Sunday, April 27, 2014

cake




Sometimes the best start me up to the day, is cake & coffee. When I am in the mood I quite fancy whipping up a cake, of course the eating is always the best bit. Thanks to Ms Lottie I decided to try my hand at her Ginger Crunch cake. Really easy to make, which for me is a must as I am not one of those women who is at ease in the kitchen, I often have episodes of disasters! Resulting in me wishing I was married to a chef.
Out on the deck is a nice spot to sit & enjoy a cake that did end up in the tin rather than out to the birds.


Someone else thinks its a nice spot too, sun, quilts & cats all go together like butter & sugar.
The simple things in life.............................................


                                         Wishing you a cake & sunshine kind of day.

Friday, April 25, 2014

quilting, Christmas, fungi & doll making................................



Hi there bloggers!
I have a real mixed bag to share today.

 Three quilts to share with you today, all three customers wanted fairly simple quilting with some all over quilting with a dash of custom.


First up is Liz's squares in squares quilt. The fabrics all have a 'Sashiko' look. Liz asked for an all over pattern in the middle then something for the border. I chose my 'horse hoof' design, which is my take on the traditional Baptist Fan, see here  for my description.



Madeira poly neon threads over cotton/bamboo batting. I am enjoying the square ended feathers when a suitable quilt passes my way. This quilt measures 72 " x 72".


Next up is Norma's four patch autumn quilt. Made for her son living in Australia. Once again another for an all over design, this time a jumbo stipple, then some twist stitching on the first border, followed by simple straight lines on the final border.


Using a combination of a variegated Auriful thread & Madeira poly neon over a rather high loft poly batting that Norma was taken with. Norma was on a tight time frame, so she asked for the 'full Quiltme' treatment............AKA, quilt, make & attach binding & hand stitch in place. Quilt measures: 50" x 74".



Last but not least is Anne's creation, made especially for her two year old granddaughter. Simple quilting again with a dash of feathers to jazz up the border.


Using a Madeira variegated thread for the stipple in the block, bobbin fill for the ditch work & another Madeira poly neon for the feathered border, over cotton batting. Quilt measures 53" x 74".
Wishing I had thought to take a photo of the beautiful bunting Anne had made to go with this quilt!

Now for the 'Christmas', 'fungi' & doll making:

I finished another item for my gift box the other day, a Christmas goodie bag.



Primitive style is to my liking, loving Cottage Garden threads, this one is 'Kangaroo Paw". I raided my Lynette Anderson Christmas fabrics for the lining & backing of this wee bag. Who else finds it hard to cut up coveted fabric?? Geeze.....................I DO!! But when you have so much, why not use it? After all isn't that why we bought it in the first place, to cut up into small pieces, stitched together to make big again! Thank goodness I have the ability to laugh at myself!!


A wander around the garden on splendid days can lead to wonderful discoveries....................like this little town popping up on our lawn, they grow with speed & seem so happy, it seems a shame that when I mow the lawn the wee town will be destroyed.


Over a couple of weekends I have made 'Francesca'. The doll design is by Chris Rook of Raggedy - Ole - Britches. Chris calls her doll 'Lizzie".
 My sweet pal Julie was my guiding light, both in inspiration & help! If you haven't checked out Julie's blog it is 'A must look at' site! Positively oozing with eye candy.


I bought a 000 baby cardigan from an OpShop gave it a couple dashes with vinegar & Parisian essence to create the prim/aged look, as did the calico for her body & pantaloons..............which incidentally Francesca asked me to please not degrade her with a photo of her in her underwear!
Julie was not kidding me when she said sculpting her hands & feet is tough going! Gee whizzikers she was not fooling me!




With snap domes for eyes & thick wool hair (that is pasted with PVA is to make the hair stiff) & a key tied to her cardi she has stolen my heart..........I just love her! Thanks again Julie.

Saturday, April 19, 2014

It's Easter!



Pinterest
                       Happy Easter everyone!

I have a couple of pretty quilts to share with you that are soft pastel colours that make me think Easter for some reason. Cat made both quilts as gifts for friends........lucky friends!
Cat likes my cotton batting, so this was used in both quilts.


I thought this one was appropriate for Easter. Sadly the colours are much prettier than what is showing here, mind you it was an overcast  day when I took this photo. Measuring : 53" x 66".


Cat has been keen to use up scraps, her scraps are taking over........do you have the same problem? They seem to multiply!
Cat chose straight lines for this one, which works well, this quilt will stand years of cuddles.


