PatchworkDreams

Today I managed to find time to attach the satin bias binding around both the front and back of the shoulder bag, it was rather fiddly as the bas is only 1/2inch wide.

Black satin bias added around the bag shape.

I machine sitched it on to the front first then rolled the binding over and stitched it down by hand.  Instead of doing this you could over-lock or surger it, but I find this way gives it a nicer finish inside and out. I will hand sew the ties to this binding. I also made up two pockets for inside of the bag, large one and a small one, I have attached the large one ready to sew on, I added a running stitch around the pocket then a little embroidery.

Large pocket made and ready to stitch on to the inside of bag front. You need to click on photo's to see clearly!!!!!

Hopefully I will have more to show tomorrow?????

Cheers Glenda

Still working on Esther’s http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com BOM block Forgetmenot . Today I have been making the back of the shoulder bag I have put Esther’s design Forgetmenot on to; see my blog Sat 23rd June.  I have made the back in plain black 100% wool felt as a neutral to the bright red felt front. I have quilted it and added one button.

Back of shoulder-bag in black felt and machine echo quilted

My button comes from Italy a lovely lady gave me several buttons many years ago when I was visiting her.

Now to find some silk neck ties for the gusset and shoulder straps!!!!!!!

Hmmmmmmm I think I have found the ties, just been in to hubby’s wardrobe?????????

Dare I use them??????

Will wait till tomorrow and have another look before adding them by machine!!!!!!!! Tonight I will put the bias-binding around the edges of the front and back before adding the gusset ties?????????

For you Paola and Jon?????

Kitty-sue and her dear companion Rocket in his 90's!!!!!

This after-noon I took Rocket (wolfhound X Boxer) down to the unit and gave him a shower, we have a wheelchair shower down there, Rocket is in his 90’s in human years, so as it is winter here but  it is still in the 20’sC ; around 25C today, I will not wash him outside with cold water!!!!! then I brought him upstairs in to the sun and dried him with my hairdrier, he lapped up all the extra attention.

Must fly dinner needs cooking and fire lite before it gets to cold I don’t want Rocket getting cold after his bath, down to 20 now and it is only 4pm, going to be another cold night for us.

Cheers every one Glenda

This will end up a carry bag for a gift in Japan in Oct?????

First 100% blue thick wool felt stars from an old felt 1930's hat!!!! for my forgetmenot flowers

Now adding light-eight cream felt centres to the blue before finally adding the yellow centre

Yellow centres added

Almost finished singing bird added

Stems and leaves machine appliquéd with batting attached behind red felt

Backing fabric added then Echo quilting around outer edge of bag

Felt bird was sewn together first and now been added to design

I made up the wee bird with felt pieces, using tiny drops of glue till I could sew the pieces together using tiny blanket stitches. Now I need to appliqué it on using blanket stitches.

Front of shoulder bag finished!!!!!

This morning it was 10C here far to cold for me I wanted to stay in bed and play with my new Ipad  that arrived yesterday; hubby gave it to me for my birthday , I went down to the beaches to have coffee with my girl friend who has just come back from Turkey and I’m now the proud owner of a lovely pair of silver earrings from Turkey

Silver Earrings from Turkey

another Birthday present I have been spoilt this year.  By 10am down there it was a lovely 25C much more my temperature thank you.  We had the fire on again last night and this is meant to be the tropics??????? When I arrived back up here I cleared the mail and there was another lovely parcel from a girlfriend of 40 years with 1/2 dozen lovely  underwear but I won’t share that photo with you!!!!!!

As I drove up to Kewarra Beach the Paddy Melons

Paddy Melons click to enlarge and see them all under the tree as well.!!!!!!

( A small Kangaroo that lives around here) were all out eating in one of the empty blocks I drove past, so I drove back and took a photo of them for you. They are wild but live quite happily here with the horses eatting their pellets for them as well as their grass ?????

Small Kangaroo's and horses beside the main road.

There are houses all around these empty blocks.

Yesterday I was given a delightful scissor

Scissor and needle holders from a county fair, the embroidered stiches used for Pins and needles is soooo fine.

and needle holder from my lovely friend Pat who had been to her granddaughters wedding and while down in Brisbane 1000ks away they visited a county fair and she brought these back for me for my Birthday.

Embroidery on inside of Needle case gives a lovely touch to a lovely wee gift.

I have been working on another Annabelle block

Annabelle wearing one of her sun hats and playing with balloons ?????

these are so delightful to make she is the cutes wee Bunny.

I brought home a blue felt hat from the Opp Shop last week and cleaned it up then cut it up in to Forgetmenot flowers!!!!!!!!!!!!

These are the start of my blue forgetmenots maybe??????

I’m tossing up whether the felt is to heavy or not?????? I want to use this block for a carry bag as a gift to take to Japan.

I’m still spending a lot of time in the garden

Unusual ground flowers

A new orchid just opened to day

poinsettias just starting to change colour

while there is no rain around so sewing is still taking a back seat.

