Ruffles 'n' Rows

Last year I was selling off some of a dear friend's sewing stash and one of the kits was "Ruffles 'n' Rows" designed by Natalie Bird.  I was with Sharon when she bought the kit and, sadly, she is now living in a nursing home.  I made this quilt for her and was able to give it to her for Chritmas.

It's a fun design to make with lots of added extras on the rows.

I got a bee in my bonnet to cut out another "Master Plan" quilt (designed by Miss Rosie & Co) and I might get around to making it this year.  Such a great scrap buster.

And, I bought some more greens to make another "Santa in the Trees" which was finished in January.

Shoreline Piece and Quilt Sampler

During the Piece and Quilt Sampler Sew-Along I made two sets of blocks:  one in scrappy Figtree fabrics and one in Thimble Blossoms' Shoreline fabric range.  The Shoreline quilt was finished in June and looks very pretty in these colours.

Karen used "Featheration" for the quilting design - it looks great.

I've made a few quilt tops since June but have only sent a couple for quilting and they're back from Karen awaiting binding.

One is an "Astra" quilt for my brother for Christmas made from my stash.  Started this in August.

A lot of cutting out for this quilt but the blocks go together very easily.

Bought a wide-back offcut from Widebacks Australia for the backing.

The other quilt waiting for binding is "Ruffles 'n' Rows", a Bird House design, made for my friend who can no longer sew.  This is also a Christmas present.  Sadly she has been moved to a nursing home so I'm hoping the quilt will bring her some happiness and comfort.

Some suffolk puffs and buttons to be added now that it is quilted.

The Lakehouse Dry Goods fabrics in this quilt top are so pretty.

Ruffles 'n' Rows

This quilt was designed by Natalie Bird, started last November or so and finished last night.

The quilt is for my great-niece, my brother's grand-daughter.  She's a bubbly, bright 8 year old, so I'm hoping she likes it.

The embroidery machine is still chugging away.  No rain has fallen since early morning.  It's still dull and overcast.  Gosh we've had some rain and even more is still falling at Goulburn and other areas.

Little Cuties

While Jenni was here today sewing a dress for herself, it was my turn to use the embroidery machine.

"Baby Animals in Pyjamas"

These are the cutest little guys and girls.  I've started stitching out some wide-eyed bugs and grubs.  All of these embroidered blocks will go into a baby quilt soon.

I also started some quilting at long last.

"Ruffles 'n' Rows" - Natalie Bird

Beautiful weather here so far this weekend.  John is away dirt-bike riding till Monday morning so I'm hoping to spend tomorrow quilting as well.

Ruffles 'n' Rows

Yesterday I sewed up the Ruffles 'n' Rows quilt (Natalie Bird design) using the lovely, bright LakeHouse Dry Goods fabrics I bought last week and fabrics from my stash.  I made the suffolk puffs while watching "Young Victoria" and "Elizabeth" last night.  "Elizabeth" is so gruesome in places but Cate Blanchett is sensational.

The quilt is too long to photograph is one go on my design sheet.  I'll get a better photo when the quilt is finished.  The quilt is for my great-niece for Christmas.

The backing is made up of wide strips of some of these fabrics.

One of today's jobs is to sew these pieces together, sew on the suffolk puffs tonight while watching tv and another is to find the requirements for a class I'm going to on Monday with Deborah Louie, to learn about all the features of my Aurora 440.

Also finished a quick tablerunner out of Fig Tree's Whimsy this week.  It will go onto the Christmas present shelf.  The pinwheels are from charm squares leftover from another quilt I have cut out and hope to start soon.

We are going to a bbq at Elizabeth and Matt's place tomorrow - Elizabeth is cooking the cake for her Red Cross fundraiser and there will be crowd there to help eat it.

Beautiful weather today - hope it stays around for a while.

Lots of Presents

Another Christmas has come and gone - we've had a wonderful few days. We're so fortunate to have our family living within reasonable distances and to be able to spend time together. Our family spent Christmas Day at Elizabeth and Matt's house along with Matt's family which was lovely as his sister has 3 little children who made the day lots of fun. Elizabeth and Matt outdid themselves - the table was gorgeous, excellent turkey cooked by Matt, loads of other food brought along by everyone, great company and lots of laughs.

