PatchworkDreams

Cathedral windows made with wool fabric and silk squares;  squares are Japanese woollen fabric with silks peeping through

I will try and give you a step by step by photos how I make these quilt as you go squares. Bottom of photo below. First we start with a square mine are 14 1/2 ” as this is the width of woven kimono fabric in Japan.

Top left hand of photo fabric is folded in 1/2 and sewn each end.

Top right hand of photo.  open what now looks like a bag or pocket put your hands where I have placed the pins and pull the bag like you are going to pull it apart.

Bottom right hand corner of photo this is what you will end up with; now sew these seams together  BUT make sure you leave 2″ of seam unsewen so you can turn pocket inside out!!!!!

Top right hand corner seam sewn and we have a square again with all raw edges.

Bottom right hand corner you can see my unsewen seam where I can pull out the inside fabric.

Left hand bottom corner I’m pulling the fabric through.

I now have a square with no raw edges on the right.  this is where the original Cathedral Window starts but it usually has raw edges that you have to contend with!!!!! ,  I need to go from this size square to the one on the left.

I have now made a wee pile of square roughly 91/2 ” square . Off to  the ironing board where I have made a 91/2″ square on an old pillow case with another square inside on point that is roughly 6 5/8″  I use this to make sure my squares stay perfectly square before ironing the edges. Its a little extra thing to do but speeds up the ironing and you end up with perfect squares.

Next stage of the game fold the sides in first one flap see navy square, then bottom red has two flaps folded in and ironed (I’m using a steam iron here so it really presses those seams flat)  Top red centre has 3 flaps pressed down, then red top right hand corner all 4 flaps and we are now down to roughly almost a  7″ square.

Photo below is the same as above but from a different angle. You can see finished square is sitting in side the square on a point.

Bottom left hand corner our 7″ square now ready to add the wadding and fabric of windows to be. Top navy blue has a 61/4′ square high loft wadding I like to use high loft as it gives that 3 D look when you quilt the square.  Top right hand corner has a 6 5/8″ fabric square on top of wadding this fabric is wider than the wadding this will take the fabric right to the corners but not the wadding so that the flaps fold back over nicely with the extra hight of the wadding, now pin those corners  to stop any movement when you fold the flaps back in to place see bottom right hand corner.

Top right hand corner has one flap folded down and pinned, below two flaps in place left hand corner one flap left to go, remember to remove pins when you fold flaps back down???????  but leave corner pins in place still.

Bottom  left hand corner all flaps turned over and pinned  now we need to pin the outer edge points to make sure they stay square over the next stage. Top right hand corner 3 corners pined square and my original corner pins removed.  Top left hand corner all points pinned this is where I now go and start my hand needle work and anchor those 4 centre points down through all the fabrics.  But I will show you here a peek at what the first window will look like in the following  photos to come may be tomorrow

When I take photos for a tutorial I am all ways am so grateful for those other quilts that do it on ALL their work it takes such a lot of time to do this. So a BIG Thank You to  all who do this.

Cheers till next time  Glenda

Love Enwine as it is this morning on my bed another step closer to been able to work the flowers inside these borders but these little pieces are all yet to be appliquéd down they are just basted or pinned at present except for the bottom section which is appliquéd down and finished.

Exciting links on Esther’s WIP’s blog this morning.  This week I have been working mainly on making all the zigzags and Dutch Pixies for Love Entwines first border.  I have almost completed making them all just a few Zig Zags left to make then it is all appliqué for the next few weeks.  To day will see those last few zig zags made I hope.

Thursday I found several lovely wee blocks (I think the designer of them is Bronwyn Haye’s  of Australia) while hunting for some thing else (sound familiar) I was in a Red-work online swap in 2009 with 11 other ladies and I choose to work in a DMC dark blue thread instead of red, these are 5 of those blocks and I think they are perfect for the top of Annabelle’s quilt.  So at the top I will add these and at the bottom some lambs I had fun making in felt.  It was Esther’s quilt Little lamb that made me think of Lambs.

Blue-work blocks top and felt lambs at the bottom of Annabelle’s quilt. My hubby thought they looked like prehistorical rock drawings so much for my art????????

A dear friend of mine (85) makes these wonderful cotton reel holders for me, he gave me another one on Saturday and it is full all ready, it is so easy to see my threads at a quick glance.  He varnishes each prong so the reels slip on and off so smoothly. Base has velvet on them so no scratching of surfaces!!!!!  I’m very spoilt.

