Stitching with Friends

Yesterday I had a wonderful day of fun, food, stitching, laughter, sharing and inspiration with friends at Cathy's home.

We started the morning with show and tell. (lots of photos!!!)

First was Kay's stunning quilt made from mostly French General fabrics.

Kay is machine quilting this quilt herself.

A close up of another of Kay's quilts. This one she is quilting by machine and by hand.

Next was Chris's masterpiece work in progress called Insanity II.

Chris has used mostly of Kaffe Fassett fabrics in this quilt. She is creating this breath taking quilt by  English Paper Piecing and hand stitching thousands of 1/2 inch hexagons!!! There are about 8,000 hexagons already in this quilt.

Here is a closer look at the back.

...and Cathy's dog Millie doing a wonderful job of modelling! :)

Michelle brought a really cute Christmas quilt.

Lots of piecing and applique on this quilt, as well as embellishments with buttons and bows.

Millie was well behaved all day. :)

Michelle is also making Camelot.

Deborah (no blog) brought a wonderful quilt she was hand quilting during the day.

The fabric in the bottom left  in the fabric Deb used as inspiration for this quilt.

Next came Kathy (no blog) who has been quilting for only just over a year.

I love all the floral fabrics.

Kathy is also making X and O blocks.

Our hostess Cathy made this block.

You may have seen Cathy's Heart mini quilt on her blog.

This beautiful piece is much smaller than I had imagined: not much bigger than a postcard! Cathy's stitching is beautiful!


We didn't have lunch until well after 2 pm, then we started stitching.

Later in the afternoon we were joined by Bronwyn  who had been taking a class with  Emma, who joined us a little later.

It was wonderful to meet new friends and catch up with ladies I had met before. I feel very lucky that we live close enough together to be able to meet in person and share stitching time together.

Thank you Cathy for a really lovely day! :)

Red

Two more little houses from scraps.

Last week I chose the fabric for the sashing and cornerstones for my house quilt.

I have decided I want to make 2 house quilts, one with all red houses and one with all the other house blocks I have made.  Both quilts will have the same sashing and cornerstones.

More red.....

Turkey red fabrics from Collections for a Cause, Friendship.

Some of those fabrics will be used in a quilt from this book:

For more information about the quilt that inspired this book and some photos of the quilt look here.


This is what I have been doing today........

It has been a cold and wet day here, so a perfect day for some machine quilting.

Some red blooms from the garden today.

Today is ANZAC day in Australia.

My strongest memories of ANZAC day are from when I was a very young child. Both my father and brother played in our small town's brass band. The band played the music for all the returned service men and women who marched in the ANZAC day parade. I can remember wreaths being laid at the town's cenotaph.  I can remember "old" men with limbs missing, ladies in uniform, the wearing of medals, marching music, the last post and reveille,  and speeches. I was too young to have any understanding of the real significance of the day.
Later, when we had television I remember watching hundreds of people marching to the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne.

Thank you to all who have served and are serving now.  Thank you to all the young people who gave their lives.

Lest we forget.

Flying Geese and more....

I have flying geese: flying geese that worked! :)

I used the Mini Fit To Be Geese ruler to make these. The instructions with the ruler are very clear and there is very little wasted fabric.

I just used charm squares to make these flying geese and cut a single small square from each charm square.  After I made them I discovered that Carrie from La Vie En Rosie blog has a tutorial for using the ruler and charm squares where you can get 4 flying geese blocks from 2 charm squares. No more charm squares with little corners cut out. :)

I recently made a sleeve for a tablet.

Inside:

I bound the seams with bias tape. The outside fabric is a heavier cotton from American Folk and Fabric's Antique Collection. The lining is from Lecien's Antique  Flower Collection.
The button was a lucky find at Spotlight!
I am very happy with how it turned out. :)

Last week I had a day in the city and went to AQC and a little visit to L'uccello on the way home.

I found this wonderful fabric at L'uccello. :)

I didn't come home empty handed from AQC.

Plenty of fabric:

The fabric at top left is a linen from Lecien, and some bargains.
I also found a little bit of Collections for a Cause; Friendship..

Looove those turkey reds!

It was a lovely day with meeting old friends and new.

Here in Melbourne we are enjoying a relatively late burst of warm weather. I found some autumn roses in bloom.

Sokdee Pimay!!

.....or Happy New Year!

Today is the first day of Laotian New Year celebrations. (It is also New Year in Cambodia and Thailand.) It is the last day of the year 2554. Traditionally the last day of the year is for cleaning and decorating.
Today we had friends over for lunch.
Tomorrow is the day between the old year and the new year, a day of rest and for having fun. (If anyone has experienced New Year in Laos, Cambodia or Thailand, this is the day where they throw water on everyone!)
Monday is New Year's Day and is the day for more celebrations and giving of wishes for good luck for the New Year.

Last year my daughter was married on Laotian New Year's Day.


On the sewing front I don't have much to show.....yet.....more secret sewing happening! :)

Just one more little house to add to my collection.

This is my 37th little house from scraps. If I was making one house a day I would only be up to February 6th! Hmmm...a long way to go for me! Lol

A little progress on my next Friends of Baltimore block...

Recently Monique Dillard of Open Gate Quilts blog had a giveaway and I was lucky enough to win one of her prizes.

I am really looking forward to using the Mimi Fit to be Geese ruler. Up until now my efforts at flying geese blocks have been very disappointing! (very sad geese!)  One of the secret sewing projects has a round of flying geese blocks for the next step. I am sure that this ruler and the accompanying instructions will have me making perfect (and happy!) flying geese.

Enjoy the rest of your weekend. :)

Blogger's BOM, little houses and secret sewing

Already it is the 7th month of Blogger's BOM and the latest block comes from Allison Harris from Cluck Cluck Sew.  Here are my 2 blocks.

