Quickie post ...

Just a quickie post tonight, as I have a bunch of work to get through, so it'll be a late one tonight in the sewing room.

This week I only got one block put together, this one for the Morell quilt. It's block #43

Somehow I made the diamond sections slightly incompatible with the background fabric pieces and it was a bit of a stinker to put together. But I got there in the end - it's not perfection, but I know it'll be just fine when it's quilted. I should have started again, but that would have been too easy lol!

And in other news, I baked my first ever sourdough cob. There is so much to learn, and I'm on the very beginning of that learning curve, but it's so far so good:

I didn't love it straight up, but it's super nice as toast. Camo has declared sourdough excellent and would like me to keep on baking. Marty is a wonderbread kinda guy, so he'll never love it, but he'll tolerate it. So far my favourite thing has been the bagels which I forgot to photograph, so I think I'll continue on this sourdough journey.

Recently I bought myself the latest iPhone, I always leave upgrading until it becomes super necessary. The camera is so much better than I've been used to - so while doing a little hand quilting recently I snapped a quick picture:

So fun! I can see the weave of all the fabrics, and in the top middle berry you can see some batting fibre that I couldn't see with the naked eye. I do love to see my quilting stitches up close - I don't get as many stitches to the inch as I used to, but it's still my favourite thing.

Well, that's it for me today, I'm going to get back to work and see how much I can get done tonight. Chatter soon! xox

Almost midnight!

Oh my, today has really gotten away from me - it's almost midnight, so I'm just going to get this post in under the wire. I'll keep it short so I can hopefully slip into bed while it's still today!

This week I've started working on a new project. I don't need a new one, but I really felt like I needed some simpler machine work. Well, that's my justification anyway. It's a sampler by Paula of OldePatchArt. She is repairing/reproducing a darling but damaged sampler quilt. Do visit on Instagram and see her lovely work.

Here are my first two blocks:

Block 20 - Spool Dance

Block 30 - Bye Bye Birdy

I have a lot of catching up to do, and I may or may not get there before the last blocks are posted, but I will enjoy the progress. I've decided I'll work from my ever growing scrap drawers, and hopefully put something of a dent in them. No scrap dents have been made to date, but I remain determined.

In other news, on day 16 my sourdough starter finally started doubling in size with lots of lovely little bubbles, so if the whispers are correct, I should be able to start using it for baking now.

The process for baking the bread seems terribly complicated though, so I don't imagine I'll be wildly successful any time soon. 

I'll have to sign off here - Rowley is pacing around, so he's probably looking for his end of night bathroom break. He turns six months old next week, so I hope to share a comparison photo with you from the day we got him until now - it's amazing how much he's grown. So I'll check in with that for you next week. Chatter soon! xox

A busy week with not much to show for it ...

I thought I would have so much more time to spend in the sewing room this week, but it hasn't really worked out that way. I've ended up doing a bunch of chores - sorting things out in the sewing room, and rearranging some things in the kitchen - and with sewing starting again this week, time has just flashed by.

This is the only Morrell quilt block I put together:

Another block using the County Clare panel by Karen Styles. Also a cute little background print from one her scrap bags - the red fabric from stash, possibly purchased from Karen too! I'm going to make one of the diamond star blocks next, and after that I'm going to force myself to work on some more broderie perse. It's only since I used that fraying fabric in the middle block that I've been leery of broderie perse - I had a wonderful experience with it while I was working on Mountmellick!

On Tuesday afternoon I started a very new to me project, and I have no idea how it's going to go. I'm taking baby steps into the world of sourdough starters:

I've had a few friends inspire me to give this a go, so I'm three days in and very unsure of what I'm doing or taking on, but I'm finding lots of resources online to help me out. Quite some time ago I received a Goldfields San Francisco sourdough starter package from my lovely friend Linda in the USA, and that's what I've used to get this going. I'm getting a few bubbles forming, and I'm learning that it could take a a little time to get anything worthy of baking with. I'm patient, and I'm ready to learn. Please pop me a comment if you have any interesting tips to send my way.

Last of all, Rowley is becoming less and less timid each week and we're able to take him for better walks. It's a lovely time of year, so I snapped a few pictures last weekend:

This weekend is going to be a busy one - we're having new carpet installed in our bedroom, so I'll be cleaning everything out of the bedroom and walk-in-robe ready for Monday. This will give me the perfect opportunity to cull a lot of items we just don't need, it will be very freeing!

It's only 10.30 here, but I'm flagging already, so I think I'll have an early night so I can rise tomorrow bright eyed and bushy tailed ready for chores. Chatter soon!