Yesterday I had to visit a Dr about my arm, on the floor of the waiting room was a huge floor mat about 4 metres square all in greys,  I loved it, it looked like a great patchwork!!!! then I realised it was made up of 1 inch strips of some thing not a whole cloth, on closer inspection I realised is was a animal skin of some kind, I was sitting at a edge so bent down for a closer look and flipped the corner over and it had a tag made in India 100% leather!!!!!   WOW this was  a patchwork rug,  my guess it has been made out of left over leather pieces as all the strips where no longer than around 18″  and ranged from almost white right through to almost black. Strips where joined flush no seam with a flat zig zag stitch so  it lay very smooth and looked like one piece of cloth. Next time I will take my camera so I can share this amazing quilt with you all.  My guess it is made out of Brahman skin. What puzzles me is that in India the cow is a like a god to them and only in 2 states are they aloud to be killed so how did these skins end up in this rug here in Australia ???????

Some lovely old doilies that came in to the shop, I have washed and ironed them but these ones need a little repair work done on the lace. All the others have gone back to be sold.  Whats so nice about these doilies is the large amount of crocheted lace instead of just  a few rounds.

No Beach today we have had heavy rain all night and I was not able to get down the range this morning as there has been an accident on the range and it is closed.  SO no beach photo’s or garden photo’s today. I have my fingers crossed no one was hurt in the accident.

Up date:- I found a lovely wee site this morning while blogging instead of visiting the beach it is Called Blue and White and is a little shop in Tokyo Japan, this site got me  thinking of some lovely quilt as you go blocks I have been making on and off for  >>>>>>>>  don’t know how long.  Made from wool kimono fabric and silks from old kimono’s.  

You start with a 14 1/2 inch square of Kimono fabric why 14 1/2 inches because that it the width kimono fabric is woven.  It’s a little like a cathedral window block.  I have made many quilts like this over the years I have been quilting and never stop enjoy the making of them.  Best part the quilting is done as you go.  I will take photos as I make them so I can share how they are made next week.

Quilt as you go finished 6 1/2 inch blocks, only the centre 12 are sewn together,  I have decided to have a rest from appliqué after pulling these out and make a few more of these may be for this week any way LOL.  My fine Japanese silks I’m using in the windows is limited so they are displayed so well in these dark frames of Karsuri fabric. which I have  a lot  of.

I’m off to link with Esther http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com now as my computer keeps dropping out there is a cyclone forming off the coast so lots of rough weather around us so I need to link before we loose power .

Happy sewing ALL Glenda

My Love Entwine it slowly grows how I love this beautiful design of Esther’s.  I have worked constantly on the DutchPixies as I call them this week day and evenings.  I need to make up around 23 pink clogs and around 11 red ones then another 22 cones for the last side.  SO there are weeks of basting and appliqué here still.

I have been working on LE for over a year now and still I get so much joy from working on it, but for some reason my 4th vase is eliding me, I just can not start it, I have made the vase but not one flower yet not even the stems I keeping asking my self why am I avoiding starting it?????  I still don’t know the answer so the corner still sits empty!!!!

I have been working on finishing the backing centre of my Annabelle quilt and appliquéing Dutch Pixies on to my Love Entwine quilt by Esther this week. You can find more on Annabelle on Michelle’s blog. Last week I gave you her blog address which I’m sad to say was incorrect, I had added au on the end which is for Australia force of habit I guess, see below correct address I hope.

A simple Thread   http://xstitchalley.blogspot.com/   http://xstitchalley.blogspot.com

Last week  I made hearts 2 days and night and found some more WIP’s that I think might work here .

Changed my mind and decided to make the quilt in to a single quilt size rather than baby size?????  She will grow out of a baby quilt so quickly!!!! So I made more circle blocks which added another 8inches to the width then added a green 2 inch border around the centre and again around the outer circles and hearts.  This has made it 12inchs wider and 8inchs longer.

Centre back ground finished . I now need to make a border at the top and bottom to make it long enough for a single bed quilt I’m thinking of little sheep at the bottom and some Dutch memories at the top. .

I have made 3 little lambs in felt so far; I have taken this idea from the Little Lamb quilt of Esther’s.  My little niece who this quilt is for her Mum is from NZ and there are more sheep than people in NZ  at the top I want to add Dutch symbols as her dad is from Holland so I will be influenced by Omar’s Blues with that border.

UPDATE. 3 pm Wednesday I have been working on these wee lambs today have enough now for the bottom border off to look at Dutch symbols now.

Looking at the photo below I’m thinking wow this would make a wonderful wall art but i will never have the time to sew them all on to a large piece of fabric, but I do have lots of my grandmothers, aunts, friends and  mothers  buttons upstairs, may be one day one of my DGD and I could glue them on to a large black board??????

last week a huge bag of buttons came in to the shop, I was home off sick so the girls made up a basket of things for me to look after, some beautiful doily   sets which are soaking in Nappy-san to hopefully remove the storage stains.   I spent an evening sorting the buttons what fun that was now they are in jars ready to be sold.

