Burnie Friendship Day

Today I went to the Burnie Friendship Day organised by the Material Girls and Burnie Piecemakers. It had a Christmas in July theme and was a great day. The best bit was spending time with blogging friends I don't see as often as I'd like. 

I took lots of photos most of which were really horrible. Some people might never speak to me again if they were posted so I will be kind! These are the best of a really 'crappy' lot!

There was lots of yummy food,

 a display of Christmas quilts ...

 

 

and lots of cute Santas. 

There was Show and Tell,

presents ... 
 

and reindeer. 

There were decorations,

 

a name tag competition (isn't Sarah's awesome)

  

and more gorgeous Santas. 

  

I love this one. 

And of course there was an array of traders to tempt us with their wares. 

Sarah from Patchworks Plus and her mum Gail made these pretty Vintage Modern quilts and ...

had lots of lovely Tilda fabrics and kits on their stand.

There were also lots of lovely goodies on sale from Wells and the Fabric Cupboard.

 I may have been a bit naughty in the spending department, but that will have to wait for another post. Bye.

 

Leap Year Top

I have added borders to my Leap Year Schnibble quilt and it is now ready to be quilted.

Looking at these pictures, I kind of wish I'd made the blue border wider as I really LOVE that print. 

These Vintage Modern fabrics are so pretty. I will definitely be making a bigger quilt with them sometime in the future.

This month is free choice for those joining in Another Year of Schnibbles.. we get to choose our own Schnibble pattern. I'm not sure if that's a good thing or not. Decision making is not a strength of mine! but I have narrowed it down to two patterns. Now to choose the fabric ... decisions, decisions.

 

Still Here!

Hi all. Well it happened again ... one of those unplanned blog breaks I seem to have every now and then! Thanks to those who commented or emailed to check I was ok or to say they missed me in blogland. You're the best.

This term has been very busy at school. At the moment I'm in the middle of writing music reports for over 300 primary school children so the sewing has been very much on the back burner. 

One thing I have managed to do (I have to do a bit of sewing to stay sane!) is the first block of the new Fat Quarter Shop 2012 Designer Mystery Block of the Month. (What a mouthful!) Block One is by one of my favourite designers, Anne Sutton of Bunny Hill Designs. It is called Laundry Days and the fabrics are of course, Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille.

I had hoped to have last years top completed before starting this new one have but unfortunately block 12 got lost in the post. Thankfully the wonderful Fat Quarter Shop have mailed me another one which should arrive any day now.

When I was in Sydney, I started working on my hexies again. I got 3 done while away and have completed 7 more since. It is over a year since I started this project and thankfully I still love the colours and fabrics.

Sydney was fabulous and I promise to post about it really soon but for now it's back to those b..... reports!

Leap Year

Leap Year is the name of the Schnibble quilt for June. Thank you to Carrie for the pattern which she kindly gave to participants in the last Schnibble parade.

 I decided to make a very scrappy version using Vintage Modern and Ruby by Bonnie and Camille.

   

The two ranges go together beautifully ... love the aquas, reds and greys. I'm so looking forward to getting my hands on some of their new range Marmalade when it becomes available.

The dotty sashing strips are Vintage Modern and the little floral squares at the intersections are Ruby. I added the squares to help me get the blocks in each row to line up. It bugs me that sometimes when I use a single strip the blocks don't line up perfectly.

 Now to add some borders.

 

On Thursday I fly to Sydney to spend the weekend at the Craft and Quilt Fair with some stitching friends. A couple I know very well but it will be the first time I have met most of the Friends in Stitching girls. I have to admit to being excited as well as a bit nervous ... new people, new places etc ... but I'm sure we will have a fabulous time. Must remember the camera!

Doc in Delilah

Yesterday morning I got up a bit earlier than usual (I am terrible in the mornings!) so there would be time to take some pictures of Doc before I went to school. 

It was a really still morning but the light wasn't quite right. The quilt looks a bit washed out in the photo below but in 'real life' it is much more vibrant.

