Quilting

I found a piece of batting the right size for my table topper so Sunday was the day to baste and unpack the new machine.  It goes like the clappers, even on slowest speed, and has a great extension table.

Then yesterday morning the new roll of batting was delivered but it was way too hot to even think about playing with wool.

Did a bit more quilting on the table topper this afternoon and finished off a piece of punchneedle at stitching tonight - it's for a Rosalie Quinlan bag pattern.  I started the punchneedle when I was on holidays - let me just say that using that needle in the car in an experience!  Poked myself quite a few times then decided it was safer to stitch.

There will be lots of basting and quilting in my future.

Zig Zag Whimsy

This quilt top seems to have taken so much longer to put together compared with the others I've made recently.  I like it now that it's done.

 

 

Another quilt top on the pile.  Hopefully the batting will arrive tomorrow.  I found a piece of batting large enough for my Oh Cherry Oh table topper so I'm going to pin baste that this afternoon and maybe start quilting.  Back in November I bought a new sewing machine for the frame and I still haven't tried out out.  I've been wanting to quilt something small at the dining room table to get a feel for the machine before putting it on the frame and couldn't do that before Christmas because I had to wait for the walking foot to arrive.  Today is the day.

Beautiful summer's day on the sunny South Coast - lovely change from all the rain we've had.

Fig Tree Zig Zags

Last year I bought some Fig Tree fabrics from Bec and included in the parcel were 2 packs of Whimsy charm squares that had been sewn into half square triangle blocks with some Fig Tree cream.  I've added a few more blocks using a variety of Fig Tree fabrics and am up to my least favourite part of the patchwork/quilting process:  sorting out placement of the blocks.

  

I love scrappy quilts but deciding which fabric should go next to which drives me nuts.

The sun has come back today just in time for Australia Day bar-b-ques and celebrations.  We are going to a restaurant at the local harbour for dinner tonight and we'll have a great spot to watch the fireworks.

Twirling Bliss

Thanks to some great tennis last night, watching Rafael Nadal win, this quilt top is now finished.

I had just enough of the spot fabric left to make a narrow border, so I am very pleased about that as I really like a narrow border then a wider border on quilts.

I love this quilt top.  Finally bought a roll of batting (from Sarah at Patchworks Plus), so maybe next week I'll start quilting.  I have another Fig Tree quilt half made that I'd like to finish putting together this week.  I bought this one from Bec last year and half of the work was already done.  There's more great tennis coming up today and tomorrow (Nadal -v- Federer), so it looks like I'll be spending some more time in the sewing room.

Bliss Twirls

No wonder this fabric range has been so popular - it is so pretty and each fabric tones in so well with all the others.

 

I love how the quilt is turning out.  I think this block is my favourite:

Twirling Bliss

I've had a jelly roll of Bliss fabrics for a couple of years.  I bought it just because I liked the colours and designs but could never decide what to make with it.  After looking through a stack of patterns and books a decision has been made.

Jelly roll strips were paired up and sewn together yesterday then while watching/listening to the tennis later last night, 572 diamond shapes were cut.

I'm making Jelly Girl designed by Fig Tree.  I love the red spot on the milky white background.  I bought that fabric before Christmas at a local shop just because I liked it - should have bought a lot more but sadly the shop has closed and there are no details printed on the selvedge.  I have a Bliss layer cake in the cupboard - not sure what I'll make with that yet.  Michael and Peta might get to choose which quilt they'd like - maybe they'll want both.

Had a lovely time with the Schoolgirls at lunch yesterday and Jenni was here when I arrived home - we watched the Vicar of Dibley 10 year special and the wedding specials - so very, very funny.

Quick Quilt Top

I had two charm packs of Fig Tree's Buttercup plus a little bit by the yard in my cupboard and bought another two charm packs on special at Hatched and Patched.  Four charm squares sewn together to make a larger square, 2-1/2" sashings and posts, the tennis on the tv to watch/listen to and it's done.

This photo shows the colours better

I've ordered some B fabrics (border, backing and binding) and when they arrive I'll finish off the top.

We are going to a wedding in July and this may be the present.  I showed these fabrics and some Bliss fabrics to the bride's mother and asked her which she thought her daughter would like - she chose Buttercup.  I'm slowly working my way through the Fig Tree stash.  Have a bit of a Bonnie and Camille stash happening too.

We had a great night out in Sydney on Thursday night - dinner with all the kids at a Mexican in Newtown and coffee/sweets at Max Brenner.  Lunch with The Schoolgirls today.  Seem to be a "lady who lunches" lately.  No complaints from me.

Table Topper

This week I was determined to finish putting together the Table Topper our on-line group was making last year as our BOM using 6-1/2" blocks.  Made the last few blocks and finished putting it together while watching Lleyton Hewitt.

Friendship Star

Fiddler's Jig - not enough contrast

Contrary Husband

The table topper together.

I fogot to show a photo of the main present I sent to Vicki in our Secret Santa Swap - it's the "Angel Project Tote" designed by Natalie Bird.

Hoping to spend some time in the sewing room today playing with my stash of Fig Tree fabrics.

Lunch with Friends

On Monday I noticed a message on Teresa's blog saying she and Michael were driving down to Sydney for a few days.  I sent Teresa a message thinking we could meet up with them in Sydney and it turned out they were actually coming much closer to home, so we were able to meet up for lunch at a cafe at North Wollongong Beach.

It was so lovely seeing Teresa again and meeting Michael.  John and Michael have much in common - motorbike injuries etc.

The Two of Us

I spent yesterday in the sewing room - first time I've spent practically a whole day in there since I finished work.