Cose up of Buttons.

DGD and I making play dough when we were both sick last week.

Lots of colour again in the garden, it is so lovely to see after months of just green. 

Off to link up with Esther on her WOW now

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

Cheers Glenda

glenda_jean@bigpond.com

Hello every one I hope life is been kind to you like it is to us all here.  Days are all to short to do all the things we want to do so we are never bored.  For some reason the minutes even seem to go faster now!!!!!

Dear dear Annabelle and her Cat

Oh my gosh I had forgotten how long it takes to unpick paper piecing it would have to be the only part I hate about patchwork.  I wanted to sandwich my This Goes With That quilt and then remembered I first had to remove all those tiny pieces of freezer paper, how I wish I knew about wash away freezer paper back nearly 5  years ago when I started this quilt !!!!!!

Removing all those pesty pieces of paper LOL. I have only done around a 20th of them so far but that has taken me several hours I guess I put in a lot more stitches than I really need too?   You can see my pile of threads and freezer templates a real pile just from this small area!!!!   I will not be sandwiching this top as quickly as I hoped LOL.  At least I can use the old hexagon papers for making the hexagons for the final border

I even found time to work on my LE over the week, I made enough red dutch clogs (as I call them) to make up two more sides to Part 8 and 9. These two are for Part 7. the top panel all parts showing are appliquéd on, bottom panel nothings sewn down yet but I hope to work on them this week.

Top panel almost completed with Pixies and Zig Zag, 2nd panel I’m appliquéing now, 3rd Panel has all the cones pined on 4th panel far from having an appliqué added. Bottom panel you can see all the tiny pieces I need to make up? I need to make 24 cones out of the lime green and navvy silk fabric.  My red silk is very very fine so I have used a fine iron on stabiliser to stop the wear ; the lime is just the opposite it is a very heavy silk and I have to cut the cones slightly smaller to end up the right size.  Pink and navy fabric is just right LOL.

I must work on these panels till I have appliquéd all these pieces on or I will end  up with rusty spots on the fabric from the pins even the best pins rust here in the tropics, I’m all ways sad to see my fine fine pins from Japan rust, thank goodness Tomoko is able to buy them for me some times when she flies home.

I have pinned all the cones on this panel and as I appliqué them down I add the clogs.  It is slow but I enjoy these kind of appliqué I find it relaxing. I’m appliquéing these down with bottom line thread and using a number 11 needle.  I use the same colour thread as the fabric. If you zoom in you will see I baste the fabric around the Iron on wash away freezer  paper I do not use glue.  I also use bottom line thread for this and a number 11 needle.

This week has been a one of finding WIP’s some I had even forgotten about.  I went looking for my  1930’s string 41/2inch blocks I rescued from the dump many years ago I bought these online form USA.  I have spent many hours getting them all to the same size Plus finishing some off; but I never joined them in to 9 1/2 inch blocks to make in to a quilt top.

41/2 inch string blocks on red background. I like the red but it makes all the wee blocks look blue to me.

I think I will go with the yellow and red cornerstones????  Yellow does not seem to take a way from all those colours in the wee blocks.

While looking for my string blocks I found these darling Annabel blocks I made several years ago.

Annabelle blocks in felt and cotton  on silk.  These are the creation of Michele’s from                                    A Simple Thread                           I fell in love with Annabelle and made these darling blocks around 2013  Annabelle is  around 7inchs high.   I’m looking at making these in to a wall hanging for my new niece .  I was going to make up Esther’s  new quilt Little Lamb but may be I will add the little lambs or some like them to this wall hanging I’m planning.

Michele’s blog   http://xstitchalley.blogspot.com

Since these patterns were released Michele has released many more adorable patterns of annabelle latest was just this week Sunday 22nd on her blog.

I loved the hearts Esther used in her HEART IT  http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com.au/2015/02/free-quilt-heart-it-is-launched.html  quilt released a week ago

I’m making some hearts to go with Annabelle using Esther’s heart template from Heart It.  In stead of using red and white I’m using pink and green fabric.

I cut 2 1/2 inch strips and sewed these together then iron the seams open, pink to pink and green to green this made the hearts lie nice and flat for cutting out and appliquéing them.  I used a full heart rather than 1/2 hearts shapes making them this way.Heart template is made from 3 pieces of freezer paper ironed together.

