Quilting....and a block stitched

Admitting how many things lie unfinished in my stash the other day, has made me take a some action. I finally basted the "Your Home or mine" quilt. I basted it as I thought I would hand quilt it but after attempting to quilt the centre block I have given up on fully hand quilting it. I don't know if it is the bamboo wadding that I chose or the number of seams on this quilt but it is hard to do.

My knees were sore after basting and this is a smallish quilt.

In the end I have decided to hand quilt the little buildings and then machine quilt around the blocks. The quilting is always the downfall for me. I love the stitching and applique and even the piecing but really like to send my quilts away to be quilted. Very lazy, I know!

I enjoyed stitching block 3 of the Crazy Christmas BOM. If only I liked quilting as much as I love stitching.

Wednesday morning social stitching

It was so nice to catch up with lots of the ladies yesterday at social stitching. It is always a time of chatting and laughter and occasionally stitching. It was good to see what the ladies are working on as well. Paddy has been busy with her beautiful "Leanne's House" quilt by Leanne Beasley. Her fabrics look great.

Jan has been very busy embroidering this lovely woollen blanket. There are so many flowers here as the heart is quite large. Well done, Jan.

Here is a closeup.

Great to have Sue back as school is on holidays. Sue is knitting this wonderful blanket for one of her special grandchildren. The yarn is cotton and is so soft.

Charms, plates and a little stitching

I was thrilled to receive a few more charms for my Pandora charm  bracelet this Christmas. I wasn't buying any myself so have had to wait for Christmas to get some more. Hubby bought me the blue one, the gift and the basket (It is a picnic basket but he said it was a stitching one!) and the kids gave me the suitcase. They look lovely on my bracelet.

I packed away all the Christmas decorations and had to reorganise the dresser too. I really enjoyed having the Christmas plates etc on show here and they were useful too.

Over the last few weeks I have been slowly stitching the next block of Anni Downes'  "Gardener's Journal" quilt. This is the potting shed.

I have also decided to try and do one block of Lynette Anderson's Crazy Christmas BOM each month. Here is block 3 started.

I do need to attack my UFOs, especially the stitchery quilts which haven't been pieced yet. I keep waiting for a free day at home but they don't seem to happen very often! I should just get started one day and then may get motivated! Last year I promised not to start any more large projects and I failed. Can't promise that this year as I already have several BOMs started and a few more waiting in the stash. Still, it is such fun to start something new!

Class samples continued

I had a busy weekend redecorating my house as I put away all the Christmas decorations. It takes such a long time! I think that Christmas went very quickly this year!
Here are the other projects that we are doing this term. Here are the felt needlecase, pin cushion and scissor fob from the pattern "Bluebirds in the Hedgerow" by Diane Leftwich. I hadn't quite finished the scissor keeper when I took this picture.

This is the stitching journal.

This is the needlecase.

All the samples are at the shop now.

Class projects for term 1

I took the class projects into Hobbysew on Tuesday to display them ready for the coming term. We are having a stitching theme this term as there are so many lovely bits and pieces to make to help us stitch. Here is the stitching bag.

This is a very useful pin cushion. It is one of Fiona's patterns from one of our stitching days.

This is the canvas scissor keeper.

These little dolls can be scissor keepers too or can just be ornaments.

Circles & Stars, Needles and Pins

I have had the pleasure of creating these lovely felt stitching aids over the last week. They are a new pattern, soon to be released, by Diane Leftwich. They were fun to make though there were many small pieces but I think the results make the effort worthwhile. Thanks Diane, for letting me have a go at your lovely new pattern. Her previous pattern, Birds in the Hedgerow, is gorgeous too and we are making it in my classes in Term 1. This is the scissor fob.

This is the needlecase.

Here is the pin cushion. Seems a shame to use them!

We headed up to Sydney today for the funeral of my husband's wonderful Aunty Dorothy. She was almost 93 and had lived a wonderful full life. She did so much for others and the church (where she and her husband had been a member for about 60 years) was full and the stories shared were so special. We will miss her very much but know she is in a far better place.

Little stamped stitchery

Just a quick post this morning to share this little finished stitchery. Linda lent me her stamp to stitch and this is the result. It was fun to stitch though now I have to make it into something. Best head off to get ready to go to work!