Hello, It's me

Well just channeling my inner Adele there for a minute.
Can't believe it's been so long.... I'm still alive and crafting. All the good intentions haven't made for much blogging. So today I thought it was time to catch up and record my crafting for the past two months.
There have been some starts and some finishes and lots of stuff in between. Some catch ups with crafty friends have helped reignite some sparks, and it's lovely to have such wonderful friends.
Now beware there are a lot of pics.....
No falling asleep now?

two new Caswell blocks...... a third is nearly done which will leave two to do, getting exciting

 made a start on my large clamshells, finding it hard to get enthused but there's no hurry to finish.

I have four completed wreaths for my floral hopscotch quilt and just seem to have lost some of the passion for it, I think it's the fabrics..... so I have decided to rethink the remaining applique blocks and have been looking for something a little simpler to make it an achievable finish. I thought the checkerboard blocks were going to delay this but they were done quick smart at the start, luckily.

I am going to replace the other applique blocks with this North Carolina Tulips block that I found on the net ages ago. Rediscovered it when sorting my room out.

 So need a new camera so that the colours will show properly!

These two have just had the pieces popped on the backgrounds as a trial, I am going with it. I love that it will be simple and still keep that fresh feel and more importantly be a stress free project.

 On the school holidays I managed to finish the last few blue baskets and start and finish all the 9 patch blocks so that I could put this together. I am so happy with it as it uses up some of my Lucy Kemper blues stash. there doesn't seem to be much of a dent made though.... will think about that after I have worked out a backing for it maybe from the same stash. Dare I say it I am getting a little over blues lol

My woollen scraps that were made up into squares for quite awhile got made up into a small crocheted blanket. Lovely and bright!

I suppose a big reason for all this crafting is that I got my sewing room back. A little bittersweet as it meant my Favourite No. 1 son moved out again. It was lovely having him home with us for about 6 months but it is also lovely to have my sewing room back.
A little reshuffling and some new and altered furniture did the trick and I love it. All my treasures where I can see them and more importantly access them. Still a small space but better managed.

I have at last managed to hang a full size quilt on the wall much to hubbie's dismay. But as it's in my room I can get away with it....though it does set a precedent....
I get to show off my baltimore to great effect. It was made to go on that wall.

Well if you're still with me, thanks for hanging around and catching up with my goings on.
I will try to be a better blogger and not just stalk you all and actually comment too.
cheers for now
Marina

pardon my absence...

Time seems to fly by at the moment and my poor blog has been sorely neglected.but I do have a good excuse....
for the past 3 1/2 weeks we have been travelling through parts of Europe with our eldest son who has been living in the UK. We had a wonderful time visiting with relatives and friends that I haven't seen for many many years..
I won't bore you with all the photos of my trip as there are so many. We got to go to the Colosseum, Roman ruins, magnificent churches in Switzerland and Austria and even went on a sound of music tour in Salsburg which was great fun.
It seems like a dream now that we are home.
......and yes I did visit two patchwork shops. I had Den Haan and Wangenmakers on my list to visit in Amsterdam and it was a lovely shop and there was another shop right next door which I would've walked straight past if not for no 1 son. Some little souvenir purchases were made, I was very well behaved (because I had spent up at the blue delft shop!)
A big highlight was also the opportunity to meet a bloggy friend Els in the Netherlands. We first corresponded after doing a swap  a long time ago. Els and her husband were very hospitable and showed us wonderful dutch hospitality and the glorious dutch countryside. It was an amazing day!

 

me and Els at the Royal summer palace.

As you know I had stocked up on clamshells as my travelling project, well no go on the plane they wouldn't allow the needle at all so I had to save it for the many train trips we did to get to the different cities we stayed at. I did managed to baste them all and make a start on piecing two blocks.

Since coming home I have sewn another few blocks together. It's lovely to be able to sit and sew again.

clamshell progress

just to share.... here is mum's baltimore quilt that we did the class together for. She added three more blocks and has appliqued sashings and has almost finished her outer borders which are so beautifully appliqued.

Another reason for lack of time has been the arrival of furry little paws at our house.
We picked up our new curly boy on Wednesday..... His name is Billy.
He is such a sweet pup but I know there will be some naughtiness in store as his eyes give it away.
He settled in really well with thanks to poor Coffee who has to endure his naughtiness more than we do.
A lot of time gets spent with looking after this baby and there will be many more hours to be spent in training and teaching him to be a well behaved boy. All part of the fun!

I'll slowly catch up with blogs and see what everyone has been up to...
Till then
cheers
Marina

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

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

crafty blog catchup....

It feels like ages since I have blogged, it seems my bloggy mojo has gone on a holiday.
The school year is over and I can recharge and get my act together.
I have been crafting as I am sure you all would expect and occasionally commenting when blog hopping but more often than not I have just been visiting seeing all the beautiful festive crafting travelling to and fro.
It is all very inspiring and I am hoping that I will get some christmassy crafting on track next year as this year has been a dismal failure in that regard.
I will give a warning that there are a lot photos in my catch up so hold on and come along for the ride...


firstly mum's lovely gift quilt got quilted by Jemima's and I did the binding for her. It is winging it's way to France..... Bon Voyage!

