I have really had a spurt of stitching the past weeks. I love to be able to sit down in the evening and do a bit while I watch tv. Before I started, however, I finished organizing my DMC’s. Here are a few photos of that big job!

I ended up with about 7 boxes full…

Once that was all done, it was time for fun!!! One day we went for a drive to a cute little quilt shop in Maldon, and I found just the fabrics I wanted for the Nice People Nice Things quilt. Here you can see them, with my first two blocks finished:

In the meantime, I started on the armchair caddy, courtesy of Helen. I am not joining in on the actual swap, but I am trying to do the projects. I’m not confident enough to join the swap and I’ve also been busy with doctor’s appointments and other things, so I wouldn’t be very reliable at this stage in life.. more on that later. So, here is my armchair caddy in progress:

I changed it a little - I used a piece of the background fabric for the middle bit of the pincushion instead of stitching it. I thought I’d end up messing up the stitching when I poked pins in it! If you want the free pattern for this, check it out here. You can find the other gorgeous projects in the Stitcher’s Angel stitch-a-thon at Helen’s blog.

Since I took the above photo, I now have the green binding on and am hand sewing it. I really like the way it has turned out. Thank you Helen for sharing this with us!!!

Some non-quilting news now: I am off to hospital next week to have my gallbladder out. It should only be an overnight stay and a small thing compared to the three c-sections I’ve had! Still, I’m supposed to rest for a week, doctor’s orders. So, I will stitch…. that is resting, isn’t it?

to quilt. Yes, I scrubbed my kitchen floor and got the quilt pinned. It really didn’t take long, it is such a small quilt. So now I have to start the quilting - Nora, where are you when I need you?! Well, it is a small one, so it shouldn’t be too bad. I forgot to take a photo of it pinned, but my kitchen floor is not that exciting, so I guess it doesn’t matter.

I am going to quilt around the flower petals, just not sure which foot to use. I think the walking foot will be too clunky, but am wondering whether the 1/4 inch foot will cause gathering… I’ll just have to experiment.

Other than the normal daily to-do’s, we’ve been watching the Olympics and I’ve been winding DMC onto the little cardboard thingos while watching. Did any of you see the big box of DMC Zamil’s was selling? (Still selling?) Well, once upon a time I bought it…. and now I am finally sorting them out and getting them organized. It will be good to have it done. I won’t need to buy more DMC I’m sure! I really want to start some stitcheries, so it will be nice to be able to easily find the colors I need.

Now to finish off, here is are some photos of Elizabeth and a pony we are minding, and her lamb that she is bottle raising.

I came across this blog one day: Nice People Nice Things, and just LOVED the stitcheries. I also love the way Helen has made it a “quilt as you go” quilt. Perfect for someone like me who is not happy with the quilting part of quilts!

I called Helen at her shop one afternoon and it arrived THE NEXT DAY!!! I’m so impressed. Here is the pattern with its cute little box:

Yesterday I ironed some muslin and cut it into 9″ squares. I only need 6″ squares, but I like to use a hoop, so I made them bigger. I am hoping to start these while I watch the Olympics.

I finished the top yesterday while the kids were doing piano lessons and later while we were all watching the Olympics! Yay!

Now I need to scrub my kitchen floor and pin it !

Cam took the kids to Melbourne to see the football and I got an entire day to sew! Yay! I worked on Christie’s quilt and enjoyed it so much. It would be nice to be able to do this more often,… but I need to be patient! Before I know it the kids will be grown up and I’ll be wishing I didn’t have as many quiet days at home! But in the meantime, this is what I got up to.

I cut the white background squares for the flowers. I had already finished the petals up to this stage:

I had one flower assembled and blanket stitched:

Found some yellow thread for the center and then I had one done:

And eight more to go:

Wanna see the back of the applique?

The front looks better….

I was finally on a roll! I cut the sashing and this is how it looks right now:

Sorry the colors aren’t great, but it is bed time. Do you think I could skip school tomorrow and keep sewing?! Ah, it was a good day! Cam and the kids had a great day too - their team won!

