And it's July!

Well hello there! I'm finally checking in on my somewhat neglected blog.

I do have some good news, after some medical procedures my arm is finally pain free. It's actually the best it's felt in a whole year ... which means I've been able to work at my hand quilting with gusto! A couple of nights ago I took this quick snap of how it's looking:

I had really been missing it so much. While Wimbledon was on, I was quilting into the wee small hours, and I have become kind of nocturnal. I'll start to get myself back to normal hours soon, as school holidays will finish at the end of this week and I don't want it to be too much of a shock to have to start getting up early in the morning!

And here's a snap of a little someone who has been keeping me company on the sofa and in the sewing room:

It's super hard to get a good picture of Gracie, she's such a good camouflage colour that photos just don't work out well - this one isn't too bad, even if she looks kind of grumpy.

And because this is just going to be a quick post - it's getting late here ... I just wanted to share something that has happened since last time I checked in with you ... my little guy turned seventeen! I snagged this photo from Amy:

It's hard to believe Camo is so grown up, I think when I started writing here he was around four years old! He's such a good kid, and we are blessed that he's part of our family.

That's all from me right now, I need to get some zzzz's, but I am going to really try and check back in this week. Let's see how that goes! xoxox

Monday!

First up, I need to apologise to my local readers. I washed my car this morning, so I am entirely responsible for the horrible rainy weather that has set in this afternoon. Oooops! Aside from that lapse in judgement, it has been a great day and I felt like I could take on the world!

I'm still loving piecing on this small project, and stitched away until I needed to cut some more sashing strips:

I may or may not cut some more this evening ... I also may or may not simply lay on the lounge and watch tv ... who knows??

But honestly, I didn't spend all day sewing, I had the most productive day - laundry, cleaning, shopping and cooking, crazy!! Camo will be super happy, I've made his favourite banana cupcakes:

I won't bother to do any fancy icing tricks on these, they just won't last long enough - I predict there will be none left by the day after tomorrow. And then I'll make more ... I've another overripe banana I don't want to waste ...

And on my travels around the house today, I discovered the kitties making themselves right at home ...

The new (old) kitchen chairs are hanging out in the dining room for the moment, and some certain house members have declared them comfortable. I can't keep chasing them away all the time, so I'm just going to go with it - after all, this isn't the forever upholstery for the chairs ... It does amuse me that the critters treat anything new like a play gym. Ha!

Alrighty, that's been my Monday ... hope yours has been good too!

Note: I have a favour to ask ... would you mind letting me know if you see my Etsy link with the little pictures in my sidebar? I see them sometimes and sometimes not, so I just need to know if there is a problem that needs fixing, or if it's just something going on with cache. I'd appreciate it so much, thank you! xoxox

I lack patience ...

First up, I just have to share with you something that I witnessed in the dining room recently ... it has been so cold and wintery here, that it's challenging to get laundry done. Not the washing, but the drying - because I'm not really a fan of the tumble dryer for some of our clothing items.

I had a basket of laundry on the dining table ready to be folded and put away, and one of the smaller members of the family decided it'd be a warm place to spend some time ...

I had to shoo Gracie away super fast, as I know that Marty doesn't care for his clothes with an extra layer of fur on them ...

But here's what I spent some time working on yesterday - proving once and for all that I really do lack patience ...

The new issue of Quilt Mania arrived at Hetties Patch this past week, and I simply could not wait to get started on the next border. I've pieced it all, but only attached two sides - even though I have not even nearly finished the appliqué border. I love how the project is coming along, and though I'm still hopelessly addicted to piecing on the Omigosh! project, I am determined to have the appliqué finished before the next issue comes out. That gives me around six weeks or so I'm thinking?

And last of all, a little retail therapy during the week - a very little ... even though I don't need them, I wanted to add some new fabrics to the mix for the tumbler project:

The charm squares are the perfect size for the tumblers I'm working with, and it will be fun to check out this new-ish collection as I cut out the shapes.

Well, that's it for me today - I'm heading over to the sewing machine ... loving it! xox

Seeing Stars

Because I simply couldn't face any more hexagons last night, I decided I should get busy and make some more scrappy stars. It didn't take me long at all to fall behind on my commitment of four blocks per week for the year - but I think I was behind from the beginning! Here are my latest efforts:

I'm going to make more today - in fact I'd like to work on them all day - let's see how far I get with that. I'm getting better at being more scrappy, and I'm cutting out extra pieces for future blocks as I go. I've made 10 blocks so far ... and I should have made around 36 ... Ooops!

