I finished a quilt today, how was your day? -blogtober

the back

second Tis the Season quilt

closeup of quilting

more, because I like it so

Yes, I finally finished my second Tis the Season quilt this morning. I like it. After finishing it I started writing my "This Week" list. That's because it was on last week's "This Week" list. It doesn't do to mix your weeks up you know. Are you a list maker? I have been writing lists of late. I'm not sure whether I get more done or not, but it feels like I do. I very bravely put a more than three year old quilt on this week's list this morning. I know how old the quilt is because it was intended for a grandchild. I have dragged it out previously and that ended in tears, so I feel brave today. I unpicked some quilting-gone-wrong on it last week and am hoping that I will be able to finish it and send it to a young man. We'll see if the list works!

Quilting, quilting, quilting - blogtober

second Tis the Season tonight, half done

I spent another day quilting today. Well, some of today that is. There was some housework/chores that needed attention too. I am quilting my second Tis the Season in a similar manner to the first (lots of squares) but the quilting will be heavier on the second one. I tossed up whether to free motion quilt it, to go all curvy and flowery, but Mr 17 convinced me to go with squares. I am glad he did, because I am very happy with it tonight. Six of the twelve blocks are quilted. They feel great! I really love a heavily quilted quilt. They just feel so wonderful. Hopefully I will finish the other six blocks tomorrow. Then I will have to think about the binding. Red? White? A combo of the two? Or some of the stripey backing fabric?

beginning this morning

Today I quilted - Blogtober

Just beginning to quilt

Quilting in progress

I basted my two "Tis the Season" quilts this morning and then began to quilt. It is school holidays here, which means no school run and friends over to amuse the kids. Well, the boys had friends over and played Yu-gi-oh and Magic the Gathering card games. Miss 14 amused herself with some homework and some jewellery making. My Bradley had a country trip to do, but said he would shop for and make dinner for the 10 of us who were eating here tonight. So I just quilted and quilted! It was a lovely day!

A pieced back

The finished "Tis the Season"

 And I managed to finish my first Tis the Season quilt. I love it. I am really pleased with it. The second quilt is sitting on my machine right now waiting for me to quilt it tomorrow. Tomorrow looks like it's going to be a fun day too!

Today I sewed - Blogtober

I have been sewing today. These blocks are from my second "Tis the Season" quilt. I finished the stitcheries quite some time ago and the blocks were all half done until today. I had been thinking that I would use these blocks to make table runners and other such Christmassy items, but despite making that decision some time ago nothing much happened. I decided that perhaps that wasn't what I really wanted to do with them, so today I finished the blocks and turned them into a quilt top.

Rather than just bordering the blocks I decided to do a bit of a log cabin thing. I like it very much and can't wait to finish it! Miss 25 was assuring me today that it is time to start getting Christmassy because there is Christmas stuff in the shops already. I am disbelieving of this, but can't wait to finish my Christmas quilts so they can decorate my house! So today, sewing 1, decluttering 0. Roll on tomorrow!

Blogtober Fest

 It's the second of October, but here goes. I am going to join in with Blogtober Fest, which means a post a day in October. I saw it here on Sarah's blog first and if you click the button to the right you can find the links to everyone participating. A great way to discover new blogs and to find more inspiration!

Gluing paper and fabric together

I did spend most of September working on my Pies and Tarts quilt. Mostly it was just a little each evening and there has been progress from a little each day. Some of the progress has been physical, but some has been mental too. Yes, I made a decision about the quilt. I decided I wasn't completely invested in a 100 pie quilt. So at the moment I am planning to make a 48 pie quilt, which means I am only eight pies away from a complete quilt. Eight pies and 30 tarts. Maybe one day I will pull the other five months of the BOM out and make a second quilt. Maybe.

36 pies joined together

I am still working on my Tis the Season and am up to basting the quilt. I have pulled out two other quilt tops to baste when I do it tomorrow. So this week should be a week full of quilting! (I love quilting!) I am also planning to keep working on the pies and tarts each day. Oh. And I'm planning to blog every day. (That means taking more photos, something else I love!) See you tomorrow!

Secret Sewing

Quiltaid, Brenda Ryan

Quiltaid, Natalie Bird

These two blocks are the secret sewing I was doing this month. They are part of the Quiltaid quilt. If you want to see the other ten blocks go here. I sewed them for Sarah from Quilt Fabric Delights and Janelle Wind is busy turning the twelve blocks into a quilt for Sarah. Quiltaid is for an excellent cause so make sure you go check out the Quiltaid website!

In other news, I got the back for my Tis The Season quilt pieced today! Much excitement. I was determined not to buy more fabric and it turns out the leftovers were more than I needed even. So tomorrow the plan is to stretch the quilt and start some quilting. I might just make that September 30 deadline!

Another month...

... that I have struggled to post on this blog. Just been busy? Or unproductive? Not sure what. Perhaps I am just uninspired at the moment.

Melbourne, from a bridge.

