An EPP Update.

First up!  

Blogger is turning my images around again, so I apologise for the upside down images. NOT my doing and nothing I do convinces blogger that it is wrong and I am right. 

Now, back to the EPP.

Do you remember I adopted a bundle of fabric, some stitch basted hexies and even a few flowers?

I have them all tidy now in a box and I've cut some more fabrics and papers ready for glue basting. No stitch basting here.

I have even managed to make up a few flowers of my own to add to the collection.

Yes, this is one of those upside down images and so is the next one.

The inspiration for my next EPP project came from a quilters companion magazine.

The upside down image does not take away from the lovely bright fabrics used for this project.

Inspired I went out and purchased a bundle of bright fabrics with spots and stripes in order to create my own version.

Here they are nestled in their project box. The green slip of card is an off cut from the Diamond paper shapes. I found some for free on the WWW and cut my own. I kept the off cut so you could see what I had done and also to remind myself where I had found them, so I can make more. 

Here you can see the first few already glue basted and waiting to be sewn.

I'll keep you updated on any progress I might make on either project. 

I have collections of fabric for two other EPP projects and just might set up another project box.

And finally for today here's a look at my latest scrappy project.

It looks a little washed out here, the colours really are warmer brighter than they appear here.

As you can see I trimmed the edges and added a soft grey border. I might finish it with a scrappy binding once I have quilted it. 

And there you have it, you are all up to date on my EPP projects.

Now I'm off to sew hexies for an hour before I go to work. 

Charity Fabric Sale.

As you know, Debbie and I went to a charity fabric sale at the weekend. I confess I spent a lot more than I intended to. It really doesn't look like much when you see it here but just you wait until I start to sort it all out.

Firstly there were a few bundles of scraps and off cuts, or so I thought. Some of those pieces are quite large.

An almost completed cross stitch. 

No pattern but that shouldn't be too hard to replicate the border once I get the thread colours sorted.

A bag bursting full of strips.

There are some beautiful fabrics here all ready to make a scrappy strippy quilt.

A very large bundle of black and whites. It doesn't look like much but there is a lot of fabric here. I'm pretty sure they are the sample fabrics that suppliers send to our local quilt shops.

These two Christmas blues had to come home with me.

Another bundle of fabric samples.  All dinosaurs!

Torstein will be happy if I get him a quilt made for Christmas!

I'll give you a better look once I get to work on them.

This next bundle is more shop samples and they all happen to blend rather nicely with the dinosaurs so they had to come home with me.

Then I found two more bundles of shop samples, this time in bright girly colours.

And a panel to make up a fabric book.

I discovered these little bundles of precuts and scooped them up.

Some 1.5 inch hexies and some 2.5 inch squares.

I also found some hardware for hanging quilts of cross stitch and some embroidery hoops. 

And that was my haul. 

I thought I had a lot but as I left I saw a woman with a 30 litre crate full to the top with bundles of fabric that she was ready to purchase, another lady had brought along one of this big crafting trolly style totes, it was over flowing too!

Two Churn Dash Finishes.

As you know, as soo as Jenny Janome was back from the spa she was put to work finishing the quilting on my Churn Dash. I had to put it aside while I did some other things but finally got the binding on and closed up a couple of days ago then I was off outside in the beautiful spring sunshine to take some photos..

Here it is in the cherry tree. Doesn't the lawn look lovely? We had some strong winds yesterday, it's now covered in blossom. Though the blossom tree and the garden looks lovely I needed to get a closer look at my quilt so I went looking for another spot and tried the corner of the deck.

I like the way the trees cast the shadows of their branches over the quilt. 

And you can see the bunting fluttering in the gentle breeze.

Once the photo shoot was over I was straight back indoors and quilting again. Another Churn Dash.

It didn't take long to get this one done using a meandering quilt design.

You can see it here on the back of the quilt. 

No matter what I do, blogger insists that this image be displayed upside down!!

It wasn't such a pretty sunshiny day when I went out of doors for a photo shoot for this one.

But the corner of the deck was the best image again. This one is sold and has gone to it's new home. 

Now I'm off to write another post about my finds at the craft sale. 

Quilting for Debbie.

 I mentioned last time that Debbie had given me a small quilting job to do. She had made a wee eye spy quilt for her niece and wants to gift it this week but wasn't sure she would have time to get it finished. I had offered to quilt it for her. Debbie had bought a piece of very soft minky fleece to back it, which will make a great snuggle quilt.

There are some very bright, colourful and fun fabrics included so as the child grows she can have fun spotting many different characters.