Off to make some pumpkin soup now for tonight it will be lovely and warm with cheese on toast.  Pumpkin

Abundance of pumkin at present.

are every where at present and on some roads out in the country not far from here in bins for free.

Thank you for dropping by. Cheers Glenda Down Under

Well about all I have to show this week is a pile of rubbish!!!!!!

A day in the garden??????

As we live in the tropics plus on the edge of the rainforest things grow as you watch them, trees grow 1 to 2 metres a year, every seed that drops seems to grow, so to stop been buried alive by vegetation you have to cut and cut as these seedlings grow.  The above photo is 1/2 of what I collected on Monday out of the garden!!!! I was just cleaning up.  Yesterday I added some thing to the garden!!!!!!

My new old Buddha!!!!!!!! Click on photo to enlarge she is worth looking at!!!!!

I rescued this beautiful Buddha from the rubbish, not mine?????? I felt she was to beautiful and special to end her life just yet so all though she has a few dents and scratches I feel she is still beautiful, so here she sits in my garden, the dish is the top of a old gas very vry large cylider and makes a perfect dish, she is surrounded by beuaiful tropical  bromelia that flower most of the year. This is on one side of my drive way to the house.

Last night Rod went down to pick some bananas?????

Banana's any one????????

Yep that is one Hugh dirty bucket of full bananas???????

Even the Bananas grow really fast here!!!!! I will freeze most of these for cakes, bread and soothies, then give some away to friends. Talking about Bread I’m extracting liquid honey

Draining the liquid from the honeycomb.

this morning for our breakfast toast I mostly eat it straight from the comb!!!!

This morning unearthed another WIP

Silk on silk iron on fusing and blanket stitched down.

wish I had not as this one I love and had forgotten about, there is only one block to finish and I can turn it in to a wee quilt, it is silk on silk.  I wish I could remember who the design was who inspired me to make this quilt to give her the credit, but it was such a long time ago. Of course been me I have changed it to my ideas but the basic lay out is not mine so if you recognise it please let me know.

Only sewing I have done is on my Vienna quilt top and another Annabelle

Nighty Night Annabelle ready for bed

While is is sunny and dry I want to be out side cleaning up as much as possible encase it starts raining again, plus woollies have been pulled out of storage and there is endless hand washing done to get rid of the musty smell we all have in our stored clothes up here in the tropics. So any form of sewing is taking a back seat at present.

Do you ever start some thing thinking it will be a 5 min job and it ends up taking 5 hrs?????? Well that’s what happened this after-noon I washed several of my cashmere jerseys yesterday and to day when folding them to put away discovered one had some tiny holes in it, I decided I would make lazy daisy chain flowers

Embroidering my Jersay to cover the moth holes????????

where the holes where  and have it for another couple of years, hmmmmmmm  I started at 12.30pm and finished at 5pm???????? I kept finding more holes it now looks like it has the measles!!!!!! but will keep me warm for another few years but I could of been doing patchwork for 5 hrs??????

Jon these are for you and Paola

Yep he's playing ball!!!!!

Bright bright eyes in an old face, He's 90 human years now?????? He's soooooooooo grey now.

I’m linking to Esther’s blog today

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

a lady who inspires me and motavates me to reach out of my comfort Zone over and over again.  Congratulations Esther on another ribbon???? justly deserved, this quilt is a beautiful beautiful design. Go to Esther’s blog to see for your self.

Cheers all Glenda

Beautiful Lilies

Flowers are starting to appear again, these lilies are filling my house with a delicate perfume.  Orchids are just starting to bloom again in the garden.

First of the orchids this winter in the garden

After weeks of rain last Sunday we saw the sun all day for the first time, oh how one misses the sun when it not there.

I can now tell you what I have been up to over the last 2 weeks patchwork wise, I have been test stitcher for some of the most delightful designs of the Bunny Annabelle blocks, Michele asked if I would like to do this and I jumped at the idea as I have a wee grandchild arriving in Jan 2013!!!!! So far I have made several of these beautiful blocks here is a peep at 3 of my blocks.

I have never used 100% wool felt before when doing appliqué and I must admit the 100% wool felt is a dream to use compared to the nylon felt I’m use to using in craft work down here in Australia.

Helping

I can see in the future I will be using this lovely 100% wool felt a lot more.  If you want to see more about Annabelle

Flight Of The Bumble-bees

check out Michele’s link on Esther Aliu’s  blog which I link to every Wednesday

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com Esther designs beautiful beautiful quilts and is very very generous with her time and knowledge and puts up free patterns on the 15th of every month on her blog.  I personally have learnt so much from Esther and love her appliqué work.

Fruit

Wonderful fresh fruit all year round for us.

and honey

Pure Honey Comb (Click to enlarge)

are abundant this year. We have a very large container of honeycomb ready to box up in to small containers and the rest squeezed for liquid honey this is on the list to do today.

Our Tropical Winter moon-rises are always so spectacular near full moon here. We have a river below our home where there is a weir so we have some beautiful water reflections this time of the year as the moon rises all so.

Tropical night!!!!! Worth clicking to enlarge.

