Top is Finished

After much searching in the shops I found a lovely lavender sheet that will fit perfectly to this quilt.  I finished the top of Emily's quilt last night and it looks so nice:)  I'm sending it to a friend to longarm quilt.

Sashing added to squares

Two rows done

............and finally...........

The top completed and ready for layering and then quilting

 

 

Til the next time.............

It's Looking Good!

I've been beavering away since Tuesday making Emily's quilt and it's looking good.  The pattern is a quilter's project from the Australian Patchwork & Quilting magazine, designer Elaine Rose.  It has been a joy to make.

Here I'm doing the Star Points on the Sashings

One sashing done

Star Points on sashings completed

Star Points on side bars for border

Star Point remnants - so many of them!

This is what I did with them - I joined them all up and made loads of HST's

.......and used some them like this...............

....and added a lavender dot border.......to make into..........

.....a fabric postcard for my friend Tessa

I have to go out now to buy a lavender backing for the quilt.  Will put more photos up later.
Til the next time.....

All Pieces Cut

It took most of the evening to cut out all the elements for Emily's black and white quilt.  I'm itching to start it but it's late and I have a 90th birthday celebration to go to tomorrow, so I'm off to bed.

All cut and ready to sew!

......til the next time xx

A Job that had to be Done

We have to sell Mum's house which means that we have to sort out all her things.  I went to her house this morning to sort her wardrobe - incredibly hard thing to do as it felt so wrong deciding what to do with her belongings.  Anyway, I was there a couple of hours and managed to fill 4 black sacks!  I also found some bits of embroidery and weaving that I had done as a child.  I didn't know she had kept it!

My mum in 1946 with Aunt Jess and me as a baby

Africa 1946

 

Spent the afternoon cutting out Emily's black and white fabric.  Very calming...........  til the next time xx

Tiles

Came home from hand embroidery course tonight and went straight to my machine and did the Tiles FMQ.  I had real trouble keeping straight and even!  I actually dropped my feed dogs as I found it easier to control the fabric, but I still couldn't get an even stitch.....I know, practice, practice!  I had to keep turning the fabric as I still couldn't stitch backwards as I couldn't see behind the needle.

Here it is............

Front

 

 

Quite like back!

 

 

..........'til the next time.

Devizes Doggies

Had a lovely, long weekend in Wiltshire with my friends who were celebrating their 30th Wedding Anniversary.  We have known each other for 48 years!!!  There were long walks with their 3 dogs which was super.  We walked along fields and woodlands and I felt very carefree!

Aren't these such cute doggies!

Freddie, Pippa and Georgi

Where's the biscuit then?

 

 

.............and here's the gorgeous cake specially made by a friend - don't the sugar paste primroses look real!

The primroses are gorgeous - made from sugar paste

 

 

Emily's Black & White Quilt

Been shopping today in Tunbridge Wells to buy fabric for my granddaughter's quilt.  Emily would like black and white with lavender. I bought all I wanted at Sewing World - they have loads of fabrics to choose from including dress cottons.  I had a little lavender sample I stapled onto a piece of card and began to choose.......and this is what I bought.

Lovely shades of Lavender

....and some extra black and white for borders and binding

Emily had spotted that I had some 10" black and white squares I had in my stash which I had received from the Popular Patchwork Black & White Swap and fell in love with it..............and this is what it looks like

I love the dress shapes

Can't wait to start it now, but I have to wash all the fabrics I bought today, so maybe I'll start next week.

Bye for now

Free Motion Friday

I've joined in Free Motion Friday with Cindy of Fluffy Sheep Quilting. See Cindy's blog on the right. Each Friday we have a week to piece another, different, free motion.  This week's was Shadow Lines.  I think I used too small a sampler to try it out, but I soldiered on!!  Try as I might to get the lines to curve they still look straight.  I wobbled a bit when I lost sight of the line behind the needle.  I quite like the back of mine.

Front of Shadow Lines

Back

 

 

On the next one which looks interesting and challenging.

My Pennant for London

At last I've finished my pennant for the London Olympics.  I've been doing this with Friendship Quilters.....watch this space for more fabulous contributions from the others who are making some wonderful creations.

My Penguin

Embroidery

I've started a course in hand embroidery and this is my first sample piece

Hand embroidery joining strips of fabric using flat embroidery stitches

My next class is this Friday and we shall be colouring cloth and I suspect sewing stitches on the samples.

Great Train Journey to the Shores of Lake Garda Italy

The last two weeks we were on holiday on the shores of Lake Garda in a very nice town called Desenzano.  The weather was fabulous all week with temperatures reaching 30 degrees and wall to wall blue skies.  Here are a few photos to share with you.

Our overnight stay at St. Pancras was well worth doing as we had an early start by train the next morning.  Here's an interesting photo of the British Library with St Pancras Station behind.

St Pancras Station

 When we arrived in Italy we had to stay in an hotel across the road from where we had been booked in as there had been a flood in two of the bedrooms.  This hotel room had the most fabulous lake view

Desenzano

The pretty sheltered harbour in Desenzano

Castle in Sirmione

Beautiful wall painting on a church in Sirmione

Grand Canal Venice by the Station

Moored neaby was the Cunard cruise liner Queen Victoria

Isn't that just gorgeous!

Rialto Bridge

Gondolas in waiting

Arena in Verona

Here we are sitting inside the Arena

Amazing!!  How did the Romans build them so perfectly?

The Arena being prepared for a production of Peter Pan

Milan

One of several elephants seen around Milan.  I've seen these in London too, a couple of years ago

The beautiful cathedral in Milan

Remains of a Roman Villa were discovered in Desenzano in 1921

There were a number of beautiful mosaic floors uncovered.  It was an interesting afternoon here.

Some of the beautiful sights on a boat trip around Lake Garda

That's all for now.