August - done!

Is it really the last day of August already?  Really?

Another busy month, plenty of sewing, quilting, baking, harvesting, purchases and friends :)

I've linked this post up with Lynne's Sew Fresh Sewing Day, I hope you'll head over there and check out what everyone else has been up to in August too :) 

Have you been keeping up with the Blog Hop?  Today is Paulette at Sweet P Quilting and Creations, hop on over and read all about the beautiful creation she's made. 

And tomorrow ..... it ME!  and there's a giveaway too! 

I may even tell you all about the last little quilt in the mosaic up there!

Taking a Load off for a Blog Hop

It's that time of the day to sit down and enjoy a nice cuppa, well it is here in my house :) 

So, whilst I take a load off, I'm heading over to say hi to my friend Sue over at Quilt Times

Why?  Well, Sue is an Published Author don't ya know! 

And to celebrate, she is hosting a Blog Hop.  First up is Hazel Quilts, who I was very privileged to meet at Festival of Quilts.  So, whilst I sit and sip my cuppa tea, why don't you join me and head over here and read all about it, and then go visit Hazel, she'd love to see you :)  And you could win a signed copy of Sue's book! 

Oh, and I have been busy, but shh, I can't tell you about it just yet! 

Happy Quilting!

Must be Mad Monday!

Well, you'd think so .... my day went a bit like this ...

Morning...

I finished quilting my Arcadia Hexi Park which was loaded up on the frame before Festival

I'm really pleased with this quilt 

rather than doing an all over pattern I chose to be very specific with the quilting

Feathers in the squares

and penguin feathers in the hexi's

the back shows the texture left by the quilting

Afternoon...

The twins got a clean, brush up and oil

oh, and they got to meet each other too!  :) 

Evening ...

I loaded up this top, which is to be a tablecloth

and gave it a quick meander all over

with Rainbows Allspice  ... magic thread!

this top belongs to a freind  :) 

The frame is clear again ready for a special (sssshhhhh, it's a secret) job!

and I headed down to the allotment to do a little harvesting

don't want these spoiling in the rain ...

I also came home with a kilo of french beans!  The usual  half a dozen courgettes and red onions too.

Hmm, I see some blanching in my immediate future!

in the mean time ...

Happy Quilting!

Lazy Summer Sunday

There's something rather decadent about a lazy summer Sunday.  A lay in, a slow start to the day, pottering along ... I did make 3 pints of passatta...

yesterday I got my August Brit Bee blocks finished for Sarah (Miss August) of Narcoleptic in the Cupboard

Sarah has said she will be sashing the blocks with black, so I wanted this cross block to float

and she's partial to curves too  :)

I really enjoyed making these blocks, I started them before I went off to Festival, time to play a little catch up now  :) 

Today I pottered with a little quilting of my Hexi Park quilt, which again, was loaded up before I left for Festival 

I'm really pleased with how it is going

particularly this curvy curly  pattern 

I've got plenty to keep me busy over the next couple of weeks

Happy Quilting!

Festival Workshops

I did 2 workshops and a one day Masterclass whilst I was at Festival of Quilts this year. 

Thursday I was very honoured to take a Masterclass with Noriko Endo who is known for her Confetti Quilts.

My attempt is now where near the magical images Noriko produces, but I am very pleased it actually looks like the picture it was based on  :) 

I'm looking forward to playing with free motion quilting and some bright threads on this.

Saturday saw me do a quick workshop with Alicia Merrett call Interpreting Kandinsky.

And Sunday morning I did another quick workshop with Gail Lawther on New Zealand Seascapes.

All of these workshops were very different with each one using  a different technique.  Yes there is still work to be done on all three projects, but they are all small and will be quick enough to finish (hopefully whilst I am off for the last weeks of the school holidays) 

Happy Quilting!

Confessions of a Festival Go'er!

Well, what's a Festival without Quilts!

Just some of the quilts on display...

but I must make a confession about 'the haul' that come home with me ...

Oops!

Festival of Quilts

Well, what can I say, other than it was a GREAT Festival of Quilts!

oh ....and I'm a little pooped!

I was demonstrating on the New English Quilter stand with Martha and her daughter Emily

I realise we didn't get a group photo, as we also had Anne demonstrating on the Art Quilter frame too.   A very talented lady who is soon to release a DVD of her own, you can see a trailer of it here.

