BEEN BABY BUSY

I apologise for not keeping up with all your blog posts but I have been busy with baby business. My little grandson ( #2) was born on Friday and I have been enjoying lots of cuddles.

A few days prior to the birth I thought I had better get some sewing done before life got extra busy. Having finished "A Gardener's Journal" quilt , one of my UFOs, I decided to start another UFO. This quilt is a Red Brolly design called "Cotton Country" and I can't remember how long ago I completed the stitcheries. So, after auditioning fabrics from my stash I cut all the borders for each stitchery ready to sew on. I still have 2 more to prepare.

Yesterday I spent a few hours with my girlfriend measuring, scratching our heads and cutting all the borders for both my quilts. It took ages but would have taken me a lot longer to do it on my own.

My plan is to sew all the borders on asap and make an appointment with my quilter.

I have finished piecing my EPP table topper and have cut borders ready to needleturn it to. I am still a little confused how to join the borders but hope it will all make sense once I reach that point. 

Wish me luck hehehe.

I also finished a very interesting non fiction book that highlights some of Harper Lee's life .

Angel Blessings.

ALL DONE

After my committment to finish some UFOs I have finally pieced the last block of " A Gardener's Journal". I still have no idea why I stashed it away with all the fabrics pieces prepared and the stitcheries all completed... apart from the missing one . Despite not locating the same backing fabric I had used for the stitcheries I think the one I eventually decided to use actually blends in well with all the others. So, here are all the finished blocks I hope to join together soon.

I am looking forward to a  trip to the quilt shop selecting border fabrics for my finished quilt and the hexie table topper which is nearly completed. 

I really need to be organised as my wee bairn , 2nd grandson,  is due very soon and grandma duties will be required enjoying my munchkin and helping out my daughter with the new baby.

Thankyou for visiting.

Angel Blessings.

DAILY PATCHWORK

Brrrr! The last month of winter has been the coldest and the worst time for our heating to go kaput. I am looking forward to our new heating unit being installed tomorrow. I have been making an effort to work on my quilt a couple of hours each day and it is so nice to see it taking shape. Another block is now finished but the bottom edge is a bit wonky.  I shall work out what to do about it later.

Here is the start of a new block.

Now that I have enough EPP flowers made for my table topper I have begun stitching them together in a design I decided on.

The natural light has disappeared now that it is raining again and icey cold. This means that I won't be working on my quilt today but I may be able to keep EPPing.Is that a new word? I hope you are keeping warm and enjoying some stitching.

Angel Blessings.

DUNE DONE

It was perfect timing when I hooked the final border stitch on my Dune blanket 2 nights ago. Last night found me snuggled under this soft warm blanket clutching a hot water bottle with my legs up on the sofa watching Bloom, a fantastic Aussie TV series. Oh my, was it cold! Once again, our heater was struggling to reach 23 degrees and I don't think it did at all . It is supposedly the last month of winter but I think real winter has just arrived. 

I have been steadily piecing my quilt together and have come to the point where I need to sew that lost or forgotten stitchery . I have started that particular stitchery on a different background as I never did find any remnants of the original one I used but I think it will blend in nicely. Here is a pic of A Gardener's Journal so far.

I have finished a lovely book written by the same author who wrote The German Girl which I also loved.

The continual downpour of rain has ceased and I can see a teensy bit of sunshine out of  my window as I type but it seems to be slowly fading .

Angel Blessings.

BORDERS

Most of my patchwork and crochet projects need borders. There is a great sense of satisfaction when I hook or stitch the last bit but then I realise that the project still needs more ....a border or 2 or 3. The fun? begins. I usually find myself putting these projects in the UFO drawer. Well, this time I went to a patchwork shop as soon as possible to select border fabric for my angel quilt. No UFO happening with this quilt! I came home with 3 fabrics. Turquoise for the first border about an inch wide, pink for the outer border 4 or 5 inches wide, and purple ( yes, I had to have my fav colour in there somewhere), for the binding.

Now I am stressing thinking about cutting all that fabric and trimming the edges of the quilt to make it even. 

I showed you the border fabric for Little Lucy, so that will be 2 quilts nearly finished. Ofcourse, my Dune crocheted blanket will need borders too but at least I have plenty of yarn handy to choose from. Here is my blanket awaiting borders.

I have been enjoyed piecing " A Gardener's Journal" quilt. Part A and B are now complete and I am working on more as you can see.

I finished a wonderful book about the Vietnam orphans airlift to Australia and other countries during the Vietnam war. Unfortunately, the first official airlift came to a tragic end which could have been avoided. 

My sewing room is becomming a bit dark now so my sewing time has come to an end today as I have not yet replaced my lamp. 

Angel Blessings,

UFO MOJO

Now that my angel quilt is awaiting borders I decided to rummage through my UFOs to find another quilt I had started a few years ago. It is another lovely quilt by Anni Downs called "A Gardener's Journal". I had done all the stitcheries, cut them back to the correct size and had even cut all the fabric pieces and put them in zip lock bags. So organised! Well, errr,umm, maybe not. As I read through the instructions and sorted through the completed stitcheries I realised that I was one short. "No way , it must be somewhere. " I thought. Wrong! I have definately forgotten to do one block.  I had all the fabrics together in the box but I still cannot find the background fabric to stitch on. So, it seems I will have to use a different fabric. Guess what I have put off doing?  However, I have forged ahead and completed Block A.

This afternoon I started Block B.

Now that I have border fabric for my  "Little Lucy" EPP quilt I just need to cut the border strips and then try to figure out how to finish it all off after needle turning the EPP edges onto them. 

I hope you have had a pleasing productive weekend too.

Angel Blessings.

WHAT A DAY !

Today was THE day. I was determined to piece more of my angel quilt. I resisted the temptation to soak up some vitamin D which I am very deficient in and ignored the rare beautiful sunny day outside.  My sewing room was warm and bright as I sewed and listened to a podcast. Now, I know I always refer to this quilt as "my angel quilt" when , infact, it is called " An Angels Story" by Anni Downs. I have had the book/pattern for years. So, here are 3 more blocks completed.

Well, you know how things sometimes go very right and you feel like you are getting somewhere? That was me this afternoon. I was so enthused that I nearly finished sewing the whole quilt together. Only one little bit left to sew there between 2 parts.

And then it happened! A surge of confidence lead to sewing that final bit and voila!

Not a great pic but you get the idea. Lol, ignore my munchkin's train in the background. I was balancing on the sofa trying to get an overhead shot.

This morning after doing the necessary household tasks like cleaning the shower and doing the washing , I sat and did some more crochet. My Dune lap blanket is about two thirds finished.

I have been eating too much of contraband food lately and subsequently had another gastritis attack a few days ago. Self inflicted. So, this morning I made myself a yummy slice with ingredients I can safely eat. I have made it several times and altered the original recipe to suit me. 

Thankyou for visiting. 

Angel Blessings.