broderie

12 days over.........

the 12 days of christmas are over and all the pretty bits of christmas are packed away for 12 months !

some stitching days have been had on those very hot days we have had this summer

a cooling blue bowl of the sweetest perfume filled the room !

and i won't show you the friends, jenny and sharon may not like it, but between the three of us much is achieved, but there is always an 'over achiever' ! having left her machine in the corner, sharon has taken to hand piecing and quilting with great gusto and really enjoying the hands on approach.

this is the first, hst all cut and stitched by hand and then quilted with yellow perle 8 cotton and finished and bound and slept under ! made from scraps from all of us !

then my tumbler template was taken home for a lend and this is the result, once again all cut and stitched by those sharon hands ! i guess it may be well on the way to also being finished, well done !

some detail

on the couch, back left, is jenny's hst, which is nearly there and looking so different to sharons's. that's what i like about this simple pattern and many of the same fabrics have been used in both quilts !

sharon had previously machined this bright saintly one, but is now also quilting this with fine quilting cotton.

we had a sort of easy patchwork lunch that day !

not many pretty corners left here now, it's begining to look alot like this !

no soft edges on this photo ! the packing up has begun !

this is a quote i have loved, i shared it once with someone close to me !

"there is a place i sometimes go to in my dreams. it is full of light and joy, 

it makes me feel safe"

still looking for somewhere to feel safe again !

 

room with a view is pink

as i sit and look out the window here it seems everything is looking pink this spring, the roses are like lit candles blowing in the wind and all the blossoms i can see in neighbouring gardens are all shades of pink !

these are the old roses in the garden and so pretty, i am liking a bit of pink at the moment

last weekend i visited, with a friend, a quilt exhibition organised by eastern palliative care in nunawading, i believe it is only the second one they have organised, it was an excellent show, lots of beautiful work and lots of friendly people. some of my favourites are here !

pretty scrappy stars by sandra boyle

loved the colours of this one

more stars by sandra dorse

the colours and the fussy cutting of this really appealed to me, done by adrienne armstrong

and this version of di ford's morrel quilt, done by christine vlasic, was very inspiring ! and i have the pattern, one day ! look out for this show about this time next year, it was well worth a visit and for a good cause, i'm all for supporting those in need of comforting.

i have finished interviewing my fabrics for my circles surrounded by hexagons and have come up with this final decision and will surround them with this bicolour spot background i think, still in the pink theme ! this will be the centre of a quilt admired and loved from the collection made and owned by margaret sampson george and who so generously shared the pattern with me and some friends

still a long way to go for me, the process is always slow, lots of other preparation done, hexagons are ready !

loved these shadows on the blinds the other morning

and the beautiful vision and the perfume from anna's roses have been lovely to live with

it is a grey and dull melbourne day today, but the roses are lifting the spirits and it is warm inside and a good day to be just doing ! what will i do next, lots of sorting to be done here also !

 

 

 

 

slipping into october

today is the first day of summer daylight saving time in australia in parts, some states don't do it, so confusing time zones exist is our country ! the first few days always seem to go quickly, surprising what that clock does to our brains and habits !

on friday was a visit to the annual quilts in the barn exhibition and linda and all her helpers had it all so organised again, red and white the theme this year !

this was an antique quilt and i loved the softness of this and the redwork stitching

so many people in attendance on friday and i guess over the three days, such a good cause, lovely to see the support, well done again linda ! lots of people inside taking photos, i liked these from outside looking in !

the parking attendants were busy herding up all the cars

and i was not sorry to see linda's beautiful echium in full bloom again this year ! this particular one has a lovely soft blue flower

and in the vase at home this beautiful gentle pink rhododendron bloom

it is a sort of gentle pink day here today, a good lazy sunday !

 

 

the day after a lovely day !

the monday night sewing girls were here this week and i have really enjoyed living with these beautiful roses all the week

just lovely and so uplifting during this week that has given us some very mixed weather with icy blasts, thanks so much gloria, very very beautiful

been playing around with the 'birthday' project, playing and placing, moving it around and changing my mind, great fun though !

denise has done lots of sewing, no housework, but who cares, she was feeling as though she was almost finished, but i hope that i have convinced you to keep adding more !

jan called and she had been crocheting, this is the right side, but this pattern looks good both ways

then came thursday and it was sewing at marlene's and we were only a small group, but happy girls, happy just spending a few hours together doing some stitching

i wonder who these were for ?

and more flowers and a bottle of the 'blue juice'

a collection of pressies

 a little book of lovely words

out with some friends for a lovely lunch and family members remembered

and a candle !

yesterday was my birthday 10/08, i had a really lovely day, thanks to all !

i had a sparkler in my cup cakes, photo not so good, but at least i did not have to blow out lots of candles !

and now it is the day after !

and some good words on a card, i love words, words that make you think and reflect

with those words i will leave you to reflect how fortunate most of us are ..............

