My bag has had a baby

You all know how much I love my hexie bag........well it has had a baby. I couldn't bear to part with the little scraps so made some more 1/2" hexies and sewed them together a few at a time over the last couple of months. It's one of the most endearing qualities of little hexagons, that you can just sew a few together here and there, and before long you have a big piece of "hexie fabric". So they have been sitting like this for a while, waiting for the lining and some machine sewing to be done.

I used the pattern from Anni Downs Bits and Pieces purse, and it took no time at all to sew it up. I always find it challenging to sew on the purse frame, but I used Marina's trusty method, and I'm finding that it's getting easier every time.

I always put this little rabbit on my quilt labels....I thought he would be cute inside my purse too.

Lovely, gentle rain today........

Susan x

Floral Beauty

It's finished! I was going great with the quilting on Floral Beauty until the weather turned so terribly hot. Now that Autumn has arrived I've been able to finish the last little bit of quilting and do the binding. It's a bit windy today so not the best photos, but I just couldn't wait!

I really loved every step of making this quilt. So much satisfying needleturn, and it was a great exercise for me in the use of scraps and a bit more colour.

Next in the quilting hoop is The Simple Life.

Happy stitching.
Susan x

I'm back

Thank you everyone for your good wishes for our anniversary. We had a lovely time in Sydney, indulged in too much good food and wine, and just enjoyed being together. We spent quite a lot of time enjoying this gorgeous view from our hotel, and the comings and goings on the harbour.

I did take some sewing but didn't do a stitch while I was away. I did however, get to visit two of my favourite patchwork shops. First up was Post Office Patchwork at Glenbrook. I chose a brown stripe for the border of my little orange peels, and some other little pieces that caught my eye. And some utterly adorable little 1" diamonds.

I rarely buy more than a fq of most fabrics, one of the benefits of making scrappy quilts I guess.

On the way home yesterday, I made up for missing GDITC with a visit to Quiltsmith. As usual, the staff were so helpful and obliging. Two lovely ladies helped me choose some fabrics for my nieces quilt. Inspiration came from the talented Ros at Bloom and the beautiful quilt she made for her daughter. Very unusual choices for me, but I think (hope) it will turn out ok. Not a very good photo of the white.....so much thought goes into which shade of white to use!

And some shirtings.....I love shirtings! I was very tempted to buy the pattern for The Unknown Quilt too, I even had it in my hand, but I put it back for another day.

So back to family life today, and definitely some stitching before the day is over.

Susan x

Twenty years ago today........

Today is our 20th wedding anniversary. What a marvellous roller coaster ride it has been, and the fun isn't over yet.

Thank you for being such a wonderful husband, and the best Dad to our boys.

I should probably also mention how tolerant he has been for twenty years of pins in the carpet, threads on clothes, and bits of quilts and sewing scattered around. And to prove my love, I'm in Sydney with him instead of on retreat at GDITC with the girls!

Happily married.
X

FNWF

Oops....I signed up and forgot to do a post last night.

I was completely side tracked with a knitting project. Now I am really not a very good knitter, and not very fast either. But I finished this in one night.......it's a Penguin Pullover! It's a charity pattern for penguin rehabilitation at Phillip Island. I'm only doing one for now, got that little bit of knitting out of my system!

Here it is being modeled by a toy dugong, I didn't have any penguins on hand. But as you can see in the second pic, they do look very cute on the penguins.

Have a great weekend, hope you find some time to stitch.

Susan x

Orange peels

I have finished all my little orange peel blocks. Now to choose the borders. I was inspired by a quilt called Remembering Adelia by Kathleen at Sentimental Quilter. The original is bigger than mine, and has a lovely striped border. So far it is 9" square, so needs a 1.5" border and corner blocks. Very cute but very time consuming too!

Some lovely blue fabrics arrived today, just what I need for my Irish Circles. The Vintage Sampler club from Carolyn's Quilting Room is great value, and perfect for adding some variety to my stash.

We have entered a new stage of life today. My eldest son passed his P's test and can now drive off without me. A whole new world of adventures for him (and some new worries for me). Congratulations!

Happy stitching.

Susan x

Feeling blue.....

More Irish Circles.......this time with some blue. I am further along with this one than I thought, 19 of 40 blocks done.

We have had two birthdays in the family this week, I now have a Mr 17 and a Mr 15. I rather enjoyed making this cake for Mr 15 today. If you're a fan of The Big Bang you'll know what it means.

Very happy to welcome Autumn today, with rain and much cooler weather. I will definitely be spending some time stitching today.

Happy Autumn.

Susan x