a few favourites #8

Here's what caught my eye today, all around home this time

... more summer colour from my garden

... some happy mail
new plaids & florals, love how they play nicely together

... and Annabel Langbein's latest book, lots of ideas for those long hot days of summer!

what are you loving this weekend?

one more finish

I've made a real effort lately trying to finish a few things
{and then I figure I can start a new some thing!}

... and now auntbetsquilt my moderne utility quilt, is finished too
I really enjoyed making this little quilt, and am tempted to make another in different colours!

It's a simple scrappy design,
with large pieces perfect for your special fabrics to shine
and with the 1/4 log cabin and flying geese blocks to add some 'quilty' interest

- for earlier progress pics & more details see here

clamshell quilting by Annette from WildCotton Quilting 

Linking up with Kelly for 'needle and thread thursday' here at myquiltinfatuation.

with Myra  over here at busyhandsquilts this week

and with Ann & Kaja for the monthly 'Ad Hoc Improv Quilter' here

right place, right time

Popped out for my morning coffee

and right next door was the vintage 2nd hand shop...

A lady had put her lovely collection of tea towels up for sale

all Irish linen

each one with crotchet edging...

couldn't believe my luck!

I had a little play with a trial fun block,
mixing up bright modern scraps with vintage colour!

plan B almost underway!

modern & vintage

Happy Tuesday!
I did have a plan...

... c'est tres hard though
I can't seem to cut up this pretty tablecloth just yet
{sigh} onto plan B!

finishing my quilts

Thank you all so much for caring & asking if we are safe after my last post.
On a more cheerful note, I thought I would share my recent finish

'daisy days'
All done & dusted, just in time for Xmas... {sigh} it's only taken me since May 2015!
I guess it's a little bit old fashioned but that's ok, I still love this happy mix of fabrics...

I had it quilted in an allover pretty daisy pattern by Annette from WildCotton Quilting
- lots of lovely texture here now!

Each block is 8"

and the finished quilt ended up around 60" square

I used a template set made by Meredithe from pomegranateandchintz to make my daisies

The backing is made up of a scrappy mixture of green florals

and the binding is a pretty floral stripe from Denyse Schmidt
- a quilt all made from my stash!

{ for earlier progress pics follow the links here and here}

quilts make the best gifts, don't you think!

Linking up my finish with Amanda Jean here at crazymomquilts
and with Debbie here  for tgiff

Have a lovely weekend!

almost finished

My Scrappy Trip quilt is almost finished!

... just love a great trip, don't you?

The Scrappy Trip is one quilt that looks harder than it actually is.

It is made by sewing strips together, not those itty bitty individual pieces. 

Bonnie has a great free pattern over here

I had it quilted with interlocking circles by Annette from WildCotton Quilting
It's a bit of hit & miss with me when choosing patterns.
I sort of hold my breathe that the pattern I've picked really will work, and I wasn't disappointed!

- lots of yummy texture now!

and today I took a break from stitching stars... and all the latest sad news here in NZ
... and started stitching on the binding...

{see here for earlier details}
*EDIT: there is a pic of my finished 'scrappy trips' now over here

Linking up this week with Kelly here for 'needle & thread Thursday'

a bit more # 54

Our thoughts & prayers go out to all those affected by this traumatic event. 

Our headlines include...

The 7.5 earthquake was felt as far north as Auckland and has caused damage and knocked out power to a number of regions. Multiple quakes have since followed in both islands

A tsunami alert was issued for all coastal areas of New Zealand - threat has now passed

Since the earthquake hit, police received 19 reports of burglaries at Canterbury properties
- what?

and the latest today...
no way in, no way out
Cows stranded on quake island, see pics here
Schools, universities closed, exams disrupted

the stars are aligning!

I've always been a big fan of scrappy quilts

and making my 'sweetstar' quilt fun & scrappy is what this quilt is all about for me!

I guess each block is kinda like a mini-quilt, with different color and fabric combinations.

Here's a few progress photos...

using my trusty {v. old} Bernina at present
as my Janome machine has gone in for a bit of R&R ... {sigh} again ...

some special fabrics are going into this ...

and I love how useful these itty bitty Denyse Schmidt prints have been ...

a little block combo ...

 

yes, yes, yes, my stars are getting aligned ...

... slowly!

Linking up with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here 

over the fence

Look what's just popped up over the fence...

wonderful lush greenery...

with artichoke heads getting bigger daily...

they are as tall as me...

... and, I've found heaps of recipes for artichokes over here!

my friday favourite #7

It's Friday again
and I have chosen this quilt as my favourite for the week

'Outback Wife' an amazing quilt made by Cathie from gertrudemade 

There was 18mths involved in creating these gorgeous fabrics
and I'm sure you will agree, these fabrics are to die for!

And while she loves quilts, Cathie  tells me she is no quilt pattern designer
She came up with the idea of a giant star surrounded by geese flying the wrong way
and then Caroline Greco of nightingalequilts turned it into a pattern for her!
Take a peep at this link here for more details.


Cathie is also a maker of wonderful frocks too look...

What are you loving this week?

{all pics reposted with permission}

a starry start

Making a bit of a start on joining up my stars this weekend

This sweetstar quilt combines lots of my favourite things

... scraps & stash,

... stars & hexis,

... plaid & just a little black

Makes me smile!
Linking up with Leanne & Nicky for November's 'scraptastic tuesday' over here at shecanquilt

a spot of retail therapy

I popped out to the Auckland Festival of Quilts show today and enjoyed a lovely couple of hours looking at all the quilts. A spectacular exhibition of work, large & small quilts, mixed media and recycled quilts. I met up with Julie from justjulielou, it was lovely to finally met her in person after all this time of commenting on each others blogs.

And of course after looking at the quilts, we strolled through the merchant's mall together.

My fabric enhancer {aka Julie} proved to be excellent company!

Want to see what I bought?

- really couldn't resist a few Liberties from florence and mary

- a yummy b&w and a small selection of low volume fabrics

- and another little floral Liberty snuck into the mix too!

One thing I did notice

was that there was a marked increase in the use of Batiks in this years selection of quilts.
It's been a while since I used a batik, but I can see the possibilites here

- just had to get me a little bit too!

 - and my treat to myself was Brigitte Giblin's latest book FEATHERING THE NEST 2

Looking forward to opening this on Xmas day!

My pick of the day was this amazing quilt

- Dinner Party by Mary Metcalf

- close up of her amazing quilting

The show is on all weekend, well worth a visit.
I did take a few pics on my phone, but most of them weren't all that good so for a great selection of many more quilt pics,

pop on over to Julie's here

oh, and there's heaps more pics here on instagram too