Churn dash Update.

I was a good girl yesterday and spent the whole morning and a good portion of the afternoon studying. Then I settled to do a little crochet before work. As I have said previously, (I think) this is not a new project, I am making something bigger. And using up some lovely pure wool yarn while I do it. I would spread it out and show you how it's looking, but it's currently in use.

Since I took this photo she has curled on to her side and put a paw over her nose. I think she plans to remain there for quite some time.

Instead I went in to my sewing room, to get a photo of my churn dash blocks. I have made eight this month using two different blue fabrics from my stash.

While I was in there I decided to add the first side of the sashing, in order to save a little time in the last month. I know I am not the only one who is looking ahead and seeing a lot of work in month four. Not the best photo, the yellow really does pop in real life.

Now if I could just settle on what I want to use as my corner stones I could get another side sewn on too!

Probably blues, but maybe a green......

Undecided I walked away to have a think.

I've hinted about some Christmas sewing here and there and should mention that in the last week I have completed six of my usual twelve Christmas ornaments. The rest are prepped and ready to sew. As my crochet is out of play today I might just get on with one of those until it is time for work.

But first, lunch.

I made a roast chook for tea on Tuesday, so Wednesday was chicken sandwiches for lunch. Today I stripped her bare and boiled her bones. It's chicken soup for lunch today, it smells amazing and if Tony does not hurry up and get here I'll start without him. LOL

It's certainly soup weather, with a heavy overcast and only 5 degrees C today.

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My weekend off work.

I hope to make some more of my scrappy triangle blocks.

And as it's a new month I could make some more Churn dashes.

I hinted to Chooky that it might be nice to have a zoom session, it feels like an age since we did that.

What ever, I plan to enjoy myself and get some rest. 

 

 

Another squirrel.

 A couple of weeks ago, I was perusing pinterest, I was looking for a quilting pantograph design, but you know how it is, you click on one thing, then another and another and before you know it, you're down a rabbit hole. Well this particular rabbit introduced me to his pal the squirrel, who showed me pretty picture, with a linky. 

A year of Scrappy Triangles. That sounded very intriguing.

Oh Dear.

I just had to click on the linky.

I was taken eventually, to 

This place.

Look at that date! I'm very late getting to this party.

You would think there would be plenty of images of completed quilts by now.

But there were no images of finished quilts, just a promise of using up scraps. Still intrigued I signed up and received the promised email. (It landed in junk mail, just in case you decide to do the same).

A lovely welcome and 52 paper foundation blocks that I could print and use as often as I would like.

But still no images of completed quilts.

Oh well I thought, I'll just have to make a few and see how things turn out. I set about looking for fabrics to use as the main colour.........

That was the day the squirrel talked me in to making the Flutterby Bunny quilt. LOL

Yesterday was all about using some of these pretties.

For Christmas Ornaments.

So the scrappy Triangles had to wait for another day. This morning, I came across another email from the designer, once again in my junk mail, this time it was filled with images of beautiful quilts that people have made using her foundations, and a linky, to even more inspiration. Well that got the squirrel all fired up and it was time to make a start. Block one really did not take very long to make.

So I made three more.

And played about with some of the layouts I had seen in this mornings email.

Oh what fun. 

I could enjoy doing these at a block a week. 

I've already printed block two!

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Do you remember the Morning Moon Fairies Quilt.

It gave me some issues early last year, but I revisited it in May of last year and completed the top.

It was put away to await quilting.

I pulled it out yesterday and hung it up at the end of my hall. It's there to greet anyone who comes through the front door, and also  so that I can see it and contemplate how I'm going to quilt it. I'd still like to do something special around the fairies, but I'm unsure what, I'm hoping some ideas will present themselves.

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And finally..

My crochet ground to a halt last night.

Because someone moved in, and would not move on.

When I tried to shift things along a bit, she just turned around, gave me the eye and settled in even more.

Claiming squatters rights.

One spoiled rotten, happy cat.

She remained there purrring her furry RRRRRRs off until bed time.

Flutterby Bunnies

So I went in to my room on Friday, with every intention of starting a new project, you see I had downloaded 52 patterns for a scrappy paper foundation project and I set about hunting for just the right fabric to use for the main fabric and contrast to the scraps......

