Some houses and a tour

Having mostly moved back into my sewing cave, I thought it time I took you on a tour—

This is my new sewing desk. I LOVE it. My Bernina sits in a little cavity, just like in my Sew-Ezi table. I made sure the desk was nice and deep for handling big projects and also that I had some decent cupboards underneath. 

Yes, that was a new little house sitting under the sewing machine. Thank you Maria for this little window decoration.

At the end of the desk is my little computer space. I made this as small as was feasible so that I had more sewing room. It works well so far but I will tweak it a bit so that I have little cubbyholes under the monitor and printer.

Oh look that was another house block hanging on the computer screen.

On one wall I have put Nanny's old sewing cabinet. This is what I used to sew on before I got my  Sew-Ezi table. I have my old Janome set up at the moment but the flap folds up and the machine slides into the cupboard on top if I don't want to sew with two machines at once. Just to the right is the butterfly-type table I used to use as my cutting table. Every time I grizzled to myself about how small and wobbly it was I reminded myself that it used to be Mum and Dad's kitchen table when they were first married!

And the Janome is looking after another block... thank you Annette for the lovely lady in the window.

This isn't a very good photo sorry as it is too sunny outside but this is another huge change in my cave. This desk used to be my computer desk but I decided I would rather have it for cutting, etc, instead. The MOML heightened it for me and it is perfect for cutting. I can also use it for preparing my tops for quilting too. Nana made me the cane baskets a long time ago which I treasure hugely. Oh and there is my ironing board too, nice and handy to my sewing machine.

A change in purpose.

And here is the house on my cutting mat. 

Fun to make some houses again - it's been a while.

I am very happy with how it has turned out and it is so nice to have all my bits around me again. I still haven't cluttered up the walls with quilts and 'stuff' but it wont take long, I'm sure.
[EDIT - to answer Suz' question re stash and scraps. They are in plastic bins and drawers under the cutting bench - still a bit messy to photograph!!]
So now it is time to get back to my fruity quilt for Dad--I'm up to the appliqué stage -- moving along nicely.
Thanks for touring with me, happy creating, everyone,

"On the Edge"

Where the country goes to the city —
On the Edge is a fairly new Art Gallery in our little city of Whangarei. It covers a wide range of art and each month it has new displays.
This month, along with a local photographer, The Country Yard (aka "my local") was invited to exhibit.
I went along this morning and was impressed by what Richard had done with 'our' quilts. He kindly gave me permission to share these photos on my blog.

I loved this view; the colours, the haybales, the paintings and artwork all
worked together so well. On the bales are my 'Simple Pleasures' quilt
and the 3 Stitch-Around-The-Block cushions from our neighbourhood.
You can also see one of Lynette Anderson's Button Club Mystery
quilts from 2010.
To the far left is Jacki's 70th birthday quilt. (I couldn't get a good photo.)

This is a BOM; this beautiful sample was made by Leeanne for the shop.
Loved its setting on this coloured wall.
Noeline's lovely embroidered cushions are on the left, but my photo of
these wasn't clear.

Rachel's 'Journey of a Quilter' is on the table and Mary's 70th birthday quilt is
on the wall.

We each made a block for Mary's quilt which was assembled and quilted
by her daughter. This pic is of the block, the Kereru (Wood Pigeon), which
I made for her. (I haven't shown it here before).

This is the block I made for Jacki's 70th birthday quilt. Recognise him??!!

This was a quilt I hadn't seen before. Rachel made this - gorgeous!!

I haven't showed close ups of everything as I didn't want to spoil it for you locals who haven't visited yet!.

I really enjoyed this visit; it was inspiring to see the quilts in such a different setting.  Thanks Richard, you did a great job :-)

Back on the home front —
— this photo shows YD's latest bear creation (she's made 4 in the past month!). This one is 7 1/2 inches tall, and was helping me make my latest house block earlier this morning.

Thanks for visiting - hope you enjoyed the peek at the gallery, and hope you all have a great week,

Summer building..(houses)...

I am enjoying building my little houses a lot, sorting through the scraps, finding suitable 'window prints' and then seeing the finished result. As you all know, playing with scraps is a great way of going for a trip down memory lane, thinking about where each piece of fabric came from.
Leanne and I had an impromptu red-scrap-fabric-swap..... it was tempting to sew up some Leanne houses straight away but I did have to wait till I'd found suitable prints to use for the windows and I couldn't just use any old print. After promising her I would use a Goose (you really need to visit her blog for the relevance of this!), I then had to find one!! Easier said than done, but finally, here are two Leanne houses —

Leanne's red scraps;  her Goose house and a Gardener's house.
YD told me I was daft to put secateurs in the window - I told her it was raining
and Leanne had them inside to oil and sharpen!

Here are my other February houses - lots of memories with these scraps, and lots of fun with the windows!

I don't want to re-use my window fabrics so am building up a little collection of spares that may be suitable for someone else's houses..... if anyone wants to do a window fabric swap (of about ten 1 3/4 inch 'pictures' - my window size is 1 1/8 finished) just get in touch with me :-)
Until next time, happy stitching,

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,

New beginnings

We are well and truly into 2012 now, with Christmas puddings and chocolate Santas well behind us. After my flurry of Christmas gift sewing I've been having a peaceful time in my sewing cave.... a wet summer here in Northland is making this particularly enjoyable.
First up I needed to finish my last Christmas gift -- and now that I have gifted it, I can share it with you ---
This is a Cori Blunt, Chitter Chatter Designs pattern. As soon as she released it, I ordered it, knowing it was the perfect gift for Leeanne, who I am pleased loves it. :-)

My version looks a little different to the original; I altered it to suit
 the fabrics used.

Moving along -- I've made a  couple of new commitments this year - nothing too big, just things to add a bit of spice to my life and because they sounded like fun.
I joined in the 12 days of Christmas Mystery run by Lesley over at Temecula Quilt Shop--- what fun!! A new block every day, for 12 days!! The first day was one 3 1/2 inch square - well I thought, if they are all like this I'm sure I can cope and keep up! After a few days it was obvious that the number of block pieces matched the number day it was.... and I did wonder what sized pieces we would be cutting and sewing on day 12!
But here it is, I survived and kept up.

Awaiting Day 12....

Today we received instructions for the borders and here is mine ready to quilt - wow I may even have my first quilt finish for 2012 before too long! An incredible number of people have taken part in this mystery, and I must say it was a fun way to get back into my sewing after Christmas.

Just remembered to take a photo before I
 filled it up with basting pins.

I've also committed myself to the Scrappy Houses project... you've probably noticed these houses popping up all over blogland... it is also proving very popular. This has been started by Jeanneke, who seems to have got hooked on them herself. Her blocks are 3 inch and she is handpiecing one a day. Luckily it's a no pressure, break the rules project and I have decided to foundation piece slightly larger houses, (finishing at 4 1/4 inches) and hoping to make two a week. Keeping them relatively small means I  have a better choice of scraps. Hopefully I will get through a few doing these.

Just had a thought - should have put the starting date in the window
of my first one, maybe the third will have it!
[Yes one looks a little larger but they just need an accurate trim :-)]

So that's my New Year off to a whizz and a bang--- I'm sure there is much more excitement to come, happy stitching everyone, and thanks for popping by,

PS Multi- tasking is not always a good thing. I burnt the veges while writing this post. Luckily I was able to disguise them by tossing them in with the chicken!