What a wonderful weekend!

I know I’m a bit behind with this post, but I had a wonderful quilting weekend retreat with about 20 friends at a stunning conference/retreat centre right on the East Coast of Auckland. The day was overcast and raining, but that doesn’t stop the enjoyment of the weekend.

You can see the ocean, although its a bit hard as the cloud cover looks the same colour.

Such a neat time was had by all. No cooking, but wonderful meals, no dishes and no packing all your ‘stuff’ away to eat. A friend and I arrived at 2pm Friday after having lunch on the way over. Must keep up ones strength. hehe!

Sewed and sewed until had to have drinkies at about 5pm.

All day Saturday sewing, plus a couple of us went around the block for a walk to work off the food ready for the next meal. Oh life’s so hard!!

Sunday, back to the table bit this time on a different project. More fun that way!!

 

The great thing about this quilting life, is that 2 or 3 of the ladies are in their 80’s and are still sewing like mad, and are having the time of their lives.

I happened to be on the veranda at home when I saw this cute thing happening with the calves and the young filly. They were nose to nose, but by the time I got the camera, they had moved a little. There is a fence between them.

I am off to start the first block of my Nearly Insane journey, so wish me luck, although it’s not so bad, as the blocks are 6” not 4” like Dear Jane.

Thanks for dropping by

Soup Night at Quilting

Last Monday night we had our traditional annual Soup night, which consists of us bringing along Soup and Dessert.

A list is sent around, and everyone writes down what they are going to bring. As you can see by this photo we had a few crockpots of different kinds of soup.

We also had lots of yummy desserts, but in all the fun and laughter I forgot to take a photo of them. They in all truth probably disappeared before I had a chance. Not because I was too busy talking!LOL

We have started a little tradition (for want of a better word) One of our members works in the Heart Unit of one of the city hospitals, and she asked the members if they would join with her in making some coughing cushions. One of our members was very perturbed, as she thought she said coffin cushions, and wondered what on earth that meant.  Apparently when a patient is recovering from Heart surgery, they need to cough, holding the cushion at their chest. The cushion helps with this procedure.

I took a photo of the cushions that were handed in on the night. Mine is the Autumn leaf cushion.

We hope that those members who want to do this will do so monthly. Alot of quilt groups in our city donate quilts to Womens Refuge and The City Mission etc, so we thought this was something we could do.

Thanks alot for dropping by

Back Home

Well, we are home again to the rain, with loads of washing. My DH always says nooooo don’t bother washing while we are away – we always take heaps ( too much ) luggage with us. Save it (he says) until we get home.

Well now I’ve done most of it – like about 15 shirts, and 6 pairs of jeans.  This is the pile of shirts I have to start ironing tomorrow. Ah well I’ll put a quilting DVD on to make the job less boring!

I took my camera to Australia with me for the sole purpose of taking photos for my blog. I even took the charger for the batteries, but on the Sunday the batteries decided they had had enough and karked it. I wasn’t anywhere I could buy some new ones so I got a pathetic photo from the balcony outside our apartment in Tamworth, and that was it!! 

Ah well next year. We go every year to the Cutting Horse Futurity, but on the way I fly into Brisbane and spend some time with my son, DIL and G Children.

I managed a few photos of the family. One of the boys had his 14th birthday so Gma of course made a banana cake. We only had a 1 and a 3 but he was happy with that.

Also had a yummy meal of Lamb Shanks done in tomato and red wine. My Dear DIL is now an expert Panacotta maker, so had to have that also.  It was devine, but very bad for you. All that cream. She has been practising for when my Italian DH and I go over to visit for Christmas.                              

 

 

 

 

 

 

I spent a lovely day as I said before in my last blog with Julie, who very kindly gave me a momento of our day out. 

A neat set of pot mitts, a lovely cupcake tea towel and the best of all a little purse for putting all those cards in.

I’m very slowly coming to the end of the planning for my big OE with my sister. We are off on 20th August, and the first port of call is the Birmingham Show.

