A week of Saturdays

 At the moment everyday seems like a Saturday, but today it's the real one.

It's been busier than a beehive in spring here and baskets are cropping up everywhere. All the backgrounds have been cut after some dramas, and all the baskets are cut too.

I had wanted to add some white and cream backgrounds with grey but it just didn't look right to me so I went with a creamy background but as I was cutting I ran out of fabric so had to add a second choice and just got the remaining blocks out of the piece. Both were left overs from other projects and there will be some creative juggling once they need to come together.

Four blocks completed so far.... and I am pretty happy with them.

oops pardon the foot in the corner 

thought I would share some pin cushions  I made last year as gifts for crafty friends...

I love Pincushions and have way more than I need but it's nice to make them for others.

As you know Maisie was my Cat Scanner of quilts and when she passed it left a position to be filled. Miss Poppy seems to have stepped up to the mark and is the Queen of comfort!

She loves to check out a nice quilt whether it's in progress or giving it a test run once finished and don't even talk about crocheted blankets...

Here is another nighty that I completed for our precious little girl. I started it around 20 years ago and it just needed buttons and little extra embroidery.  Below it are some little singlets I spruced up for her too.

Sun is shining in between clouds and rain so I hope to make the most of those breaks in the weather.

Happy days!

Hope you have reason to smile today!

Marina

a quiet week

It has been a quiet week here as far as sewing has been but I have some secret sewing that has arrived at it's destination that I can show...

A few weeks ago I had great fun finishing these stitcheries into an apron and two tea towels.  Great stitcheries from Urban threads and they download for a super price.

After sending Hub out to get me some more bunnies from Bed bath and table the other week.....and a quick visit to Gisborne on Saturday to see the girls getting together there was a little retail therapy to buy some fabric for the pin cushions.
On Sunday these babies came together..

The fifth little bunny hopped away to stay at Susan's (thimblestitch) and I forgot to take a picture of him...
I just think they are so cute. Some will be gifted I'm sure but not sure which ones I will be able to part with lol
Today I was reunited with Sweet William thanks to mum picking him up from Jemima's where the top was beautifully basted. Can't wait to start quilting

..............especially as these pretties arrived yesterday in the mail.

Seems like I have a few things to crow about.
I had a hard time finding these templates in Australia so had to order from the US.
The Stencil Company is where I sourced them. The prices were great, postage as reasonable as could be expected and the service quicksmart! They arrived here in less than a week. That's great.
.
Once some cooler weather graces us I will be keen as mustard to start quilting.
Hope you are having a great week, not long till the weekend now.
Can't wait!
cheers
Marina

ps a quick message for Tanya Hughes..... would love to reply to your email about the doilies but you are a no reply blogger. If you email me I am happy to send a couple of doilies as I have some extras in my stash.

crafting bliss....

Well going back to work has gone smoothly, it's been really hectic and busy but that should die down soon. I have been savouring all the free time I can to work on some new and some old projects. A few ufo's have been finished or nearly finished but I will show more of them soon.
I started this little project, couldn't put it down and  got it done quick smart. Loved the shape of the pears and had been wanting one of my own ever since Elyte made hers. I decided to raid my stash of reds and shirtings. It is a Gail Pan design.
some borders and some simple quilting and it will be a lovely wall hanging.

 Susan of Thimble stitch made me a beautiful little cotton holder (the prety blue one) then she also posted a tutorial on her blog... of course I wanted to have a go. The instructions were great to follow and mine didn't turn out too bad. My major issue was the stiffening I used was not firm enough. Note for next time...
Today I got around to making the little closer that goes around the button. I ended up crocheting mine as when I tried to sew it I had to undo numerous times.  Not as perfect as Susan's but practise makes perfect!

You might have noticed the little bunnies in the background.... Mum told me about them when she had passed Bed Bath and Table. I had to have a look and they only had two left so I snapped them up.

they are so pretty as they are but I had something else in mind for them.

 After some playing in the sewing room this afternoon they become pin cushions... because I need another pincushion of course.. actually I think I need a bigger shelf for them!
the little bucket one got done too -they were on sale at bed bath and table last easter and I snapped up a few of them too. I so need to get my hands on some more bunnies! luckily they are getting some more in next week.

Have also been indulging in some crochet while I wait to revisit miss Lucy Kemper. I have quite a stash of crochet cotton and some beads too so thought some milk jug doilies were in order. I am onto my third one.  It takes one or two to get my tension and rythm happening so I want to keep going and hope to make a few more for the gift box.
I haven't made this pattern before but it was very enjoyable and easy to follow. I think it was a freebie from the Coats website. If anyone is interested I can fish out the pattern again and get the details.

