Sunday 17 April 2016

Lazy hazy Sunday or was it?

Happy Sunday to you!

I love a slow enjoyable Sunday don't you?

I would really like to thank Kathy for hosting her linky party for slow stitching Sunday every week.  I don't always get a chance to link but I love to look when I get the chance, I encourage you to check outKathy's blog and all the links at slow stitching Sunday Here

Firstly today I had to do the usual catch up cleaning etc since I have been to melbourne to the Australasian Quilt Convention on Thursday and Saturday.  And of course I was almost out of bread so that was first on the agenda.

Then onto the other bits of housework and a walk with the dogs.  Then onto organising my sewing area and tidying up.  I decided and chatted with hubby about making a pressing board.   So we decided to use an older chopping board which isn't used anymore and some cotton wadding which he stapled onto the board.
I then made a cover and put elastic in the edge casing which I sewed onto the edge as I neaten the edges. I decided this way I could change the cover easy. 
And here is my finished result.

This has left me with time for my true love to end the day with.  I am hoping I can actually work a lot on this quilt this week and load another onto the frame on Tuesday.  
This little quilt has been worked on almost for 18 months and it is truly coming close to a finish and a big reveal.

So I hope you all have a wonderful day and all the very best for an amazingly creative week full of inspiration.   My other dream of having my own website has also become a reality.  It is still being worked on so I will let you all know when it is fully working but please take a look and if you need anything please send an email and I can arrange it all for you.  Please have a look http://wehagodesigns.com and let me know what you think.  

So until the next post take care and have fun sewing or creating amazing things and enjoy life!

Wendy

Thursday 14 April 2016

Fun Day in the city at AQC on Thursday


What a wonderful way to start the day!  Firstly ended up parking in the same carpark as my daughter not far away from the exhibition centre.  We then walked into the city to http://www.lepetitgateau.com.au/wps/wcm/connect/Le+Petit+Gateau/home and experienced a little Paris in little Collins Street.  Afterwards decided the almond croissant were so delicious I needed to bring one home for hubby but unfortunately they were completely sold out and it was before 10 am, so I gather that a lot of Melbourne foodies know where to find their wonderful goodies.  I had to settle with a couple of plain croissants for him which we enjoyed for a snack in the evening. 



Next we walked our way back to the car and then onto the Australian Quilt Convention.  We decided we would take a make and take class that lasts about 50 mins.  So fabric painting was the way to go with Libby Richarson, and we booked ourselves into this class and then wandered off around the vendors and the quilts.


Here is a few of my goodies from the vendors, a new pair of scissors so that I do not cut a hole in my quilt when I am trimming the ends, a smaller Hera marker for marking my quilts ready for quilting the design on them, a Purple thang and some Hiroshima Shashiko needles.  I did also get some more blades for my rotary cutter.

So today I have stayed home and rested and photographed a few quilts and buntings fr my website.  It will be fully operational within in a week and I will blog and let you all know.  

I am filling in teaching on Mondays soon at the Sewing connection and I am really looking forward to it. I have put together a sample top for the girls to have a look at.  I hope they are inspired to try it out.  It's been a lot of fun and I will write the pattern for all to enjoy as not all of you live her in Australia with me.
This is it and I am calling it Blossoming News.  

So how has your week been?  Let me know please, would love to hear, as for me and hubby we are back into the city tomorrow for some retail therapy and back to the quilt convention as there is always something new to be found.  So breakfast with hubby but tomorrow we will go to https://www.zomato.com/melbourne/caffe-e-torta-1-cbd which is our normal favourite coffee in town.  Then off to a few of our other favourite shops before ending up at the quilt convention.   Tomorrow I will take a few photos of my favourites to show you all.  In the meantime have a great day or evening whatever you find yourself doing.

Take care and be creative,

Wendy


Tuesday 12 April 2016

April Bom - hand sewn block

Happy Tuesday to you all!

Today I have finally finished my hand sewn block for this months block of the month to be know as the bakers dozen!

I think you will remember this block from the previous post that I had cut it out but not sewn.
The following is a few photos of the block going together.
First I sewed the four patch units for the corners.
Don't they look fabulous?
Then I attached the top two corners to the centre rectangle to for the top row of the block

I then moved onto the lower part of the block, then to the nine patch which is our theme for this block of the month if you are new to my ramblings.   We are all having lots of fun discovering different nine patches and how we can use them in different settings.  
Once the nine patch centre block was done I attached the side rectangles and then proceeded to attach the bottom and the top to the block.
And Ta Da! Happy dance time!  Just a little note, I do not press my hand sewn blocks until I am about to sew them together, that way I can workout which way to press the seam.   So none of the blocks in this post have been pressed since cutting.   I hope this makes sense to you all.

I then decided it was time to have a looke at these blocks together!   I am loving how this is forming.  Please let me know how you are enjoying it!  This week has lots of big happenings in my life.  So tomorrow I will give you another little blog post with the next couple of quilts or quilt tops that I have made.

I am looking for your help and in return will have a little giveaway so please stay tuned for the announcement.

In the meantime I hope you have had a terrific Tuesday.  Be sure to leave a hello and don't be shy.  Would love to hear what has been coming your way!

Remember to take time and smell the roses and enjoy some creativity in your day.

Wendy





Saturday 9 April 2016

April BOM and it's no fools joke either!


Hello everyone!

Thank you for being so patient with me!  I would like to link up to Confessions of a fabric addict for Whoop Whoop it's Friday, be sure to check out all the other posts Here and also to A Quilted Passion for Whoomp there it is linky party! So let's party on and check outAll the blog action here

So onto the business for our Block of the month, this time you will need two fabrics


These are my selections for my blocks, remember I am doing one by hand and one my machine.

This month I have chosen to do the 7 Grid Chain.   It has a 9 patch in the centre and it has four patches and rectangles to make up the block.  This will make a wonderful quilt almost like an Irish chain if you only use the one block throughout a quilt.   

Now for Cutting Instructions:-

From these fabrics you will need to cut the following
From your background 4  (4" X 5.75") and 12 (2.25" squares)
From your main fabric you will need 13 (2.25" squares)

Now let's get to laying them out
This will be my hand pieced one and as I am a day late and have had a house full of illness all week I will update the blog in the next couple of days with this block.  
Firstly piece your four patches and nine patches together so it looks like this
Then we piece these units into rows and then the rows into a block to have it look like this
This is our finished block and the following photo is all of the machine pieced blocks so far.  I'm excited how these are coming together.   

Now I have been busy and piecing lots of things since I have hurt my wrist.   So next week is a week of pattern writing and the launching of my website!  I am so excited that I am doing the happy dance and able to use my wrist much much more.   I have even started doing my hand quilting again!

Now please tell me what are you happy about this week!  I love to hear from you all, so don't forget to leave a comment and I promise I will find time to do a couple more blog posts this week with all the exciting things I have been working on over the last three weeks.

So have a wonderful weekend and I hope you enjoy this block like I have.

Keep on smiling as you keep on creating,

Wendy.