More quilting to do

Mr 17 and I took a little overnight trip to Sydney for some shopping and adventure. He very kindly let me drop in at Quiltsmith to buy the backing for my nieces quilt.

The colours in this quilt are right out of my comfort zone. I am having some real doubts about it, but her mum seems to think the colours are good, so I'll go with that. I went with a safer small print for the backing. I'll be quilting with white perle in the white areas, with a December deadline for her 18th. It's really hard making a gift quilt for a non quilter without their input, this may well be the last time I do it.

My DJ block keeper from the last post is working far too well........so well that I haven't sewn a single stitch of DJ since I made the block keeper. I have a few days off for school holidays this week so I'd better rectify that situation!

What I have been doing is fueling my renewed interest in cross stitch with some more small projects. I am thinking about starting something larger..........probably in red or indigo.

It's another beautiful Spring day here, so once again I am faced with the dilemma of gardening or sewing.......decisions, decisions.

Susan x

Some random sewing and Christmas is coming

I had a random burst of creativity yesterday afternoon and made myself a small block keeper for my DJ blocks in progress. I had been carrying the pieces around in a little tin, but some of them are becoming like little jigsaw puzzles. I have a beautiful large block keeper made by Teresa, and now I have a small one too!

It was a simple project, I pretty much picked out two favourite fabrics and sewed them together with some off cuts of light weight batting in between. Raelee inspired me to look through my pile of "finished but not finished off" stitcheries, and this one suited perfectly. It measures about 7 1/2" square.

I can honestly say I haven't given Christmas a thought beyond booking a place to stay with my in-laws at the beach. Not a Christmas stitch has been sewn, but that may be about to change......because the wonderful Chookyblue is running her Secret Santa Christmas swap again this year. It just wouldn't be Christmas without this swap to take part in, so a big thankyou to Chooky for organising us all.

I'm heading off to the Mudgee Farmers Market with Mr 13 this morning, and hoping for an afternoon of sewing (or napping) in the sunshine. Enjoy your weekend too.

Susan x

Nifty idea

I have a big older style light box that takes up to A3 size. I wanted to trace some small patterns today, which started me thinking about a new light pad. Then I wondered if there was an app for iPad. And guess what, there is! (Light table for iPad).

Since my iPad goes almost everywhere I do, I'll always have a light box with me now. It's not quite as bright as the light box but certainly works for smaller projects. It was easy to slip between pages too.

Hope you're having a great week.

Susan x

Irish Circles

My sewing this week has been all about sewing my Irish Circles blocks together and getting the first border on. The next border has lots of lovely appliqué. I've prepped the first side, so that should keep me busy for a while.

No progress on DJ this week, but thanks for all your comments about my blocks so far. Especially the ones that suggest I add my sashing pieces as I go, so it isn't such a big job at the end.....great idea.

I'm off to plant out a lot of little ground cover plants on a bare embankment. Between the kangaroos, chickens and weeds I'm not sure how much success I'll have, but it's certainly a beautiful day for gardening.

Susan x

Tidying up

I have some patterns that I won't use again, and hope that someone else might enjoy them. There is a full set of Lynnette Anderson's In Full Bloom, and Anni Downs In My Garden.

And some more from Anni......My Heart, My home; The Festive season(sold); Seed Pots; Birdsong Jewellery box (sold);; and chicken Run.

I'm happy to negotiate in fat quarters. Let me know if you're interested.

Susan x

FNWF.....but not on Friday

I linked up for FNWF and remembered five minutes later that I was going out. I do sew most nights so I'll show you what I've been working on this week. It's Dear Jane. These are the blocks I've done so far.....

What do you think? I'm enjoying sewing them, but I don't like thinking about adding the small sashing strips......or quilting it at the end. Do all the shades of red look ok, or does it look like I can't make up my mind?

While I think about it I'll keep sewing them as my portable project, and start sewing these Irish Circles blocks together at home.

Some happy stitching news. Our local sewing shop closed in June but reopened yesterday with new owners. It has a lot of the old stock though, so it remains to be seen what fabrics and products they get in. At least I can get the basics, like the dmc and template plastic I needed today.

After a late night last night and work this morning, it's come down to a choice between sewing and a nap this afternoon.....or maybe both.

Susan x