Well that's me caught up again....
Hope there has been some crafting in your weekend too.

happy days
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

popping in

It's a beautiful sunny day in Melbourne this morning and I have had a rotten cold this past week which has seriously curbed my enthusiasm for most activities, including sewing.
It's been a lovely two weeks at home, besides the cold, and back to work tomorrow.
Yesterday was a day I was hanging out for, a great day spent at a sew-in with Sunbury quilt group.
Anne, Robyn, Elyte, Tania, Marg and Sue were there and we had a back up Marina as well (another Marina from Gisborne) another new friend too, Gabbi. Funnily Marina and I seem to sit together when we have been at sewing things. Can make for interesting conversations when someone calls our name or when we talk about each other as it sounds like we are talking about ourselves in the third person.
Sue was taking some incriminating pics , I was busy stitching (for some of the time) but I am a little worried about some of the photos that may turn up lol. There may have been some silliness.
It was lovely to have a laughing day with the girls thanks for the great day out!
I have some lovely pics of some gorgeous gifts that have made their way to my place and to the sew in yesterday. I wouldn't even mention the occasion but I do want to acknowledge the lovely gifts so I have to put it out there.  

 this parcel of lovelies arrived from Els in the Netherlands. Those fabrics are going to make some gorgeous Sweet William baskets... and the little dolly is an 'upside down doll' so cute.

 this loveliness arrived from Fiona (bubz rugz) Such beautiful stitches! I have always wanted to stitch this design. No need now I have a beautiful one of my own!

 A gorgeus pincushion from Robyn very regal don't you think (and so appropriate) and a very pretty charm pack from Elyte, my mind is already swirling with options for using this!

 Straight to the pincushion shelf for this treasure!

 thought I would share these as they have a sewing theme, from my wonderful SIL.

And the reason for all these gifties, you might have guessed...

 This morning our no 3 son insisted we come out and look at his car, this is his baby and he is slowly doing things to it to improve it (and sap money). It is a lovely old Panel van from the '70's. It can only be driven in fine weather as he doesn't want it to get wet and it has to be garaged so it isn't in the weather. What a princess!
Well we had to come out immediately to look at the tyre rims. Well aren't they amazing (yeah whatever)!
I told him I must take a photo and blog about it it's so amazing as I am sure my crafty friends would be dying to see it........(please insert sarcasm here)
Just had to share the excitement and joy with you girls.

It's so amazing it deserves a close up...

There you are motherly caring and sharing done for me now..
Now will share just one more pic... Had to have a play with Sweet William blocks just to get an idea of how it was looking. It will need to be a bit bigger but I just need to work out how much bigger. I might even make the blocks all facing the one way? Another option.  It's so exciting to see them together. Won't be long and I will get to making the extra baskets. In the meantime there is still some quilting to do...and a quilt to bind and wips that need attention, ufo's to work on etc etc etc... I know you all understand...

Hope you have a wonderful Sunday
cheers
Marina

pincushion swap

Is seems a while since I took part in a swap but I jumped at taking part in a little swap organised by Susan of Thimblestiich and today is reveal day!!
I love it when you have to try to work out your partners likes and dislikes.
So after some not too obvious stalking of Dawnies blog I came up with a few options but narrowed it down to this...
I enjoyed working with the subtle colours and hope to make myself one with the leftovers.

 this is the gorgeous pin cushion I received from Deb of frogcottage designs.  Who would have guessed I would love a hexie design? I absolutely love it and Deb has used so many beautiful fabrics. She also included some pretty little theodora cleave buttons (oops didn't get a pic of them) There are also hexies on the bottom, and those prairie points are perfect. Love it thankyou so much Deb and big thanks to Susan for organising the swap.

 There has been slow progress here on my blueberry ripple blanket and last week I was missing Sweet William a little bit so pulled out a few blocks to work on....

those little pink flowers were quite a test and luckily I got some practice for my new Baltimore block as  it has lots of similar flowers on the current block.
Have made a flying start... lots more applique to go on this one, I'm loving it.

Hope you are all enjoying your weekend.
Off to a dog club day today so Coffee will be having a great day at a pet resort with other curly four leggers.
happy days
Marina

some applique distraction.....

