Ta da

Time for a big finish today. I have been working really, really hard on getting the hand quilting finished on Irish Circles. And here she is, all 88" square of her. Completely hand sewn and quilted except for the binding. For the first time I even remembered to add a hanging sleeve!

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I started Irish Circles in July 2013, so it's been almost three years in the making. I loved making all the blocks, and especially the centre circle. The borders not so much, but I think that's because they were sooooo long, nothing to do with the pattern. The pattern is by Karen Cunningham,t's not for the faint hearted but achieveable with determination.

So for now I will give my poor fingers a rest and return to working on my own quilt design (which really needs a name) and my poor neglected cross stitch.

I'm a very happy quilter today!

Susan x

Back to it

I have given myself a stern talking to and have decided to do a little bit of hand quilting first whenever I sit down to sew. I don't want to wait for next winter to finish Irish Circles, and working on borders isn't too hot in summer. So here it is, the beginning of the second last border. I'm unsure if it needs a bit more quilting........will reassess when I finish the border.

We are in the peak of our pre Christmas festivities this weekend, oh how I wish I could spread them evenly though the year. Not a lot of spare time for blogging at the moment, but I have been visiting, just not leaving many comments.

My partner in the SSCS has received her parcel, and I am waiting "patiently" for mine. I thought it had come yesterday but it was my December fabric club from Cherry Pie Designs. Not disappointed with this gorgeous selection!

You may recall the little daschunds I made last month, well they were a test run for a Christmas gift for my son's girlfriend. Introducing Jam Roll.......I am looking forward to gifting this fellow.

Enjoy the weekend,

Susan x

Irish Circles and celebrations

Another busy week, the year is just flying by. I took heed of everyone's advice and have been very dedicated with my quilting this week. I have finished quilting the centre blocks of Irish Circles. 

I decided that the corner blocks were a bit plain and needed some cross hatching. I haven't done it before but I'm happy with how it filled the white space. So now I have to go back and finish the other three corners.

Tomorrow is my eldest sons last day at high school before the exams start in October. Amidst the celebrations we received the very exciting news that he has been offered a place in his preferred course at Macquarie University for next year. We are so proud of him. It's a crazy time, I'm laughing and crying, and feeling rather emotional (not easy in a house full of males!). Gee I'm going to need a really BIG project when he leaves home next February.

I'm off to race through a bit of housework so I can get some stitching therapy happening.

Susan x

FNWF

I'm joining up with FNWF tomorrow night. Whilst I stitch most nights, it's nice to have a virtual stitch-in with friends. I expect it will be an evening of hand quilting. I am so happy with how my corner quarters look when they are quilted into a circle on Irish Circles.

Taking a trip to Bathurst tomorrow so there could be a little bit of shopping at Hatched & Patched........

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

I am in love

After a marathon effort for FNWF (which ran quite a long way into Saturday), I finished the final border of my Irish Circles. And I love it. I am so looking forward to some cooler quilting weather so I can make a start on the hand quilting.

A quick photo on the grass as it was just starting to rain.

So now I only have my DJ to work on. Only one top in progress...........yes I do feel a bit anxious about that. I don't even have a new quilt in mind. Of course there is cross stitch and some other small projects to work on, but still, I need a new quilt project too. So I'm looking out for something with lots of applique and not too much piecing, another epic long term project.

It's a beautiful rainy Sunday here, perfect for sewing.

Susan x

Welcome 2015 and a distraction

It's a new year of sewing, but not so many new projects. I am determined to finish my Irish Circles borders soon. Two sides are on. I'm going to rework the corner blocks, some more applique I think.

However, as it so often happens, when I was looking for the border triangles I unearthed another little project.

The pattern and felt were still in the shopping bag from who knows how long ago. I'll reveal more in a couple of days.
This afternoon I am being wild and spontaneous and driving 3.5 hours for a bbq tonight, then straight back home in the morning. Catching up with some work friends from pre-children days in Newcastle.........2015 is the year of saying yes!

Susan x

Second border attached

I finally finished all the applique and got the second border sewn on Irish Circles today.

Well almost. What do you think about the space in the corners? I wasn't happy with the shape on the pattern. Should I add the petal shape or leave it blank?

The final border is a large saw tooth, I'm looking forward to digging through my scraps again.

