Clamshell Club & Some Shopping

Today is Clamshell Club reporting day.  I have sewn 4 1/2 rows!  I'm really enjoying this project as the clamshells are already basted before I start appliqueing them down so it is just applique, no turning under.

I have decided to alternate the rows of prints with backgrounds.   The photos aren't too good today as it is a wet and dreary day outside BUT I'm not complaining as we need the rain and at least it isn't freezing.

We celebrated Nicole's birthday yesterday at sewing and Michelle made her wonderfully artistic profiterolle cake.  There is something about strawberries dipped in chocolate that I just can't resist and there were a few profiterolles left without a strawberry attached.

I have also been letting my fingers do the shopping at the Fat

Quarter Shop and this parcel of heaven arrived through the week.  It's called Luna Notte by 3 Sisters and I can't wait for the yardage to hit the shops - it's divine!  I think I have picked out my centre now for Swan Lake using a blue and a grey from this pack.

 

I also bought this glue pen a couple of weeks ago.  I had never seen them before except in blogland and always wondered what they were like.  I brought it home and tried it and wasn't really that impressed until last week I spoke with Lynette Anderson at the Quilt Show and she showed me the proper way to use it.  This is my new favourite tool for hexagons - I love it!  It is so quick to cover the papers and it has held together really well when sewing the flowers together.

Speaking of hexagons, I have been covering 1/2 inch hexies for the Brigitte Giblin bag and thought I might do a dummy run with the pattern to make sure I can actually sew the bag together before damaging all my hard work.  I found this piece of linen last week and made it up and it looks fantastic!  Can't beat red polkadots.

Have a lovely weekend everyone,

Sue-Anne xxx

A Wonderful Day with Old & New Friends

I had the best day yesterday!  We left home at 6am and headed down the Hume Highway for a day in Melbourne at the Quilt Show.  We visited the quilt exhibition first and there were many wonderful quilts made by some very talented ladies.  This is a snapshot of a small portion of my favourites.

This was AMAZING!  The display was called "Art U Wear Challenge" and the theme was Alice in Wonderland.  Please click on the photo to enlarge it so you can see the amazing costumes.

Once we finished looking at the quilts, it was time for shopping.  My favourtie stall was Threadbear and who did I see behind the counter helping Corliss - Di Ford of Phebe and Sarah Morrell fame.  Di's new work in progress was on display and it is amazing.  I recommend you all to go visit secretsewingsisterhood and be inspired by the work that Di and her friends do.

Me, Jan & Jean

While we were swooning over everything at Threadbear, Jan spotted Jean from Linen & Raspberry!  We were so excited!!!!  I love all Jean's work and we have gotten to know each other through blogging but to actually meet face to face was so good.  We were like a group of schoolgirls laughing and getting photos taken and totally amazed that we ran into each other. 

Jean, Jan and I bought Corliss's new pattern, The English Basket Quilt.  It is absolutely stunning and I need another major project like a hole in the head but just couldn't walk past this one.  In fact, I want to make every quilt that Threadbear had on display!

After all the excitement of meeting Jean & Di, it was time for some serious shopping and here are a few of my purchases.  I was so very very bad.

This isn't a very good photo but I just had to show you this linen I found.  It is gorgeous and the only problem was that I could only get a 30cm piece.

Michelle and I also got to meet Lynette Anderson!  She was demonstrating Punch Needle and we bailed her up with lots of questions about the thread she was using.  The brand is Cosmo and it comes wound in two threads on the spool - no more separating DMC threads.  It's fantastic and Lynette was lovely to chat to and very generous with her tips and advice.  I purchased a few threads and of course I couldn't leave without a pattern featuring her beautiful dog, Hugo.  Michelle confessed to us on the way home a secret she had been keeping all afternoon, she signed up for Lynette's new Christmas BOM.  Michelle is fast becoming the BOM Queen!

Elyte, Linda & me

Before we knew it, it was time for afternoon tea and we organised to meet Linda Collins from Quilts in the Barn fame.  And who should we run into, but Elyte from Tea, Fabric & Other Things!  Linda holds a quilt exhibition in her barn each year to raise money for Breast Cancer and this year, Di Ford and the Secret Sewing Sisterhood are the guest exhibitors.  I am really looking forward to travelling down in October to attend.  I have, as with Jean, developed a friendship with these two lovely girls and it was great to finally meet each other.

Before we knew it, the day was over and it was time to head back up the highway.  We stopped for dinner at our new favourite Chinese restaurant and apart from a detour through Nagambie due to a double truck accident (we were nearly to Shepparton Linda!), we had a nice uneventful safe trip and arrived home at 10.30pm with thanks to Helen for doing all the driving.   A very long day but well worth it to spend the day with my beloved Friday Girls and meet all my wonderful new friends.

Sue-Anne xxx

What have I Done This Week

I have covered some half inch hexagons,

made 5 Klosjes, bringing my total to 93,

made some sausage rolls to have with soup on the weekend,

have almost finished the applique on border number two of Swan Lake,

and had the rare pleasure of seeing son number two dressed up in a suit!

