Oh Mickey!

Just one more before I go...


My 4th finish for 2010 and probably my last one for a long while now as Monday I'm off to the chopping block for my 3rd bout of corrective surgery on this gammy leg of mine.


I am so pleased to be able to give both boys a quilt before I go into hospital so this was a race to the finish. I machine quilted a grid and then big stitch handquilted around the stars...



Labels are on both this quilt and my Mother's butterfly lap quilt (shown finished in my previous post) and as my computer is now working (yes, you read that right! Not for long according to the copmputer shop LOL, but I'm not complaining!) I managed to find some photos of the Butterfly quilt, that I made for my brother and his wife, which produced the bonus triangles for Mom's quilt...

It lives in South Africa...

Along with all the wonderful swap gifts I got for Christmas, my lovely hubby bought me a 'posh' phone. As I usually get by with the cheapest phone the supermarket has to offer, I have been having a few issues with the technology LOL. He suggested that I make a case for it so I whipped up this one in the most awesome fabric aquired in South Africa from Shine Shine.


I think I love the case more than the phone LOL and I am working on a laptop cover in the same fabric, but I doubt I'll finish it before Monday. I have bought wool to knit beanies (the sum total of my knitting repertoire) and have lots of handwork lined up including a trial of a Carolina Lily block done in the English Paper piecing style. In fact, I have so much handwork, I doubt I'll get through it all, or at least I hope not!!

Two tops done and a winner

Our combined quilting effort is now a top.


Pieced entirely from scraps left over from my brother's quilt, it should make Mom a great lap quilt for when she visits us. I hope to get it basted and quilted a.s.a.p.

And here are the borders on my Double Delight....



These 2 little trick or treaters, despite being poorly, had a grand Halloween thanks to our kind neighbours and their impressive stash of chocolates...



At last, a photo of our new kitchen. Thanks DH, you did a great job!!


(Even if you don't notice when it's tidy LOL)


The winner of my 300th post giveaway chosen by a random number generator of all the comments on the last 2 posts is The Calico Cat. Please email me your address and I'll pop a 'Lucky Dip' parcel in the post for you!

Juggling lots of balls (and bags)

No, I didn't run away with the gypsies LOL, but I have been doing a little bit of this and that and therefore not much of anything! In fact Mary asked the other day how many projects we have on the go at one time... Well this week (and last) I have...

Made my June BQL Bag Challenge...



What a learning experience - I broke in my darning foot and did a bit of machine quilting. What fun! I am so pleased to be doing the challenge as I am learning so much! I used the Dick & Jane fabric from Michael Miller that I bought a while back from Toni. I thought it was quite suitable for a 'teacher's' bag. i.e. I plan to give DS1's teacher's a gift at the end of the year so I thought I'd do them with this month's pattern. He has 2 teachers, so I also started a second bag...



Then I laid out DS1's dog quilt which I part cut about 2 year's ago!!!



It made handy leaders and enders for the bags as it needed dark thread. Lots to do still including more cutting...

When I sew with light thread, I use my Butterfly bonus blocks from the Butterfly Pineapple Blossom that I made for my DB & DSIL...



These are sewn together in '4's' and I've haven't really decided on the final layout yet.


When I don't feel like sitting at my machine I handquilt and am currently working on (my) BQL Ostrich challenge...
The front...



The back...



All the kit needed is carried around in this attractive bag LOL



When I'm out and about I sew on my rose hexagon quilt and all that kit is kept in this even more attractive bag (LOL!!!)



I have also made my pincushion for the Pincushion swap hosted by Linda (but I can't show it) and I have made a fabric postcard with a bit of machine quilting (again, I can't show it until it lands where it's supposed to...). And I have also been making cushions for a craft fair...

Phew!! Oh, and I also have 2 of these!!!



They keep me very busy and very happy!

Happy New Year Island style

Life is very quiet on the island. (I feel like Robinson Crusoe). DH is working hard finishing bits and pieces around the house and I am sewing whenever I get a chance. The beach nearby is great and we take the kids and their spades and it’s just so beautiful. The weather is variable – one day very hot and sunny the next cool and grey. We have a view over the causeway bridge across the lagoon and we enjoy watching the tide come in. -If you’re wondering where we are, we’re staying on Thesens Island in Knysna on the Garden Route (can’t link you here, but I’m sure you can ‘google’ it.)

My brother and his family came for Christmas and New Year’s Eve and now my Butterfly Blossom quilt (Bonnie Hunter’s Pineapple Blossom pattern) has gone to it’s new home when they left on New Year’s day. We enjoyed having them to stay and when they left I asked them to hold the quilt up over their balcony so that I could get a good shot of it…



At the moment we have my great friend Jeannette staying (www.unite.co.za). She always comes with such energy and enthusiasm (except that she’s napping now LOL). Jeannette also came with her laptop!!! So at last, a hopefully semi-decent blog entry!! If you have commented or emailed and I’ve not replied, I do apologise, but I have such very limited internet access at the moment which allows a quick email check and that’s about it!!!

