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!!

Happy Australia Day

Happy Australia Day!!! January 26th is the day the First Fleet arrived in 1788.

The photo above is some euclyptus ficifolia (flowering gum) blossom in our garden.

I went out for a walk this morning and watched the Roulettes doing a flying display not far from our home.
We had a barbeque for lunch and I made pavlova for dessert. yum!!

The Australian Open tennis is on here in Melbourne at the moment. I have done some sewing in the evenings while watching some matches on TV. Here is my progress on the quilt for my sister. Just one more border to go.




Recently my sister gave me a hoya and it has its first flower.

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!