Yesterday at the Patchwork Apple (It's June!)

Yesterday was my first trip to the new (old) Patchwork Apple. Living in Melbourne now would have something to do with that. Jane shut her shop in Woodside in February and has moved it to her home on Tiers Road Lenswood where she is open two days a week, Tuesday and Wednesday, from 9:30am to 6pm. The path above is the path to her shop. This is where the Patchwork Apple started out 17 years ago and where I used to visit Jane regularly all that time ago! Jane and I marvelled that it was so long ago! The first time I walked this path I was carrying my tiny little son (now 6'4") and yesterday I carried my tiny little granddaughter. Then, just as we were leaving, Jane's tiny little granddaughter arrived with her Mummy! Gosh time flies.

This is the door of the new shop. Jane (and her able-bodied helpers) has built a new shop on the side of her house. In true Jane style it is very pretty. (She has such a talent for making everything look beautiful!) Lots of windows too - light is so important!

A peek into the shop. Picklesticks and I managed to have a lovely time looking at all Jane's fabrics and even managed to buy some to take home with us!

Oh. And it's June. Ready or not, it's June. Goals for this month? To sew clothes and finish off a couple of quilts. And I want to stitch. Do-able? I think so!

You know the dream where you're running....

.... you're running and running and no matter how fast you run the thing you are chasing gets further and further away? That dream? That was my week. It took me all week to do precisely nothing. Hence the no blogging this week. I did manage to go to the patchwork apple's sit n sew on Friday afternoon. I started putting together the log cabin quilt from July? Or August? I think I see a pattern developing here. Run fast, never catch up! Saturday morning was my civil war group at the patchwork apple. (Have I mentioned that I like the patchwork apple?) "Civil war group". That makes us sound like we should be on the History Channel! Does that channel ever show any program not about some war or other? It sounds like we sit around a large table and plan our offensives. Not so. We are making a quilt using civil war fabrics. We meet once a month and have a little bit of homework to do. It is a very fun group with some of my very best people being in the group. This is what we learnt this month. A little needle turn applique. And then we had lunch together. A lovely group!

Every day this week I have woken up sure that I would finish the table runner from the last post. And every day I didn't. Friday morning I thought enough was enough and I actually finished the back of the runner. I ran out of time and didn't get any more done. Today I thought I would finish it. I just thought I would do one thing before I began.....

Sew up a few honey bun strips and make a little bag or two. (Ten strips makes a bag) Great idea! Then I would do the runner. Seventy strips later (Who even knew I had that many honey bun strips?) I layed out the runner and the batting. Guess what? The batting wasn't big enough! So funny! I have been avoiding this all week and it turns out I couldn't have done it even if I tried! Oh well.

These are the strips I sewed today. There is Moda's Spring Fresh, Patisserie, Rounneries and Legacy in this shot. They look much more colourful in real life than this photo. Legacy has a pretty blue colour that is completely washed out in this shot. I took the photo outside in the shade. Thought it would work. You need shade today because Adelaide has finally hit the 30's this spring (That's the 90's for you Farenheiters!) and everything is all glarey outside. Of course, they don't actually look like bags yet cause I didn't get any finished. Maybe next week!

I am in love with Moda's Bar Harbour

This is the layer cake quilt in progress. (From Saturday's class at the patchwork apple) The layer cake I used was Bar Harbour. I had bought a Bliss layer cake for the class, but left it at home. (And since I live about an hour away from my favourite shop I had to buy another.) So I started off with Bar harbour. The more I sewed with it, the more I liked it. In fact I liked it so much that partway through the class I bought another layer cake so that I could make a really big quilt instead of a lap quilt. So far I have just four rows together. There are another five rows to go. We have had a busy week this week so there hasn't been much time to quilt. I hope to sew tomorrow though. Roll on tomorrow!

Blue skies!

It has definitely been a cooler September here in Adelaide than it usually is, but we had beautiful blue skies today. This was the day just before it disappeared into the twilight. You can see the last rays of the sun illuminating my red club 3 quilt, "Capital T" by Marg Low. I put this together late last night, but thought I would wait until daylight to photograph it. Almost missed the daylight today by the time I got around to photographing it! I was busy sewing. I started work on some blocks for a new quilt. Went to the patchwork apple and then stretched and basted the capital T quilt and started quilting. I must have been enjoying myself cause I was most surprised when my Bradley came in search of me and told me it was 11pm. So I am now in bed doing this quick post and (hopefully) will be fast asleep soon! Goodnight!

