Its been a great day

I got to sleep in until 8am

the house was quiet at 8:40am

it took me 1.5 hours to get a quilt onto the quilty beast

then I needed to have coffee, so I did with dh at our

favourite cafe.

then it was home to have some fun

Now I am not likely to ever be an expert quilter

but I am getting better each time I play so today I was

brave and had a go at quilting on an actual quilt

and by the bottom of the quilt I had a good rhythm going :)

Look ma I can stipple :)

I think its quite strange that I couldn't for the life of me stipple before I got the

frame, no matter how much I tried I just couldn't do it, now each time I do it

I improve, guess its true practice makes perfect :)

Khris thanks for the link to the pies and tarts quilting suggestion

I love it and I am seriously considering doing mine just like it. Might

need some circle work practise first lol.

Have a great weekend, I will be starting my MIL's xmas present

and hopefully my SKoW blocks oh and sewing on/down the binding

on the new couch quilt :)



Its a Finish

I had some photocopy-ing to do this morning

which took longer than I thought so I didn't get

a chance to play on the quilty beast today

BUT

I did make something very cute, and its for ME

Its the sewing case from Anni's gorgeous book

Some Kind of Wonderful

I chose not to do the stitcheries and lordy the lining

drove me bonkers but I persevered and got it done

Pies and Tarts progress

SEVEN ( yes 7) tarts left to stitch down, 5 tarts 1.5 tarts still to make though :(

I love it, I love it

I LOVE IT

but I don't love it enough to make the full sized quilt :)

any suggestions on quilting it????



Playtime

finally I got to play with the quilty beast today

and I can stipple yippee

I bought some poplin last week in Canberra,

used up some leftover wadding

and went for it

I started with some verigated orange YLI thread but it kept breaking

so then I tried with some blue YLI thread same issue it kept

breaking, so I ended up with plain old Gutermann and yay no breakages

and Henry thought this was a great place to sit until I started playing

again, he ended up back in his basket.

tomorrow I am going to attempt my 1st quilt, nothing to fancy

just more stippling

We went to Merimbula this morning and I got 5 metres of wadding,

some Pellon for my SSCS a zip and a new book

'The Slap'.

Its been a good day :)

Re Jigging

I have spent the last 5 days with my quilting

frame on the floor in the way in my sewing room.

Yesterday I convinced dh it was time to create

a table for the quilting beast to be on permantly

which he spent 3 hours creating

then I had to decide in a hurry where to put it.

Fast forward to today, I was happily sewing away when

I ran out of bobbin thread, so instead of refilling my bobbin

I got stuck into re-jigging my sewing room

here is a 'before shot'

and after

I swapped bookcases with Sophie and I have since swapped

these around so the big one is in the corner

the quilting beast is now where my sewing machine, cutting table and

tall cupboard was, I can still get to my design wall and eventually the beasty

table will be on wheels so I can get it out with ease and on my own I also have

a quilty beast table skirt to make to hide whats underneath it.

we shoved the hutch up the wall to fit my cutting table, the blanket box

is now at the end off my bed, the rocking chair is upstairs

and my sewing cabinet is in front of the big window

and henrycat has a new snooze spot, where the dog can't annoy him and

the girlies can't find him, hidden behind to door of my sewing cabinet

and all those blocks on my design wall will be a quilt top tomorrow.

I am just waiting for the instruction manual for the quilty beast to arrive

then I will be playing.

Oh and my pies and tarts are still happening. I have16 tarts left to stitch

down and it will be done yippee.

Canberra, Carpark Rage and Goodies

Yesterday saw us all up and at it at 6am

all because we went to Canberra which was a 3.5hr

drive away

dh had a meeting at Parliament House so the girlies and

I were left to do our own thing

so whats a girl to do but shop :)

We visited 2 patchwork shops where I bought some goodies

the 1st one we went to was wonderful the staff were

friendly and hepful and made you feel at home

the 2nd one left alot to be desired, the salesperson

was rude and very unhelpful, they ignored me until I asked

about a had a kit for a great quilt but it was in

'Little Apples' fabric, I wanted the kit to make my MIL xmas present

Little Apples wasn't right for her, so I asked it they could make me a kit using

Hometown Fabrics and post it to me,

her reply was

'Do you have ANY idea how long that would take' I told her I did

as I had spent 18 months working in a patchwork shop, she made such a

who haa about it I told her very blunty to

FORGET IT! instead I spent 20 minutes online and ordered

4 charm packs of Hometown + a layer cake of Moda Solid and

even with postage it was CHEAPER than that shop, and its a shop I will

never go to again.

anyhoo

some photos of our day and goodies

Parliament House

Old Parliamnet House

the Beryls

Yummy Hometown by Sweetwater Fabric

quilting patterns so I can practice on the frame

binding fabric for pies and tarts, white quilters muslin and

spots just because

Spotlight goodies, the T pins are for the frame, the little tins have

a sewing kit in them I want the tins for needles and thimbles etc

pattern for Imogen who NEEDS a purple and pink owl pillow

the new Schnibbles book, I have just ordered 2 layer cakes

of Ruby to make the cover quilt.

oh and the carpark rage, I found a park in the Canberra Centre carpark and was about to

reverse into it when this fat chick started abusing me because I got to it first and

she wouldn't back up so I could get into it, so I had to find another, I wanted to slap her

and wash her mouth out with soap.

We found one though, had some lunch, went to a Baby Big W, the girlies

spent their money, I bought 2 shirts, a DVD and ironing board cover

then we made our way back to pick up dh, went to the Tuggeranong

Hyperdome to Kmart and got the girlies some clothes, a stable table

had some dinner and started our long drive home, finally walking in the

door to a very happy cat at 9pm.

Big day and we were all exhausted but we can now say we have

been to every state and territory in Australia :)

Its here

this morning I got a message from dh saying that half the frame had

been delivered.

then his workmate pulled into the driveway with the rest of it.

I am now the proud owner of

a John Watts Quilter, not a bad deal

either, freight cost for the frame.

$220 total, I saved dh thousands of $$$

So excitement

but

the camper trailer needs to move house so it can be set up

in the garage full time

currently its the 1st thing you see when you walk in the front door

Lordy its huge

dh is going to make a bench for it to sit on as its

supposed to sit on the dining table but

A) my dining room won't accomodate it and

B) I actually prefer to sit at the dining table lol plus

we would have to manhandle it upstairs and that just

isn't going to happen.

and the first of 42 blocks for a new quilt

the fabric is a layer cake of

Martinique which I have had in the stash for

2 years oops

and my Pies and Tarts quilt well I am going to take the bottom

2 rows off and have it 7x7, the 1st 2 rows of tarts are

pinned on I just need some motivation to sew them down

Berries and Bluebirds is 100% finished, it just needs a wash and a

tumble in the dryer, same for Down in the Garden.

Susan, I did my P&T's quilt as a BOM through Patchwork with Busyfingers

I started collecting the bits in late 2008.



Pies Progress

and yes Miss Deb I am still tarting :)

dh talked me into making it 7 x 9

now if I could be bothered I would make the last remaining

33 pies and make the full quilt

but I can't be bothered.

Here are my pies all sewn together

and this is what it will look like with all those pesky

tarts sewn onto it.

We are going to Canberra on Thursday, dh has a

meeting at Parliament House so the girlies and I

are going too

I have my list of quilt shops to visit

my list for bunnings

my list for Big W or Kmart (whichever we find first)

I love my lists and I am adding to them daily

oh and I have my tarts ready

so I can tart my way there and home again.

Its going to be a tart free night tonight

I want to get the binding stitched on and down

on Berries and Bluebirds no pressure at all :)