Happy Halloween!

Trick or Treat!

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Trick: Go to "Google Images".

Enter "Halloween Quilts" in to the search box.

Hit enter.

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Treat: Lots and lots of yummy eye candy.

Guaranteed fat free.

Indulge to your heart's content.

Binding

The binding in this photo if for a quilt made out of men's shirts and the binding is made from the shirts as well. I first blogged about this quilt here. This has been a difficult quilt to work on (only partially for technical reasons). I am now at the stage of hand-sewing the binding to the back of the quilt. Then the label and I can pass it on.

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There's an old hymn that runs through my mind from time to time. It was written by John Fawcett (1740 - 1817). Blest Be the Tie That Binds.
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This song speaks of ties that bind us together in fellowship of kindred minds. It speaks of sharing our burdens with sympathising tears. Though we are apart we are joined in heart and hope to meet again.
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While this song is about Christian fellowship through Christ our Lord, I draw the comparison to our shared interest in all things quilty and crafty. When I began this blog two years ago, it was a way to pass a bit of time while recovering from major surgery. It has become so much more to me since then.
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I have met some really nice people (and sometimes not so nice, thankfully very rare), gained amazing knowledge of quilty things, won some amazing prizes, given prizes away, learned more about the world and more about myself. It's been a wonderful ride, one I hope to continue.
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So to celebrate I will be having a quiet little giveaway for my regular visitors. No jumping through hoops to enter. A comment on any post between 1st October to 31st October is sufficient for entry. Names will go in to a hat. One entry per person (but feel free to comment more often if you have something to say). Up for grabs is a mini quilt (which I have yet to quilt), a Moda pre-cut and maybe some other little things. I will have two winners (for two years blogging of course).Winners will be announced Tuesday, Nov 2 (Melbourne Cup Day - may your favourite horse win/US election day - get out and vote! and may your candidate win).

Brunswick Ag Show

Saturday we went south to the country town of Bruswick for their annual agricultural show. All the usual suspects were there.

Interesting vehicles...

Assorted poultry...

Quilts...

Flowers...

Wine tasting... interesting how wine and quilts seem to go together...

There was a lot of other stuff, but I didn't take photos. The cows were awesome...

The trip home... could be anywhere, huh?

So no sewing this weekend... hopefully tomorrow...

PS I did the photos in Picasa for the first time, but did not re-size them so apologies if my blog takes too long to load. Still learning...

Quilts for the Great-Nephews

My little nephews are great, but they are also my great-nephews. But I couldn't really say I have great, great-nephews, could I? So their mum, my niece-in-law, brought around a de-constructed child's flip-out couch cover and some old curtains. Two evening's work and hey-presto! Two sandwiches ready to quilt...

They really are rough and ready... perfect for hard use by two little boys (ages 1 and 2 ish). I'm going to do some simple, straight-line quilting. Here is the cute backing fabric, cheap from Textile Traders. Hope you are getting some sewing time!

PS Isn't it great that we have a new quilter in the family!

The Curious Quilter

Have I shared this blog with you before? The Curious Quilter. She's informative and funny. Evidently it's election time in the US. She has the funniest blog post today. What if fabrics ran for selection for your quilts? Check it out here.

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Let me know who you would vote for. I think I'll start my blog anniversary giveaway with the comments on this post. I'll wrap up the giveaway in about ten days or so. Don't blog about it. It's really only for people who keep a regular eye on my blog.

Swanleigh Retreat Part 3

Blogger has been interesting today. Slow and unpredictable. Anyway, here are a few photos that my friend Marilyn sent me. First up are photos of things people were working on.

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We did show and tell in our jammies. Sewing in the library was neat and the lighting was fantastic. Here's a look at how we were set up.

That's me on the left in the purple cardigan with the red scarf. It was a wee bit nippy but oh so much fun!
I'm still working on binding a quilt. And my niece Louise (no blog) needs my help for a couple of quick blankets for her boys (ages 1 and 2). And of course there's work and family stuff and housework and laundry and a teddy bear that should get a few stitches. Not to mention working on my SSCS. I'm really having fun with that... too bad I can't show you until after Christmas!!!

Hope your days are filled with laughter and love and a little sewing...

Swanleigh Retreat Part 2

For Show and Tell at the Retreat, I took along a lot of the marvelous quilts and other sweet things that I've received through the blogging world. I gave a small talk about my blog and the wonderful world it has opened up for me. Some of the ladies were a bit dubious, but most were very interested. They all adored the little quilts and other special items. Thank you dear blogging friends for so expanding my quilting experience!

So I did actually sew at the Retreat. The first night I played around with some scrap strips and made sweet little four patches. No photos of those right now. That was just for warm up while I shed 'civilian' life and got in to the Retreat mode. The bulk of my time was spent with my curve master foot and these greens and black and whites. I've laid out a few blocks to give you an idea.

These curves were really hard. I followed the directions for the curve master (i.e. lift and separate and gently guide the two fabrics to touch the edge of the foot). This worked really well until the curve changed direction. I'm afraid I wasn't always so gentle and I've ended up with a few puckers and tucks...

but I've decided to embrace them and continue. When I cut new blocks I gentled some of the curves, which did help, but some fabrics played nicer than others. I think I'm going to love this practice quilt... and will persevere with the curve master foot. I think the Drunkard's Path block will be a piece of cake after this...
And of course no Retreat is complete without a little Retail Therapy... I was very restrained though. The bag has a story. One of the ladies was making items to sell at the church fete. When she completed this bag I knew it would be for sale at the fete so I asked her if I could by it. When she said yes, I got the money in to her hand before she could change her mind. Sometimes it's just nice to buy something finished... and this bag is just too gorgeous... a little fabric, a new kind of thread to try and some sweet buttons.
And everyone received a sweet little gift of some sort. I was lucky and got this lovely needle case. I know the lady who made it - thank you Prue! I'm so happy I got one!!

I'm getting a quilt back from the quilter today, and there's a bit of family pressure to get the binding and the label on, so will be a little quiet until it's done. The binding is a scrap binding from fabrics that I will have to stabilise, but hopefully it will go ok as I now have a little more experience. I'll share the whole story after it's finished. And of course, I have a blog anniversary coming up, so will be thinking of a giveaway towards the end of the month... and I'm going with my sister-in-law to a teddy bear making course on Saturday - she's been wanting me to go with her for ages. It speaks to a disfunctional childhood that I'm still amazed that people actually want to spend time with me!

Take care and may God Bless each and every one of you... you have so enriched my life!

Swanleigh Retreat 2010 Part 1

This will be a short post because I did not take my camera!! This photo is from the retreat last year. Same venue but a different sewing room. We were actually meant to go to a country town a couple of hours from the city but we didn't meet the minimum booking numbers so our fabulous organisers (Tanya & Shelley) rang around and found that we could use Swanleigh on a smaller scale. So this time we sewed in the library and with only 18 ladies it was quite cozy and a lot of fun. We didn't meet the minimum number for them to cater, so Tanya and Shelley took on the catering and did a superb job! And of course everyone pitched in to clean up. We were all just so glad the retreat wasn't cancelled! I took lots of sewing and I'm organising some progress photos for you... and a very nice lady Marilyn B. is sending me a few of her photos that I will share later. I hope you are all finding enough sewing time!! And I will try to drop by and visit you soon! And it's now October, so that must mean a blog anniversary! Hmmmmmm....... stay tuned