Tidying up at the end of April

Since I came out of isolation and resumed a normal life, I haven't had much chance to sew, or blog. However today it is wet so I am going to attempt to have a tidy up post before the month ends.

I took a photo of the Moda Love quilt top I made at Scrub stitching. I didn't have a complete photo to share when I showed the Moda Love quilts everyone had made, back in *this* post. I made this from a charm pack, In The Meadow by Riley Blake designs. Because I didn't plan my colours before sewing my HSTs mine went down a slightly different track. And I added borders to help the size grow a little - 

Hmm I wonder how long before I get this one quilted??! It's on the pile at least!
*Here* is a link to the Moda Love pattern. It now seems to only come up as a PDF.

Whoops, I told a lie, I did get a bit of time in the sewing room aka The Palace, yesterday. I decided to unpick a couple of the applecores in my applecore quilt to slightly redistribute the colours. Even though this is a top I didn't want to spend hours fussing to get the fabrics right, there were a few too many darker ones a bit close together which I have now swapped out. (I allowed mself to unpick four only!) This will also be bordered to so it has gone into my bag to take to work for a fabric hunt.

I've hunted out some photos of the makes I took to Scrub Stitching with me. First up, the dress up for our Australiana themed dinner - 

The Gumnut beanie - 

I used a basic beanie pattern and 14 ply (chunky) wool yarn. There are lots of cute baby hats with 'stalks' on them so I looked one up to work out how to finish mine. This actually knitted together pretty quickly - and I made two, (and unpicked one) as the first one was too small!

And to 'finish' my gum outfit, I made a gumleaf from a Twig and Tale pattern - I purchased and used the NZ leaves pattern a few years ago. This leaf is from their Australian series. Again, another quick sew which I had done in a day (just as well as I was running out of time by then!).

I left this in Australia for kiwikid Sue's wee grandson. I hope he enjoys it for some imaginative play as he grows :-)

Today Odie claimed the beanie as his own, saying that it looked like the hat that Dipsy, the green Teletubby, wears! If it will make him wear a hat, great!!!

I didn't have photos to show you the gift that I made for our mystery swap at Scrub Stitching. Janice received mine and shared photos on her blog, which I have now 'stolen'. I made this little bag that folds down to a useful container for using - 

I made one of these for my swap gift last time too (2019). Linda, who received it, loved it so I thought I may as well make it again!

The pattern is Catch All Cutie by Teresa Weaver.

One of the things I wanted to do at Scrub Stitching was to make a start on my On Williams Street QAL blocks. I had been eyeing up this QAL since it started in January but hadn't had the chance to do anything about it till now. Each month they offer a free motion quilting design for a block. Each month's block is the same, but the quilting designs are different. They are quilted as blocks and then all joined later.

The 15" block is a pretty cool block. However at this stage, one night, I decided to put this one into the corner for some time out!

Nice and fresh, back at home, I fixed it up.

And started another. Whoops, that one went into coventry too!

All fixed, 

And with its mate.

I have altered the pattern a little. Instead of sewing half square triangles for the centre, I made an economy block. And I used the 8-at-a-time method to streamline the making of the half square triangles.

If you are at all interested in enhancing your free motion quilting skills, pop along and have a look - they post a very comprehensive video each month.

Ok, I'd best be off,

'til next time,

Happy Stitches,

Catching up (once more).

Once again I seem to have had a bit of a bloggy break. It's been a case of heads down and tails up for the last week or so. It feels nice to have a quieter week ahead.
Something I've achieved lately has been an apple core runner. It's very similar to my previous one, but this one is actually finished!

I had a few questions about the first one I was working on so I will answer them here.....
The cores are cut with a Go!Baby, which I am fortunate to be able to borrow when I want to. They are cut at approx. 5 1/2" by 7" and have little notches on them to help with the piecing. The notches and size of the cores — and I'm sure the accuracy of the die-cut shapes — make machine piecing a breeze. I easily put this together in an afternoon. I did use pins but it was no fuss really (you know, no cursing, and no tantrums!).

As this is a kit sample for my favourite quilt shop, I kept the quilting simple, with just walking foot lines, following the curve of the cores. [Grin, not that I do much more than 'simple' quilting anyway!]

Then the binding - first time I've used binding cut on a bias for a quilt. I cut it using that fancy technique of making a tube which results in continuous binding - that satisfied the child in me, it was quite fun, once I worked out what I was doing!

I've also been plodding along at my Triangle Surprise blocks, which I started at Retreat last year. (This is an Edyta Sitar pattern). At the moment it is my Leader and Ender project and I feel happy to be making progress (albeit slowly) on it.

51 blocks made so far--still not sure how big I will make it, but enjoying
the effect.

I was away from home for a few days last week. I had two surprises to greet me when I returned —

The sunflowers are out!!

The bumble bees love them.

And, the neighbour had sent down a stem of lilies. I could smell the scent throughout the house and it took quite a while to discover where the MOML had put them!

In case you hadn't noticed, I'm experimenting with labelling my photos... YD is out on the farm and can't help me get it just right - I'll get there! (I've also reduced the size of my photos---has anyone found the post quicker to open today?? How much difference does it make??!!)
Hope your week has got off to a good start; happy sewing everyone,

Applecores and houses

I had a bit of a play with the Go!Baby the other day, and before I knew it, I had this table runner put together!

I've been wanting to make an Applecore quilt for a while now. When I saw this runner made by Joanne on her blog the other day, I thought it a good way to have a bit of Applecore fun without embarking on a full size quilt. I was also egged on by our recent purchase of a new TV cabinet which really NEEDS a runner.

Still a flimsy but hopefully not for too long :-)

(While I was at it I Applecored a pile of Thimbleberry fabrics for a lap quilt. Another project prepped and ready to go when I have the chance.)

Speaking of food, ED was up visiting for a few days and made us a double batch of her fabulous Granola. I sense good breakfasts coming up!.

And she's making another teddy bear - he still needs a bit more surgery!

 I've made a few more of my scrappy houses. I am finding these to be relaxing and fun to make.
This week's theme seemed to have been brown. I'm hoping I can find enough feature fabric to have every house different.

The one on the right has been made into a stable!
(Different sized buildings due to my limited Photoshop skills).

This is 6 made now, so I'm on track for 2 a week so far (OK, we're only part way through the first month, but a good start nonetheless!).
Thanks for popping in - have a great week - happy stitching,