and on to the next one ...

I do enjoy a good quiltalong! 

Here's my fabrics for the #meadowlandqal with @thencamejune  

You may remember that I made an earlier version of this quilt {here}. I used a quirky selection of fabrics, lots of soft greys, Liberty, Tilda, C&S, and favourite ginghams, along with my hoarded - very few - vintage fabrics and a couple of doilies.

This time, instead of all scrappy, I'm using a curated selection of fat quarters from my stash. After cutting each of your 12 (16) (20) FQ into the required pieces, you then mix and match the combinations. I'm guessing that if you only use those selected FQ, it hopefully leads to some sort of nice balance happening quite naturally - whether you go bright, or soft & pretty, use all-solids, or a designer bundle.

Using a sweet Liberty fabric as my focus, I've searched through my stash and combined a few tone-on-tones, a couple of solids, and dialled back the use of large colourful florals. And now I spy a set of 'meadowland' blocks all ready to go . . .

{wink wink} this could be the closest I'll ever get to making an all-solid quilt!

Linking up with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here at quiltingismorefunthanhousework

There's a current quiltalong happening too over on ig if you are interested, 

pop on over here to #meadowlandqal2020 for lots more photos.

{more} summertime reading

No sewing happening here, it's far too hot! 

Instead I've read a few more books over recent weeks.
It's a mixed bunch . . .

I found "Wearing Paper Dresses" by Anne Brinsden a compelling story about country Australia. The writing style is unique I must admit, everything is humanised (including the tea cosy), but once you go with it, it's kinda endearing.
City girl Elise marries country boy Bill and they end up moving back to (The) Mallee to help with Pa on the family farm. You get to know the characters well, Elise slow descent is heart breaking, and her two children are left to raise themselves as best they can.
Until tragedy strikes, and Marjorie flees to the city determined to leave her family behind. And there she stays, leading a very different life, until the boy she loves draws her back to the land she can't forget..."

'The Alice Network' by Kate Quinn was my favourite read last month. It's a historical novel about how two women are brought together in an amazing story of courage and redemption.

Telling two parallel tales, one of several female spies in Lille during WWI, the other of a pregnant college student looking for her cousin who went missing after the end of WWII.

I hadn't read anything before about women spies during WWI, so this was unique. The characters were great, so well described with lots of depth of understanding of what it was to be them. I loved it!

"Hello from the Gillespies" by Monica McInerney was a fun read. "For the past thirty-three years, Angela Gillespie has sent to friends and family around the world an end-of-the-year letter titled “Hello from the Gillespies.” It’s always been cheery and full of good news. This year, Angela surprises herself and tells the truth...."
Monica McInerney immediately drew me into the lives of this family with Angela, Nick, their three daughters and much younger son, Ig. Again another Australian read, set on an the outback sheep station. I found all three daughters annoying as characters, but I still wanted to find out how things panned out in the end!
So easy on the computer isn't it, to just to push 'send'...

"Big Lies in a Small Town" by Diane Chamberlain is a story about two women born in different times, woven seamlessly together. 2018 Morgan is in a North Carolina prison, she's offered a 'get out of jail free' card and she jumped at the chance. She’s been picked to restore a 1939 mural, designed for the Edenton post office but never hung. The only problem is Morgan is not certain she has the skill set to do the restoration and there is a timeline. Little does Morgan know the secrets she will find as she researches & restores the mural.

Next up to read is a book that all our bookclub are reading over summer, "The Dutch House" by Ann Patchett, and I'm looking forward to it. This is the second book I've read by Ann Patchett, 'Bel Canto' was a novel about a hostage crisis that goes wrong. Where lines of good vs evil are blurred. Where time is suspended. And I couldn't put it down!

Here's a section of Goodreads review -

"The Dutch House is a story of siblings, Danny and Maeve Conroy, their obsessive connection with the iconic family house they lived in as young children and how their lives unfolded over the years. The story is narrated by Danny over multiple non-linear time periods. The various time jumps and reflections back to important events felt like a jigsaw puzzle being built, where there is the uncertainty of the next piece but once it is placed, the complete picture becomes clearer and clearer."

Happy reading, Linda

photography 101

Last year I spent a bit of time exploring my options for taking a good "quilty pic". I don't do those minimal quilt photos, like you sometimes see, with lots of white wall and the quilt. I guess my photos so far have been more 'lifestyle' ones, working with what I have around here, everyday ordinary things.

And I've had lots of fun faffing about with my camera, some ideas worked . . . others didn't. Here's a wee photo selection of how my skills have progressed, or not! First up, on the bed . . .

and a wee collage of progress pics . . .

and then back to the quilt,
which found its way out onto the stairs  . . .