I was extremely lucky to meet up with some of the Brit Bee ladies ...

Judith of Needles and Lemons, Terri and myself, photo kindly taken by the visiting head of Juki Europe!

Susan from Canadian Abroad and me :) 

And I also met Hazel too who blogs here and here!

Of course I did manage to get out and about for a little meet and greet myself, which may or may not have included one or two purchases ....

 

Anne and her hubby from Quilt Essentials ....

from whence these lovelies came home with me!

And of course the wonderful Mandy of Simply Solids, who I visited every day, as promised ...

I'm afraid I couldn't possibly repeat what led to this photo! 

But I did find some fabulous finds on Mandy's stand ...

yes, Chartreuse!  Well, what did you expect!

No trip for fabric would be complete without a little spree at Doughty's ...

so two backings and a almost a bolt's worth of white on white, I'm ready to go again!

And no self respecting quilter would leave without some thread....

Superior Kimono Silk and Superior Rainbows both from Martha

And these lovely Valdani threads were from Sarah at Crafty Notions.   I highly recommend them, they hold stocks of all sorts of interesting crafting materials, and Sarah's books are great!

I also stocked up on some Aurifil Mako 50 weight for piecing (my fave for this job) 

And I must confess to these babies that were ordered before Festival and arrived today ...

I have something special in mind!

And that's all without the quilts, or the workshops and Masterclass I did!  I'll be back!

Happy Quilting!

Road Trip

The weekend saw more blackberries, add, apple, a little pear and some crumble and I give you ...

So good it's all gone!

I made two little ones, one of which went home with the Beau and the other is tucked up in the freezer!

So just to leave you with something quilty, I got this pair finished yesterday ...

Oh, and the road trip?  I'm at Festival of Quilts, yes, now, whilst typing this!   Tomorrow I'm taking a one day workshop, but am hoping to meet up with some of the Brit Bee ladies :)  (I've got my badge ready)

And you'll be able to find me on Stand F49 with Martha from Machine Quilter for most of the other time during the show.   And if you're not sure if you've found me, you;ll find some of my quilts and I have my name on my apron (just in case I forget who I am of course!  lol) just like this one below!  Come say Hi! 

And we're off again!

yep, after a few days 'rest' I'm back in the groove!

I was about to drive home from work yesterday I thought I'd just check to see if my machine would be ready ... just in case ... 

you know how it is to be separated from your sewing machine for a whole week right?

... well, I'd hate to get home to find a message saying it was ready and have to drive back into the city centre on a Friday afternoon ...  you understand my dilemma don't you?

...  Wooohoooo!  I got my Juki back!

so I got my act together and finished off the Sunkissed Schnibbles quilt....

I've even got the backing pieced and ready ...

but decided to go get the Arcadia Hexi Park quilt back on the frame ...

... and quilting has commenced! 

(sorry about the pic, it was a bit of an afterthought as I was heading in, it was dark!)

Happiness is a day quilting!

12 Days 12 projects - the final chapter

Day 11 (Monday)

Not much happened, with commitments through the day, that then ran into the evening as well, I did manage to start laying out the Sunkissed blocks  ....

Day 12 (Tuesday)

So today, I had a lovely visitor, I also went to the hospital to bring Jean home too.  These things always take so much longer than they should, but it's good to know she is home (for now)

and I finished piecing all the Sunkissed blocks together ...

just borders to add ...

which won't take too long as I have the fabrics ready ...

I also managed another pair of 36 patch blocks ...

to add to my growing collection ...

10 down, 62 to go! 

So 12 days 12 projects, hmm, as much as it was possible, it's fair to say, life just got in the way this last week!

however, I did ...

add borders to Jeans Quilt

Quilt said quilt

Add binding too  (not on the original plan)

Caught up on my Sassy Christmas stars

Caught up on the Brit Mystery quilt

Pieced the Kaleidoscope quilt

Pieced the Sunkissed quilt

Planted out 120+ leeks

Made Blackberry jam

Made Rhubarb Chutney

Baked 3 cakes and a batch of choc chip cookies

And started another quilting project!

Not bad, not quite what I had envisioned, but quite an achievement in itself.

Back to work in the morning, so in the mean time ...

Happy Quilting!