Hope you find some stitching time this 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

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

Last Irish circles block

I'm always a bit sad when the last block is done on any quilt, especially when it has been an easily portable project. Irish Circles is far from complete, but the portable phase is just about over. The blocks have to be trimmed and joined, the borders and appliqué added. I really should be doing housework, but took a moment to lay out the blocks and see how they all look together this morning. I don't know why, but I do hand piece the blocks together on this kind of quilt. A crazy waste of time really, but I get a kick out of it being entirely hand sewn. Am I the only person who does this?

Please let me know if you notice anything odd in this layout!

In the meantime, I have gone Dear Jane crazy. I am completely absorbed in my little red blocks which are very easy to prepare, and so easy to choose the fabrics for......and of course very portable.

I'm off to get some cleaning done so I can get back to some sewing. Have a lovely weekend.
Susan x

Pretty quiet on the sewing front here. We have a Japanese student staying with us, so we have been spending our time sight seeing and working on communicating. It's certainly been an interesting experience! In honour of his visit I got out an old UFO, a sashiko panel from a craft show a few years ago.

I've done some more quilting on The Simple Life and finished another Irish Circles block. I love the blues in this one from last week (maybe I should get the iron out too!).

Hope you find a quiet moment to stitch this week.
Susan x

Hmmmmm

I laid out my Irish Circles blocks at the weekend. I'm not unhappy with how it looks but I'm having second thoughts about the red bordered squares. In the original pattern they blend in more.......I'm thinking about replacing them with circles.....with the added advantage of getting to sew four more circles! I'm hoping that once the blocks are sewn together and quilted, the cream background won't look so stark.

Then I really need to go somewhere to audition fabric for the first border, just can't do that online. This is my blue block finished from the weekend. I love red most, but these blues are a close second.

I resolved my block shortage on my SIL's quilt by buying another LBD fat quarter and will use some of the back as well. Hoping it arrives on Friday so I can finish the top at FNWF. Pop over to Cheryll's to sign up.

Happy stitching.
Susan x

Finally partying!

Finally sat down to sew in my pj's at about 11pm last night. Working on another Irish Circles block.

Thinking about starting my SIL birthday quilt tomorrow. Hoping for a cold, wet start to winter.

........I wrote that last night and today my wish has been granted.

I'm not even cleaning up my sewing space, just pushed everything out of the way to start cutting my SIL's quilt......AND I'm still in my pj's..........does it get any better than this?

Happy Birthday Chookshed, and have a great day everyone.

Susan x

Happy Mothers Day

An early morning walk in the rain with my little dog, followed up by the best poached eggs for breakfast. A rather lovely start to a day at home for Mother's Day.

Hoping for a chance to sneak away to do some sewing and try out my new Mother's Day scissors. They are so much better than my old ones. Here they are with two more Irish Circles blocks.

I'm trying my hand at making Marina's hexagon pincushion, but it's trickier than I thought. It doesn't look like much here, but I think there is hope for a little finish later today.

My other Mother's Day gift is in the mail......a very exciting new book which I can't wait to get my hands on.

Wishing you all a happy and relaxing Mothers Day.

Susan x

A little stitching

We are still enjoying our holiday. It's raining today, but the beauty of North Queensland is that it's still warm when it's raining. Today was the first day in a week that I got the iron out........but only to press this stitchery, no clothes ironing on holidays! I've also done some piecing on an Irish Circles block. Not sure if I like that purple circle now that I see it in the photo......there is a little appliqué to go on yet so I'll see how it looks.

Snorkeling on the reef was amazing, and I can thoroughly recommend it as a really memorable experience. Here I am looking glamorous in my stinger suit......everyone had to wear them even though stinger season is just about over. I felt like a ninja.

Our day at the Daintree Rainforest was also a highlight, but very glad it was only for one day......a jungle girl I am not.

Hope the Easter Bunny found you all!

Susan x

FNWF and Cassilis

It has been a whole Friday with friends today. You can visit Cheryl to see who else joined in.

We had a great day of stitching at Cassilis, complete with pouring rain, and a visit to the historic Royal Hotel. Built in 1869, it has just reopened to the public, so we enjoyed a glass of wine with our lunch (which created a few wonky stitches!). Raelee, Lea, Julie and Kylie.

Raeleewas working on her Violet quilt. Isn't the centre gorgeous.......and more fabulous borders to come.

Julie put the final stitches in her daughters new quilt. Beautiful fabric choices.

Kylie was busily stitching one of Rosalies lovely designs, and I was working on an Irish Circles block.

Hope you find a moment to stitch over the weekend.
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