Another Quilt Top Finished!!!!

Last night I finished the top of my version of Sue Daley's Waterloo quilt. I love it!!!
The whole quilt is sewn by hand. I used English Paper Piecing for the baskets and needle turn applique for all the applique. I started the quilt in early November, so it hasn't taken that long to finish........I do tend to have more than one project going at once! lol
Three quilt tops finished in less than 3 weeks!!!
I'm not sure how I am going to quilt it yet.
If you ever get the chance to take a class with Sue, jump at the opportunity. Sue is a great teacher and has lots of wonderful designs. (Just a happy customer, here)

Another top finished

I have finished this quilt top for my sister. I intend to hand quilt it. There is quite a detailed design on the pattern, so it will take a while even though the top is only about 40 inches square.


While reading blogs this week I have come across lots of interesting posts.

First of all I can't say no to a good brownie!! Anna of Thimbleanna posted about a very delicious looking brownie. After scrolling down I discovered Anna had kindly included the recipe.

I made a couple of modifications. I love walnuts, so I used walnuts instead of pecans. The recipe also calls for shortening and I believe in USA this means Crisco shortening which is a solid, white product which is 100% vegetable fat. Crisco shortening (or anything similar) is not easily available here in Australia, so I substituted butter.

I can guarantee you will get an amazing brownie using all butter!!! lol





Also this week I found a post on Michele Hill"s blog about a giveaway of a quilt pattern of hers. The pattern was several years old and Michele found 3 copies she kindly offered.
Well, Michele is a very generous lady and she posted out 20 copies of this wonderful pattern!!! :)

The style of this quilt goes perfectly with another of Michele's patterns I have.



Below is a sneak peek of the last basket blocks of the Waterloo quilt. Instead of paper piecing several small squares and triangles as shown in the pattern I decided to fussy cut some of the birds from the Rouenneries bird toile fabric Ranette sent to me.


I have 2 more baskets blocks to finish, then all I have to do is sew on the last border and I will have another top finished!! Yay!


I think I have caught the "bug". Spools!! They all began with Ingrid here....and it seems the spool bug is spreading like wildfire all around the world! Ingrid has a pattern on her blog. So far she has made over 500 and there are lots of others who join her on Saturdays to sew their own spools.

The fabric below arrived last week from here. They are only small pieces of fabric, so I hope I can keep my addiction to this very small stash!




Here is a photo of the same bromeliad from a previous post opened a little more.




A white fuchsia, just for Danielle. :)




Don't forget my giveaway!! (see previous post) You have until tomorrow (Sunday) evening AEST to enter.
Thank you to all the wonderful people who have already entered and left lots of lovely comments. Good luck to all of you!


Thunder is rumbling here and I hope we get a huge downpour. We really need the rain.

Have a great weekend everyone!!

Cheddar Cheese and Crackers Progress

Last night I finished sewing together all the blocks for my Cheddar Cheese and Crackers.
My colour placement is quite different from the original. I am really happy with how this little quilt is coming along. I can't wait to hand quilt it. If you look at this post on Lori of Humble Quilts blog you can see lots more Cheddar Cheese and Crackers quilts.


While watching the Winter Olympics (Go Aussies!!!!) on TV I have been doing some hand sewing on my Waterloo borders. One more side to go, then lots of little circles need to be appliqued on.





On a much more serious note I found this message on the blog of Jane of Jane's Fabrics and Quilts.


Please, make your car a

Waterloo progress

Here is a progress photo of the Waterloo quilt. The next round will be appliqued orange peel and slightly larger baskets in each corner. For the baskets I plan to make them a little differently and fussy cut some birds from the Rouenneries linen/cotton fabric Ranette sent to me. I have stitched everything by hand so far. The original quilt is slightly different in the centre medallion and I may add more to mine.



I have started a small quilt for my sister. The red print on the right hand side is the only other fabric in this quilt top. This is again all hand stitched. Lots of large pieces coming up, so it will be quick to put together. I plan to hand quilt this one.

I have all the pieces cut for another small quilt that will be machine pieced. Lots of fabrics in this one! Up until now almost all of my quilts have had lots of different fabrics in them.

I have another small top ready to be quilted.

Its been really hot here today. At one point this afternoon our backyard thermometer read 47 C (about 116 F)!!! It was still 40 C after dinner. All my rose blooms are dried to a crisp! Its been too hot do anything but sit in a cool place and hand piece. Tomorrow we are expecting a cool change, then a week of much cooler weather.........thank goodness!!!

Have a great week, everyone!

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!!

Its December, and Summer.....

I have kept working on the Waterloo quilt and have finished 4 more basket blocks.


I have 3 more prepared and ready to applique. I am finding it is easier to do the English Paper Piecing during the day because my eyesight isn't what it used to be!!


This is the centre block of the Waterloo quilt. Not all of the circles are appliqued down yet, but you get the idea!!



There has been a little progress on the Antique Quilt. The instructions for the next round came out today, so I will be trying to finish off the current round quickly. Lots and lots of flying geese next!



My postman delivered lots of goodies yesterday!!!


Firstly, I won a giveaway that Nancy of Blogging, Near Philadelphia ran recently. Her prize was a covered journal. Nancy kindly offered me a choice of fabrics and I picked William Morris......in Nancy's choice of colour. Here is what she made me!! Isn't it wonderful!!!!! :)


I just love all William Morris fabrics and I have a small collection of my own. The fabrics Nancy chose are all different to any I have. Thank you for picking me, Nancy and thank you for such a delightful gift. Handmade gifts are always precious!!!




There was another much anticipated parcel in the post yesterday.

Lots and lots of delicious fabric!!!!!


Fat quarters of Kaffe Fassett fabric. Now I can start my Jacobs Coat quilt. I have one small decision to make......do I go with the mainly red fabrics on the left, or the blue/green fabrics on the right?????



Also in the package were some Rouenneries yardage. I chose the solid red and the stripe to make bags for summer. The floral is my absolute favourite fabric in the whole collection!!!



After experiencing the hottest November since records began 154 years ago, I am hoping for a cool summer this year. Our November also brought the heaviest monthly rainfall for almost 5 years. I'm not sure if these weather phenomena are evidence of global warming, or just normal variation.



Christmas preparations have begun today. My Christmas cake is in the oven.



Below are some photos from the garden. Most of my roses have finished their first lots of flowering, however Red Velvet seems to always have at least one bloom.

The fuschias are covered in flowers.





I am not sure what this plant is called, but I love the blue flowers.

A little progress

Not much sewing has been happening here over the last couple of weeks. Above are 2 more basket blocks for the Waterloo quilt. The baskets are sewn together using English Paper Piecing, then appliqued down. I am using Superior Bottom Line thread for the EPP and applique. The embroidery on each handle is done with floss from Weeks Dye Works. The threads are hand dyed and there is quite a bit of variation in colour in each skein.



These pieces are for the next round of the AQ. They are much faster to sew together than the Le Moyne stars!

I have found a lovely blog by a lady who lives in Holland. She has recently started posting in English as well as Dutch. Danielle has beautiful work!

First Basket

Today I did a class with Sue Daley (of Patchwork with Busy Fingers) for her Waterloo quilt.

We had a great day and I learned a lot.

I am using the same Rouenneries fabrics that Sue used, except I am using the linen as my background fabric.

The first basket block is finished! :)






More Graham Thomas roses. The red rose is Red Velvet.