a lovely weekend.....

A lovely weekend was had here with good friends and some sewing just for fun.

On Saturday, Patch and Quilt here in Gisborne held a book launch for Irene Blanck and her new book 'Focus on Applique', published by Quiltmania.

Last year Irene had an exhibition of her quilts here at Mary's shop, and they are truly exquisite.  You can see some photos here.

Irene's new book is beautiful, with many gorgeous projects within its pages.

Tracee, Marg and I meet up with some of our 'City Girl' friends, Elyte, Marina and Anne, and as always, it was a fun day filled with much laughter.

Elyte, Marg, Irene and Tracee

Tracee, Anne and Marg in deep quilty discussion.....

Hmmmm, is this fabric going to work.....

Three lovely ladies... Elyte, Marina and Irene

Irene ready to sign her books, with Mary and Ashleigh working hard behind.....

We ended up making a day of it, meeting at 10.30 for coffee, then

off to the book signing, then out for lunch.  I really had the most enjoyable and fun day, it was wonderful.

Elyte, Anne, Marina and myself have signed up for a 'Clamshells' class in August with Irene, and I am really looking forward to it.

Some sewing just for fun was also done.  I have been wanting to make some small fabric baskets for awhile now to hold the million and one scraps accumulating around the house, with each basket colour matching the scraps it will hold.  During the week I searched out some patterns, and decided to give this one a go, by Rachel Griffiths of PS I Quilt.  This was obviously quite a small basket, but I made it in its original size to practice the construction, and then played with the size to make a bigger basket. 

Two baskets later.....

I was really happy with these, and they are really quick and easy to make - the qulting of the fabric takes the most time.  You can see that the first one is quite small compared with my rotary cutter. I was really happy with the second one, but I think some more pattern tweaking is in order, to end up with a size about half way between the two.

I really enjoyed making these, and the pattern also has an option for handles, so they also make a cute little gift bag.  More of these little baskets are now definitely on the to do list.

Hope your weekend was as much fun as mine! xx

a challenge or two... or three.....

Well, I'm going to be a busy girl.....

 

I have signed up to two challenges/quilt-alongs, as well as organising one of my own..... must be a glutton for punishment... and possibly a little overenthusiastic!  Fortunately, these are year-long quilt-alongs, so I do have some time to organise myself!

 

They do sound like lots of fun though, so here are the details, if you feel inspired to join in too.....

 

Firstly, my 'Simple Shapes' QAL...

 

 

I recently borrowed this book from my local library, and loved it; I find Kaffe Fassett's use of colour and pattern very inspiring, and it occurred to me that it would be a great basis for a quilt along.  I was originally inspired in this idea by a blog post written by Kim, and with Kim's permission, I used the same idea for this project, as it sounded like so much fun.

 

 The idea is, you choose a quilt out of the above book that you want to make,

but it must be kept secret…..

 

The quilt is to be made over a period of 12 months (now 11 months....), with the ‘big unveiling’ on Saturday 20 June 2015 - 'in person' for the local ladies, and a cyber unveiling for those elsewhere.

 

I thought this was a good book to use, as they are all quilts made with basic shapes, and with many of them there is no great level of difficulty for those that may not have so much experience with piecing.  I also think the quilts in the book lend themselves to being made in any style of fabric, and can be made to a size that suits you.

I invited a few friends to join me, which they did, and many of them, and myself, have now purchased the book and are ready to start creating wonderful quilts.

So, if you would like to join in, please do; and of course, if you want to invite someone else to join in who you think would enjoy this QAL too, go right ahead -  the more the merrier! And Kim, who wrote the blog post that inspired me, is joining in too.  So far we have ladies joining in from Australia, New Zealand, USA and UK - which for me personally, is very exciting!!

What do you think?  Are you in?

 

Another challenge currently running, with the unveiling on 29/30 August 2015 is 'The Gisborne Quilters Great Shirt Challenge', organised by my lovely and fun friends, Tracee and Marg. 

 

 

Details of this challenge are on Tracee's blog, here.

 

The third quilt-along I have joined in with is the 'Quilt like an Eagle' project, organised by Audrey and Angie.