We are having the Venus eclips here today, I wonder if I will be able to see it. I will let you know next week if I see it????

Don’t believe every thing you read?????  Last night I decided to give my self a make over, I’d bought some medium blond hair colour and some eyelash medium brown colour, well the the eyebrows now are now dark-brown instead of white and blonde but my hair???? is now dark brown instead of medium blonde,  I’m a ex hairdresser and realised that the colour was not correctly labelled when I saw black developing instead of light brown  and wash it out after 5 mins of applying but it is still medium brown to dark brown, I keep seeing this strange lady in my house as I have mirrors every where to give the look of more space or let the views of the rainforest come inside, I think I will have to cover them all with scarves or my head as I get quiet a shock seeing this stranger in my home!!!!!!!!!!!

I’m off to pull out my Peaceful Pathways  designed by Esther I think the rain has stopped this time round; and wash some more of my winter woolies

One of my giant wool jackets I wear these over top of every thing while sitting at the computer instead of putting heaters on.

as the evenings and mornings call for them again.

All for now cheers Glenda.

Here we are 1/2 way through 2012 and it seems like we have just had family home for Xmas how is that possible!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! It seems like we are all having a full on year,  Jarrod and Sandra sharing their love of each other with us, Jon Laure Liam and Paola travelling all over Europe and sharing it each time with us on SKYPE Callum Tomoko and Saide travelling down to visit us and now planing to return home here for  good and some other very exciting news!!!!!!!!!! Rod and I are sooooo lucky that you all share your lives with us so much we appreciate it more than you will ever know.  While you are all so busy here it is Thursday in OZ I missed WOW yesterday I was so busy doing my own thing????? Nothing to show this week, what I’m working on is not for publication just yet so sorry no pictures of work this week.

Chystel used to even help us on a Tuesday at our local church Opp Shop but she is now

Chrystel's last day in the Opp Shop saying good bye to Lee

back home in France by a couple of days; we will all miss her, I will miss her as she has been such a big part of our lives this last 8 months. But there is always SKYPE.

On a sad note we saw our first sick tree frog this week

White lipped Tree frog

She has a fungal disease!!!!!  It is the first one we have seen here.  I was going to catch her and take her to the Frog hospital but she was gone when I went back with the jar???? If you click on her you can see the black spots in her skin.

This week while I was working at the local church Opp-shop one of our regulars came in and gave me a bush fairy and child he had made. They are made out of all materials from our local bush, her hair is even made from the wild local capoc. It was hard to photograph so I hope you can see it enough to see the workmanship that has gone in to making her and the baby. See the wings made from dried purple flowers???? –

Bush fairy and child

Guess what grew in our garden last night?????? Hubby had some one come in and take a way two cars that we no longer used and asked him to bring the below up on his car trailer??????

End of a tail wing of a aircraft??????

Yes it really is the tail of an aircraft!!!!! large part is to be our grandsons cubby house and the small end to cover our swimming pool sand-filter and pump????? See Rod and yes there is a swimming pool sand-filter and pump under that tail!!!!

Now who is going to paint it??????

All for this week Cheers Glenda

This past week has not been mine really it has been spent mostly in waiting rooms, so I pulled my Vienna quilt

My Vienna quilt

out of the attic where it had been packed away over the wet season and I have clocked up 30 hrs this week doing blanket stitch around the Australian gum leaves

Gum leaves ready for stitching down.

I love the way appliqué comes alive when they have the embroidery stitches added. I nearly always use a contrasting thread when blanket stitching as to me it makes the shape pop????

Now you can see clearly where the gum grubs have been chewing!!!!!

Earlier in the week I managed to do some machine quilting on my PNG  friendship quilt,

PNG Friendship quilt blocks made in 1998

I’m only going to quilt in the ditch mostly on this quilt around the logcabin of each block so I have taken the challenge and doing it by machine rather than my usual hand quilting.

My Wild Rose block of Esther Aliu ( see her new Free BOM here

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

has not grown much further!!!! I have just 3 little flowers

Hope fully Wild rose block to be????????

waiting patiently for me to make up the rest of the block!!!!

Well that’s it for this week hopefully next week there will be more to show if life slows down. Happy stitching all Glenda Down Under

.

This week starts off with my WIP I spent last Wednesday after-noon and Thursday playing with my Whim!!!! My conflowers looked more like cuttle fish than coneflowers to me????

They look more like cuttlefish than cone-flowers!!!!!

I decided to try setting my centre on point

Putting you block on points can me magical?????Click of picture to enlarge it looks quite different enlarged.

and what a difference it made, now my cone-flowers looked like some thing out of space; may be space fish in the black hole where may be there is life!!!!!!!!!!!  So now my mind went off on a new direction planets????? I lay down my black wool felt wall design cloth placed the centre then dug out several disks I’d made for planets plus the rays of the wakening sun that I was going to use on a quilt one day for my grandson; made up some ice-cloud circles out of yellow paper and added these to play around with; now this is where I was up to on Thursday; I now have to find the right fabric to use for the back-ground, it has to be dark I think?????.

