Monday, June 30, 2014

babies & friends


Quilts for babies are always nice, do you agree? Made with so much love & thought of a wee soul about to take on the world.


Jenny has made this pretty quilt for friends having a baby girl................well so the story was going. A pattern by Country Quilter called "Bear Hugs", measuring 40" x 54". The purchased kit is made up from Bali fabric, then posted off to me ASAP. But, yes there are buts occasionally (not 'butts' people, this is a family show!) So the but was, the friends had a boy! So guess what Jenny is feverishly doing now? Yes indeed, making a boy quilt! I guess this one can be popped away for when a girl quilt is needed.


The sample was quilted with an all over design, I figured I could do something a bit more pleasing to the applique & piecing.
Down to business : Cross hatching, loops, stipple, funky hearts & of course ditch stitching using a Gunold variegated thread in soft peach, mauve, yellow & teal/blue over poly batting. Jenny likes me to make & attach the binding all ready for her to sit & hand stitch in place.




That's the back.
My next quilt features cats, lots of cats! I have nearly finished, but the maker is overseas, so I will have to wait to share with you.
Next is a present I made for my friend Julie as she has had a birthday. The stitchery pattern is from Honeypunkins.


                    Stitched with Aurifil 12wt thread, a rusty hanger & a couple of wooden pegs.

Sunday, June 29, 2014

We are in the grey




First up to share is Jill's fun Hexagon quilt. Jill had very clear idea's about how she wanted this quilt quilted. Made for a friend in Canada, Jill wanted the iconic Maple leaf quilted on the tone-on-tone hexagon's, then we both decided to just keep the straight lines on the rest of the hexagon's, too many designs would make an already reasonably busy quilt, well too busy.


Straight lines & lots of ditch stitching, using Madeira poly neon threads over wool/poly batting.


For the pieced border I ditch stitched & quilted some stipple & more straight lines to keep that continuity. Thank you Jill, I hope your special friend loves her quilt.



Next a quilt designed by Emily Cier from a book compiled by Susanne Woods in the form of a book called "Modern Blocks".


 Kerryn made this quilt at retreat for her daughter to snuggle under. With a minky blanket for the backing I am sure she will snuggle under it! It did cause me a few problems as the minky blanket had quite a stretch in one direction. Anyhow you can see I quilted 'very organic' straight lines on the grey, as well as crossing over in random places & a mix of quilting designs on the feature fabrics, pebbles, paisley, a boxy maze & stipple.



Here you go you back lovers! I remembered to take a shot or two of the back.



Time to end this post as I have more to show you but can't, I have a few gifts I have made plus two more customer quilts, but I will have to wait & so will you!!
The following is worth contemplation, don't you think??


Until next time friends & 'stalkers', take care & keep your home fires burning by making something pretty.


Tuesday, June 24, 2014

Help







Anyone out there having the same problem as me? All I can see on my blog roll on my dashboard is one blog post from one blog I follow? Usually there are all listings of any posts you pretties have made.
I sure hope someone can help me.


Friday, June 20, 2014

lucky me!


Another birthday came my way last week, I didn't do anything outstanding, just mooched about at home, drinking coffee & stitching. But what was outstanding was my birthday presents! Let me have a wee show & tell with you.


My friend Megan in the south made this lovely felted wool cover for this antique spool & put the nice scissors with them. She also sent me some some lovely wooden house buttons that she bought from House on the Hill along with instructions on how to paint my 'winter' house garland. Painting is not something I am very confident with, but I did have fun & they turned out pretty good. . . . . . . . . . so I thought!



            Next, (this is a photo heavy post, so hang in there, or leave my blog now!)



Look at this awesome pin keep! Beautiful felted wool bird to keep my pins safe. Barbara made a lovely job of this. I like the fact that the bird has two sides, so I can turn the bird to what colour I fancy. I understand this pattern came from a Primitive Quilts magazine.


Thank you to my friend Julie for making this beautiful Winter angel doll. Gosh I was so amazed by her! Julie put a note on the parcel that this doll was made for her winter loving friend. That I am, I love winter, strange some folks think, but I like the fire going, soup cooking & just cuddling up under quilts.



I have several of Julie's handmade dolls & I love each one of them. I like this angels tea dyed linen dress & berry wreath halo.


Raewyn made me this cute wall hanging, with the sweetest twisted wire hanger. Wool felt flowers, Yoyo's & buttons, thanks so much! I have hung this from a stack of old suitcases, for now.

I have shared with you my handmade presents, because aren't they just lovely? But I did get many other beautiful presents too. A lovely antique looking sewing box, hand cream, marsh mellows in a sweet dish, a scarf, soap, a novel, jam and some pretty cards.
I feel very lucky indeed by the generosity & thoughtfulness of my friends. Hugs to each of you.

When I had my visit with Julie a couple of weeks ago apart from Opshopping, we made a primitive looking string jar each from old Agee jars.