Sue-Anne xxx

My Late Klosjes Report

My Klosjes report for the week is 3.  Two short of my weekly target, but considering I didn't make any last week I figure 3 is better than 0.  Grand total is 87.

Even though I am trying to use fabrics from my stash, I did make a couple of purchases last week that were perfect for Klosjes and clamshells.  Actually, I have so many little ongoing projects like this that I can use up a fat eighth just cutting one Klosje, a couple of clamshells, some yo yo's (which have really been neglected) and a new little project that requires 1/2 inch hexagons - boy are they a lot smaller than 3/4 inch hexagons!

I am so in love with my clamshells at the moment!

I  have been sewing arms on headless dollies this week and have finally finished.  I think I have them all lined up when I glue them down, only to find that when I have appliqued them, there can be either a gap or an overlap.  I have done a fair bit of pulling out this week and maybe I might have to cover the next lot in papers to avoid my frustration.  Today I plan on joining this border with the hexagon border and applique some heads tonight in front of the telly.

Keep warm/cool everyone,
Sue-Anne xxx

Phebe & Other Stuff

I had a lovely surprise in the mail today.  A couple of weeks ago I was lucky enough to win a giveaway from Kaaren at The Painted Quilt.  She made this scissor fob and doesn't it look gorgeous on my little scissors.  Thank you so much Kaaren.

And look who is making an appearance!  Phebe finally has her 5 sheep finished!

She has been a bit neglected lately due to Swan Lake but I am very pleased to have completed these little darlings, complete with their black faces and feet.

Another little finish is this key holder from Anni Downs' new book.  I was very lucky to have Michelle bring me back the kit from Sydney so Friday was the day for making it.  Thank you Michelle.

I am still working on Swan Lake and have nearly finished appliqueing the dollies dresses for border number 2.  My shoulder is much better and thank you to all my friends in blogland for your warm wishes.  Keeping computer time to a minimum has definately worked, although I have become a bit of a computer junkie and have found it difficult to walk past it without sitting down for a quick look!

Sue-Anne xxx

My First Clamshell Club Report

Well I have finally started after doing lots of research and receving some much need advice. 

I decided I would order papers from Lizard of Oz only to find that when they arrived, they were printed onto a sheet and I had to cut them all out!  I'm too lazy for that but the instructions that came with them were very informative.

I covered some papers and then decided I would join them together - that is when all the fun started.  I found it nearly impossible to keep them all straight and in line and dreaded to think how I was going to attach the following rows. 

Jean from Linen & Raspberry has been working on her own clamshell quilt that she had done in a class with Brigitte Giblin and I have been admiring her progress for some time.  In a recent post, she mentioned that Brigitte Giblin has a new website and you can buy her patterns and download them as soon as you have paid for them, so that is what I did.

Brigitte's method doesn't use papers at all and is different to everything I had previously read.  Unfortunately I can't do a tutorial on it because it is directly from her pattern, but if you are interested, I found her website to be great.  The pattern was very reasonably priced and the download worked like a charm.  If you click on her name above, it will take you to her website.

I have managed to make 33 clamshells but as yet, haven't sewn any rows.  I would like to thank Jean and Robyn from Daisy Quilts, for their advice and also a big thankyou to Cybelle for organising the Clamshell Club.

I am looking forward to visiting all the other members and see their progress and making some new cyber friends.  Cybelle has a list on her sidebar and you can click on the Clamshell Club button on my sidebar to take you to her blog.

I haven't been leaving many comments over the last couple of days as I have a very sore shoulder and I am sure it is from all this computing!!!!  I have been reading everyone's posts and please forgive me if I haven't been commenting, hopefully it will right itself soon.

Sue-Anne xxx

Shopping, Calendar Girls, Klosjes & Hexagons

I had the best day yesterday.  I spent the day in Melbourne with friends and we went to the stage show, Calendar Girls.  I have not laughed that much for a very long time, by the time the show was finished my whole face was aching.

Of course, being in the centre of Melbourne at Stocktake Sale time means only one thing - SHOPPING FOR BARGAINS.  We all saved money on our purchases and had lots of fun looking at clothing and handbags that were waaaay out of our price range.

I got this gorgeous lace scarf and a pair of Mink Denim Jeans, as well as some Mac cosmetics (my favourite). 

I have made 5 Klosjes this week bringing a total of 84.

I have also been working on hexagons and have managed another 6 for the week.

This one is my favourite for the week with the black pinstripe fabric a gift from Sarah.  It is a Yuwa treasure.

I have also been playing with clamshells but more on that later this week when I do my first monthly report for the Clamshell Club.

I have had a busy weekend, with Melbourne on Saturday and Nicholas, the prodigal son deciding to move back home today.  You can just imagine the mess I have in the house from stuff brought in and not put away yet?????  The cats are very unhappy because they are no longer allowed to sleep on the bed in his room now that he is back.  Buddy is very happy though because now he has his Bro back to play with.

