TIME FOR A BREAK

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’ve all had a fabulous Monday. It’s been a rather busy one for me. I took my Maisie in for her annual booster and general check-up. She’s in pretty shape given that she’s ten years old however she needs to go in for a simple procedure sometime in the next couple of weeks.

I have a little quilting progress to show you today …..

I am getting on a treat with the hand quilting on my Sweethearts Dozen quilt. It will be a while before this quilt is ready to be used but I am determined to have it finished before the school year starts again. I have no doubt that I will have to set it aside to work on something else now and again but I’m going to do my best not to turn it into a UFO. I think it’s too good to tuck it away to be dragged out years later to be finished.

So it’s been a pretty good day in my little world. I went to another movie this afternoon. I seem to have attracted a few other movie goers and perhaps by the end of the year I will have a little movie club going!!! I have selected two more movies to see from the coming attractions adverts run before the movie starts that I’m really looking forward to seeing.

I’m going to be taking a little blogging break for the next couple of weeks. If anything exciting comes along I will post but otherwise I will be resting my brain and gathering new inspiration. I’ll return refreshed and even more enthusiastic (if that’s possible) in a couple of weeks.

So for this evening, this very happy and super ambitious longarm quilter will be enjoying some hand quilting. I hope you have a super cosy evening doing something you truly love doing. Until you read me again,

Happy stitching ♥ ♥

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IT’S SILENT SUNDAY AGAIN

FOUNDATION PAPER PIECED BEACH HUTS TURNED INTO A BAG

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AND THE WINNERS ARE …..

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’ve all had a glorious summers day. It’s been absolutely sultry here; warm and breezy just the way I like it. Roll on summer …..

The day has finally arrived to choose the three winners of my Summer Giveaway competition. As you know the prizes have grown from two to three and I have added a few extra bits to each prize bundle. Without further ado here are the winners: 

Judy Messenger, Rhode Island

Julie Fowkes, Nottingham

Sandy, Doncaster

Congratulations ladies. I have emailed you all in order to get your mailing addresses so I can post your prize bundles off as soon as I can.

It was very interesting seeing that I have so many readers living all over the world. It’s fantastic that patchwork and quilting and crafts of all description brings us all together. Thank you to everyone who took the time to enter the competition. I have plans to run another competition soon, so keep dropping in so you don’t miss out on the opportunity of entering.

It’s been a fantastic day in my little world. Once again I got the opportunity to do exactly as I please. While I was busy doing as I pleased my Sarah stepped out to meet her beau in town for a spot of retail therapy. I had a lovely time in my sewing room again today. The birds were popping into the garden to eat a little something at the feeding station and then have a quick refreshing bath before flying off. They were lined up on the fence waiting their turn. It’s quite lovely watching them. When I wasn’t looking out the window I did a wee bit of sewing. I turned my two beach hut strips into a small quilt top …..

And then went on to layer up the quilt top and move on to a little machine quilting with some degree of success …..

You will notice that I have kept this project really simple. I needed a little more than a short sharp sewing fix but I didn’t want to struggle along the way. So after two sessions I have finished the quilt top which will be turned into something useful. You will have to wait a little longer before you see what I will turn this project into. I hope to get it finished over the weekend and post the finished result on Sunday. So pop in again soon.

It was lovely doing exactly as I pleased today. I seem to be able to do that more often lately. My To-Do List has all been crossed off. And I have started making a list for tomorrow. I ‘m hoping to be as productive tomorrow as I have been today. I might even step out into the garden with my pruning scissors and start shaping shrubs. Any reason to be outside in good summery weather will do to get me out these days.

So for this evening, this very happy and super ambitious longarm quilter will be doing some hand quilting on my Sweethearts Dozen quilt. I hope you have a super cosy evening doing something you truly love doing. Until you read me again,

Happy stitching ♥ ♥

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BEACH HUTS GALORE

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’ve all had a fabulous day. Life in my little world is getting quite interesting. It’s been a summery day which makes everything work better. Let’s hope for more days like today.

As well as working on a secret project this morning, I worked on something that I can actually show you this afternoon. I’m working on one of my own designs. One that I designed a while back but this time I’ve tweaked it a bit to include a beach hut theme. I have other beach hut projects in the pipeline but this is the one I chose for today. After guiding a group of Burnopfield Belles thru the daunting task of Foundation Paper Piecing technique last week I decided that I would have a go too. I started with the most difficult part of starting a project ….. choosing fabrics. Once that was done I cut up the first foundation paper and started sewing. Because I had lost all track of time, in my mind I thought I would only have  enough time to piece one beach hut house …..

 

but somehow I managed to piece four …..

 

and then I went on to piece another four …..

 

and I still had some time leftover before I had to disappear into the kitchen to make an evening meal. I needed a total of eight beach huts and I succeeded in piecing all eight in one session. I’m so pleased with my efforts today. I look forward to seeing this project finished and ready to use.

It’s been a great day in my little world. I’ve had a really good time playing in my sewing room. From my window I could see the birds feeding and flapping around in the bird bath. I enjoy watching the birds. And of course, the garden is at its best at the moment.  So I get quite a pleasant view from my sewing room window.

