Deadlines...

I have had the stitching done for these for a while now but hadn't done the finishing..... here is Month 2 of the Red Brolly Catalicious series. I reduced this one even more this time and am happy with the size of it within the 8 inch hexagon...I have discovered the size of a hexagon is quite decieving and there's a lot less area in one than it looks!

Here is another little block to go in my Hexagaon Cats quilt; the saying is from a calendar ED gave me for Christmas and I think I'll use a few more of these to sprinkle throughout my quilt.

ooOOoo

 You will see I have added a side button to my page; it was a bit of a fluke-y exercise and I surprised myself when it worked, but anyway, Stash Manicure is a new blogsite that is really interesting to keep track of whether your stash is big OR small!! To celebrate a month in being they are having a giveaway so head on over to visit!

ooOOoo

 It's the first of the month tomorrow so I must email my list of finishes through to Peg...also it's very exciting as there will be some more treats appearing in Blogland —  I'm looking forward to seeing the next "Flirting with Flowers" and "Catalicious" surprises!

Happy sewing

Exciting!!

 
I am so excited to be starting a new project!!! Having completed the Chocolate Quilt and given it to ED it is time for SOMETHING NEW!! Check out this BOM on Esther's Blog! Beautiful isn't it? And check out the fabrics above which I spied in my favourite little quilt shop the other day... they are (mostly) Old Primrose Inn, by Moda and I think they are absolutely gorgeous!!

Here are the first 2 blocks......yummy! (Not the best photo, sorry)

Sometimes my head absolutely spins with all the projects I want to do but that's quite an exhilarating feeling!! They do say an active mind and busy hands are good for you!!
Happy sewing everyone!!

I didn't intend to go swimming today...

...but when I went down the farm to feed my horses this morning I discovered that one of them was in the river. He must have been grazing close to the edge and the dry crumbly bank given way. His little friend was standing there whinnying and telling him to get out straight away but the bank was too high for him to jump up and out. While I was investigating places to get him out I slipped down into the river too; luckily it wasn't as cold as it looked but it did come all the way up to the top of my thighs! Finally I found a spot to get him out -  helped by a bit of coaxing with a feed bucket! He must have been there a while as he was rather cold but I filled him up with hay and he was good as gold this afternoon. My gumboots, however, are still drying out!

On the sewing front, I have finished sewing on the 9 metres of binding on the chocolate quilt and my thimble skills are much improved. I was getting quite slick at it by the end!  I quilted the top myself (did I mention that it was a King Sized quilt??!!) but as you can see by the photos, I only did straight lines with a quilting foot...not quite brave enough to do anything more fancy with the darning foot.

I have done a little bit of free motion quilting on my previous quilt but I definately need more practice!

ED comes home tonight and her birthday is tomorrow so I'm pleased to have finished it ahead of time (just).... and yaay now I can plan my next project!

To thimble or not to thimble?

Just sitting here getting a bit bored with stitching on binding (yes, the cat has moved from the quilt and I am up to the binding stage). I calculated I have 360 inches (or 900cm) worth of binding to sew on in the next 2 days so I figured that using a thimble might be a good idea to save my finger pads? However, inspite of owning one for many years, I've never really used one!!!
I feel all thumbs!!
Is anyone out there a proficient thimble user...do I just keep my thimbled finger tucked out of the way until I need to use it to push the needle through?? Any thoughts...?

That's it for tonight

I've decided I've had enough quilting for tonight...little grey Timmie has made herself at home and wont let me haul this backwards and forwards to quilt anymore!!!

I'm off to do some handwork (catalicious stitching) instead!

A few thoughts...

As I proudly post a pic of my latest Flirty block (courtesy of dear Vicki at Tozz's Corner) I thought I should actually warn you that I really do love my needleturn applique! I'm sure you've possibly guessed that anyway but thought I would spell it out! I have put up 2 links to needleturn tutorials that I have really enjoyed and used. I always loved the look of needleturn but did find the template/freezer paper process a bit tedious.... So when I was sent the Sentimental Stitches link I was really intrigued... I tried it and have been hooked ever since... the whole process is easy to do in the evenings while sitting keeping the MOML company in front of the telly. I usually do the light box thing during the day, although sometimes I do that in the living room at night so he can see what a wonderful present he gave me for Christmas last year!!
The other tutorial, by Joanna from Applique Today,  is a really good visual one for stitching - be sure to watch the little video on it. So thank you both ladies, for sharing your skills with me, and the rest of the on-line community :-).
If anyone else has some great tutorials they know off, I'd love to see them...
Anyway, here is the result of my latest night time adventure------ lovely isn't it!!

(Another time I'll tell you about more of my patchwork passions!!)

Making progress!!!

I'm feeling good right now...... I have completed the top of ED's Chocolate Quilt....

Here it is!!!

Now I'm off to find some backing....

UFO or WIP?

While browsing through blogland the other day I came across a bit of a discussion about OLD unfinished projects....click here for the link .... it got me thinking about my oldest unfinished project..now is it a ufo or is it still a work in progress?? I think I would quite like to resurrect this project so maybe a 'work in progress' sounds a lot kinder!!
So....here it is...
Now I can distinctly remember starting this; the year was 1981!! I was still at school and it was a stress relief project while studying for exams.. I did physics and chemistry etc so probably quite a lot of stress relief was needed!!!

  My first ever patchwork project - Paper piecing!!

OOPS!!! I think 29 years is too long to leave a needle in your project!

Nice tiny stitches....

Still a pile of unpieced ones to finish. Look how tiny the smallest diamond is!

In true patchwork fashion, this project was started using leftover scraps - this is the sundress I had made myself from the red and white fabric. If I remember rightly it was mostly the lighter fabric with red trim....including a red frill around the bottom! I loved it!!! (And I remember I must have driven my dear patient mother to distraction as it used to take me HOURS to choose fabric for a new dress!!)

Oh what memories!! Have a great day!!!

A day with few words

What have I been up to today....?

...a little bit of animal stuff.....

...A little bit of winter preparation...

...A little bit of baking...

...And a little bit of sewing.....