The last day of 2009

This is going to be a long post!!! Its been a while!

I have been busy with some sewing over the last few weeks, both hand and machine sewing.
All the pinwheel blocks are together and have been made into a table runner. While doing the machine quilting I have found I am slowly improving. :)


Below is a small quilt that is being made for a gift. While I am building confidence with my machine piecing I am sticking to simple designs. This one still has to be basted and quilted.




I have also made a couple of covered journals. The one below has fabric I have had for quite a while, but I wasn't sure what to use it for. My sister does a lot of mosaic work, so I though this fabric would suit her.

I finished another journal cover which has already been sent. It had stitchery on the front and the design was one by Natalie Lymer of Cinderberry Stitches. Ever since I first saw her cute little birds I wanted to stitch one of her designs. You can see a photo of it here. Just scroll down a bit.

I have 2 more small quilts planned. One will use some fat eighths I have and the other I will probably have to buy one fabric for.



I received some lovely gifts from family and friends for Christmas!!

Below is a pin cushion and thread catcher made by Judi. It now lives by my sewing machine.



The Christmas ornament Judi included in her parcel is too beautiful to put away!!!

Thank you sooo much Judi!!!

Next was another parcel of goodies from overseas. Some of those choccies are already gone! :)


In the same parcel was lots of fabric and a tiny pair of Dovo scissors!!! The scissors are beautiful to use and just the right size for my fingers.


Thank you very much Ranette!!!




The book below is from my daughter. She knows how much I love to sew! :)



Santa was also very generous and left me the camera I used to take these photos with. I can now take much clearer shots and get some good close ups.



I have continued to work on the Waterloo quilt. All the small baskets have been finished now.


Some of the fabric for the border around the baskets is at the bottom of the photo above.


The AQ is coming along slowly. I sewed some more set in triangles last night. After reading Crispy's post about trying different needles for quilting, I decided to try different needles for piecing.

The Jeanna Kimball Sharps are great to use. They are a thin needle with a nice feel through the fabric. The Roxanne applique needles have a slightly larger eye (great for threading when your eyes are not as great as they used to be! lol) and they glide beautifully through the fabric.

The Piecemakers have the smallest eye of those I tried, but they also felt lovely through the fabric. I tried 2 types of Bohin needles. The applique needles were not smooth through the fabric. I used the smallest of the sharps and it was quite good.
The last needle I used was the very first needle I used when I went to my first hand piecing class. It was the clover gold eye applique needle. I still love to use these needles, but I have found I prefer a shorter needle these days.



I sent my SSCS parcel to Tracey B in USA. You can see what I sent her in this post. It is the second last photo. My SSCS parcel is taking the scenic route. Hopefully it will arrive next week. It means my Christmas is lasting a few more days! :)


Lastly I would like to wish all my readers a very happy and safe New Year!! Thank you to everyone who has left a comment, helped and encouraged me and fed my soul with so much inspiration! You all made me feel so welcome in the world of blogging! I have been lucky enough to make some wonderful new friends.

Here's to an even better year in 2010!!