 

 

Although I am here in Australia, every Fourth of July I admire all the lovely patriotic red, white and blue quilts on so many of the American blogs I enjoy reading, and I often see fantastic 'eagle'  quilts.  Audrey and Angie had each always harboured a desire to make one too... and thus the Eagle Quilt QAL was born.

 

A blog has been started just for this quilt-along (must remember to do that...), and lots of ideas are already percolating..... 

 

The 'show and tell' for this quilt along is on 4 July 2015.

 

Phew!  Three fun QALs/challenges, and lots of fun to be had, and with a year to make a quilt - or two..... maybe you might be inspired to join in too!?

some more randomness.....

I've been having a lovely time, over here in my little corner of blogworld.....

 

some more lovely quilts from the Sunbury Quilt Show... 

I LOVE minis.... and here is a whole display of them!

 

 an amazing 'Farmer's Wife' quilt

 

 another of my friend Carolyn's beautiful quilts

 

enjoying being at home...

 

a relaxing Sunday morning in bed with some knitting and my favourite magazines

 

 a delicious fruit loaf

 and some cheese & chive scones

 I really enjoyed this book

 

and this one

 

and browsing through this one

 

there has been some sewing...

catching up on my 'Market Day' quilt along sewing 

and watching...

a gorgeous series, I just love it
 

there have been beautiful sunrises...

 

and happy mail...

bought with birthday money, I have been waiting for this with

barely-contained excitement.....

 

and lunchtimes from work spent at home having something
warm and yummy to eat ~

 some delicious risotto - I am so lucky that my job is only 5 minutes from home 

life is good.....

 
xx

Huckleberry Stitches - 'Kathleen Tracy' quilt-along.....

I love mini quilts, and I love the patterns of Kathleen Tracy, who has written quite a few books featuring mini quilt patterns.

 

This morning I saw a post over on Kathleen's FB page, that Tilda at Huckleberry Stitches is hosting a quilt-along using this book of Kathy's - 

 

 

I didn't have to think too hard or long about it to jump in and sign up.

 

For this first month, we are making the Log Cabin mini (on page 37, if you have this book... and I should probably say, that if you want to join in with this quilt-along, you do need to have your own copy).

One of the things I love about mini quilts is that they are great for either using up scraps, or just shopping from your own stash - if you have a stash like mine, that is lol...

I am really looking forward to joining in with Tilda on this quilt-along. 
Maybe you would like to join too?

xx

friday night with friends ~ may 2014

We had a lovely night last night for FNWF at Marg's house, although being the goose I am, I forgot to take my camera.  Photos however are on Sue's blog here.  Sue had a bit of frustrating night with her sewing, otherwise a good night was had by all.  Sadly Tracee could not sew with us last night, but visited for awhile and kept us fortified with supplies to keep our sewing strength up!

During the week I finished my 'homework' block, Carpenters Wheel ~

and we made the Bears Paw block last night ~

I am really happy with how these colours are working, and apart from the occasional frustration following the instructions in the book, am enjoying making these blocks.

Onto block 6 next, a basket block.....

xx

friday night with friends.....

 

It's that time again..... the night dedicated to sewing, friends and fun on Friday!

 

I'm joining in, and I'll be sewing along with Sue, Tracee and Marg.  We're at Marg's lovely house tonight for some more Underground Railroad-ing.  Up to block 5, woohoo!

 

Hope you can join in too, but whatever you are doing, have a wonderful Friday night!

xx

friday night with friends - april 2014.....

Another lovely, fun night was had here, sewing along with Sue, Tracee and Marg.  We worked again on our Underground Railroad quilt, making block 4, Wagon Wheel.  Happy faces so far!

Tracee had a bit of a stressful night, first running late because of recalcitrant chooks, and then having lots of problems with her block.  

For this block, I chose to put it together in a different way than the instructions in the book, and I was so glad I did, my block came together much faster and easier than for the other girls.  As I said in a previous post, the instructions in this book are appalling and we have all struggled to understand them at different times.