Thanks for dropping by

No photos today, but what a wonderful day I had here in Brisbane yesterday.
Met up with my dear friend & co scquilter Julie from Ipswich, and what a day we had. Talk about "talking non stop"
We seem to have so much in common, and we hardly had time to take a breath. After yummy cake and coffee, Julie took me to The Quilters Store where I added to my stash in a gentle way :-)) by this time it was 3pm and we were so dying of dehydration, we had to rush back to the shopping mall for a coffee. Before we knew it, it was 4pm and I missed my bus back to my DIL hairdressing salon, where she was going to give me a few low lights in my hair.
Julie very kindly drove me there. ( well actually she followed the bus )
After another half hour of talking, Julie thought she had better get home, and sort out something for dinner.
Isn't it amazing, when you meet some-one you just hit it off, as though it was meant to be. This is only the second time Julie and I have met up in person, but I feel I have known her forever.
Thanks again Julie for all the goss and laughter and of course the lovely gifts!!
Will post a photo when I get home!
Thanks for dropping by
Sue

http://www.susannasquilts.blogspot.com

Another Block Finished

Today is my DH’s 70th birthday, and after having Apple Strudel (made by yours truly ) for morning tea, he is off outside to ride/train  one of the horses. 

We have so many field mushrooms at the moment, and DH keeps bringing them into me to deal with. ( You know what its like) I have been making lots of mushroom soup and freezing it for DH, so when I’m away its an easy meal for him.

At last I have remembered to take a photo of the 2nd block I have made in the Bridal War Quilt series. This one I made using the wash away paper behind my applique. I took this photo before I washed it, and have now done so, and it looks fine.

Broke a few # 60 machine needles though, trying to get through all the fabric on the points of the leaves. The current block I am making, I am starching the edges over freezer paper, then ironing the edges down before removing the freezer paper to stitch down. I think I like this way better. No sticky glue as with the wash away.  

Hopefully I won’t take so long to finish block #3.

Thanks for dropping by

What a Lovely Autumn Day in April

 

Went into my sewing room this morning, and got a huge dose of the depression – haha not really, but with such a mess with all these projects half finished, and so many things I want to make……

I heard somewhere on a quilting DVD that we do not have to finish everything we start, the trouble is almost everything I start is something I really want to finish. :-))

And its about time I did some more blogging. I have been very remiss, but I have been sewing. Just haven’t taken any photos.

I am in the process of machine appliqueing my Civil War Bridal Quilt. I have finished the first block – Yay!!  I did this one using freezer paper inside then slitting the back and taking the freezer paper out.  It looks a bit crumpled as I had to wet it to get the paper out, and haven’t ironed it yet.

Not sure whether I like this method, so at the moment I am doing one using wash away paper.

Hope to have my second block finished any day now and will post a photo as soon as I can.

I’m also getting stuck into my Candied Hexagons which I am hand piecing at night.

    The  2 blocks using one print is my focal print and the one I used to get my colour from.

It’s sure going to be bright.:-))

Thanks for dropping by

HAPPY EASTER!

 

Hi Every-one

Not a lot happening in the quilting line at the moment, although in the evenings I have been putting a few circles together. A project I started a couple of years ago. Managed to tack my fabric to the paper templates, but that was as far as I got, so I thought I should start putting some together.

I am trying to work out what to take with me on my trip. Something I don’t need super sight for, so it won’t be these, as it’s quite hard to get the centre points accurate.  Even with hand piecing.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

My basting stitches are still in.

One thing I did achieve yesterday was this A lovely batch of Hot Cross Buns. They taste very yummy.

A photo below of one of our lovely girls heading off to Australia to enter a couple of shows, and meet up with a nice young fella to make a baby!! She will come back home in about October.

DH was quite emotional to see her go, as she has such a lovely disposition, and he has become quite fond of her. 

Thanks for dropping by, and have a lovely Easter Break.

another Applique block finished!

In searching for something I had lost in my sewing room recently, I wandered around, totally off the subject as I am want to do (much to my husbands amusement or sometimes annoyance) and found 3 finished applique blocks and one nearly finished block. I immediately forgot about what I was looking for and started to finish the 4th block.

So here are the four blocks.