And well I came across a bundle of someone else's scraps and they spoke to me. Telling me they needed to be used, just then the squirrel hopped by and poof!

A quilt was born. LOL All of these fabric pieces were already cut, they just needed sewing together.

So I obliged.

Then, I auditioned and added a border.

While I was working with those yummy green pieces with their bunnies and bugs, I kept thinking they looked familiar, then it struck me, of course they are familiar, because I had just bought their cousin!

Last week, while I was out with Debbie.

Flutterby Bunny. (Blush)

Mystery solved I dug out some possible bindings and left them to sort them selves out. I had to head off to work.

By Saturday, the applicants for binding had sorted them selves out and one was volunteered elected.

I quickly made up a franken batt, from the pieces trimmed off the Op Shop Quilt, then found backing, at 4 x 5 blocks it didn't take long to pin and I started quilting.

Nothing flash, just a very quick and easy stitch in the ditch, using my ditching foot.

Before lunch time, I had not only added the binding, but had hand stitched it closed and added a Loulee label. 

No time for a photo shoot though, we were off out for lunch.

By the time we got back from lunch I did the (other kind of) ironing and it was time for work.

So the photo shoot took place this morning. (Sunday) It's a lovely sunny day and I headed off outside. 

Maybe it's a little too beautiful. I struggled to get good photos.

Lots of sunshine and shade and the delicate colour was all washed out.

Maybe on the wagon wheel, by the fence?

Nope!

Last nights rain wasn't helping my cause.

My favourite tree is also wet from the rain, so I came back indoors and tried some more.

Oh dear, it really isn't my day. The fabrics look all washed out and the shadows make it look like I did such a poor job of the quilting. I assure you it looks way better in real life. 

I did manage to get a closer look at the pretty fabric.

It is a lovely shade of sage green with flutterbys and bunnies all over it and the contrast is a tiny polka dot.  I tried one last photo, draped over the couch.

It still really does not tell the true colour story of this cute wee quilt.

At 24x29 inches, it's just big enough for a bassinet or maybe a pram and sweet enough to keep a little person warm.

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Thank you Mr Squirrel now off you go, off to distract help some one else, I have plenty of things to be getting on with thank you. 

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I'm really not sure what I'll be doing today. The paper foundations are still waiting for me in the front sewing room, so are several quilt tops, in varying sizes all waiting to be quilted, but my Christmas ornaments are calling out, so maybe I'll sit quietly with those for a while.

Then off to work at 3pm. 

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I hope your weekend is as good as mine.

Another one quilted, bound and Finished.

Yesterday I continued and completed the quilting of the Op Shop Top.

Well, it's not a top any more, now it is a quilt. 

I was running out of lovely warm sunshine and my wee glass box of a room was beginning to cool down, but as you can see I was very close to being done so I carried on to the end.

My other sewing  room, at the other side of the house was by now bathed in sunshine and had warmed up nicely, so as soon as it came off the frame, I went in there to trim it and add the binding.

It was dark by the time I had closed the binding by hand, so I just laid it quickly on the floor for a quick photo.

I took it outside in the frost this morning for another outdoor photo shoot, but before we do that, here are some details. The quilting design is a freebie from Urban elementz  (I'm not affiliated, just like the design).

I had to do a little resizing, to make it small enough to work with my little machine.

Here you can see it on the quilt top.

But you can see it better on the backing fabric.

The blocks, and backing fabric for this one came from an op shop, the only fabric that came from stash was the blue for the corner stones and the odd pieces in the centre nine patch.

The batting is two large off cuts that I sewed together and the quilting thread is left over from another project. So on the whole, a very cheap quilt to make.

Now, time to go outside and shiver with me.

It was still below zero when I went outside this morning, but the sun was on her way.

Firstly on the deck, my rocking chair, right outside my quilting room.

While I was there I spotted a corner of the deck and wondered how that would look.

Then I climbed up on to the lawn to drape my quilt in to old man tree.

There are other trees on the property, but none of them are quite as good looking as this fellow.

I snapped a couple of pictures and like them both, so you get to see them both.

And one last shot before I ran back inside and into the warmth.

