three little quilts and just a bit more

 There's lots happening up on my design wall at the moment

want a little peep . . .

Currently though, I am focusing on three little quilts and they are all at different stages

I made more 'drunkard's path'  8" blocks during the week

When I had 25, I gathered them all up together and made a busy bright baby quilt top
It's all ready now for basting & quilting  . . .

I was late joining in with the #junequiltqal and so I spent a bit of time earlier this week 

making up more low volume blocks for my pink² baby quilt

After making up a few low volume blocks, I decided to try and make them more interesting

I started adding in fabrics with bright colours against a calm background

- the contrasting 'pops' of colour seem to add movement

and the similar white/cream backgrounds still tie the different prints together

Have a closer look to see what I mean . . .

and of course you can't go wrong with throwing in the occasional black & white print,

gives a bit more of a scrappy, eclectic look . . .

In the evenings I've been hand quilting my 'lots of dots' baby quilt
It's relaxing & so soothing after a stressful week . . .

I love combining machine quilting with hand quilting lately
I initially did straight line machine quilting all over this little quilt, nothing fancy
just enough to secure the layers without distracting from the scrappy feel of the quilt.
 And now I'm making good progress with some hand quilting.

oh, and then there has also been a little bit more 'whimsy' love
I'm machine piecing these 9" blocks and they take about an hour to make

The tiny check and red & white stripe are going to be consistent in these blocks. 

Lots of fun choosing only just two other fabrics each time,
instead of my usual all-out scrappy . . .

Linking up with Beth for "main crush Monday" here
and with Esther for "WOW:Wednesday" over here

Just to give you all the heads up -
Julie & I have decided to post 'Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE' linkups every fortnight now
See you back here Wednesday 5 July 

oh, and just a bit more today #62
6 1/2yr old Olive wanted to make me a birthday cake last week
She chose the receipe from her 'Gruffalo' cookbook  . . .
wrote up her own shopping list & went shopping with gramps . . .
and then she measured & poured & stirred & decorated with granny . . .

Hehe, wasn't I a lucky granny?

pink² {a WiP}

One of the best kinds of sewing is the spontaneous, unplanned kind, don't you think?

Earlier in the week I spotted the #junequiltqal over here at crazymomquilts
And again, this was so not on my 'to do' list, but I kept checking up on everyone's progress
and yesterday, I thought I'd have a bit of colour play too on a rainy day . . .
you know, just to see . . .

I seem to be a bit stuck on making little quilts lately but that's ok 

Pat-next-door is going to be a great grandmother in October, and requested a 'pink' quilt 

so I'm hoping my 'pinksquared' quilt will fit the bill.

Linking up with Myra over here for 'finished or not Friday'
and with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here

sew stitch snap SHARE #6

Hello Wednesday

Welcome to another 'Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE' linkup

I'm working on a little bit of 'whimsy' this afternoon

These blocks are from a quilt in Judy Newman's new book,
'quilts made for life made with love'- see here for more details

Spreading some more blogging love today
- a couple of things really caught my eye from our last linkup
Did you see the pretty bird stitching Julie from justjulielou is working on at the moment?

And my other pick was Audrey's quilts over here at quiltyfolk
Here's a little peek at two of her quilts, 'coins & baskets' and 'an uncertain crossroad' quilts
While Audrey & I have very different 'styles' it's always a treat reading her posts.
She writes brilliantly about 'the process'
and it's so interesting following along with her on her unique 'quilty' journeys!

And what are you working on right now?

Whatever you're sewing or stitching, you can link it up here.

Just follow these simple guidelines:

1. Link up from any post from the past week that features something you have been sewing or stitching. You can write as much or as little about your project as you like, or simply let your photos do the talking.
2. Somewhere in your post, please link back to this post.
3. Please comment on a couple of the other Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE links - its fun to receive comments from new people, and we are trying to encourage people to read blogs and keep blogging alive too. Hope you find some new inspiration too!

