Wow!

After our trip to Ikea on Saturday afternoon, Elizabeth, Jenni, Barbara and I had lovely afternoon tea at the Guylian shop in Darling Harbour, tapas and pizza for dinner then went to see "Jesus Christ Superstar" - to say I LOVED this show is an understatement.  It more than lived up to my hopes - fantastic modern setting - and it had me riveted from the opening moment.  Tim Minchin - sensational, a star; Ben Foster (Jesus) singing "Gethsemane" was the highlight of the show for me, closely followed by Andrew O'Keefe as King Herod (so much fun); Mel C as Mary Magdeline was lovely.

This is the fifth version I've seen of the show, starting with Jim Sharman's original 1972 version with Trevor White, Jon English and Michelle Fawdon (pre Marcia Hines), and each time I've loved it.  I suppose because it's 1970's rock, it's music of my time.  I took Elizabeth and Michael to see the John Farnham version, which was fabulous.  Elizabeth remembers so much about that show - blew me away each time she mentioned a little detail here and there.

________________________

At long last a couple of quilts are finished.

Ruby Chain - this quilt is based on "Island Chain" from "Scrap Basket Sensations"  by Kim Bracket.

"Ruby Chain" 57" x 68"

I love Bonnie and Camille's fabrics and am really happy with this quilt in their "Ruby" range along with the turquoise dot fabric for the background.

I sewed down the binding on Imagine Little Apples last night.  The pattern is "Imagine" from Carrie Nelson's "Schnibbles Times Two" book and I made is using Aneela Hooey's very sweet "Little Apples" fabrics, using the charm pack version of the pattern.

"Imagine Little Apples" 34-3/4" square

The backing

I should start assembling "Kiss Me" today but I'm going to quilt another cot quilt then I think the "to be quilted" stack may be down to two.

I love long weekends.

PS:  4 sleeps.

This Week

This week I have been jumping from one thing to another.  Started off loading Hunky Dory Spin onto the quilting frame and did a few rows, finished stitching out the Baboushka machine embroideries, stitched out some very cute Ragdoll Critters, finished the stitchery for a clock for my sewing room (made a couple of these in 2009 for Christmas presents and never got around to making one for myself) and yesterday I cut out the block pieces for the Baboushka quilt

Think I have just enough of both fabrics left for borders and binding

and finished putting together my Little Apples Imagine from Carrie Nelson's "Schnibbles Two".

Waiting to be pressed

Today I have a visit to the hairdresser plus Mum and I are going to see "Hope Springs", the new Meryl Streep movie - Margaret and David weren't very kind about the film, they could be wrong.  Eisteddfod set up and some cooking tomorrow then "Tap Dogs" tomorrow night with Jenni and a couple of friends, really looking forward to that.

Little Apples Double Irish Chain

Another WIP is finished at last:  Little Apples Double Irish Chain featuring Annela Hoey's very cute "Little Apples" range of fabrics.

 

I love the feature fabric on the front and decided to use it for the backing.  All the little creatures in this range are so sweet.  Hunky Dory Spin is almost loaded onto the frame.

Beautiful almost spring day here today - we've had lots of wind lately.

Hexagons and Little Apples

The first pile of half inch hexagons is now stitched together and ready for sewing.


The next pile of little hexagons is ready for stitching together.


Today I finished sewing Little Apples Double Irish Chain quilt top. This has been half done for a few months. It will make a great child's quilt.


Maybe next week I'll get around to making up some backings and put these quilt tops onto the frame.

Lovely weekend coming up. BBQ lunch here on Saturday with our family and Matt's family to celebrate the engagement and then a busy day at the eisteddfod of Sunday.

- Posted using BlogPress from my iPad

Pyjama Babies No 1

The first of the Pyjama Babies quilts is finished and will be given to the nanna-to-be in a week or so.  I hope she likes it.

I used the white Little Apples fabric with tortoises, snails and apples for the backing - it really is sweet.

 

Diann and I have each made another Sylvia's Bridal Sampler block, "Windblown Squares" - I think it's our first for this year.

On Wednesday I had the most enjoyable day out with 3 friends - we visited a few patchwork shops a bit further away from home, including the lovely Steph's in Moruya and My Patch in Milton.  Hadn't been to My Patch before  it's a beautiful shop; the owner even re-opened the shop for us after closing.  I bought a few goodies here and there including a pattern for this quilt.

The pattern uses either a layer cake or fat eighths so I adjusted it to suit a jelly roll (plus background) and I was able to cut enough strips from my Fig Tree stash.  Not sure if that's a good thing, saying that I have so much Fig Tree fabric (and I didn't cut into my Breakfast at Tiffany's or Fig and Plum fabrics).  Some of the very last pieces of favourites will be in this quilt.  I really like the optical illusion these blocks create as each block is 10-1/2" square (not a rectangle).

Our on-line group has a swap opening tonight.  My parcel arrived yesterday from Sarah.

Haven't opened it yet - waiting very patiently for tonight.

Have a look at my friend Bec's blog - she has been finishing off a huge number of quilts and other goodies - really lovely.  I blame Bec for my Fig Tree fabric stash :).

Zig Zag Whimsy

At long last this quilt is finished - feels like it's taken forever to quilt and I was able to sew down the binding last night while watching "Divine Secrets of the Ya Ya Sisterhood".

"Zig Zag Whimsy" 62-3/4" x 68-1/4"

The quilt is made with mostly "Whimsy" from Fig Tree Fabrics and a few other Fig Tree Fabrics thrown in to add a bit of variety and the background is Fig Tree Cream.  I'm so happy with this quilt and how the quilting has turned out - lots of wrangling under the machine.  This quilt is for sale.

I've also started making up the "Little Apples" Double Irish Chain blocks

that I cut out last week and some more Pyjama Babies star blocks

No rain today, blue sky and sunshine -here's hoping we have some nice weather over the weekend

Cutting Out

The rain finally stopped today for a little while - not much of an opportunity to anything else but stay in the sewing room.  I love the "Little Apples" fabric range - it really suits so many ages.  This afternoon I cut out a Double Irish Chain quilt with some fussy cut "Little Apples" for the centre of the blocks

and turquoise tortoise fabric, little apples and red checks for the chains.

I love how these quilt tops have turned out.

"Wide -Eyed Babies"

"Pyjama Babies"

Two more for the "to be quilted" pile, although quilting on the zig zag quilt is progressing (slowly).  Also cut out some white spot on grey fabric for another Pyjama Babies star quilt (a request).

Weekend again - lunch with The Schoolgirls tomorrow.  Maybe we'll get some sunshine.

Short Attention Span

That's me lately - can't seem to settle on doing one thing.  While reading this blog yesterday I came across this quilt and thought how lovely it is and what a great way to use up favourite left-overs.  Then I remembered I had some leftover of jelly roll pieces from Twirling Bliss, about 0.5m of the white-on-white from Hot Cross plus a little bit of the red spot fabric to use for the centre of the blocks, so last night I started cutting and had to sew up one block.  There was enough fabric in those leftovers to make 12 blocks and I have plenty of the Bliss large floral to use for a border.

Granny Square Block

The block isn't set out precisely as in the original, because I don't have enough darks and lights, but I'm really happy with how it looks and thrilled to bits to be making another quilt out of these pretty leftovers.

Something else pretty exciting happened this week too.  I have been asked to make a cot quilt on commission for a baby due in May - the only requirement is that grey is used and, after discussing fabrics with the soon-to-be nanna, I'll be using some of the Little Apples range by Aneela Hoey - it's so sweet, teemed with a couple of grays and a red from A Day in the Country.