Julie took me to a wonderful scrapbooking shop in Hamilton, called Paperzone. They had some lovely papers, but what I liked best was the charms, have a look at the antique looking key I attached to the luggage tag.


We stamped & glued & cut bits n' bobs up & generally made a mess! Something a bit different for me, it's nice to try new things. I understand Julie will make these to sell in her shop.
 I tried crocheting with some friends the other evening, but I have nothing to show you, lets just say for now I have two many thumbs to take on crocheting! One day.

Wishing you all a happy weekend, winter or summer, wherever you are in the world.


Tuesday, June 17, 2014

quilting.............................



                                 Hi there readers! I hope your week is off to a magic start.

 Sharing with you today, two customer quilts.


Patsy has made this humongous quilt for her granddaughters 21st. Measuring 99" x 99", with her choice of  poly batting and  featuring many interesting blocks, including sampler type blocks.

 
Because of budget & time constraints I quilted basic custom designs. I would have liked to have quilted many more ditches to give a more defined, crisp look, but that wasn't to be this time. There is a fair amount of stippling & allover designs on individual blocks, with some blocks needing a bit of 'bling',  some fancier custom quilting was just the thing.



Patsy personalised this quilt with photo's of the recipients family. There are a couple of doilies added as well.
For the middle block Patsy embroidered a lovely saying, which reads. . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . . .

"Families are like quilts
lives pieced together
Stitched with smiles and tears
coloured with memories and 
bound by love."


Next up was a mystery Christmas stitchery from The Country Yard. A unique design exclusive to the shop. The nine stitchery designs are from Fig & Berry, but our own special setting with some beautiful fabrics.


Measuring 49" square with cotton batting, I used mainly Madeira poly neon threads. This quilt had the full 'Quiltme' service..............quilt, make & attach binding & hand stitch binding in place.


The stitcheries were done using three different Cottage Garden threads & one Aurifil thread. Each block is framed with a peeper of green.
 I quilted a cable on the border, some whimsical orange peel on the squares & rectangles, as well as some straight line stitching.





I rather liked this fabric that has an antique postcard look to it, this fabric was saved just for the pieced border.
Ok you back lovers here it is!...........................................



Thanks for stopping by & visiting with me, take care & happy creating. leaving you with a smile!


Friday, June 13, 2014

The week as it was.......................................


They say time fly's, it sure does, some weeks just rocket by & you wonder, 'now what did I do this week'? Well last Thursday I went to visit with my aging parents. Mum's not too good, so I think it's best to try & make time to see more of her. I took the bag I had made her, see earlier post here. She loved it! With that done off we went for a long leisurely lunch, followed by afternoon tea at a lovely country cafe.


After an evening at my Brother & sister - in - laws I headed to Julie's place for a couple of days.
Julie & I both love the thrill of Opshopping. "One mans trash is our treasure!" Only problem with Opshopping with someone who likes the same things as you, it is only a matter of time before fights break out! I won some fights & sadly Julie won some!! Haha, seriously though, checkout the loot in Julie's car boot at the end of the day!


Also at Julie's are birds & kittens, I was tempted to bring a kitten or two home with me. Julie's husband reckoned they are a complimentary gift when you stay with them. I'm pleased I didn't crack & the 'MR' didn't get his way!



There are nine of these ring neck doves that visit Julie's also, they aren't hers, nor are the kittens, but when you see what you get fed at Julie's, it's no wonder we all keep coming back!


In the middle of our Opshopping spree we stopped to re-fuel at a lovely garden centre/cafe/gift shop. This gift shop called 'Humble' is awesome! The most wonderful up- cycled furniture & knick knacks. But checkout the colourful welcome of the building!



I loved this window frame on the fence with the tea cups.
To see more on the cats, please see Julie's post over here.
Another highlight of my visit was to the Hamilton Museum to see the Rosemary McCloud vintage linen display. What a total buzz! When I saw Julie's post about the exhibition I did think 'oh that's nice, but not really my cup of tea'........was I wrong! I loved it! I was disappointed  we couldn't take photo's. (Julie has got a couple of sneaky photo's on her blog). I hope this travelling display comes north, so I can see it again.

Whenever I visit Julie (who has a wonderful rustic cottage where she sells her beautiful handmade goodies) she says to me' you know you don't have to buy anything'. I tell her I won't when she starts making ugly things!! I couldn't resist buying this lovely pin keep.



I did actually do some work while I was away, I hand stitched the binding down on this customer quilt.


Jacki made this last year at a speedy scrap class at The Country Yard. A fun class, where the ladies had to sew as many of each block in a given time frame. Jacki chose Kiwiana fabric. She asked for 'organic' cross hatching through the middle, then something to jazz up the black Koru border.



Jacki's backings are never dull or ordinary, she always goes the extra mile & pieces master pieces!
Tada, the back!


Talk about a double sided quilt.



Thanks for hanging in there with the long list of photo's. Also thanks for the wonderful comments & questions you leave. Until next time & there will be a next time very soon, take care.