 

after some time ..........

and some computer problems, i can bring you more of our birthday weekend

remember we had stars

and vases and stems and birds all taking shape in different ways 

there are some new stars

the beginning of some new quilts by the birthday girl, no, she has not finished the one started on her special weekend, but has a rotating big basket of projects, and this is the newest

shopping on the way to the airport to deliver jean for her flight home, marlene found this brown linen, i know the photo makes it look grey, but it is a lovely lightweight brown linen

irene had added some birds above her basket of hexagons

and nothing to do with the quilt making, except they would be lovely to wear while relaxing and doing some stitching are these new peter alexander jammies, fun aren't they !

and this is my central basket for my quilt to go with all my hexagons that i have been playing with, things being auditioned really, but i'm happy with this i think or similar and i have started sewing some down, really took this photo so i would remember the placement

we also had a show and tell on the sunday of our weekend, so will share with some of the work that we have done over the years or more recently. out there in the suburbs so many of us are busy with enjoying the gentle arts of all kinds

marilyn's lovely wagga, done some years ago in a class with robyn melia, it is so well done and always such a pleasure to see

sorry that some of the pictures are not so clear, it was amount of light and the quick change of all the pieces, so much to see

lavina's lovely octagon quilt just finished recently

and this lovely scrappy one

sharyn's octagon, they are all so different and lovely

and this in such gentle colours

and trish's donkey quilt

and hexagon stars

and another mix of hexagons

and sally's hand made laces

jenny's octagon quilt, the black and whites look great

deidre's owls and quilts

lovely vintage colour and feel to this octagon quilt

and the autumn tones of this strippy

and the knitted rug for warmth in them thar hills !

these are irene's 1/2 inch hexagons done some years ago and live life stored in a cupboard in a plastic bag, along with these other items of 1/2 inch squares !!!!!!!

and these miniature cathedral window pieces, and they all live in a plastic bag !!!

and some of the rotations from marlene's large basket came out also, this lovely grey and yellow diamond quilt top

the grey and yellow theme continues here too

and two identical half square triangle quilt tops, where there is one piece of fabric in one the same piece appears in the other in exactly in the same place !

and 'camelot' circles almost complete !

hope you enjoyed the show and tell also and there were some of us who did not show ! 

or tell !

i will soon show you some of the other stitching going on around here !

 

 

 

hexagon lego

i have decided for patchworkers, that making my 5/8 inch hexagons and all the patterns is like playing with lego !

of course this week i have also been watching television till late into the night and into the very early morning ! the queen's diamond jubilee celebrations in london has kept me up and stitching ! and the tin i am using to house all my covered hexagons seems very appropriate, purely by accident !

so i am having fun, and the fun will continue into next month. a friend is having one of those big birthdays, you know the older we get, the bigger the birthdays ! i have organised a quilting party weekend and this is all preparation for those special 2 days.

this tin full belongs to another friend, sharyn and the following two photos are those shapes put together by the birthday girl herself, we are all enjoying the preparation.

and you all know how i often say i am spoilt, well spoilt again i was when this new book arrived in the mail for me

thank you ! thank you !

this is a lovely new book by brigitte giblin and is very inspiring, i personally love the way that so many of the quilts really showcase the fabric choices.

looking forward to making some of these

 and this

love this one

those large hexagons really showing the beautty of the fabric patterns

you see the queen was in my living room along with the other members of the royal family, and i also loved seeing the australian crews in the surf boats on the river thames ! oh how i would have loved to be in london for these last few days of celebration

when i was young !!! i used to follow the surf carnivals all round the victorian coastline, my brother was involved and many happy memories remain with me of family times and young love affairs !!!

i also want to let you know about a new business in hobart, tasmania

i recently bought some dish cloth cotton from the stash cupboard called 'sugar n cream' , i have not used it yet, but it is really beautiful cotton thread. go and take a look at what they have available ! not related to me in any way, just nice to do business with !

well away i will be to cover some more hexagons !

 

oh this perfect autumn

the sun is shining, the skies are blue and the leaves are changing in the most magnificent way and the temperatures are moderate and it is just beautiful ! that is the way it is in my home city of melbourne, australia, today anyway and for the past couple of weeks ! so enjoyable !

this is the tree on my nature strip, only small at this stage. i live in the 'leafy suburbs" of melbourne and just driving out to the local shops at the moment is such a pleasure visually 

i have spoken before how i am a great starter, love a new start to a project, but i do finish also, well most of the time, sometimes !

never say never ! i did say i would never ever cover hexagon papers again, but as you can see, i am covering hexagon papers, fussy cutting some and others are just random. thus is in preparation for something in the next few months. last time, years ago, when i did this i first cut up magazines for the templates, not any old magazines, ones with very good quality paper, but these days it is easier and considerably cheaper to use the already available cut papers.

