Two halves make a whole

At last I finally finished sewing my halves to complete my blocks!! I will now sew the two halves together to make a whole!! Can't wait for the blocks to become whole and get a better picture of where the quilt is taking me. I have so many threads to trim, rows to iron and make them all look pretty. Sometimes when we do block construction we often are so focussed on the task at hand that we forget the bigger picture. Last week I was de-moaning that I wished the blocks would just vanish, but now with them complete I can't wait for the next step in the process.

Here are the completed halves all ready to sew as whole blocks.

This is what the two halves will look like when complete!

Mystery quilt Part 5

Sorry if I'm about to spoil your party, but ANOTHER elephant :( You have got to be joking me!! I struggled with the first one, haven't done the second one, and now you throw another one into the rink!! When all is done I better post an image of the completed "mystery" so you all know what "misadventures" I had to go through. I managed to stuff up cutting some fabric and searched high and low in my local shops for a replacement measure of the same fabric, but came up empty. Thus I googled it and came across a site in Australia that I can purchase it from, the things you resort to eh! It is lovely neutral shade from Nancy Gere, from the Vanity Fair c.1865-1890 range.


Well, off to the Amberley craft market this morning. They have just started up, so thought I might see what creative beings there are in the district. I shall report later on my findings! Catch ya.

Two to go...

Yes, you read it right!! Two more halves to go before my 16 blocks are completed! I was sewing three halves last night at my sewing group and for the majority of the time I was saying to myself, "I am soooooooooooo over this..." But since I am a true believer at only putting "happy stitches" into my patchwork I so got over that and thought about the special day when it would be all sewn together and be as one. I guess I'm not the only one who gets "block-i-tish" every now and again!!?


Now off to applique the remaining three scallops to my mystery quilt....

Mystery quilt Part 4

Hey, what's new, one week to go before Part 5 comes out and I just begun Part 4!! I got cracking and cut out all the bits last Saturday and on the Sunday begun the applique, yet again... It really used to spin my wheels, but sometimes too much all at once can become all too much of a task and not fun. It's a good thing I have lots of other projects on the go at the same time to keep the motivation going, and going, and going! All I ask for, is that Part 5 does not involve another elephant.... Snapshots to come.

Part 4 of the mystery quilt involves eight of these thingees and that elephant, which I haven't tackled yet.
I have yet to applique around the circles.

Mystery quilt Part 3 nearly finished

Only the eye to go before I complete Part 3 of the mystery quilt, whew! A bit of a mission completing it. Part 5 is going to start in a week's time and I haven't even cut out Part 4 yet. I don't think I'm cut out for these mystery things. At least I'm giving it a go, all the better to see what it turns out like in the end! I would post a photo, but it's for a friend and you never know when they might be looking, ha!

Part 3 of the mystery quilt was this elephant, but lots of 'hard on your fingers' qpplique work.
Have yet to draw in the eye...

I might go and iron my fabrics ready for Part 4 and go do some template drawings, ho hum.... See you in the soup.

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!!