Irish Chain block finished!!!!

It took a while, but its done!!!

So far this block is the only machine pieced block in my Morrell Quilt. We were given instructions for a "short cut" method using machine piecing, so I decided that option looked a lot more manageable than hand piecing 381 one inch squares of fabric!!!! Yes, there are 381 pieces in that 10 inch block!


The next 2 blocks took substantially less time to complete!




I have a broderie perse block almost finished and another one prepared ready to go.





It is the 2nd day of Spring here in Melbourne. My plum tree is covered in blossom.

We had a clear sun rise this morning and some more hints of sun during the day. Temperatures are warming up. However, we are expecting lots of rain over the weekend. Sounds like perfect quilting weather to me!! :)

One more Morrell Block

I finished another MQ block this morning.

As I was sewing on the last row of triangles I noticed one little triangle was from a different fabric!! I have no idea how that happened! That little triangle is staying there!

The next block I will be making is a triple Irish chain.....wish me luck!

I had a bit of waiting outside home this week so I took hand sewing with me.
I managed to get 2 more JC blocks finished too.


Here a couple of photos from my garden.




I went for another beach walk this week. This walk lasted a very short time; it was blowing a gale and freezing!!! You can see the foam on the sand from the waves breaking on the beach.
This beach is on the other side of the peninsula from the beach photos in my last post.
The bathing boxes are found on several beaches around the bay.

One Flower Wednesday and a beach walk.

Sixteen hexie flowers finished now.


Yesterday I went for a walk on the beach with my daughter and her dog.







Thank you to everyone who read my last post, especially to those who left a comment or sent and email.
Thank you for all your kind words and thank you for spreading the message.
If one life is saved, the message has worked.



On a happy note, it is Ranette's birthday today!! Go over to Ranette's blog and wish her a Happy Birthday!!!!!

An important message........

Today's post is quite different from all the others I have written since it is of a personal nature.

Below are 2 links. The first is from a local radio station here in Melbourne and contains video of an interview with a young football player and a TV message about road safety.

The second link is a newspaper story about the same young man.

The story is a very serious one. It may upset you.

It is about a young man who was involved a fatal road crash several years ago.

Here in Victoria, in an attempt to reduce the road toll, there has been a series of advertising campaigns designed to shock.


And shock they do!


Neil Mitchell interview with David Hille



The Age newspaper article.


The day that crash happened was my daughter's 13th birthday. At the time I also had 2 sons aged 15 and 17. The 17 year old was about to start learning to drive. I still remember that crash because of the age of the boys involved and the ages of my sons.

Little did I know that less than seven years later my eldest son would be killed on the road.

My reason for this post is to make you aware of the importance of wearing seat belts, and also, even more vitally, the importance of being aware of consequences of choices on the road.

Tell your children.

Road safety is not just a TV advertisement or a billboard, it is up to us.




Give your children an extra hug. There is nothing more precious than our children.

Joseph's Coat progress and more

Joseph's Coat is growing! None of the blocks are joined together yet and 3 or 4 blocks are only pinned at the moment, but I am getting closer to finishing. Tomorrow I have another class with Kellie and I hope to find out how to join all the rows together. I think I will stop at 7 by 5 blocks instead of the 7 by 7 in Kellie's pattern. I have graded the blues and greens to lighter colours in the corners and along the edges and I think I will lose the effect of the colours I am after if I add 2 more rows.

This quilt is my first working with Kaffe Fassett fabrics. I have loved fussy cutting and sewing with these bright fabrics.





Below is my hexie flower for this week. I haven't used my camera to take photos after dark before and I am quite happy with how it turned out.



The plant my hexie is resting in is another Australian native. The Bendigo Waxflower grows mostly in the South East corner of the country.

Below is a close up shot I took earlier in the day.



I have (almost!) completed block 2 of Tail Feathers. The appliqued bird still needs a beak and an eye. I am going to sew on tiny beads for the eyes when I have finished all the blocks.




We have had lots of lovely, steady rain again this afternoon. We expect more over the next week.




Have a great week everyone. I hope you all get lots of sewing time!

Morrell block 41 and a flower

Block 41 is finished! I hand pieced the small diamonds then appliqued the pieced block to the background. Another pieced block is next.


