Hop To It update

It's a while since I have posted about my Hop To It progress so here are some photos of my latest blocks. (From the book, Hop To It by Edytar Sitar).

Block 6 - Buds in Bloom

Block 5 - Garden Guest
(The black bulders' paper made a great background for my photos!)

I thought the Eco-Fleece (insulation) would make a good
design wall but the blocks fell off pretty quickly.

The rest of my blocks are shown here.... so that makes 8 blocks (out of 12) completed so far.
This morning I had a play around with the sashings and cut out a few triangles to get a feel of how the quilt will look. I can use some of the rusts from my blocks too.

Not the best photo but gives an idea.

Then again, I'm also wondering about going completely scrappy using all the fabrics leftover from my blocks....more thinking needed, I think!
If I make a decision I can get organised with my cutting and make the blocks up in  leader and ender style.

I was down on the farm yesterday and saw this lovely rainbow as I walked back home.

Looking from the river bank towards the house and buildings.

It's another lovely day today (so far), great winter weather.
Happy creating every-one and thanks for stopping by,

A very long Friday Night Sew-In!

I hope I wasn't breaking the rules because my Friday Night Sew In was actually a Friday Night Sew Out, as I joined a group of friends to sew the night away.
It was a fun idea to celebrate a birthday with a shared meal, plenty of chatter and a fair bit of sewing - some of us achieved more than others....
I wouldn't say my night was highly productive ('fair' would be a good description) but I did make headway on some projects :-)
I had hoped to finish this last red and white block before packing it away for a little rest....
Oops squares for the HST were cut too small and I didn't bring any more fabric with me :-(

It'll be a nice block when it's done.

--- serves me right for having a sew-out, not a sew-in.

Next I pulled out my Blessings Baskets (courtesy of Temecula Quilt Co) mini quilt. I had slowed down on this while I thought about which fabric to use for my setting triangles... everything I tried looked too washed out - but I am happy with this now. Just got a bit of quilting to do then it will be done!

Finishing size will be approx 16".

Lots of people have commented on the sashing..here is a closeup.

I've been making a few pinwheels lately, for various projects so I pinwheeled the rest of the night away.

My FNSI continued on Saturday (my time) as I joined Joanne on her FNSI (Friday night her time). Once again I enjoyed the combination of chatting while sewing. I replaced a couple of the cornerstones on my Blessings mini with better fabric matches and the pinwheel pile grew a little more.

And now it's evening and the tension is growing in the test match between the All Blacks and Ireland - might be time to put another log on the fire and concentrate on the game.
Happy creating every-one,

Planning for FNSI

I've signed up for my first Friday Night Sew In....heres's hoping I can get through all this....!

Where shall I start...?

here is the link if you want to sign up too....
I'll be back tomorrow to share what I achieved :-)

Happy creating!!

Just Takes Two (and retreat)

What's going on here...? Read on......

A few weekends ago a group of friends and I headed out to the Whangarei Heads for our annual sewing retreat.

It is a lovely spot but not many of us ventured outside to enjoy it

Plenty of room for us to set up and spread out.
As Leeanne pointed out,our group seems to have shares in Bernina machines
 and Sew-Ezi tables!

Janis and Jan's lace collection is Impressive!

As the weekend progressed projects grew.

Because of my state of - (if you've read my previous post, you'll guess it) - discombobulation, I decided the easiest thing to pack was my Just Takes 2 quilt - all I needed were my 2 lengths of fabric. Easy, no colour thinking and sorting required!!
For those of you who haven't heard about this quilt, it is a mystery quilt inspired by the "Infinite Variety: Three Centuries of Red and White Quilts" exhibition that was held last year.  Every two weeks instructions for another set of blocks is released.
It had taken me a while to decide on and order my fabrics so, although it's been going since January, I hadn't started it yet.

I was particularly pleased with this block - it took me most of Saturday though,
luckily the other blocks weren't as time consuming!
{Yes Barbara, I have re-done that corner square that I had wrong side facing!}

Since that weekend I have done a bit more on this project, here are some of the blocks put together.

There is a real mixture of techniques, piecing, hand applique, paper foundation
piecing, freezer paper.

The instructions also tell us which quilt each block is inspired by - I would love
to get a book (or catalogue) to 'check them all out.'

I'm loving that all the blocks are different and I also appreciate the fact that I don't have to spend ages deciding on which fabrics to use!! (That can be a major downfall for me, sometimes it takes me as long to pick my fabrics as it does to sew a block - please tell me I'm not the only one who does that!) The instructions are pretty clear too.
Having said that though, I think I am ready for a little break from it. I'm going to have to have a rummage and find another WIP to work on for a change of scenery.
Happy creating, everyone - hope you're finding some sewing time,

Discombobulation... (and a few houses)...

Discombobulation, at sixes and sevens, out of sorts, clipped feathers -  I've been suffering from it all lately.
A month ago, my sewing cave looked like this, then it looked like this -

Bedroom and sewing cave

In the process, my internet connection looked like this.

Satellite disconnected so builders could add more joists.

So as well as having all my sewing things (and our bedroom) stacked away in the spare room (everything I wanted was at the bottom of the pile in the back corner!), I've also been unable to connect with all my quilty bloggy friends. (And it amazed me how much of our farm business is dealt with online). With a few other things going on, it's made me feel quite Discombobulated! (Can you tell, I just love that word!).
However we now have the internet back, homelife is in a bit better routine, and while I still cant always find everything I need, I feel a bit more settled - yaay!!

My sewing has been spasmodic but I do have a couple of houses to share.

 A few months ago I asked if anyone wanted to swap window features with me - Pat, Carol, Annette, Nanette, Leeanne and Michelle have all helped boost the variety in my houses (thank you, ladies).

What better place than a building site for my scrappy houses.

Here is another house I completed yesterday. It is from the JustTakes2 quilt that I have finally been able to make a start on (more in another post when I have my photos sorted) .

I'm looking forward to catching up on all your blogs - thanks for visiting, and  happy sewing every-one,