Friday, February 24, 2017

My Skulk of Foxes

When I referred to groups of foxes having different names on a recent post, cousin, Cheryl, said she liked the name - a skulk of foxes, so skulk it is.

Having said that, yesterday I was able to complete on my 16 foxes for the Fancy Forest quilt, so my skulk is complete.

Now on to the rabbits.  I have already completed 2 and have 6 to go to make up my 'colony' or 'nest' of rabbits.


Wednesday, February 22, 2017

The foxes are gathering


We have visitors at the moment so there has not been much in the way of stitching happening for me.

Today, there was a window of opportunity so I set myself the task of completing the 16 fox blocks required for my Fancy Forest quilt.

I had made a start on block 14 before I had to finish for the day.

A bit of trivia from Mr Google - group of foxes is referred to as a skulk, leash, or earth. Not sure what title I should give mine.


The foxes seem to endear themselves to me as each block is completed.

I especially like these red and grey fox blocks.















I wanted to keep within the autumn tone theme I had set myself so that meant 16 different fabrics needed to be found.

To achieve this I had to add extra seams to some pieces.


I could have chosen to repeat some colours instead but preferred the challenge of finding 16 different fabrics.

Worth it to succeed in using my stash rather than buying more fabric, which I am trying to avoid.





Tuesday, February 21, 2017

Bloom Quilt

Last year our Sweet Pea group embarked on a cheerful scrappy quilt called the Bloom Quilt by Lori Holt.






Lori has made a special set of templates for the floral blocks.






We have enjoyed seeing the results as the quilts are being completed.

 Fiona is talking to Rochelle about her quilt as you go finish.

































I didn't manage to capture all of Andreena's quilt but the vibrancy of the colours she chose are very evident.
















Debbie has been busy quilting Trish's quilt for her.

As with all of our group projects, I am always fascinated by the different results according to individual colour preferences.

Monday, February 20, 2017

Sweet Pea Sewing Group

Our fortnightly Sweet Peas sewing group has started again this year.

Usually, when we meet, there is quite a bit of show and tell, but this time nothing.

However, Fiona brought us a bunch of lovely roses, fresh from her garden.

Maybe no show and tell but we are really enjoying having these flowers at our place.

Wednesday, February 15, 2017

UFO?























Recently we had bush fires in the Taupo area and in the morning we had an unusual sunrise.

I took this shot from my bathroom and when I looked at it I thought maybe I had sighted a UFO (top right hand corner) but it turned out that I had caught the reflection of bathroom lights.


Tuesday, February 14, 2017

Learning, always learning


For a while now I have been wanting to learn a little about stitching down raw edge applique with a very small zig zag stitch.

I have been making some table runners for around the house and Samelia's Mum had done a table runner that was the inspiration for my attempt at this form of stitching.

I used Invisafil 100 wt thread for the zig zag stitching and set the stitch to 1 wide by 1.5 long on my Janome.

As a beginner in this form of stitching I was quite pleased with the outcome.


I did match stick quilting for the background and ended up with a runner that was just the right size for a chest of drawers in Linda's bedroom.















Some Laura Ashley sheeting fabric made a nice, colour co-ordinated backing for this household item.


Monday, February 13, 2017

More on Fancy Forest friends.

 There are 6 different blocks in the Fancy Forest quilt and I have now completed at least one of each.

Our forest friends need a little foliage as well and so we have a Thistle Plant block.


Last but not least is the Firefly.

What fun I could have with this block, with all the different colour combinations that could be used for the wings.

I have since made two more fox blocks and I need to make at least 12 more for the full size quilt so we should be firm friends by the time I have completed on this challenge.

Sunday, February 12, 2017

Something special

 When we heard that the mother of a good friend of ours had passed away, Linda asked if she would like us to make a memory quilt using fabric from some of her mother's clothes.

Lesley Anne had to be very patient once she gave us the clothing as I pondered which garments might be suitable and what pattern to use to show them off.

The pink fabric featured in the inner border and corners was cotton but all the others were stretch fabric so stabilisation was required.

Another good friend of ours, Trish, had lent us a pattern of hers which featured ladies dresses and so, in the end, this is the result.

One example of what the dresses look like.

I tried to use features within the fabric where ever I could.  In this one I used the bolder white stripes as a highlight within the skirt.









This was one of the stripey stretch fabrics I used in a number of ways in the different dresses.













We had some fun sewing theme fabric that would have been from her mother's era that we used as backing for the quilt.












A bit of cream binding and some of Linda's lovely quilting to finish it and we were finally able to present Lesley Anne with her long awaited quilt.




Saturday, February 11, 2017

Hazel joins the clan

Today Hazel Hedgehog joined the clan of forest friends.

These blocks seem to take on a life of their own once the eyes fall into place.

Elizabeth Hartman has done a wonderful job or creating each and every block and her instructions are excellent.

Once again I am on a stash busting exercise.

I did not want to buy any fabric for this project and so have gone for autumn colours with a cream background.  So far so good as I have plenty.

Friday, February 10, 2017

A Little Bit of Fun

During the past few days I have been having a little bit of fun stitching some animal/bird blocks.

Yesterday I realised how far I have come since hip surgery and how comfortable I feel when standing cutting fabric and also sitting at my sewing machine.

The surgeon is pleased with the outcome and so it will be nice if I don't have to spend and more time in hospital for many years to come.

Back to the blocks - for sometime now I have been contemplating whether or not to take the plunge and buy the Fancy Forest quilt pattern by Elizabeth Hartman.

Linda and I shared the idea with our Sweet Peas sewing group and some of us will be doing this as our project for the year.

To get us started I thought I would make samples of the six different blocks and so far I have the foxes above as well as these two rabbits


and one of the owls.

I love the almost stern look on the owl's face.

It reminds me of our Burmese cat when he gets cross with us.  He can have a bit of a look like that too.

A little bit of fun for today and there is still more to come - Hazel Hedgehog is next.