One of the presents Elizabeth bought me is "Dancer" - how gorgeous is this reindeer? It's a Patience Brewster design and is so detailed and beautiful.

I made this quilt, "Ruffles & Rows" designed by The Birdhouse, for Matt's 5yo neice, Emily - it was finished on Christmas Eve.

Received this lovely cushion, which is more than a cushion, from Jenny - the cushion is explained on Jenny's blog. Was a lovely surprise when the parcel arrived in the mail. I know people won't believe me, but I didn't open any parcels until Christmas Day - didn't even squish them.

I took part in 2 swaps this Chrismas - one with the on-line group I belong to, Prim Treasures: Vicki made me this fabulous Cinderberry Stitches wallhanging - it will be on my wall straight after Christmas. Vicki also made me 2 stars from Nancy Halvorsen's "Star of Wonder" book (but I haven't taken a photo of them yet). We both love her designs.

My partner to send to was Kerry and I made a Bareroots sewing bag and accessories - have had this pattern for ages and this swap was a great time to make it.

The other swap I was in was organised by Wildcraft Farm. My partner, Julie (who doesn't have a blog yet) send me ths wonderful sewing caddy, which is a great size to fit into my handbag to take to work.

Lots of goodies inside.

I sent Julie a wallhanging designed by "Country Cupboard"

plus an oven mitt, after Julie provided a subtle hint that she LOVES black and white.

I found the pattern somewhere online but have no idea which site so that I can put a link to it. Was pretty happy with how this one turned out so made some for my girls and some other friends.

Boxing Day was spent mostly recovering from Christmas Day, as we didn't arrive home until 11.30 pm (a very long day for the Nannas), then a bunch of friends came over for a bbq dinner - always enjoy the Boxing Day bbq.

Today was brunch with another group of friends - we arrived home at 6.30 pm, then went off to visit other friends to exchange our Christmas presents. We usually spend Christmas night with these friends but we thought visiting them after 11.30 pm was a tad late.

Wonderful Christmas this year.

Advent Calendar

Jenni's Advent Calendar, designed by Hot Possum, is now finished. Shame the photo is a little dark because the colours are so lovely and bright (and the quilt does hang straight - I always manage to take wonky photos).

Bought lollies etc last night and posted a bagful each to Elizabeth and Michael - Jenni's bag is ready too.


Think I might make a start on some suffolk puffs for "Ruffles 'n' Rows" at lunchtime today. I can't find a link for that quilt anywhere. It was designed by Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse and Thread and Ginger.

Playing with the New Toy

For our 30th wedding anniversary earlier this year, Mum and our children bought us an embroidery machine (John loves graphic art and fancies making his own designs). For a variety of reasons the machine has been waiting patiently in the box until we had some time to set it up and plug it in. On Sunday I headed off to the shop to buy some bobbin fill and threads and last night we had a little play.

This new toy is a lot of fun - so much to learn. Can see myself making lots of embroidered tea towels and quilt labels.

The back-ordered fabric for "Ruffles 'n' Rows" arrived yesterday, so it was time for my favourite part of quilt-making: cutting up the fabrics. This will be a fun quilt to put together as it has a large amount of cute factor - suffolk puffs, prairie points, ric-rac, buttons etc.

Will sew the buttons onto Jenni's Advent Calendar tonight and then it will be finished - will need to buy lollies and chocolates when I do the grocery shopping tonight so the children can fill up the little pockets (all 3 will now have a funky Advent Calendar).

Some Christmas Shopping

These gorgeous Lakehouse Dry Goods fabrics arrived last week - the cupcakes and bright stripes are for a couple of aprons and oven mitts; the gorgeous pastels are for the "Ruffles 'n' Rows" quilt - this is such a pretty, little girl's quilt. Elizabeth and Matt have a 5 year old niece so it may end up on her bed. Luckily I placed an order before the dollar dived. Another fabric is on backorder so I'm hoping it will arrive soon.

The "Advent Calendar" pockets have been appliqued, sequinned and beaded, ready to be added to the pile of sewing for the weekend.

Elizabeth and Matt will be popping down on Sunday (she is learning to drive so the trip will add lots of k's to her log) - might have to buy some prawns for lunch, especially if the weather if lovely. Perhaps not so much sewing will be done.