055 Crochet Update

You may remember me previously showing you the afghan I made from leftover yarn.

This yarn is its own ply, and I can't mix it with other yarn I have, so in an effort to make sure it's all used up, I did more afghan blocks.

Some of the ends are sewn in, the remainder I am slowly working on.  Then I need to sew it all together, and then I need to order MORE black to finish crocheting around the outside.  When it's done completely, I'll show you.

When we worked in a wool shop, people were forever coming in so that they could buy a little more yarn to use up the yarn they had leftover.  And it NEVER happened.  People never ever get to the end of their yarn pile.  You would think I would have learned that by now.

It's cooled down a little, and we have only had one or two dusty days, thankfully.  The drift of soil is amazing, nothing I've ever seen before.  Like big mountains of snow by the side of the road, only it's red soil.  I remember my Nanna telling me about dust storms when she was a child, I guess they are nothing new but they certainly are new to me!  

And no more rain, but the rain we had a few weeks ago has caused some tiny shoots of green to come through the red dirt, so that's a plus.

Hope you're having an excellent day.  Talk soon!

054 Lucy Boston Update

Please don't tell me you're sick of hearing about Lucy.  I won't have anything to write about if you do!

It'll look awesome when all the tacking stitches are done. 

Are you a gluer or a tacker?  I tried gluing.  Really didn't like it.  I find hand basting quite theraputic, really.  Mental, I know.

Have a great day!

053 A flimsy...Miniature Mosaic Tiles

We had a sewing day/month here at our small Tuesday night group.

The ladies (as we call them) wanted to do a scrap quilt, so we chose a pattern and began cutting units.

Needless to say we cut so many more than we needed.  Somewhere in the previous posts I think I have shown you the quilt we made.  I'll have a look for it.

But we made too many strips, so I made a quick bonus quilt with the leftovers.

Turned out okay, I think.  What do you reckon?

052 - Walking Around Adelaide

Sometimes, we go to our state capital - Adelaide and stay for a few days.  We always choose to stay right in the city square, rather than have to fight with the traffic we just drive in to our destination, park the car and then take public transport where we need to.

Adelaide's a smaller city, and the main city block is easy enough to walk.  We have got into the habit of going out for a meal, and then walking off our full bellies afterwards.  I snapped some pictures down the 'posh end' of Adelaide, so please enjoy!

These are the posher houses around East/South Terrace end of Adelaide.  Big and spacious and horribly expensive, no doubt.  There are smaller cottages further in, and when I have my camera next I'll take some of those to show you.

I love Adelaide.  It's wonderful, not too big, not too dangerous, everything you need is there.  Just the right size and space.

Happy quilting!

051 Lucy Boston Update

This one is pretty, don't you think?

I'll photograph my design wall with them all up there, when I have a little time.  Never enough time.

050 Lucy Boston Update

Motoring on with Lucy meanwhile.  Can't wait to get the whole thing done.

049 Pam Holland Class - Our Class Work

As promised, I'm showing you today the Pam Holland class sample I made.  

I used some weirdish fabrics from Aldi.  Completely out of my comfort zone, but hey, the whole class was out of my comfort zone.  So nothing ventured, nothing gained.

The first part of the class was to piece a background.  That part was easy.  I can do that with my eyes closed.  

I did have to make a join in my background fabric - it called for a longer piece than I had but that was all good, with some finicky piecing you could barely notice the seam.

  

Our first task was to trace a vase with a marker, and then colour it in.  I coped with that okay.

The next step was to trace a tree from the template, and then DRAW IT OUT ONTO OUR FABRIC!!  Yes, that part was very daunting.

We then ironed our little vase, and Pam's little crow (raven?) onto the fabric.  So far I am coping okay!

And then, we had to start stitching.

That part is daunting to me.  I've never been a very good freemotion quilter, and I've tried various classes and nothing has stuck.  But Pam's version really did stick, and soon I was freemotioning like a pro!

The trick is to know when to stop.  And I don't know if even Pam knows when to stop.

So here are some of the other class ladies at work.

We all did really well, and I think we all felt confident in ourselves at the end of the class.

And here is my almost finished sample!  

I have finished the whole thing, including all the quilting in the borders, but as luck would have it I don't know where I've put the jolly thing.  But I'll find it soon and give you an update on it.  

Needless to say, completely recommend Pam as a teacher.  In fact, I'd say any teacher can teach you SOMETHING.  Just give it a go!

048 Pam Holland - Her Quilts

Way back in August of last year, our quilting group were lucky enough to secure Pam Holland for our teacher.

We are in South Australia and Pam is based in South Australia, so it wasn't too hard for her to get here.

I must admit to feeling a little daunted.  Pam's quilts are not your stock standard ones, and all the photos I had seen of her work seemed like way out of my league.

But I'm nothing if not adventurous, and also I'm the president of the club currently, so it would be bad of me not to do the class.  So I signed up.

I'll show you our class work tomorrow, but these are just a few photos of Pam's work, for you to have a gander at.

No particular order, just as I was able to take them.  And there were so many more, but the rest of the group were all trying to take their photos as well, so it was difficult.  But you can see how wonderful her work was.

She gave us all a freebie (above) too.  Which was very lovely of her.  I don't know what to do with it just yet but it's lovely all the same.

I'll share tomorrow the photos of the class, in which I actually finished a project and felt like I was keeping up with the class, which is all Very Good.