Tea for two

The bumble bee just happened to fly into the shot as I was taking a photo of the foxglove, it was there for quite a while but was very quick.  

The table I was painting for our veranda is now finished and looks very pretty and is ready for use.  I spent the afternoon stitching out here since it is a warm day and very relaxing in the shade.  It has been a 28 degree day here and I feel sorry for everybody in Melbourne.  I wish for a cool change for them very soon.

I will be hosting many a morning and afternoon tea here and have now begun looking for little projects to make to use as table cloths. Todays post is a very short one due to the lateness of the day and dinner cooking time is virtually upon us.  The bonsai in the middle is a fuschia called "Tom Thumb", it is about 4 years old. 

 

Summer Days

It has been a few days since my last blog entry and things are fine.  I have been very busy with various things.  I have started the new Mystery of the month quilt in the Australian Homespun Magazine and am nearly finished the first block and have pieces for the second block ready for stitching.

I made an out of town trip the other day and visited a quilt shop in a small town called Latrobe here in Tasmania. The shop 

is called Picture Patchwork. I had a look around and bought a few fat quarters which are pictured below.

During the hot days here, the opportunity to paint some furniture had arisen.  I have been revitalizing a small outdoor table and chairs by giving them a nice white finish. They were raw timber before.  When they are done there will be a photo.  This project has let to a complete veranda clean up so the table and chairs can be the main feature of this veranda.  Four new hanging pots with fuschias have been hung and look very pretty.  A new place to stitch and have friends over will be good.

Until next time

Happy Stitching

Marina

Back on Track

Everything has returned back to normal. My parents went back home to New South Wales with lots of photos, memories and 9 kilos of Tasmanian cherries.

I have converted my sewing room from guest room to sewing room again. All my projects are lined up on the day bed in no particular order.

On the way back from the airport, I stopped to pick up a parcel from the post office. It contained a beautiful pack of fat quarters from The Buggy Barn which I am going to use for the monthly mystery quilt which will be appearing in the Australian Homespun magazine. The fabrics are more beautiful in reality than they are in the photos. I can't wait to get sewing but it may have to be on the weekend. I have work to do on my drawing project. The anguish of anticipation is going to be terrible.


Tomorrow is a friendship day of sewing and food which I will attend with a friend, I have made some Almond shortbread cookies for tea and coffee.

Until next time
Marina

UFO Quilting

I have taken an old project our of the cupboard and have decided to quilt it on the machine myself. It is a small quilt with stitchery blocks on it that I made last year every Sunday while my husband flew his model aeroplane. My parents are going home tomorrow and I have begun working on a building design project. I work on that in the evenings when it not so hot.

I am looking forward to going back to our quilting group which starts on the 29th January.

Thank you to everybody who has made comments about various things on this blog. This new world of blogging is amazing but sometimes tricky to find interesting things to put on so today I will show you this small UFO Quilt.

The fabric used in this is Robert Kauffman Mary Rose Quilt Gate No 11 or 12. I cant remember exactly. Summer days have been hot and evenings pleasant, so many hours have been spent in the garden watering and weeding. There is not many flowers at the moment only the beginning of the second flush of David Austin roses.

Goodbye for now
Marina

Blessed Bags!

After a couple of days of high temperatures here on this splendid island of ours, a cool change is upon us.  This has been excellent for all kinds of quilted projects.  During their visit with us, my parents have been relaxing in the garden, playing with the dogs and generally chilling out.  My mother celebrated her 70th birthday on the 14th of Jan and we all went out to a Chinese restaurant which was very nice.  There we all are in the photo below.

We made a bag together in the afternoon and now this bag has become a very frequent visitor to all manor of retail establishments and eateries.  As for my American Primer Bag, it has become a camera and quilt project bag, both of which I cart all over the place just incase there is time for a bit of hand piecing or a photo opportunity.  The little dog in the photo is our newest family member, her name is "Pip" and she is 4 months old.

The other day I recieved the next installement of my American block of the month called "Stars Around the Garden",  I will be making it up shortly.  I also received a pack of reproduction fabric swatches from the US.  These will come in handy for the quilts I am designing for this year.

Here is the bag we made in the afternoon being displayed for the photo.

That is the installment for today, until next time, Happy Stitching

Marina

Summer Fun!

Our first hot day of the year, 28 degrees C (both good and bad), nice for swimming and gardening but for me it was the day I went to the dentist. My teeth were not as bad as I thought they were so went home happy and in the mood for sewing. The days outcome was a bag made from "American Primer" fabrics with rik rak as trim. The photo will appear next post. In the meantime, I have been working on blocks from a new block of the month that I signed up for called "Stars Around the Garden" from the US. To my surprise, the first installment arrived in December rather than May as it said on the website. I have made up the first two blocks.


Another major achievement for the summer was finishing my "Angels Story" quilt. The design is by Annie Downs of Hatched and Patched. I needle turned the blocks and then embroidered around them, the rest is machine pieced and hand quilted.
You can see more of Annie's designs and things on her blog which is in the My Favorite Blog list on the left column.



Although Christmas is over, work is still being done on a Bronwyn Hayes designed quilt called "The Wish Quilt". It will be done for 2009 or maybe 2010, the fabrics used for this are "Peace on Earth".


Next post will feature the new bag and perhaps some non quilting things just to mix it up. My parents are still here visiting with us and it is my mothers birthday, we will celebrate that with cake and a night out to a restaurant.

Happy New Year 2009

After starting this blog last week, I have been very excited about it and have been taking photos of everything around the garden and also some of my quilts. New Years Eve was spent in front of the television watching the fireworks from Sydney. They were really spectacular. I hope everybody had a nice Christmas and New Year. It is now time to start planning new projects and finishing off old ones (This may be wishful thinking for some including myself).

Over the past year I have worked on many quilting projects and have even more planned or in the process of planning. The best part of the planning is the fabric collection that is always necessary. The quilt below is called Leanne's House, it was made during 2007 and 2008. I had it over our piano but it is now on the lounge.

My parents have come to visit us and have been helping us in the garden, we might go for a drive somewhere soon.

Goodbye for now until next week and more photos.