Sorting Scraps

I finally got to make a start on sorting out those fabric scraps. Thanks to Wanda's suggestion I gave myself a half hour which turned into almost an hour and made a good start. So far I have strips 1.5" and squares 2.5", 3.5", 4.5" and 6.5" Yesterday I purchased some small containers to fit each size and hey presto; containers of neatly cut uniform squares ready for a project.

The actual pressing and cutting was quite therapudic and the end result is very satisfying. Can't wait to get some more done. At the moment I'm busy trying to finish my kaleidoscope quilts for September 4. Thanks to the wet weather I've been kept indoors and had plenty of opportunity to work on them.

Also thanks to the wet weather, I'll have plenty of weeding in the gardens to do.
My girls have taken advantage of the cooler weather to curl up. My son left his quilt on the lounge and it didn't take them long to make a cosy spot for themselves. Fleur is on the left and Jayne on the right. Luckily they're on the back of the quilt. I read a little quote one day that said "Dogs have owners and cats have slaves". These two have got that right but I love their company.

Blessing In Disguise

Sometimes things happen for a reason and I look at my sewing maching breaking down as one of those times. I had hoped to get the binding on my kaleidoscope quilt but the maching had other ideas. Actually it was the feed dogs that wouldn't co-operate. They were staying down and no amount of pleading on my part was going to change their mind. So after the initial frustration of it all, I spread out the first of the two narrow quilts for sandwiching and I am 7/8's finished. I also done some hand embroidery on another project, which reminded me of why I enjoy hand sewing. It's relaxing and nothing can break down.

While home on holidays from Uni, my daughter decided she'd like to make her own lap quilt. I'm proud to say that it's all her work, from design to completion. I forgot to take a picture so she sent me a photo when she got back.

I would like to include a photo of one of the quilts my mother has made. She prefers to hand sew, so Dorothy Clark's 'Cottage Gardens Wall-Hanging' was just the one. Here it awaits being sandwiched and bound. It now has pride of place on one of her beds.

It also goes to show that a love of sewing, patchworking and quilting runs in our family as in many families, passed down from mother to daughter. I might add that my grandmother is an avid hand embroiderer, knitter and crocheter and her hands are never idle at the age of 90.

The weather man forcasts rain for today and tomorrow. It's getting bleaker by the minute so I hope he's right. A lovely day for staying indoors and ... quilting.

Kaleidoscope Quilt

Here's a sneak preview of the quilt I've been working on since attending a kaleidoscope workshop. This is before I sandwiched and I am currently in the process of quilting. I've gone with a jungle leaf repeated 8 times over the quilt in free motion. I'll fill any large spaces with perhaps a hibiscus outline.

This is only half of the hexagons that were made from the fabric. These are all the ones that had any blue in them. The other half I sorted again into orange/green and red/white/green and am making two longer narrow wall hangings.

Here is the original fabric.

No Red Yet

I'm still waiting for the red rose to open up but here are the next two.

A friend of mine who grows beautiful roses suggested I buy a 'Peter Frankenfeld'. I'm very happy that I did. I didn't have a pink rose.

I also decided to try a different yellow this time and found 'King's Ransom'. Another satisfied sigh.

This is the view from our verandah last Thursday morning at 6.30am. Yesterday visibility while driving to work was almost nil and again this morning there was a heavy fog.

I'm hoping to get the borders sewn around three wall hangings today so that I can be sandwiching them tomorrow when our small quilters group get together. Fingers crossed.

Roses are Red

Well one of my roses is red but for now these are the first to bloom. I just had to plant roses at our new place and couldn't wait till they were in. I've given hubby credit for preparing the bed because they've been no time at all and here are the first three. This top one is 'Blue Moon'.

I tried a different white this time. This one is 'Mount Shasta'. A large rose with quite a lovely scent. It was actually planted 3 weeks after the others and the first to open up.

And I couldn't go past 'Double Delight' again. My mum's favourite. You know the saying that you should take the time to stop and smell the roses. Maybe this will be my new motto.

Empty Nest

Well, daughter went back this morning ready for Uni tomorrow and son goes back to the city in the morning for the week. Then we are back to our empty nest again. Peace and quiet, but we do miss them.


This cold weather has been getting me down, I just don't seem to be able to warm up. The weather man says the temps are rising so I hope he's right.


I've set my sewing machine up and put the word out to hubby that I'm on a schedule to finish my newest quilt by a deadline. And that deadline is coming up sooner than I like. So when I can't be found, I'll be in the sewing room, sewing madly.

I'm including a picture of a third quilt I started while on Long Service Leave late last year. Now that it's finished I'm donating it to a hospital which distributes quilts to some of the very ill patients.

My fourth and final Long Service Leave quilt is sandwiched and awaiting quilting. But it will have to wait until the deadline quilt is finished. And then there's a Patchwork Bag I'm making for a friend's soon to be newborn. Of course I have a couple other quilts on the go somewhere. Their turn for completion will come.

After living in a small country town for 25years, six months ago we moved further into the country and couldn't be happier. Though I do find myself missing the social aspect from time to time. Having someone close to chat with or tell my latest news. So, after visiting several blogs for the last fortnight, I've decided to give it a go for myself.

Hubby and I have two children, a daughter who went to Uni this year and a son who started work this year but stays in the city during the week. We're still coming to terms with the 'empty nest' syndrome but it's nice in a different sort of way.

When I'm not at work or doing the housework, I enjoy creating patchwork quilts and wallhangings so I will include photos from time to time. I'm one of those who has to have several projects on the go at one time.

Just at the moment I've actually managed to complete two small quilts that I began last October. The top 'Shabby' one was for my niece and the bottom 'Puppy' quilt was for my nephew. I was using up 5" squares in my fabric stash.

I feel more relaxed already sharing my thoughts. Lets see how it all goes.