all good things....

....must come to an end.
I have been trying to make the most of the last few days savouring the time to get things done, having fun in the sewing room and spending a crafty day with friends.
It has been quite a productive break and you can't complain about that.
Yesterday I spent the day with Liz (the village quilters) and Rosalie (Briar Rose). Mum came up too and we shared some laughs, stories and sewing. Liz and Rosalie brought some show and tell with them and we were gobsmacked at how beautiful their finishes were. Liz brought her (my new quilt) AAHH top that has been put together. It is amazing!! I tried to steal kidnap it but there was not much chance of that happening.
Rosalie brought her crazy quilt to show and it was breathtaking. So much detail and such beautiful stitching.
The photos do not do either of them justice but here is a peek They are absolutely stunning.

I didn't take a photo of what the girls were stitching but Rosalie and Liz were working on two gorgeous Teddlywinks quilts. Mum was appliqueing like a woman possessed. She has found her mojo and is working on a quilt for my cousins little girl. I will get pics of that soon.
I wasn't idle and pulled out a 'had to do' project that has been sitting around for too long. Not quite finished but I'll share the finished item when it's done.
I did manage to tick two big things off my holiday list.....
The boys story quilt has been completely finished. The binding went on last night. I am very happy to have this done and it can go to it's new home next week.

the back was pieced from the leftover fabrics... Quilted by Jemima's with a jigsaw design. I love the quilting. They used this design on the dr Seuss quilt I made for No 1 son.

Second tick off the list was to try to complete the top for this special quilt..
Well it's a big 'done' and I have the back to piece then it will be ready for quilting.
I ended up going for an off white background as the taupe seemed to dull the butterflies too much and I wanted it to be bright and cheery.

Well Phew if you're still here thanks for sticking with me through all my pics.
There are just a few more to share..... Our passionfruit vine is flowering and I think they are the most amazing flowers so I wanted to share a few.
this one reminds me of the plant on the Little Shop of Horrors.... Feed me Seymour.....

One last pic of my latest sweet william block..

thanks for getting through all those pics.. there are some more that can wait till next post.
Have a great weekend
Cheers
Marina

where did all the holidays go....

Two days back at work so far and I must say I am sleeping like a baby...
It's quite tiring having to think- remembering passwords, where you put things last year that you need now, where did my pen stash go, who was that again? etc etc.
Definitley a mojo killer!
Lucky I worked so hard on the weekend and Australia day that I got the Boy's story top all pieced together.
Phew! that was a job and a half...
would you like to see it?
the photo doesn't quite show the oomph of the bright fabrics as it was a gloomy grey day when I snapped the pic.
Just need to piece a backing and it's ready to go to the quilter.

 Second sweet william block appliqued too. It has a little lean but that is a minor concession I can live with!

 Maisie checking out the dolls in the girls' room!


hope you are having a lovely week.... Hope  I survive it. Craft group on Saturday, which I haven't made it to for a few months. Looking forward to catching up.
happy stitching.
Marina

last hurrah...

This is the last week of the holidays and I have been trying to cram it with lots of loveliness to ease the transition back to work.
There was a wonderful catch up with the City girls on Tuesday. A day of stitching and chatting and of course eating lovely food . I managed to get all my stitching done on my boys story blocks so that I could make a start on putting them together.
Wednesday it was to the movies with a friend to see 'Into the woods'. Not quite what I expected but not a bad movie.
Thanks to the hot weather we have been having, a lot of time has been spent indoors, which means lots of sewing time...
Two blocks done.....only seven to go....

Sweet William hasn't been neglected during this week.
I have a total of 19 basket blocks pieced ready for applique. (all the blocks are on my sweet william page) Last night I thought I should make a start on some applique too. If I can do at least two per month I think that will be a steady workable pace.
This block was the first one I appliqued when I first started the project but it has turned out smaller than all of the early ones. It has now been remade in the correct size. Loved making this block (twice).

