A post with no pictures

I'm so frustrated not to be able to post some pictures today because I have quilty things to show you all. It seems our camera didn't like its last trip to the river. The dogs kept swimming and then shaking sand everywhere so I think there might be some in the camera making it unhappy. Between that and the problem with the battery cover not closing properly I think it might be time to look for a new one.

I have finished the first two blocks of the *Quilters Blessings* stitchery from Capricorn Quilts I'm doing mine in an antique mauve colour but you will just have to imagine that until I sort the camera problem out.

I have made up the first 1/4 panel of Bonnie's Superbowl Bargello quilt. This picture on
Bonnie's page convinced me to do it. I don't know who Debbie P is but I love her colour choices. I tried to choose strong colours from my stash for my version, and used some batiks which should really make it zing.

And yesterday I spent the day in Wanganui at a quilt class with a really lovely group of ladies. The tutor, Chris, taught us how to use 60 degree rulers to hexagon shapes from Jelly Rolls. I have the top laid out ready to sew into rows. I haven't enjoyed a class so much in a long time. Everyone was so friendly and there was lots of laughter. The Jelly Roll was fun to use. So easy to have 40 fabrics pre-cut and chosen so that you can just start sewing.

Driving over to Wanganui really made me realise how dry it is this summer. Our normally green hills are almost white. We have some cloud today but I'm not sure whether it will turn into any rain. We are lucky not to have any water restrictions.

If you've read this far... thanks for sticking with me during my lack of pictures.
I'm off to work on the Jelly Roll quilt some more.

A little finish

I forgot to post a picture of my last holiday "finish" so here it is...

It's a Hatched and Patched design that has been a UFO for a long time because I was a bit scared of making the angel, doing the embroidery and making the puffs for the flowers. I managed it in the end though :o) and I really enjoyed doing the handstitching - so much so that I've started browsing at stitchery designs for another project. Typically I'm really taken by big projects like *A Quilters Journey*. I'm not sure about committing to something that big and costly because I need really good instructions when I'm doing something new and I want to make sure that's what I'm getting. If anyone has any favourite patterns I designers I'd love to hear about them.

Happy weekend everyone!

Quilting not piecing

Now that my holidays are nearly over I'm wondering what exactly I got done on the quilting front. Along with the various piecing projects I have quilted two quilts on the Gammill which I'm very happy about. DH does all our business quilting and I just don't seem to get a lot of time to use the machine. This might change now that we have zippered leaders and quilts can come on and off in a flash! Anyway the quilts...

*Joy* is just stippled in all the background areas. When I quilt on my machine I'm very fond of stitching wiggly lines all over everything (cos it's easy). I wanted to do something completely different on this one so stippling was it. I found the stripe at a new (to me) quilt shop for the binding and just love the effect of it.



This second one is a little Shooting Star quilt and I did my first ever pantograph on it. I love making this scrappy pattern from Quilters Cache and I've made several quilts like this. They make great gifts.


If I am going to get anything more done these holidays I had better get off the computer - I get so distracted by all the lovely pictures on the blogs I read.

Class Project

I have been part of Tonya's winter/holiday class and now have a completed flimsy to show for it...

You can see what the others in the class have been doing here. There's some really creative stuff.

A New Year Project

Happy 2008! I haven't quite decided what my plans or goals are for this new year, but when I saw a journal quilt challenge mentioned on one of my Yahoo groups I *had* to join up. I think I've joined so many things lately that I've forgotten what half of them are. Anyway the journal quilt challenge seems like it will be a lot of fun and I have made my first quilt.

I made a sunflower because the theme was *seasons* and we just grew a giant sunflower this summer. It also allowed me to use a couple of the optional techniques - metallic thread and bobbin thread. This is pretty much the same as my bigger sunflowers quilt that I posted a while back, but I was able to correct the leaf shape with this one which has made me happier :o)

Merry Christmas

Merry Christmas! I have 3 Christmas quilts hanging on the walls this year and thought I'd share. Bethlehem was started and finished last Christmas (although I see I still haven't sewn the trumpets on for the angels) but the other two are older projects that I just finished in time to hang yesterday.

Enjoy this special day.

Christmas Quilts

I am so pleased to have finished work for the year, and to have given away my last two quilts, this time to two of my colleagues.

The pattern for Random Ohio Stars comes from Bonnie. This is the first of her quilts that I have finished, though there a couple in progress including another Ohio Star which my little group have been working on as a swap for about 2 years. Thank you Bonnie for your inspiration and generosity in sharing your designs. For the backing idea I have to thank Mary. I didn't offset the pieces enough, but will know better next time. This is a great way to make quilt backings when you don't have enough of any one fabric and want something a bit different.

The centre blocks in the baby quilt are taken from a panel, and I had lots of fun choosing the bright fabrics to go with it. It is actually much brighter than the photo suggest. The little black and white border was a real challenge 'cos the print wasn't exactly straight but I'm pleased with how it turned out.

Giving away lots of quilts this year has been lots of fun, and I've really reduced the pile of unquilted tops. I wonder what I should aim for in 2008!