My whim turns in to a quilt idea??????

I found this wool Kimono that made me think of the Northern lights or Aurora Borealis

Wool Kimono. Flash has made it look lighter than it really is. When a Kimono is unpicked fabric measure 14" wide from selvage to selvage

and unpicking it, it took me 21/2 hrs. A kimono will yield 4 1.1/2 metres of 14in wide cloth 2 lengths of 1 meters not cut then 4 metres 7 inches wide. this means you can end up with a quilting backing of  2 meters square if you join them.  Woollen fabric from a Kimono irons up like new with out having to wash it.

Fabric ironed and laid out on the double bed.

Yes I think it is dark enough and has a milky sky look to it. I was thinking of a single bed quilt but it just gets bigger!!!!!! Now I think I will add the Southern Cross to the bottom right hand side which you can only see from down here and a 7 pointer star to the left hand side to represent the 7 states of Australia.

The Southern Cross stars and the seven pointed star which represents the 7 states of Australia.

Very very early this morning I have pulled some fabrics for Esther’s Wild Rose block; colours I remember from seeing them when I was a child walking to school to catch the bus and I would pick them when I walked home for my mum.

Pulled fabrics for my Wild Rose

I even managed to cut out one flower on to freezer paper before I left this morning and made  up 5 of the petals while sitting waiting for my friend at the hospital; these are silk fabrics.

I don’t have any thing flowering in the garden at present but took these photo’s on the way down my street this morning.

Early morning sun catching these beautiful tropical flowers.

A Hugh splash of purple

I brought Chrystel our niece from France back up with me from Cairns, I’m going to cook her a Chicken Roast dinner her last in OZ. After 8 months stay in OZ she flies back to France on Friday Via Japan to stop over and stay with Callum and family. We have been sitting out on the patio in the sun around 27C with the dogs catching up on her latest adventures travelling around OZ.

Chrystel on her last day with us.

Well that’s it for another week. Happy stitching every one, Cheers Glenda PS if you want to see what others are doing on a Wednesday pop over to Esther’s blog and join us for WOW (Work On Wednesday or Works in Progress on Wednesday)  Esther also has another  beautiful free BOM  again this year.

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

Last Wednesday I pulled some fabrics on a whim and this is what I have ended up with so far I have not finished with it yet just had no time, but I want to add some cornflowers???? Will see what the week brings.

Esther's Cosmos block almost completed

I have been working slowly on stitching my Cosmos flowers to some charcoal silk fabric which I ahve backed with a very light weight stabliser, this helps stop the silk from shifting and shedding as I work on it. Some of the flowers are silk also.

Using blanket stitch to appliqué flowers

I have used DMC single and double threads on the flowers and a single thread of bottom line thread for the top fern and single thread of DMC for the bottom fern. If you click on the photo’s you can see more clearly. I used a size 11 needle. I just noticed my camera is reading a day early, shall have to try and fix that????

I’m linking to Esther’s blog http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com with several other quilters; Esther’s blog is a joy to visit she is an amazing designer and very very generous with her knowledge.

I’m off to the beach now and will upload some photo’s if I remember to take any when I get back.

Just back; on the way down to the  beach I thought I would show you soom of the local trees around the beach instead of my garden this week???? I passed these beautiful Silver Palms and had to share them with you.

Silver Palms??????

This is what the beach looked like as I pulled up this morning at 11am.

This is for you Paola!!!! Trinity Beach this morning rough but a wonderful breeze blowing.

Our Coconut trees have finally fully recovered from the last cyclone.

Coconut trees back in all their glory!!!!

On the way home I was stopped for road works ??? but look at the view I had to sit and look at for 10 mins!!!!!

Look out from the range

Now 4pm and I have been playing???? I have just added a little more to my whim this week!!!! As soon as I can I will add some leaves too????

Cone flowers added!!!!!

Found this young man in my bedroom this morning 4inches long???

Praying mantis for you Liam

His front legs are sooooooo strong and the barbs went straight through the paper towel I use and hooked in to me!!!!! I relocated him to my desert flower plant and his head kept swivelling watching me as I was walking around taking photo’s of him!!!!! I have just been back to check on him and he has set himself up on top of one of the heads of the plant

Waiting for some dinner

When I approached him to close he kept striking out at me one very aggressive male and after all I did for him?????

One agresive Mantis

Glad he is only 4inches not 4 feet?????

All for this week. Cheers Glenda

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Hello every one, May has arrived and I was still thinking we were in Summer????? For us it seems like it is as we only get real rain in the middle of summer  Dec through till March normally; and it is still raining here.

Our good news is Rocket is able to use all 4 legs again with the help of painkillers and inflammatory tablets.  I know how he feels so can help him be comfortable when lying down so he has no pressure points. We will grow old together in this area???? Instead of going to the beach today I will be taking him back to the vets for a follow up!!!!!

Rocket back up on all 4 legs again!!!!

While sewing the other day look who came to visit

Small White lipped tree frog

They are so beautiful and we are always

SO beautiful

so happy to see them.