I have used wash away freezer paper so I can leave it in after appliquéing my finished heart to the square

I have gone to the next step here, I have made a template heart 1/4inch smaller than the original heart and cut out hearts of iron on wash away freezer paper using this template then ironed this to the back of my heart, next I basted the fabric around the heart shape, it is the last heart on the bright fabric ready to be appliquéd down by hand. You could use glue to turn the seam under or you could machine appliqué them down doing a raw edge appliqué on to the squares.

11.57pm  Tuesday night A rough draft of what I’m thinking for my Annabelle quilt

Well I made hearts all day and found some more WIP’s that I think will look nice on the side of my nieces quilt with the hearts along the bottom and top. I just laid them all out roughly on the table it is 11.52pm still a few minutes till tomorrow LOL. I added 4 hearts to the centre off the quilt also. Annabelle’s outer circles need to be needle turned they will end up much smaller circles than showing here.

No beach today, I’m down with a virus plus two other members of the family so staying home close to my bed.

Off to link up with Esther on her WOW or WIP’s today at   http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

Cheers Glenda

glenda_jean@bigpond.com.

Morning every one  not a lot of sewing to look at as I have been just picking up my 1920 crazy patchwork panels this week.

^ Panels of the 1920- 1930’s crazy patchwork quilt I’m restoring and doing herringbone stitch around each piece of fabric.

I have been working on restoring and embroidering around the patches this week on the 1920 crazy patchwork panels, I have taken it with me when I have had an appointment, and on Monday I sat on the range for 1 1/2 hrs while they cleared a huge tree that had blocked the road, I have never known the time to fly so quickly in a traffic blockage LOL.

In this block I had to replace several pieces of fabric the long dark navy piece is from a silk tie, I added this just for fun it is not an antique piece of fabric as you can see LOL. ???????

I liked the clean white and blue dots of this piece of fabric but it is quiet badly  marked with brown spots so rather than complexly cover it I have added some appliqué, large one was my first centre for my LE compass I think I made 5 before I was happy LOL

In this block the two pink fabrics are silk which I added this week.  One is a sateen and the other crepe both Japanese antique silks.

One block completely finished the Herringbone stitch around each piece of fabric really stabilises the blocks and brings the block alive.  Block on the right needs 3 of the light pieces of silk fabric replaced and the top left hand red wool piece also as it is full of moth holes.  So lots of restoring on this block before I can do any embroidering.

I managed to complete 5 of the blocks in this panel this week so very happy with that.  Last two need around 7 or 8 pieces of fabric replaced  so will take a while to complete these two.

I went down to the beach this morning, finally it has stopped raining so far this  month we have had 589.5 mm of rain?????

I stopped at the look out at 7am this morning on  top of the range on my way to the beach,  it has stopped raining after several weeks of constant rain but there is still a lot of rain hanging around the sea looks very dark and moody. I’m standing about 900feet above the sea level.

My girlfriend and her mum we walk for an hour along the beach front and it is so beautiful.

This is where we sit over a coffee that takes us an hour to drink LOL

Dogs playing in the water below where we were sitting

When I arrived back home DS who has been away building the last 3 weeks had been cleaning up the yard he is now mowing the orchard below our homes this area runs down to the tourist railway-line and the Barron river which is in flood now.

Helicon’s love the wet season.

Just a touch of colour here and there.

There is not a lot of colour in the garden this time of the year.

Orchard just been mowed grass was very long.

Taken just before it started to rain again!!!!!

Off to link with Esther now.

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

Cheers every one Glenda

glenda-jean@bigpond.com

This Goes With That a design by Sue Daley I started this in April 2010 when Sue first put it up on her web page.  I changed my quilt top by adding many plain navy blue silk hexagons to make my hexagons that have several pieces stand out more as I felt they were been lost with so many just joined randomly; plus to give the quilt top a design of its own.

My last piece ready to be pined to quilt top I can not believe I’m almost there!!!!!!

Now to sew this piece to the quilt top. May be a weeks sewing here then to do the edge of the top and bottom of the quilt top.  I will add hexagons along the top and bottom to give it a straight line. I will show how I do this when I get to that stage.

Top finished after 4 years and 9 months LOL. I wonder how long it will take to quilt and bind it????? I still have 50 hexagons to make for the binding???????

Have ruined quilt top around so you can see this end hexagons as wel

Finally I have added the last border to this quilt too. (Its the top edge) Now to hand stitch the border to the back and then machine quilt this last border; then lots of hours hand quilting the centre!!!!! Will I get this one finished this year??????