In trying to follow the instructions for making this block from the book, confusion reigned once again.....

Poor Tracee had a  lot of problems with hers.  The method in the book for this block is to use interfacing, and when Tracee ironed her wagon wheel, the interfacing shrank and distorted the block.  Some unpicking and resewing was required, but all turned out well in the end.

Our finished blocks -

The evening was finished with a lovely dessert made by Sue, berries in jelly with cream.  Yum!

I made a start on the next block, but it was my turn to be confused..... not much progress was made, so we have homework for next month!  Looking forward to our next get together.....

And thank you to Cheryll for another great night!

let's book it 2014 ~ the underground railroad quilt

A catch up post for some of my recent sewing happenings -

   

Some time ago, Sue, Tracee, Marg and myself decided to have our own little quilt-along, making the Underground Railroad quilt from this book by Eleanor Burns, and getting together on the first Friday evening of each month for FNWF (hosted by the amazing Cheryll), to make each block.
 

Our first block - we are working in order through the book - is the Underground Railroad block.  Sue, Tracee and Marg opted to go with the green/brown/cream colours used in the book, but I decided on red/cream/blue for my colours, although having now seen their green/brown/cream results I am feeling a bit torn!.

This is the result of our first night's sewing ~

We were very industrious ~ look at these ladies hard at work!
 

We do find this book quite hard to follow, the instructions are not well written.  I think Marg's face in the picture above says 'what the hell does that mean'!!

I must admit I am not happy with my block, and am also not convinced I am happy with these colours.  Sue and I got together last Thursday night and made our second block and I tried some different colours - dark blue/mustard/taupe - which I think I prefer.  One of them will have to be remade, I'm not sure yet which....  

As we are doing this quilt-along from a book, I am joining in this month with  Vroomans Quilts for 'Let's Book It 2014'. 

We had originally decided to do just one block a month, but, with 15 blocks to make, have decided we will probably make two blocks a month going forward. 

Now, I just need to make a final decision about my colours, before we go on to the next block .....

a farmer's wife, sort of..... and other sewing projects

Finally, I have got back to some sewing. As I am determined to get quite a lot done this year with my quilting, I am trying to 'start as I mean to go on' - to make the time and just do it!

This year's sewing journey has begun by revisiting my French Braid quilt. I had four braids completed, and another two partly done. Turns out I had cut enough pieces to do almost 9 braids, so I got stuck in, cut a few extra, and finished all nine of them.


These will get temporarily put aside now, as I am in a quandary as to what I am going to use for the sashing. I think I'll need to take it to the quilt shop and try a few things out.

I also started a gift for a friend. So far I have this -


These blocks are from a fabric panel from the 'Full Circle' range by Kathy Schmitz. It was quite difficult trying to get it to square up as the printing of each square was quite uneven. Anyway, it's on the list to finish in the next week.

Although the plan for this year is to work on my "12 in '12" list i.e. not start anything new that isn't already ON the list, I have for quite a while wanted to do the Farmer's Wife quilt which has of course been so popular in the blogosphere, so in January I started the blocks for that - although I am sort of doing my own version of it. So, a farmer's wife, sort of. For quick and easy cutting, I have matched up many of the blocks in 'A Farmer's Wife' to blocks in '501 Rotary Cut Quilt Blocks' by Judy Hopkins. For those that are not an exact match, I have found blocks that are very similar, often almost the same.

My progress so far -


Most of the fabrics are 'Maison de Garance' by French General, with a couple of other coordinating fabrics added in. I must admit I am really loving how the blocks are turning out. I want it to be a quilt for the cold weather, and the warm reds and browns are perfect. I am thinking that I may sash it in dark brown, particularly so that the blocks really stand out, but I will see when the time comes.

Another quick project was these placemats for one of my family, made particularly to coordinate with some new furniture they have bought. The fabric is 'Metro Goes Au Naturale' by, I think, Benartex, and the brown colour is from the 'Morris Workshop' range from a couple of years ago. The colours matched perfectly, and they were much appreciated by the recipient. (The colour of the photo looks a bit odd, but was taken at night.)