Old man tree, even in winter with no leaves he is a beauty, I love the shape.

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And one final picture.

Her floofiness helping me with a snuggle test of Something Floral.

I don't think she wanted her picture taken....

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Right, time to go and find something to do.

I have more tops to quilt, several projects in progress and I just downloaded a new scrappy project.....

 

More Quilting.

 Today started at a very chilly minus 5 Celsius, but once the sun was up, although it's still pretty cool outside, it was shining into my quilting room and warmed it up. I was ready for it. Yesterday I had loaded a backing fabric and batting on to my frame. This morning I added the op shop top to the sandwich.

I had finished piecing the top in December last year. The eight and a half blocks, the sashing and the backing for this one all came from the same op shop.
The extra wide backing waited for me, for quite a while. It is white with blue and brown spots. 

I had prepared another edge to edge quilting design and had it all set on the frame ready to begin.

Warmed by the morning sun I made a start.

I quilted until I ran out of bobbins. 

Soon after that, the sun was gone from the room and it was cooling down again. 

Hopefully I'll get it completed tomorrow. 

Something Floral.

My second post today, I did think about waiting a day or two, but I'm excited to share.
Something Floral is complete, all done, finished! 

I had selected a pantograph design called Rose and Leaf, designed by Meredith England.

It is one of a collection called sweet and simple pantographs.

The roses nestle nicely beside one another.

 I quickly added a binding, closing it on the machine, for speed and practice.

The light was fading fast and the quilt holder upper was impatient to get back to his own craft

So inspired by Chookyblue's recent farmyard photography I headed outside to see what props I might find out there.

The couch wasn't doing it for me.

So next I tried my old rocking chair.

Much better. 

If you look through the door behind the chair, you can see the leader cloths hanging on the quilting frame and the cherry tree through one of those big windows. LOL

I quite liked this shot. 

But I had a specific spot in mind. It was getting darker and was spitting with rain.

But I managed to quickly snap some pictures of my quilt draped in the tree on our front lawn.

Not quite the shot I was after, but it will do.

Tonights job will be to test the snuggle quality of my latest finish and add it's Loulee label.  Right now, Belle is testing it's snuggle quality.

I think she approves. 

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What to do next?

I have a few more quilts that need quilting I might go and look through my panto pattern books and see which patterns might work........

A day out with Debbie.

On Friday, Debbie and I went to Christchurch for the day.  That's about two hours North of our home town. We had a look around a few crafting and quilting stores. I was very restrained. My shopping list was very short, a ball of green wool and some grey sewing thread. I found both of those.

Then I found this beautiful panel on special. It was the bugs I spotted first, then when I investigated...

I fell in love. He is adorable. 

I really don't have a clue what to do with him, but I had to have him.

I also found this little end of bolt in another store.

Not the best picture, it's a beautiful buttery yellow as background to all those spots. 

Debbie also made one or two small purchases, but her main reason for the trip was to leave a quilt with a professional long armer! We spent quite a bit of time oohing and aaahing over what we saw at the studio before taking even more time looking at Debbie's lovely quilt and deciding on which pantograph pattern would work well on it. So there will be a return trip to collect it sometime soon, with more shopping to be done. 

We were quite late getting home and had planned accordingly. Both of our slow cookers were filled to the brim with casseroles and our husbands had their instructions. LOL

When we got back to Debbie's home the boys had cooked rice, opened a bottle of wine for us and were sitting down with a beer waiting for us to arrive.

It was a very good day.

After a late night on Friday, Saturday was supposed to be  a quiet day. I had planned to get the quilting finished on Something Floral, but that wasn't to be. 

I had lots of interruptions as Tony needed help with things and we had visitors.

Though one of the visitors, Tony's mum was fascinated to see me quilting. She told me she has often wondered how it all works. She watched me complete the row I was working on and set up for the next row. I think she might have been happy to see me do more, but I'm not comfortable quilting with an audience. 

Hopefully I'll get it finished today. Though there are chores to do and I need to get some precooking done, for the evenings when I'm working in the next week. 

I got some great advice from Ally, the long armer, on Friday and hope to put it in to practice on my next quilt, I'm not sure which one to quilt next, I have a few. LOL