Stars of Winter

One of the really nice things about Table Runners is that they are effective, quick and easy to make and it is really simple to make a dramatic one. Last week I made the Stars of Winter Table Runner from the book "Wintergraphix - holiday project book 2". I just love it.

So - without further ado - here it is.......

And - here's a close up - don't look too closely, my points might not be perfect! LOL...

A perfect present ready for December...

Dissappearing 4 Patch

Nothing new from me here on this post - but I wanted to share with you a link to another blog that has an absolutely fantastic tutorial on something so simple, that turns out really effective with endless possibilities. I hope you enjoy it as much as I did. Dissappearing4Patch on the Sew Wonderful Blog.

Now - I am having to have a finish this week, as on Stashbuster, I am in the top 10 of those who have no UFO completed this quarter year. Must do some quilting and stop mucking around with pieceing. I'll keep you posted! :)

Aliens...

Have come to land. This very cute little alien is from the pattern by Melly and Me. He was a lot of fun to make. Christened as 'Alien X', he has been to school, football, in a back-pack and had a few flying lessons, with some crashes around the lounge-room. Alien X is only 2 weeks old and already he has had an action packed life, with lots more fun and adventures to look forward to.

Strawberries and Cream

Mmm..... yummmm.... a very delicicous combination! Our local group had a fantastic Afternoon Tea Challenge at the end of June. There was lots of fun and frivolity - even if some of us got the date wrong - it didn't matter, it just provided us with a great excuse for some to have afternoon tea twice.

I made a Strawberries and Cream table centrepiece from a pattern in old Homespun Magazine. It was fun to make and a little different to my usual style, as it included stitchery. I am very pleased with the result.

Drum Roll Please.......

... No, wait for it - It's a Block Roll! Designed by local Quilter - Couzart Creations - this is just the ticket for keeping those larger and smaller blocks nice and flat without the need for a pizza box. Nice and simple, made in one afternoon and I just love it! I didn't have enough of the nice floral fabric, so I borrowed Lorraines' wave ruler to echo the ric rac waves and inserted the green piece to go around the middle.

Simply roll open and there you have them - your gorgeous blocks. A block from the Land Of Liberty online BOM is shown here.

Just Plain Nuts...

Look at that! Mmmm - a new fabric pack and a new book. Heaven for the next project that is a bit challenging. I can't wait to get started on this one. Just Plain Nuts is a book of complicated 6in square patterns designed by Liz Lois, who also drafted up and published the book Nearly Insane which I made a couple of years ago. I've got everything ready to go - the only thing missing is the time to start it - hopefully I'll get some of that over the next few days...

Now I am going to play with my fabric... while I tidy up the sewing room of course :)

Visting animals...

It seems that when the cold weather strikes, the animals need to come indoors and seek some warmth in a quilt! Check out this little black skink - he was found wrapped up in our camping quilt in the loungeroom.
As you can see, he was tiny, but boy, he sure could move really, really quickly! He slowed down though when he was put outside. Hopefully he is happy now living in one of my pot plants.

And then, not to be outdone, here is a bat - sleeping in our shed. My DH found him nicely snuggled in between two dropsheets. Sweet dreams little guy...zzzzz

State of my Stash..... shhh......

Hmmm - On Stashbusters yahoo group, you get to talk about the state of your quilting/craft stash in the month of your birthday - which for me is May. So after writing to that group, I thought I'd post it on here too. What do you do with your quilting and crafting stash? Leave me a comment!

Two IKEA Billy Bookcases (80cm wide x 120cm high) almost but not quite neatly stacked and a pile of stuff on top them. There is some wool mixed in there, things to make Xmas decorations and a bit of scrapbooking too. I also have two more bookcases with magazines, books and tapestry/cross-stich in them.

I seem to have a much larger volume of containers all with projects (UFOs) in them and some PIGS all kitted up ready to make. The new things I have started this year are to be 90% from stash, with some allowable purchases for background, borders and backing if necessary. Some of the larger pieces of fabric with suitable colours for the flimsies are making great backings these days. I am quite surprised by what I can make with what I already have.

My big splurge this year was a whole roll of wadding (batting). I have found this to be a good buy and it has turned out to be a very econmical thing to do with far less wastage when cutting for a quilt.

I decided as part of my new years' resolution way back in January to use up not just my stash of fabrics, but my cottons/threads (for piecing and quilting) as well and slowly, but surely there are some gaps opening up in the shelves and drawers. It's very satisfying and now when I do make purchases, they are more planned and have an immediate use as opposed to just being "stashed" - I only hope my halo doesn't slip! :)

Thank you all for listening!

2 UFO Finishes!

Well sometimes, you just can't spend time at the PC if you are busy stitching! In the last month I have completed these two UFOs. The Christmas one above was stitched in 2008, bordered in 2009 and quilted in 2010. For something the size of a Fat Quarter - well it just couldn't be rushed now, could it?

The quilt below was started in Nov 2009 and finished 2 weeks ago for a baby who is now 5 months old. Time to wrap it up and give to the Mum.

Now, I'm going back to the sewing machine to complete the quilting on another UFO - pics hopefully at the end of the week :)

Why, it's a Horse of course!

No, this isn't a mug shot either, it's just a purple hobby horse lining up for her first photo shoot before being given away.
Isn't she just so cheeky? Perfect for my neice for her 1st birthday. Just need to add the stick with wheels on it and she can ride to Banbury Cross and back again! :)

The pattern for the horse has come from a local designer, Couzart Creations. I had a lot of fun making the horse. Maybe there's another one waiting to come out of the cupboard one day....??