Busy Days & Good Friends

I have been so very busy lately, mainly because the heat has set in here, and I am looking after my neighbour's garden as well as my own.  I can tell you it's a big job, and I don't remember when the pump was silent!!  We are fortunate to have the water to use on lawns and plants, so for that I am most grateful.  I hope it lasts, as we've had several days already with the mercury just reaching the 40°C mark.   Apart from that, I've had a few outings with my patchwork friends - the craft market, and our final meeting day for the year.  We had a wonderful day yesterday, lots of members present, lovely luncheon, good cheer, and wonderful sharing of each others' projects.  The collage above was one I thought might be of interest to those who follow my blog.  This William Morris applique quilt was done by our most prolific patchworker, Neitta.  Not only does she put us all to shame with the quantity, the quality of her work is amazing.  Neitta had this quilt professionally quilted by Robyn McHardie [https://secure.widebacks.com.au/].  The intricate quilting has to be seen to be appreciated properly.  It certainly enhances the wonderful applique that Neitta has done.  The quilt is very large.  It was difficult to include it all in one photograph.  Neitta had lots of other quilt tops to show us, so she has been a very busy girl this year.  Sadly, a number of her beautiful quilts [family gifts] were ruined by floodwater, and she has set about replacing them. 

Neitta had also been extremely busy getting things prepared for our craft market.  It was a nice day, with steady sales.  I bought these four rooster potholders [made by Neitta of course!!], for my DIL, as she just loves anything 'chooky'.  They aren't large, but just a good size for each hand [in my opinion]. 

Another article that took my eye was this quite large scrapbook/journal with rather an organic feel.  It had been done by one of our newer members, at a weekend workshop in Brisbane.  The pages are very thick and have a rather rustic feel.  I plan to use this for pasting pictures/drawings of ideas, etc., yet another art/ideas journal.  It appears to have been made using leaves, open seed pods, and lengths of organic matter.  The 'lizard' shape is recessed, and to be honest, I didn't even realize there was a 'shape' there until I took the photograph.

I am currently trying to do a bit of crochet in between my watering duties, but nothing finished of course.  I hope the work of my friends will be of interest.  I am always in awe of the talent we have in our small group, despite our isolation, and difficulties securing goods for most projects.

Favourite Winter Colours

Now that the temperature has dropped, it's time to bring out a few pieces that I use at this time of the year.  The above knee rug is one I take with me in the car.  I'm not a fan of heaters in cars, they make me feel stuffy, so I need something over my legs for a while.  Goodness, even the Queen felt the need for a little leg warmth en route to 'the wedding'.

The design is called Hidden Wells by Mary Ellen Hopkins, a pattern I purchased from one of the patchwork stores.  These colours are some of my favourites for patchwork, so I really had no trouble using left overs from other projects.  I've quilted it using the simulated hand quilting stitch on my Bernina 170 machine, but I'm not sure if the quilting is visible on the photograph.  

I also love wearing this jacket, and thought I'd share it with people.  I'm not sure if the colour is showing correctly.  It is maroon rather than rusty red.  The jacket pattern, and different patchwork techniques/combinations are in a book I have - More Jacket Jazz by Judy Murrah.  Some of the combinations are really 'different'.

The back is quite different to the front, probably showing a lot more green, so I have quite a few options for colours in skirts and pants.  And, yes, plain skirts and pants are a must in my wardrobe.  I must say it took a lot of courage on my part to actually wear this, as I'm a little on the conservative side with my clothing.

I will also show a small section of the centre sleeve design.  This looks complicated and time consuming, but as it is done using the Seminole technique, it works up quite quickly.





Thank you all for the lovely comments on my little baby set.  I do appreciate the enthusiastic feedback.  I've packed it away nicely again, waiting................

Patchwork Preview [+ Playing]

Sorry to have been absent for a few days.  I have been having a few computer/internet issues, which has limited my time here.  I thought I would have a little play with my new camera, yay!!!  I have purchased a compact camera again, this time a Nikon.  It seems 'friendly' enough at the moment, but I have a lot to learn.   After some gentle urging from my patchwork friend Neitta,   I've revisited a quilt that I started about three years ago.   At that time, our patchwork group members decided that they'd like to do a sampler quilt.  I suppose I do the most talking in the group, so somehow I landed the job of organizing.  To say I dislike sampler quilts is an understatement, but I thought why not, but decided to try a layout much different from many I'd seen.  I am not long off finishing it, perhaps this time next week, but wanted to share a small preview of what has been going on.  The above block is one of about 20 pieced blocks which will make up the quilt top.  It's been stitched using the paper piecing method, which really helps keep those sharp points neat and tidy!!