While looking for my phone just now, I wandered into the bedroom, and look who I saw:

It takes serious commitment to fit 25 hours of sleep into a 24 hour day, and Gracie is just the kitty to achieve it! Chatter soon :-)

Somebody stop me! (Actually, please don't ...)

I have been piecing like a demon since my last post, and it has been utterly worth it :-) Last night I attached all four borders to the quilt top, and this morning I pieced the little corner pieces and added them too. Go me!!

I should have shared a picture of the whole quilt, but that would have required me getting out the vacuum and dancing around the lounge floor with it for a bit. It's a cat hair thing ... heat + furry kitties = car hair all around ... and I just don't feel like spending an age picking it off the quilt ...

And speaking of kitties:

Apparently when you hide behind the hurricane lantern you're invisible. Who knew??

Because I suffer from a high degree of flakiness, I forgot to share my haul from last week with you. On Tuesday my dear friend Vicki and I took a little road trip. We went to Tricia's Fabrics (no website), which I've never been to before - Ohhh my goodness, I've never seen so much fabric outside the USA. Wow! I was actually overwhelmed and didn't buy any fabric, but got the great Barbara Brackman book. It was a great deal! And then we went on to Patchwork by Sea. Somewhere I don't get too often because it's on the exact opposite side of town from me. I picked up some William Morris fabrics for a future project ... and a pigma pen ... well, these things can be useful :-)

And last of all for today - I'm not sure I've shared that I'm teaching at Hettie's Patch - a gorgeous store. And when I was there Thursday last week, I collected these great Reece Scannell fabrics. My photo does them no justice (and I've inexplicably loaded it upside down?!?), they have a lovely sheen and look like silk. They're also for a project I have in my mind, and I'll get a few friends to go with them later on.

I have to get busy with some chores, because I've been really slacking off today - so I'll chatter soon. Hopefully I'll be able to get some of my sadly neglected scrap stars made this evening ... did you think I'd forgotten about them? I may have *lol* xox

Indeed?

Apparently someone thinks it's okay to sleep on the dining table. On my quilts! Why Gracie, why??

And especially naughty to be on my favourite French General quilt, made by my friends Donna and Gerri in the USA. Love my quilt! :-)

Lo and behold - I reacquainted myself with my sewing machine!

But first - a photo I had taken with my phone-camera and forgot all about it ... when I took the picture of my Nearly Insane quilt hanging in my dining room the other day - I had unceremoniously dumped my Dear Jane quilt in the lounge.

Miss Gracie clearly saw this as an opportunity to rub up against a quilt that up till now had been impossible to get to! Little monkey!!

And in entirely marvellous news - I have been able to make a little headway toward catching up on the Civil War Quilt blocks. Here are the blocks I made on Sunday:

This is Block 39 - Hovering Hawks. Such an easy block, but so effective.

Block 42 - H is for Hospital. How fun would a quilt be made entirely with this block in a Rail-Fence kind of design. Very striking.

And lastly, Block 43 - Right Hand of Friendship. I had to do a little unpicking with this one to get it just right, but I think it was worth it. I love the red print with the dots - I only had the smallest piece and wish I had more, it's adorable.

Well, that's my sewing for the weekend - it was so much fun, and I can't wait to get a few more blocks made. Chatter soon! xox

The last of the great procrastinators ...

"We'll be in to help you with the chores later Mum ... we're sleeping here ..."
In other news: I've finished quilting on the spiderweb mats, and I hope to get to the binding this afternoon. I promise to share how I do it :-) Gail asked if I quilt on my longarm? I wish! But no, I quilt all my projects on my Bernina. I've only ever sent one project out for machine quilting, and though a longarm machine is on my wishlist, I don't have one on my horizon right now. Trust me, anyone can quilt these mats ... really!!

Whaddya mean it's not a bed?

While tapping yesterday's post into the computer, Gracie decided she'd go ahead and make herself comfortable.

It was Marty who discovered her. He's so much faster with the camera than me (and a much better photographer I might add).

She was most put out when I heaved her 'offa' there. Any surface is a kitty bed ... any surface at all.

