see the sidebar on the right) in the middle of the year, instead of adding them all at the end. Hee hee.

Some people make gifts all year - one project a month, they call it. I think I've been making gifts all year anyway. Hahahahahhaha. Just really big ones, that aren't all finished yet!

Progress? Well, this is an English Paper Pieced block for a Diamond Hill corner.

It's the first one. And these are quite tiny. They will be appliqued onto a 4 inch finished square.

And this is the back.

A little bit more machine piecing... two out of four chequerboards are finished for the next border on Diamond Hill, which is mainly applique.

And another 36 little diamonds (not all pictured here) for the other two chequerboards.

Soon, the last scraps of purple will be used up, and that piecing will have to wait until I pick the rest of the background fabric from layby.

Secret Garden pieced blocks are being cut more accurately with freezer paper patterns ironed onto the contrast fabric, then rotary cut.



Today I pieced about 10 of them. Only 30 to go, then leaves to be added to each block. Next set of instructions (month 6) will be released in 3 days, and I am still working on month 4 and 5. A month off may be all I need to get really stuck into the blocks again in August.

And another block for The Goblin King stitchalong.



I love that line!!  As the quilt is a tribute to the Labyrinth movie I wanted to include any particular lines that come to mind from the character.

Right! Now it's time to stitch the next EPP flower or another stitchery block!

Head down, bum up... see you in a few days!

Slow Sunday Stitching in a whirl

Well, I've really put the boot in today working on a long term project.

It takes about 2 hours to foundation piece 20 little diamond blocks, not counting trimming, pressing or cutting fabrics. I estimate 40 hours foundation piecing all the little diamonds in the Diamond Hill quilt - it's namesake.

I was all ready to join the last two sides this morning... and for some reason the strip of 23 diamonds was too long, by about 2 inches. Almost an entire block too long.

I measured. I remeasured. I measured another bit.

Well... it seems my 1/4 inch seams were too scant. Check it out! The block is 1/8 inch too big! Infact, they were all too big. So I had to restitch all the seams for two sides, and re-press them.



Ooh. Now they fit. Month 5 is almost finished. All I need to do is the English Paper piecing for each corner and the centre.

Oops, hard to reach high enough now to photograph the whole centre

(Mother in law made me this skirt, and I am making her this quilt!)

Also made another 12 diamonds.

And started to join some together to make part of month 6.

Need 4 blocks of 15 diamonds (3x5 arrangement)... but ran out... need to make more!

I will continue with the every last slither of purple background until it runs out. Then I will have to stop piecing them until I pick up the rest of the background fabric on layby....

Heaven knows I have plenty to go on with! I need to venture out to Officeworks to print out the next patterns for both Diamond Hill and Secret Garden - I need the templates. Then the 40 x  4inch blocks for Secret Garden will follow (machine piecing).

It is almost July. For all of July I plan to celebrate "Christmas in July" by making Christmas projects, and maybe some Christmas gifts.

Before Christmas In July starts I'd like to finish another Labyrinth block I am working on. I am keen to finish that quilt by the end of the year.

I also bought a mystery fabric pack to enter a challenge at Quilty Desires LQS.

I got these Australian artsy fabrics. 25cm of each (that's a metre of fabric) in the mystery pack for A$20. All I need to do is make something and email photos into the shop.

I am also putting these greens with it - 3 fat quarters. I have some more too if that's not enough.

Together these make a really fresh combo. I have plans for a table runner and cushion if there's enough fabric for both. I hope there is. As they will be Christmas gifts, I will work on them in July... which reminds me.... the photos need to be emailed to the shop that month too! I must remember the deadline.

Well, that's certainly a big step on the slow journey towards the finish of Diamond Hill. ... linking up to Slow Sunday Stitching. Now you know why it's called SSS, even if you get lots done in one day.

Sneaky stitches

It's so lovely to have my machine home...

Since I picked it up last Wednesday I've left Janome baby on the kitchen table and sneakily stitched (well... snuck a bit of stitching in at odd moments) up another 44 diamonds. Woohoo.

44 foundation pieced blocks to be trimmed

I MUST be half way by now...

Oi! What's this? Little man has been drawing on Mummy's sewing! Too bad I didn't see it until after I finished stitching the block. Such a little helper!

Ooh! He's a cheeky clogs! Dancing to "La Cucaracha" at the Mexican restaurant.

Mmm chipotle chicken and rice

And I tried out test blocks for Secret Garden part 5, some machine pieced blocks. I prefer the grey background with purple contrast cross.

Next for Secret Garden: make 40 blocks and applique leaves

I've realised that I need to cut the strips for the diagonals much more precisely, and pin to fit, to ensure the background is not stretching. Otherwise, if the lattice blocks are joined later in the quilt instructions (I don't know as it's a mystery), the seams will not match.

Ooh, a patworthy pile of fabric!

Maybe I'll get up to these next week!

Deja vu

Sometimes we just need a change of scene. It's been all about Diamond Hill and Secret Garden applique BOMs for the last 5 months.

I started joining in the Goblin King quiltalong at fandom in stitches. About 2 months ago I lost the bag with the stitcheries in progress. Perhaps it was stashed somewhere very special by Master 18 months!! I stopped stitching, hoping the blocks would turn up.

Um. No. I even had to buy a new embroidery hoop.

Now that some people have finished piecing the entire Labyrinth quilt top, and I am feeling inspired to stitch a block or two again.

Look! Here is the new Hoggle block all stitched out. Next I need to print out some more patterns. I only have the worm to work on.

Ooh deja vu. Have I already stitched this? I can't remember.

And so, I turned to the other stitchery project I started this year (also a big project) - The Wish Quilt by Red Brolley (Bronwyn Hayes). It's a free pattern too.

This little block has been stitched onto a piece of waffled red tea towel. I'm loving the contrast in thread colours.

Cheers to all our slow stitching projects... that are hopefully coming together by the end of the year!