On vacation

Not much sewing done but I have done a little drawing for block nine. Not at all sure I will use any of them, they are just ideas, we shall see.It's strange the birds here are mostly sea birds, cormorants and pelicans and now I have the urge to draw them, and of course they would be no good for the BOM at all. Maybe for a later project..

I had a little foray to the island quilt shop and I thought I was quite restrained. I bought two lots of fabric to make pajamas. I chose one and Mr M chose the second, Mr M's is the one with all the writing on, I chose the red, also some lovely taupes and some embroidery cottons for my appliqué...

It is Fantasy Fest here on the island and It is great fun. No1 son was in the Zomby ride (Mr M cried off bad back). A lot of fun was had making him up and dressing up his bike.

Last year I posted about Tu Tu Tuesday, so I reckon you don't need to see us again in our Tu Tu's... It was great fun though.

One of the best things we do while we are here is fishing, and I must show you. Me with the best fish I have cought this year, we think it was a red Grouper, but he lived to fight another day.I put him back in the water.

He was big enough to take back for tea, and so pretty, well at least I thought so, Mr M thought he was pretty ugly...

I am going to sit by the pool this afternoon and sew some of my little hexies.

 

 

 

Keep safe and keep stitching.......Doti...

 

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Resting in Key West

The six shirts quilt that I made in June of this year is indeed resting in KW. In fact it is lounging over a settee in the Cabana, so in fact it has come home.

The quilt was made from six shirts, belonging to No 1 son, so he now has them back in a different form.

It was a good wheeze bringing the quilt in our suitcase as now I have a big space to fill for the return journey, so plenty of room for fabric. So far I have bought some large cones of Aurifil cotton, and Mr M has accuired a rather fetching pair of Armani slacks, that did not fit No 1 son, so still plenty of room yet to fill.

Well pleased with my Aurifil cones, I could only find them in White in England, not a colour I use much of, other than for my little 1/2 " hexes.

How do you make 2 very large cones look good.On top of a glass table was the best I could do.

I have done very little sewing, other than my 1/2"hexies with the oh! so lovely Liberty lawn fabric, it is so lovely to sew with. Notice in the photo my tiny scissors for using on the plane.

Off to the island quilt shop this afternoon, will let you know how I get on...

I am finding this rather difficult to blog on the IPad , can't improve the pictures etc.. So this may not look like normal.

 

 

Keep safe and keep stitching......Doti...

 

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So excited.

This is just a quick post, as I am so excited. I finished the first block in the BOM I have started. It was to be my last ditch attempt at needle turned appliqué . I was going to take it away with me on holiday, but I could not put it down and now its finished. I can see there is lots of room for improvement but it is the best I have ever done, at least I think so. I was pleased with the little zipper pouch I made a while back, following Yoko Satio's technique. It was bigger pieces though.

Block 1 Floral Impressions BOM

When the pattern arrived for the first block I nearly abandoned the whole thing, all those olives, 48 of them about the size of my thumb nail. The fabric for this BOM is from Oakshott fabrics and the designer is Deborah Kemball. The fabric is just lovely, and quite fine and I think that is what has made it easer for me. When I get to block 12 of this BOM, I might have improved somewhat, so this block might have to be re-done, but oh! I am feeling much more confident about needle turned appliqué now.

We were at the Bee this week and as you can see it was all hands to the task of basting Alison's William Morris quilt. Alison is looking very pleased as she hates this job, and as they say "many hands make light work," and it was done in no time at all. She has decided to hand quilt it so watch this space...

On the theme of getting things done before my vacation, October's block is done for the
Siblings Together 2 group. Its a big old block 18 1/2" but is going to look great when all 12 blocks are put together. Now to post it off to the mama of the month.

Keep safe and keep stitching...... Doti...

Mystery Quilt Block 7

It is nearly time for the BOM , it's a little early as I am off on vacation and I have so much to do before we go.

Here it is already stitched onto last months Blocks

Cut 17  1 1/2‘squares in dark fabric of your choice

Cut 16  1 1/2” squares in light fabric of your choice.

Join together to form a checker board design.  (see photo)

Cut a 1 1/2” X  12” strip of contrasting fabric, and add to bottom of checkerboard strip. (see photo)

Cut a piece of background fabric 3 3/4” x 4 1/2”, and add it to the side of panel (see photo) then add this to top of month 6.

Trace the stitchery design on to this block, starting on the 3 3/4” x 4 1/2” block and  draping down into the side of the month 6 block (see photo)

Block 7 now finished.

I have added this photo to show you ,I sometimes add scrap fabric to the edges, to make it easer to add the sewing ring. Remove when stitchery is done...

I nearly forgot the little stitchery design, I have left the picture like this to show the scale on A4 paper.

There will be only two more blocks and we will then be finished, next months might be a little late as its due just after our vacation.

I am not sure how much time there will be for blogging while we are away, I do intend to do some sewing though. I am taking my 1/2" hexes to do, they don't take up much room, and also my new appliqué BOM.

I did bite the bullet and cut that beautiful fabric and here is a little look at how I am getting on. Two more quadrants to do. I am quite pleased with how it's going.

Have fun stitching Block 7. I did colour in the roof of the little bird house, with Crayola crayons.

Keep safe and keep stitching......Doti... 

Oh Dear !

Oh Dear indeed !
 Have you ever bitten off more than you think you can chew? Well, that's what has happened to me. I saw this lovely kit  "Floral Impressions" designed by Deborah Kemball on one of my favourite fabric sites Oakshott Fabrics. You buy the kit and then Deborah sends instructions once a month, so it is in fact a BOM. I have for a long time now been trying to improve my needle turned appliqué and thought this would be a good way of doing just that.

It would give me a whole month to do each block. The scrumptious fabric arrived, followed by the first months Pdf file then, then The Oh Dear ! set in... What have I done, firstly the background fabric is WHITE. I know it looks off white in this photo , but believe me it's white. As you know I have two very hairy dogs. What can one say, hairs everywhere. You will also know if I need a light background it will be Kona snow or cream never ever white. The first block has 48 olives, less than an inch each and the thinnest turned stems I have ever seen. Watch this space :0(...

It was Wednesday Club this week and I did try and take a few photos, without much success 

(iCloud is still playing up). This is Alison's lovely William Morris jelly roll quilt. She is so clever, all her quilts are made with such care and she wins prizes in local shows. I love the appliquéd  design down the middle of this quilt. 

Alison's Jelly Roll quilt.

 I did show you these fabrics of Fiona's some weeks back as I liked the colour combo. She now has a set of lovely table mats. I might just have to copy these they are so fresh, just right for having your breakfast on.

Fiona's table mats.

Talking of food, my husband has just brought me lunch and it's fruit as we are fasting today. I am thinking he is trying to cheer me up as I am going to cut out the fabric this afternoon for the first appliqué block.

Keep safe and keep stitching.........Doti...