Well it was back to routine this week and it seems like those two weeks were so long ago. It always seems to feel this way.
One highlight was that on Wednesday Mum and I went to our applique class and got our second baltimore block.
I will post some pics once there is some interesting applique on my block. Bias stems (which we learnt to make)amazing as they are, are not very interesting. and they are all I have on my block at the moment. I had to redo my block as when I put my bias stems on the fabric they seemed to pucker in a few places so it was unpick and redo.
My progress was also hampered a little by a distraction...still applique but on a smaller scale
I went to my local quilt shop to drop off my butterfly top for quilting and got some help to pick out fabrics for this project. As I am having an in house retreat due to the absence of the mere males of the household I am having heaps of sewing time. So loving it!
 I am quite happy with the result. Some more stitching then this can get put together.

 An update on my raspberry ripple blanket.....it is growing nicely.

........ and here are some pics of a quilt mum is making for her great niece. Seems she has gone mad on applique!
Do you see where I get it from?

Hope you have had some crafty time this weekend.

sewing merrily along..

Well the relationship with Sweet William seems to be ambling along perfectly now. Those difficult times seem so long ago.......

I have a grand total of 13 baskets sewn so far and they are all of a uniform size. I am quite over the moon about this! A new 'Sweet William' page on my blog has all the photos of each block. There are another 8 to be made up in this batch then I will start to do some of the appliqueing. On Friday I got very organised and sorted all the patterns and applique bits that I had started to prepare, into a folder so that I will be uber-organised with this project now that I am in love with it once more.  (I think Elyte may have unleashed a monster)

Lesson-Never underestimate the power of the light bulb moment. Sometimes you just need someone to flip the switch.

 here are the latest blocks...

 On Friday I had a day out to Gisborne with Liz, Rosalie and mum. We had a great visit to Patch and Quilt, lunch at the new cafe a few doors up which we can happily recommend, then afternoon tea with lovely Karin from Kilmore quilters. Karin couldn't make the road trip so we detoured to visit.
Liz brought me two lovely gifties- one was this gorgeous pin cushion. It has already found a special place on my pincushion shelf. I love it and the colours are perfect, Liz knows my love of blues well.

 She also made this beautiful little angel ornament. It is so pretty. It has joined my treasures from crafty friends. It may go on the tree next year or just stay in my sewing room all year round.

Yesterday I had a great day with three of my nieces. 11 y/o twins and their 16 y/o sister. They are such wonderful girls. We made gnocchi together and then they asked me to teach them to crochet.

Well three students at once was a bit full on but I got them started with chain stitch. I told them once they perfect that we will move onto the next part of crocheting. They happily took yarn and hooks home to practice. I'm so happy to pass on some craftiness!

Needless to say once they went home I needed a big rest..... I did enjoy the girlie time a lot.

Well the sewing machine beckons, I need to make as much use of this holiday time as I can as it will end soon.

happy sewing!

Marina

hot off the hoop

Where has time gone....
Have had lots to tell but not much enthusiasm to do it... so what has been happening you say?
I won a gorgeous giveaway from Cheryl, the goodies arrived and they are definitely going to see some attention in the near future.
I have been plodding along on the crafting front working hard to get the gift quilt finished for my friends birthday. The party was yesterday but I delivered the quilt today. She was very happy with the quilt and didn't mind it being a day late.
Would you like to see it?

 I anchored the  plain squares with a shell button
stitchery design-Rosalie quinlan

A few weeks ago we had the Mill Rose get together. It was a wonderful day and there were quite a few that were missed from the regular group but there were some lovely new girls to get to know.
 Unfortunately my photos of the day were pretty poor so I haven't any to share but lots of the other girls have posted fun pics of the day.
this lovely little pincushion came home with me from Mill rose...a sweet gift from Lovely Sue (the gisborne girls) two cute little owls in a woolly tree.

 Since finishing swan lake I have been contemplating a new long term project....
Sweet William has been in the back of my mind for some time and after a little arm twisting from Josie (dilly dimple- yes Josie I am going to blame you totally for this) I ordered the pattern online.
I think this will be a big challenge but hey challenges never killed anyone, right? Hillary climbed Everest and survived....
I thought I had really bitten off more than I could chew when after paying for the pattern a few days later I received an email with photos of each of the blocks, but not finding any written instructions I broke out in a sweat. I was worried that I had to work out the blocks just from the pictures! OMG did I have an anxiety attack.... a quick email to Susan Smith calmed me down ....the paper pattern was on it's way and she just wanted to send photos of each block as a guide to colours and so forth... PHEW!!!

I am going to endeavour to learn needleturn applique and once I work out how I will piece the baskets I will be off and running. Only a few weeks till term holidays so then I will have time to play.
Wish me luck!
cheers for now
Marina