Long Weekend

We've just had a long weekend for the Queen's Birthday, so I decided to make it extra long and take a leave day on Friday to catch up on a few things that needed to be done around the house.  ChaCha came for a sleepover on Friday night and after she went to sleep, I watched the British crime dramas on ABC and stitched down the binding on Pathways and Crossroads

 

 

 
This is the second time I've made this design and I think I have enough of the blue border fabric for one more (one day ...).

On Saturday Mum and I went to the Opera House for the "Last Night of the Proms" - it's such a fabulous concert with the Sydney Symphony Orchestra and a guest singer.

We had fantastic seats - centre of the front row in the circle.

Funniest part of the concert was the "March from Thunderbirds" where Guy Noble, the conductor, was dressed as a Thunderbird and conducting as though he was a marionette - hilarious.

I snuck a photo right at the end of the concert while the streamers were being thrown.

Sunday, after some secret sewing, Mum and I went to see "Churchill" - set in the days leading up to D-Day.  Monday was mostly spent in the sewing room with more secret sewing and then some "Wish Upon a Star" blocks.
 

Another 8 to put together then sashings and posts to be made.

This afternoon I received a photo from Sarah showing the quilting on my "Swoon" quilt - it's halfway finished.  Pretty excited about having this one finished and on my bed.

Knitting

No sewing but there has been some knitting.  Finished off Gulliver's little jumper on Friday night.

and tried it on him on Saturday night when he came for a sleepover.  He's such an adorable little boy and wonderful company.  Gulli had a great time playing with his cousin during the afternoon - I love seeing the two little ones having fun together.

On Sunday the stitching girls came over for afternoon tea.  Karen brought back Pathways and Crossroads.

I asked Karen to use any new quilting design she wanted to try out.  This one is Oasis and it looks great.

The only sewing-related things I've done in the last few days are trim some Wish Upon a Start half-square triangles while talking to the girls on Sunday afternoon

and buy a load of background fabrics as well as a layer cake and charm pack when I called in to Karen's last night to drop off a couple of cot quilts for quilting (they've both been finished for a long time).  We ended up going out for dinner so that was a lovely surprise.

Two Quilt Tops

What a great weekend!

Last week was my birthday and I celebrated the day with lots of food!  Morning tea and lunch at work then delicious dinner at Elizabeth and Matt's with ChaCha, Jenni, Kurt and Mum.  On Saturday the whole family and dear friends Lynell and Darren came for lunch .  The little ones kept us entertained all day and were so much fun.

Saturday night I finished putting Pathways and Crossroads together - the colours are a bit stronger than showing in this night-time photo.

ChaCha stayed over and we had a fun Mothers' Day morning gardening with the new wheelbarrow Lynell and Darren put together, blowing bubbles, playing in the makeup drawer etc.  Lunch with Mum then it was time to take ChaCha home.

Sunday sewing time was spent sewing my Swoon blocks into a quilt top.  There is one more border to add and, when the extra backing fabric arrives, I'll send it away for quilting.

Dear Lynell is making me some stained glass lampshades for the bedroom - she is so clever - the  finishing touch for the room.  On Saturday, with Robyn and Paula, we are going to see "The Bodyguard" and then "The Play That Goes Wrong"  - on our way to Sydney we will be shopping for bases - maybe crystal.  Hope we find some.

No Sewing

The sewing machine wasn't switched on from last Sunday till late lat night.  I've been cutting out fabrics to start some new quilt tops.

FigTree fabrics for another "Pathways and Crossroads" and a FigTree version of Cakewalk

Bonnie and Camille reds with white/red spot background (bought in Singapore last year) to make Bonnie's "Wish Upon a Star"

Had to try make some of the half-square triangles last night to see if I was happy with how they look.  Trimmed them before work this morning - love them.

Barbara and I went to see "Beauty and the Beast" last night - I really enjoyed it but didn't love it as much as I wanted to.  I still prefer the original animated version.

Pathways and Crossroads

This quilt was cut out in May 2012.  I love the colours, especially the blue, which I rarely use in quilts although it's a favourite colour.

Started piecing the blocks almost 2 years later, April 2014

and by the end of April the top was together.

Karen quilted it for me in August and I finished stitching down the binding on Tuesday night.

 

Another happy finish.