A sign that Spring is on its way. Our Cootamundra wattle is in flower already. The darker spots on the centre of the flower are rain drops. We have had several hours of steady, light rain this afternoon and evening. Beautiful for the garden. :)



One Flower Wednesday Hexagon.

I am slowly working on Tail Feathers block 2. I hope to get it finished before the end of the weekend.

I finished one more block for Josephs Coat too. Next post I will include a photo of my JC progress.

Thank you everyone for all the lovely comments I have been getting recently. I appreciate every one of them. :)

One Flower Wednesday

One more flower this week.

I missed posting a hexie flower over the last couple of weeks, but if you scroll down to my post from yesterday you will see one more hexie flower there.
I have made 14 flowers now. :)

It has been a while.....

......quite a bit of my sewing time in the last couple of weeks has been taken up making this Morrell Quilt block. That 10 inch block has 193 pieces in it! The centre octogon was appliqued on, but all the rest is hand pieced. Twenty blocks to go now!

I haven't had as much sewing time as I would have liked recently, so I have only managed a little progress on some projects.


We have had some sunshine today so I took my latest hexie for One Flower Wednesday outside to photograph.

Two more Joseph Coat blocks are finished. I have 22 completed now.




I have always wanted to make an album quilt and I have seen some very tempting traditional quilts, but I haven't seen one that I would really love to make.

Look at this version of an album quilt..............




The Roseville Album is Kim McLean's latest pattern. I succumbed! Pam and Kathie have started the quilt. Pam has created a blog just for Kim McLean quilts. Glorious Applique is a feast for the eyes. :)
I'm not sure when I will start this quilt......I have a few WIP to get finished first. lol



A rosemary flower in the sunshine in my garden this morning.

Progress this week

A few weeks ago I started the Tail Feathers BOM. Here is the first block finished.
I just love those little birds!!!


Below is my one hexie for One Flower Wednesday.


My daphne is covered in blooms at the moment.


I have also completed 2 more blocks for Joseph's Coat.

Yesterday I spent some time cutting out lots of pieces for the next 3 blocks for the Morrell Quilt. Still more little triangles to cut out..........

More Morrell, a hexie and books.

I have been spending more time on my Morrell quilt this last week or two. Three more blocks finished.

The block above is hand pieced.

The block below is a broderie perse block. All the raw edges are hand stitched with one strand of Gutterman cotton thread using a buttonhole stitch.




The last block is appliqued onto the background fabric using needle turn applique.




I have also spent some time reading the book The Gentle Art of Quilt Making by Jane Brocket, that I won in a giveaway from Cathy of Cabbage Quilts. This book is a riot of colour! Jane uses simple designs rather than complicated piecing to create impact. Her inspiration comes from either the fabrics she is using or something in her environment. It could be a field of tulips, the memory of an evening dress or tiles on a wall. Reading this book has inspired me to look past quilting patterns and to look for inspiration around me. Up until now I have followed other people's desgns with maybe a small change of my own. I can feel my quilting will now start to go in a different direction as I learn to trust my instincts and start to try to create my own designs. I expect I steep learning curve, a few mistakes, but lots of pleasure along the way. :)



Here is my one hexie block for One Flower Wednesday. All my hexies are one inch.

The flowers are camelias from my garden. These flowers begin as a very deep red and as they open and enlarge the colour lightens. These flowers are much larger than those of all my other camelias.


I received a belated birthday gift yesterday from another quilter. (Thank you, Judi! :))
The package included some batik fabrics that coordinate perfectly with a little pack of fat quarters I already had. Now to think of a design to use then in. I also received a book showing miniature quilts and their makers. These quilts are in the Museum of the American Quilter's Society. The book is called "Oh, Wow" and I think that sums it up perfectly! There are lots of amazing quilts and it is hard to believe each of them is 24 inches square or less. I want to be able to make quilts like those one day!!
There is a mixture of hand and machine quilted quilts and a variety of modern and traditional designs.
I had only heard of 3 of the quilt makers before. One of them is Mariya Waters, who I was lucky enough to take a class with here in Melbourne just recently. I hope to take more classes with Mariya soon.

It is great that quilters are generous enough to share their skills with others. I still have lots to learn, but what a wonderful journey it is! :)