Thanks for joining us again, we can't wait to see what you have all been creating,
Julie & Linda

bicycles, and boardwalks, and birds oh my!

 I'm mid flight making a couple of little quilts to have all ready for another grandchild
Yesterday I dug out an oldish fabric pack and pattern I've had since 2011,
'green quilt' by Jo from dixeysoul

I don't often use quilt packs, much prefer to add my own eclectic choice to things
but just look at these gorgeous fabric combos . . .

. . . this selection of fabrics has a bit of a retro feel with those bicycles
and is from Birchfabrics, Avalon 100% organic cotton {see here for more details}

The pattern consists of lots of 8" drunkard's path blocks,
with the added interest of different sized curves
Most are nice gentle curves so I'm using the 'no pin' method on the machine.

baby quilt #2 is well under way now!
Linking up with Beth for 'main crush Monday' over here at cookingupquilts
and with Lorna for 'show & tell' over here at sewfreshquilts

a bit more #61

Library haul for today

Started reading 'Bel Canto' by Ann Patchett - the story is riveting
and I just can't put it down!

Briefly, it's about members of a revolutionary movement in Peru who are held hostages at the Japanese ambassador’s house for 126 days. The novel explores the tensions and unexpected alliances that develop when a group of culturally disparate strangers – the terrorists and their hostages – are confined in close quarters for months. 

lots of dots

So exciting, my daughter has another baby on the way

Olive & Evie will have a new little brother or sister in October

And you all know what that means, yes?

A new little quilt . . .

I've had this scrappy 1/2 finished quilt tucked away on the shelf

- waiting patiently for the right reason to be all finished.

It's my 'condensed' variation of Sarah Fielke's 'dotty for dresden' quilt

{see here for the book link}

I had a little play with all the 'special' embroidery stitches on my machine
It was the first time I'd tried these out - a bit wonky but lots of fun !

and this weekend I layered up the quilt and started some hand quilting

We don't know if it's a girl or a boy

so I'm planning another little quilt too, maybe in my 'go to' colour, lots of blues
#lovebeingagranny

Linking up with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here

and with Emily here for 'moving it forward' 

sew stitch snap SHARE #5

Welcome to 'Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE'

- trial block

First up, what's happening in my sewing room this week?
Well, I do so want to start something new
but {sigh} I'm madly trying to work on my present WiP.
I did console myself one evening by faffing around with these lovely scraps though . . .

. . . imagine the possibilites !

There were lots of inspiring projects from our last link up

My pick was Maryse's 'courthouse steps' quilt, did you see it too?
It's all paper pieced with heaps of matchstick quilting.
A truely wonderful quilt,
pop over here to read more about it and see lots more of Maryse's creations.

And what are you working on right now?

Whatever you're sewing or stitching, you can link it up here.

Just follow these simple guidelines:

1. Link up from any post from the past week that features something you have been sewing or stitching. You can write as much or as little about your project as you like, or simply let your photos do the talking.
2. Somewhere in your post, please link back to this post.
3. Please comment on a couple of the other Sew, Stitch, Snap, SHARE links - its fun to receive comments from new people, and we are trying to encourage people to read blogs and keep blogging alive too.

Thanks for joining us again, we can't wait to see what you have all been creating,
Julie & Linda

stars & steps

Hello again !

Well there's been very little action on the sewing front for me this week,
lots of family time instead.

We have my BinL and his wife staying with us, on their way to Vietnam.
I offered her a quilt and, to my surprise,
she chose this very old blue & brown quilt, made up of stars & courthouse steps blocks.
Are you ready for a quick trip down my scrappy memory lane?

It was one of the first times I'd tried combining my early small selection of Kaffes
with other fabrics available at that time.
It's very 'old school'
but I still love, love that Kaffe blue floral I used for the outer border & binding !

I had it machine quilted while I was on holiday down at Waihi a long time ago.
And then it sat on the shelf.
For years.

I'm so glad this old quilt has finally found a home and will be used & loved.
Hope you enjoyed this little peek back into my quilty past !