A Proper Cuppa

Like a good English girl (my grandparents were from England), I love my tea. A few years ago I was given a Wedgwood tea set, and last weekend I finally got to use it for the first time. One of my fellow stallholders came over for proper afternoon tea.

We brainstormed ideas for freshening up our stalls (Ikea was mentioned), and I sent her on her way with a baggie of fabric scraps to be turned into accessories. I also got motivated and started on some market sewing; some new cushion covers and a super cute stripy bunny.

I also snuck down the beach on Sunday for a bit of a family reunion; I love the beach no matter the weather.

Glace Stars

She's all done! One year to piece, but only two weeks to quilt and bind. And I only had to unpick the borders and sashing in one corner, not once, but twice to deal with a bit of excess.

It's another gorgeous sunny day in Melbourne, but the grass is still damp, so we did a very quick photo shoot on the front lawn. Apologies for the little spots of bright sunshine.

Each block and the centre star are quilted with a fleur de lys type design, a similar four-pointed design in the cornerstone blocks and some feathery stuff around the center medallion. Stippling in the sashing and border.

Seriously

I thought I'd be pushing my luck to get the BOM quilted before I go away in August...and just two weeks later, she's finished! The binding in ready to go, so it won't be long until she gets a proper photo shoot.

Bella is loving the opportunity to check it out and curl up for a nap.

The Mulgrave Maker's Market was on yesterday. Though a lovely sunny day, it was very windy, and I was glad we were indoors. The only downside was less traffic than usual, and therefore less sales. However, my new little Scotty Dogs proved to be very popular. I just need to work on making more toys in "boy friendly" fabrics.

I was also surprised at the number of people who thought it was OK to bring their dogs (some as large as golden retrievers) into an indoor market, particularly when there are so many babies and kids around.

It's another gorgeous day today; it might be winter but it's sunny again, and all the jonquils are flowering.

A Walk in the Park

Plan C is all finished; quilted, bound and ready to use. Thanks for all the comments about the binding.

I've also finished the central block of the BOM. As yet I haven't decided if I'm quilting the red border or not...I'm open to your thoughts and suggestions.

I've quilted the first of the sashing; stipple for the green section, and a matching flower-type design in the centre of the stars. I'm leaving the star points unquilted.

I finally upgraded my camera yesterday; hopefully you can see the difference! The macro function is just amazing, particularly for taking pics of flowers.

Getting Started

A few months ago, I asked for suggestions for quilting the 2009 Mystery BOM. 13 months after putting the quilt together, I'm finally making a start!

Last night I sat down with a print out of the quilt and a few coloured pens, and tried to plot out what I wanted to do. I took on board the suggestions I got, as well as a fleur-based quilt stencil I found a few months back. I wanted to move away from the feather designs I've used on my previous large quilts. I decided to use the fleur stencil in the 12 monthly blocks, as well as the medium centre star.

Then I went looking for some similar stencils that I could use in the triangles of the largest centre star, and found some really nice ones. I'd almost forgotten how hard it is to manoeuvre a large quilt around in the machine; the middle is always the hardest.

But I've made a start; the centre fleur is done, as are the points on one side....and I'm loving it! Now I just need to try to get it finished before I head to the US.

Quilting Ideas: 2009 FQS Mystery BOM

I've been sitting on the quilt for quite some time, and I've even had the backing and batting sitting by also. But I just haven't had the mojo to quilt it! I've pieced the backing today so I'm getting closer to being ready.


Any suggestions for quilting design? I was thinking a feather design or similar for each of the blocks, stipple in the green sashing...but what for the little stars and the centre? I've only seen one other quilted so I'm a bit lost for inspiration, and this quilt really deserves to be finished.

2009 Designer Mystery Block of the Month

All I can say is wow. I really like the way this quilt has come together, and it looks fantastic. And it's huge, which will make quilting interesting.

The extra borders seem to have pulled the sashing taught where the two smallish blocks are, so by the time its quilted, it won't be noticible at all. I can only guess that my accuracy improved over the course of the last 12 months...

BOM 12!

Finally, here we are at the last block. Has it been 12 months already?!