Sewing today

I managed to make it to sit n sew today and this shiny green tie was what I sewed. (Modelled here by Miss 13) It is my practice tie because I am making ties for my son's wedding. I got the pattern from the purl bee. The pattern comes with a fantastic step by step tutorial which is completely amazing and made sewing this tie so straightforward. The pattern uses a different fabric from the one I will be using, which is one reason why I made a practice one to start with, so I will have to change the pattern a little to make it work with my fabric. Apart from that (changing the pattern) it was pretty successful. So. Change the pattern. Make 7 ties. (Will I be good at ties or what by the time I finish?!)

Hot water bottle cover

This is the sum total of this weeks sewing. Picklesticks knitted this hot water bottle cover some time ago and tonight I sewed it up. I use hot water bottles to help with my arthritis (Man, I am sooooo old. Silver hair and arthritis!) so figured I could use a cover! I have been in a sewing funk this week and decided I needed to rearrange my sewing room. (I think that's called procrastination!) So, I have been rearranging furniture. And sorting through stuff. Not quite finished yet! I am off to sit and sew at the patchwork apple tomorrow. I might take my civil war homework with me because class is on Saturday!

Inspired by fabric

I have been sewing. I have managed to sew 80 flying geese units for my log cabin quilt. (124 required) "Managed" to sew them that is before they got packed up into a box. Such a relief to have them in a box! I was really sick of it all. They can sit in that box for a week or so and maybe I will like them again. (I hear that absence makes the heart grow fonder.) Meanwhile . . . . . .

I bought these fabrics from the patchwork apple the day of the log cabin class. Last night after I had packed up the log cabins these fabrics called to me. I only have 50 cms of them all up, so I decided to use some moda bella solid with them in order to make a small quilt top. All the blocks are finished and sit waiting for me to put them together on my sewing desk. And then I can quilt it! I love small projects!

Log cabin class.

Loz's log cabin blocks (aren't they delicious?)

Ahhhh....... I have had a busy week! And today was the perfect ending to such a busy week. I went to the patchwork apple and did a class. Loz and I had both booked in so we knew it would be fun! (Okay, so in what reality would going to the patchwork apple not be fun???)

So, what made my week so busy? I spent Monday with my grandchildren and their mother. We shopped, then played at my house for a while, and then shopped again. The second lot of shopping was to buy bags of sand which we took home to picklesticks' manor to set up grandson's sandpit. He is an outdoor kind of guy and loves his new sandpit. He has used every day since we set it up despite Adelaide having quite a lot of weather this week. We had wind, rain, hail, thunder, lightning, sun and it was C.O.L.D. brrr. Quite usual for August, but being human I had to remark on it. So, despite all that weather grandson has played in his sandpit non stop. (It is undercover) Tuesday and Wednesday I sewed curtains for Mr 21's house. Thursday I did a headache. (Quite a tricky one which took all my powers of concentration and required that I do nothing else) Friday I spent the day at Mr 21's house putting up curtains. So you can see just what a relief a class at the patchwork apple was!

My log cabin blocks

The class had just three of us in it. Me, Loz and Ingrid. I had not met Ingrid before, but hope I do again because she was really interesting and a lovely person to boot. We had conversations about biodynamics and butchers which are out of my ordinary and made for a really interesting day. Loz and I managed to have lunch at the bakery and made it back to the patchwork apple in order to sew some more! (We were model students!)

Vicki's finished quilt on the left and Jane's finished quilt on the right. My blocks on top of them both. They will all look so different!

I must point out here that Loz did finish more blocks than me and she even tried out some of the flying geese blocks that border the log cabin blocks. The log cabin blocks really were fun to sew and I have even sewn some more this evening. Maybe I will finish this quilt top sooner rather than later! (Did you notice that my blocks are "something" and white? It is my favourite combo at the moment. I have been playing around with this combo this month in a split 9 patch quilt top that I haven't shown you yet.) Ahhh...... can't wait to get to that machine tomorrow!

Civil War Class

I went to the patchwork apple this morning for my Civil War Class. We have two blocks per month to make. Today was the second class, but I missed the first class because of my retreat to Mannum. So, I am a little behind, but Sara (our teacher) said we (Jean and I) will be able to catch those blocks up later. I managed to finish the first block and will do the second block for homework. I think I am really going to enjoy this class. I am surrounded by wonderful women, Loz, Jean, Deb and Yvonne as classmates and the patchapple's Sara and Jane. I have chosen a red and white palette and so far it's looking gorgeous! The class was lots of fun and I have four weeks to do my homework. The photos below are of my finished block. One without the flash and one with because neither exactly tells the colour story like it is!

My sewing room is still a mess! I still have a bunch of projects close to being finished without really being that close to being finished! I still have dozens of projects floating around in my head, desperately trying to get out! Lots to do! Perhaps I'll start tomorrow!

