Border Patrol or to sash or not to Sash!

Decisions Decisions!  I can't make one!   I have finished all the flower blocks I am planning to make now - all 36.  Now I can't decided whether to just but the blocks up against each other, to separate them with yellow sashing, or even another colour or .....................

I don't think I like this fabric for the border, maybe for the backing.  I am thinking something yellow with maybe strips or and all over pattern - help - what do you think?

Head Down, Bum Up!

Today started out with layering my Sherbet Pips quilt.  It is all pinned and ready to quilt. 

Next up came some serious cutting out.  I had some fellows here to do some work outside and as always I think it is a good idea to keep an eye on what they are doing, just to make sure there are no breakdowns in communication and what I am paying for is actually what I intended.  Nearly had such a misunderstanding today but luckily I managed to query them just in time and they got the plans out to see what they were supposed to be doing!  This is the view from where I sit at the cutting dining table.  The guys were working just outside the window.  I waited till they left so that they didn't wonder why I was taking photos.  given their near blunder I didn't want them wondering!

If you look a little closer you can see i wasn't the only one keeping an eye on things... 

Maisy jumped up on one of the chairs and after having a good look outside settled down for a nap....with one eye open! 

 And where was Snickers?  Not so hard at work - napping in what is supposed to be my reading chair!  I have the blue cushion there to keep the dogs from scratching the leather and the quilt on the ottoman for the same reason.

All the while the guys were there I sat and cut...and cut..and cut!  The end result =

13 aprons and their linings

four shopping bags with those round bamboo look handles

five little posy bags - I think that is what they are called - more details once they are made when you can see what they look like

 And four shopping bags like these ones this one.  Here you can see eight lots of fabric - one fabric for the outside and one for the lining.  Everything that I have cut out today is destined to be sewn and sent to Ireland for the Charity Bazaar.  Stay tuned!

Tonight I have moved on to sew some more flower blocks which have been cut out and ready to go and finish some that are half sewn.  I hope to get them all done tonight so that tomorrow I can start thinking about sashing etc.

Just before I go..

Mary from Fleur de Lis Quilts (check here too) is having an interesting giveaway that you should check out. 

Till next time...Happy stitching!

Today's bits

First up this morning I finished piecing the backing for my Sherbet Pips quilt.  I am planning to layer it tomorrow and maybe quilt it.  I will post a photo when it is done. 

Next I appliqued the flowers on my pink MWAH quilt, one being required to cover a small tear not discovered til the quilting was almost completed! 

Next I moved on to these......

 

I call this my mystery quilt as I am not sure how it is going to go together just yet.  I know that am going to team all these bright little squares with a solid (possibly) or at least something very dark but that is as far as I am going with the design process until I get them all ironed and counted so I can see what I have to work with.  These pieces and fabrics are leftover from another quilt my group did and I am turning the scraps into something suitable for a teenage boy in the Quilts for Keeps Program - at least I hope the end result will appeal to a teenage boy!  I guess we will have to wait and see...

The rest of the afternoon was spent cutting out aprons to send to Ireland for the Irish Charity Bazaar and then when I went out I found the postman had been. It is the yellow month for the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and these are the blocks that Celia sent me for our own personal little swap.  I love the bird stitchery and there are some cute fabrics in the blocks.

These are the blocks that I sent her - I always think yellow is such a cheery colour.

Well, I think that is about all for me for tonight.  Time to go fold laundry and maybe do a bit more crocheting while I wait to play taxi driver again for Fly Boy!

Happy stitching!

Until Tuesday

No I am not talking about today being Tuesday!  I am talking about a fabulous new book that I have just read called "Until Tuesday".

It is written by a retired American Army Captain called Luis Carlos Montalvan about the impact is Service Dog "Tuesday' had on his life.  It is a fabulously heart warming read and once I started it I couldn't out it down!  I started it Saturday night, read more Sunday night and then last night after collecting Fly Boy from cadets came home and jumped into bed to read some more instead of heading to my sewing room.  I never do that!  This morning I decided to give myself an easy day as I have to go out tonight to a school music concert - in fact I have to go out and be Mum's taxi service every night this week with Fly Boy!  As soon as I got the boys on the bus this morning I headed for a comfy chair and decided to read till I finished the book which I have just done.  Now I can get on with other things.  I usually read when I get into bed at night but if the book is too good I can't put it down and then I get tired coz I stay up too late!  I loved this book.  It covers what happened to bring Luis to  the point where he needed a service dog as well as all that happened after that point.  I don't want to give too much away but I think you should read it.

I have done a little sewing in the last couple of days.  Yesterday  managed to finish the quilt top for my Sherbet Pips quilt and I bought the backing and binding fabric too.  The pale pink fabric is the backing and the stripy scarf fabric will be added to each side of the backing to make it wide enough. 

 I have also cut some of it on the bias to make the binding! 

I also managed to make some applique flowers to fuse on the top of the MWAH quilt - one of them covering the tear that I noticed only while I was quilting it!   The leaves don't seem to stand out as much as I had hoped once I ironed them on but I am planning to stitch around them with a dark contrasting thread so I think that will solve the problem! 

There won't be much more stitching now till tomorrow night.  I have to go out this afternoon and then again tonight to a school Music Showcase for my boys' school and then tomorrow is my quilt group meeting,  I will be playing Mum's taxi again tomorrow - collecting Fly Boy at 330pm along the bus route, driving to another school for an activity and then collecting him again at 7pm.  After that though I will be free for some sewing - and there will be no book to distract me!

