Sunday, December 22, 2013

Last customer quilt for the year.


Well I managed to squeeze another customer finish in before Christmas. This one is made by Anne for her 12 year old piano playing grandson.
Anne was at The Country Yard and saw the shop sample I had quilted & decided to buy the kit & make it up.
Anne wanted polar fleece for the backing & she has also made hers slightly larger. Anne also asked if I could please quilt hers the same as the shop sample.

I didn't have the heart to crop the photo as I thought the petals from the Jackerander (s?) tree were so pretty!

That is my last customer quilt for the year. Thank you to all my lovely customers for keeping me busy, I appreciate your custom & support.

A bit of stitching in the evenings has lead me to a few nice finishes just in time for Christmas. I love making Christmas decorations, then finding a place to hang them.
First up is a pattern from 'A Country Friends Design' unfortunately these are no longer available for purchase. I was inspired by my friend Julie, when I saw her one. I used Cottage Garden Thread 'Kangeroo Paw' & a Patrick Lose fabric for the stitchery background.

 Julie thought it would be lovely hanging on a door filled with wrapped chocolates to offer visitors when they arrive, but we both agreed that in our homes there would be none for the visitors as we would have eaten them!

Next up a lovely kit given to me by my friend Megan. This is a Birdhouse design, the thread for the stitchery is a South Island silk thread.

Next is a another kit I got given, this one is designed by Anni Downs. Complete is a lovely rusty wire hanger & pegs.


Wishing you all a Merry, Jolly, happy & Joyful Christmas!!

Thursday, December 19, 2013

Customer sampler/round robin quilt



Jacki was part of a round robin group making a quilt designed by 'Janz Designs' ( Janis & Ans) called 'French Connection'. See Kerry's I quilted last year here. Jacki had been collecting fat 1/8th bundles for sometime & thought that this would be a good project to use them up on.

Jacki likes loose quilting, nothing too dense. We used cotton batting & Madeira poly neon threads.
Before I share some of the blocks with you, check out the pieced backing! Jacki loves pieced backings, they sure make for a point of interest.


Some nice big plain blocks to play with my feather wreath stencils.
Because I like some continuity with the blocks on sampler quilts, I just had to add some more feathers.


More feathers anyone???



Thanks Jacki!!

I just wanted to share a cute freebie pattern with you.

I made this for a special friend, hung it on my wall just to look at it & love it so much, I stitched another to keep for myself!!
This is an Anni Downs freebie.( see here for the pattern) Anni's original is made with applique, but I fancied stitching mine. The first I stitched using Cottage Garden Thread, called 'Warratah' the second one I used one called 'Kangaroo Paw', both very similar in colouring. They only took one evening each to stitch. Then I used the fabric I got gifted from Lynette a couple of years back to finish these off. Then bought some lovely wire hangers from my fav quiltshop.

I am hoping to squeeze another customer quilt in before Christmas, as it is needed early next  year......'next year'.......doesn't that sound strange?
Here's hoping you are all well & NOT going crazy with the whole Christmas rush!

Thanks for stopping by.


Sunday, December 15, 2013

Sampler Quilt


Pretty in pink........that's what I would call this quilt. Leonie has been busy taking part in a modern block swap & piecing together the following quilt for her soon to be six year old daughter.


Leonie wanted cotton batting & custom quilting. A beautiful pieced backing (which I'm sorry, for some reason I didn't take a photo), a vintage sheet in the mix.


I did a mix of free motion 'bits n' bobs'...........you know the wiggles & squiggles! As well as some straight lines. Not to forget feathers!




You may remember I did a quilt for Cat earlier in the year, she too took part in the same block swap. See here for Cat's version.



But wait there is more............................................






Using mainly Madeira poly neon threads, there was a few hours stitching involved. Leonie is now on the job of binding.
Receiving a rather emotional thank you from Leonie was a lovely way to realise she was happy with the quilt.

Looky, looky what arrived in my mail box yesterday............................



 Back in May I pre ordered this book from Judi of Greenfairy Quilts. I knew it would be a goodie. Although I had a long wait for the book to arrive, it was worth it! And after all, don't they say all good things come to those who wait?
Judi, in my humble opinion does the most breath taking quilting,  truly a work of art. This book comes with a CD with printable patterns.

Friday, December 13, 2013

Chateau Hexagon




With some help from Lynette I managed to get my rather 'different' blocks together.
You will notice many of my blocks are reverse to the pattern, that's just me forgetting to reverse when I have done my back basting needle turn! Which usually doesn't matter, but in this case it did. I have a different layout to the pattern too.

I will leave you with the photo's.



 See how I stitched the tree roots over the driveway turn around................................
I wonder what the next two months will bring?

Monday, December 2, 2013

decorating for Christmas


It's that time of the year again, I'm sure it was only a few weeks ago that I put the Christmas stuff away!



I found these wee stocking in the box of decorations, I usually hang them on the tree, but this year I thought I would make a small garland alternating pinecones with the stockings.


Easy to do, I just screwed a screw in the top of each pinecone & tied on string. You could alternate with other decorations you already have, or empty spools of thread covered with Christmas fabric.
I guess you could paint the pinecones too, but I like the natural/rustic look of them just the way they are.



For no other reasons than I can & I thought it would be fun to hang my Christmas tree upside down!

Such fun finding my treasures, bits n' pieces handmade by friends, my children & myself. There is something special about Christmas quilts, is it because we have them out for a short time?

Has anyone else blogged about their Christmas decorating? Maybe you would like to take us for a tour of your home.







Wishing you all a peaceful lead up to Christmas, stress free, worry free & free laughs!




















Sunday, December 1, 2013

lengthy post, quilts & road trips




First up is a table square made by Stephanie for her mother for Christmas. I did a cable on the border with a scroll in the middle where the cable meets. Then an all over flower/ leaf/ tendril ensemble using Gunold variegated thread, over cotton batting. Happy Christmas to Stephanies Mum!


While on holiday in Alaska, Elizabeth bought the kit for this quilt from www.rushintailor.com to make for her 12 year old grandson.



I quilted a simple all over pattern in the middle using a Gunold variegated thread, then a repeat of straight lines on the black, then a wandering loop on the border, over cotton batting.
A photo of the back....................................


Next up is a wack n' stack by Elizabeth (different to the above). A decided all over 'Jumbo Stipple' seemed to work well, followed by some straight lines & an all over flower/ leaf/ tendril ensemble for the border this time. When I quilt for Elizabeth she likes me to use Bamboo batting.




Next a sample I stitched up for the shop. Designed by Gail pan, called 'Sampler in Blue', with that in mind I couldn't use red, could I??


I chose a Kim Deihl fabric for the border, then a Cottage Garden thread called 'Lyrebird Walk' for the stitchery. I filled the little pincushion with crushed walnut shell.

Lynette's Chateau Hexagon BOM is coming along slowly, I did finish month four.




Also I managed to finish a fabulous book, this book gets TOP marks from me! I loved it, hard to put down, but I didn't want it to end!


Amongst all of that I popped down to my nieces wedding, a lovely day.


On the way home I stopped in for a leg stretch at Puhoi & was delighted to find the little shop "The Trove"  open! Amanda the owner is lovely, the lovely building is filled with pretty things, both new & up cycled.



Next to the general store, Puhoi is my choice for a stop of point. Look you can even tether your horse up outside while you shop!




Thanks for hanging there with the long post.