This weekend I am planning to start a quilt for my niece's birthday in March. A bit of a challenge, as she has drawn me a rough sketch and it has lots of borders to try and fit.... It is going to be in red, white and blue and she described it to me as an 'American style quilt', so the obvious choice is stars and stripes. Hopefully there will be photos to come soon!

'working on' wednesday {4}.....aka 'sunday mini-challenge' {1}

On Sundays at the quilt shop, I work with the lovely Ms Kylie who (along with the lovely Miss Amanda on Saturdays), makes this job so much fun. While Kylie and I were chatting last weekend about sewing in general and fabric we liked for bags in particular, she mentioned a cute and easy bag pattern that she had, and asked if I would like to make one too. As I said I would love to, she came up with the idea of us both making one by the next Sunday; and thus, our 'Sunday Mini-Challenge' was created!

So, here is our bag pattern ::



In this instance we are both using the same fabric, as with the size of material we needed, it was more economical to buy one piece each of the outside and the lining, and cut them in half. We both love this material, so we don't mind it being the same. This is from the gorgeous 'Etchings' range by 3 Sisters for Moda, which we have all been in raptures about in the shop.



The blue print, which is a map of Paris, is for the outside, and the cream cursive script material is the lining.

As this week has all of a sudden become much busier than expected, I had better get my skates on and start making it - it would be rather embarassing to fail on our very first challenge!!

And now it is my turn to pick next week's challenge. Perhaps a cute little pincushion? Or a gorgeous little brooch? Maybe even a little Christmassy something?? We shall see next Sunday!

In the meantime, some progress has been made on my previous 'working on' Wednesday projects - a few more rows of my crocheted blankie done, and another block finished for my applique project.





My little knitted bag is now sewn up and ready to be lined. Kylie asked me what book this pattern came from, so I have included a photo, and the photos in the book of this little bag.



Hopefully there will be some more ta-dahs to show you next week - including my 'Sunday Mini-Challenge' bag!

happy thoughts on thursday{1}..... excited!

Hello! Today I thought I would start a 'happy thoughts on Thursday' series as a way of feeling gratitude and appreciation for something that has happened during the week, or for a beautiful photo, or quote, or poem or..... well, you get the idea.

So, over the last week I have felt not just excited, but very grateful and blessed to have received some gorgeous gifts (and it's not even my birthday), and the prizes from two lovely blog giveaways I won recently.

Last Thursday evening (my goodness, where did the week go?!) I had dinner with my gorgeous 19 year old niece (19?! my goodness, where did the YEARS go?!!) and she gave me this lovely little wallhanging which she bought for me, just because she thought I would like it. And I do, I LOVE it.



On Tuesday I met for breakfast with my friends, the lovely Miss Amanda and the lovely Kylie (both of whom I work with at the quilt shop) and Kylie's utterly adorably sweet daughter Cameron. Whilst we were there, Amanda gave me this gorgeous Cath Kidston book which was very kind of her. I know many of us feel a bit of 'Cath Kidston Love' and actually, it turned into a bit of a Cath Kidston week, as you will see.....



I still had a book shop gift voucher from last Christmas which I finally got around to using and I got - you guessed it - a Cath Kidston book, 'Patch!', which I think is a new one. I also bought a Penguin Books 'Pride and Prejudice' mug, which I plan to use for pens and pencils on my desk.



My first giveaway prize which arrived this week and was won on Ballarat Patchwork's Scrap Bag blog, was a kit for this pretty selvedge bag - thank you Emma.



The second was received from Crafty Mermaid, a parcel of sweet goodies which included a Cath Kidston bag which was made from a kit by the obviously-very-talented Ms Crafty Mermaid herself and also some of her pretty handmade cards. It also included a candle and some little kiwi bird fridge magnets which are a cute memento of New Zealand, along with a very nice hand-written note in one of her cards. THANK YOU Ms Crafty Mermaid for your very generous gifts!



Lastly, the new USB cable for my camera arrived and as you can see I can now post photos to my heart's content!

I feel so lucky! Yes, it's been a very exciting week..... and now to finish with just one more photo of something I love: