I'll try something here ...

Hi friends, I hope you're all well ... I have a few things to share with you today, one of which I'm not exactly sure how to do - but I'll give it a go!

First up, I am finally able to share the secret squirrel projects I've been working on for a little while. Do you remember I shared that I'd found a number of milk glass bowls, ones that are frequently used to make pincushions for sewists ... well - I needed extra to do what I wanted with them. So I assembled a small but dedicated team of friends to find more - and fortunately we managed to locate enough for my quilting buddies, and I set to making them up as gifts:

I'm so pleased with how they came together. I wasn't able to find an actual pattern that was meant for the bowl, and made it up as I went along. There are several lovely inpirational pictures on pinterest, so it was fun to spend time researching as well.

And I also made up an embroidered ornament for everyone, a super fun stitchery project:

All the mmmCrafts projects are absolutely foolproof - the directions are fabulous, and I've already planned which one I'll tackle for my friends next year.

For the sampler project I've been striving to catch up on, I was able to put one block together, and it was a bit of a tricky one:

Block 24 - Dolly's Star

For whatever reason I decided to machine piece the center area of this block instead of hand piecing like I normally would, and it was a bit of a battle to make sure all the points lined up. I used freezer paper piecing which I love, but I'm finding that the freezer paper I have at the moment just doesn't seem to stick as well as it used to. But no excuses, I should be able to get good results anyway. 

I'm aming to get a couple more blocks made this weekend, so I'll be looking forward to digging around in my stash. I think there are only two more blocks to be revealed, and I'll be hoping to get them all complete during the holidays.

Last of all, I wanted to see if I can share a video of my Christmas tree - I'm not sure if I've shared a video before, so I'll see if I can do it ...

I hope this has worked, let me know if you're able to see it. My Xmas tree is one of my favourite things, and it's such fun to decorate it. This is a slim tree, I think 7 1/2ft tall. It's so much fun to cram so many decorations on there that it's hard to see the actual tree itself.

Last of all, I took a quick snap of the camper-van placemats I put together before I handed them on to their new home:

I really like this placemat pattern, it's great for prints that you just don't want to cut up too much. There will be more in my future!

Okay, I'll sign off here so I can spend some time in the sewing room. I hope you're all doing well, and I'll chatter soon! xox

Runner Complete

Last night I finished stitching the last of the binding in place on my version of Jenny's runner. I made this project up using a 'Sturbridge Village Greens' charm square pack.

On Monday, this will go in the mail as a gift for one of my precious friends. I'm really thrilled with how it's turned out, and I may just make one for myself sometime.

The quilting is done with a cute gold thread, a thread that's rapidly becoming one of my favourites.

Fun things ...

A few quickie pictures of fun things from the last couple of days ... I'm still busy quilting at the moment - things will slow down a lot in about a week's time when the kids break for the Christmas holidays. I'm looking forward to some serious piecing time!

First up - here is a little giftie I made up for my friend Jenny. (Hi Jenny - hope you have a wonderful day on Monday!) A candle mat I made, teamed up with a hurricane lamp style jar and scented candle. All wrapped up with cello and a wired ribbon. Lots of fun. I think these will be a great teacher gift too - and the kids will be handing them out at school tomorrow :-)

On Monday, Martin delivered my thread stand to Brian - our friend and a wonderful cabinet maker. In the afternoon, Brian returned, having stained the stand to match our furniture (a lot of which he has made himself). He did a great job, and I can't wait to have it hung on the wall. Being the impatient girl I am, I wanted to see what all my threads looked like loaded onto it. I didn't realise I had so many! I'm thinking I may paint the wall before I hang it, because the study is the only room in the house I haven't yet painted. I'll see ... I may decided it's just too big a job for now ... I'll keep you posted :-)

And last of all, a finish from last night. I quilted and sewed down the binding on my runner on Monday night, and while waiting for Amy at netball last night, I hand stitched the reverse side of the binding. I'm thinking I may need to do a little more quilting to be completely satisfied, but it feels good to have a finish of my own!

Better head back to the sewing room - the machine is calling me :-)

Gifties

Gosh - the picture is a bit of a mess! It was my plan to share a picture of the gifties and props that I've prepared for my Christmas in July classes which are tomorrow and Friday. Shame about the flash bouncing off all the cello wrap!

I've prepared four latte mugs with mats, two to give away each day, and some Christmas themed candle mats with cute glass votive holders.

The latte mugs contain some coffee packs, sugar tubes and some peppermint chocolate. Mmmmm chocolate :-)

Just need to finish up some quilting tonight, get lunches ready catch me some zzzzzz's. I'm looking forward to tomorrow, should be a fun day. Ohhh, and I have to say, I'm VERY behind answering my emails - I promise to catch up soon. Honest!

