On My Frame...

Well, I jumped in feet first...loaded the C&CC quilt onto the frame and went for it!

I decided to stick to the loops and hearts that I was practicing before, it just seemed to be the easiest thing to do.....hmm, as long as the quilt police don't come around checking, it's not too bad!

I wasn't sure what to do about the borders, so I decided to leave the borders and do them off the frame on my other sewing machine...at least it won't be as bulky as the whole quilt would have been...it's just a matter of doing something simple and a little different now around the border, then the binding....

Hope you have had a great day...I'm just so pleased to have accomplished this today....♥

Tut...Matching and Joining Backing Seams...

In the preparation of loading my C&CC quilt on the frame, I needed to join up the backing fabric as it was too small...Here's a great tip that dear friend Lynnie shared with me...I thought it might be useful to some of you... This works great on big print fabrics!
First lay your fabric out to see where you would like to match up the design, pick somewhere that stands out to you and will be easy to see as you go along...

I have chosen the pink flower and acorns near the little bird...
Lay fabric down right sides together, fold back the top fabric to where you want to match up the design and pin in place over the underneath fabric...you may be able to see that I have pinned the match in place just enough to cover the flower , but leaving the acorn exposed,....do this all the way down the length of the two fabric pieces...

Now stitch down through the two layers on the fold staying as close as you can to the edge of the fold....

Open up the two stitched pieces of fabric and lay flat as shown above...

Cut away the excess fabric on both sides of the stitching, leaving just a half inch seam allowance on both sides...

I hope you not confused by now and are still with me...please email me if you need help...

Turn to right side and press the seam flat....
You can just see where I've joined it, and it's a perfect match.... the stitching in on the underneath and not visible on the top..

Here it is again, photo taken slightly on an angle, all pressed and lying nice and flat...

I hope it makes joining and matching fabric that little bit easier for you...

Thank you Lynnie...I remembered how to do and it worked a treat!.....♥

C&CC Quilt top finished..

Caramel and Cream quilt top is finished....only took a good days work on it...it was just a matter of getting started and in no time it was done!

I'm really happy with how it turned out...I think the Aqua / Teal borders really finished it off nicely. Now to load it on my new frame and quilt it......I'm feeling a little nervous about that, but I have to make a start somewhere....or perhaps I should practice a bit more!

Two Dresden Plates done...these are great to do in the evening.

I have placed them on the same cream Fusion fabric that I used in the quilt above....I have about 3 metres of that fabric left and thought if they go well on that I would use that instead of buying more fabric....save a few $$'s

Do you like Harry Potter?....I never thought I would get into them, but we have been watching the Harry Potter series on TV. I usually fall asleep watching TV in the evening, but HP is so action packed I've managed to stay awake, and so these have been great to do in between eyes popping up and down from the TV trying to keep up with HP.

My goodness.... that JK Rowling had some imagination to come up with these stories!

Now what else will I try to finish off...DJ !
We are expecting a lovely sunny day...hope yours is a good one....♥

Nine Patch Swap

Block #3

It was a great sewing day yesterday ...cold and raining outside...just perfect for staying indoors catching up with a few things.

I thought while I could, I would get ahead a bit with my nine patch swap blocks that Christine is hosting... all the blocks look fantastic, it's shaping up to be a great swap with a beautiful friendship quilt at the end of it.

Block #4

Just two more to go....now that's easy!

Have a great sewing day, I'm going to see if I can get Caramel & Cream Cake quilt finished today...♥

Another Gathering...I know, I know!

I know, I know...it must seem like all us girls do is meet and have fun!
Above is Gwen holding up a gorgeous warm flannel split nine patch quilt she made for a surprise gift...so warm and cuddly!
Dear Gwen invited us in to her lovely warm home for a gathering...Gwen is Canadian and has been away visiting family, this is the first time we've had to catch up with her.
It was truly a lovely day, not all the girls could make it....Gwen is such a lovely hostess, nothings too much trouble for her, she loves to potter about and prepare lunch.
Lunch, did I mention lunch....it's s little joke between us...I'm so used to eating at a certain time, well 12 noon actually...I can't help it..... it's a habit, by then my tummy tells me I'm ready for lunch. Guess who is the first to say "Lunch Time"...so around that time the girls all look at the clock and wait for me to say something...quite funny!
I didn't tell you what we had for lunch....we had Minestrone soup, bread roll, little quiches and salad, and for dessert Gwen made yummy little individual Lemon Delicious Puddings...
Here are some of the girls sitting around the table..sorry I couldn't get all the girls in the picture.
Oh dear...look at all the wine glasses on the table...red wine, good for the heart....we did sew, truly we did!
Thank you Lurline for the lift up, it was great chatting to you and Robin on the way up and back.
Emails coming through this morning, say they all had a great day and got home safely.

Take care...in friendship..♥

Something New...and WIP's

Naughty me has started a new project....I know I shouldn't but I just feel like doing something new and different...you know the feeling!
I fell in love with Barb's Dresden Plate quilt that I posted about last week, just can't stop thinking about it.... but I want to make a Doona coverlet more so than a quilt, for our feather doona. Where I can put the doona in it and take it out for laundering the coverlet when it needs it.
I have chosen rose fabrics for a soft look and to be in keeping with the decor in our bedroom.
I'll make up the plates first and then decide on a suitable background...hmm, looking at that brown one there, it doesn't seem to really fit in too well !

Now below are my WIP"s....really wouldn't take too much to finish off a couple of these, perhaps I could fit in a bit of work on them now and again...

1930's Apple Core, coming along nicely, doing a couple of rows as the mood takes me...

DJ, onto the last section..8 blocks left to do for this section, then I will hand-quilt it...

Repro Tumbler quilt...this would take no time to finish piecing on the machine, just need to make the effort to do it!

Zig-Zag quilt...made up of left over blocks from another quilt...must put some thought on what to do next on this...

My Caramel & Cream Cake quilt....no excuses, I have the Aqua/ Teal border fabric to finish it off now...just need the enthusiasm to finish it...

Oh, and then there's that other quilt that had so much discussion about, whether to add a hexagon border or not...that's gone in the cupboard for now...

A quick Monday clean up around the house....an appointment to keep, then perhaps a bit more work on one of these.

Have a lovely day..take care..♥

New Blogger and Great Giveaways...

I just had to borrow this pic from Nedra to tell you about a great 5 day giveaway over at Nedra's of Cactus- Needle ....Nedra makes these gorgeous buttons, how cute are they!

Pop over and check out Nedra's generous 5 day giveaway...

If you love vintage like I do, you must check out Lori of "A Bee in my Bonnet " blog and the lovely vintage giveaway she is having...just gorgeous ...check out the button on my sidebar..Also I'd like to tell you about a new blogger on the block..Dear friend Susan who lives a few hours south of me has started a new blog...It would be lovely if she could have a warm welcome from some of us long time bloggers....Welcome to the world of blogging Susan...♥

Take care..♥