Camera bag

I have had a week of unpicking. Sew, unpick. Sew, unpick. Not sure if it is because I just didn't have it this week, or if the headaches I have had this week just made me too spacey to do any thing successfully. I did manage to finish the new camera bag today. That was this morning and then Miss 24 and I went to sit and sew at the patchwork apple this arvo. Much fun there! And I'm off there tomorrow as well for a Civil War Class!

Red club No. 3

Red club! I had a great afternoon today. Marg Low's red club at the patchwork apple. Our red club is a great group! I really enjoyed sewing with them today. Loz had her red club last Saturday, so I kind of knew what the small quilt was going to look like. (Go to her blog to check out the finished small quilt!) I got the initial square done and twenty squares of triangles. (I'm sure you don't know what I mean by that because reading it back I don't know what I mean!) Anyway. I have 40 more squares to make which should be a snap because Sara (the patchwork apple's teacher) showed us a really quick and easy way to make them. Even as I sewed the first 20 squares I had no idea how they would turn out. (Hey! Twenty squares from two pieces of fabric? Not gonna happen!) I just sewed, and sewed, and sewed, then looked at the sewing. Thought for a moment. Then realised that it was entirely possible that 20 squares would emerge once I had cut along the pencil marks.

Loz and I are off to Pt Pirie this weekend to a class with Gail Pan and Natalie Ross. I think I have all the luck! I will report back on my excellent weekend soon!

Sit and Sew at the Patchwork Apple

Friday afternoon saw me at the Patchwork Apple for sit and sew. I sat and sewed my Marg Low red club hexies. Aren't they looking great? My little hexie quilt has morphed into a table runner which I am making for one of my sewing tables. I am loving it and can't wait to finish it and get it on the table!

My view to the front of the shop from my sit and sew chair. I have been going to the Patchwork Apple for the last 16 years and it is one of my favourite places in Adelaide. Being a Patchwork Apple customer has been a lot of fun! The photo below is Jean getting started on her redwork. Jean and I were the first ones there on Friday afternoon. We are keen! I spent a happy four hours stitching and had a lovely drive home. The drive from Woodside to Hahndorf is just beautiful. The day was grey and rainy and there were autumnal trees all the way along. The freeway was pretty too with a light fog making everything look magical! A great day!

Paper Bag Swap

Edit: For those of you wondering about my giveaway, I am leaving the comments open until Tuesday night now and will be drawing the winner on Tuesday night.
I have been working on a paperbag swap this year. I haven't posted about it much because I keep forgetting to take any photos of the quilt tops I have worked on! Not sure why. Maybe because I know the quilt is not for me? Not sure. This was the kind of paperbag swap that you start yourself. Then others work on it and it finally comes back to you! We started out by making a 15 and a half inch square doing anything we liked. (I think I did post this square.) Next we had to frame the square. (On the quilt we received, not ours) Then add some triangles. Next was applique. And finally we had to add squares and or rectangles. Of course, when we had finished a section we took the quilt back to Jane (or Sara) at the patchwork apple and swapped for a different paperbag! This swap has been an interesting ride. Sometimes I have received quilt tops that are just so far from what I usually do that I have felt that I couldn't possibly even work on them. I have felt lost and not sure what to do just about everytime I have received a new paperbag to work on! I think swaps are good for us creatively because we are usually stretched beyond what we would choose for ourselves and I was stretched with this swap! Today I took my last quilt up to the patchwork apple and my finished quilt was there waiting for me! (Photos below.) I also bumped into Loz which was fun! She was there collecting her paperbag quilt top too! I did know she was in the area, but hadn't planned to bump into her so it was a lovely surprise. We chatted as we both bought fabric. (I know! Who would believe that of Loz and myself? We are both usually so restrained in that department. NOT!!!)

This photo was taken outside this afternoon. This is a pretty good representation of the colours. I really love my quilt top. I am going to add some more to it myself and then quilt it. I'm thinking of turning it into a rectangle. Not sure what I am going to add to it. I'll have to think about it for a bit!

Here it is inside on my sewing room floor. The colours not quite right, but you are better able to see it all!


Another shot of it. (Can you tell I really like it?) Jane plans to have an exhibition for all those that finish these paperbag quilts sometime next year. I almost can't wait. I really want to see how the quilt tops I worked on have turned out and what their owners think of them. It must be the nosey-parker in me coming out! Can't wait!!!

Shaggy quilt finished!

Yes! It's finished! So pleased to have it done. I went to my quilt group, "Pink Ladies" at the Patchwork Apple today and finished the clipping. Mr 16 is pleased in a teenaged boy grunt kind of way. I am pleased because it's done, and because it will keep him warm now. Quilts are beautiful and I love to look at them, but it's very satisfying being able to warm someone too. Hmm....... next project please!