The stitchery I did while on our road trip is for this bag. It's called "The Two of Us" and is a Rosalie Quinlan pattern.

I love the bright striped fabric - really goes well with the thread colours. The bag is for a girlfriend for her birthday in 3 weeks.

Last October when the girls were over for a stitching day, I started making these blocks from "Bliss" fabric. The quilt design is "Hot Cross" from Carrie Nelson's Book "Schnibbles Times Two". The quilt is an engagement present for Michael and Peta. I love the colours and the lattice design.

I put a 10" wide floral border on the quilt top so that it sits well on a queen size bed.

Need to buy a roll of batting so that I can get stuck into quilting the ever-growing stack of quilt tops as well as the other quilts I plan to make over the next few months.

What's in the bags?

One of the Christmas presents I received from Diann:

Proof that it's not my fault I shop so much.

My shopping from Anni's Shop - Hatched and Patched

Three Country Keepsakes doll patterns and three Hatched and Patched patterns plus a H&P kit and Anni's new book "Some Kind of Wonderful". I also bought some threads, a Theodora Cleave button and some purse snap frames.

A punchneedle set for my friend's birthday present, pin cushion kit, wool felt, Fig Tree fabric on great sale and some fat quarters of Anni's fabric range.

Pretty good haul in the short time I had there while John was checking out a nearby motorbike shop.

I also bought a 10" punchneedle frame. Didn't realise they came in this size - much better for the piece I'm making at present.

Rosalie Quinlan design.

I did some stitching while we were travelling.  More Rosalie Quinlan.

"The Two of Us" a small bag design.

The finished, unironed design.

On our way back down the North Coast we stopped at a fabric shop in Macksville and I bought the striped fabric to make up the Rosalie Quinlan bag, the spotty fabric to make a basket liner and seat cover for my bicycle and the floral stripe just because I liked it.

I also finished off this block for my Gingham Girls "My Favourite Things" quilt - there are pearls and buttons to be added once it's quilted.

When we arrived home a parcel was waiting for me from Jenni - she had bought this for me for Christmas but it didn't arrive in time.  What a lovely surprise!

Will look fantastc in my sewing room.

3,190 klms

That's how far we travelled on our holidays after Christmas. We were away for 13 days and had such a wonderful time visiting family and friends and many new places.

Our first stop was Coffs Harbour to visit John's sister, brother-in-law and nephews. We brought our bicycles and went for a ride along the boardwalk through the mangroves. Afterwards Jo took me to visit her favorite shop, big mistake. So many beautiful goodies - some had to come home with me.

We had a great time with Jo, Roger, the boys and their beautiful Labrador, Rocky.
Next stop was our dear friends, Diann and Bill's, in Queensland.  On New Year's Eve we decided to go for a motorbike ride to the Gold Coast for breakfast

 

but the weather became very nasty and we turned back after about 20 kms.  We went to the pictures that evening to see "We Bought a Zoo" - lovely movie.

At the pictures

New Year's Day John and Bill went for a ride while Diann and I stayed home to stitch and watch the next series of "Downton Abbey".  We managed to see two episodes before the boys returned. 

Diann and I also fitted in a bicycle ride and we all went to the beach on the Gold Coast.  My brother and sister-in-law were next on our itinerary to visit.  They live in Brisbane and the bicycle tracks around their suburb and beyond are brilliant.  We rode out towards Nudgee Beach one day and then towards Paddington the next.  We met up with Diann at Carindale for a bit of shopping (bought an iPad) while Paul and Lynette were at work, visited my brother's shop where John found lots of goodies he had to have (angle grinder, nail gun, drill, camera) and then we went to a beautiful restaurant in Ascot for dinner.

The following day we drove back to Coffs Harbour via Mullumbimby to stay one more night with Jo and Roger then drove down to Lake Cathie to visit my other brother and his family.  Was lovely to catch up with all of them.

The National Motorcycle Museum at Nabiac was the next stop.  John spent hours in there.  The museum has over 820 motorcycles on display and I think John photographed each one.  After a while I went back to the car to read my book. 

We stayed in Lochinvar that night en route to Dubbo.  I haven't been in this area before.  Elizabeth wanted a souvenir from Dunedoo

so we stopped there for lunch and found an embroidered tea towel for Elizabeth.  Turns out the couple who run the tea shop live about 10 kms away from us and travel to Dunedoo every fortnight to open their Tea Shoppe.  Delicious lunch and lots of home made goodies.  We arrived in very hot Dubbo on Saturday afternoon and after some quick emals and sms's, we arranged to have dinner with the lovely Peg and her husband James.



Photo from Peg's blog

It was so wonderful to meet up with my long-time on-line buddy and we very much appreciated that Peg and James drove to Dubbo at the last minute to have dinner with us.

Sunday we went to Dubbo Zoo.  We've been wanting to visit the zoo for over 30 years and I was so happy to be there.  It is a great place to visit and wonderful to ride around, although a bit hot that day.

Monday we drove to Bathurst via Mudgee (what a lovely town).  I wanted to go to Bathurst to visit Hatched and Patched - years and years ago I visited Annie's first shop but hadn't been to the new one.

When I walked into the shop Annie told me that it was the first day of the shop's annual sale.  What a treasure trove the shop is.  I'll leave my shopping and stitching for another post.  Have to work out how to post photos from the iPad to blogger.

As it was still reasonably early (3.30 pm or so) we decided to drive home and that was the end of our holiday.  This week has been a busy time of washing, packing up the Christmas decorations, taking my sick computer to the shop (using John's at the moment and it's not being friendly), Elizabeth is here for a visit etc.

Happy New Year - here's hoping for a healthy, wonderful year for everyone.