broderie

this nest seems empty

this time last week everything was almost ready for a big weekend, just some last minute things to be done ! my home was full of interstaters who had come to celebrate the big birthday of a friend, a case of birds of a feather would gather together to have a happy time, and a very happy time we had !

we were very happy to welcome margaret george from new south wales, who i invited to come and do a weekend workshop with marlene and some friends, a birthday gift with a difference from us all

 here's her favourite picture as a child with her little sister, a tag on her birthday tree !

and in this picture marg looks as though she is telling us about a fish that she caught, but we were just starting to look at some of her collection of quilts she had brought with her to share with us, such inspiration and creativity, hexagons and applique, now you know why i have been showing you my hexagons recently ! and so the party begins !

fabrics were auditioned and interviewed

and the audience was paying attention

lots of stitching and chatting along the way

smiles and laughter and plotting and planning ( some preparation had been done prior to the weekend )

some of the delicious sandwiches for lunch

 

well at the end of day one we all stopped to light the candles on the cake and have a glass of bubbles

so much beautiful hexagon inspiration everywhere

and you know, some people even take the cut glass from the mantlepiece to display their hexagons !

this same person lives by the words in this little cross stitch sampler on her quilt top, kind and true, thankyou from all us melbourne girls for all you did to make marl's birthday a happy couple of days and for just coming down and being part of it all

just showing you all the different approaches and the fabrics and colours

the birthday girl was getting all the attention !

there were many stages taking shape, in all colours and designs, 16 different looks !

i will be back to show you more !

 

 

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.

 

 

 

 

 

 

when i saw 'tickled pink', i thought...........

yesterday her majesty the queen came to my town, melbourne, australia, to open the new royal children's hospital, it was only a fleeting visit, but a lovely visit.

reporting on the day on the news last night they came up with this description 'tickled pink' which has memories for me. my dad loved the royal family and one of his favourite expressions of being pleased about something was that same expression. it would have been his 102 birthday today, he died just 6 years short of getting his 'tickled pink' letter from the queen. and just for my own recording of events on this blog i include other photos of the day, all just taken from the television screen.

the royal tram with the shrine of remembrance in the distance

the royal tram crossing over the yarra river on princes bridge

and the royal range rover waiting to take the queen and duke of edinburgh up the driveway to government house for lunch.

and i had some fun last sunday taking photos out in the garden of some of trish harper's quilts and show you some of them here for your interest and comment

for babies and young children 'the juggler'

do you want to see more of them in detail, was that yes ?

and then there is a new design using some of the 'camelot' circles with some stars !

i will show you that over the weekend in the next post here on 'broderie' !

winter stitching and chatting

i realised that winter has officially started at the beginning of june and here we are almost half way through the month and i have not done a post to change the calendar over !

lots has been going on, my stitching friends have been busy too, lots of finishes and plans for new projects, so winter will be busy.

first of all a finish to a long term project for me

this is my old and dear friend thelma, i mean old in the sense that i have known thelma and jeff for many years and they have always been part of my 'sewing life'. thelma used to stitch many of the samples that i used when i was in the shops, a wonderful stitcher. thelma cross stitched this alphabet for me just before i closed 'broderie' and at the time i was always going to make it into a quilt to show that the two mediums worked well together. time has moved on, thelma has been diagnosed with parkinson's disease, has turned 80 recently and is also a grandmother for the first time to lola. so this is lola's quilt, to be given to her on her 2nd birthday coming soon by thelma and jeff.

other stitching has been happening on this project of mine

they are not all stitched together yet, just sitting in place waiting for the next 'round' ! i know that i am teasing some of you, but it is a bit of fun !

 

and this year i did not actually have a morning tea, but i had a basket of goodies for sale and from donations from sewing friends during the month of may, $300.00 was sent to the cancer council, so thankyou so much everyone.

footnote : !!!

a few posts ago i told you of my ever increasing problems with my legs and feet and all the surgical offerings as a means to make me better !!! well in my usual conservative way, i have thought and thought and pondered and have now had some new orthotics for two weeks (number five version in the scheme of orthotics) and i am happy to report that already they have made a great difference to my balance and stability, the thought of two foot reconstructions and the process to get back on my feet, was just too hard for me to get my head around !

so till next time ................................. i have some new, very glamourous shoes, but i am able to walk better, so i am happy !!!

