Pies and Tarts

I have started my new block of the month from the Patchwork Apple. It is called "Pies and Tarts" and involves english paper piecing and applique. I have very little done so far, but I am enjoying it! One and a half pies completed. (Ninety-eight and a half to go!) No tarts so far. I think this BOM is going to be a challenge!

Rosalie Quinlan's Redwork Christmas BOM no 9

Last one! I finished number 9 on Thursday whilst I was at the Patchwork Apple (at Pink Ladies, a quilting group I joined recently) This is one block of the month that I have really enjoyed. Whilst I'm sure I could finish the quilt for Christmas it's not high on my list of priorities at the moment, so it probably is a project for next year I think. I have enjoyed having this portable stitching to take with me wherever I go. This BOM was a birthday present from my Bradley, one of the best birthday presents ever. So, I decided to start another hand stitching type BOM once the redwork was finished. I signed up for the Patchwork Apple's "Pies and Tarts" and started on that on Thursday too. The pies and tarts are created with english paper piecing and I'm enjoying that a lot too! (Will post about it more later!) I'm still deciding how to finish the redwork blocks. I've got time to ponder!

Monday was such a beautiful day.

It was a truly glorious day today. Really lovely spring weather! We haven't had much spring weather so far so today was even more wonderful. (After the last couple of weeks of 40+ temperatures spring weather is most welcome.) I managed to do some stitching and worked on Miss 17's formal dress. She fell madly in love with Jeffery's yellow checked couture dress from Project Runway. She loves the skirt, but not the bodice, so......

we chose the bodice in the photo above. We have several different checked fabrics and whilst none of them are incredibly yellow, they do have some yellow in them. (The original dress had three or four different fabrics in it.) So Miss 17 is pretty happy. I will be spending this week sewing her formal dress. And stitching redwork of course! I've nearly finished my redwork block of the month. Good thing too because I have just received the first of my new block of the month which I will show you later!

Rosalie Quinlan's Redwork Christmas BOM no 8

Finished number eight. Just number nine to go. Ultimately this BOM ends up as a quilt, but a couple of people have suggested that they would make small projects with the stitcheries. So I'm thinking about it. Thinking..........thinking.............thinking......

My week has wings!

This week has just flown by! My Bradley spent this week in Townsville for work so it meant I had to be two parents instead of one which makes me so much busier. (I don't know how single parents do it!) Our new place (kind of not that new anymore after four months!) has a courtyard and now that our thoughts are turning to spring (it's warming up here) we are thinking about the courtyard! I am sitting outside under our new shade. My laptop is on the new table and I am contemplating just where to put the bbqs! (You know me, always feeding the 5000 so I have to have more than one bbq!)

A couple of months ago I joined a quilting group at the patchwork apple and yesterday managed to finish my Rosalie Quinlan Redwork Christmas BOM month 7 whilst there! I thought I was never going to finish that one! I was on a roll. Don't know what happened, but I obviously fell off the roll and I thought I would never finish number 7. I just have 8 and 9 to do now. Not sure if I will finish it for this Christmas, but there's always next year! I have a lot of Christmas projects rushing around in my head. I really want to have a handmade Christmas this year. I've been trying to think how I would have felt about that if my mother did that when I was a child and I realised that she did. She often made our gifts and I loved them all. We live in such a brand new, shiny, disposable, status symbol kind of world that I would like to remove that from our Christmas if I can. Too much emphasis is on what we've got and what we're getting, rather than what we are. So, on with the sewing!

Block of the month number 6

Where did this week go? Not sure. This is what I managed to achieve. Block of the month number 6 finished and number 7 begun. I have almost run out of thread though so I won't be able to finish number 7 until I get more thread. Miss 23's wound has become infected so we are spending some time at the hospital each day. It is just a superficial infection which is the better kind of infection to have! I have mending to do today so I will get to sit in front of my sewing machine. (I enjoy any kind of sitting in front of my machine.) As for anything else getting done, I wouldn't count on it! Hope your day is full of your best things!

Redwork Christmas Block-of-the-month Month 2

Finished it! I think my last post confused everyone because the title was "easter stitching" and my redwork was quite clearly a christmas scene! Ooops! This is block 2 of my block-of-the-month that Bradley bought me for my birthday. I love getting a package each month with all I need to make a block. This one is a Rosalie Quinlan design and is 9 months long. (Sounds a little like pregnancy!) I already have month 3. I was a little behind, but hope to catch up this month. Happy stitching! (Be it easter or christmas!)