This old single quilt

A much used old single bed cover

came in to the Opp Shop last week and needed a little repair, it had no batting in it so had not been quilted, but had been well used.  It is now fixed and back in the shop to be sold and used some more.

I have FINALLY finished the last of my corner stone hearts for Peaceful Pathways; I added the last stem stitches

Last corner of Peaceful Pathways finished 1st May 2012!!!!!

last night while watching several hrs of TV, or should I say listening to TV. I’m several months behind what I had set my self on this quilt but I’m enjoying working on it so much it does not matter.

I have finished sewing my wee hexagon bag,

Tiny silk Hexagon bag 5"x3"

this was very very fiddly to make and I’m not sure I if I will ever make another one, it is the sewing the wee hexagons in to a bag that is so time consuming. I have yet to add the lining and the catch on the front of the bag.

For the rest of the day I’m hoping for a quiet day as this week is an extra busy one every day except to day.

Cheers all Glenda

Thank you for dropping in.

If you would like to pop in and say hi please

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Light Boxes for patchwork.

Many quilters do not have the money when starting out to buy a light box or are in area’s where there are no shops to go buy one.

If you look around the house you will come up with ways to get around this. When I first started quilting in Papua New Guinea we used glass doors that lead out on to terraces or Hugh windows if they had sunlight on them. We would tape the pattern on the glass then tape the fabric over the pattern and draw the over the design. This is a country where there is not even one material shop let alone a Patchwork shop!!!!! Some people were lucky enough to have a glass table and would put a side lamp on the floor and do it this way. I use to take louvres out of my windows and tape several together and do the same as my big windows did not have enough light coming through them, but it was lovely and cool in side as out side was usually around 38C plus!!!!

To day I have a new light box. I brought home a old wall glass wall mounted light shade from the Opp Shop for $2.00

Old wall light shade

I cleaned it up and a electrician added fittings for two light bulbs.Then put a backing on the back to keep it safe.

Finished 12" light box

It works beautifully, it can sit on my knee or on a table, it is portable. Today I wanted to trace my last feathers

Light box in use with only one bulb till I go shopping!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

around my last heart for Peaceful Pathways which is designed by Esther Aliu and it was soooo quick and easy even with just one bulb going.  Now I’m going to curl up applique the heart on then stem stitch these feathers  which are the last ones.

Feathers ready to embroider!!!!!

Then I can go to the next stage of the quilt which has been a long time in coming, I’m months behind what I had planned with this beautiful quilt. Cheers All Glenda

First it is ANZAC day,  a very special day for NZ and OZZIES.  It reminds us of war world I and hopefully we never see another like it. My grandfather was one of the first army soldiers from NZ to set foot on the beach!!!! He was shot a few days later but survived to be ship back to England then home as he was unfit to return to his unit so you can guess how bad his injuries where.  How ever he did marry have 8 children and live to his 80’s but he was always in pain and drank endless strong strong cups of tea to ease his headaches.   DH and I usually go to the dawn parade down on the waterfront but this year we stayed home to keep a watch on our faithful companion of 13 years or 94 in human numbers?????  He had a trip to the vets Sunday night and we just brought him home last night plus lots of drugs. He sure looks a lot better but age has crept in to his bones. So we choose to keep him company today.

Rocket (Wolfhound X Boxer )

Our Shitsu who has been his constant companion for the last 6 years went on hunger strike the whole time he was away, today she is back to her bossy self?????

Barron Falls in flood

To day I’m trying to find photos?????  DH was going to buy me a new hard-drive with masses of room for my 1000’s of photo’s and did the right thing and copied my folders on to a disk ready for installing, well some where a long the line the folders were copied but they are all empty????????????????  For the last two weeks he has been trying different software to recover them, but my computer only works till it is about 7% download and then locks up???????   So I have added a photo of what our local falls look like in the wet which is now, this is a old photo which has been recovered.  I can not download photos at present as my computer is not recognising my camera since the new drive was installed?????

The unusual

Camera is talking again after putting in a new card????? Just been walking around the yard taking snaps to see if this one works and it does. The above is a very unusual plant I have in my garden, I have not seen another any where around where we live.

Dripping with passion-fruit

Just as well we like passion-fruit as it has been a wonderful  year for them and I have even been able to freeze masses for the winter.

Lisa Ho dress fabric all beads are sewn on by hand!!!!

I brought home a beautiful Lisa Ho dress home from the opp shop yesterday as it had a few  small stains on it. I’m going to try and get the stain out, if not I will use the rest of the fabric for something else??????

1930's scrap blocks

Things you find when you are looking for some thing else.  I’m hunting for my circle blocks, they are still alluding me but I just came across these lovely wee 4inch blocks???? I will make them up some thing like the next photo which is of a quilt my DH saw in Kentucky USA 5 years ago.

Scrappy 1930's quilt seen in Kentucky 5 years ago.

I like the way this quilter used the green to join the blocks then the blue to join these 4 blocks.