ANZAC Weekend

We've just had another long weekend to remember ANZAC Day.  I noticed on Instagram etc that lots of people baked ANZAC biscuits, me included.

 

Everyone loves ANZAC biscuits.  Went to a friend's for dinner on Friday night, took along some biscuits and she have me some of her biscuits to bring home.

Spent some of Friday painting and polishing brass.

Still lots happening at the house - exciting stuff, like a new drain that goes all the way to the front of the block.

By the time I get home tonight this old tree should be gone.

Perfect Autumn day today

Will be a relief to know it's not going to topple over in a storm.  There are still plenty of trees on the block.

Some sewing over the weekend.  Finished putting "Pathways and Crossroads" together.  Doesn't take very long when the blocks are so big.

A couple of RicRac's "Work in Progress" bags for presents - this was the pattern that I couldn't find late last month.   I had issues sewing on the binding around the small handle hole - ended up attaching it by hand.

And I brought out one of the bags of blocks I made starting in 2011 - Civil War Sampler (I called it "Not Quite Civil War" because of the colour scheme).

Won't take too long to sew these blocks together.  I have one more bag of blocks - Sylvia's Bridal Sampler - to sew together, then I think I can start something new.  I'm definitely looking forward to having the house back to normal.  Will be a few weeks yet before the repairs are carried out.

Easter Weekend

The Easter Weekend has come and gone too quickly.  We've had 4 beautiful days and the lovely weather will continue for a few more days.

Friday the troops came over and spent the day painting the house - I painted poles and top rails for the lattice fence.  Great niece and great nephew had an Easter egg hunt in the garden - that was a lot of fun.

Before

After

The next section of the fence has been put back in place and the last section should go in today.  My niece has painted all of this lattice and spent yesterday painting the last piece, while I painted a new little piece to go on top of the gate.

A bit of sewing Friday night to put together the first few "Pathways and Crossroads" rows.  Might do some more next weekend.

Saturday Jenni and I went shopping in Sydney- didn't buy much at all, so will keep looking for some new work clothes.  Met up with all the kids and Matt's Mum for dinner - great food at a new creperie in Randwick.

Very lazy Easter Sunday - faffed around in the morning then decided to make a Sew Together Bag.  I bought this gorgeous fabric when I visited Ballarat Patchwork last July with Helen, Jenny and Norreen.
 

It's 85% cotton/15% linen blend and looks like 100% linen.  I decided not to use the green scallop on this bag but will on the next Sew Together Bag I make.

Really pleased with how this turned out although wasn't too keen on sewing through so many thicknesses to attach the side bindings - broke quite a few needles.  Jenni came over for dinner on Sunday night and was very happy to take this home.

A few errands yesterday morning then more painting and the long weekend was over.

Backings

On Saturday afternoon I added some borders to the X and Plus quilt then made backings for some of the quilt tops I have finished over the last year or so.

Posted Picnic off to Sarah for quilting, so I'll be looking forward to that coming back in a few weeks.

A good while ago, almost 2 years, I cut into a quilt kit, "Pathways and Crossroads", that I had bought from Bec and ever since it has been in the sewing room cupboard.  Sunday afternoon I started sewing some of the pieces together and now have 5 blocks finished; 4 more to assemble.

 
These are all lovely Fig Tree fabrics and the quilt has interesting sashings, posts and borders.

Hanging out for the Easter break - catching up with family and probably painting.

Source

Cutting Out

During the last couple of days I've cut out two more quilts using Fig Tree fabrics (surprise, surprise).  These are the last of the pre-cuts and kits in my stash, although there's still a fair bit of other Fig Tree fabric left.

The first is "Stepping Stones" from one of the Jelly Roll books using a layer cake and jelly roll of Fig and Plum.  My friend Karen is also making this quilt in Rouenneries Deux - it's going to be beautiful.

This is "Pathways and Crossroads" which I bought from Bec last year.  It uses Buttercup fabrics - the blues are so pretty.  Funny, blue is one of my favourite colours and I use it so rarely in quilts.

One of the blocks laid out on the design sheet:

Fig Tree Bow Ties is together and I'm really happy with how it turned out after adding some borders.  This quilt top is based on "Benington" in the Schnibbles 2 book.

It has turned out to be a reasonable size.

Today is a special little guy's 2nd birthday

and we're going to his party on Saturday - so it's time to start making his present.  Maybe some photos tomorrow.