More pies..........

I have been working on Mr 16s quilt, but I'm not finished yet. However, some handstitching has been happening. Pies in fact. These are the latest. The pies no longer seem overwhelming and I am enjoying working with the different fabrics. I am off to Marg Low's red club at the Patchwork Apple this week. I saw Granny Loz's red club report and can't wait to go do the same thing myself! Good week coming up!!!

Friday I stitched with Marg Low

It's been a big weekend. I am all stitched out. Let's start with Friday. I spent the day at the Patchwork Apple. A wonderful day in fact! I took dozens of photos, blurry photos, but this is the one I chose to show you. This is the bookmark I made. (AND finished!!!) I hardly ever finish something in a class so was really thrilled to have this finish. In fact I think we all had a finish. Joanna, Rhonda, Shontelle, Vicki, Pru and I. Marg Low is such a nice lady. We had a lovely time with her. She did a trunk show first (gosh her designs are just so beautiful!) and we all just ooooooohed and ahhhhhhhhed at her work. Then we sewed, ate lunch at the bakery, and sewed some more. The perfect day. Then I drove down the hill to Inspired Stitches. More on that later.

Sit and Sew at the Patchwork Apple

I am making a laptop bag for Miss 17. Amy Butler's Daisy Chain. Isn't it just beautiful fabric? I finally took my little machine to a sewing group! It worked wonderfully. And it's light. As a feather. A very good day all round.

Nine Patch Swap

I joined another swap. Hard to believe, I know. This is a really exciting swap though. Each month you make 12 6 1/2 inch nine patch blocks from two reproduction fabrics (one dark, one light). Easy peasy I think. You post off your 12 (and a stamped envelope-Aussies only because of the postage!) and receive back 12 blocks of different fabrics ready to go in your quilt. After 6 months you will have 72 blocks (ahrgh! Maths! Hope I'm right here!) to put together in your quilt. It is being run by Christine. You should pop over and see her to join in. (She also has made her first 12 blocks and shows you how she did it!)

I once made a civil war quilt, but apart from that have had very little experience with reproduction fabrics. (None in the stash!) So it was off to the patchwork apple to see the lovely Jane. Today was the patchwork apples 15th birthday! I have been going there for 15 years now and I love it as much now as the first time I went there. Right from the first moment I went there I felt at home. (Well actually, the shop was in Jane's home to begin with!) Jane and Annette were so friendly (and tolerant of my many homeschooled children who went everywhere with me! Unlike another Quilt shop that had a ban on children!) and their fabrics so pretty! The fabrics are still pretty and Jane is still friendly, but mostly everything else has changed! The shop has moved from Lenswood to Woodside, Annette is no longer with us, the kids mostly have their own things to do now, and I am a grey haired grandmother when I walk through Jane's door! Like my reproduction fabrics I got there today? Then you should consider joining the nine patch swap!

Redwork cushion swap

I received my redwork cushion swap. It was a shock when I received the package, because it didn't come from very far at all! My previous swaps have all come from overseas I think. My cushion was made for me by Yvonne Cain. Thank you very much Yvonne! Yvonne sent a card in which she mentions that this is her first swap, which is pretty exciting! I guess she didn't know to include her email address, so I haven't been able to thank her personally and let her know that her gift arrived. So thank you, I love it. Yvonne also mentions in the card that she is relatively new to patchworking and that she has joined a group at her local shop 'the patchwork apple'. "THE PATCHWORK APPLE!!!!", I shouted. "THAT'S MY LOCAL PATCHWORK SHOP!!!!" I have to explain here that whilst Woodside and the patchwork apple are probably not the closest shop to me, I consider that it is my local shop because it isn't far and it's the one I frequent the most. (Most Adelaide people assume that I live in the hills because I am called "Rosemary Hill" and because I frequent the patchwork apple at Woodside. I am actually a plains dweller who lives on top of a slight undulation in the plains - hence the hill! )

Isn't the redwork stitchery beautiful? In my haste to send mine off I negleted to take a photo of it, (stitchery or cushion!) so I will have to 'rely on the kindness of strangers' (ie the secret swap person I sent it to) in order to get a photo of my creation. These photos were taken by my daughter for me. Thanks to Maree from On My Verandah for organising this swap. It was fun and I learnt lots of new things too!

Month One

Yes, I finished month one of my Rosalie Quinlan block of the month from the patchwork apple. I have really enjoyed the stitching part. I find stitching very relaxing. (Knitting too) So, when everything seems too much, I stitch. Another reason why I will spend the easter break stitching!