Embroidered blocks and joined with crochet. May be early 1900's

Just came across this!!!!  not what I’m looking for ????? A beautiful hand worked bed-cover was given to my mum around 1960 by her best friend as she thought mum may have been able to fix it?????  But she could not buy the linen heavy enough to replace the blocks damaged.

Close up of one of the blocks

Several years ago I decide to unpick the crochet around the blocks and use it on a heirloom quilt I was making; then stopped as I felt I was doing the wrong thing!!!!!  After thinking about it I’m going to instead turn it in to a quilt as is by patching the holes with fabric then backing the blocks then just quilt the blocks, this will give the damaged blocks strength and it will still be beautiful and usable!!!!!

Time to think about dinner. I should of put some thing on early this morning like Esther did?????

If you want to see some interesting links check out Esther’s blog at http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com 

Thank you for dropping in.

If you would like to pop in and say hi please

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Cosmos block from Esther Aliu's 2012 mystery BOM

Working on stitching down my flowers to day on my Cosmos block.  I’m blanket stitching around the flowers I have several appointments today in the city where I will be waiting in waiting rooms for several hours so will get a lot done!!!!!.  To check out the other BEAUTIFUL block released by Esther this month go to

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

Well I did not get one stitch done as I left it at home?????? But did manage to get several hexagons made for my mini bag I’m making.

Silk Mini hexagons for a mini bag!!!!!

From above to this

First stage of sewing silk hexies together!!!

Next stage now looking some thing like a purse????

Purse flap sewn on and in place!!!!

With luck I will finish it tomorrow night????? Check back thn to see!!!!!!

I have put back up my passion wall quilt today, I cleaned and put it away over Xmas and finally found time to day to put it back?????

Passion

I found this hand quilted door hanging last week and have just hung it today, it is silk and comes from Cambodia.

Quilt Silk door hanging from Cambodia

Close up of Cambodia door hanging.

So you can see today has been about house cleaning mostly but from 8pm till now 11.30pm it has been sewing hexies!!!!!

It has finally stopped raining and I can see the sun for the first time in weeks, but we are very wet and bedraggled??????

Bedraggled but sun at last!!!!!!

I’m linking to Esther’s WOW ( Work On Wednesday)

Cheers All Glenda

First lots of love and Happy Birthday Ha in NZ I’m thinking of you.

Dancing flowers

Only sewing I have managed to do the last 3 weeks is a little darning, a few stitiches now and then on my last corner block from Peaceful Pathways.

Embroidered corner block from Esther's Peaceful Pathways quilt 2011

( I’m well behind on this quilt I was hoping to have it finished by Xmas 2012!!!!)  a round on a Mini RR on-line block. Not the above block Dancing flowers I made this for another on-line quilter as I can not show the one I have just made as it is a secret?????? The above design is mine and feel free to copy it if you wish.

We are still have family visiting  so are very very lucky. To day is my first none day for about 2 months. Second son is at home and we plan visit the local village for brunch and stroll around the village tourist craft stalls and be tourist for the day or we may change our minds and go down to the beach for brunch, DS in still asleep.

It has finally stopped raining after 8 weeks. It has left the local waterfalls looking their best and they are so lovely to visit now. We were out Tiki Touring last Sunday with family visiting.

One of the local waterfalls

Just back from a lovely walk along the beach at Trinity Beach. It was not hot nor cold, lots of people in swimming but only in the net enclosure as the stinger are still around.  We had the northern end of the beach all to ourselves after we had a lovely lunch of fish and chips!!!!! beside the sea.  Now to put the final touch to my on-line Mini RR  and then think about dinner. Happy Easter to every one. Cheers Glenda

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Liebster is a German word meaning favourite, dearest or beloved. The Liebster Blog Award is awarded by bloggers to other new bloggers who have fewer than 200 followers, to help spread the word about their blogs and to help them gain wider recognition.

The most beautiful city in the world

The Liebster award comes with four conditions that each recipient must satisfy when accepting:

1. Choose 5 up-and-coming blogs with less than 200 followers to award the Liebster to.

2. Show your thanks to the blogger who gave you the award by linking back to them.

3. Post the award on your blog. List the bloggers you are giving the award to with links to their sites. Leave comments on their blog so they know about the award.

Bunny Canada:- http://creativehare.blogspot.ca

Wendy  Australia:- http://aussiekiltedquilter.blogspot.c

Varga Gyorgyi Hungary:-  http://angelpatches.blogspot.com.au

Sarah USA:- http://sosarahsews.blogspot.com.au

Gari USA :- http://gariquilts.blogspot.com.au/  

4. Share 5 random facts about yourself that people don’t know about you.

When I was a child I grew up on a large sheep and dairy farm in the North Island of NZ

My dream as a child was to be a hairdresser on a ship when I grew up and I did!!!!!

I lived in Fiji for 2 years.

I use to be a glider pilot.

My favourite place to be is Japan.

Friends meeting

Thank you for dropping in Cheers Glenda

No blog last week, we all packed up and went to Ellis Beach for 3 days from Wednesday morning till Saturday.

