The end is near...

I took my 12 remaining blocks (left sides) to the weekly sewing group on Wednesday. I was able to complete three sides in two hours so I'm reckoning only six more hours to go to complete my blocks, yeeehaaa!!! It certainly will be rewarding when I have finally sewn all my sides into complete blocks and then those blocks become one...


For this weekend I plan to start on a friend's birthday present for next month. I'm guessing she will never come across this blog so I can write by saying that the fabric she initially picked out one day will be the focus of the project! I popped along to Cottonfields and selected three more contrasting shades.


I will also cut out Part 4 of the Susan Claire mystery quilt too. After seeing it is another elephant, I thought, golly gosh, where is this heading! Part 3 gave me a sore thumb with the applique work. I wanna get one of those thumb thingies that save yourself a lot of needle pain!


Took my wee Bella to the vet, $200, there goes my fabric budget out the window, ha! Happy sewing.

Snow sewing

You gotta love those snow days off from work!!  I managed to complete the right sides of my 16 blocks! I was so wrapped. I kept focussed and didn't settle for second best when it came to a few unpicking sessions, I knew I would get there in the end and whew, what a relief to have the right side out of the way, ha!!


Last night I prepared the left sides of the blocks. This involves unpicking the rows where necessary, ironing the seams the correct way and then putting a complete set together. The left side consists of six rows so the progress should take less time, yeah right! The original rows were sewn into the bargello tube method and cut into lengths.


With last Wednesday's sewing group cancelled because of the snow I intend on taking this "organised" prep work along to the next class and make light work of the left, ha, ha! I have so many projects on the go at the moment, but I really want to finish this one before Christmas.... I bet there are many voices out there who say the same thing, "must get that project finished before the next"!


The next best thing about having snow sewing days is a cosy 11-fin oil column heater sitting next to you, what bliss! If your sewing room isn't cosy then you can't sew in happiness and I only sew happy stitches!!


If you ever want to try doing your own bargello quilt, go for it! But keep your unpicker at hand at all times!!

Unpicker in my hand

Yes, more unpicking... no doubt the person I am giving this quilt to will never notice my mistakes, but I see them! But there is a breaking point to being fussy, I only give it three tries and if it's still up the wop then I move on. Right now I am unpicking one of my rows on my bargello I sewed last Wednesday. I'm going to whip it into shape and have that half done and dusted before my next sewing group.

Last weekend I popped along to 'Away with the Fairies' at Cust. I went in to buy some threads but couldn't resist some pretty pink and green fabrics, the beginnings of a queen-sized quilt I shall be making for my Dad and his wife. I was looking through my magazines for inspiration and narrowed it down to about eight ideas, but finally picked out the one I shall make. It contains nine patches and love hearts. That will have to go on the back burner for the time being cos I have to stay focused and get this bargello done first. Sheesh it's hard to stay focused though when there are so many pretty fabrics around just wanting to be made into quilts!!! Pick me, pick me, they all scream, ha!!

Now, back in March I started Susan Claire's mystery quilt, a first for me. Below are the colours I picked out for Part 3 which I have cut out, but haven't assembled yet... only one week before Part 4 comes out and I haven't even started appliqueing yet, eek!

I just unpicked a whole row of my bargello block whilst waiting for this image to upload, you gotta love dial-up!!! Writing of which, I'm not going to spruce up this page with pretty pictures and the like until I get Broadband. I see other people's blogs and think, wow, so pretty. For the time being you will just have to read words and the odd image or two.

I thought I might add my sewing room, aka, messy, disorganised bits of furniture and stacks of fabric everywhere. One of my mum's favourite sayings is, "a place for everything and everything in its place". I shall try. This room comes complete with my $2 chair from a fair! I love my inspiration board, it truly does inspire me.

The image above shows where I sit to sew, at a computer desk. Can't spread my quilts out, but at least I have a posse to sit and while away the hours. A lot of sewers I know have to park themselves at the end of the dining table and pack everything in boxes. The wine rack to the right is a bemusing tower for the kitten to climb....!

I better stop for the night and go and cook some tea. Happy sewing!

Giggles galore!

If you haven't joined a sewing group I recommend you join one! Not only do you get to see what others are up to, you get to have and hear the most free-flowing conversations ever! I love my sewing group cos it motivates me to sew and sometimes they make me laugh till I cry!!


