Monday 25 January 2016

all good things...

.....must come to an end. Yes the wonderful holidays are on the verge of ending and I must say they have been wonderful. Catch ups with wonderful friends, lots of sewing time and lots of relaxing and leisure time.
What more can you ask for?
I have had  progress on some forgotten projects and that always is a good way to end the holidays.
There has also been a start on a new project, of course!
First the finishes...
these stitcheries have been waiting for a while to be done... now to make them into something.
The designs are from Urban Threads..

some serious work on my mini clamshells...saw them all used up into one big piece.
 love the way they all sit nestled into one another..
The fabric was a gorgeous charm pack sent to me by Susan (of thimblestitch) quite a while ago.
this treasure has been sitting waiting for some leaves to be sewn down on the border and the corner flowers.
Most of them are done then it can go off to be quilted and join it's partner on the wall.

Now for that something new...this lovely quilt is a design from Irene Blanck's book. I don't enjoy machine piecing as much so I am determined to get all the checkerboard blocks done before I can start the applique blocks. There are only 7 more to go but the strips are all prepped ready to just be pinned and sewn. It's quite time consuming especially if you want to match your corners.

 the background blocks for the appliques are prepped too... the large spots might be a little dark so I will just reverse the fabrics so they will be more subtle. The spots are a gorgeous buttery yellow and soft sage green. Some mini dots in the green are on their way from The new fabric shop in Eltham. That's where I bought the large spot.
 all neatly away to wait for the next sewing session...

Now just one more surprise...
I really wanted to have the clamshells made into 'something' before I returned to work so I got my thinking cap on and there were a few options but i went with a large purse. The frames were on hand but I couldn't find the pattern to make the purse so had to add lib a little. It isn't perfect but that's ok...
I ended up putting the frame back to front as I wanted the clasp to be on the other side but giving it a second glance in the photo it doesn't work too badly.

so that is it for now....
Very satisfying to have cleared some ufo items.
Happy Australia day tomorrow....
Cheers
Marina

Sunday 10 January 2016

top done!

well the past few posts have been sparse but here I am with another post already.
that's because my baltimore blocks are a completed top! Hooray!
I am afraid my photos leave something to be desired but I was keen as mustard to take a pic and share.
I am very happy with the result. As always there are things I could have done better but that's the way the cookie crumbles! Overall I Love it. It has been a learning curve and I am so happy I did the classes.

Now I can get back to something new or something in the works? decisions, decisions.........
have a great sunday
Marina

Thursday 7 January 2016

happy days....

Happy new year everyone!
Happy days with time to craft and relax, that pretty sums up life at the moment.
I have been busy appliqueing away and after a big burst of inspiration I put together the top of my Baltimore quilt. The borders could have been a bit wider, but I only realised once they were all cut and sewn so that will have to be the way they remain. I had my heart set on putting swags in the borders so after googling lots of inspiring baltimore quilts and a bit of drawing I managed to get the look I was after.
The borders aren't quite finished but here are some sneek peeks...

I have also been working on a crochet lap rug for a friend at work. I wanted it finished by her birthday at the end of this month and big tick there it is all done.

There has been some progress on Lucy Kemper too but I will have to share that next post....
Some reverse sewing took place as I had made a litttle boo boo and for the life of me couldn't work out how to correct it but thanks to Super Mum to the rescue it has been fixed. Thanks goodness for mum!
Had some super bargains at the after christmas sales at Spotlight too. I had been wanting to get some backing fabric for my Sweet William and also had my eye on some gorgeous blue fabric that would be perfect for Lucy Kemper's backing too. Well surprise, surprise, with their specials and a spotlight card bonus I managed to get enough fabric for the two backings for just $4.99 per metre! Cha Ching!
 Couldn't believe my luck. So... Sweet william is at Jemima's being machine basted now that he has a backing done. I have my heart set on hand quilting it but I didn't think I would be able to baste it properly by hand. It should be done by march, so hoping we have cooler weather for a start on the hand quilting then.
Well that's me caught up for now.....
Hope you have all had some happy crafting time too
Cheers for now...
Marina


Time is flying....

 Seems like my blog has become a little neglected again, this doesn't mean a lack of crafting though. Progress has been achieved on most...