Each basket has an excess of 1 half square triangle unit and also another when I make the basket base. I have been frugal with these and trimmed them up to use later on in a mini. They will be a scrappy reminder of this quilt. Aren't they sweet?

Now there has also been a squatter moved into my room. Someone who seems to have claimed it as their own!!

Maisie has discovered that there is a lovely comfy single bed with a snuggly woollen blanket on it in my sewing room. Of course it must be there just for her! She has been keeping me company while I sew some days and other times she just takes the room for herself as I often find her sleeping in there on the bed.
It's officially the 'girls' room'
Have a wonderful weekend
cheers
Marina

some starts, some finishes, some stuff...

Well the silly season has passed and we managed to survive it by keeping it low stress.
The year started off with a lovely get together with the Gisborne girls and City girls, with Melody thrown in for good measure. And what a super day it was!!
I have had some lovely time to myself in my sewing room, even though I had to share it with no 2 sone while he was in transit and staying here. He was amazed and said 'what happened to my room?'
I just let him know that it's my room now and while he can visit and stay in the room it must be left in a reasonable condition so that I can pop in and out as I wish to sew. That seemed to work ok. He did seem to move out quite quickly though? Hmmm
The best part of having my own space has been that I can leave the machine and mess out and just pop in  even if it's for just a few minutes and just leave it there till I get the chance to do some more.
Be prepared, this slack blogging makes for photo heavy posts when I do decide to post...

I thought this challenge was a great idea, similar to what I have done myself before.
You list your ufo's and each month you pick a number and that's the project that you work on for the month.
If you play along with the blog site they select the item number to work on.
I have one project down.....

can only give you a sneak peak! My shirt challenge is now a top. I need to work on borders but there is plenty of time.

Something new......I started a new Boys story quilt for a friend at work... Thanks to my 'new to me' machine it does beautiful applique stitch so I don't have to do it by hand. The hand stitching needs to be done. Excuse the threads everywhere, the fabric is fraying mercilessly.

Some progress..... I managed to complete the last row of my novelty hexies and then got so excited I did all the hexies needed to even up the sides. Just need to get some backing and decide how to quilt it. Was toying with borders too? It can sit like this for a little till inspiration strikes.

Of course I had to have some hand stitching on the go....
These two designs are by Urban threads. I love their quirkiness.
Such a great price too for a quick download.

Of course some time in the sewing room means some rearranging... I have been reshuffling and repurposing bits and pieces. I can get lost in there for ages.. Some of the hangings got shuffled around, I reorganised my pin cushions after rediscovering this little shelving unit (got to use that stash of little doilies that I have too) and put a crochet blanket on the bed after no 2 son moved on. My grandmother made this and I just love it. Even though it is old fashioned and daggy. The boys throw quilts got a wash yesterday while it was so hot they dried so quickly in the shade. Perfect!
The two that have moved out don't seem to want to take them with them and no 3 son still at home doesn't want a dinosaur quilt on his bed, he much prefers cars? What is with that, just because he's 19?? Whatever... so they will stay folded up on the bed in my room for now.

Hope everyone has kicked off the year well... Some more social outings planned for this week with crafty friends. Perfect!
cheers for now & happy crafting
Marina

some holiday happiness

I have had the end of this week at home and it has been a mini whirlwind of crafting, not quite on the scale of term holidays but there were a few must do's that needed to get done.

 this little stitchery was finished a few weeks ago. It is stitched with the gorgeous cottage thread that I was sent by Cheryl in her giveaway. I couldn't wait to use it.

 I finished this stitchery this week. It was my project that I took to Queensland with me.
I wasn't going to sating stitch all of it but after some unpicking It was the only way to go. Just wished I had been a little more careful in my tracing...
I have been enjoying doing lots of stitching but I really need to purpose them into finished projects!
Maybe next holidays?

 I spent a day this week having a play with my shirt fabrics....it is meant to be secret crafting business but Tracee showed a peek of hers and to repay the compliment I will show a peek of mine....

what would holidays be without some retail therapy!