 

more red alerts

this week in this big country of ours there has been more red alerts about natural happenings, fire and water and cyclone yasi. queensland again has been coping with the worst cyclone ever in this region, so much destruction. my home town of melbourne and surrounds has also suffered with floods. we cannot do anything about what the weather brings to us, just cope and bear it, i am ok, but my heart feels for all those who are in the middle of it all.

 
while i was away last week down at phillip island we went wandering one day to some of the favourite haunts and last post i showed you the old chair my friend got for the house down there, well i also got one!

 
and i've talked before of being spoilt, well i was again ! and don't you think my bag and new purses look good on my new 'old' chair.

 
i have got this bag and purses all set up so that if i go out to one of my stitching groups i can just pick it up and go !

one afternoon during the week i got this old favourite of mine, you have seen it before, all together and ready to quilt and i am off and running and it is nearly finished. i have used quiltlite, so it it not all puffy and the quilting is simple, just a means of keeping it all together and putting a back on it.

 
and there are some little bits of the pear fabric, the history of which jean talks about over on her blog. it is the reason for us being friends!

 

 

and i had a day drawing and cutting last monday in the heat, when a couple of friends dropped in to play, getting more ready for this

 
as you can see, i have changed the template to save a few seams, but i am including the few original ones all in together. one of my well known quotes 'in the whole scheme of things' is being used, as when it is all together, you may notice, but i don't mind.

 
and i turned this piece of embroidery into a bag for a friend for christmas, she shops at the market and so i thought it would be a good market bag. the pattern is my version of one from the range from mrs sew & so , which you can purchase online.

there was an interesting discussion on melbourne breakfast radio last week about belonging to groups! groups of people getting together for all sorts of reasons and the benefits of doing so. well many of us get together to sew and my monday night girls are all back tomorrow night, i wonder what problems of the world we will solve this year, be they personal or community problems. some have been in touch and also emailed me that they can't wait, so it shows me how important it is, 'getting together'. at my home you are encouraged to come, make yourself at home, make your own cup of tea or coffee when and how you like it and most important of all, it is the one on one conversations round the jug by those who gather together that are sometimes the best.

tell me about some of the groups you belong to, do you walk with a group, drink with one, garden, paint. my life is much richer because of the sewing sisterhood that i belong to, thanks to you all.

 

now till next time i had better go and tidy up a few things ! feeling so much more fortunate than many at the moment ! if thoughts help, then mine are with you all.

 

 

 

 

'quilts in the barn' afternoon

we were going yesterday, but melbourne produced a terrible day weatherwise and it seemed as though today would be no different, but then the sun came out! off we went to wonga park and quilts in the barn to see the exhibition organised so well by linda and her team of helpers. here is some of what we saw!

 
i made a new friend instantly and his shadow shows the sun was out and all was well

 
our driver was already way ahead of us and paying for our entry, he is so good to us girls

 

 

 

the morrell quilt by di ford, jean , i weakened and bought the pattern !

 

 

 

 
ever since i have been sewing, all my life, i have wanted to make a house quilt ! and i haven't done it yet !

 

 
i loved the colours in this, and that is not someone going to slash it with a sword ! part of the props !

 

 

 
the detail of this appliqued beauty was incredible

 
it is still being quilted

 

 
this is a blackbirds design, another house pattern mmmmh !

 
i loved these gorgeous colours, pink and yellows

 

 
and these diamonds were a another favourite, 'drayton hall', again by di ford

 
and this beautiful echium ! thanks to all concerned, a lovely afternoon spent with friends and the amazing stitching work of a group of women.

threadbear ,at castlemaine has most of the patterns for sale, if like me, you just have to have one or two and thanks to linda for making all this possible !

circles patchwork, party and my team

those of you have already purchased trish harper's 'camelot' pattern through this blog will be well on your way with the circles, so i am posting some close up pictures of the quilting and borders for you to see.

