Little Birds... is it nearly spring?

We had a day of cute little bird things arriving at the shop today. Unfortunately they didnt bring Spring weather with them. A new book arrived "Little Birds" with the most whimsical little bird projects ever. I could easily have taken a book home and locked myself away to start at least a few of them.

and just a peek inside.......

and little quilt projects too....

then the delivery man arrived with more fabric including this cute little bird fabric, which I wouldnt mind to back a quilt

Back to reproduction quilts! Today was the end of month Ann Daggs class. This week I rushed to get the latest glueing done ( I am only appliqueing Swan Lake at the moment and almost all done). I discovered amongst the new fabrics that had arrived, the greatest browny/black fabric. I LOVE how it looks when it is made into both the bias stems and the flowers, and it looks great on the quilt.

By the way, I have labelled this months notes as 15 and they should be labelled as 16. Yes only four more to go!

and just a funny story .. today at work we were discussing Masterchef. Christine said the other night her 9+ granddaughter was staying over for dinner and Christine asked if she would help. Lucy offered to "plate up"!
And something not so funny, my baby daughter is 29 on Wednesday. We cant believe it!
Susan x

return to life as normal

Our household has been addicted to watching Masterchef the past few months. It has been great, my husband has arrived home by 7.30 each evening. For the first time in 32 years I have been able to have dinner ready at a particular time and know he would be home. Considering I enjoy cooking, he has also taken an interest in what he eats, which is quite a change. He usually enjoys meals with the least washing up. So I guess until the next series of masterchef, or junior masterchef, there will be a cooling off period!
Over the weekend  I was on a challenge from my friend Mark in Sydney to try some different methods of making macarons. Yesterday's effort was a half disaster. They tasted great but were all cracked on top. Today I made them again, this time using the Italian method of making meringue, and although they are wearing little hats ( I need to practice my piping technique) I think they are pretty ok.

So Mark yes I did make them and fill them with lemon curd.
Now to sewing. I have been busy with finishing off my Swan lake quilt.
On Saturday August 14 Annette Gero is giving a lecture on Wagga quilts, in Wagga Wagga, so I am trying to completely finish my quilt before then ( well maybe the applique!). If you are interested in hearing Annette there are still tickets available.

I set myself a date to finish the applique by the end of July but this week will be a bit disjointed as our Lucy is dancing in the local eisteddfod, and as this will be the last competition we see her in locally, I will be in and out. So go Lucy and my applique will have to suffer! Its Ann Daggs week too so thank goodness for glue!

I didnt publish the last photos of Duck Hill Farm. I love this quilt. It is so whimsical, just stripped back to basics with applique, and totally charming without all the fussiness. I cant wait until I finish it!
Happy sewing!
Susan

a weekend at home

I have had a few lovely weekends away the past few weeks, but totally enjoying my first weekend at home in ages this weekend, not that I have achieved much sewing wise!
I was behind with my Swan Lake quilt and as I have a deadline to have it completed, this was bothering me, so I spent the past week with needle in hand. I am down to about 100 pieces to go now so 5 days work, so no more need to panic.

I was in Queensland last weekend. My husband was attending a conference so I decided to go as excess baggage. Usually he is the one doing the lecturing, but this time he was an attendee, and the conference was at such a nice location (the Sheraton Mirage on the Gold Coast) I thought I would escape the freeze of Wodonga for a few days. I took my clamshell quilt to sew but the nearest I got to clamshells were the tiles on the wall.

I take so much sewing and knitting with me when I travel, that if I was stuck for a month with a volcano it wouldnt be a problem!

Back to class on Friday, we had our last day of Swan Lake, though it is such a huge project, I think the girls will be working on it for quite some time. They were swapping hexagons  but planning ahead for the next quilt.

And what is their next quilt to be? I have been working on Karen Cunningham's Irish Circle quilt, showing the girls what I have done each month ( nothing to show this month!) and they fell in love with it. Karen offers this quilt by correspondence and each month a little packet of patterns arrives in the mail. I eagerly await it, stare at them for a night or so then jump in and have a wonderful time making the circles. So probably just starting with a little bit this year, I will have a few girls joining me with this quilt next year  . 

Karen's quilt is based on the Jane Pizar quilt from Ireland.

Happy sewing, Susan x