My housing construction is coming along slowly, but steadily. Below are my five recent completions.

All over the world there are hundreds of ladies making these little houses from scraps. Each house block is just 3 inches square. To see what everyone else has been making go here. Some very industrious ladies have   finished their quilts already!

Now for the secret sewing. :)  It was my sister's birthday last week so I decided to make her a needlebook. She reads my blog, so I couldn't post the photos until she received the package.

I followed the same design as Susan's Hari Kuyo needlebook. The pages are wool felt and all the other fabrics are from old kimonos.

These needlebooks are lots of fun to make. I have started my third one! :)

The last few weeks I have had less time to read and comment on  blogs. I hope to be able to get back into my blogging routine soon.
Thank you for everyone who has visited and especially to those who have left comments. I love comments! ......and replying to them. :)

Sewing, knitting, cooking.

Time for stitching has been scarce the last couple of weeks, but I have finished the second branch of panel 1 for the vine quilt. This quilt seems to be progressing very slowly! Saturday night I had a spurt of enthusiasm and prepared all the leaves for the next 2 branches.

More preparation with the start of the next block for Friends of Baltimore.

There has been some secret sewing happening too. More on that later...:)

Last week a young friend and his wife welcomed their first child. Tiny blue booties for a precious little boy.

My annual hot cross bun cook-a-thon has begun. :) I make the traditional fruit buns, but recently started making chocolate hot cross buns also.  There is a batch of chocolate dough rising in the kitchen at the moment. (a little sweet....even for me a true chocoholic!!). I love my fruit buns, with just a little butter. :)

Recently I went to a lecture by An Moonen, from the Netherlands, based on her book The History of Dutch Quilts. The afternoon was well organised by the Quilt Study Group Victoria and Somerset Patchwork and Quilting and it was very well attended.
An is extremely knowledgeable and was able to identify a quilt as being Dutch from one small triangle of  Indian chintz fabric sewn in the quilt. (the owner has previously believed the quilt to be English)

This photo was taken early one morning when the air was still. It is of a branch of a huge gum tree in our back yard. You may be able to see the blossom and the bees. While I was taking the photo the the bees were very busy gathering pollen and the air around the tree was full of tiny blossom petals raining down. The sound of magpies warbling completed the picture of a beautiful Australian morning.

Next Roseville Album block complete

I fussy cut the birds.....one looks a little angry!  I think I will do something like put beads for their eyes so they look a little less serious. Lol

Six blocks finished now. Woohoo!!! :)

Hari-Kuyo Needlebook finished.

I just completed my first Hari-Kuyo needlebook!

Susan Elliott has been running a very successful e-course for this book. There have been participants from several states in the USA, France, Norway, United Kingdom, Canada, Greece and Australia. A truly worldwide gathering of ladies eager to learn from a very talented embroiderer.

Here is the kit I started with, along with some embroidery threads I added.

I gathered supplies from my stash for 2 more needlebooks:

The fabrics in this one are from old kimonos.

William Morris fabrics and my favourite colours.

All the pages for the needlebooks are wool felt.

The first step was to embroider the flower for the cover:

Next the embroidery for the inside back cover:

This is the part of the book that takes it far beyond any other needlebook. This page is for keeping worn and broken needles until February 8th, when, every year, Hari-Kuyo, or the Festival of Broken needles is held. Hari-Kuyo is a fascinating tradition from Japan where people bring their worn and broken needles to a shrine where the needles are placed in tofu. The tofu acts to sooth and protect the needles. By this act the needle workers are showing gratitude and respect to the needles. In Japan they believe that all objects have a soul and that these objects receive part of our soul when we use them.
If you would like to read more, go here and   here for a very good explanations of the tradition.


My book complete with labelled pages and needles:

To learn more about the e-course click on the button on my sidebar.



I have started embroidering the front cover for my second book.

Have a great weekend, everyone.

All is well

.....back again.

Sorry about the panicked post earlier.  I thought I had lost all my sidebar while trying to change to the new blogger. (I deleted the panicked post when I realised what was going on!)
Luckily the old settings had been saved!!!

Another new look for my blog.

Back to stitching......:)

The postman rang twice....

....well, he actually came 3 times this week!!!

The first parcel that came contained the pattern for this beauty!!

Margo Hardie made this version of the Gorsuch Quilt (she is still quilting it) and she received so much interest in it she decided to produce a pattern.

Included are full size pattern sheets and a CD of photos of each block.
Margo doesn't have a website or blog (yet), but if you want to contact Margo her email is quiltsbeautifulpatterns@yahoo.com.au  (no affiliations, just a happy customer)
Edited to add.....Margo now has a website here.

The second parcel to arrive was a long awaited one.

Lisa and I both thought this package of goodies might have lost its way! It seems it took the scenic route. Late last year Lisa had a giveaway on her blog and I was lucky enough to be one of her winners.

On the card inside the envelope Lisa gave details of the fabrics (one Smithsonian and 2 Shelburne) with the book. (Lisa was very generous in including them because she had an unavoidable delay in posting the package)

The book has a wonderful collection of small and large, and pieced and appliqued quilts. Lots of wonderful inspiration.  Thank you Lisa, especially for parting with those great fabrics! :)

The last package was a surprise from my sister (who is not a quilter....yet!!!)

I have already decided on 2 quilts I would love to make from the magazine. The videos are on the list to watch today. The weather is cold and wet here, so perfect for an inside day.

My thoughts today are with those facing weather extremes. There has been flooding rain over a large area of the eastern states of Australia. More rain is expected today. Also thinking of those affected by tornadoes in USA.

Take care everyone.