Oh the postie has been a welcome addition around here this week!
I love that motorbike sound coming down the street.

I managed to source this Dear Jane 2 fabric from USA last week.  Can you believe that no-one in Australia had any left!  This is going to be the background for an applique quilt by Karen Cunningham  called "The Marriage Quilt".
The sweetest little wooden cotton reels also found their way home to me from Sarah  at Quilt Fabric Delights in Adelaide.   They are for storing your embroidery threads on- I must get to and unwind my skeins.  I'm thinking since they are so cute, I'm going to reserve them for my Cosmo Threads collection.

 These gorgeous Aurifil threads also came to my mailbox, I love these threads for applique.  They are lovely and fine,  the thread just sinks into the fabric being appliqued.  I'm treating myself to some threads each month.

And TADA !!! here's the next block from Just Takes 2.  Four more blocks for this month and I'm done!  Well, until 1st of March anyway.

I'm following along with the Red and white mystery quilt  designed by Brenda Papadakis and Gay  Bomers.  Blocks are released twice each month, so not a lot of work at once.
I've completed the blocks for the first 3 parts.

I can't believe I've just noticed that the big block at bottom right is sewn together wrong!  The corners should be rotated so that the solid red is in the corners.  Aaaagh.  It's paper pieced too, luckily I haven't taken the paper out yet, but it will surely shred when I take it apart- to fix or not to fix.  That is the question.

I started working on the next border for my Mrs Billings  Quilt last night.
It's certainly been a while, but I've been looking at the centre for a few days now knowing it was at the top of my to-do list again.

This is only the first of the next borders, but it's a start.
I hunted high and low for some little sticky sand-paper dots to put on the back of the plastic templates.  You can see them on the template in the photo.   They stop the template sliding around when rotary cutting and I love them.  I had just a couple left that I bought years ago.  When I tried to source them again recently, many shops had never heard of them.  Finally found them in Adelaide whilst on holidays.  Thank goodness, because there are many small templates in this quilt.
This border will finish Part 1, I've received up to part 5, so a bit of sewing to catch up!

More work has been happening here in hexagon heaven!
I've been stitching on my Summer School quilt at night and i'm actually getting somewhere.
I started with these 6 little flowers.

Then finished the next round of 12 flowers.

Closely followed by 8 of the next round of 18 flowers.

These flowers are currently in a small chocolate box that fits in my handbag and is my take around project for appointments.  You can get so much done when waiting for 10 - 15 minutes in a waiting room.

February's small quilt with Kathy Tracy has once again been fun.
I've sewn the blocks together for my little Broken Dishes quiltlet with a twist.  We added a central block with an embroidered heart for Valentine's Day.  I used a variagated red DMC thread for my embroidery.  I like the look with the different shades of red in the block.

Here's the original little quilt from Kathy's book "The Civil War Sewing Circle".

As you can see, I've yet to add my borders.  I do have until the end of the month to get them chosen and sewn on though.
It's very fulfilling to actually get a project finished!

And here it is...
my Orca Bay  is finished!!!!
Ably assisted by Daisy the wonderdog, I attempted to get the whole quilt in the picture but it's a little large for my Kitchen floor.

I'm so happy with the way it's turned out.  My eldest DD has already claimed it as hers. 
I thought it was looking a little dark, but I think it looks fine now.

I'm loving sewing small quilts.
February's quilt from Jo 's  Country Junction is the Bear's Paw quilt.
Lots of little triangles in this one.  I'm going to stitch in a welcome to Autumn colour theme.  I'm so not a Summer girl.

Bear's Paw centre finished, awaiting more sweet little 1/2 square triangles to be added.

Aren't they just so sweet.  Those brown 1/2 triangle squares are 7/8" finished.
The cheddar triangles are 1 " finished.  Fiddly to sew, but worth it in the end.

 The finished quilt!!!
That's 3 quilts finished this year.  Oh, I don't count the actual quilting bit.  However, I've been eyeing off some batting scraps and may actually get some hand quilting done to totally finish  these little beauties.

I've been waiting patiently, (well, a little impatiently actually) for my red and white fabrics to turn up in the post.  Just Takes 2  started at the beginning of January without me.  I've been looking at everyone's blocks as they stitched the first months worth.
Thanksfully my lovely red and white solids finally arrived and I've been able to get a start.  A wonderful pile of colour, freshly washed.

 Six blocks of the first 9 completed.

I'd forgotten how nice solid colour fabric is to work with.  It's a nice weight and  irons well.   I'm using Moda Bella Solids.

I'm all ready to get going on my Orca Bay quilt too.
Blocks are all ready to go, even for the pieced borders.