So for this evening, this very happy longarm quilter will be doing some hand quilting on my Sweethearts Dozen. I hope you have a super cosy evening doing something you truly enjoy. Until you read me again,

Happy stitching ♥ ♥

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ANOTHER WORDLESS WEDNESDAY

SWEETHEARTS DOZEN DOUBLE HEART QUILTING DESIGN

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NEXT STAGE OF SWEETHEARTS DOZEN

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’ve all had a fab day. I spent quite a lot of time in my sewing room playing with a few appointments squeezed in.

At the end of the day and before it was time to disappear into the kitchen to whip up a healthy skinny evening meal, I turned my attentions to making some quilting templates for the next part of my Sweethearts Dozen quilt. I have chosen a double heart shape. I hope to combine the double heart with a diagonal crosshatch. I cut my templates from cereal box cardboard. What would we do without cereal boxes????? It was quite an easy task, I simply got my plastic heart templates out and decided on a size. I traced the larger heart, worked out where to place the smaller heart and that was it. I made a second template just in case I need it. Now all I need to do it trace the double hearts in the six inch blocks around the centre block. I look forward to starting the second stage. The small 1” blue border around the centre block will be left empty of stitching. However, I plan on quilting in the ditch on both edges of said 1” border to add strength and texture. You may have noticed that I have so far chosen very simple quilting. The reason for that is that I would like to show off the appliqué rather than fancy quilting. Regardless of the quilting, I think I will love this quilt when it’s finished.

It’s been an interesting day in my little world. I met with some interesting people today. And life is looking a little rosier now. I have good company and reasonable health, what more can one very happy longarm quilter possibly want.

So for this evening, this very happy and super ambitious longarm quilter will be marking the next stage of my Sweethearts Dozen quilt and possibly start the hand quilting. I hope you have a super cosy evening doing something you truly enjoy. Until you read me again,

Happy stitching ♥ ♥

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SILENT SUNDAY

SWEETHEARTS DOZEN CENTRE BLOCK CROSSHATCHED

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HAND QUILTING SWEETHEARTS DOZEN ON CANADA DAY

Hello my lovelies. I hope you all had a fabulous day. Not only is it the end of the workweek but it’s also the first day of a new month. Today is Canada Day which is a holiday I always celebrate but only because it’s also my birthday. I’ve had a fab day so far. I’ve done a few simple chores but mostly I’ve done exactly what I wanted to do. It’s a rare occasion when I get to do exactly and only what I want to do.

My To-Do List was pretty light for today but one of the tasks on the list was to start hand quilting my Sweethearts Dozen Quilt so I laid it out on the table in order to mark it …..

And a little while later this is what it looked like. I’m going to keep the quilting simple because I want the appliqué designs to stand out. So I started with traditional crosshatching in the centre block. I will also stitch around the patches to make them pop.

You will notice that hand quilting does not take oodles of tools. At the moment I am using a white pvc quilting hoop, thimble, thread conditioner which does the same job as wax, hand quilting thread and a fresh needle. I’ve spent approximately one hour quilting so far and I can already see the quilt coming to life. I’m going to enjoy my newest armchair project this summer. I do love the tranquillity of hand quilting. I’m so pleased with how my Sweethearts Dozen quilt is shaping up.

I mentioned yesterday that I had received two bouquets of flowers. Well here they are. And they’re both beautiful. Thank you ladies for the lovely flowers.

I have really been spoiled with flowers over the last couple of months. I seem to have had fresh flowers in the house every week since the beginning of March. Things sure have changed in happy longarm quilter land of late.

So it’s been an interesting week in my little world. I feel quite happy with my progress and my achievements. I’m looking forward to posting about my secret project sometime over the summer. There are some interesting things coming my way.

So for this evening, this very happy and ambitious longarm quilter will carry on doing some hand quilting on my Sweethearts Dozen quilt. I hope you have a super cosy evening doing something you truly love doing. Until you read me again,

Happy stitching ♥ ♥

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THE BELLES DO IT AGAIN

Hello my lovelies. I hope you’ve all had a super fine day. My day has been full of surprises making it a very pleasant day indeed.

I think I’ll start by posting a few photos from yesterday’s Burnopfield Belles group meeting. We all came together to learn how the Foundation Paper Piecing techniques works. Everyone was successful and just to prove it here are a few photos of the blocks produced. Please note that I did not get a photo of everyone’s blocks …..

It was a really good meeting. We had fun while learning something new and useful. I love it when a plan comes together. Here’s a shot of most of the ladies concentrating on prepping fabric …..

I was working on some secret projects today. You will have to wait a while before I can post about said project but I can show you what I did at the end of the day when I had a little bit of time left before having to disappear into the kitchen to make an evening meal …..

I felt I needed a little fix of using my sewing machine. So I sewed a few leftover strips from my apple core quilt. I think I will probably be turning this into a notebook cover. I will layer this little quilt top and add some top stitching. And before I know it, I will have another notebook cover. I would like to add a pocket for my pen on the front of the cover. I hope to bring you the finished project soon.

So it’s been a pretty good day in my little world. I got plenty of everything done at my favourite slow and measured pace. I’ve had an interesting time playing with scraps. And I received two bouquets of flowers today! I’m a very lucky happy quilter girl.

So for this evening, this very happy and ambitious longarm quilter will be doing some EPP work on my Quilts on the Grow project. I hope you have a super cosy evening doing something you truly love. Until you read me again,

Happy stitching ♥ ♥

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WORDLESS WEDNESDAY AGAIN

THE BEST PART OF SUMMER

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