Had a great afternoon today catching up with Loz and Gail at my local shopping center food court. There's nothing like meeting up with fellow stitchers! (We're an extremely wonderful bunch of people!) I have projects on the go. Chookyblue is encouraging me to finish my "Tis The Season" quilt by the September 30 deadline. (So far it's not happening.) I have also found (whilst unpacking) a bunch of tops, along with their corresponding battings and backings that just need stretching and quilting. So I could finish something, I just haven't yet. It could happen. Stay tuned to see if I make Chookyblue crack her whip at me. (Or not.)

It's August?

Mr 10 with his new niece. His first cuddle with her.

If I have seemed to have fallen off the face of the earth, I must have landed in Adelaide. I have made a couple of trips there so far this August. The first trip was to visit my new granddaughter. She is so sweet and lovely (Of course! That's the way of newborns.) We spent a hectic week cuddling a newborn, carrying a one year old and playing with a three year old. (It's all go at their house!)

The playground at Keith

The second trip was to be a helper to my grandson as he underwent his first general anesthetic. This trip was a surprise as he got his hospital date the day before he was due to be admitted. Of course, his Mum was there too along with his baby sister and we actually had a lovely day. All is well with him and he is fully recovered now. So much so, that when my Bradley and I drove home to Melbourne yesterday we brought him with us for a little holiday. So it is all go here now! Plans for today include making some playdough because this three year old loves to play playdough!

I still have boxes to unpack and cupboards to organise. (Which will get done eventually!) And I am dying to get to my Tis the Season quilt to quilt it! Perhaps I will fit that in somewhere!

Affinity

It's interesting just how children have favourites, even amongst their families. Granddaughter is quite fond of her uncle, my Mr 10. This is them last weekend.

I had an early start to the day today which has put me in a contemplative mood I think. My world is very quiet at 5am on a Saturday morning. I managed to do some sewing which I really enjoyed. I didn't manage to finish anything today, but did manage to start something new. (How did that happen?) Maybe it's just because there are so many ideas in my head fighting to get out. Or maybe I'm really flighty and not that good at concentrating! Today I was working on putting my blue/green Tis the Season quilt top together, making a table runner with some of my red Tis the Season blocks, and I started some new half square triangles which I am not sure of right now, but which will end up going somewhere I am sure.

I also got some more fabric this morning. (Hooray! Just the one I was looking for!) And a charm pack. (Hence the new project!) After the lovely lot of sewing I did today I am looking forward to spending some time tomorrow sewing, but first I need to get some sleep!

Slow week

We have had a slow week here. My Bradley and I were discussing it last night. He believes it is the result of spending last weekend with so many of our awesome favourite people (our kids!) and then their departures back to their own lives and city. It could be that. It could also be the fact that every girl in this house had PMS this week. Or a bit of both. Maybe it was the migraines. Anyway, it was a slow week.

I managed to finish the stitching for my second TTS (Some are in the photo above with the fabric I am using.) and started to border the redwork squares. I promptly ran out of fabric (Not sure what I was thinking when I bought that fabric!) and so am hoping to find some more at Foothills Fabric and Threads this morning. (Cross your fingers for me!) Off to get ready and hit the fabric shop!

Stitching!

I have been stitching! I packed my second Tis the Season up and took it to Adelaide in case I had some time in between playing with the grandchildren and the children. I traced it out months ago, but I think I was all TTSed out. I stitched a couple of these in Adelaide last week and I am in love with it all over again. Plus, it is cold and raining here so the attraction of the heater and my stitching is mighty strong. Not much else is happening here. I did stick some pins into my new pincushion. And wrote a list or two. And went out a lot to do the chores and errands that pile up when you go away for the week. Hopefully tomorrow I will have a day at home with my sewing machine!

Two quilt tops in the making.

Some of you may remember that I am to become a grandmother again later this year. We know the sex of the baby and I picked up an appropriate charm pack from Hettie's Patch a couple of visits to Adelaide ago. I think it is Pom Pom de something? By French General. Anyway, when I was in Foothill Fabric and Threads more recently I saw that they had some of the same range so I bought some to go with my charm pack. Then I thought about it. I decided to make half square triangles and had a layout in my head, but didn't like that once I placed it on the floor. Tonight I arranged this layout and I think this is the one I will go with. I'm still deciding if I want borders. I will probably go with borders because I don't think this quilt will be big enough otherwise.
These are my finished Tis the Season blocks. They are put together like this in Natalie Bird's book. I am thinking sashing and corner stones and maybe some flying geese borders? Lol! Can you tell I have fabric left? I did go to Spotlight yesterday to get some homespun, but they didn't have any! Well, ok. They had brown. This so is not a brown quilt!!! Anyway. I'm still thinking about it. More sewing tomorrow I think. Sweet dreams!

I sewed!

So, proof that my new table is really good. I finished three more "Tis the Season" blocks tonight and cut the borders for the last six. It was so much fun and I can see this quilt being finished in the next month or so.

Tis the Season Progress

The one thing I have done this week is stitch. I even managed to complete three blocks this week! I really loved these fabrics when I bought them and was thrilled with them all over again once the blocks were together. One of the kids keeps asking me why I am using blue and lime for a Christmas quilt. I don't know why. I just like it. I have bought some more traditional Christmas colours to make a second of these quick-to-do quilts though. I'm sure I'll like that too.