Yes I am crazy below proves it????? LOL

I bought these 6 panels from USA around 20 years ago, they were on EBay for around $50.00 US which cost me around $100.00 Ozzie back then in freight and buying them. I just loved the colours and fabrics they intrigued me. When they finally arrived I loved them even more but was sad to see how some of the fabric even though they had never been used or washed were disintegrating. Around 2005 I started herringbone stitching around all the pieces of fabric and replaced those that were so perished they were falling off. It was a very daunting task I did not have many of the fabrics from that area in my stash, I’m guessing they are from around 1920-1930’s as they have used plain sugar and flour sack muslin for the backing. I did have some pieces of cotton 1930 feed sacks and silks from Japan around that time. But finally I had very little choice left so put it away for another day; then 3 days ago an online quilter offered me some antique satins and velvets if I ever used them……………. Life is strange here I had put this away as I did not know where I would start to find these fabrics or buy them and now out of the blue they are been offered to me. SO a big thank you Julie.  This means I will able to restore another panel. If any of you look at my Monday blog and recognise the fabrics and can date this quilt for me please let me know glenda_jean@bigpond.com   Many thanks in advance.

My new challenge now I have got on top of the last two above.

I’m restoring the blocks as I do herringbone around each patch stitching through the backing as well to stabilise the blocks.  I have replaced the blue at the top and the pink silk bottom left hand corner.

backing is made from sugar and flour sacks 1930 or before!!!!

You can see more on my crazy panels on my Monday blog

http://www.patchworkdreams.com.au/?p=6125

We have had a week of rain and some heavy heavy falls 12 inches in 24 hrs Friday night. Now the river is in flood and very very dirty.

Wet wet wet

With the wet our tiny wee frogs are back in the hundreds they are only about 1inch long but you would not believe the noise they make!!!!!  Last night there were dozens of then sitting on the passion fruit leaves  . Leaves look big because they are so tiny.

His voice box grows to as big as he is, here he is just starting his call

Here you can see his throat swollen out so much that it is bigger than he is!!!!!  When they all start croaking at the same time we have to shut the doors and windows that side of the house if we want to watch TV

Beach was very very moody this morning after all the storms  and rain still hanging around.

Here it comes again rain and more rain but we had 2 hrs where we were able to enjoy a hours walking then an hour sipping coffee and talking by the waters edge.

Storm out at sea when I arrived.

Back home again and will work on one of my 3 quilts above this avo..

Off to join Esther now Cheers Glenda.

Beautiful crazy patches.

Amy I really this crazy???????  Yes I am!!!!!  I have completed the two tops I have been trying to complete and this is my next challenge!!!!

I bought these 6 panels from USA around 20 years ago, they were on EBay for around $50.00 US which cost me around $100.00 Ozzie back then in freight and buying them.  I just loved the colours and fabrics they intrigued me.  When they finally arrived I loved them even more but was sad to see how some of the fabric even though they had never been used or washed  were disintegrating.  Around 2005 I started herringbone stitching around all the pieces of fabric and replaced those that were so perished they were falling off.  It was a very daunting task I did not have  many of the fabrics from that area in my stash,  I’m guessing they are from around 1920-1930’s as they have used plain sugar and flour sack muslin for the backing. I did have some pieces of cotton 1930 feed sacks and silks from Japan around that time. But finally I had very little choice left so put it away for another day; then 3 days ago an online quilter offered me some antique satins and velvets if I ever used them…………….  Life is strange here I had put this away as I did not know where I would start to find these fabrics or buy them and now out of the blue they are been offered to me.  SO a big thank you Julie.

To day I spent a couple of hours hunting out these crazy strips I had put away carefully about 7 or 10 years ago. Finally found them and have been taking photos of them.

There are 6 strips around 56inchs long, and 12 1.2inch wide, there are 7 full blocks and one 1/2 block in each strip.  at the back on each one has been written in pencil Top and 1st to 6th panel.  So the maker had planed how she wanted them put together.

Most of the very pale cream silks have to be replaced I’m guessing they may be from a wedding fabric it is so soft and fine.

Cream fabric in this photo top right is falling off.

I have done herringbone stitch around each piece of fabric and stitched through the backing to stop the crazy block from floating and it has stabilised the block.

Lots of early rayons, silks, velvets and a few cottons have been used.  I have used a fine blue  wool from a kimono for the top replacement and some old silk kimono for the bottom replacement piece.

I love how it really is crazy how the pieces have been joined and built up, some seem to have a placement and others just grew with NO cutting.

Lovely purples and mauves through out.

On the back the quilter has written in pencil which row is 1st and then 2nd and so on till the 6th row so she had planned the way she wanted it laid and I will keep to her lay out.

Sugar sack  muslin sack.

Centre cream fabric is disintegrating.

so is this lovely silk fabric falling to pieces

One of the blocks I have done herring stitch around each piece of fabric.

Flour sack.

Trying to show you the lovely velvet but it is very difficult to photograph

Same purple velvet with out the flash.