Till next time.....Happy stitching!

Flower Power and then some!

I actually feel like I achieved something today.   Started the day with some errands including visiting my two local quilt shops to get the fabric I needed to work on current projects.  Photos soon.  I managed to get the backing and binding for my Sherbet Pips quilt.  I plan to work on that tomorrow so you should see photos tomorrow or Tuesday, all being well.  I also managed to get the fabric I needed for one of the current round robin quilts I am working on.

This afternoon, in between playing mum's taxi, I got some more sewing done.  First these tea towels which go in the mail tomorrow for a friend's birthday.

 Next a very simple project but I really love this fabric so I used up all the scraps and cut out some bookmarks.  These are just the first two.  I needed a new bookmark and decided it was time to sew a couple up.

 Finally tonight my Rainbow Scrap Challenge flower blocks.  I have sewn some of these for each colour month, other than green.  These are tonight's effort.

 Yes, I realise they aren't yellow but the use some yellow scraps and I have decided to finish this quilt off this month instead of starting a new project. I will be using yellow to sash between these blocks when I put them together!   Every time I make a flower block I end up with one of these pinwheels.  I have only sewn four tonight but I have saved heaps - another quilt I expect!

 Oh my goodness.  I have just counted up and I have 24 of these blocks made up and another ten cut out and ready to go.  Maybe I need to make that up to 36.  I think that might be enough for 2 quilts - just my luck!  Ha Ha   Maybe one to keep and one to give to Quilts for Keeps.  Scratch that - I just found two more partially sewn ones that had fallen on the floor so that makes 36!

 I have just noticed in the photo, which I hadn't noticed before, that not all the flowers are facing the same way.  I might have to get creative with the layout when I eventually decide on the layout.....
That is a job for another night.......for now.....Happy stitching!

Sherbet pips and cupcakes

Haven't done as much sewing as I would like in the last couple of days but there have been a few distractions.  Yesterday morning I had to make a few dozen cup cakes for my friend's gorgeous daughter's 16th birthday.  This isn't the sort of thing that I can do for my boys so I really enjoy being able to do it for my friends' girls.  I start by ordering some sugar decorations from The Raspberry Butterfly website.  They are fantastic.  Their products arrive a couple of days later and they are always packed so well.

Don't they look great!

 I did some cakes with flowers and bugs and some with just one bug or flower.  I also did some with strawberry chocolate curls and others with white and milk chocolate curls.  Easy peasy!

 I did manage to get some sewing done yesterday but I had to do some cutting first and also spent time planning what I am going to do with the next two round robin blocks that have been passed on to me.  The next step with those is to find the right fabrics!

This is a sneak peek at yesterday and today's sewing.  Only a sneak peak as it is not all ironed and ready to show yet.  I still have to cut the borders for the sides and top and bottom and then decide on a backing.  I think I might buy some Sherbet Pips for the backing - maybe one of the swing prints as they are my favourite.

Today I had a lazy morning - finished reading "Breathe" by Tim Winton (piece of trivia - Tim Winton's brother and I were 15 year olds together and he used to do my hair when he was a hairdressing apprentice!  He was one of my best friends at the time!  Small world!)  and then had to head out to the store to buy a few things for lunch.  Guitar Hero had a friend over for a jam session and I needed a few 15 year old boy food supplies.  While they played away at one end of the house, thankfully I was able to sew at the other end of the house.  Here is just a sneak peak - can't show you any more as some of  these are my swap blocks for Celia.  We do a small swap every month as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge and I won;t show you the whole lot until she has received them.  No prizes for guessing that the colour of the month is yellow!

Next I have to decide what I am actually going to sew for this month's RSC - I have a few ideas but you will have to wait and see.  Tonight I sat and watched a movie and worked on this - it isn't very exciting but I have another couple of rows to add to it and one more to crochet and then I think it will be big enough.  I found that it bothered my hands to do the crochet and the sewing on it tonight so I will try and do a bit regularly so that I don't overdo it.  I want to get it finished so it is one more thing off my to do list.

That is it for now. Hopefully I will have more to show you in a couple of days.  Till then,
happy stitching!

Oh Poop!

 I worked really hard today and managed to get both of my pink quilts layered and quilted and the binding sewn on except for the hand sewing.  There is just one small problem.  You might just be able to make it out in this photo.  There is a small tear in the pale pink floral.  I can't believe it was there all the time - surely I would have noticed it.  Anyway, I didn't see it till the quilt was half quilted so I will need to cover it up.  I have worked out a plan, I think, .......I will show you tomorrow night.

 After I finished sewing the binding on tonight I tossed each quilt onto the daybed at the front of my sewing table.  I was going to show you a photo of the backing I chose but look what I found there when I went to take the photos.  You can sort of see the backing of one of the quilts but Maisy looked so cute and cozy i didn't have the heart to disturb her.

 And Snickers had also got in on the act - With all the fuss of my computer being crashed TWICE I completely forgot to post an after shot since Snicker's haircut.  Remember the before.  She is a different dog!

The only other thing going on around here today was some baking - homemade meat pies for the boys and a little apple and cranberry pastry with the leftover pastry.  Mmmmmm!  I had intended to show you the inside of the pastry before I ate it but...................well, it was yummy!  Let's just leave it there!

Tomorrow I am baking cupcakes for a young lady's 16th and then more sewing.

Till then...Happy stitching!