Happy Easter & a Finish

 Irish Circles is finally finished! 

 Which now leads me back to Phebe.  I have conquered the Apple Trees and am pleased to say I have now finished the centre applique. 

 

I want to wish everyone a happy and safe Easter.  Our soldier boy is home for a visit and a well deserved rest so we will be having a quiet one, trying not to eat too much chocolate or too many hot cross buns!

Sue-Anne xxx

Of droughts and Flooding Rains........

Well what a week we have had in my small part of the world.  Our town had a rain total of 256mm for the week, with over 100mm  in one day.  Above are a couple of pics from the golf course behind my street.  The fairway was like a river and the carpark was completely cut off and under water.  Thankfully the water has all dissipated and run off to wherever it is supposed to go but please spare a thought for our quilting friends in Wagga Wagga and surrounding towns as they brace for some seriously major flooding.  My thoughts are with you all.

I have had a testing time with Irish Circles.  I originally chose the pink fabric as the separating border.  I stitched it all down, added the next appliqued tongue border (with mitred corners) and then laid it all out to see how it would look with the next border and YUK!  The pink looked flourescent and totally took away from the blue centre of the quilt.  As you can see from the above pictures, the fabric isn't that bright or solid, I just needed something really soft.    Anyway, all the unpicking and resewing is done so now, I am onto piecing the final border and I will be very happy to have this one finished.

Nic was home for a couple of days so of course, I had to make another pavlova (I promise this will be the last photo for a little while).  I decorated this one with passionfruit and we have all decided that this is the best topping.

We had some Show & Tell last Friday at sewing.  This gorgeous quilt was made with lots of reproduction fabrics that have been collected through a fabric club.

Jan is making a quilt from blocks like this one.   The blocks are really big and this block looks fantastic.

There is less than two weeks to go until the Gathering in the Barn and I am starting to get really excited.  Jan and I also made the trip down to Castlemaine a few weeks ago to the Castlemaine Applique Group meeting.  We had a fantastic day catching up with quilting friends and making lots of new friends.  I am definately looking forward to the next meeting.

I haven't done a lot of blogging lately as we have had some computer issues at home.  Hopefully things are back on track now.  It amazes me on how dependant we have become on computers. 

Sue-Anne xxx

First Finish for 2012

I have a finish for 2012!   My Clamshells is finished, complete with label on the back. 

Soot & Ashes

This is another almost finished.  Cheri Payne had a quiltalong last year and I participated quietly in the background.  I have always loved her work and found this project to be lots of fun.

This week has also seen me working on  the next border that goes on this...

Irish Circles

And whilst I was fossicking into the depths of the fabric cupboard, I came across this project half completed.  I still have a lot of applique to do before this quilt is finished but maybe I might get back into it soon.

More pavlovas!  This time, I made mini pavs.  Here they are cooking in the oven

Here is one all ready to eat and ...

A collage of my pavs - was nearly going to make this my blog header but I thought it might be taking it a bit far!

Sue-Anne xxx



Irish Circles & Xmas Lunch

I have finally finished the centre for Irish Circles.

I have fallen in love with these baby circles.  They are only 3 inches in diameter.

Here it is all joined together.  It's not very big for all that work!  I still have a couple of borders to go though.....

We had our Friday Girls Christmas luncheon this week.  It was Marg's turn to be hostess and she did a lovely job.  The table looked so pretty (and the strawberry cider was pretty nice too).  We ate and laughed way too much and had a great day.

We exchange gifts each year and here is what I received.  There was also a home made pudding but it has already been cut up and sampled.  We all agree it is the best day of the year for us and this year did not disappoint.

Sue-Anne xxx

"I'm Not Going Overseas"

Two of our sewing group friends were lucky enough to travel overseas during the month of October, leaving the rest of us green with envy and missing their company each week.  We decided to make a "I'm Not  Going Overseas" doll quilt as a bit of fun and have something to show them when they returned.  We chose the "Shoo Fly Doll quilt" from the Civil War Sewing Circle book by Kathleen Tracy.  This is mine pictured above all quilted and bound.  I love how it turned out.

Here is a group photo.  Back row left is Marg's,  then mine.  Front row left is Jan's, then Nicole's.  We had so much fun making them, we decided to make another one from the same book.

"One-Patch Doll Quilt"

Back row left is Jan's, then mine.  Front row is Marg's.

I am still working on Irish Circles.  I am beginning to wonder if I will ever finish this quilt.  Above is the last of the circles and two of the corner blocks.

Another of the corner blocks and some of the little circles that go in the centre.

My mother and father's wedding day 7.1.1956

I had the pleasure of going on a road trip with the girls a few weeks ago.  We headed off to Bendigo to visit the V & A Wedding Dress exhibition.  I was only going along for the ride and was surprised at how much I really enjoyed it.  There were wedding dresses from the 1700's to modern day.  The detail and work on the dresses were stunning and it is really quite amazing to think they are in such good condition after all this time. 

After Bendigo, it was onto Castlemaine, the home of Corliss and Threadbear patchwork shop.  I love their stand at the quilt shows in Melbourne but had never had the opportunity to visit them.  I was not disappointed.  Their shop is amazing and I wish it was closer and easier to get to from here. 

Another outing of a different kind on Friday night.  The Cold Chisel concert.  We were very lucky to have it in our town and they played to an audience of 12,500 people.  It was a fantastic night!  The weather was great (just as well as it was outside).  I know its not much of a photo but there's Barnesy in the white.

Buddy Boy

I have been such a bad blogger lately.  I have been "lurking" at everyone but being really lazy and not leaving any comments.  I'm sorry  and hopefully can get back into some sort of routine.  I don't know where my head has been lately!

Sue-Anne xxx

I got to spend four days last week with my youngest son, Nicholas.  We attended his March Out parade at Singleton.  He is now a part of the Australian Infantry and as such was presented with his "Skippy" badge (pictured above).  There is some significance to this badge - the Kangaroo symbolises always going forward, never going backwards and the Boomerang is symbolic for every soldier to return home.  It was a great day and I am a very proud mother.  We got to spend the weekend with him in Sydney, before he started the next phase of his training on Tuesday.

Here he is with his grandfather and myself.  I think they are feeding him ok.  I feel like a dwarf standing beside him!

Nicholas and his friends on the ferry at Circular Quay.

Sunday was spent at Freshwater beach before leaving to come home.  I am starting to fall in love with Sydney.  It is a beautiful city and that's saying something from someone who was born and bred in Melbourne.

I have had a finish on the sewing front.  This is what I made out of the little four patches I showed in my last post.  It is a quilt from the book, Jingle All The Way by Renee Plains of Liberty Star.

A couple more circles have been made for Irish Circles.

We are well and truly into Spring here in the southern hemisphere and I couldn't help admiring my roses late yesterday afternoon.  They are all starting to bloom.

This is the Clematis that grows beside my front door.  The flowers are beautiful this year.  It's amazing what some decent rain does for the garden.

Have a lovely week everyone.

Sue-Anne xxx