Stash Report & Stuff

Here's my stash report for this week. No fabric purchases at all - even though I was tempted to go and purchase some fat quarters. I've done a little piecing - the mystery project, so I've used up some more of my 1.5" strips.

A tiny project for using up some of my brighter 1.5" strips was to make up a mat for the mosaic candle holder you see in the picture. It's a 6" log cabin block, I'm guessing the actual mosaic piece is about 10" high. It was a gift for my friend Sharon who had a birthday on the weekend, and of course I couldn't share it until she actually received it! I have a few more of the same to make this week toward Christmas gifts.

On Sunday night our family, and Sharon's family went for a trip to Lobethal to see the Christmas lights. This is a picture of our favourite of the light displays. My picture isn't great - and we're limited with the camera we have, but you get the idea. We're getting a new camera tomorrow - let's see if the quality of my pictures improve - or perhaps it's actually the operator *vbs*

I had some excitement yesterday, I purchased a new washer and dryer. I have been squirreling little bits of money away for a little while toward the goal. We've had the old ones for 18 years now - so they'd had a good innings. I love the new washing machine, it's a front loader, and I've heard great things about them. Today though, Marty was unpacking the dryer, and we were so sad to see that the side of it is all dented in. I'm going to have to take it back tomorrow. Keep your fingers crossed for me, they said it was their last one. They're going to have to work something out for me - it's just unacceptable that so often the customer is on the wrong end of quality control issues.

Tonight I'm going to some more work done on my friend Jenny's quilt. I'm hoping to have it finished for her tomorrow. Super fun! :-)

Scrapping ...

I can't believe it's almost Christmas, I just don't feel like I'm ready for the whole festive season yet. Heavens, I have barely started the shopping, and almost no quilted gifts - this is so unusual!! Amy only has two days of school left for the year, and Cameron has five. Soooo ... I thought I'd put together the traditional gift for their teachers - Seasonal mugs with mug mats. I hope they liked them!

I should probably put a few more together, you know, as 'justin presents' ... just in case ...

And because I just couldn't resist - I decided to dive into Bonnie's mystery project. I haven't made many projects that use a great number of my 1.5" strips, so I thought this would be a wonderful opportunity to start.I decided to go with some brown in with the red and blue, I had to cut up some of the brown and red especially, but there were plenty of blue strings in there to use. I have three customer quilts I need to finish up before I can start working on step two, but hopefully by the end of the week I'll be up to date.

This weekend is sure to be a lot of fun, in one hour we're going to pick up the new kitten. Cheryl is going to have one too. The kids will definitely be entertained, and it'll be interesting to see how Holly deals with the new arrival. I'll share pictures as I have them! Have a great weekend! x o x

Mugs and Mats

I try and post every other day, but I missed a day yesterday (the 28th) ... I promise I had good reason ... it was my birthday!

The day was entirely wonderful - the girls at the quilt shop had arranged a suprise party for me, I was just gob-smacked. It was a full blown party feast - they must have conspired for the longest time. Thank you so much girls, it was just lovely.

I came home from the quilt store with four customer quilts to work on. I'm enjoying all the quilting I'm doing - but it is meaning my own stitching time is very limited - and for you guys, not a very interesting blog. When the holidays get here in two weeks time, I won't be working at the shop, so I'll have more interesting things to share - it's a promise!

My family visited last night, and we had birthday cake and treats. What a fun day. I received some lovely gifts too, my parents gave me some lovely gold earrings, and Marty and the kids gave me a DVD player for the sewing room, and the second season DVD of My Name is Earl (I love that show!). Regular TV has been terrible lately, so I'll enjoy watching (or at least listening to) movies while I'm quilting.

In the picture - I finished the binding late last night on the second of the placemats I showed you a little while back, and I've rolled them up, and today I'm going to give them to Grandpa and May, as a 'just because you're special' gift. I haven't seen them in a while, and I wanted to stop by for a visit. The two mugs I picked up yesterday at the store, I plan to make up some mug mats and give them to Cam & Amy's teachers at the end of the year.

Well, that's it from me ... I'm off to see Grandpa and then work at the quilt store ... Have a great day everyone!

Using the scraps ...

Just a quick post today - I'm starting to feel weary, and the day is disappearing.

Tuesday evening I started using up some of my 2.5" strips to piece some scrap placemats for my MIL. I figure if I start making a dent in the containers with the cut strips, then I can start cutting up some of the scraps in the huge bins. Of course, with only the four placemats, there was no visible reduction to the strips. And I'll be digging into the 2" strips for the binding. I hope to get to that tomorrow.

In the background you can see the folder cover I made for Amy the other day, I just need to sew the binding down on the reverse side. It used 2.5", 2" and 1.5" strips from my containers. I must have had a 'blonde moment' when I measured up - it it just a teeny bit small for a folder. I just can't believe I did it - a trap for young players! It will however fit two textbooks into each pocket, so I'll get her a couple and it'll still be useful.