This is a small section of some of the machine applique which I hope enhances the look of the layout.  I'm not really into machine applique, I'd much rather do hand blanket stitching, but at the time I thought machining would get it done..............not so.  If I'd gone with the hand stitching, I'm sure I would have had all of these pieces stitched on a long time ago.  This shot is also one of the first 'macro' images taken with the Nikon.  Stay tuned for the final product in a few days.  All of the fabrics I've used have been taken from 'the stash', with the exception of one piece I purchased especially for the final border, so in essence, it's a scrap, sampler quilt.

Lunch in the Bush

As I've already mentioned in a previous post, our patchwork group met not long ago for the final time this year.  For a few years we have been going to a catered luncheon in our local town, but this year our Club President offered her home for the day out.  For me personally, that meant a trip of over 100 kilometres one way.  It had rained during the night, on some already waterlogged roads, so there were some fast and furious early morning phone calls hither and yon trying to decide whether to cancel, or move the proceedings back to the hall where we usually meet.  Thankfully, the sun shone early, so we decided to give it a go.  We all contributed to the feast, with several different salads, turkey, ham, chicken, quiche, and sweets of course.  Unfortunately, I didn't take a photo of the sweets, probably too busy making sure I tried everything!!!  If you enlarge the above photo, in the bottom left corner you will see a type of green aspic salad.  This was made with diced cucumber and crushed pineapple, in a tangy gelatin mould.  I will endeavour to make it again soon, sharing the recipe if anyone is interested.  

These are a couple of photos taken as we were driving into the property, ie one of the surface water storages, complete with tank and windmill, something quite familiar to all of us out here.  You will notice the heavy skies, which kept us all a little nervous throughout the day.  Our hostess has a beautiful home, with lawn, fruit trees, vegetable garden, and many, many garden beds, an oasis in the middle of nowhere really.  One thing that I thought might interest some readers was their mailbox.  I think it was made by their son, and I'd love to see what their mailman did the first day it appeared.  It's just too cute.

The highlight of our day is sharing the stitching we've completed throughout the year.  Some of us don't get as much done as we should.............., but one of our members just leaves us all in her wake.  She produces the most wonderful quilts, wallhangings, table mats, tea towels, you think it, she makes it, and beautifully!!!!  She is also our 'unofficial' photographer, diligently recording everyones' pieces for following generations, and a kind and giving member where sharing knowledge is concerned.  I have two photos of her work, with her permission of course.  The quilt on the left was made by Neitta, purchased in kit form, but she told us some of the fabrics included were not quite to her liking, so she had to make some substitutions.  I have to tell you too that this type of setback is quite annoying for us here, as we just can't run down to the local patchwork shop and grab a fat quarter or two!!!  If this happens, it often takes some time before you have all your pieces together.   I believe this quilt is entitled Rosebud Lane.

Neitta travelled to Dalby one weekend during winter to attend a workshop given by Fiona Hammond.  You can see more of Fiona's work on her website here:

 http://chiatanyadesigns.com.au/    The fabrics had to be purchased prior to the workshop, as some of the block piecing was to be done in advance.   Thank you so much Neitta for allowing me to share these with other ladies, and thank you for being you!!!

Mystery Quilts

I thought I would share some mystery quilts I have done over the years.  This first one was from an Australian Patchwork & Quilting magazine.  We were given only fabric requirements, and a little information on which fabrics might be used where, so I was buying a tad on the 'blind side'.  Thankfully, yellow is a colour I really like, and this quilt turned out to my satisfaction.  It was fun to work along with each month's magazine instalment, and I regret not buying enough fabric to make the quilt bigger.  I machine quilted it myself on my Bernina, with the yellow area being stitched with all over stippling.   The block used has been a favourite of mine for many years, but I didn't realize it was going to be so until the final assembly.

This pink/blue quilt is not finished as yet.  I keep wondering if I should add another border with some applique to make it a little larger.  I have a lot of the blue, and a plain, pale blue chambray fabric that goes very well with the quilt as a whole, so that might work for a second border [with applique], using the already used blue as the last border...................  I didn't buy anything for this one, preferring to use fabrics I found in my stash.  If I had my time over, I would not put the pink in the same place, as I feel it overwhelms the quilt. 

On close inspection you can see the pattern resembles a log cabin with 'corners'.  Again, it was a fun day out with my patchwork friends, but I'm a tad disenchanted with the PINK.   We really don't need quilts here in SE Queensland, and most of the time my quilts are folded up in the cupboard.