Anyone seen a missing blogger?

Sorry, lovely readers.

I think if you go back and look at my past years’ of posting, you’d probably find that I drop off the planet around September. 

September is a very busy month for me.  Lord knows why, it’s only September, for goodness’ sake.

It’s not been all hustle and bustle though.  In my quiet times (waiting in the car…waiting….waiting) I’ve managed to do some hexies. 

You’ve not seen these ones before.  Some time ago, while cleaning out a cupboard at our quilting rooms, I found this lovely pouch donated by an older lady for a trading table. 

All hand stitched and hand quilted, and included a hand stitched zipper also!  Too cute for words.

I realised it looked vaguely familiar, and then I remembered a million years ago, I saved a tutorial from a lovely website Quiltsalott (click on the link to be taken directly to the tutorial).   Sadly the blogger doesn’t write anymore which is a shame, because she’s got some lovely stuff there.

Anyway.  Time to make myself one!

I finished piecing the hexies last night, and will hand quilt them in the next day or two.  All the fabrics are from scraps I’ve held on to over the years (don’t we all do that!).  I am slightly disappointed in a couple though.  See if you can tell which ones in this closeup:

It is difficult to see, (and ignore the truly awful closeups of my stitching) but it’s the plains.  When I was stitching them they seemed to have a sheen to them, and were a tighter weave than others.  I really did think hard about including them, and I did.   I’m now firmly convinced they are some sort of poly blend, because they have puckered a little under the iron.  Not too much, but enough for me to realise I should trust my instincts when it comes to things like this.

Lesson learned. 

Apart from that, life is hurtling by for us.  Australia is currently going through the worst flu season ever (apparently) and everyone, including my husband is sick.  He’s not one to stay home and veg out on the couch so the fact that he’s been off work for three days and on the couch all that time makes me think that he didn’t have manflu after all, but a real bonefide cold..

I’m soldiering on though! 

Hope you’re all well.  Happy quilting!

Monday Driving

Hello!  Did you make it all the way to the end of the photos?

For some reason now Livewriter doesn’t let me start typing at the top any more.  So here I am for today.

Some time ago we (hubby and I) took the girls for a drive to a small group of towns around here.  He has business interests that he needed to see, so we tagged along for the drive.  We all love a good ramble, and he knows the owners of this abandoned sheepfarm, so we felt comfortable to have a good stickybeak.

I often read other people’s blogs when they ramble, and there is so much to see in such a small space.  Here where I live there are miles and miles and miles of nothing much – it’s lovely and quiet and you could drive for miles without seeing another car.  This farm had a shearing shed that we assumed hadn’t been used for years, given the calendar.  Yet it still had that lovely, musty smell of lanolin and sheep (those of us who live near sheep know the smell very well, it’s gorgeous). 

It’s a fantastic space and it seems a shame to let it all just fall away with the weather (see the photo above of all that’s left of the shed next to it) but people just don’t have a need for their own shearing shed anymore.  Way of the world, I guess.

Hope you’re well, warm, dry and safe!  Take care!

Blue, blue, blue

Hi lovely readers.

It’s a blue day today.  Not in mood but in quilts! 

I’ve made a bonus quilt from leftover half square triangles.  Found them in a bag somewhere.

now,

And now, not only is it a top, it’s a quilt!

and it’s quilted by ME! 

So yay me!  I had a lesson on the long arm and it worked okay really.   I am not displeased at all!  It is really difficult to get a nice curve happening, and I’m in awe who can do such wonderful quilting on their quilts.  I’m sure I will be a functioning, and quite capable long armer, but never more than that and NEVER for other people

A long arm is most definitely the way to go if you have the space.  Or the mother that has one you can borrow for nothing. 

I hope you are well, safe and dry enough (especially if I have any Texas readers, my goodness me I feel for you!).  We are in the first week of spring and it’s most definitely arrived – it’s hot and windy, and tomorrow it’s going to rain. 

I don’t much like spring.

Take care everyone!

What I’m working on

It’s been very cold here still, with no rain.  And whilst it’s freezing (14) today, it’s meant to be 30 on Sunday. 

The weather just needs to calm down, I think.