Tomoko and Saide at Ellis Beach 17th March 2012

Tomoko and Saide on the cabin frontage. Click on photo to enlarge and see how close we were tot he sea??????

We had a lovely small bungalow right on the beach with a creek running down the side of it.

Bungalow with Callum building a rock dam memories of his childhood days!!!!!!

There was lots of  beach ball games.

Lots of fun been children again with Saide.

Now it is Wednesday again but back home and looking after the most delightful young man as mum has had to fly back to work a week earlier than dad and himself. We went to see the Barron Falls in flood this morning.

Saide at the falls

Our local tourist train stops here on the way to our village and Saide was more interested in sitting down and waiting for the train to come!!!!!

WOWWWWW Said Saide when he saw the falls.

It was a lovely morning and it is the first time we have had a sunny day for nearly 3 weeks???????  Just rain rain and more rain so the falls have been looking beautiful.

Barron FallsSo with so much rain and lots of family home there has been NO sewing done. Very very hot and humid.

My blog is written to link up with Esther each Wednesday. Esther designs the most beautiful quilts.  http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com  

Cheers Glenda

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Sandwiched tagged & ready for quilting

Another UFO top quilt top finished plus tag  sandwiching ready to start machine quilting?????? I bless the day hubby suggested I tag my quilts and bought me one last year.  Yeterday I had this quilt which is 2 metres square sandwiched in about 4 hrs fold up and stored for quilting. Normal it would of taken me 2 full days basting it by thread. I also have worked how to do it on my dinning table which has a glass top and 2 meters long by 1 meter wide instead of on the floor!!!!!, I have bought 2 old irioning bords from Opp SHops and set these either side of the table this gives me the added meter down the sides; I spread the backing fabric and clip this around the table and the ironing bords with LARGE paper clips, then lay the  batting and finally the quilt, make sure there are no wrinkles and starting tagging every 3inchs apart working from the centre out, when I have completed all the area where the glass table is I slide the quilt across and do one side then after doing that slide it across to the other side and I’m finished. When using the gun I push the needle through on an angle and it slides across the glass rather than straight down in to the glass. How ever I have pinned the edges around the quilt for extra suppot as I’m sure it is to heavy just for the mini tags there.  I’m going to try machine quilting it. I think it lends it self to machine quilting as I will do in the ditch then wash it as my wee dog chewed a gecko up in to 10 pieces right in the middle of it when it was laying on the floor while I was finishing off the last row!!!!!!!!!!!!!!  I have a Japanese Tatami room which is separate from the rest of the house off the veranda and the tatami mats are great for working on quilts I’m machine sewing as it’s next to where I have my sewing area set up on the veranda out side.

Dear Jane block

I have managed to make a couple of Dear Jane blocks this week.

Sweet wee hearts another Dear Jane block

I find doing these wee blocks relaxing and soothing.

Garden is looking rather pretty at present.

These grow soooo well here in the tropics Click to enlarge these are beautiful!!!!!

Much to my surprise I found this beautiful orchid in full flower yesterday.

Orchid growing in the garden

How amazing if nature

Just beautiful!!!!

I was able to meet up with my friend this morning for the first time in 4 weeks, the beach was beautiful.

Not a soul on the beach this morning but us!!!!!

Afterwards we stopped for coffee and there was some one doing hairdressing on the beach frontage????????

Hairdressing beside the sea?????????????

My blog is written to link up with Esther each Wednesday. Esther designs the most beautiful quilts.  http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com  

Cheers Glenda

If you would like to pop in and say hi please do but

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I had to make 3 more blocks for the friendship quilt

I have been working on my friendship quilt this week, I had to make another 3 blocks to be able to make a 6th Row. It is interesting how I see these blocks now. When I first received them I just thought how lovely they were and who they were from. Now I’m looking at them as a quilter and looking at some of the workmanship, and some of the stitches which are so so tiny I can hardly see them even with my strong glasses on!!!!! Others the design and lay out has been well thought out, others are little pieces of art.

It is now coming together nicely.

I have added a wee bird as I wanted to add some yellow in the outer part of the quilt to give it a bit of zing, I think he does that?????//

A little bit of yellow for some Zing??????

Finally at 7pm last night I completed the last block and to day I have plans to sew every thing together and I will  have another UFO finished. That’s number 3 UFO for 2012. If I don’t complete any more I will still be happy. What do I call a UFO (Unfinished object) and a WIP (Work in progress). UFO’s to me are quilts started over

All blocks now completed ready to be joined to make a complete quilt top.

ten years ago, and WIP’s are ones since then!!!!!!

I have taken the plunge and I’m now going to make the Dear Jane blocks. After been a  visual follower for the last 10 years I took the plunge and bought the EQ manual 10 days ago. It arrived Monday around midday and I spent an hour browsing it then and around 6pm downloaded the software and we had a very very late dinner baked beans!!!! Just joking hubby is a very patient man and has always been very supportive of my art side.  I’m a visual person so if I did not have the computer skills I have after running a booking office for our computer school for 10 years I would not of been able to work out how to use the software. But it is excellent and steps you through each stage. I made up my first block yesterday A3 but appliqued it by making melons then needle-turn appliqueing them to the 4 1/2″ square.

