A small finish and a nice day

I'm not sure where this week has gone and when I thought back on it this afternoon I couldn't think what I had been up to (apart from farm and stock work that is!)... a peek on my camera put me right...

... I remember now, I finished this book cover for a friend.

I used some of those stars from this post....

And was really happy with how it turned out.

Love the fabrics!! Hope my friend does too!

I can now report that the book arrived safely at it's new home!

I also finished week 2's blocks for Joanne's Threadhead Quiltalong

Churn dash blocks to go with the Star blocks. I'm just doing 2 of each instead
of the 3 she is doing... and having a play with different colour placements
and effects.

On Friday I travelled down to my parent's place (approx 5 1/2 hours from home). I have left the trusty MOML to look after my calves....

Mum turned 75 today. Pretty flowers arrived by courier. Hard case seeing Sunflowers
in Spring! 

This morning I went with Mum to her Embroidery Guild's exhibition. It turned 30 and I have never seen so many ladies wearing pearls at once!!

Without proper  permission to take photos, I didn't. You'll have to believe
me when I say there was lots of beautiful work there!

Walking back to the car I was fascinated with this street art on a wall.

The outline of the design was marked and the general public
could come along and fill the areas with handprints. Then
the black edges of the pictures were done. Very clever.

 While Mum and her ladies in pearl necklaces had a special luncheon, Dad and I went for a walk around his orchard. I'm a bit late for the spectacular blossom show this year, but there are some trees that still look nice.

Nashi Pear under the shade cloth.

Crabapple bossom.

Dad, Crabapple blossom and the sheep.

Rounded off a nice day with a Roast Pork dinner and Lemon Birthday Cake.

Found the photogenic Nigel on my camera!

Tomorrow I head back home. Hope all of your weekends are going nicely too,

Happy creating,

Free Motion Quilting Challenge

Another month where I have met the deadline!!
This month's tutor for the SewCalGal FMQ challenge was Paula Ryan who shared with us her feathered wreath stencil design.

I can't get a photo that shows up the stitching very well.

(If you click on the photos to enlarge them you can see the detail better!)

After all the freehand fmq-ing I did on Dad's quilt, I found staying on the lines and having to be controlled for this quite difficult!

I traced the stencil onto fine tulle and used that to transfer the design to the fabric, as described to us in Don Linn's April tutorial; interestingly the new tulle I used this time was a lot finer and the transferred pattern was a lot clearer than my previous attempts.

I also had needle issues while sewing this piece - I had put a new quilting needle in but it kept lifting the fabric up and down - it wasn't till later when I realised this pack of Schmetz quilting needles had a variety of sizes and the 90 was far too big for this weight fabric and batting. You live and learn.

While I was in fmq-ing mode and mood, I completed July's sample block. July's tutorial was by Angela Walters and was a tile design.

Angela didn't appear to pre-draw her straight lines/tiles but I did go around with a marker and do that first - but still had trouble keeping to a straight line! It was a good piece to practise control and a slightly different filler pattern with.

The fabric I chose for my fmq sampler quilt doesn't photograph very well - the quilting patterns show up a lot better in real life.

So a big thank you to SewCalGal, Paula and Angela for the tutorials and inspiration. I am really enjoying the opportunity to play with different designs and techniques.

Happy creating, everyone, and thanks for stopping by,

Seeing Stars

There seems to have been a bit of a Star theme going on here lately —

Maverick Stars - a surprise for a friend-nod-nod-wink-wink.
I love making these stars.

Christmas Table Centre Star.
Something is wrong with this picture - can you tell what?
(Yes, I've run out of fabric).
I made one of these as a class sample for The Country Yard,
and loved it so much I'm making one for myself!!

Yummy Christmas fabrics making me drool!
(And hum Jingle Bells in my head).

Farmers Wife blocks #31 and #41
(Evening Star and Friendship Star)
It's been a while since I did any of these.

First blocks for Joanne's Thread Head Quilt Along
I had some Kansas Troubles fabric sorted out to do this with but decided
at the last minute I didn't have enough colour in the range.
So I'm using the Moda Special Basics range instead - these were the only
fabrics of it I had at home but there are lots of muted colours in it which are lovely!
Seems like I need to go shopping!

I don't think one could get bored with Star blocks - there are so many variations around... but for now, I'm all starred out so I'll do a bit more on my Hop To It sashings!
Have a great week everyone,