A Day Off

I had a few flex hours saved up so took Thursday off work to sew my Goodnight Irene blocks into a quilt top.  Had a few things to do in the morning, started sewing after lunch and by evening the top was together.

Saturday I attached the first border

and the final three borders went on yesterday.  I've watched/listed to many "Gilmore Girls" episodes while sewing the last few days.

Need to make the backing then it can go off to be quilted.  At 96-1/2" square it's a bit big for me to quilt at the moment.  Really happy because I've used up all the fabric.  Will be so happy when this one is finished as it was due to go to its new home a little while ago.

Saturday night I went to a great birthday party for two dear friends - they had a wonderful time with so many friends, fun music etc.  When I went to see "Marigold Hotel" last weekend a trailer was shown for a new movie with David Tennant and Billy Connolly - "What We Did on Our Holiday".  Mum and I went to see it yesterday.  Fantastic movie.  We laughed and laughed.  There are some sad moments too.  Loved it.

Not a lot planned for Easter except spending some time with the family, some time in the garden and hopefully the sewing room as well as meeting up with the stitching girls.

A Little Finish

Our on-line group's birthday gifts this year include embroidery scissors and a scissor fob.  My partner's birthday was early March.  I very much enjoyed making this cross-stitched scissor fob.  Many years have gone by since I did some cross stitch.  I have a couple of very large WIP's that I might get back to one day.

My time in the sewing room over the last few days has been spent making X blocks for Goodnight Irene.  It's time to lay out the 16-patch blocks with these X's and start sewing them into rows.

The Little Chicken Feather stitcheries are progressing well - the smaller stitcheries are being done at lunchtime at work and the larger ones while I watch tv at night.  Two rows and another block are now finished and I'm so happy with these colours/fabrics from my stash.  The smaller stitcheries are on a white-on-white "Miss Kate" fabric from Bonnie and Camille and the larger stitcheries are on an off-white linen fabric.

Paula and I went to see "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" on the weekend - I loved it just as much the second time.

Basket Case

I think this is a great name for a quilt - we all experience times when we feel like a "basket case" and want to curl up under a quilt.

"Basket Case" is another fantastic design from Cluck Cluck Sew.  Allison's patterns are always so well written with excellent instructions and lots of diagrams.  I started making this quilt in May last year hoping to use up lots of my Oh Cherry Oh fabric - I still have quite a few pieces left but not enough to make a whole quilt, so the leftovers can now go into the general stash.

Karen quilted this for me using a very sweet cherry design (what else would a person choose?).

A couple of smaller quilts have been cut out.  One is Cluck Cluck Sew's new pattern called "Frolic" - a very sweet zig-zag cot quilt that is great for using up 2-1/2" squares and strips, and the other is a simple block quilt using "Puss in the Corner" blocks and a couple of Whitewashed Cottage charm packs with some Moda Bella Solid Snow.

Little Chicken Feather stitcheries are progressing - LCF himself is finished.  I'm currently stitching a pig on a bicycle.

Mum, Paula and I went to see "Sweet Charity" on Saturday night - it was a wonderful production and so nice to recognise one of the cast from a few years ago when he used to perform at our local eisteddfod.  Had a bit of sewing time over the weekend - working on the x-blocks of the pink/red/black Goodnight Irene.  Feels so different working with so much black in a quilt.  Hope to start putting the x's together over this coming weekend.

As I'm working in Sydney for a couple of days, I spent last night with Elizabeth, Matt and ChaCha - she is such a little sweetie - smiling, "talking" - so wonderful how a smile can melt my heart.

Presents

Another week has flown by with lots happening:  sewing and family time as well as a lovely surprise.  Arrived home from work on Wednesday evening to find a package on the verandah sent by dear Helen.  Inside was a present for me and a present for little ChaCha.  Both are so sweet.  Love surprises like this.

 

The last 12 Text Me blocks are now together.  Fig Tree fabrics are lovely - the quality of the material is beautiful and the designs are so pretty.  Next step is to work on the layout of the 36 blocks - my least favourite part of the quilt-making process, so the blocks will be put away for a little while and I'll work on something else.

Binding has been sewn onto Basket Case

 and I can sew it down in between stitching Little Chicken Feather.

 

These stitcheries are so sweet.

There's also a little bit of secret sewing happening with some more Go Four It blocks in the Rainbow Rows design.

 

Planning to make a large version of this quilt using loads of scrappy pieces (brights and whites) later this year in an effort to use up the stash.

Had a lovely time with the stitching girls on Saturday afternoon - actually did a bit of stitching while I was talking.  The whole family visited Elizabeth, Matt and ChaCha yesterday - was lovely to spend some time with all my favourite people.

The Weekend

Had a lovely visit last week with Miss ChaCha (and her Mum and Dad) - she is such a delightful sweetheart and doing everything she should.  It's like she's been part of our lives forever.

Plans for the weekend kept changing, just like the weather - boiling hot and humid followed by big storms.  I'm sad it's the end of summer and I don't like the nip that was in the air this morning. 

Some old friends came to visit on Saturday morning - so lovely to see them and catch up.  Haven't seen them since Elizabeth and Matt's wedding.  I had time to sew over the weekend and worked on "Text Me" - started in May last year then came to a standstill in June.  It's a great quilt for chain-piecing designed by Me and My Sister.

Once all the block components were made, the blocks were quick and easy to put together.

I had 7 blocks finished last year; by Saturday evening there were 12 blocks

and I finished another 12 blocks yesterday.

12 blocks to go before my least favourite part - deciding which block goes where.  The feature fabrics are all Fig Tree fabrics from my stash - a variety of ranges and some are great favourites.

Last Thursday night Mum and I went to a charity screening of "The Second Best Exotic Marigold Hotel" - loved it!  The characters are wonderful and, once again, Maggie Smith steals the show.

A few social things happening this week, there won't be much sewing/stitching in the evenings.  I've been stitching "Little Chicken Feather" at night - a nice change from all the sewing.