all these instructions are in the pattern, if you would like to purchase one, details are available on my sidebar. below is my version, please send some photos of your completed circles. it is fun to see how colour and choice of fabrics make the same design look so different.

now i did mention party and my team, well if you live in melbourne, australia or know about our afl football game, you will also know that there was a draw in the grand final yesterday between collingwood and my team st kilda ! well we all got together yesterday with traditional footy food

pies in the oven

hot dogs on the stove top, both served with tomato sauce ! and

cheese, apple, pear and fig paste and strawberry serviettes just to make it all look a bit healthier. we also had cake and lollies and tea and coffee, no beer which is also traditional. there has been two of us in the family that have had a bet going all year and that was that st kilda would not make the grand final, well i won that, but being of generous nature, i put it up for grabs again on the result of the game yesterday! at first my offer was rejected, but then after a lot of thought, my offer was accepted and rules twisted somewhat, but ok i would agree! i said i was generous, so now after the draw yesterday it will all be on again next saturday and the bet goes on, st kilda will triumph in the end !!! hopefully !!! help me and  wish me luck !!! so many occasions and dates of importance are all centred around the last saturday in september in my city of melbourne and beyond, now what will happen, there is another game on, the first saturday of october !!!

only two more weeks of my stay here in hobart, will be back soon with more of what's doing down here.

the patchwork church

i am in hobart, tasmania at the moment and how lucky i was to be able to go to the grand opening of the quilted crow in their new premises, this lovely old church !

as you can see, skies were blue and it was a heavenly hobart day ! let me take you down the aisle and discover the beauty of this building and now lovely shop!

deidre and leonie with a very welcoming smile and friendly atmosphere to all who gather here. we were able to wander and enjoy the delights that the girls have to offer.

i also loved the carpet and some of the old furniture bits!

very helpful advice for some of the customers !

to be continued . . . . . . . . .  
 
 

camelot by trish harper

this is a photo of the original circles quilt 'camelot' made by trish harper and was my inspiration for the one i did. as you can see i did my own thing with it as i usually do. for those of you who have the pattern now, we thought it would be interesting for you to see the difference colour and background make.

trish has quilted hers alot more than i have and it looks gorgeous, but then i would sooner be making another top than doing the quilting bit !

and oh, by the way, i would much rather be handpiecing than machine piecing! today i started sewing up the new pattern and i am now trying to decide if i will continue with the machine ! perhaps i should sit on the couch and have a brandy to soothe my jangled machine nerves first !!!!!!

we are still adding to it and building it, but go and take a look at my other blog  that my cousins barb and paula from hobart, tasmania and i are playing with at the moment. it is called 'give these girls ago'. if you leave a comment on that blog before the end of the month, june 30th, we will have a give away. so go on over and take a look and leave us a comment about the things you like to make and do.

you know alot of the things i like to make, but other things i love are................

rainbows, avenues of trees, water views, the emotion of music, paper and writing, the comfort of being with friends and family, and i am thankful that i have always been content at home, i have enjoyed travel, walking along beaches, good conversation, laughter, i would love to be able to sing!

the idea stayed with me!

i did not have a reason not to start something new really and the idea had been in my head for a few days and it was not going away!

i have a collection of liberty bits that have been in a 'special box' for some years, obviously waiting for something 'special'. so now is the time! i got out my tools and went to work.

a good add for 'staedtler', that is the best pencil sharpener i have ever had. i have retractable pencils and use them also, but i do love the old fashioned 2b pencil and this pencil sharpener, they are favourites! i am using my reasonably new elongated hexagon template.

i love this process !!!!!!!

other things i have done this week, a productive week, i have not been out at all, but have really enjoyed my days just being at home. one of my older friends, nearly 80, has appliqued these characters for her grandaughter and i have put the quilt together for her, she has the quilting on the way.

and these were shouting 'what about me', i think i have showed you all the others and they are now being put together.

thanks for the interest in these king david's crown blocks, i will show a picture of them all together one day soon. the pattern is by michelle yeo.