Hello again another week has come and gone faster than I like it too, well as far as my sewing goes any way LOL Once again it is WOW or WIPs on Esther’s Blog so just click on Esther’s name and join us.
My DGD 4 and I have been turning a wee swap quilt I made about 20 years ago in to a wee cuddly quilt for her. She has been learning how to sew on it. We are now at the stage of quilting around the background scrappy fabrics. Below photo was taken on Friday when she was here for the day.
Wrapped in her wee cuddly quilt June 2017
She’s just big enough LOL May be next week she will be able to take it home.
This last week I’ve spent making leaves and appliquéing them to those wee blocks for The Secret Garden, nothing much else has seen my hand needle.
Last Wednesday avo I received a wee parcel for Prue with over 5o wee scraps of green fabrics to help me finish making up my leaves for those square blocks for The Secret Garden quilt how wonderful to have these lovely clean bright colours to give some more verity to those dear wee blocks. Quilters are wonderful at sharing.
Washaway freezer paper been ironed to the back of those wee pieces of fabric, I even managed to get two out out of a few pieces so have around 60 new leaves to baste. I have now 20 blocks completed, I need another 20 but now have plenty of leaves for those last 20 blocks when I make them up. !!!!
Finally I have made my 24 little squares for The Secret Garden squares for the centre of it. This is not how it will be I just want to see how the colours of those wee blocks go with my 4 blocks. I still ahve not finished appliquéing down all my pieces on these blocks yet!!!!!!
I appliquéd down my pieces on one of my Diamond Hill blocks on Saturday, I like to use a contrasting thread when doing hand or machine appliqué on big pieces of appliqué like this.
Same flowers but one is appliquéd down with a contrasting thread, what a difference a little contrast thread does!
I have made up all my DH blocks but not appliquéd them down yet, this is the first one I’ve machine appliquéd down. I’m not very good at it and using this quilt to learn how to machine appliqué. Now I need to add the little square in a square blocks around it.
I’m very slow at machine appliqué as I’m not use to it, lucky for me I have a control speed on my Janome and can turn it right down so I can go very very slow on those corners. LOL
Last two days I have been machine appliqueing down the pieces on another Diamond Hill block.
These leaves seem to go on and on, I first appliqued the underneath 1/2 of the leaf down then the top 1/2, this seemed to work the best. I used different thread for the two halves to make the shapes stand out more.
Added a small lollypop flower next, but made a mistake by trying to add some fine extra wadding at the back and this just made the flower too stiff and hard as I appliquéd around each sew spiral shape, then around the outer edge.
Slowly does it, I used a lighter thread on the pink and a dark thread on the deeper pink. I’m having trouble seeing where the needle is entering the fabric??????
LOOK at MY sewing machine FOOT below NOW!!!!!!!!!
I was finding it very very difficult to see where I was sewing on my Janome as the clear foot I’m using had a bar across in front of the needle and I had to guess 1/2 the time, then a light bulb went off and I pulled out my wire cutters and cut that bar off!!!!!! Now I can see so clearly and I’m working at 4 times the speed I was!!!!!!!
One lollypop flower done 2 to go!!!!!!
Machine appliquéing those blue bells down again slowly does it !!!!!
Only two lollypop flowers to go!!!!!! then add the pink flange and the final black strips to end up with a 18 1/2 inch block I hope!
What it will look like when those last two lollypop flowers are appliquéd down.
Sadly I packed these up for another day as I want to put the flange around my other 3 to small Diamond Hill blocks before the next 15th of the month comes around. So I won’t be showing these for a while.
While the wet is over I’m still cleaning up after it, all the paint work needs washing down to remove the mould and this takes some getting rid of, fortunately they make a very strong exmould remover for the Far North tropics or we would never be able to remove it. They also have one for swimming pools up here or we would not be able to have home swimming pool up here they would be to much of a health risk.
This rail is specially coated against mould??? It’s mean to be mould resistant? but the mould up here does not know that ????? You can see the mould on the painted wooden veranda rail also.
After cleaning away all the mould I set up a chair on the entrance veranda so I could sew here in the afternoon winter sun, such a cosy wee spot in the winter.
Have even started to use this spot in the afternoons this week.
This is my next big job cleaning the mould from these rafters on the front veranda before they get to bad. These we painted with special mould resistant paint last year????? I will do this soon as it will drive me crazy sitting in my new spot and seeing it every afternoon.
We had a belt come in to the shop on Tuesday it looked far to gone to be of any use, but I decided to try the apple cider vinegar and salt method on it. I used a tooth brush to scrub the salt and vinegar in to each piece a lot of time and elbow grease but worth it. You can see it worked, it now is waiting to be polished with Brasso (Brasso is a brass and copper polish here in OZ)
Beautiful bush fungi, shows you how damp and humid it still is here and its meant to be the dry season??????
These wee chappies have moved in to our pond area, last night I nearly stood on them there were about 20 of them all sitting looking up waiting for food to fly past LOL
I’m not moving I was here first LOL
I love mosquitos!!!!
Off to link up with Esther Aliu on her WOW or WIP’s today . Thank you for stopping by and seeing what I have been up to Cheers Glenda
I enjoyed your post, I love hearing about your home. I haven’t done much applique with my sewing machine either. Yours is looking very nice. Your granddaughter looks so sweet. Happy stitching!
Like you Gretchen I’ve done very little machine applique but my hands are getting really bad with arthritis specially my thumbs so I’m thinking I should learn now while I can and if they get worse I will know how to use the machine when that time comes??? It does make the applique work harder than when done by hand it has a stiff feeling to it and been a hand applique I don’t like the feel so much. Still it we can not have every thing some times LOL. Hugs Glenda.
Hi Glenda happy birthday to your sweet GD,my littlest GS just turned 4 as well.
Lovely work my friend as usual,hope you have a lovely day xx
Hi Shez and thank you. Had my DGD stay today and we did a little more on her quilt one more day and she will be able to take it home with her. They sure are a joy at that age are’nt they. I will miss her when she goes to school full time next year. Cheers Glenda.
so many little critters that you have – I do not envy you your wet season with all the clean up that is necessary to do afterwards, we have a lot of rain some times of the year and it makes it were I have to spray the porch down with the power washer to get rid of it all but I can do it every other year if I wish to wait.
Love your granddaughter such a cutie and I bet so happy to help make her quilt. Your machine applique is so nice and neat – I have only tried it once I really should practice it once in awhile but it means getting a different sewing machine out to use and moving this larger one off of the table – just too much work right now.
Hi Glenda, as usual, beautiful work. Love seeing your garden, but could not be doing with all that mold, what a shame its a lot of work.
Great idea on the sewing machine foot, well done, it will make your work much easier to see.
Indi is going to love her quilt, its going to be so so special
Dear Glenda
Your little wee one looks too cute for words, wrapped in that quilt!
DH and SG is amazing, love the connecting blocks with the leaves. It is wonderful to see SG unfolding slowly, like a flower opening up its beautiful petals, one by one.
Thank you.
Your Secret Garden quilt is exquisite, but oh how I love that picture of your DGD wrapped up in her quilt!!! So much JOY in those little eyes! That’s wonderful that you’re making those memories together.