 The last two Baltimore blocks are done and dusted..... now to decide how to put it all together. I would really love to applique traditional sashes on the outer borders but just can't decide whether to add sashings between blocks?                    to ponder another day...
I have really enjoyed making these blocks and enjoyed the classes at Jemima's a lot.

 The little cottage stitcheries got done and put together into a table runner and was gifted on Saturday to my KK at craft group....

 The 'redo' Lucy Kemper block is done and dusted and the centre sewn together. I am loving this so much!! now to work on the border blocks.

I received a lovely parcel in the mail from Els in the Netherlands, it included this lovely little dilly bag for sewing goodies and another surprise giftie received was from the lovely Susan (of thimblestitch) one of her gorgeous little thread keepers. Perfect in the blues and don't they all go together well, even my wool needlecase fits in the colour scheme perfectly.  There were some other goodies sent by Els but I haven't taken pics yet.

well that is a hooly dooly big post....
Not sure when my next post will be..... will wait and see.
I'd like to wish everyone a most wonderful Christmas and safe and crafty new Year.
Thankyou to you all, my bloggy friends for visiting and supporting my crafting endeavours.
Hope to see you all soon....
cheers
Marina

this and that

thought I would share some pics of what I am working on last week and also this week.
I am hoping to get this baltimore block done so I can get to the lucy kemper redo block...
there were some initial hiccups due to not tracing the flowers accurately enough but I borrowed mum's ones and the results are so much better. the light blues were in a mail of lovely blue scraps from Susan (thimblestitch) that were meant to go to miss Lucy but I couldn't resist using some in this block, there is still plenty for Miss Lucy. lots of leaves to go.....

 these stitcheries will be a KK pressie, they seem to be taking ages, there is a third one traced but I don't know if I will manage to get it done in time.

 Here is a finished top... my pretty clamshells. I finished the applique border a few weeks ago and hadn't shown it. I like it a lot and it will make a pretty baby or dolly blanket. Don't trust those around here for it to be a table runner!

Now for some pics from the quilt show. There were quite a few people through which is great for such a small group. Rosalie and Liz popped in for a look and a cup of tea and chat which was great.
On to the pics... there were more quilts hanging but I didn't  snap them all...

have a great week
Marina.

some applique and some pincushions...

I made some pincushions last week to give to the sales table at the Bluegum Quilt show which is coming up.

I had hoped to make more but I have had some glueing malfunctions with the glue gun glue not sticking to the glass properly. Does anyone have any ideas what glue will work well to stick the fabric to glass?

 these ones utilised some cross stitcheries and I backed them with felted wool.
I am afraid the little blue one at the front is staying with me as I just can't part with it.

Some applique has been keeping my needle occupied too.

I was worried I wouldn't complete September's baltimore block in time but I did manage to get it done before the class this week.

Quite a pretty design but sooooo many leaves! at least they were larger ones. We received our last block too. I will complete mine at nine blocks. We will be given 3 extras in case we want to make it a 12 block top.

.....then I worked on my fourth Lucy Kemper centre block so this one completes the centre. This afternoon I marked the cutting lines and trimmed the blocks down.
When I bought the background fabric I didn't realise there was a direction to the pattern. There was only an exact amount left on the bolt when I bought it so there was little margin for error, but murphy's law......I did make a mistake with the direction on a block. I have ummed and aahed as to what to do but looking at the photo in this post I realise I can't leave it and have to redo the non conformist block. I had tried to mix the blocks so it would be random but no go.....so after some reverse sewing of the centre I have prepped the pieces to redo the block.  I was lucky to find a yard of the background fabric on ebay so I have enough to redo. The side blocks won't be able to match the direction of the centre but I can live with that., hopefully.
If only I had thought this out before starting I could have used several didn't fabrics...... but that's the way the cookie crumbles

I am hoping to have my clam shell top ready to show soon, just appliqueing the last border of leaves and berries. I am quite happy with the overall look.

Won't be much longer and the Shirt challenge project will be revealed by those taking part. Considering I had most of the top done early in the year it has taken way too long to get the borders on. It won't be quilted but the top will be done for the reveal.

Hope you all have a great week.

Marina

a little show and tell..

There has been stitching happening here, slow progress makes boring blogging.

I have been happily appliqueing the border vines for my clamshells and even dabbling in some cross stitching, pics will eventuate.

For now I'd love to share a pic of a little quilt mum is working on. I am not sure which magazine it is from but it was a pattern for a wall hanging which has been enlarged and added to to make a childs quilt.

So loving the bright colours..but the wind wouldn't play nice to allow a good photo. 

I delivered a quilt on Monday to a work colleague that had commissioned the make.

Beautifully quilted by Jemima's. 

No matter how hard I try I can't seem to get a photo that shows the true colour of this quilt.

It's so pretty and bright in real life and was happily received.

It was back to work this week and I am missing the free time to craft that I enjoyed the past few weeks but that's life!

Baltimore class is next week and I haven't even made any progress since the last class, think I will get a red cross next lesson......unless I get to it this week and change that cross to a tick.

Have a wonderful week

Marina