A work colleague has asked me to make a boys quilt for her 3 y/o. A trip to GJ's was in order but they are only offering their discount now on cuts of 50 cm for their 25% special. Still picked up some bargain fats though.

I am going to make the Boys story quilt minus the stitcheries.  I have also added some brights from my stash so I think I will have a great assortment.

 Thought I would try these to tackle some more applique with Sweet William. Still haven't plucked up the courage to get back to them.....but soon

I have done the borders on the baby's quilt that I am doing for a friend with the little vintage animals stitcheries from a previous post. I sandwiched it and basted it so it is ready for some hand quilting. I think I am crazy! It is only a metre squared so hopefully won't take too long. fingers crossed. I will share a pic once it is done.
 A last pic of a beautiful stitchery Teresa gifted me when we had our get together in Queensland.
Michelle's stitchery designs are so pretty and how about getting one already done? Sounds good to me.
I will need to organise this into a finish too...

well it's back to work tomorrow...
It feels like I have been away for ages.... is this a sign of a rested holiday?
Off to hunt and gather... have had no car for a few days so it will be good to get out in my car instead of having to walk everywhere.
Hope you have had a crafty weekend too
cheers
marina

A day late and a finish!

Thanks to the football last night I dragged out my sewing machine and made an attempt to finish my stitched hearts. Technically the hearts were finished last night, still in time for the 25th deadline for the Christmas finishes and the ribbons were completed this morning. Hooray! So you can tick me off for a finish now Narelle instead of a half finish.

Now for the finish....
Friday night I put the final quilting stitches into my Boys story quilt while waiting for the boys to get home from a party. I just love staying up late and sewing but I have to have a sleep in the next morning.
Yesterday afternoon I popped over to Jemima's shop to buy some binding.
Found some lovely fabric to frame the quilt. I sewed the binding on last night and put in another night shift to hand sew the binding down. The lord of the rings kept me company both nights. Love those movies and thank god they are so looong!(have the extended versions too)
Well here are the pics...

My next quilting project is my Down in the garden. I have the top, the batting and the backing! All right to go. Think I will save this one for Quiltober this year.
Happy days!!

Marina

some finishing off..

Now that my DITG is finished it is time to focus my attentions to some other projects that have been waiting in the wings. I was tempted to start quilting DITG straight away but my Boys story quilt has been bundled up in the wadding since I finished it so out it came and I have started hand quilting it. I forgot how big it is!
I am just making up patterns and stuff as I go along. Each block will have a random design dictated by it's pattern or by the applique and stitchery it surrounds. Should keep it fun and interesting.

I managed to finish off some half done projects...
I am gathering quite a collection of these and they look lovely in the gift box. Don't think I can part with them all though. They are a Marg Low pattern. When I see the buttons I grab them and put them away to add to my collection.

 Here are my hare pincushions. I can't decide which one to keep and which one to put in the gift basket. I probably don't need to keep either of them but it isn't about Need is it?

 the lace at the back makes a good scissor keeper.

My purse for the Flickr purse swap is done and waiting for it's posting deadline.

I can't wait to send it off and to receive mine. The photos posted of finished purses are amazing and I wish I was getting sent most of them.

My mini for my quilt hanger also saw sunlight this week. But there seemed to be more unpicking than sewing so it has to wait for it's borders and binding. It is one step closer..... They will be lovely for summer.

Last night while waiting to have to go and pick up no 3 son from a party I prepared some more hexies for my Swan Lake quilt. They should keep me going for a little while. I managed to sew over half the dollies on the second border while we were away so I need to get going on the hexie flowers as I don't want to sew any onto the next border till they are all finished. Talk about a long term project.

well that is it for this photo heavy post.

Back to work tomorrow! We will resume less productive blogging and return to our regular posting schedule.  I so wish I had another week...

.

The sun is out and there is a slight breeze so I am off to try to dry as much washing as possible and then off to mum's this afternoon to make gnocchi for dinner!

Hope you have had a productive weekend

Cheers

marina