Roseville applique

Kim McLeans Roseville Album quilt is definitely feeding my applique addiction!! It is so wonderful to put a few little stitches into some gloriously coloured fabrics, I try and do a little each day. Block Three has taken me a while but it is now finished and I've begun work on block Four.

Here are the three blocks I have now completed....

Block One...

Block Two...

Block Three...

I think after block four is done I will attempt one of the larger panels, they will definitely keep me going for a while. Have a lovely stitchy week! xo

Quiltalong Top Finished

We have our kids on their 3rd term school holiday break at the moment. It is always wonderful to have them home and have a little break from the usual routine. I won't get quite as much quilting done while they are around (I do like spending time with them), so it was lovely to have the Fat Quarterly Quiltalong quilt to whip up....it took about an hour to sew together today, so quick!

I really do like the way it turned out with the green polka dot fabric. I placed the blocks with the seams going sideways, then alternately longways (does that make any sense? Check the picture, you might work out what I mean!!)

This is only a small quilt, I will quilt it up then put it away for whenever I will next need a baby present (no, definitely not for me, I'm well over that stage of life I hope!). I do know that I will be needing to buy some of the yardage in this gorgeous Dream On range when it is released.

If you are wondering why I never did show a full picture of the little doll quilt I made for the Aussie Doll Quilt Swap I was in....well that is because my mind was so muddled a couple of weeks back I simply wrapped it up and posted it off without taking any photos, sigh!!!! Luckily for me, the partner I had made this quilt for was the lovely Kate from One Flew Over, she was nice enough to send me some full shot pics. I really do live up to my blonde hair some days!

As I'm sure I've mentioned here so many times lately you are sick of it that we have just had a really long, cold, gloomy winter....we are now starting to see signs of spring (even though it is still pretty cold and grey so far).

Don't you just love seasons? How comforting is it to know that change is just around the corner.

We will get our sunny days back again someday soon!

I will get some stitching done tomorrow, I have a good friend coming over for a stitch day, yay! I hope to tackle some backings for my ufo's. Have a sunny week. xo

Quiltalong and Kaffe

Just before I decided to declutter my house (and thereby my mind!!),     I committed to the Fat Quarterly Quiltalong. This is a quick, fun quiltalong, the idea being to use up one jelly roll or 20 fat quarters.         I decided to use what I already had in my stash, having recently purchased a jelly roll of Moda's new Dream On range by Urban Chiks(full yardage due out next month).

As I said, this is a very quick little quiltalong, only taking a few hours to chop up the jelly roll and sew up the blocks.

As usual I am not totally sticking to the plan given, I have added 1 yard of green and white spot to alternate each Dream On block, also making less blocks to make a smaller, more cot sized quilt.

The Dream On range is such a pretty range, although I usually go for brighter more saturated colours, these fabrics remind me of gorgeous vintage sheets.

Beautiful florals...

Sweet butterflies...

My plan is to lay the blocks out alternating between green spots and the florals...

 ♥♥♥♥♥

Also, I had some very exciting news this week....my name was pulled out of a hat to be offered the chance to attend a workshop with Kaffe at Amitie in February next year!!! Of course I was on the phone in an instant saying yes...a workshop with the master of colour, how could I say no to that?!!!!

Image from Amitie advertising tickets to Kaffe's Lecture

A Simpler Life

Lately I have been feeling cluttered. My house feels cluttered, my mind feels cluttered. Sometimes I wonder what it would be like to live without so many material possessions. Would it be freeing? Or would I miss the conveniences of life and just wish for more? Mmm. Perhaps it is partly the onset of spring after a very long, cold, gloomy winter, whatever it is I have been feeling the need to de-clutter my life a little and be happy with what I already have. I am slowly working my way through the house and bagging up, throwing out, taking to the op-shop those items I have not used in a long while. Starting to feel more at ease already. As far as my quilting goes, I have decided I really need to work on some of the UFO's I have had sitting around for some time now. I thought if I showed some of those UFO's here on my blog, perhaps it will encourage me to stop taking on new projects and get some of these older ones finished. 

One of my newer UFO's is the gorgeous Sue Ross BOM. I have made up 5 of the 9 blocks, so really just need to spend a few days getting these last blocks done. I noticed that Kathy at Material Obsession is now offering a second round of this BOM, I must get mine finished before the second group does!!! 

