Quilting done!

Thank Goodness, I have got the quilting done on my scrappy trip around the world, it wasn't that hard once I actually sat down and it did it, I decided to quilt it every second square, horizontally, vertically and diagonally...

...and on my new Janome, it really powered through the quilt, I think it took around 8 hours, split up over two weekends! I used a Denyse Schmidt, Katie Jump Rope on the back, which is a nice happy fabric! So now all that is left is the binding...is there any such thing as binding avoidance?

With all the quilting out of the way I got stuck into my Bonnie Hunter scrappy baskets....which I am really happy with...

I have them all up on my "design wall", quilt batting held by coat hangers on a sliding door pelmet, ....ready to stitched together!

Speaking of which I better hurry up because the fan keeps on blowing bits and pieces off :)

It's Official...No Quilting here

Officially quilting avoidance has commenced, I blogged a couple of weeks ago here that I had finished my scrappy trip top, I have even made up the backing, and pinned the thing....but not a quilting stitch has occurred....so what have I been doing?

Remember this book....

 and this pattern...

and these little string blocks, well I have finished the 32 string blocks...

And I have made a couple of little basket blocks....

with different baskets....

and then I had this other block I had cut out from before Christmas, so that got sewn together.

Tutorial for this block can be found over at...Bloomin' Workshop. It will be included in a red and white sampler I want make...I am going to include these blocks from the Bloggers BOM...but it's slow boiler...not sure when it will be done  :)

And I also have been doing some hand sewing... I will show you that soon. Saturday, is a day at the guild's club rooms...maybe I will do quilting there....but maybe I won't...sigh...really need to get on with this quilting !

Inspired to feather...year of the finish

This weekend I am trying to get my sewing space organised for quilting my Scrappy Trip Top, this means putting away piles of fabric, and finishing some half finished projects....like my Anna Marie feathers.

I actually made these before christmas...I was inspired by a picture I had seen on Flickr of someone making these feathers with different whites as the background, do you think I can find the photo now? I forgot to mark it as a favourite...grrr...

If you like this pattern check out Molly Flander's blog for lots of colour options...and make sure you spend some time looking at her other posts because she has some lovely ideas.

I have made four blocks so far, and seven more cut ready to go....so should I sew them all before I start quilting? I suspect I may be going into Quilting Avoidance....a condition I suffer from regularly :)

Scrappy trip top done!

My first top for 2013...waa-hoo....very happy with how it's turned out...

Nice colour close up....

and another one...it's very easy to get good photos with lots of light and bright colours :)

What backing should I use?

What shall I do with my scraps?  How come there are still scraps at the end of a scrap project?

Seeing as the scrappy trip block tutorial was done by Bonnie Hunter....I raided my local quilt library (mum's house), and borrowed Bonnie Hunter's latest book....String Fling....Bonnie has quite a few publications, and they all have loads of great scrappy and recycling ideas!

This little block caught my eye....so I have found a new scrap project for the scraps!

And of course I had to start "stringing" straight away...on pages from last year's telephone book.

I am making up 32 of these, and 16 of the little basket blocks...will report back on this soon!

Sunday update - Scrappy Trip Along

WARNING: Colour Overload in this post :)

Since last weekend I have been sewing up a storm, these blocks are so much fun, I was making 16 but I expanded to 24, seeing as there no real shortage of fabric in my scrap boxes!

Of course I was spurred on by the fact I am using a new-to-me sewing machine. I recently bought a second hand Janome Horizon, but of course the machine is only two years old so it is like a brand new one. It's been 25 years since I have sewed on a Janome and I have been enjoying it.

It still is surprising me how all the different fabrics play nice together...

The blocks that had the strongest diagonal row are the ones that have worked the best.

And I just love the yellow in the blocks.

Hope you all had a "sewy" weekend !

Scrappy Trip Around the World

Yes...me as well...hope you all aren't sick of these yet....but as I haven't been able to get to my sewing machine for nearly six weeks, with Christmas and holidays, it has been killing me not to be able to get on the scrappy trip-around-the-world "wagon" kicked off by the Lucy and Norman blog  using the pattern from Quiltville .

So on Saturday when I had the whole day at the guild to sew....I started having fun with my scraps...please excuse quality of photos I was using my iPhone.

Some pink scraps...

Maybe I'll use a little black in this one

What about some big spots

How about no pink...

It's funny how fabrics I have never used together, play so nicely together...
Looking a little trippy now!

I think I am going to have fun with this!

Happy Australia Day

As I watched the news last night, I reflected on the diversity of our landscape, we have towns flooding along the east coast of Australia, in Queensland, and towns threatened by fire in Victoria. There is three certainties for summer in Australia, floods, fires and cyclones!

My family and I have just returned from a three week holiday, mainly in Tasmania, and I am ashamed to say it was my first trip there, what a beautiful place, but unfortunately not without the summer blight of fires, in the south of Tasmania one community lost 60 homes, all up this particular fire burnt out over 120 homes, but no lives were lost, testament to the organisation of the Fires Services, professional and volunteers.


Being Australia Day I would like to share some the photos from our tour of Tasmania, the diversity in this one little island is amazing.

The view from our home stay just outside Davenport

Sunset at Strahan, on the west coast of Tassie

Sarah Island, accessible through the Gordon River, was built by convicts in the 1800's 

West Coast Ranges....we were on our way Strahan, we were quite high, it was blowing a gale, there was snow up here in the beginning of December!

Nelson Falls

Just love the texture and colour of this...is it a moss or a fern?

Wine Glass Bay....one of the top 10 beaches to visit in the world...a 3 hour return walk up and over a mountain is the only way to access it....not for the faint hearted...it nearly killed me!

Look at that fabulous seaweed

The beach gets over 200,000 visitors a year, so this wallaby is quite used to people, and it made my son (15) and my daughter's (12) day that it would sit so close and be patted....it really was just there to scavenge food but I didn't want to burst the bubble.

Richmond just outside of Hobart...this house looks like it belongs in England

And of course what holiday is not complete without a trip to a quilting shop!

This beautiful store is inside an old chapel, and just fabulous, both the building and the fabric of course!

So if you are ever in Tasmania make sure you go to the Quilted Crow in Hobart, not just for the fabric, but to admire this very special building.

I am now running late to go sewing with my guild, the first decent run my sewing machine will have had in 6 weeks....I am going to be sewing all day....and then home to do a family BBQ for 17 at 6pm...so many thing to do!!!