This blog is just on my crazy patchwork blocks and strips. Those of you who love crazy patchwork quilts will understand and those of you who don’t will be bored LOL   I love all kinds of colour and fabrics and I guess this is why I love this quilt so much.

Happy stitching what ever your choice and love of fabrics are. Cheers Glenda

I have not blogged the last two weeks as I have not been able to find time to do that much in the sewing area let alone blog.  What time I had I spent on the below quilt; I’m adding an extra border to it after 15 years of it been a wall quilt that kept been used to cuddle under!!!!!

I’m using kimono fabric which is only woven at 14” wide you can see it lying on the quilt, I have folded it in 1/2  which makes it 7′ wide now and pinned it ready for sewing by machine.

I

Border fabric machine sewn on and then I have flipped the quilt over so now you are looking at the back of the quilt.  I have place a double 3′ strip of wool batting and next I will fold the added fabric back over that and pin down.

Border fabric folded back and pinned ready for me to hand stitch down tonight. I have ended up with a 31.2″ border.  I like to have a double thickness in my final borders as most quilts I have rescued from the 1930’s  the very edge of the quilts have frayed on that final border first.

A Corner section of the quilt; right side is machine quilted and finished, after tonight I will machine quilt the left side and I will only have one more side to do. Yaaaaaa!!!!!

I’m happy with the fabric choice and I think Laure will be to.  I will hand quilt the centre and this will take time but I trust my hands more than I trust a machine when quilting LOL This is the 2nd or 3rd quilt I ever made while living in Papua New Guinea around 1998

I’m back  working on making little tiny pieces of LE. I never tire of working on this beautiful beautiful design of Esther’s.

I’m making my fairies for Part 11 in two pieces as this means not so many sharp con-caves and con-curves and they sit much better.

100s of laure leaves needle basted over wash away freezer paper. Over 2/3 of the way with these lovely wee pieces.

My wee wooden sewing box is filling up quickly with needle basted pieces ready to be appliqué on to Part 11 one day LOL

Back working on my This Goes With That hexagon quilt I started several years ago with Sue Daley as a BOM  I finally finished sewing the 30 hexagons on the right hand side now to do this corner and the top will almost be completed may be 2015 will see this quilt top completed??????

Not a lot of colour in the garden this time of the year just green green and more green!!!!!

This morning I made it to the beach and it was a perfect sunrise not to hot and not to cold.

I’m off to link with Esther now at

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

Cheers All Glenda

glenda_jean@bigpond.com

Finishing off this quilt by adding a border  so it can be used as a bed quilt not a wall hanging any more.  I spent hours unpicking the tacking I had done around the edge of the quilt now to add the border.

I think it will work????

This is the Kimono I will have to unpick for the border.

Most of my sewing this week has been joining the hexagons a slow but enjoy able past time.  I have another 30 to add and the main part of the quilt will be finished. I have decided to add 1/2 circles at the top and bottom but not the sides.

I added over 20 hexagons to the right hand side of My This Goes With That a Sue Daley design. Sue is a Australian designer whom a lot of Dutch quilters follow.

Our wet season has come and that means very very fast growth every where.  Weekly we have to clean up and cart away vegetation that grows before your eyes.  Ev dry where you look it is very lush a green but this means mosquitos and leeches too!!!!!!

I have been cleaning up so there are plies of vegetation to be cleared away now.

Vegation rubbish

We have three new female Butcher birds.  I love the females they are such gentle greeters compared to the males.  They become independent in a few weeks while the males will keep dreaming at their parents for weeks to be feed!!!!!  Below are two of them.

Well thats it for this week  I need to finish off now so I can do some work. I’m off to link with Esther http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com/

Cheers Glenda

glenda_jean@bigpond.com

                                            Happy New Year to you ALL

I wish you all a wonderful sewing year for 2015. Last year went far to fast for me, family wise and sewing wise.  It came and went and left me with many projects not completed.  So this year I’m not planning to do as much and hopefully I get some of them done. I would like to complete quilting my 1930’s Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt

1930’s Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt

that I’m trying to complete for some unknown quilter from the 30s!!!!!  Plus my own Hexagon quilt I started in 2010 with Sue Daley called This Goes With That!!!!!!

Sue Daley’s This Goes With That bottom 1/4 of hexagons are just placed there not sewn together photo taken in 2013

I will work on these when I’m not working on my lovely Love Entwine of Esther’s.

Where I’m up to on my LE at the end of 2014

I have roughly 50 hexagons to add before the top is finished, hexagons are made they just need to be sewn together!!!!!

I have pinned the hexagons from the right side and have started sewing these together the last few nights.