The next one is my flea market fancy half square triangle quilt (phew, what a mouthful!). Not quite sure how I will quilt this one yet, possibly some straight lines.

Remember this one? I fell in love with this bird fabric (from memory it is an Alexander Henry, I must check on that). The blocks are called goose in the pond that I saw on the cover of a Benni Harper book I was reading at the time.

The lovely Victoria from Bumble Beans ran a Waverunner quilt along, I loved making this quilt top, now it needs a finish!

My Kim McLean Hearts and Roses quilt top has been sitting around for awhile, mainly because I have no idea how to quilt this one! Perhaps if I get in and make up a backing for it, I might be spurred on.

My hexi quilt has not been touched for ages. I have been going through a needleturn applique stage lately, so my hexies have taken a back seat.

Then there is my more recent Philip Jacobs quilt, I will be hand stitching this one I hope.

Wow, this is starting to get embarrassing, looking at this little pile (and this is not all of them, I have some others I might show another time) it would almost seem I am not getting any finishes done. But then I walk around my house, and remember the quilts I have sent to others and see that yes, I have had a lot of finishes too!

Being realistic, I know I will not get these quilts finished in the next few weeks, however I would like to have at least a few of them completed by Christmas. Getting some finishes achieved will help with my de-cluttering, and I know I will feel happy to see them done. I will keep working on a simpler life, wish me luck! xo

Thank you Red Pepper Quilts!

Ok, so on Wednesday I showed a sneak peak of the little quilt I have been making for the Down Under Doll Quilt Swap. Today I arrive home to find a box on my front doorstep. Yes, my partner turned out to be the very talented Rita from Red Pepper Quilts, Yay! Rita has made me a dazzling trip around the world doll quilt.

Isn't it magnificent? Rita is well known for her beautiful pieced backs, and with a back as gorgeous as this, I really have two doll quilts!

Gorgeous tag...

Rita's cross hatch quilting is perfection...

Now the box on my doorstep didn't just bring one incredible doll quilt....it also hid wonderful gifts!

Mmm, I love chocolate, and Lindt, and blueberries, so the mix of all three is fabulous! Check out the gorgeous cards Rita made, I love handmade cards, especially with special fabrics on them!

Rita knows I am a bit of a Kaffe fan (ok, a big Kaffe fan), and she sent me 7 Kaffe/Brandon Mably fabrics from their new ranges, yum.

Thank you Rita, I am thrilled with your quilt and very proud to have my very own Red Pepper Quilts creation!

Aussie Doll Quilt

How is your week going so far? Over the weekend my 13.y.o son rebuilt my computer for me. My computer was old and slow and now I have a new screen and speed!!! I do not know how these kids know what they are doing, but watching him rebuilding the computer was amazing. Now I do seem to have lost some emails in the process of changing over, so I do apologize if I you are still wondering why I haven't replied. I think all will run smoothly from now on.

Anyway, I just have a little quilt to show today. A couple of months ago the lovely Kate from One Flew Over put out the call for an Aussie Doll Quilt swap. I had never made a doll quilt before, much less been a part of a quilt swap so I didn't hesitate to jump in. I can only show you a few sneak peaks of this quilt so far, as it is not quite finished, and obviously I don't want my partner to see it in full yet!!

After looking over my partners blog I decided use some lighter colours over a linen background. I used Anna Maria Horners gorgeous Little Folks in lovely blues, greens, pinks and golds. Of course, designing quilts myself is all a little new to me, so I'm not sure if I'm totally happy with it, but it is sweet. I think we do look more critically at something we make ourselves don't we? Anyway, I used the needleturn method to applique the flowers and stems.

For the quilting I free motion quilted around the flowers, then straightline quilted over the background. The lovely thing about doll quilts is how fast they quilt up! The quilting is not perfect, and the background looks a little crinkly, but all the wonkiness adds character I think (I hope!).

We have a little flickr group for this swap if you want to see more beautiful doll quilts to be swapped! How lovely to put some of yourself into a little quilt to send on to someone else, as well as knowing you will receive something special in your own letterbox sometime. 

I have also decided to join up the Fat Quarterly Quiltalong. This looks like it will be a lovely, quick project. Recently I purchased a jelly roll of Moda's new Dream On fabric (full yards to be released soon I think). I will use this for the quiltalong.

Perhaps I will take inspiration from Red Pepper's gorgeous Dream On Creation.