Friday Night Sew In...

Well, I felt very industrious Friday night as I joined in once again with Heidi and Bobbi  and many other stitchers from around the globe at Friday Night Sew In.
I had a few tasks lined up, to fill in the evening.
Firstly, I finished off a couple of Dear Jane blocks that I'd partly sewn.

Then, I filled in several hours stitching a block that's new to me.  Called Blind Man's Puzzle, I found a picture a couple of weeks ago whilst surfing websites.  Unfortunately, I committed the unforgivable act of forgetting to bookmark the blog that I found it on.  Don't you hate that?   Anyway, I love the pattern.

The centre square is a lovely red, the pic doesn't do it justice.
A fantastic flying geese sashing goes around each 15 " block.
Edit: just noticed that the hourglass blocks aren't orientated correctly.  Hmm,to change or not to change.
I'm also not too happy about the dark outer pieces of the block, may have to take them off and replace with something a little lighter.
Then to finish the night off, I did a little more applique on my Princess Feather border.

I have glue basted several pieces on, now just to finish stitching.
So, all in all a very productive night.

I've been a bit slow in keeping up with stitching my Dear Jane blocks recently.  I'm unable to attend my support group (monthly sewing afternoons) to keep up the momentum.  I do look at them often, and even fondle the fabric set aside for the blocks.
So, I decided to get some stitching done on them last Friday at my 6-midnight sewing group.  I've finished 7 blocks so far this year.  Oh, that sounds soooo bad, only 7 blocks in 7 months.
However, this quilt won't make it to the UFO pile,  it's slowly simmering away in the background.

I like to spend a day prepping several blocks ready to sew.  I only have 2 more blocks prepped.  Might spend a day tomorrow getting some more ready- surely that will get me back onto a quicker track.

I've had a lovely time since returning from Inspired Stitches in Adelaide last weekend.
I've really enjoyed reading Kathie's posts at Inspired by Antique Quilts.  Recently she has had several posts regarding some good books on antique quilts in her reading library.
I have to say, I immediately went and had a good look at those books on the web.  I'm in heaven with a good book.  Whilst I resisted buying any of them for a while, in the end I couldn't help myself.  I simply gave in to temptation and purchased several for my reading pleasure.
So, my parcel postie man has been coming by a lot lately.  Do you think it's odd that he waves at me in the street now?  LOL.
Anyway, here are some of my purchases.....

 These first 2 are gorgeous books that have lots of patterns and information on doll quilts, many made by small children.  Hard to believe that girls as young as 3 or 4 were stitching little blocks together.  Of course many were made by their mothers as well.

This book has been on my "to buy" list for quite some time.  Just beautiful.

Another lovely book from Kathie, first published in 1992, some gorgeous photos of quilts from New York State.
A wonderful night was spent on Friday at Threadbear in Castlemaine.  Our regular group of quilters got together for a 6 hour session of sewing. 
I managed to finish 2 more blocks for my Dear Jane quilt- currently being blocked into submission shape, so pics next time. Somehow, a couple more books found their way into my bag.

 This lovely little book specialises in miniature quilts and their construction.  It's also been out for quite a while, but somehow never made it home with me before.

I also found this little book by Mary Koval- beautiful pictures of my favourite 2 colour quilts.
The Castlemaine Applique Group had a special meeting last weekend (sadly whilst I was away in Adelaide), Mary Koval was one of the guests for the meeting along with Petra Prins from The Netherlands.
Hopefully I'll get to see these very talented ladies next time they're down this way.

Inspired Stitches.

I've just had the best weekend away at a stitching retreat in Adelaide.
Organised by Sarah at Quilt Fabric Delights, a fantastic time was had by all.  We had FOUR impressive teachers who each had several projects on offer for the weekend.
We were able to select from Natalie Ross, Gail Pan, Janelle Wind , and Helen Stubbings.
A sunglasses case that has already been pressed into service.

 And a needle case.

Here are my first two projects, finished in the weekend.  Feels very good to actually finish a project.  One of my companions also finished a couple of projects,  what a woman!!!  And , not to be outdone, Jindi was also close to finishing her starts for the weekend.
Met some lovely ladies on my tables on Saturday and Sunday, a very diverse group.  The weekend was held in Adelaide,  we travelled from Melbourne, and we had a ladies from Perth, Darwin , and Sydney sitting with us!!!  If we were in Europe, we'd all have come from different countries.  Distance is no barrier to a good weekend sewing retreat.