Have taken this photo to remind me where I placed these hexagons; they are now in a little pile in the drying cabinet waiting for the day when I get to them,??????

I also have around 50 plus blue hexagons to make for the backing around the edge of the quilt??????

I have offered to do some sewing repair s for a local shop, this is a fun project that i do in the evenings when watching or listening to a DVD.

Soft toys waiting for a little TLC

One of my Xmas present was a  stand for my sewing room from my DS and DDIL

Quilt stand with some quilts I am working on this year I hope??????

DS and DDL’s quilt I made them many years ago,  I never added the binding and Laure gave it to me just before Xmas and asked if I would do it for them. It has been well used and washed over the years so my tacking must be very very good. LOL  This is one of my first quilts  I made this while living in PNG in the 90’s where I learnt to quilt. I fell in love with the dresden plate design and still love using it.

I’m off to link with Esther now http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com/

Till next time happy sewing every one who does sew????

Glenda

Esther’s beautiful mystery BOM 12 Days of Christmas we made a few years ago.  I love this quilt I have added more parcels candles and green holly leaves to make the quilt a lot bigger than the original design and I have placed my 12 day little pictures to the side of the quilt rather than on the Xmas tree.

On Tuesday the below cover was handed in to the Opp Shop very very dirty.  So home it came and through the washing machine it went and now we have a lovely clean top. I will finish it and we will sell it at our Church cake and book stall in March money goes to maintenance on the church.

A couple of things I plan to do with the Grandchildren over the school holidays??????

My beautiful Gum Tree trunk????  You can see the last of the bark peeling off at the bottom of the trunk.

We are surrounded with tree blossoms so lots of sore eyes and sneezing at present!!!!!

Tree in back ground centre of photo is a gum tree it sheds it’s bark every year and the the trunk and branches are olive to emerald green this is my favourite tree near our house I can sit and look at it for ages.  It is covered at present with it’s new soft green leaves.

Green tree frogs who must of lost there way and ended up in my sons entrance, before I grabbed my camera a tiny one was on top of these two, they nestle like this to keep moist.  I ended up covering them with a damp cloth to stop them drying out to much.

Not a lot to show I’m running out of days rathe than hours LOL.  Merry Christmas every one and I wish you all the best for 2015.  I’m off to link with Esther at

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com/

Cheers Glenda

Where I’m up to on my LE  Still have not added any more since early Nov?????

Believe it or not some one had given this to the Opp Shop it was very very smelly, I think it been put away wet and  in a large plastic bag, thank goodness the mould had not set in, after 3 washes on 2 1/2 hrs thats 7 1/2 hours of washing it smells  OK now????? colours are very soft and subtle and the loft is so cuddly.   I will find some one who will love it again.

We had a Huge electrical storm here last Saturday night the worst we have seen in 20 years and did not realise our main power supply to the house had been hit, it flicked the safety switch which we turned back on but the wiring had been burnt coming in to the power box and yesterday it blew the switch again but we could not turn it back on thank goodness. Hubby rang the company when he arrived home and they worked on it from 7pm till 9pm last night. So I was not able to link yesterday.

Stiffening shirt collars  In our high humidity our lined and cotton shirts go very limp so quickly. Yesterday I spent some of the day quilting the collar of this shirt by machine; doing a 1/4″  echo quilting. What a difference it has made, even when it goes limp in the 98% humidity it still stood nicely.

On sunday evening hubby was looking for something in the attic and he found more than he bargained on, a young python had been just before him and ahead its skin?????  around 2 metres long, they are great to have around when they re young as the will keep the house and around the house free of mice and rats??????? See skin on table top!!!!!!

Large native wasp nest made of mud wasp must of died before completing filling the hole up with food as it has not been sealed, it is such a perfect circle as good as any potter could make!!!!

A beautiful bush fungi

Male Paw Paw flowers

Not much to show this week,  hope you are all finding time to doing the things you want to do before Christmas.

Off to catch up with others over on Esther’s blog.

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com/

Cheers Glenda

How did Dec come through so quickly this year.  My DGD has all ready started her school holidays and next year will be her last year at college?????  My WIP project for this year is still not finished which I’m disappointed at but it will have to be 1915 goal now.  My LE is slowly growing and I’m happy with that.  With family living back here now I find I’m doing little sewing jobs here and there for them so we can not do every thing, well I can not LOL..  BUT I have cleared my mending pile which I’m so happy to have done before Xmas.

I cut out and made a wee DJ block B4 Chris’s Soccer Field,

All pieces have  freezer paper ironed on  behind them, this makes it so much easier to work with when the pieces are so small.

I used a dark chocolate and a light cream and maroon fabric,  I have to admit that it took me at least 4 hours to make .