… and I will try to be good and post regularly. I just haven’t been sewing much lately, so there hasn’t been much to tell you in that department. I will also post photos of our house and little farm…. We now have chickens, ducks, a lamb, pony and two cats!

My latest project that I need to work hard at, is a quilt for my sister’s 30th birthday. My sister and her family stayed with us for 3 weeks back in May/June. She found a quilt she liked and we went to the quilting shop to choose the fabrics. She is a blue girl like me, and this is what we came up with:

Here is the fabric with a picture of the pattern:

Isn’t it pretty? And one of the best things is… I think I have enough fabric to make one for me too! Yay!

Why, yes, dear, we can put it by. It does seem out of place

On top of these down comforts and this spread of silk and lace,

You see, I’m used to having it lie so, across my feet,

But maybe I won’t need it here, with this nice furnace heat;

I made it? Yes, dear, long ago. ‘Twas lots of work, you think?

Oh, not so much. My rose quilt, now, all white and green and pink,

Is really handsome. This is just a plain, log cabin block,

Pieced out of odds and ends; but still–now that’s your papa’s frock

Before he walked, and this bit here is his first little suit.

I trimmed it up with silver braid. My, but he did look cute!

That red there in the centers, was your Aunt Ruth’s for her name,

Her grandmother almost clothed the child, before the others came.

Those plaids? The younger girls’, they were. I dressed them just alike.

And this was baby Winnie’s sack–the precious little tyke!

Ma wore this gown to visit me (they drove the whole way then).

And little Edson wore this waist. He never came again.

This lavender par’matta was your Great-aunt Jane’s–poor dear!

Mine was a sprig, with the lilac ground; see, in the corner here.

Such goods were high in war times. Ah, that scrap of army blue;

Your bright eyes spied it! Yes, dear child, that has its memories, too.

They sent him home on furlough once–our soldier brother Ned;

But somewhere, now, the dear boy sleeps among the unknown dead.

That flowered patch? Well, now, to think you’d pick that from the rest!

Why, dearie–yes, it’s satin ribbed–that’s grandpa’s wedding vest!

Just odds and ends! not great for looks. My rose quilt’s nicer, far,

Or the one in basket pattern, or the double-pointed star.

But, somehow–What! We’ll leave it here? The bed won’t look so neat,

But I think I would sleep better with it so, across my feet.

too busy to blog, but I have been somewhat productive.

I finished my flannel raw edge quilt:

Just a while before that I had put ALL my UFO’s on the table and took a photo. I think there are over 30 there. The idea was to look at it every time I was tempted to start something new:

Well, I kinda forgot…. and started on a few other things …ooops!

I decided to start on Christmas stuff. I had this bolt of fabric from the souk and made this stocking:

I got a couple of meters of this panel from E - I think she bought the whole bolt at the souk. Again, I made stockings:

Finally, I am teaching a beginners Fence Rail class, following in the footsteps of Evelyn & Siti, and while I was at it I decided to do a Christmas one for myself. I’ve made a start, sewing the strips together and cutting them into 6 1/2 inch squares:

Well, that’s all my news for now. I’ll put up more photos as I get further along on my projects……

The Pinwheels are done!!! Click on the thumbnail and you can see a close up!

Alice taught me this one - I had to have 120 2 1/2″ squares and put them in a paper bag. Then I had to take them out one by one and lay them on an iron-on interfacing grid. I was not allowed to look and at the end I was only allowed to change 5 squares if they looked really bad. So much for my obsessive compulsive behaviour!

After ironing them on I sewed up and down the edges… use your imagination, I am not good at explaining these things! Put borders on, quilted it, and look:

All done! Now what to do with it? As you can see, it is small, so maybe a doll’s quilt?

I am particularly proud of my quilting :)! It was all done freestyle on my beautiful Bernie Bernina. I did a loop in each square in the middle, then hearts on the borders and flowers in the squares. I am learning, slowly, slowly!!!