Now to assemble the quilt; I've got all the 'bits' ready to go, but I've found one minor problem....some of my blocks are a tad smaller than they should be. Most are only a fraction but block 2 is about 3/4" too small. It means a fair bit of 'easing' but hopefully any little wobbles in the sashing eases out by the time its quilted. You can see the puckered sashing in the top row, near the legs of the coffee table...

(not enough room on my lounge room floor, so all the blocks are a bit squashed up)

Which won't be for a little while as I still need to quilt Summer Wind, and finish Port-de-France. So much for my old method of only ever having one project on the go at a time! The main reason I keep putting off the quilting is that I hate spending money on batting...silly, I know.

I made my first fabric sale yesterday. It's safe to admit there was a bit of squealing and jumping going on in my house. I expect business to start slowly, but each little bit of progress is so exciting.

AQC Haul

I'm a few days late, but here is my wrap up of AQC. I was impressed with the layout improvements made for this year; there was more room to move between stalls, though that doesn't help a lot when 20 people are queued up at each stall!

There was a good range of shops present too, and I was pleased to see that pre-cuts have made a bit of a comeback this year. The prices were a lot more reasonable than last year too; I've previously seen layer cakes as high as $70!

I was very restrained, and only purchased a few fat quarters; Whimsy, Make Life, and a Prints Charming print. Oh, and a new blade for my rotary cutter. I thought those Make Life fabrics would make gorgeous statement cushions.

I did also order a kit from the lovely Ballarat Patchwork: Nine Birds, which will be arriving in the next couple of weeks. I was drawn to it despite is not being my "usual" style. Sometimes you just need to do something a little different.

There's not much else going on at the moment...I'm slowly plugging away at the Mystery BOM finishing kit, and recovering from a fantastic night at the John Mayer concert in Melbourne last night. Boy that bloke can sing!

BOM 11

My sewing machine has finally returned, and BOM block 11 is all stitched up. The points of the brown fabric haven't worked at all; I've never stitched two pieces together where the angle of the seam is different, so that was a bit of a boo-boo, but I figure it'll add character.

My machine has also come home with a new voice; I'm not sure if that is normal post-service, but she has had her belt reset which could explain it. She may have even sounded like this when I got her, but for ages she has been deep "voiced" and rattly, so this new higher hum is change...

Now I'm ready to stitch the next border on Summerwind, and start assembling the BOM finishing kit. See you soon!

Climate Change

It was a lovely 28 degrees up in Queensland yesterday, and I've come home to an overcast 15 degrees in Melbourne today. Makes me wish I could move up there for the winter! I had a good break; spent my mornings eating muffins and drinking hot chocolates, and spent time at the beach, as well as catching up with family. A new baby arrived to one of my mum's cousins while we were there, however we didn't get to meet him.

As I'm still (very impatiently) waiting to get my sewing machine back, there isn't too much going on here. I've spent today cutting all the fabric for the Mystery BOM finishing kit. Lots of pieces but it looks pretty simple to put together. I'll be ready to piece like crazy when I get my machine on Wednesday.

I'm also finding that the finishing kit, along with each of the monthly packages, has a lot of spare fabric. This will be a test of my stash/scrap busting skills! I've seen a few people are working on quilts from "Scrap Basket Suprises" and I think this might be a good book to add to my collection. The fabrics used in the book aren't my cup of tea, but I'm sure they would look great in anything.

BOM 10

Can you belive we are up to block 10 already! If I don't get a wriggle on and quilt the few quilts I've got sitting around, I'm going to end up having one long quilt-fest once this one is done. This one is quite a cute block, designed by Joanna of Fig Tree Quilts.

BOM 9

It's been a quiet one this week. I spent the weekend suffering sugar withdrawal symptoms like shakey legs and a headache, which is not so conducive to crafting. I've put together block 9 of the FQS Mystery BOM. Only 3 blocks to go!

Have you seen the 2010 Mystery BOM? It looks good, but I won't be doing it this year. There is just something wrong with a christmas quilt when christmas in Australia is so HOT!

I've also finished quilting the blocks of Red Velvet; just got the borders to go, then I'll pop up a picture. My only other news is that I've had a gorgeous logo designed for my quilt shop. Not long until I'll be able to reveal a few details.

BOM8 and a bit of Red Velvet

FQS Mystery BOM block 8 received, cut and stitched in record time!