I’ve been lucky enough to secure some Eye Spy fabrics and found a really nice picture online (no, sorry – I can’t find the source of the picture to give credit so I won’t post it) of a quilt I might like to make.  So you know me, so many UFO’s in process – let’s add another!

Each block has one tricky seam that you need to stop and fold and resew (clear as mud, I know!) but once I got into the knack of it, it was surprisingly quick to sew enough blocks for a whole quilt.

I’m almost done with is, so hopefully in a day or two I’ll be able to show you the finished item!  Yay me!

Trying to keep warm

It’s weird, if you look outside the window, it’s bright and sunny with not a cloud in sight.  If you go outside, it’s freaking freezing.

I spent most of my day ‘chillaxing’ yesterday and dug up a UFO so old it could be called prehistoric.

Half an hour in the sewing room, stitching a couple of pieced borders on and it’s done. 

I’m not sure who stitched it.  Either Mum or I back before we left our shop. It would have been a pattern idea, once upon a time. 

I just need to back it and quilt it and bind it and it’s finished.  And I am left wondering again, why do I have so many UFO’s almost done?

All such bad news again everywhere.  I’m trying very hard to limit my online/social media time, and even the radio is getting turned off lately.  The weight of it is awful.  Hopefully turning off media translates to more effective use of my time craftwise.  Perhaps I will become more productive?  I don’t know.

We have Book Week this week, so I’ve been spending (too much) a lot of time trying to sort out costumes for one little girl who doesn’t really care what she wears and one bigger girl who is making life very difficult.  Do you have Book Week where you are?  Basically it’s a week of focussing on (wait for it) Books!  And it culminates in a parade where the children have to be dressed up in a character in a book.  Miss Nine is all over it, keen as mustard.  Miss Twelve is just at that stage where life is Soooooo Embarrassing and so who knows what’s going to happen with her costume this year.

Add to that, their ballet school has a once a year dressup occasion and you guessed it, it’s the same week as book week.  But both children flatly refuse to wear the same costume as previously discussed, so we are currently ‘negotiating’ what they will wear to that also. 

Busy busy life these children lead.  And at times I feel very much like their personal valet.  I know these times will be gone very quickly and I’ll miss them.  I just need to remember that!

Hope you’re keeping well, keeping safe, keeping sane where ever you are.  Talk soon!

A totally, completely, 100 percent finished quilt to show you!

Hi everyone.

Mostly when I show you ‘finished items’ they are very rarely finished.  They are flimsies, which as you know I am totally cool with.

But this quilt, which I’ve shown you before, has a place that it is to live, and it needs to be quilted to live there!

I’ve been in my current house 9 years.  This quilt was originally designed to go on my bed, but it got too hard and I decided to quit at the borders and make it a wall hanging.   It’s been on the go that long.

It languished for years while I fiddle faddled with other things.

This year was the year to finish it.  I only had a small amount of applique to go, and then I handed it over to my expert quilter and she has given it back to me as a work of art.

Tadah!

I’m stupidly pleased with it.  I did a really good job (if I say so myself) at the applique and Mum’s done an outstanding job of the quilting.

It’s a real pretty quilt, I think.  All I have to do now is hang the thing on the wall and I’m done!  Let’s hope I get to that quickly!

Hope you all have a lovely day, and I’ll see you soon!

Monsters–but of a different kind

I’m sure you’ve all seen my monster quilts, here and here if you are interested.

I’ve had another monster quilt simmering away that I finally managed to finish.

I had brought a whole stack of brights fat eighths, and had a bee in my bonnet about using the Tumbler die that came with the accuquilt (that big bit of worthless quilting supply I don’t use half as much as I ought).

So I cut them out, stitched them together in a very short amount of time,  appliqued some monsters on a piece of white homespun and then put them away.  Why?  Who knows?

I had a clean out the other day in my sewing room found them.  It took me a couple of nights to stitch them on, and it’s another flimsy done and dusted.

Bright cheery little buggars.  Great fun to do. 

Hope you’re keeping warm if you’re in Oz.  It’s freezing!  And it’s been raining!  Yay! (yellow monster is agreeing with me)