Back to the show and tells

It's four more sleeps 'till school returns.  

I've had no time to sew, though it's probably not a bad thing because I've a head full of ideas and I know I'll just start something new if I can get into my sewing room.  These forced separations from my sewing space seem to force me to focus on what needs finishing.  In this case, I'm a bee's whisker from finishing the Thirties Print log cabin I have on the go.  I have no excuses, just lack of time and perhaps, if I'm honest, lack of focus.

It's been a big school holidays.  I am sure it will be a big school year too.  Is it just me or is it getting busier?  Or is it just because my kids are older?  Or am I officially turning into an old fart who says constantly 'Back in my day......'

So for now, I have a finish for you - I don't know if this is something I have shown you before.  I'm much more focussed on my documentation of these flimsies, and so I generally show you as I finish them.  But the earlier ones I missed, for some reason.

I really love this one as a scrap quilt.  It's purely five inch squares sewn into a disappearing nine patch, and then sashed.  I think it's a really good quilt design for a donated quilts - I don't like to give quilts away that look like they took me five minutes.  And I don't like to spend years on donated quilts either.  So to find one that a/ uses up scrap fabrics and b/ doesn't look rushed and c/ actually WAS a very quick quilt to make - winner winner!

So that's it for tonight.  I am currently in a quiet house listening to lovely, soft rain  - a very nice thing to hear in the height of summer.  I want to make the most of it!  Goodnight!

Allietare Flimsy For Now

I've managed to put the top of Allietare together over the last few days.  I still need to buy some borders and finish it completely, but for now, it's as done as it could be.

 

   

 

Funny how light can change the colour of a picture.  Makes ordering fabric online very tricky, when you think about it.  All of these photos were taken at the same time, just some of them had a different light setting on the camera.

Anyway.  For now it's done.  It's the same as most of the Allietare's out there, but I don't mind.  Apart from the borders I will need to buy, it is all stash fabrics, and all reproductions.  And I think I made it pretty well!

I hope you Northern Hemisphere people are coping okay.  From a girl who has only ever seen snow in Switzerland, I'm amazed at all the pictures I'm seeing of the snow storm.  It sounds so exciting, but I suspect it might wear thin very quickly.  I hope you used the snowed in time in the best way - quilting!

A Finish To Show Off

We are hosting an International Quilting Day in March 2016.  Part of that involves months and months of work involved for the committee, of which I am a member.  We wanted something to identify the Committee members on the day and when I saw a great post on Crazy Mom Quilts, featuring a quilted apron, I thought it would be perfect.

I did a quick one today, which worked really well.  Now I have to show it to the Committee and see if they approve.  And if they do, which I am hopeful of, we have to make ten more!  

It's an excellent scrap buster, and so much fun, and I'm really rather tickled with it!

It's a secret

I stole a few a few minutes to myself today and did some secret squirrel sewing.

I'll hopefully finish it tomorrow and show you.  It is good fun!

Slow stitching

I'm volunteering today at a small shop which is always very quiet, so I'm taking the opportunity to get a UFO knocked on the head.

This is a very, very oldie but goodie and it will be so nice to cross it off the list!

See you soon!

My Day

Fresh peaches from our own tree

Lovely roses picked for me by Miss Seven nearly Eight

And a corner of Allietare done

Today has been a good day.

Xx

An update on THAT quilt

Hi lovely readers,

I've had a recent influx of people emailing me regarding this quilt:

from my post here:  http://sillygoosequilts.blogspot.com.au/2014/05/customer-show-and-tell-update.html which apparently is the hottest thing on Pinterest right now.

I joke.  Though it's consistently my biggest referrer from Pinterest.  I don't mind, whatever gets you lovely readers over here is fine with me!

I'm so thrilled that you all love this quilt, and I wish I could claim credit for it, but sadly it isn't mine.

The pattern is available at Craftcubby.com.au and this particular pattern is called 'Jungle Patches'.

Now, some of the emails have been telling me that they are having trouble ordering.  Again, it's not my pattern, it's not my website and I urge you all to direct your questions to them.  But I'll try and help you if I can.

To order the pattern:  if you click on the website craftcubby.com.au, you will be taken to their home page.

Look at the top left of your computer screen on their website and you will see 'Site Search'.  Click on that and enter either 'Jungle Patches' to take you directly to that pattern, or if you would like to see the rest of the designs, simply type 'Patches' and you hopefully should be shown a couple of different pattern options,  There are three different Patches versions.  Yes I have them all, why do you ask?

To order, it's simply a case of following the prompts.  You scroll down to the bottom, find the 'Add To Trolley' button underneath the pattern details and click it.

To check out, you need to click on the My Order part of the screen, it's over on the right.

Can you see it on the right there?  Now click on EditViewCheckoutOrder, above the Australian Dollars icon (you'll probably want to change that to your currency of choice if you're not in Australia).

Hopefully you should be able to follow the prompts through all the way to payment.

As I said before, I have nothing to do with this company, I receive no kickbacks for sending you there (though the amount of emails I have answered sending people over there, I totally should!  Joke!).  I don't know why they are not answering their emails, they always have replied to me when I have sent them questions.    I can only assume something has come up, or maybe they are closed over the Christmas break?  I don't know the answer, I'm sorry.