Next is another great one for using up the scraps too.


I continued the theme of straight lines on the heart, then I quilted some large curling ribbon. This one measures 45" x 52".


Cat used a vintage sheet for the backing & some of the blue fabrics where also vintage sheets.......she must go on some OpShop jaunts like me!


That's it for the quilt front for a few days. If you fancy hanging around I will happily share something I have been playing with, plus a sweet gift from a friend.


On one of my jaunts to our 'LOSP" (local OpShop) I found a 70's china cabinet for the grand total of forty dollars. It was in great condition, just needed bringing into the now! I pulled out the fabric speaker in the lower left hand corner & all the wires & old carpet, gave it a good clean, then set to work. I tried my hand at decoupage in the back part of the shelves where the glass sliding doors go. Hubby gave me some very old sheet music, plus I glued some vintage sewing paraphernalia papers, courtesy of the internet & some old lace etc then several coats of clear polyurethane.


I should have taken photo's before I dragged it in from the shed & put all my china in it, but I was so excited.
A few test pots of paint, masking tape, some old handles & even one of Mum's old Sylko wooden spools!


My next sharing is a gift from a friend that really surprised me! Such a sweet gift. There were Easter eggs in the bag, but someone ate them!!!!!!?????


The pattern was one of Bronwyn Hayes from Red Brolly .


I can tell you, I wasn't the only one to get one of these sweet bags......................thank you so much Aurely!

Wishing you all a Happy restful holiday.

Pinterest


Wednesday, April 16, 2014

The birds are here!



I have just received an email from Juliet who lives in the South Island to say she received her quilt today........amazing, as I only posted this off on Monday!
Not only has Juliet made this quilt, be she designed it! Isn't she clever! When Juliet saw I had quilted her designs for another one of my customers (who, is of course one of her customers!) she decided to send her quilt top to me to quilt. Thank you Juliet.



Juliet designs paper piecing patterns & sells her creations on Craftsy, see here. Juliet wanted feathers, which seem perfectly logical because there are all those birds! I suggested adding some swirls, which look a bit like koru's. I threw in some 'pebbling' which in this nature setting looks like berries for the birds to eat.


Juliet didn't really fancy stippling, so I suggested, a vine of leaves, flowers & loops for the background of each bird block. Gunold & madeira threads were used over cotton/bamboo batting.


Of course there is lots of ditch stitching, which I feel adds something important. Don't you think this really helps make the piecing 'pop'.


What fun I had quilting these feathers, they just took on a life of their own! They flowed here, there & just added lovely texture.


Funny how the photo's show the tealy/jade background fabric up as different in each photo.


That one is for you back lovin' gals, the next is for the nature lovin' gals.......well it sure seemed nice laying on my lawn, with soft shadow from the silk tree. A quick photo before the real birds left a lasting mark!! :-)


Enjoy Juliet!

Speaking of Craftsy, my Long arm quilting pal in America also designs patterns & sells on Craftsy, as well as lovely quilting! Please pop over here to see her wonderful stitchery designs!

Sunday, April 13, 2014

sharing........................



Just a quick post, I saw this video on Youtube, thought is was great! Happy Sharing Sunday to you!


Friday, April 11, 2014

"A Little Bit Country"



Hi there readers, remember back here I gave you a sneak peek? The maker & owner of this beautiful quilt now has her quilt back from me, which means no more sneak peek for you.


Pam started off with Libby Richardson's patterns called "A Little Bit Country", then set about choosing fabrics, didn't she do a fabulous job!
Pam said please no heavy quilting, but had seen my orange peel & feathers on some of the quilts I have quilted at The Country Yard & quite fancied those designs for her quilt.


Pam does out of this world stitching, her Holly hocks, Wisteria & daisies are so spectacular. I love the touches of laces too. Pam gave me a poly batting which was quite lofty, but looks good. There was plenty of ditch stitching to do in the quilt, around all the pieces of applique.....................did I tell you there was heaps of ditch stitching? Ok, so I did. Pam didn't want any other quilting on the applique blocks.




See the Wisteria?????? Those babies are hundreds of french knots!




Lucky for me my customers like feathers! See the RicRac used as fret work on the roof?



This one is for the back lovers.
The sneak peek I gave you the other day is now a finished quilt &  off to the South Island in the safe hands of the posties, when it arrives with the owner I will blog about that lovely quilt too.

Wishing you a big thank you for stopping by, it is always nice to hear from you.