Red Velvet flimsy all pieced and ready for quilting; I finished it a few days ago but it's either been pouring with rain or windy as anything. Finally today it's a comfortable 20 degrees with little wind and no rain. The top border is bugging me a bit; it's the only bit where the pattern on the fabric doesn't match well...

The bountiful homegrown produce continues; I've been gradually picking all the onions (used some in a lovely paella last night), more little tomatoes, some sneaky potatoes that were growing in the compost, and white nectarines. The nectarine tree is only little (shorter than me), but has had way more fruit than we could possibly get through, especially as it's been quite hot so it all ripened at once. Some made its way into a lovely tart though.

BOM 7

I'm all caught up now! A stunning block to look at, and really easy to put together.

I was also a bit of a naughty girl...I bought the "Frosted Windowpanes" kit from the FQS last week, but in my defense, it was on sale! It will mean two large quilts in Glace, but they are very different so I think I can justify it :-)

BOM 6

A little behind thanks to being away, but I got the mystery BOM block 6 cut and pieced in one day. Another cute block...and half way now!

BOM5

Thanks to everyone for the positive comments last post; greatly appreciated!

Not much has been happening here in the last week; we've had a run of hot, humid days, followed by thunderstorms in the evenings. Not very conducive to sitting at the sewing machine under layers of quilt! Some of the lightening was spectacular though, and worth sitting awake in the middle of the night to watch.

My only sewing progress this week is the mystery BOM block 5; its pretty cute! I'm loving how much fabric I have left over from these blocks...hopefully enough to put together a scrappy quilt later on.

It's now only two weeks till I head to the USA; for the last couple of days I've been planning how to visit as many quilt shops in Las Vegas on my free day as possible! I want to go (at least) to The Christmas Goose and Quiltique, and possible one or two more if I can. The plan is to hire a car for the day, and brave the whole "driving-on-the-wrong-side-of-the-road" thing. I've heard the outlet shopping malls are worth a visit too, so I think having a car for the day is probably a good plan.

BOM4 and Some Shopping

While today is my day off, it's been pretty slow in terms of any sewing progress... All I've managed to do is assemble block 4 from the FQS Mystery BOM.

I also spent up big on a large order of Moda's Simple Abundance, which has finally been released. For the last few months I've been very well-behaved, and abstained from purchasing fabric for any new projects (thanks Bec), and instead motivated myself to work through the stash of "to-do" projects that I already had tucked away.

However, the new patterns and fabrics out have been just too tempting (have you seen A La Mode?), so I've caved. Three new projects should keep me entertained for a while! Plus, its only 7ish weeks till I go on holidays...

BOM3 and Raspberry White Choc Muffins

Block 3 of the FQS Mystery BOM was nice enough to arrive today on my day off, and I've already got the block together. I spent all morning de-ivy-ing the garden, so I figured some theraputic sewing was a good reward for all the hard work.

This one looked quite complicated, but was actually quite simple to put together, and it looks pretty good.

I also made some divine Raspberry and White Chocolate muffins, with the following recipe:

In one bowl, put 2 cups plain flour, 2 tsp baking powder, and 3/4 caster sugar.

In a second bowl, put 1 cup sour cream, 2 eggs and 1/3 cup vegetable oil. Whisk together.

Stir liquids through flour/sugar until just combined.

Then add 1 1/4 cups raspberries (fresh or frozen) and 3/4 cups chopped white chocolate.

Stir very briefly to prevent toughening of muffins.

Divide into 12 1/2 cup muffin tins, and bake at 180C until cooked. The recipe says 12 min but I found 20 worked for me.

BOM2 and a Jelly Girl

The second block of the FQS Mystery BOM took a while to get here, but I've finally got the second block together. This block has a lot of pieces! Possibly a little wonky too, that seems to happen when flying geese are involved no matter how careful I am, but I like it anyway.

I also put together the top for Jelly Girl; that was a lot of triangles! Went together fairly easily, but was made life a little difficult getting all those points to match! Probably won't start quilting this for a few weeks, as my neck/back has been playing up again and spending hours at the sewing machine doesn't help.

It was a little windy outside when I took the photo, so when the quilt blew back a little, you can see my lovely dog Millie to the right, eating grass as usual!