Rainbow Lattice - February UFO Project

I have been hinting a little at this month's UFO and while I had high hopes of getting the whole thing made and quilted, life has again bitten me in the bum and so this UFO will remain a flimsy for a little longer.

With the sad passing of my father-in-law last week and associated commitments, together with a short holiday booked for the last few days of February I have had to admit defeat on the quilting of this one.  I have however got a pretty clear idea in my head what I want to do with it so hopefully it won't remain a flimsy for too long!

Anyway, on to the money shots!  First a close up of an individual block:

Last year I took part in an online rainbow charm square swap and I have been wanting to use the charms in a project for a while and I had seen a block that I thought would work.  I spent a lot of time playing around with which exact fabrics to use for the centres and what order to put them in:

(Don't mind my hubby's very sexy feet! I really need a design wall, this bit really gave my knees and back a hard time!)

Then I toyed with some alternative layouts but decided they took the focus away from the 3D and rainbow effect.

So then this is the final result!

The 3D effect is stronger in the photo than real life but once its quilted hopefully that will change.



 I only had one lonely charm square of this rainbow fabric and I just had to use it so I popped one in each corner.

I love the way this quilt came together, its exactly the way I pictured it in my head. Don't you love that when that happens?!  I'm thinking I might just write a tutorial for this one.

I also have these great little leftover HSTs I need to make a plan for, maybe a cushion?

So February's UFO project is put together. If you want to join in the UFO-along hop over to Aunt Marti's blog 52 Quilts in 52 Weeks (don't worry, the UFO quiltalong is only one each month, not each week!) to find out how it all works.  Its a great way to get your UFO's moving along!

Thanks for visiting,

Cathedral Ceiling Quilt - Progress

For a while now I have been working on a long term hand stitched quilt. I have made all the blocks and have started joining the blocks into pairs and have about 40 pairs done.  I couldn't resist having a look to see how they would look when I get to start joining them together.

Unfortunately the yellow hasn't shown up as the true buttery yellow that it is but I did take this photo quite late at night!

Each blue Dresden will have a yellow Suffolk puff in the centre and the yellows are supposed to have a blue one but I'm not sure I will put those on yet. That will be a decision made down the track.

The plan is to hand quilt this and it will end up on our bed (in a few years time!).

Very happy with it so far!

Thanks for visiting my blog,

The End of a Journey - RIP George

Some of you will remember the family medical dramas we had last year with my father in law, George.  Last night we had a call that my hubby's father was very close to the end of his life and we travelled to Murray Bridge to visit him one last time and say our goodbyes.

Early this morning he finally passed away. 

RIP George, at rest now.

Proud father of five,

grandfather of twelve,

great-grandfather of eight.

 



February Swap Block Received (and a sneak peak!)

(You might have noticed I have tweaked my blog layout a little, not sure I'm at a finish point yet though, let me know what you think.  I'm trying to work out how to add a spot for tutorials to my blog but I'm a bit of a novice at blog set up!)

My February swap partner in Quilting Block Swaps Australia was Maria from Nova Scotia in Canada.  You'll remember I sent her this cute little sailboat:

I received this lovely block along with a little fabric valentine, isn't that sweet!

and a look at the block on its own:

A bit of a teaser to leave you with too!  This is my February UFO project in which I'm using some rainbow charms I got as part of an online swap last year (just a peep!)

I have the top all together now, just have to see if I can manage to get it quilted by the end of February (a feat made more difficult by my hubby and I going away for 4 nights for our 30th wedding anniversary during the last few days of the month and my hubby also having annual leave - I know you know how having your other half around the house interferes with sewing time!). Just have to see how I go!

Thanks for dropping by!

Where does the time go?!

Seriously, where did the last week go? I had plans of writing a couple of blog posts and never even got close. Still I'm here now!

So, what have I been up to? Well we had to run a garage sale for my hubby's Mum so she could move in with his sister. I noticed a nice set of deep drawers that would work as a better storage system for my fabric so my fabric has gone from this:

 

The bliss of opening and drawer and seeing straight away what fabric I have! I do still have two plastic tubs, one for my scraps and one for my UFO projects for the year but its so much easier to see my fabric now.

 

We've had a lovely magpie family visiting our backyard this year (mainly because our old dog isn't here anymore to woof at them and chase them off!) and they have become old friends. A couple of weekends ago I was sitting outside having brekkie when down came Mum magpie to see what I was up to (and to scrounge a bit of toast).

 

 

We don't generally feed them but they do sometimes come down for a chat when my hubby is getting ready to feed his aviary birds so they do score a mealworm now and then.  Poor magpie, today when I got home there was a very hot magpie standing in the shade of our tree trying to keep cool (its around 37 degrees celcius here today). I'll pop the sprinkler on later to let them have a cool down, Mum particularly loves getting good and wet under the sprinkler sometimes!



On the sewing front, I have made my Quilting Block Swap Australia block for my swap partner.  This month I was matched up with Maria from Nova Scotia in Canada.  She was after a boat block which was great as I had just the right the fabric for the water! A nice easy block to make too. Hope she likes it.

I'm also a Swap Block Angel for QBSA and this month one of our ladies is sitting out of swaps as she has been diagnosed with cancer.  Her block choice was an attic window in black, white, red and grey and this is the block I sent her:

 

Last weekend we had a family wedding in Port Elliot, a seaside town in South Australia.  It was another very hot weekend and we had made a wise decision to travel down on Friday night and stay over until Sunday.  It was a lovely location for the wedding, just soooooo hot!

 Here are the new Mr and Mrs  -  Marita and her hubby Clint (which also happens to be her brother's name - what are the odds of that?)!

Here is my hubby's Mum (on the left) and his Aunty Betty, both looking gorgeous! Mum looks happy here but we had a few teary moments during the day and evening as my father-in-law couldn't be there due to his health and Mum found it very hard to be there without him.

What do you think of the barefoot Catholic minister? I love his hat! If that was his good wedding hat I have to wonder what his fishing hat looks like!

Down on the beach is where I would have liked to have been, with my feet in the water!

Just to finish with a bit of quilty goodness, the lucky number for the UFO quiltalong over at Aunt Marti's blog is 6.  My UFO for this month is to use my rainbow charm squares I received from a Facebook group in a quilt.  I have had the fabric and an idea for a pattern ready in my mind since last year but this was one of the UFOs I had to let go with all the family dramas late last year. Here's a teaser:

Watch this space for more photos!

Thanks for visiting my blog today,