broken dishes

don't be alarmed, I haven't been destroying the crockery just getting distracted in my sewing room.
Initially I was distracted by Spring Bouqet..... I made a start on preparing the applique pieces for block 1, then I decided I should prepare the red strips for Mary Brown's borders but I got distracted by some half square triangles that were left overs from Sweet William baskets and some off cut triangles from other projects.

 they'll make two lovely little minis.

these triangles were some scraps kindly given by Lynda. I can finally say this is the last of them!!

 Block 1 ready to go.....

but first there are some clamshells and saw tooth borders that need working on.
Wonder how long I will hold out before starting lol

Happy days
Marina

boy it's been awhile...

Seems like such a long time between drinks... I have been contemplating blogging lately... like lots of others too I think. To Blog or not to Blog that is the question?
There have been lots of crafting shared and wonderful friendships made through blogging so I thought I did owe my blog some loyalty and at least another go at getting my blogging mojo up and running.
There has been crafting and socialising happening since last post and of course lots of time spent with my two furry boys.
Let's start there.... Billy has grown so much and is 6 months old now and just a fraction smaller than Coffee.
He is such a handsome boy and reasonably well behaved except for the usual puppy misdemeanours.

I have been spending a big part of the holidays trying to quilt Sweet William but once the hot weather kicked in it was way too hot to be quilting by hand so it was time to pick up my clamshells once again. Slow progress till a vist to Sue (kiwikid) and a motivation hit from seeing her completed clamshell quilt. I started mine around September last year and my shells accompanied me to Europe as my on the go project.
Well all that motivation and a bit of dedication has paid off as I only have two rows to go and it will done...I haven't decided whether to do borders or not but that can wait for now... I'm so happy with it's scrappiness.
Thanks Sue for the inspiration....

My next completed item was put together today. A baby quilt for a work colleague...
Some 1930's fabrics from a friend's stash and a lovely vintage fresh feel to a simple quilt is achieved.
This will be winging it's way next week to the wonderful Fiona of Bubz Rugz to work her quilting magic on..

some other bits and bobs before Christmas were a few gifties
some zipper pouches and a pincushion...

Just to share a little extra prettiness....a visit to our local St vinnies shop to get dog bedding led to me having a sticky beak in the doilies box.... found these two lovelies. When I think of the work that went into them I just can't leave them behind..

this design is one I have used often but just never quite get around to making the cup and saucer, so cute...

Well if you're still with me thanks for making it to the end of this post.
Hopefully I can keep it up..and get back into visiting more regularly too.
Happy new year to All!
cheers
Marina

remember....

.....those gorgeous little triangles that I received from Lynda?
You might think I am avoiding my getting together with Sweet William but I have to fulfill a few obligations to some older projects first (while I work out how to tackle Sweet william).

I did play with the triangles a while ago after a marathon session of sewing the off cuts together and trimming them to 1 1/2 inches.

These were the results...

I just didn't know which I preferred as they all ended up hard to match the points and bulky around the seam joins. So they got put away until inspirations struck again.

I kept thinking make it simpler...

Well inspiration struck a few weeks ago while I was looking for a pattern to use for my shirt challenge.

I found a pattern that was described as 'old maid's puzzle' on Barbara Brackman's Jane Austen family album blog. I thought it was perfect to use for my fig tree triangles especially now that I had some extra fig tree fabric for the solid squares left over from my friends birthday quilt.

I think they look so pretty and scrappy. They finished at 3 1/2 inches. So a nice mini in the making?

Quilting is progressing nicely on the Kaffe Fassett quilt but no way will it be ready by tomorrow.

I want to quilt along the borders and that will be a big job so taking it easy....

Happy stitching!

Marina

oh, holidays, parting is such sweet sorrow...

Yes that time has come again, albeit too quickly for my liking!
why can't two weeks feel  like four weeks and not two days.
Back to normal tomorrow, I don't know how I am going to get up in time. It has taken me two weeks to perfect sleeping in! How wasteful to throw all that hard work away.
I shouldn't complain though the next round will come around quickly enough and I have had a wonderfully restful break and had lots of creative time.
two more blocks were finished for my live, laugh, love quilt and all the rest of the main blocks prepared.
I still haven't made up my mind about the upper and lower border but there is time to decide.

  
I made a few more of the little hexie pin cushions, I found lots of photos of these made out of fabric and crochet on the net but didn't find any tutorial to share for those who have asked so stay tuned when I make the next one I will share how I have made them.
Found another sweet little cross stitch design that fits in the hexie shape too.

Being the last day of my holidays I wanted to get to play with some special fabrics.

I have been wanting to use these little 1/2 square triangles that I got from Lynda ever since I sewed and trimmed all 300 or so of them. Boy was that a marathon effort!

so out came the machine and I had a little play....

Three blocks are a great start to I don't know what, but it is a start lol

Once you make a start the rest has to come eventually......right?

well there's no fighting it any longer....... Tomorrow will be here before I know it so I am off to enjoy the rest of today..

have a great week

See you all later in the week for my Christmas item for this month!

cheers

marina