books

Happy Easter everyblogreader! Are you sick of the sight of chocolate? Never!

I finished two books, the first is the kind you don't read. It is another block holder, from the same pattern as the two I made last weekend. A great pattern from the Sewing Essentials club .

I used Matilda's Own bag batting & a leftover panel from my sewing machine cover.

For the back of the block holder I 'up cycled' some abandoned blocks in my 'headache' box..........
If you have been following my blog for sometime you will remember this project!!!!
I decided to make this book a bit bigger than the last two, they were aprox 12" , this one is 17".
Look what I found to go in this book.................................

My blue & yellow Dresden's!!!! I love em!

Now for the other book I finished........................

"war correspondent Jenny King thinks she's just a temporary guest in her grandmother's Amish community while she recuperates from the devastating injuries sustained in a car bomb attack that changed her world. But when she meets Matthew Bontrager, the man she had a crush on as a teenager, she wonders if she can look past her emotional scars & bridge the gap between their different worlds."

Orca Bay upcycle!

This time last year I was loving the excitement of joining in on Bonnie Hunters yearly mystery ( my first ), Orca Bay.

Here is one of the photo's I took for the blog link up.
All was going well, until I started to put all these star blocks together with the string blocks....................

Blue string blocks

gold/orange string blocks, with our sweet Rosie

That's when I ended up with Ocean Waves, rather then Orca Bay. Talk about wavy!!!!!!
 This was the moment I threw the lot in the headache box! I had some advice to join in blocks, rather then in rows as Bonnie said. But by now my Mojo & excitement for the project was over!

Until a few months ago I had the idea to 'upcycle' the star blocks.

Tada!!.................................... Not bad aye? I have made this for one of my family members, fingers crossed it is liked.

The back has some lovely fabric with star blocks & I even used a star block in the label.

For the plain 6" blocks I used a new stencil, well part of the stencil, then I did orange peel on the background of the star blocks.

For the border I also used a new stencil, a celtic knot/ rope. I used a new thread too....'Glide' I also tried Miracle Chalk, which a friend lent me to try. I tested on a piece of the border fabric, it came out like a breeze. I quilted, went to iron off as instructed, it didn't come out of the needle holes!!! ARG.....slight panic ( note this stuff is very messy to work with ) I tried a damp cloth, I was reluctant to try again with the iron, as my thread is a polyester, I didn't want to melt it. I contacted Diana at Stitchworks who suggested I try a hair dryer or the brush attachment on my vacuum cleaner. YES!! that worked!!

A few more photo's.................

Artfully? rolled in the garden..........................................

I found a spot in the lounge to enjoy it until it goes to it's new owner.

I also finished another book......................

An eclectic bunch of people with a mixed up lot of problems come together at an Amish widows home to learn to quilt. Say that 10 times fast!!!!

Happy New Year to all, may all your hopes & dreams come true!

Quilter on holiday......................

I am back from a weeks holiday in Wellington, well Linden/Tawa. Stayed at a great place, a nice alternative to a motel. Ferntops  was a perfect home away from home, hubby was at a conference and I came prepared to sew the days away!

 This suitcase was full of projects to sew. I got three quilt tops made, only one was from scratch, the other two I had already made a start on. I took my box with 2.5" squares to join as a leader & ender project too.

First was the Christmas stitchery, I had all 16 stitcheries finished. This is a Gail Pan design called 'All Things Christmas' I have made this as a shop sample for The Country Yard which will be available as a kit soon.
Here is a close up of one of the blocks..................

Next....'Jellycake' by Anne Sommerlad from a Australian Country Craft magazine, VOL 21 NO 9 Fabric is 'Petite Odile' from French General. The quilt uses a jelly roll & a layer cake. This will be a present for one of my nieces.

 Last but not least...............

 This one is not quite finished as I want to put a sashing (maybe dark brown? ) then a border. This will be for one of my sisters. Now if you have been following my blog for time you might recognise the star blocks. They have been dusted off from my head ache box , or a more trendy way to say....'upcycled! Yup they were from Orca Bay   now they are living a new life.

Of course I see I have now created more work for myself as these will ALL need quilting!!!!!

I wished I had thought to bring my camera as we stayed & saw some great places, like Creel Lodge, Brown Sugar cafe a great little second hand shop in Taihape, where I bought an old ladder, I met a lovely lady that owns the quilt shop in Taihape called "The Quilted Gumboot'. Krazy Cow Quilts in Levin.

Orca Bay photo shoot.....................

can you spot the 'helper'?