 

  The backgrounds are two  different colours on purpose. They are hand appliqued. It started out many years ago as a BOM but now I’m not so keen on some of the blocks so I thought I would do a mix & match and just add some different blocks to my quilt ( hoping I have enough fabric)

Thanks for dropping by

Home Again!

 

Had a lovely few days at Lake Taupo which is the largest lake in central North Island of New Zealand. I met up with my sister who lives at the bottom of N.I. so we kind of met half way, to celebrate my birthday and to plot our journey to Great Britain & Europe in August.  

I was home for 2 days then had to leave again with DH for a Horse Clinic in Raglan which is on the West Coast of N.Z. about 2 1/2 hours drive south of where we live. We picked up the Australian Trainer from the airport, and were on our way.

View from the back of their farm. We had a lovely 3 days down there, then back to the airport, then home again.

Well I was home 1 day, then had to leave again and drive 2 1/2 hours East to the other coast to my lovely wee grandson. He turned 7 and Grandma had to be there.

Skinny little chap, but tall for his age. I managed to get him off his new mountain bike for this photo.

Not much sewing done in this first 2 weeks of March, but when I arrived home I had some lovely parcels waiting.

One of them was some fabric I had ordered from The Quilted Crow

and….

my Civil War Diary Book, so no excuse now, not to get on with the blocks.

BFN

Another Civil War Diary Block

Sorry Julie, have to tempt you again. I have just done another Civil War Diary Block. It’s amazing how one can do things so wrong, when it seems so simple.  Like picking the little pieces up and somehow turning them accidently, and sewing them together around the wrong way. Ah well I can hear you say – you will do these mad things!

I have been trying to sort out a suitable foundation to do some invisible machine applique.  I’m about to try some wash away, which my friend Sharon at www.pinevalley.co.nz has successfully done. In doing so I lost something ( I’m always doing this) in my sewing room, and had to have a tidy up, which resulted in me finding a lovely hand applique project which has been on the back burner for about 4 years.

So… you guessed it, I spent Sunday afternoon gluing some pieces down, and hand appliqueing them. 

My dear friend Sharon from Arizona sent me an early birthday present, which I couldn’t leave until the day to open. Well, I had to write and thank her didn’t I, and she asked that I let her know when it arrived so she would know how long it took.  The most delightful apron in the beautiful fabrics. The flowers are the outside fabric and the spots are the lining or back of the apron. I love it to bits, and Sharon very generously put some of her Mom’s vintage buttons on it. The cream packet is another apron, with a needlework panel ready for me to make up. A couple of really neat patterns, so I’m set.

I  like birthdays as at my age one can make them drawn out.  Have to celebrate with different people, and that takes time. I’m meeting my sister in Taupo which is central North Island of New Zealand. Will post some photos when I get back.

Hi from New Zealand

Today is overcast, but I hope it won’t rain. I’ve just hung my washing out and it’s blowing around nicely.

I had a weekend to myself, when DH went away with his horses, and I managed to finish a table runner, that was supposed to me a wall hanging, but I didn’t want it as that. The class was invisible machine applique, so I thought a table runner would be large enough to do. Notice the butterfly on the bud? That’s there because I accidently cut the background fabric!!

I have also made a start on The Civil War Diary Quilt. I was going to start Dear Jane, but I haven’t got my background fabric yet.   

The one with the squares – I thought I don’t need to do this foundation piecing, so I carefully cut my strips, then squares, and VERY carefully stitched them up to find I had forgotten to add the S.A. Oh my God! how could I do something so basic so wrong. So, I re cut and stitched, only to find I had done a Very scant 1/4” S A and the block measures about 6 7/8” instead of 6 1/2”.

Well…. I had had enough of that one, so maybe I’ll redo it later in the peace, or do very large SA when I stitch it in. No that wouldn’t do at all, so I guess I’ll be redoing!!

I think I need to starch these little beauties as my photos make them look abit off.  My seams are all perfect, so I think that’s the way to go.  Some peoples little blocks look so perfectly neat.

Many thanks to Linda, Jenny, Julie x2 and Quilts & Pieces (sorry I don’t know your name) for all the nice comments you made to my last blog.      Linda I’ll certainly try and remove the Quilts feet. Did you notice the quilts hands! haha  

Thanks for dropping by