Simple Pleasures - Finished

This afternoon it was fine and still and not too sunny so I grabbed a few finished items and works in progress and headed outside to take some photos. 

After what seems forever, Simple Pleasures is finally finished.

 I quilted a 1/4 inch each side of the block seams ...

and echo quilted the triangles in the border.

 In case you hadn't guessed it's a Hatched and Patched design by Anni Downs. Her stitcheries are so distinctive.

 

For this quilt I used a range of fabrics by Heather Mulder Peterson called Cottage Charm.

Several years ago by local Spotlight had this range on it's shelves and I bought up big!

Here's a closer look at the quilting in the border ... simple but effective.

 And to finish a shot of the backing. I'm not usually a fan of yellow but this buttery print jumped out shouting 'pick me' when I was auditioning fabric for the backing.

I'll be back soon with some of the other projects that got photographed today.

Partridge in a Pear Tree Pillow

This is a gift I made for Bec for her birthday. We both belong to Friends in Stitching and I had the pleasure of making her birthday gift. We had to make something beginning with the first letter of the town we live in. For me that is Penguin so I made a pink Partridge in a Pear Tree Pillow

 The stitchery is from Tis the Season by Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse. The fabrics are by Holly Holderman of Lakehouse Drygoods. I love the red spots on the pink background.

I also gave Bec a pattern, some pastel pens and a pink shopping pad and pencil.

I hope everyone had a good weekend with plenty of sewing time. I've been working away on some 'secret' projects. Unfortunately that means I can't share yet as some of the recipients read my blog.

Prizes and Pretties

Recently, I was fortunate to win not one, but two blog giveaways.

Firstly at The Quilted Crow Girls I received a pair of pincushion patterns. 

Aren't they cute. Thanks Leonie and Deidre.

Then over at New Zealand blog Farm Girl Stitching I was the lucky recipient of 3 charm packs ...

and some  yummy Riley Blake fat quarters. 

Thanks Nicky. They are all fabrics I would choose myself so I was very excited to add these to my stash.

As for sewing news, I have been quilting Simple Pleasures

... I only have to sew down the binding and it will be finished.

I've also completed my shoo fly blocks 

that will become the border of my Vignette Mystery quilt.

 

Can you tell I used three fabrics for some blocks? 

They are the ones with the 'daisyish' stripe.

I am still working away on my hexies. If the weather co-operates I'll post some pictures of the latest ones over the weekend.

Hexagons

Ok, so I finally got the camera out and took some hexie pictures. Hope you like them as much as I do. They are all my favourites!

 

 

Now I have the 'hexie bug' again there should be more pictures soon ... when I counted my pile yesterday there were 103 finished.

Bear Pillow

I've been very slack with my blogging the last few weeks ... it seems the more time I have the less I do! Anyway, below is a pillow I made for one of the Material Girls who had a birthday recently.

 The birthday girl expressed a preference for something burgundy and cream and this is what I came up with.

 The stitchery is from Sweet Sentiments, a lovely book by Natalie Bird of The Birdhouse.

I am feeling really lazy this week! With little motivation for much else I've rediscovered my hexies ... they are great to do while watching TV (in your pyjamas!)

Gardener's Journal

Thank you for all the lovely comments re my Rouenneries quilt in the last post. It seems like lots of you love it as much as I do.

 In the evenings I have been working on some stitcheries for Anni Downs A Gardener's Journal quilt.I plan to use

 Patisserie and other complementary fabrics from my Figtree stash.

I am choosing the stitchery colours as I go. I find this much quicker than constantly looking at a chart. It also makes the quilt slightly more unique.

I started with the biggest stitchery:

 No Place Like Home

 

which seemed to take forever!

The next few were smaller and much quicker:

Flower Basket

 Weather Vane

 

Dog House 

(my favourite, so far)

It is great to be on holidays ... I am slowly recovering from a very busy term. The Eisteddfod last week was very rewarding with my students achieving lots of first and second prizes in individual and choral sections ... more importantly they did their best and had lots of fun.

A Big Finish

Nearly two years after it was started my Rouenneries quilt is finally finished.

 Thankfully I love these fabrics as much now as I did then.

 In fact, only last night I was sifting through my box of leftover bits and planning another quilt in these fabrics.

The new quilt will also have bits of Rural Jardin and Pom Pom di Paris ... a truly scrappy French General quilt.

 Like me Oliver was very pleased with the warm sunny weather this morning ... he always like to 'cat scan' my quilts!

 Once again, it is Eisteddfod time so I will be very busy this week with lots of my primary school students performing vocal solos and duets and singing in our school choirs. They have all worked very hard to prepare their items ... I'm really looking forward to the next four days.

Pink Hanging Heart

This is a gift I made recently for one of the Material Girls ... a craft group I belong to.

The pattern is in Rosalie Quinlan's book A Stitch in Time.

This is the second one I've made and I'm sure it won't be the last. I stitched on some plain pink Pom Pom di Paris by French General.

I find it easier to piece my backings on stuffed projects like this ... the gap is easier to finish neatly and I don't have to wrestle with the ric-rac at the sides.

Today I pieced together block 1 of the Vignette Mystery Quilt. I'm keen to get going on the stitchery very soon ... will keep you posted.

A New Project

 I love starting new projects and recently started the Mystery quilt in Leanne Beasley's Vignette magazine. I have started with the Shoo Fly blocks which form the borders. There are 60 in the quilt and I've done about 45 so far.   

The fabrics are  Sweet Broderie by Rosalie Quinlan combined with some Lecien basics.

I fussy cut a lot of the pieces to make the most of the beautiful patterns in the fabrics. It was time consuming but I'm really happy with the results.

There is a lot of stitchery in this quilt so I am going to be busy for quite some time! What fun.

BOMs

I have 3 Block of the Month quilts on the go at the moment.  Mad I know, but I certainly don't get bored!

 First up is block 2 of the 2011 Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery Quilt. So happy I signed up for this one as the Strawberry Fields fabrics are just delightful.

This block is called Promise of Spring and was designed by Pam Buda of Heartspun Quilts.

 I've also started Tiny Town by Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs using Martinque by 3 Sisters and Fresh Cottons by Figtree. I purchased the pattern at a local store last year and have been eager to start it ever since. This is 2/3 of block 1 ... there is still another panel to go on the right.

Finally here is block 4 of The Night Before Christmas, also by Bunny Hill Designs. I skipped block 3 as it had lots of little pieces to applique! I need a bit more practice before tackling those.

It's another cold, grey day in Penguin today ... perfect to sit by the heater and stitch.