Debbie had a look through my pattern books and decided she was happy enough for me to use the loopy design that was still sat on the frame table after I had finished quilting the churn dash. It really did not take me long to quilt it and it was fun to do.

As it is minky Debbie will overlock the edges before she puts the binding on. It was a huge piece of minky and there is plenty left to make another small quilt back. 

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For my next quilting task I have another Churn dash to quilt. A colleague wants to purchase this one for a grand child due in December. She doesn't know what she is getting yet so wanted something that will go either way.

Though it is larger than Debbie's piece, it isn't big and should be done on no time.

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Debbie and I went out to a fabric and craft sale this morning. Oh my goodness, I found so many treasures and spent way more than I intended. But it was all for a good cause as it was a charity sale.

Torstein and Charmaine will be very happy this Christmas.

Well I hope they will!

And there was bags and bags of scraps and off cuts, just right for more EPP. 

I'll try to get photos before I put it all away or start playing. 

Speaking of play......

I'm off to sew until it is time for work. 

I hope you're having a great weekend.

Jenny Janome is Home.

I picked her up from the store yesterday. Peter had given her a full service and says I must oil the top more frequently. He couldn't get her to make the awful noise I described, but adjusted the timing for me as it was a little off and the needle was also a little off, The needle threader works again!

Tony lifted her back on to the frame for me last night. I can do it, but not while there is a quilt loaded and of course I had left the churndash part way quilted and still loaded on to the bars.

Last night I set everything up ready to begin sewing this morning. 

And that is precisely what I did. I quilted nearly all day stopping only to peg out washing, eat lunch, make a salad for tea and bring the laundry in again. Oh and also to answer emails...

Chooky emailed me, a response to my comment following her request for distractions. So I continued the distraction by keeping her updated with progress.

By the time Tony got home and Debbie popped in to visit it was all done and spread out on the floor ready for a final trim.

And a closer look at the quilting.

You can see it more clearly here on the paper pattern.

The curves and loops do a great job of softening all the straight lines of the blocks.

I have the binding made and ready to go on. I was hoping to do that tomorrow, but Debbie arrived project in hand. A quick quilting job for me. She wants to take it to her niece next week. I've already made a start, it is a quarter done so should not take long to complete tomorrow. I promise to take lots of pictures it's a great wee eye spy quilt.

The Birthday Boy and EPP progress.

We've had a very busy weekend here at home. I could have done extra shifts but I gave myself the whole of my rostered weekend off again. BLISS!

But as I said we have been very busy. The arrival of lovely warm summery weather prompted a big outdoor clean up. 

Once we were done I suggested we add some bunting on the deck.

I bought this maritime bunting a few years ago but this is the first time we have hung it. It looks great fluttering out there in the breeze.

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Torstein will have his 3rd birthday this week, so of course as we had the family here for their regular visit on Sunday and there were also presents and cake.

My pal Debbie had made a discovery bag for me to gift to Torstein. Both he and Grandad were kept busy for quite some time

 as they discovered just how many dinosaurs Debbie could squeeze into that little bag.

I'm not sure who was more excited by it.

It was a lovely evening.

Torstein's sister Charmaine played eye spy with me as we looked for matching fabrics on my latest EPP.

I've decided that it is about the correct size and I just need to fill in the gaps along the edges, then add borders and it will be ready to layer and quilt. I hope to add a few more hexies today, before an early start at work. It will be nice to relax for a short time today, I've had a busy morning making and baking in the kitchen.

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I hope you had a great weekend. 

This n that.

My quilting machine has been at the spa for a week and I've been keeping myself busy elsewhere. 

Molly the mannikin has been pressed in to service and is currently modelling my in progress scrubs for work.

The colours really don't show true here, they are so much richer in real life. I purchased this fabric when I was in Australia for Scrub Stitchin'. It's finally seeing daylight.

Also making progress in my scrappy Hexie project.

That top piece was becoming a bit cumbersome, so a second 'slice' has been started.

I really like how this is looking. As I mentioned previously no particular pattern or plan, I'll just sew hexies until it feels big enough then add a border before quilting and binding. 

And finally progress is still being made on the crochet blanket.

The evenings are still cool and it is nice to be cosy as I hook away. I spread it out on our bed yesterday and I still have a long way to go, it's only about half of the size it needs to be.

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Work continues to keep me busy, we have pretty much recovered from the latest Covid outbreak though some staff members are struggling to fully recover. My colleague who was in hospital with covid complications has still not returned to work. The flu virus that Tony had is still around and people are catching that.  I've been lucky and have continued to dodge both viruses.  I hope it stays that way.

My day off today, so I'll be spending the afternoon with Barack Obama! I've discovered a wildlife series that he narrates, it looks good.