i am also cutting out clam shells, you know i love the preparation !

also continuing with my crocheted squares 

this is a blackbird design 'gathering basket' which i cross stitched and now made into a small little linen purse which i will use for containing a project, maybe my next small cross stitch item

this is one of the finished items of our stitching group's interpretation of the line drawings we were given and i made it up into a 'soft canvas' type throw using some heavy weight furnishing cotton as the background. it will be available as part of a silent auction at the embroidery exhibition in queenscliffe

on friday and saturday, april 20th and 21st, this week

at the town hall, learmonth street, queenscliffe, victoria

10.00 am to 4.00pm each day ............. $15.00 entry

in aid of motor neurone research and kidney health australia

please if you are able to attend this exhibition, make the effort, lots of lovely things to see and purchase

and we are still stitching !

some of the things i can't show you yet ! sorry !

i am heading to hobart for another 'babysitting' engagement with my family, the ones that were staying a few weeks back left me with this reminder of them, it flaps its leaves and the flower wobbles and it reminds me daily of happy times !

last night i got an email from 'nan' in scotland telling me she had received her copy of the 'dancing dollies' pattern in her mail on monday morning (scotland time) she was amazed and so was i because i had only posted the pattern to her on friday last at the post office at approx 4.45pm ! nothing wrong with that and it was friday 13th and she received it at her home in scotland, in the morning mail, on monday 16th ! well done australia post !

i love faces, i purchased these in brisbane many, many years ago when i was up there for a trade fair, still love them

a dish

and a tissue box

the only colour in my all white guests bathroom

and another face with wise words, she lives here with me, i like inspirational words !

just all part of the collection of this my life !

 

 

 

 

be it ever so humble and gardening

as the old saying goes, 'be it ever so humble, there's no place like home'

a new pattern by trish harper is 'the humble house'

a traditional house block given a new fresh new look with these fabrics or your choice of course, what fun building new houses this pattern would be

i have been doing mine in spots and checks as some of you will remember

i have one more house to build ! it been such fun !

also available again is this delightful pattern 'yo yo garden'

the pattern size is 1 x 1.5 mts (39" x 59") but could be made bigger by planting more flowers in your garden, trish has used waffle weave in the sample, not so easy to buy these days everywhere, so using a good quality cotton fabric or some lovely linen and backing would also give a good effect.

hope you enjoy these !

 

 you can now place an order for either of these two patterns or any others from the list on my sidebar

reading and reviewing

i was asked recently by carolyn forster if i would like to take part in her Utility Quilting Blog Tour and i was happy to say yes !

the publishers of carolyn's new book sent me a copy in the mail and when i opened it i was immediately attracted to it because of the hydrangeas on the cover, many of you know they are among my favourite flowers in all their different forms.

carolyn's book 'Utility Quilting' discusses the various methods and options of easy ways to quickly hand quilt your quilts and i think for many of us it will be a valuable addition to the books we collect. i would suggest that it is a great book for beginners and those who mainly machine stitch their quilt tops ! there is one i particularly love, French Linen Quilt, very simple, but with the use of some of the really gorgeous fabrics that are available and the simple cross hatching in the centre with the lovely cable borders.

this book has many pages of good and clear instruction and most of the projects are attractive and simple well known patterns that will be good to play with using fabrics of your choice, and we all have such a great choice these days.

carolyn is having a giveaway over on her blog if you leave a comment before march 2nd, and there is a list of the other bloggers taking part in this tour, i was first on the list ! welcome to any new visitors to 'broderie', hope you will be back !

marion brought these hydrangeas to me on saturday

i had a weekend with my stitching groups and friends, both on saturday and sunday and i will share with you some of the stitching visions 

simone's version of the big blooms quilt

it looks good in the red and white with the grey tinge in the squares

more red and white, jan is embellishing this with some simple embroidery

this is part of a project we are all involved in, more on that later

busy hands all round the table

i am off now to sandwich a couple of quilts for friends !

enjoy the postings on the other blogs talking about carolyn's book and thanks for the opportunity to be part of this tour.

 

 

 

 

 

 

new patterns !!!!!!!!!!

the old saying is 'a pinch and a punch' for the first of the month !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

well i have something much nicer, some new patterns !!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

'galaxy' by trish harper

 

'elephant walk' by trish harper

 

'noughts & crosses' by trish harper

these patterns can all be purchased from my side bar under 'quilt patterns for sale' !!!

 

i have been playing alot with my 'bigshot' and having lots of fun with paper, card and fabric, making and creating, oh it is very addictive !

these gorgeous fabrics came from amitie and i love these tags !

just playing, just doing and enjoying !

just being !

i think my lead up to christmas will be calm, pleasant and enjoyable !