I am still tackling my bargello blocks. If I'm not pleased with my lining up skills I reach for the unpicker!!


Ohhh, and much excitement at the beach.... there are huge reels of bright green cabling about and roadworks. I made enquiries and it sounds like broadband maybe reaching the beach after all!!!!!!!!! I'm so excited I could almost pop, ha, ha! For the time being it is still dialup :(


For those in the Canterbury region this weekend, the first Encraftment Market of the year, will be held on Saturday 26 May at the University of Canterbury, College of Education site at the Jack (?) Arena. Gotta love people who love crafts, make crafts and then sell their crafts, you are the bee's knees!

Back to sewing group

Sheesh, I know the internet can be a fun place to be, but when your internet explorer "no longer supports blogger"... I'm giving this Google Chrome a go, but with dial-up it's like watching paint dry, in slow motion. I'm going to attempt to load some pics and write a few words, but I'm reckoning this will take me a good 1/2 hour to a hour to do, here goes nothing!


I went back to my first sewing group for the year a week ago. It's such great fun and I enjoy meeting with other like minded people all wanting to create something wonderful. My sewing group meets up Wednesday evenings at Quilters Quarters at Rangiora. I decided to take along a project I first started in November last year, a bargello quilt. It got stalled for awhile cos the blocks were challenging and you needed the patience of many Saints! Anyways, after going back last week I finished off another block and then last weekend had a "block day" at home and managed to complete a complete block. Very tiring, but very rewarding. To keep up the motivation I am sewing the right side of the blocks first and then will tackle the left sides later.

 

Gosh, that was a long painful 15 mins to download one image.... I was going to load four more... Then my cat decided to lie across my lap and my laptop then became a, reach for it and type with one finger, if you can laptop!

The fabrics to the right of the image above are my latest purchases from 'Grandmother's Garden' which I haven't put away yet.

I might add some more pics later after I head to the Telecom site and check out about Broadband in my region!

More cushions

Finally Aztec (big ted) got his belated Christmas present, a whopper floor cushion. The appliqued hearts had the word 'love' on them, courtesy of a quilting Aunt! The squares were a charm pack I brought on Trademe and the backing was from the Clearance Cluster at Cust last year. The Stash Rehash at the weekend was another chance to get some bargains from pre-loved sewing rooms throughout Christchurch.

Next up is a cushion inspired by the piggy card I brought. In the end I made three for a friend all with different coloured pigs. This one is in its last stages of TLC.

New beginnings and new ideas

Curvature - Australian Patchwork & Quilting, Vol16, No10

When I decided to do my first bargello I guess I should have chosen a smaller project, but I love challenges and this is certainly starting to be one. I firstly picked out all my 13 fabrics and thought I had them in the correct dark-light order, but upon looking at my first block I now realise I have two colours out of order. Since I have now sewn all my strips together and cut them, there is no going back, but onwards with a mission! Again I shall put this down to practise, but a costly one!

Here is my first block. To me the green in the centre sticks out like a sore thumb. At first I was peeved at myself for making such a silly mistake. Colour No.1 should be the darkest (the orange shade) and no.2 should have been a 'accent print'. I thought that meant a shade that looked right together, not that green shade...

Here is my second block which is now complete. I did this one with more ease than the first. I chose not to iron every single strip as I sewed them together. They lined up so much easier. There are 16 blocks in total... 

New ideas - landscapes

Because I get bored easy, here are my next two projects lined up - attempts at doing landscapes. I picked out two photos I took on my travels in South Africa. The first a sunset on top of Table Mountain looking out over the Atlantic Ocean. I have no idea how to sew them together! 

The next photo was taken on a short tour of South-West Africa, as it was know in the 1980's! This trip took me to Etosha Park and this landscape was nearby. Just breathtaking. When I sew a few fabrics together I shall add some more photos to show you progress. In the meantime I may have to attend a class to get the hang of what I'm doing.

Molly in the Garden - applique

Before Christmas I started this pattern that I brought on Trademe. I think it's called 'Molly in the Garden'. I have all the fabrics in place ready to applique and also have to do some flowers at the bottom, and draw in a face and a couple of handles. I generally like applique, but haven't touched it since December 2011.

My fabric hanging is in pinned on the hall wall. When I'm not using it the fabric is doubled over and pinned higher so as my kitten doesn't continually jump up at and try to pull it down. Life is one game when you are small and furry!