Personal best

I have finished the baby quilt I started last week. It would have to be a personal best for me......eight days from purchase to quilted and binding on. It was fun to make, and the perle quilting was quick to do. I had my doubts about the fabric choice, but I quite like it now that it's finished.

Sunday saw me on the road to Cassilis for a long overdue catch up. Spending the day with these lovely, funny, creative women really is fantastic......wish I could do it more often. Here we are having a celebratory drink for Raelee's birthday. Me, Kylie, the birthday girl Raelee and Lea.

I didn't take any photos of what we were working on, but I did have some accessory envy with this cute reel holder Lea made for Raelee.

I have too many slow projects on the go lately. Whilst I find them very satisfying to work on it can get a bit frustrating. So what do I do? Go and buy another slow project.....I must be mad! I finished the second Quaker Samplings cross stitch in blue a while back. I just love the sampler style so now Scarlet Ribands has arrived and is waiting to come to life in Ruby Slipper thread.....great name for the thread don't you think? The stitched area is 20" x 21" so I think this will keep me going for quite some time! I ordered the linens and thread over the phone from The Crewel Gobelin and I have to say their service is excellent, it's not easy to discuss shades of linen for a big project over the phone. I phoned Thursday and it was in my mailbox Friday!

Happy stitching.

Susan x

Weekend sewing

Well I did get a short visit to Pot Pourri Cottage on the weekend......for about ten minutes! Long enough to choose some fabric for a baby quilt......not the kind of baby quilt I would make for myself, but more modern tones for a friend at work. Light blue Tilda stars and a plain spot for chevrons, with something brighter on the back. It's very difficult to get the colour in a photograph, it's not brown and the stars are light blue. Sue at the patchwork shop assured me my choice was ok and very suitable for a modern young mum. I hope it will turn out ok.....to be honest I'm not 100% committed, as not everyone likes handmade. I have actually made the top and basted it together this week but I want to add some quilting before I show you.

We checked out the new ANZAC walk in Newcastle, it was raining and blustery, but still fun. A great addition to the foreshore.

I just had to take a pic of this little sign I saw when I was buying coffee and cake.......it explains everything!

Time to stop blogging and rush through the housework so I can do some sewing on my day off. Fast forward nine hours, and now that I have internet again I'll do my post!

Happy stitching,

Susan x

A new mini

Irish Circles has had to wait this week, because this little hexie mini just wanted to be finished. I think I say this with every finish, but this one is my favourite! 

I wasn't too sure where I was going when I started, but I love where it has ended. Wish I had enough Antique Fair to make a large scale one, as the fabrics really appeal to me. I was inspired by a mini I saw at Pot Pourri Cottage in Newcastle last year, although it was made with 1/4" hexies, and this one uses 3/8" hexies.........such a huge difference :)  It measures 15 1/2" square. I am hoping my men let me drop into Pot Pourri Cottage when we are in Newcastle this weekend for the football.

Now that I've discovered I can knit in the car I'm hoping to get a lot of my next cowl done on the way over. I definitely need more cowls and more quilts in this cold winter weather we're having. We have no snow on the ground but I did catch some snowflakes at 5.30am this morning (hubby kindly woke me up to see it since I've never been in the snow).

Have a great weekend.

Susan x

Not quite snowing

It's a bit chilly here this morning. Not snowing at our place but it is nearby, so no better excuse for stitching the day away. I have started off with working out the border quilting design for my hexie mini. I was planning on straight lines but the sides are not the same so I got a bit more creative.

I've also ironed a couple of DJ blocks finished from a while ago. Will I keep going with DJ or work with what I've done? I just don't know. Do you like my fancy new ironing board cover behind them?

I must admit to feeling a little overwhelmed by just how much quilting there is yet to do on Irish Circles. I always feel like this at the start of a big quilting project.....wondering what I was thinking. The back is also very pretty, although the stitches are a little hard to see here. 

Some of you have asked what needles I use for hand quilting. I've always used Piecemakers Betweens size 10, and Gutermann quilting thread. I have four shades of cream which pretty much cover all situations. I'm sure there are plenty of other options out there but these have worked for me for twenty years now. For wadding I use Matilda's own poly/wool, wool or cotton..........depends on what I can get at the time. My first ever quilt was made with 100% polyester, enough said. In my mini's I use iron on parlan, or Vliseline 630, depending on what size pieces I have lying around. And I just use my beloved 14" round wooden hoop, which was such a huge investment at the beginning of my patchwork journey. 

Happy Sunday stitching. 

Susan x

Quilting and knitting

The only problem with a large quilt is all my blog posts will just be more photos of more hand quilting. Irish Circles is moving along nicely. Radiating lines behind the centre block, and a small fan design for the corners of circle blocks. It's a big, heavy quilt to maneuver on my lap but certainly keeping me warm on these cold winter nights.

It took me a while to decide on the quilting. I may still go back and put more radiating lines in between the existing ones. But I'm happy with the quilted fan, it will make a nice circle where four blocks meet. This is how it looks when I'm trying to come up with a quilting idea.

I have gone back and finished my grey knitted cowl, and I love this one too. The grey goes with everything and the seed stitch pattern appeals to my sense of order. It's a free pattern here. The sewn cast off edge is new to me, and makes a beautiful finished edge.

Mr 16 is taking me driving to Rylstone tomorrow.......he thinks he is making up driving hours.......I know I'm going to check out a new artisan wool shop called Convent and Chapel.

It's certainly good weather for being inside sewing and quilting. It was minus 2 when we took our poor frozen dog for a walk this morning, and yet it was a wonderful, brisk start to the day. And now I don't feel so guilty about apple pie for afternoon tea!

Happy Saturday!

Susan x