I like the red fabric with white dots but decided not to use it in the borders. It is a lot stronger than the other fabrics and I like it used sparingly. I also used some stripes in the borders that didn't appear in the blocks. (all from Delilah by Tanya Whelan.)

 

 I quite like this 'looking into the sun' shot. It really emphasizes the pieced nature of the quilt top.

 

 I know I say this every month but I'm eagerly waiting to see what our Schnibble pattern for June will be.

Doc is Done

Today I finished the top of May's Schnibble Doc. It was too dark when I finished to take a photo but below is one I took yesterday before the outer borders were attached. At least it gives you a bit of an idea of how the top is looking.

 

In last months Summer Day Schnibble parade on Sherri's blog, I was a very lucky winner of a Fat Eighth bundle of Hello Luscious donated by the designer of all the wonderful Schnibble patterns, Carrie Nelson. Carrie also included a Birds and Berries charm pack and a lovely card signed by her and Rosie (the Golden Retriever after which her pattern company is named) in my parcel. Thank you so much Carrie. I will have lots of fun with these gorgeous fabrics. Thanks also to Sherri and Sinta, the organisers of Another Year of Schnibbles. It is so much fun working with a new pattern and fabrics each month.

Aren't these pinks fabulous? I love the blues and greens too but forgot to get a photo.

 Another parcel that arrived this week contained Joanna's latest book. Regular readers will know of my love of all things Fig Tree.

 

It is full of lovely sewing and quilting projects. These pillows ...

 

 and the fabulous Cherry Blossom quilt are among my favourites.

 

Four more days of school for me before school holidays start. Last week my school choirs performed fabulously at the Burnie Eisteddfod taking home four first prizes. The kids were amazing and really impressed the adjudicator. It will be nice to take things easier for a couple of weeks after a very hectic term. 

 

Doc Block(s)

This morning I pieced my first Doc block from Delilah.

 

 

I was so pleased with the first one I made a couple more after lunch. Six more to go.

 

Not much to show for a weekends sewing but I did tidy up the sewing room yesterday. I don't know about you but I seem to get more done when I'm not surrounded by chaos.

 

Red and White Delights

Way back in February I had a birthday and received some lovely gifts from my Material Girls friends.

There are 6 of us in the group and when one of us has a birthday the others make them a gift. To make it a little easier to decide what to make we choose a theme ... mine was red and white.

Annie made me this gorgeous journal ...

  

with a very 'sweet' Cinderberry Stitches stitchery on the front.

 Christine M made this lovely pot holder ...

 

   

with a lovely Bronwyn Hayes design on the front.

 Christine does the most amazing button hole stitching (and she is really quick, too). Check out those beautiful satin stitch lips  ... adorable. There is no way a pot is going to be touching this beautiful piece ... it is strictly for display.

 

 Rosemary made me a lovely 'basket' for presenting rolls or muffins.

 

 This is the back. What lovely fabrics.

 Vicki made me a phone/ipod pouch from Janelle Wind's book. Gorgeous.

 

 And Lyndy made me a pouch from my favourite Etchings print.

Inside it has little pockets to keep embroidery floss and a needle holder. 

 

 Thank you, girls. I love all my beautiful red and white gifts.

 

The weather is appalling here today. I have tidied the sewing room and done a little bit of work on my Doc Schnibble ... mainly pressing and trimming squares. Hopefully tomorrow I can start sewing them together.

 

Gem's Dilly Bag

I have completed Gem's Dilly Bag, one of the kits I bought from Marg Low at AQC a few weeks ago.

 I really enjoyed making the felted flower detail on the front.

 The lining fabric is really pretty too. This was a really easy pattern and I'm sure it would look great in lots of other fabrics and colours.

 Today I had a play with the fabrics below .... Delilah by Tanya Whelan. The spotted background fabric is Sweet Shoppe by Michelle D'Amore.

 I am going to use them for this months Schnibble, Doc. Can you believe it's May already?

  

Hope your week was a good one.