I miss reading all your blogs, but I am enjoying the days here… which start early with the children waking up to the bright sun so we all just get up and go for breakfast at one of the nicest bakeries/coffee shops in the world! Il de pain serves a killer breakfast with poached eggs, spinach, bacon…. Then DS2 sleeps so DS1 and I play or go to the nearby park or whatever, then lunch, then DS1 & 2 nap (yippee) The heat takes it out of them. Then dinner and an evening beach trip or a little row with the inflatable boat of my brother’s. I am not tanned and gorgeous (LOL) because I tend to stay out of the sun during the day – it really is quite hot here when it’s hot. We go to the weekly Friday market for dinner (DS1 likes to get his face painted there)

and on Saturdays we often go to the Farmer’s market, Sundays involves our ‘usual’ breakfast and a walk around the Thesen Island market. There is a lot of craft about.

Well, that’s about it as I’m being summoned to get in our inflatable so anchor’s away and speak soon :O)

Post, Party, Guilt

Here in the UK we have had postal strikes. Today we got mail, 2 bits of junk and a bank statement! That was all after several days of no mail. The postie says that any expected post will be piled up in the sorting centres waiting to get to us. This lack of post (mail) has left me with a lack of wanting to post (blog).

But, for all my family and friends who read this blog, I will show some photos from Saturday's "Farm Party". It was a great day, the setting was beautiful...

and everyone seemed to have a good time.

The goats were fed by the kids (each child got a free bag of food as part of the party package)

Tractor-boy inspects the Lama


Two birthday boys...


Two cakes...


We all went for a ride on the 'Wizzick', the farm's mode of transport...




While we were out, I spotted a gate that would be perfect to photograph a quilt on...


Speaking of which, here comes the guilt! I need to put the binding on my Scrapbuster top. I've had it back from Chris for weeks. I just couldn't decide on the binding. I have now decided after consulting with my creative director (DH) that I am going scrappy on the binding too.

I really want to make another one of these one day (with rose prints naturally!)

The reason I feel particularily guilty that it (along with 4 kid's quilts) is not bound is because yesterday I picked up my "Butterfly Blossom" quilt from Chris. I haven't even looked at it.

It's still wrapped up in the plastic cover - I'll treat myself to a good look as soon as I've put the binding on my Scrapbuster!!

This bad blogger will make good

Well I am unbelieveably inching up to 100 posts and when I get there I will offer something to those who read this ol' blog LOL.

I often read some of my posts and I'm so vague I'm sure nobody but me knows what I'm on about :O) So I will clarify my previous post, but not the previous 90-odd!

Here are the beautiful fabrics from Josie:

The silks are really lovely in the flesh, so lovely to touch, I shall have to think what to do with them. Any ideas?

Then here are those pesky bear claw blocks...

I followed the pattern which said to put two squares together, sew on either side of the diagonal and then trim in half, then half again and then on both diagonals, but there is so much trimming on the individual little pieces as well to be done. 160 itty bitty blocklets! I hate that! Perhaps I will do them tonight and just get them out the way so that I can sew the blocks together even though Thursday evenings I normally handquilt in front of the telly (Grey's Anatomy - I'm addicted).

In a previous post I mentioned I had made Bonnie's Pineapple Blossom quilt which gave bonus triangles

A whole lot in fact. I plan to make a lap quilt in this layout...

Not that interesting a layout, but I like it :O)

Life's a beach

On Saturday I got in the car and DS1 told me he'd like to go to the beach. I love the beach...
it's only about an hour away. Not a beach like I know from Cape Town, but sand and water nonetheless.
We messed about in the sand and when I washed my hands in the water, someone discovered that water and sand made MUD! He ran around like a loony shouting "MUD, MUD, MUD!"

He was so happy, it was lovely. We will go again!

Here are few things I've been working on. A top for Linus...

My September, October & November BlockBuddySwaps Maple leaves...

And my September Blockbuddy's "Focus Fabric" block (Waterwheel Variation it's called)...

The fabric is from Donna's shop and is called Forest Fire Batik (if I recall correctly). Each month we're making a Quilterscache block using a bit of focus fabric somewhere.

I'm also working on something with my bonus triangles from Bonnie's Pineapple Blossom which I did in butterfly prints. More on that later...

It's huge (again)

It started off as 20 blocks, but then I preferred the layout that 36 blocks gives you and so I made an extra 16 blocks of Bonnie Hunter's lovely Pineapple Blossom.

Here they are just laid out in rows. I'm not going to sash them. I'm just going to add plain cream borders.

I have used up almost all my butterfly prints. (Even the cream is a COC butterfly print)



I say almost all as I found 2 more butterfly FQ's when I was re-'hiding' my stash under our bed in preparation for the great bash through into the house (for those of you you've only just started reading this blog, my sewing room is only accessable from outside. I share it with the washing machine, tumble dryer and freezer and my DH is going to break through a wall and make the utility room a proper part of the house. I will lose access to washing facilities as well as 'my space' for goodness knows how long. Hence my quiet reorganisation of 'stuff' throughout the 'safe' parts of the house)

I get so distracted...

I was meant to be working on my brown strips.. They are going to be Bento Boxes or something. I can't decide, I guess that's why I'm not working on them...

Then I started working on these..

(Note the little person who kept grabbing them!) They are from Bonnie's wonderful Quiltville site and are called Pineapple Blossom
Lots of people have done wonderful versions of these and it's a fun block to make plus it's using up almost all of my butterfly fabrics that were just sitting in my stash making me feel quilty.

But then I signed up to make Maple Leaves for a BlockBuddy Swap. These are already cut and in rows ready to be put together so no pictures yet.

But while I was doing those I wanted to make someone special a block...


But then I realised the reason I can't focus is because of all my mess and clutter in my life, so I started tidying my spaces. Why does it always look so much worse before it looks better???