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.