I hope this helps a little, as I said before I am so happy that you are all so keen on the quilt that you email me with your questions, and I'm always happy to answer them.

Best of luck!

Allietare (again)

Coming along quite nicely,  I think.  It looks much like Bonnie's version, but that was very nice and so I've got no qualms making one the same!

You'll be pleased to know that our temperature today is half what it was yesterday and the children had to wear a cardigan outside.  So no swimming anymore but I don't mind that at all!

Allietare

I honestly don't know how people can have finished two of these Allietare quilts.  I mean, when do they get the time?  I've seen post after post of quilts that are quilted and bound already.  

Mine is slowly coming along.  I'm finding the cutting out of the little side triangles in black the most challenging.  I keep cutting them the wrong way, so that they don't fit right.  It's mindblowingly annoying.

I've been using the tools Bonnie recommends and I'm really pleased with how my finished blocks are working out.  I've never been the most accurate of quilters but I think this time it's coming together really well.  

So far so good.

It's amazingly hot again today and I've decided that Summer sucks.  The girls are having fun in the river with their grandmother, which is great because a/they are not bored around the house and b/ I'm at home alone for a couple of hours.  Which is really rather nice.

I shall go and stitch a little bit more until the kids come home.  Have a lovely day!

My resolutions? Nailed it

My word is discipline. 

Which means don't spend money on fabric you don't need.

Nailed it.

(well, in my defence, I ordered it last year, when I was on a big of a 'finish all the chocolates in the box before your diet starts' mood, and it was not awfully expensive, and I had to buy the orange reproductions from the same place and it would have been false economy and wasteful postage had I not brought more to offset the postage costs.  And it's soooo pretty......)

Allietare

Every year I've done the Bonnie Hunter mystery quilt, and mostly I've liked them.  I haven't loved them, but I liked them.  Last year I didn't like it one bit, but that's no secret.

I decided with all my Christmas responsibilities I wouldn't do this one as a mystery quilt, but make sure I really liked it before committing.

Of course, this one is stunning, and the choice of colours is right up my alley.  So I've started it.

For the first time I've used the Easy Angle tool and all I can say is, why didn't I use it years ago?  How easy it is to make the half square triangle units now?  I will never go back.

Of course, I have made nine of the 292846393 units required so I suspect I shan't be finishing this quilt in a hurry, but that's okay.

Have a lovely, quilty day!

Some quiet show and tell

Today has been a weird one.  It's been very hot, very windy, and now very rainy.  Four seasons in one day.  The end result is everyone here is 'ratty'.  Do you know what I mean?  I'm sure it's the wind.  Everyone gets short tempered and crabby and a little bit silly, but not in a good way.

I've had no time to do sewing today but I have a few show and tell posts I'd be pleased to show you over the next couple of days.

I had a book a few years ago that I adored - it was called 'P.S. I Love You' by Lynda Milligan and Nancy Smith.  This quilt was in it, and I loved it from the first moment I saw it.  It's all cut with templates, and made out of my very quickly diminishing box of pastels.  

I will probably have this one custom quilted on the long arm, if and when that day comes.  Yeah, it would look beautiful handquilted but I already have a waiting list of quilts for handquilting, and the current one on the frame is moving at a snail's pace.  I have to be sensible, don't I?

And conveniently I have a free Long Arm quilter who will do that for me if I ask her very nicely.  So that's the plan.

I hope you're having a fabulous weekend.  The wind has finally blown itself out here and the household is asleep and to be honest, I am loving the quiet.  But I need to get a halfway early night, so I'll say goodnight for now!

Totally Tutorials - Resuable Lunch Sacks

There are many lovely tutorials over at http://zitzmanfam.blogspot.com.au/ and I found some lovely reusable snack bags there.  

Whilst this is a great idea for lunch bags, don't you think that it would make an excellent bag for a young girl to have in her school bag filled with sanitary products?  I'd have used that when I was a teenager!

I'm still struggling with this blogger interface.  The Livewriter website assures me that they have fixed any issues, or nearly fixed perhaps.  I plan to spend a chunk of tomorrow afternoon sorting it out, all being well.  Finding time to carve out on the computer is quite difficult right now!

Hope you've all had a lovely, quilty day!  

HAPPY NEW YEAR!

I did what I promised myself - we stayed home last night and played Monopoly with the kids, and I was in bed by ten thirty.

Again, SUCH a party animal.  It was brilliant.

Today we are doing Christmas Mark Two for the other half of the family who were not here on Christmas Day, so I am sneaking a quiet minute before it all begins.

I've seen the Bonnie Hunter reveal and yes, I am totally going to do it.  I'll even go with the same choices I had mentally penciled in - all of my reproduction Civil War fabrics will work fabulously so when I have a spare five minutes I might grab a start.

I hope you're having a great break, I'll see you another day!  I'll leave you with some photos of what I achieved in January last year.  Last Year.  Hah.

I'm sure I achieved more than this, but that's all I blogged.  Another one of my resolutions is to be more vigilant in blogging my workings - it's a really lovely reference to the year.

Have a good one!