A big hello to Kelly - a faithful reader of many of our blogs. She came along to the quilt store today. It was fun to meet her.

That's it for me today - I have a reasonably quiet day planned for tomorrow - let's see how much I can get done.

Christmas Placemat

Yesterday a few of my favourite quilty friends and I did a class at the quilt store. It was a Susan Murphy class, and we were working on Christmas items.

I chose to make the placemats, and here is the one I made up yesterday. Isn't it super cute! The fabric with the poinsettias was from my stash, and the red and gold one was purchased on the day - I don't have much red, and this one I thought was the perfect compliment.

Now, I know this will make Kim happy - in the spirit of stash enhancement and because I liked the fabric so much - I purchased an additional metre of each - you just never know when you might need it!

Today it's my hope that I'll be able to start quilting on my 'Galaxy of Scraps' quilt top - I haven't made any plans for today so I can get busy on it, but you just never know what will come up ... Have a great weekend everyone! x o x

I'm kinda nervous ...

I just thought I'd write something quickly before I start heading toward bed. Maybe it'll help me sleep ... not that lack of sleep is usually a problem ...

Tomorrow my friend Natalie (my school friend I was reunited with last year) is hosting a lunch for 7 or 8 of our old school friends (that number includes Nat and I). I'm really nervous and kind of scared about it. Apart from Natalie, I haven't seen any of these girls for 20 years.

Anyways, as an ice breaker, I've made up some of my customary mug mat gifties ... I started making the blocks yesterday and finished them up this afternoon.

Twenty years is a long time, and I know we've all grown up - in fact, it's quite possible that tomorrow may bring wonderful things, but I can't help but look toward it with trepidation. I'll let you all know how it goes ... I just wish I could face this all in a more positive manner ... it's just so unlike me to have this nervous outlook ... Have any of you faced something like this in the same way?

At it again ...

I've been at it again - I made up a little mug mat and paired it up with a cute coffee mug for one of my students at the quilt store. it's hard to see in the picture, but it's just a little 5" log cabin block made up with some of my Thimbleberries scraps. One of these days I will have none left ... honest!

The girls have been mad for these bags made with pet mesh inserts, and Jenny C. has been showing Jenny S. how to make one. She's made a few now, and I wanted to thank her for using her class time to help out.

Not much quilty going on here, life has been getting in the way, tomorrow is quilt group, so maybe some show and tell after that.

May Britt has tagged me with a Thinking Blogger award. I need to list five of my favourite blogs I'd also like to award. I'm going to think on it overnight. I can't even imagine narrowing it down to five ... eleventy five maybe!! Thank you so much to May Britt for the kind words ... I feel so unworthy!

Hope you're all having a great day :-)

A happy reunion

Bernie and I had a very happy reunion yesterday. My little (but so very heavy) sewing machine smells so very clean, is so very quiet again, and has no tension issues!

To celebrate, I quilted the placemats I made the other day and sewed on the binding. I had planned to bind the mats in green, but couldn't find the perfect green in my stash, so settled for this beige-ish colour instead.

On the back of the mats, I used a cute fabric from my stash called 'Harvest Melody' by Nancy Halvorsen. It's a really cute fabric, and will make the mats reversible for use throughout the year. The binding fabric I ultimately used was from the same range and matched both sides pretty well.

I hope to hand sew the binding down this morning, and then this afternoon I'll head to the grocery store. If I have the chance this afternoon I'll spend some time tackling the Winnie the Pooh project. I know I'm not going to be able to strike that goal off my list this month. I don't have enough batt to use for the quilt, and I won't be heading to the quilt store today as I'm teaching there tomorrow.

Well, that's it from me. Happy Halloween to all those that celebrate it, hope your day is grrrrrrreat!

Mug Mat

Today is the day that I get to have lunch with a long lost high school friend. We haven't seen each other for 20 years I guess. I finished high school at 16, so the maths is easy!

It's funny, I'm really excited about meeting up with her again, but I have a few nerves too, and I have no idea why? We were really good friends, so I have no worries about her, but maybe it's about the passage of time and the toll it's taken on me? Who knows, so I'm determined to shut any thoughts like that out of my head and just enjoy the afternoon.

Just for fun, I sent her an SMS last night to ask her favourite colour. She replied that it's hot pink, so I decided to set to work and make her a little treat.

Log Cabin is a block that features prominently in my life, so I made up a little block and turned it into a 'Mug Mat'. I then purchased a mug that had some hot pink on it and made it up into a little giftie.

What a fun way to remember our afternoon together.

We're going to a local cafe, and I know they have wonderful salads there, so I'll be able to keep strong on the diet. I feel sure there will be some blue and cream 'Blue Ridge Beauty' blocks in my future. Now here's a question for my friends ... I need a name for the blue and cream quilt when it's done, and it would be fun to maybe have a diet reference ... ideas anyone??

Have a great day everyone!