My 1st block A3 of my Dear Jane to be.

Fiddly but a good challenge to get those points even!!!!!

No beach today as we have been having torrential rain and it is still raining down there, so I will just have to stay home and sew how terrible!!!!!!!!!!!, may be I can get another DJ started after I complete putting the friendship quilt together!!!!! plus I can watch Esther’s blog to see the unveiling of For Get Me Not!!!!

Garden is very bedraggled after all the rain but looks fresh.

Our local weed!!!!.

The above is a local weed but we like it as it flowers all year round and adds a touch of colour to a  mostly all green garden.

Only orchid in flower at the moment.

Rods garden always has some thing flowering.

Stunning colour way to use in a quilt flower!!!!!

Family arrive from Japan next Saturday so I must complete where I’m up to on my Peaceful Pathways quilt this week; all quilting is to be packed away this week for a month, hope I don’t have withdraw symptoms??????? My blog is linked to WOW (Work on Wednesday) at Esther Aliu’s blog every Wednesday http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com 

Cheers Glenda

Cheers Glenda

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Only 7 more sleeps till Esther puts up her first part of the Mystery BOM for 2012 yippee.

I have been writing this blog since Sunday its a bit like a WIP as I’m down with a stomach virus and keep running out of steam so decide to write my blog early so I’d have enough energy to finish it to day and link to Esther’s blog.

I have been nutting out my 1920 Rose of Shannon block I bought of the net in 2007 from Kansas. Back then there was very little on the net but I have been back in over the last week and there are pages and pages of information of the rose of Shannon now, and I have found several of this particular one finished in yellow, red, and pinks, with different green leaves and red buds.  SO I have worked this out to be a pattern that was most likely in a news paper for the quilt readers as so many of the centres are the same but the placement and leaf bud part are so variable. I have made up my own adaptation for the leaf and bud design

Using reverse applique to make leaf for the Rose of Shannon

Rose of Shannon 1920's with my final choice of leaf and bud

as this was not included with the 8 centre parts of the Rose of Shannon just a big leaf and no fabric and this leaf template is not so pleasing to my eye as the leaf and bud option. Fabric used for the rose is  interesting too, it is not a soft muslin but a very tight tight stiff woven fine fabric which does not shed and is very hard to sew; I have a roll of old blue green cotton Kimono fabric which has a similar weave which I’m using for the leaf and sepal. Each of the main petals has been pencil marked for the seam but they only allowed 1/8th of an inch or less so it is a real challenge for me to do the needle turn. I have made up  templates out of freezer paper and ironing this on to the back of the pieces and I’m thread basting the fabric around it. When finished they will need to go on a 14 1/2 inch block

Rose of Shannon 1920 Nearly ready to applique down.

as they are so big; so they will still make a good size quilt when finished even though there are only 8 to make; I will off set them.  I was up at 2am working on my Rose of Shannon this morning and I now have two rose buds to add and it will be finished. I have padded the centre and bud tips.

Two more rose buds to be appliqued on and it is finished then 7 more to go!!!!.

Look what I just found, it is the year of finding long lost WIP some like this one over 10 years old

Friendship blocks for the PAPUA NEW QUINEA quilting group 1997!!!

I lived in PNG for 6 years and joined a quilting group just after I arrived up there and have been quilting ever since. We decided to do a friend ship swap there were 32 of us all keen, we were to make the same block 32 times then swap. Well it sound like a lot of fun but after several weeks of making the same block over and over it was not so much fun any more for many of the quilters. I choose to make Sun Bonnet Sue and dressed her in different clothes each time so it was lots of fun for me?????  For some reason I stopped working on it not sure why……….. Well I now know why I stopped, I was very new to quilting when I was making this; it must of been one of my first attempts at log cabin style and I was self taught from pictures I saw in magazines back then. I have been sewing a couple of the blocks this morning and when I went to add them to the top row found that the last block was 1/2″ smaller than the rest, sat down and nutted out where I had gone wrong back then and spent 40 mins unpicking and resewing and it should be OK now. Back then I most likely could not see where I had made the mistakes and gave up in frustration!!!!!!

Top row now finished

I still have a pile of strips with this UFO so I can finish the top row and side rows if I’m lucky in the same fabrics!!!!!

No photo’s of the beach today or garden, I just don’t feel like leaving the snugness of my house. But I will leave you with the below visitor?????

On Friday night  a rather large  flying bug was flying around our lounge, these ones I’m not to fond of inside.

Rather Large flying insect that came inside!!!!!!

Another creature has come to visit today, she is on my front veranda and so beautiful. Wow what a colour.

Beautiful beautiful colour. Nature is amazing!!!!!

If you enjoy reading quilting blogs check out Esther’s WOW (Work on Wednesday) at http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com Every Wednesday.

Cheers Glenda

If you would like to pop in and say hi please do but

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