So I'm all finished with step 7 of Bonnie Hunter's mystery I thought maybe the wood shed would be a nice spot for photo's, but the blocks seem to blend in.....so plan B

back to the Thyme as I had some time to make these blocks I thought it was a good spot..................

Mmmmmm can you spot the 'helper'?

Rose! She just can't help herself!

How can a cat go to sleep so fast?

I did all of step 7 ......only because my 'helper' didn't come into my studio!

Has anyone else had problems with these string/geese blocks being more elastic than the Ohio Stars? I am not having much fun putting the rows together.

Already there are lots of links ups here

My eldest daughter is turning 21 this week, this I what I made her.

The fabric is called "April in Paris"

 It is easier to see the quilting I did from the back.....sort of echoy paisley?

Here's a shot of the back....I hope she likes this. It was hard to know what to make when she hasn't spoken to me in a few years, but I felt compelled to make her a quilt.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year!
I'm sure this will be a great year for much sewing and completions of UFO, flimsy's etc.



I have enjoyed reading a couple of books in the last few weeks I thought I would share as if you haven't read them I sure you would enjoy.
My friend Raewyn lent me this book and it is a must read for all quilting chicks!.....Thanks Raewyn.

What a great read this was. Easy reading, relaxing, a trip down memory lane of previous Elm Creek books and I nearly cried a couple of times.

I am looking forward to the last chapter in the Orca Bay Bonnie Hunter mystery, in between working on that I have been working on something that I can only give you a sneaky peaky of..........more later!

part 6 of Orca Bay Mystery

Look what turned up in my vegetable garden.............................

All finished.....56 Ohio Stars....of course I had to actually finish part one!!! So now I feel double delight.
My wee 'orange friend ' from last time was nowhere to been seen, but I did find these marigolds in my wee vege patch and the pumpkin leaves work well for plates for my blocks don't you think?

This one is for you Rhonda , check out the square top right hand corner....same brown fabric you are using!! I used the same fabric on this table runner........

now for proof I did make all 56 blocks.....................................!

Now don't these wee sweeties go well with my blocks?

Wanna pop over with me to see what everyone else is doing......?

Thank you for taking the time to stop by my corner of the world :-)

Orca Bay Mystery part 5, Dresdens & some other ramblings.....

Here are ALL 350 units for part 5 of Bonnie's mystery!!
Bonnie said cut 700.....yes 700 triangles!! Gulp.....but I did it :-) I did all the cutting in one hit, hubby came into my studio with a cuppa and asked how I was going, i said "well I could do with more of a variety of browns" , he said " didn't already give you some of my shirts?" I said "yes this is the one here". He said I have another would you like it?".....................
Stop the press......I'm thinking a quilter could not ask for a better husband could they? Yes sweet I know, but when he showed me the shirt (pictured in one piece under my blocks) I said "no, it's too nice....but thank you so much".
So I did a bit of sewing here and there, but then yesterday hubby went to play a gig and the boys were content playing with their mates,  I got stuck in!
Turned up the volume on the ipod and listened to Tracy, Phil, Louis, Eva, Rod, Tom, James, Andrea, Kenny, Barbara and more!
So apart from still more to do on part one, I'm done, which is good as I'm going away from my machine for a bit, I will work on this while away................

  I started this well over a year ago, it is portable and a no rush thing.....................

Remember I went to this Christmas party? I had to make a gift, but silly me forgot to take a photo of what I made. Lyn ended up with my gift and kindly photographed it for me.

note to self...make one for me!

I hope you are all enjoying Bonnie's mystery, either just as a spectator or by joining in the sewing madness! For more wonderful blocks check out  what some others have been doing  , you can pop around the world all from the comfort of your computer chair!
I can not believe the amount of hits I have had to my blog since I started this fun mystery :-)


Merry Christmas to all, be happy, safe & well fed!

Orange Orca Bay Mystery

Well Orange, gold, burnt orange, terracota...you get the picture!
I was thinking what have I got that is orange to use to photograph my string blocks?...check out the photo's and see for yourself!

sideways!!1#@!%

I was wandering around the garden looking for something orange, not finding anything....someone 'helped' me!!
Thank you Rose....I knew there was a reason I left the papers on the back!
I did a good chunk of my blocks how Bonnie first said to do them ( trim to 5.5" square, then trim my triangles) Then I did the rest by simply cutting in half diagonally then trim up using my special ruler .

Please check out what others are doing with their mystery, here..........

If I was doing red blocks like many I could have photographed my blocks with my red Hollyhocks......

Need some Christmas spirit.....? Please go to Leeann's blog for a funny Christmas video and to see her lovely red sting blocks, Leeann is from Northland New Zealand like me!