Sue-Anne xxx

Small Finishes & Klosjes

Well my Klosjes report for the week is a big fat 0.  This is as far as I got, pulling all the fabric out and then putting it all away.  I don't know where the week has gone, maybe the long weekend had something to do with it because I didn't know what each day was last week.  I did know Wednesday though because I was sulking at home whilst Jan and Michelle were in Sydney.  I was ok until they sent me pics from their phones visiting Annie Downs' stand!

I have had a couple of small finishes though.  I bought this pattern in April at the Quilt convention and finally finished it.  It is stuffed with crushed walnut shells and feels divine.

I also quilted and bound this little quilt, even put a label on the back!  I made the top over Christmas and was sick of it lying around not being used.

 

I also quilted and bound this little one.  I had a bit of trouble with deciding how to quilt it but it's finished and I'm happy.

And lastly, here is my little man.  All fluffy and happy - not so tomorrow, he has a date at the groomers.

Sue-Anne xxx

Not Just Nat, Klosjes & A Good Idea

I had a very exciting morning on Friday.  I got to meet Nat!  Nat is from Not Just Nat fame and she was passing through Wodonga on her way to Canberra.

And where else should we meet but at Patchwork on Stonleigh, my local quilt shop.  Thank you Nat for stopping and visiting, it was so much fun and hopefully we will catch up again soon.

Klosjes report equals 5 again this week for a total of 79!  4 more weeks and I will reach 100!!!!  This week's Klosjes have some special fabrics in them.  Jan gave me the backgrounds for the blue one, see the butterflies, and the red one on the right with the sky rockets.  I think this quilt is going to be a real memory quilt.  I haven't bought any fabrics for this one, just using what is in my stash and each week, I remember certain quilts I have made, or trips where I got a particular fabric from or, like this week, special friendships.

I don't have too much else to report on the sewing front this week.  I am still busy with the applique on Swan Lake and have managed to applique 3 sheep on Phebe (will show when I have finished the 5).  I did go shopping yesterday and came home with this small salad bowl.  Since having the two boys move out, we don't need huge buckets of salad for dinner now and I am finding that a lot of my dishes are too big for the 3 of us.  I saw this one and fell in love with it.  That's not salad in there, just some vegies for our soup tonight.

Now onto this great idea.  I have lots of pages that have information for quilting, like how to make a continuous bias, no waste flying geese method etc.  I have several folders that I keep them in, along with patterns but whenever I need a particular one, I  can't remember which folder it is in and I end up having to pull them all out till I find the right one.

I can't take credit for this idea as I stole it from Jan, but if you laminate your sheets and punch a hole in them, you can them slip them onto a ring clip and hang them in your sewing room.

I have laminated all sorts of notes, including particular embroidery stitches that I can never remember how to do as well as cards from quilt shops that I don't want to lose.

You can purchase laminators now from just about anywhere, I got mine from Safeway and it wasn't that expensive.  You can buy the sheets from there as well. 

Well that's all from me today, hope everyone is having a great weekend.  Oops, almost forgot, Nic and I saw the Japanese spaceship that is landing in Australia.  Nic saw it first and came around last night thinking he had seen a UFO.  Howard had read about the spaceship landing at Woomera and thought maybe it was that.  Two hours later, we stood outside (in the freezing cold) and after 5 minutes I said I had had enough and was going inside and then there it was, flashing across the evening sky really fast, just like Startrek!  Now before you all laugh, it wasn't a shooting star as it didn't have any arc to it flying through the night sky.  It was heading straight out and moving heaps faster than a satellite.  All I can say is, if it wasn't the Japanese spaceship, it must have been a flying saucer!!!!

Sue-Anne xxx

"the truth is out there"

Quilting Journals, Klosjes & Swan Lake

I recently read a post on Barbara Brackman's blog about Sewing Diaries.  It was really interesting and if you haven't seen it, just click on the link.  I then saw Wilma's blog and she had done a post on Quilting Diaries too.

A couple of years ago, an issue of Homespun magazine came with a DVD from Leanne Beasely about creating a scrapbook to document our quilts.  I gave it a go and have documented several of my quilts, but after reading these posts, it got me thinking that perhaps there was more that we needed to do to document each quilt.  My journal has some interesting information about each quilt but nothing detailed, such as pieces of fabric and what range it came from.

Last year I participated in an Antique Quilt Study group and there were so many questions unanswered about the maker of each quilt, how much did she spend on fabric, how long did it take to make, what inspired her to make that particular design etc.

Anyway, it's Food for Thought.  Who knows, 100 years into the future maybe our blog archives will be found somewhere and quilters will marvel at what we did "way back when".

Klosjes report is 5 for this week, making a total of 74!

I am still obsessed with Swan Lake at the moment and have prepared my second border of hexagons, all ready to be appliqued.  Max refused to get off the quilt and every time I shooed him away and lined up another photo, he jumped back on it!

He is playing on it here, trying to attack something in his imagination!!!!

And of course, I have two more favourite hexagons for this week.

Have a wonderful weekend everyone.

Sue-Anne xxx