Showing posts with label Simply Moderne. Show all posts
Showing posts with label Simply Moderne. Show all posts

Tuesday, 20 March 2018

Spring arrived officially at 0915 this morning!

Yesterday I took this picture thru the window of my lobby, today the day is cold and grey.  Last Monday I was going to do a blog post and my computer decided to do a Window's update.  It would only load to 77% and then stall despite repeated attempts.  So I took it into the same place I did about two years ago and they had a back up so I didn't get it back until late last night.  Then I realized they had my power cord.  Good news, it's all loaded and hooked up again.
Remember the mug rugs I made in February?
I did a test of how I would machine quilt them on a scrap of muslin and batting to check the tension on a machine I've never used.

 I checked the reverse side and everything looked good.

 I also tried a mirror image as I made two with the vase on the left.
 The back also looked alright.  I may just trim and bind these with some fun binding.
 Test driving over, let's get started on the actual pieces.
 Unfortunately I didn't check the backs until I did all four.
 One I could live with and the other three I reverse sewed.
 Lesson learned?  Always check your piece before moving onto the next piece. I've un-stitched them all and will probably do them on my own machine.
 I also went up to my local quilt shop and got some of the new Tula Pink All Stars fabrics, they had sold out of solids and many of the stripes but I found these three to come home with me.
 A friend had picked up some Opal Essence quilt templates designed by Lorena Uriate from Australia while she was here doing two workshops at the beginning of March.  I just need to get the pdf and I'm ready to start another new project. Check out Lorena's website for details and pictures here.

Spring has arrived here on the quay and every day new blooms are popping up.  I believe this is called Scilla'
 Love how it wants to bloom before getting very tall!

 Here is a pink version of the Scilla flowers
 The rhododendron bushes are in full bloom

 Love the colour of the buds.
 The Grape Hyacinths are also starting to bloom, soon there will be thousands of them under the rose bushes.
 They also start blooming as soon as they break thru the ground.
 In the courtyard the Cherry blossoms are about to burst forward.
 Love these ones on the side of the trunk.
 The forsythia is also in bloom.

 These three weeping cherry trees are going to be beautiful in a few days.
 They are a deeper pink.
 Looking forward to their full bloom beauty.
 The view thru the lobby window without the added graphics.
 I got my Simply Moderne quilt magazine from Quiltmania.  So many wonderful choices, hard to pick which one to do first.  Birches?
 Applique?
 Collage?
 Whimsical phones?
 Here's the cover if you want to check it out.
 I also went to the Creative Sewing show last weekend and got some 80 weight Aurifil to try for applique and some 28 weight for quilting.
 Some of Sue Spargo's new Ellana wool thread to try out.
Now to catch up and get back to sewing!

Thursday, 24 December 2015

Snowman Surprise for Christmas

Last night I went down to check my mail and found a lovely surprise.  The snowmen swap blocks had arrived to my great delight!  I sent away 13 to swap with 12 lovely ladies with the Whimsical Mary Lou Yahoo group I belong to; one of the ladies didn't participate, we hope all is well with her and the lucky 13th one goes to Mary Lou for inspiring us all.  So I've 11 blocks to put into a quilt along with the extras I made if I choose.
 I quickly put them up on my design wall for a picture.  Then I also took some individual pictures.  This first red toque guy was made by Edie Fail, love the butterfly on his bottom.
 This bright eyed guy was made by Katie Fields she did a lovely zigzag stitch around him.
 Mari Linfesty made this polka dot and tree block.
 Deb Green made different sized drunkard path blocks and sewed them together for this guy's head.  Too cute!
 Her friend Claire Maitland made this chubby snowman, she put some batting behind him a la trapunto style.
 This Mississippi snowman "melted" is the work of Regina Muli, along with a snowball top to his toque.
 Sandra Kensey made this cute log cabin guy.
 Carol Cowan did a lovely job machine buttonhole stitching this snowman and his tree.  The snowflakes are all sparkly!
 Star snowman was machine buttonhole stitched by Mary Frances Wesson, love his scarf!
 Snowball snowman was pieced by oops lost the label, either Yvette Boehke.
 I decided to claim this toque snowman/woman.  Little did I realize there would be a full moon on Christmas so I may have to applique one for her to look at!
 I also got a notice of a package that had been sent by FedEx so off to their sorting facility to find the back issues of Simple Vintage were waiting.  I've had trouble finding this locally and decided to gift myself for them for Christmas.  I may have some duplicates but have someone in mind to receive them.  I know I don't have this one.
 Looking forward to some great inspirations.
 Love all the different projects available.
 Prepping for Spring.
 Summer,
 Autumn,
 Winter,
And the most recent Simply Modern!
Merry Christmas everyone, hope you have some delightful surprises under the tree for each and everyone of you and yours!