Relaxing

Marty and his sentinels. I wonder what was so interesting outside?

Sleepy

It's tough being a cat ... sometimes there just aren't enough hours in a day to fit everything in.

Power naps always take first priority.

This is how much quilting I've done ...

*insert sound of crickets chirping here*

Ahh well, I've been resting in bed - this bug really got a hold of me. I'm on my second course of antibiotics, so I hope I'll be feeling better for my birthday ... which is tomorrow!!

So, in lieu of quilty pictures - here a selection of recent snaps:

I love my fridge magnets, and collect them from all over the place. My current fave is the lady on the phone - she was a must have from PIQF, I wonder if the kids have noticed it yet ... they haven't said anything ...

This is a DJ picture I sent to Karen recently - it's of my first DJ - I love that I used all different background fabrics, and the blue block is one of my absolute favourites in the whole quilt. Hard to believe that I finished it more than seven years ago now. I was quite an inexperienced quilter when I began, maybe if I'd known more I'd have been too scared to start it.

And here is Holly - how scary are her eyes?? Camo tipped his duplo container over, and if there's a bag or box laying around, there will always end up being a cat in there - it's guaranteed. Funny, none of our other cats have ever been that way inclined.

Well, I'm off to get some more rest, I hope to post tomorrow and share my b-day goodies :-)

Holly thinks ...

"Well, if they imagine they're going somewhere without me, they've got another thing coming ..."

Cabinet Kitty

This evening I felt the need to do a little tidying in the sewing room. I had a few quilt tops in there and wanted to pop them in my quilt cabinet which is in the dining room. There were already a lot of quilts in there, so I did a little rearranging to make some more space, then wandered back to the sewing room to grab some quilts. By the time I came back, Holly had taken up residence among the quilts. Gosh, she was fast!

I had to shoo her away, there just wasn't room for her, and I'm sure she wouldn't like to live behind glass. She actually came out very reluctantly and brought the quilt she's sitting on out with her.

And here's the cabinet as it stands now - it's really quite full. I may be able to wedge a few more in the top, and I definitely need to refold my Winchester Weave quilt - it took all my might to poke it in up there, and now it looks all messy.

I hope to pin another quilt tonight, it's a really cute one with birds - I hope to be able to share a picture tomorrow. Talk soon x o x

When Quilting ...

... it's best not to let your pets get involved. You can just see tufts of Gracie in amongst the Christmas quilt I was working on yesterday.

I knew she was nearby, but when the quilt started to get really hard to move around, it was pretty clear she was closer than I thought. Maybe she wants to learn the craft for herself??

And here's a quickie shot of the quilting I'm doing on my friend Jenny's quilt. It's coming up really nicely.

Both pictures were taken with my phone-camera which was nearby at the time, I do wish it would take nicer pictures. Maybe it's time for an upgrade. Anyways, back to the quilting. I hope you're having a great weekend. x o x

Trees & Kitty Love

Go Tazzie! I finished up the five 'Among the Evergreens' blocks this afternoon. I've made these up before for Maureen's surprise quilt, and for the runner that lives on my dining table. I'm now making a wall hanging which will accompany the runner in the magazine. I just have to decide on sashing strips and the border.

See that cute paisley fabric I found in the squares there. I really like it. Ohhh, and Karen, I'm so lazy - forgive me *hugs* I haven't forgotten :-)

Tonight I strutted on a 'catwalk' for my friend Kathy. She did a presentation for her personal stylist business (Style Call) at a ladies pamper evening, and I was one of her three models. We were all dolled up and had a really nice time. My red shoes had their first outing, and I just love them. I also wore fishnet stockings! OMG!!

While checking the camera for my quilty photo, I found this picture that Amy must have snapped this afternoon. Some 'Kitty Love'. The fur persons are always tussling and playing together, and usually in the next moment napping together. I'm not sure why they're ON the dining table ... not my favourite place for them to be ... but I'll forgive them :-)

Should run, it's getting late here, and I feel like I could use some zzzzz's. Be good, and I'll check in with you all soon. x o x

Shoe alert!

