Grand Illusion Mystery

So obviously I’ve started Quiltville’s latest mystery quilt.  Of course I have.

I’m determined to keep on track with this one.

Here are my colour choices:

I haven’t included the white yet, but the black is underneath all the brights.

I was pleasantly surprised (or quietly horrified, I can’t tell) that I had enough fabric to do this without buying any.  I may be stretching the black a little, I have two metres which I think will work out the same in yards as we need.  We shall see!

I’ve cut them all out, and last night I pieced all the half square triangles, but I have no photo to show you. 

Hopefully, I can make the broken dishes tomorrow without too many hiccups!

How about you?  Are you doing the mystery?

Blue Mystery Quilt

I think I may have shown you this quilt before, but in my quest to label/document/photograph all my quilts, I’ve got a better photo.

This was a mystery quilt our guild did last year, I think (gee whiz time goes fast)…

You can’t lose with a blue and white quilt.  I’ve not seen one I didn’t like.  They always work.  This was a really simple quilt, it’s all the same block and it’s just the way the colours are placed that makes it work.

I can’t give you the pattern as it wasn’t mine, but trust me – it’s just the one block and it’s repeated over and over.  If you do a google image search on ‘Signature Quilt Block’ you’ll find it over and over again in all manner of quilt designs, it’s just the placement of your fabric that make it this quilt.  It’s a very clever little block.

 

Two posts in one day!  My gosh, I’m on a roll. 

Are you freaking out about Christmas yet?  I am.  Have I started planning?  Nope.  Have I brought anything yet?  Nope.  Not through any laziness on my behalf, just a stunning lack of organisation that seems to surround me at the moment.  Our kids get of school soon and they have all of summer off, so chances to shop child free are quickly running out.  One child has asked for a toy that I’ve never heard of, never seen before and can’t find online, so goodness only knows what she really means!  The other child wants an Iphone.  All she wants is an Iphone.  She is nine.  She ain’t getting an Iphone.

I don’t have an Iphone.  She has no chance.

Hope your Thanksgiving was lovely, if you celebrated it. 

Happy Quilting

Suzie

Sunbonnet Sue–An update

This was one of my ‘will be finished this year’ quilts that was supposed to be finished a few years ago.  Obviously I haven’t finished it, but you will be pleased to know that I am really getting along with it now that it’s out of the UFO box.  It’s been packed away neatly in this tin for a little while but now I’m working in a sewing room that looks like something has exploded.

I’ve tried to be as methodical as possible with this – when I took this project out of the UFO box and started prepping the bonnets I managed to trace them all the wrong way.  So I have the original six little sunbonnets facing one way, and forty two facing another.  Hence the need to have a bit more of a system than I was previously using.

Now I have six little sunbonnets to use up as well.  Is it any wonder that I have so many UFO’s?

Loads of preparation goes into making these.  I’m probably not doing it ‘the right way’, but I’m doing it the way that works for me.  I’ve never mastered the art of freezer paper needleturn, but I found this iron on stuff called Floriana (heard of it?) that you keep in the project and it washes out, so under every piece of the little shapes is a piece of floriana that I’ve used as a stabiliser/pattern template. I’ve folded my seam allowance under and basted it down, then I baste that piece to the background fabric, and it’s prepped ready to be hand appliqued when I have five minutes to sit and do some handwork.  I’ve tried gluing the pieces, like one would do with hexagons but it doesn’t really like to stick to the fabric.  Maybe it’s my glue stick. 

So I baste.  And baste and baste and baste.  I don’t mind basting.  I find I get better at turning as the evening wears on and I can do quite a few in a relatively short amount of time.

I have had the pieced blocks done for months and months.  Probably a couple of years.  Some of my UFO’s are so old, you guys.  But I plod along, and hopefully by the time I’m 90 all my UFO’s will be done.  Ha.

One random Wild And Goosey block sitting there on the design board.  Obviously that’s not going in the Sunbonnet quilt.

So there you are – little sunbonnets all set to be stitched.  I do love my thirties fabrics.  I have yet to get bored with them, I don’t think I ever will.

I hope your day is quilty.  I hope you Americans aren’t getting too stressed over Thanksgiving.  I don’t know how you do it – two big celebrations in a month!  I’m stressed enough about Christmas dinner, without throwing a whole ‘nother one in!

(we don’t do Thanksgiving here in Australia – I’m struggling to think of our equivalent meal apart from Christmas that we do here that would compare – perhaps our Australia day?  But that’s normally a very informal barbie in the backyard with a swim afterwards more than anything).

Have a lovely one, and I’ll be back soon!

Suzie

Busy Busy Little Bee

Hi lovely readers.

Again, I’ve disappeared from blog view. 

You know how you have a list of jobs to do and every day you think ‘Right.  Today is the day I’m going to … (insert random action here)’ and when you’re laying in bed at night you think ‘Oh darn it, I didn’t to … (random action) again today’?

I wish I could say it’s just the blog that I’m doing that with, but it’s life in general.  Is it the time of year?  Or is it just my momentous lack of organisational skills?  I suspect it’s both.

I know you are all in the same boat.  I don’t even work away from home.  My hat is off to those of you with full time, away from home jobs.  My sister in law is one of them.  Has a twelve hour a day job, two kids, both of whom are busy little beavers that need ferrying around, and she still finds time to exercise each morning. 

But me?  Not so much of the organising.

Enough of the whining.  I have photos to show you

 

Don’t you just love love love jacarandas? 

They grow everywhere here.  Each street is lined with them and the blossom is like nature’s confetti.  We have two in our garden, both of which we planted when they were little.  They are not native to Australia but they sure as heck should be because they look so darn beautiful.

We have one of the oldest suspension bridges in Australia and twice a day it lifts up to allow boat traffic underneath.  We went on a night time boat ride a few weeks ago and went under it.  It was lit up so pretty.  I do not confess to being any sort of photographer but this picture kind of worked out, so in it goes.

I love our river.  Love it.

We don’t have your classical ‘flowery’ garden.  My husband doesn’t do flowers very much. He’s a keep it need kind of guy in the garden, and flowers don’t behave as they should.  But I went out for a walk in the garden the other day and found so many great photo opportunities, and I realised that once you have a really good look, there is such prettiness everywhere.

And so there you go, a little update from me.   I’ve got some quilting posts that I’m working on, so hopefully we shall go back to our regularly scheduled programme.  But with Christmas coming up, I’m not promising anything.

Have a great day!

Suzie