Sometimes I include the 'quilt swirl' or the 'quilt fold' too . . .

and then I go off outside,
on the gate . . .

 on the lawn . . .

and of course, on the washing line . . .

and somewhere amongst my pics I like to have a close up of the quilting . . .

oh, and then we're up on the front deck . . .

and last, but not least, my quilt found Mr d. my faithful quilt holder,
for a full frontal . . . {wink wink} of the quilt of course . . .

I certainly have my preferred locations around here, but a lot depends on the actual quilt, and the weather too! I know everyone loves those close ups - of fabrics used & of the individual blocks, the quilting, the backing used, and the binding. And that all essential final pic of the whole quilt is a must!

I'm enjoying having a go at combining my quilting with photography. I still have lots to learn . . . and maybe a few 'more modern' shots  will sneak in soon. Love to hear where you take your quilt photos and which blogs you recommend for eye catching photos.

Linking up this finished scrappy 'tripping around the world garden' quilt
with Cynthia for 'oh scrap' here 

. . . until next time, Linda

aunt Bet's quilt revisited

This week, in an attempt to ease that feeling of WiP overwhelm, I brought some pieces of a quilt out and left them all spread out on the spare chair ... and I fell in love with it again!

When my “lights” scrap bin was overflowing late last year, I decided to make another 'aunt Bet's' quilt. I like how Jo's pattern has that informal improv look, great for combining colours & fabrics, and still has a somewhat scrappy eclectic look that I love. And, even for an experienced quilter, it’s just nice to sit back, follow a pattern and simply sew once in a while.
I added a lovely new piece into the original mix, Anna Maria's 'front walk' in soft peachy beige, repeating it several times to help link up the colours over the quilt.

 Linking up this weekend with Wendy for the 'peacock party' here

Until next time, Linda

finishing some unfinished projects: making a start

I've decided to set aside a couple of months to relook at what I've already got underway here in the sewing room, and hopefully finish some unfinished projects or, at least, move a couple just a bit further along.

First up this week is my 2nd attempt at these 'wagon wheel' blocks, see back here. Leave something up on the design wall for long enough around here, and it's bound to take a different turn! After a couple of weeks looking at my initial starting for this project, I've changed things around a little, just enough to help things gel a bit better.

I'm still using all the centres that I'd cut out, and the eclectic variety of cottons for the arcs, but I've decided to use just the one floral fabric for my backgrounds. Here's a wee peep . . .

- "Marseille" in Hot Pink Mum by Robyn Pandolph

and then there were four up on the design wall . . .

I seem to have done a complete 360 with these wagon wheel blocks. 

I was going for 'interesting rather than pretty' 

but now {wink wink} they are certainly more 'pretty than interesting'! 

- whatever works, right?

Linking up with Cynthia here & Wendy over here this weekend
and with Kelly here too

Until next time, Linda

summertime reading

It's 2020 

and it's the summer holidays here in NZ 

. . . lots of time for reading & relaxing.

First up, I've been revisiting some patchwork books I have here on the bookshelf and 'The Gentle Art of Quiltmaking' by Jane Brocket caught my eye today.

  

This book is mainly about quilt inspiration, where to find it & how to use it. The quilts all really do capture the essence of a summer's day. And while simple in design, the way the fabrics are combined make for unique and visually pleasing quilts.

I made the 'ice cream' version of one of Jane's quilts years ago, lots of sandy and watery-blue fabrics with splashes of pink to stop it looking washed out.

I'm currently reading ‘The Dinner List’ by Rebecca Serle, it's a unique read, a romance with a little magic.

"At one point or another, we’ve all been asked to name five people, living or dead, with whom we’d like to have dinner. Why do we choose the people we do? And what if that dinner was to actually happen? These are the questions Rebecca Serle contends within her utterly captivating novel, The Dinner List, a story imbued with delightful magical realism.

When Sabrina arrives at her thirtieth birthday dinner she finds at the table not just her best friend, but also three significant people from her past, and well, Audrey Hepburn. As the appetizers are served, wine poured, and dinner table conversation begins, it becomes clear that there’s a reason these six people have been gathered together.
Delicious but never indulgent, sweet with just the right amount of bitter, The Dinner List is a romance for our times. Bon appétit."

And this last book is for those who enjoy a bit of a gripping & erie read . . . and, I must say, it has been keeping me up at nights,  'Good Girl, Bad Girl' by Michael Robotham. 

“Haunting … Robotham expertly raises the tension as the action hurtles toward the devastating climax"

- don't want to spoil things, but I'm hoping there's a sequel!

 happy reading

and Happy New Year to you all

Linda