One of my friends (Sharon) and I went to see the Sex and the City movie yesterday, and loved loved loved it! I'm not going to give any of the storyline away at all - so sorry if you were hoping for some hints. In the spirit of the movie, Sharon and I indulged in a little shoe shopping beforehand. I was drawn in by these little red numbers. They look washed out in the picture, but they're a mixture of red patent and red suede leather, and are entirely super cute! Sharon found some darling ankle boots. Myer were having a sale, so it would have been irresponsible to leave them behind!

On the quilty front, this is a project I am helping a customer with. It was a kit she ordered, and I'm saying nothing more than this: The pattern that arrived with the kit was a waste of good paper. It has been a real struggle for her to put together as a reasonably new quilter. The border was just not working out, so I'm fixing it for her, and then I'll quilt it. It seems to be going okay for now, and I'll see how flat it is when it's time to quilt. A very disappointing experience for her.

And last of all, a gratuitous kitty pic. Amy was fooling around with the camera, and found the kitties being pals. I don't think they like posing for the camera much ...

This is a long weekend for us, so I plan to spend some quality time in the sewing room, and would really love to do some organising in my closet. I wonder if it'll happen??

Long post? Could be :-)

Hmmm ... my laptop isn't playing nice, so I've moved onto the computer in the study ... let's see how I go loading images ... seems to have worked.

First up for a little eye candy, I'm sharing this picture of a quilt I just finished quilting for a customer. I really love love love it. I don't know anything about the quilt - who's pattern etc, but it's made up in the most gorgeous repro fabrics. This is sooooo my style of quilt. I hope Jenny doesn't mind me sharing it - it's just stunning!

And my latest acquisition - a new knitting bag. I've named him Shawn - he's very cute. Time spent in my car is my knitting time, and I thought this would be the perfect bag so I don't have to take my knitting bag out of the car all the time. It looks like a stuffed toy, and hopefully would not interest anyone taking a peek for any goodies while I'm not actually in the car?? Well, that's my hope ... isn't it a shame that we have to even think about things like that?

And on the car knitting front, here are my most recent finishes. (Well, I should say almost finishes, because I haven't woven in the ends yet.) A pair of pink socks for Sharon, and in the foreground you can see I'm working on some hand warmers from the leftover yarn. And a pair of blue socks for me ... or should I say a sock for me, because it doesn't have it's partner yet :-) I'm so easily distracted.

I was waving my purple hand warmers around in front of Marty the other day taunting him before I went off to netball ... "jealous hon, are you jealous" and he asked me if I could knit him some in black. Well of course I can, and I've cast on a black mitt too. It's naughty to have so many projects on the needles. I hope I can finish something soon.

And of course, there's always the laundry being done. Except for when I put the empty basket down on the floor while putting the folded laundry away ... I come back and what do I find? Two kitties glowering at me ... I'm sure they're just daring me to put them out of 'their' basket ...

Gracie

Marty snapped this picture of Gracie yesterday - doesn't she look thrilled? It's actually really hard to get a nice photo of her because she's quite dark - this picture is one in a million that has worked out.

Today Gracie is visiting with the Vet. She's just over six months old now, so we decided it was time for her to be neutered and micro chipped. She won't like it, but to us, it's the responsible thing to do.

In quilting news, I'm almost done with the deadlines I had set for myself to achieve before Wednesday. I'll be able to get some chores done now, and relax a little too. In the last eight days, I have quilted three customer quilts, pieced one shop sample, quilted and bound two shop samples, photographed and written the pattern for one shop sample. I feel I've achieved a lot, and I'm looking forward to working on some projects of my own. I still have more projects to quilt, but my pressure has eased a little.

Well, that's it from me - I promise quilty pictures in the next post.
x o x

Helper Kitty

I was working away this morning putting some blocks together for a new project, and Gracie thought she'd come and investigate. Rather than just sit nearby, she wanted to be right in on the action and placed herself firmly into my box of 2.5" squares.

My cell phone camera was the only thing handy, so I grabbed it to take the picture - hence the poor quality.

I kept on stitching and put some more blocks together. It didn't take long before Gracie was fast asleep. It's exhausting work, this supervising business ...

Also, I wanted to add a little note regarding the Scrap Basket Lattice quilt. I checked with the girls at the quilt shop this morning, and they tell me that Susan doesn't actually sell the pattern for that quilt - it's one that she only teaches as a workshop. I'm so sorry to disappoint, I know the quilt has been a big hit with so many of you.