Thursday, September 27, 2012

Seems I'm a little behind in posting last weeks Grandmothers Choice  block.



Thankfully a nice easy block to piece, I know the next block isn't as easy- a lovely sunflower block.  Thank goodness I don't mind curved seams!

Wednesday, September 26, 2012


A little stitching each day certainly goes a long way towards getting something finished.
Bonnie Hunter's  idea to hand-sew for one hour each day during the month of September(National Sewing Month in USA)  was very good for me.
Finished off these border strips for my Robin's Nest BOM.  I'm now caught up once again!  Well, I will be when I stitch them onto the centre medallion.


Really moving along with the hexagon quilt from last January's Summer School.


Amazing what you can get done with a few episodes of "The Big Bang Theory"! 
No sewing getting done during the day, though.  It's Spring, and the weather has been beautiful the last few days.
Even in the midst of school holidays, sewing is still happening.  Bliss.

Saturday, September 15, 2012

I think I've outsmarted myself this week.
I was quite up to date with my Robin's Nest BOM, so I didn't hurry to stay ahead this month.  I cut everything out and then the pieces just sat.  I was planning to machine stitch everything together for this border.  Well, guess what happens when the pieces won't quickly and easily  go together when machine sewn?  Yes, I get annoyed at myself and put the quilt on the back burner.
However, this month being "hand sewing for an hour a day " month, I finally got moving last night and started hand sewing the pieces together.


I had every intention of machine sewing those little background pieces into the zigzag, certain it would come together very quickly.  Let me tell you, although I have no trouble with sewing y seams, little tiny  y seams are a trouble all of their own!  So, now I'm sewing by hand, the next month of the BOM came this week and now I'm behind!
I've also been hand sewing along on my hexagon quilt.  It's growing slowly but surely.


Only 5 more red diamonds to go and this round is finished.

Saturday, September 8, 2012

Hand sewing for 1 hour per day is certainly working for me.
Not always in 1 block, often in 2 or 3 bites, but the minutes do add up.



This will be the centre block of a new medallion I started last weekend.   Katrina Hadjimichael taught her lovely quilt- "Netherfield" at Carolyn's Quilting Room in Wodonga. Whilst I'm not new to English paper piecing, I am new to fussy cutting.  I'm pretty pleased with the results so far, now to graduate to something a little more effective than just centreing a motif on each piece!
I've also started some machine sewing.  My first Grandmother's Choice block.


I've decided to join in on Barbara Brackman's new sew along- "Grandmother's Choice"
Each week for 49 weeks a new 8" block will appear.  The theme this year is Women's Rights and the Suffrage movement of the early 20th Century.

Tuesday, September 4, 2012

Bonnie Hunter of Quiltville fame has challenged her blog readers to handquilt along with her for 1 hour a day.  She has some projects that need to be finished, and I'm sure most of us do too!
For those of us that aren't hand quilting anything, this challenge encompasses anything sewn by hand.
Handstitching a quilt, embroidery, anything that doesn't involve a machine.
Since I always have at least one hand sewing project happening, I'll be sewing right along.


In my 1 hour last night, I finished sewing the red diamonds and triangles around the centre of my Summer School hexagon quilt, and started to sew the next row of flowers on.


This challenge is just the push I need to sew each day and get this quilt top done.