Back in 'business'....sewing and enjoying the garden.

Well, it's not business in the true sense of the word but getting back to my routine of quilting for my own pleasure.
I have fully recovered from jetlag and got back into doing a little stitching during the day (lunch breaks and waiting for picking up daughter after school) and then after dinner  going into my studio to sew while listening to podcasts and/or smooth jazz.  Those are very precious hours in my day when I am lost in another dimension and totally indulge in my two passions : quilting and music.

Talking of podcasts, this week I found two podacasts  that I wasn't aware of and quite enjoyed listening to what the girls presented: one is called  Canadian Quilt Talk and the other is Amy's Creative Side.

My time management worked out for me this week so I finally achieved a promise I made to my friend Debra. She celebrated her birthday while I was away and just prior to that I did not have time to finish a quilt I had promised her.

But it's done and in her bedroom. She appears to be quite pleased in the photo.

The past few months I made many projects to take over to my family and friends overseas as well as familiarise myself with the Handy Quilter I bought earlier in the year. I still have a long way to go to improve my quilting skills so I have purchased several Craftsy classes to help me along the way. 

I visited my regular fabric store this week and my friend Lynne who works there, gave me these two beautiful gifts she made for me :

This is a close up of the thread-catcher..

And she also made me a needle case storage organizer. Thank you so much Lynne.

  

I admire all the things she makes and her talents extend to embroidery, applique,  patchwork, making bags and other items and even sews a lot of her own clothes.  I wish I could persuade her to start a blog one day so you all could enjoy looking at her beautiful projects.

 



I could not leave the store without buying just a little...The bottom fabric in the pile is currently being used in a project which hopefully I can show you on my next posting...

Spring is now making it's presence and I can see that in the garden ; the perfume especially at night is very intense and in the past two days it feels good being outside.

 

My gazebo is just about covered...Can you see my daughter in there ?

 

 

 These were taken on my recent trip to Dubai, very interesting designs which could be used for quilt blocks.

 

 

So until next time, happy quilting and feel free to make a comment or get in touch.

Back from Holidays....

 

Giving my brother the birthday quilt....

 

 

Visiting a quilt show in Laranjeiro (other side of the Rio Tejo in Lisbon), Portugal.



 

 

Catching up with my quilting friend  Teresa

 

She made me this beautiful quilt...

 

 

 

 

Meeting up with my new quilty friend Felizarda



 

 

 

She made me these beautiful hand-embroidered hearts...

 

 

I got published for the second-time this year on the UK based magazine Homemade with Love (see right-hand side of this page).

 

Some beautiful sites in my birthplace... Lisbon.

 

My favourite place to stay....

 

 

Table Topper and New Wool Project

With some of my stash and leftover fabrics from the apron I made a few days ago I made this table topper.

 

I have started a new quilt !

It comprises of 9 applique blocks using wool and pieced blocks. Cutting the shapes for the applique blocks is a bit time consuming and fiddly but it will be worth it when it's done.

 



Since Google Reader's demise I haven't had many comments or picked up any new followers that I can see... perhaps my postings are not too interesting or some setting is preventing people from making comments ???

Gift Quilt and smaller projects

Here is the quilt I mentioned in my last posting being presented to my work colleague on his 60th birthday.  He really liked it and has been using it with the cold nights we are having in Melbourne.

 

I have made a couple of other projects which I will post a picture when I present it to the recipient (if he allows it ... ).

 

I like novelty prints and my daughter likes cats, so when I saw this print with cats playing jazz I made her a notebook cover and a tote to carry her trumpet books when she goes for lessons.

 

I made an apron from novelty print I picked up a few weeks ago.  I could not possibly keep everything I make and the fun is in the making and using up my stash is always a good thing.  I still have a little bit left of the fabric to make something else.

 

While tidying up my scraps, I found a bunch of music fabrics from previous projects so I made this zippered pouch. 

 

 And with other scraps I made some gift card holders of slightly different sizes.

 

I need to load another quilt top (Queen size) on the HQ18 but this weekend I wanted to just play with my stash and make smaller projects...



 

Lap Quilt and Journal Cover

Apologies for the quality of the photos.

This is a large lap quilt I made for a colleague at work who is turning 60 years old next week.  He doesn't know about if yet but the funny thing is that last week he saw me looking at a quilting magazine and casually said "one day you have to make me "...

So I think he'll like it or at a minimum will be surprised that he's getting one.

 

Here is a close-up of the quilting; having the quilting machine allows me to finish a quilt of this type in less than a couple of days.
The block is the Disappearing Nine Patch and all the fabrics came from my stash.

After cleaning up my studio I didn't want to start anything large, so I made this journal cover to give my aunty as a gift.
The applique is wool and were left overs from a previous project.

And now for some music:

It's no secret that I adore Chris Botti's music so when he joined Michael Buble in this beautiful song "A song for You" I had to add to the list of all time favourites.
The other version of this song that I also love is done by  Mike Hucknall from the group "Simply Red".

 

Birthday Quilt

I have made a few quilts for my brother over the years but he asked me to make him one for his 50th birthday coming up...

I didn't want to do anything traditional this time so the design is based on what he's special in his life.... his children, his vast book and art collection, his birthplace and his family..

 

 

 

All the fabrics are from my stash and I used a couple of techniques ; the letters from Tonya Ricucci's book "Word Play Quilts" and the blocks are sewn on paper foundation ending up as 4 1/2' squares.

 

As soon as I get an appropriate backing fabric it will be on the HQ18.

Has to be ready by late next month when we are going to be at his party ! Can't wait.

 

I also been doing some more charity quilts on the Handi Quilter to practice my skills.

 

 

 

 

 

 

For this one I tried different free motion on different blocks..

 

 

My garden at the moment...

 



 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Long ago I used to do folk-art painting, this is my mailbox....
Wish I had time to do it still....

Small Quilt and my garden in Winter

Made this small quilt with some of my scraps today.

The pattern comes from a book of Kathleen Tracy and it was a quick project to get done.

It will be a gift.

I have been playing with my scraps again, this time using solids. I don't have a project in mind but it was fun just sewing away and listening to music.

This is a section of my garden outside my studio today.  It's quite cold now but but we had some sunshine throughout the day.

 

 

 Some dianthus...

 

Asian Lilies...

 

And now for some music....

 

Someone today sent me a link to this song recently. It's performed by Ivete Sangalo and Roberto Carlos, who are very popular in Brazil and many other parts of the world.

The song is roughly translated as "If I didn't love you this much"... 

Made a new bag....

I made one of Monica Poole's bags last week but just haven't had a chance to take a photo until now.

 

 

It's a nice size to use for various purposes, with two external pockets and a zipper closure at the top. It was quite easy to make it.

 

My scraps continue to increase so I decided to play with them by making this 7" block.

 

I got the pattern from the latest Quiltmaker magazine.  The block was presented by Bonnie Hunter and it's paper pieced/foundation.  It uses quite small pieces so unfortunately it has made no dent on the scrap bin.  But I enjoyed playing with the fabrics and making a big mess when cutting the pieces down to size.

 



I have participated in a pincushion swap, so this is one of the pincushions I received.  Very cool block and I love it in red.

I have been given a few tops to practice my quilting skills on and the quilt will then be given away to charity.  This is one of those I completed.

And this is what the entire quilt looks like....

I have started a new quilt using wool applique and pieced blocks in reproduction fabrics. I think it's going to be a while before I have something to show because work commitments and holiday preparations are taking a fair bit of my time.