Santa in the Trees

 "Santa in the Trees" was a fun quilt to make for a family in Victoria.

Quilting (for Karen) was a nightmare.  The very cute backing fabric was from Spoonflower and it feels like the design is painted onto white cotton fabric so the feel of the fabric and sewing tension is very different to what we're used to.  It looks great on the top.

I had plenty of tree triangles leftover so I made a wallhanging for the family as well.

On Sunday afternoon I didn't know what I felt like working on, so I settled on making some more blocks for my Bonnie and Camille sampler.

Strawberry from Thimble Blossoms' "Stroll"

Splendid Speck's "Bradley Street"

FigTree's "Checkerboards and Stars"

Michelle McKillop's "Stripe Me Lucky"

Rainbow from Bonnie and Camille's "Quilting Bee"

Lighthearted from Bonnie and Camille's "Quilting Bee"

Some blocks have been added, some removed and others moved around but it's coming together.

Last week was "Book Week" in NSW schools.  Here is my pregnant Kindy Assistant Principal ready to go to school.  Those students are very fortunate to have her as their teacher.

Brunch with the Schoolgirls this weekend and maybe Mum and I will go to the pictures - there are a couple of Australian films I'd like to see.

Patchwork Sky

This is the second "Patchwork Sky" quilt I've made - this one being a special request from a customer in USA.  It was finished and posted away a week or so ago.

Little Sweetheart's dresses are finished and hanging up in her wardrobe ready for some warmer weekend weather.

Block 4 of the Sewcialites SAL.  Love making these blocks each Saturday morning.

The "Hourglass a Day" blocks are growing in number and many, many more to make.

Stitched down the "Santa in the Trees" binding last week and it is now at its new home.  I really like this quilt but the backing fabric was a nightmare to work with.

The full-size "Bradley Street" is all done and will be dropped off to the quilter later this week.

I'm ready to start another "Chinoiserie" - the first quilt has gone to Peta and Michael's home and have been working on putting together a Bonnie and Camille Sampler this week.

Had a fun weekend even with the weather turning very yukky - T&H came for the day on Saturday then I had dinner with friends - home-made wood-fired pizzas.  Sunday was a pj day - spent most of the afternoon in The Pink Room.

Back in the office for most of this week - lots going on and a busy time for us.

First Quilt

My first proper quilt is finished.  The sub-contractor (Mum) sewed down the binding last week and the quilt is back at my place.

I am so happy with how it's turned out and my patchwork teacher was very pleased to see it finished as well.

Each Saturday morning now I'm eager to see the pattern for the Sewcialites sew-along.  I thought that when a block has lots of little pieces, I'd make it multi-coloured using pieces from my solids scrap bag.

It's nice to use up some of those little pieces.

"Patchwork Sky" is together and is being quilted this week.

Love this backing fabric.

The pile of "An Hourglass a Day" blocks is growing.  Really enjoy making these first thing each day.  Think I need 349 to make a quilt ~60" square.  Will have to cut more 5" squares.

I picked up the play quilt from Jenny (AngelCake Quilting) last week and the binding has been sewn on for Mum to stitch down.

I think it's nice to have Mum involved in making a quilt for her 13th great-grandbaby.

The Pink Room is in a bit of a mess - lots of ongoing projects:  Ring Cycles, Hourglass a Day, summer dresses for T, pyjamas for H & G, Sea Glass, Sewcialites.

Plus I've started cutting out another Chinoiserie - need two more large blocks then I can pair up the florals and border strips.  The first Chinoiserie has been claimed by my daughter-in-law. 

When I made the last Bradley Street quilt for Peta's friend's new baby, I cut out extra squares to make another one day.  On Sunday I popped in to Spotlight and bought some more Jocelyn Proust fabrics with the beautiful Australian flora designs and the teal solid to make a full-size Bradley Street quilt one day.  I've added a square of each of the florals to the Chinoiserie pile.

After seeing the pile of UFO's I worked on Sea Glass over the weekend and it's now ready to give to Karen for quilting when she visits on the weekend.  The Stitching Girls are coming for afternoon tea on Saturday - first time we've been together since the start of the year.

Took a couple of days off last week - Mum, T and I visited Jenni and Kurt on Thursday.  So nice to just spend time with them.  Jenni's now 20 weeks pregnant and, although very tired, is keeping well and looks wonderful.

Chinoiserie

 "Chinoiserie" was finished last night.  LOVE, LOVE, LOVE this quilt - so much that I bought some more large florals this morning to add to the stash ready to start another one as soon as they arrive.  Michelle McKillop designs vibrant, beautiful, colourful quilts and I love her style.

Jenny, from AngelCake Quilting, quilted with a design called "Narnia" - it's lovely big flowers and leaves.

The backing is from FigTree and Company's "Aloha Girl" range and the binding is from Aneela Hooey's "Little Apples" range - it features cute tortoises.

I made the second "Sewcialites" block on Saturday morning before Gulli came to spend the day.  

We had a very busy day baking, gardening, emptying out the spare room.

I've joined another sew-along.  This one is "An Hourglass a Day" made with 5" squares.  I had a bagful of Bonnie and Camille 5" squares with some already made into half square triangles - so joining this SAL was a no brainer.

When I picked up "Chinoiserie", my original sampler quilt was also ready to be picked up.  The binding has been sewn on and is now with Mum (the sub-contractor) for stitching down.

A bit hard to believe that my oldest quilting UFO will finally be complete and on a bed.

Progress has been made on "Patchwork Sky" for a customer in USA.

Blocks A and B

Blocks C and D

The lower four rows are together.  I hope to add the top three rows and sew up the backing tonight so that I can send it all off tomorrow to Karen for quilting.

The white windmill fabric has been in my stash for quite a while to make a summer dress for T and this was cut out on the weekend, along with a couple of other dresses using fabrics I'd purchased recently.

I love using my old patterns for her - they were bought for her Mummy and Auntie.

This dress is from a new pattern.  I only had 70 cms of the turquoise fabric and needed a shift style dress.

I'm taking Thursday and Friday off this week - Mum, T and I are going to visit Jenni tomorrow and then I'll have a few days at home sewing (I hope) but will be open to fun invitations.