A  D.J.  block ready to be put away with it’s others waiting for one day till they are ALL finished.

Tacked to pattern ready to be filed in to a sleeve wight eh others from Row B of DJ’s

This cathedral pillow came in to the Opp Shop last week I fell in love with it it is beautifully made and the colours were me, I was sad to see it there when some one had spent so so many hours making it for some one.

23145  Also brought home this fully lined sheep skin jacket from NZ it is so soft but sadly the cuff had been ripped off nearly completely on one sleeve so I carefully unpicked the stitching and rehang sewed it back on, now it is as good as new.

I’m thinking about making a Kimono jacket out of some WIP’s I have, I have more than enough bed quilts and far to many blocks completed but no were to go????  I guess we all have this problem.  These are some sample blocks I did several years ago when I was teaching beginners appliqué I always liked to make the blocks my self each time and I made these Black and white with a touch of red blocks way back then.  I did frame them ready to make in to a quilt but they are still UFO’s!!!!!  I have enough blocks for the front and the back of the sleeves and I will make the back a solid black.   It will be padded and quilted so a winter jacket.

Today I’m adding long sleeve Stretch cotton fabric inserts

Work shirts I’m adding the long stretch fabric sleeves too.

to DS’s building work-shirts that are short sleeved not good in our hot summers at 36C I added them to one of them during the week and he said they worked perfectly and would I like to do them for a living I said no thank you LOL.

Was looking for my 12 Days of Xmas wall hanging have not found it but found this,

I made the background fabric up added the top leaves and lotus flowers then passed it on to the next quilter after 12 months and 11 other quilters adding something it arrived back home and what fun it was to open it.

close up of one corner the fish and the Mandarin Duck have so much detail and the fish men and boat are such tiny pieces of fabric I love this detail, then we have the sea snake that wriggles behind the fabric which the quilter unpicked to be able to do this.  I will thread some wool through it to make it more round and scary LOL.  Then some one added the wee frog it just goes on and on.  Oh yes there is a cobweb and spider there too!!!!

it was a wall hanging I made with 12 other ladies  online about 7 years ago. I made the background fabric and added the lotus flowers and leaves then each quilter added some thing else after 12 months it came back like this.  It is a quilt the more you look the more you see.  I think I will add a border now and give it to a children’s ward at the local hospital.  Kiddies would love it.

FOUND IT

12 Days of Xmas Esther’s design which was a BOM several years ago and what fun it was to make each month.  I made mine larger by adding the candles, more parcels  and the holly leaves below.

Close up of 6 of the days

The other 6 days!!!!!

Garden is still full of colour that I showed last week. So will just show a couple this week.

Our little Pap Paw is growing fast now the rains have started.

I’m off to link with Esther’s WOW or WIP’s nowhttp://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com/

Thanks for dropping in.  Cheers Glenda

This morning started out sunny and fine and by 10am it was pouring down how we all love the first rain at the end of a long dry and you can hear the trees sighing as the water washes away months of dust from their leaves then soaks down to their dehydrated roots. Now 11.30pm sun is back out but temps still down in the mid 20C where it would normally be around 32C and the humidity is rising fast?????

Where am I up to on my LE this week ???????? I have been making templates?????

Templates for first border corner in right hand box are the 17 different templates for the corner blocks. At the back on red are my first templates cut out of wash away freezer paper there are only 32 lying there but they took me ages to pencil out then cut out !!!!!  Just think I have 128 1/2 there size to cut out.  Esther shows how she is working on these pieces today on her bloghttp://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com/

Anne’s  memory bag is finally finished. Side view beaded chain hanging down is for car keys to hang on it can be thread to the inside through a large button hole.

side view from back

front.

Have just finished fixing up this wee mans clothes and he is now ready to be loved again. I think he may be in my DGD Xmas stocking this year; she has been dying to play with him the last two months as he was lying on my sewing table.

This morning DGD my wee dog and I have been busy playing started with Play dough that I make for her. She did not want to go with mum shopping this morning.

Orange Peel quilt on sofa this was made by an 85 year old lady I love her vibrant colours.  Have cleaned up play dough as DGD is now a sleep.

Where are Kitty Sue’s balls???? Kitty sue is the name of my wee dog?????

Look who came and had dinner on our patio last night????

Photo wall this time last year????

Before been cleaned and  painted last Sunday

Finally another wall cleaned and painted. It has made the kitchen and family room so much brighter to work in.

While no one was here on Monday I dug up the storm water rain pipes that was blocked it and the drain pipe from the car-shed were full of fig tree roots too?????  I wanted to do this before the rains came, would you believe it started to rain yesterday ??????  How lucky was I.

This is area is a walk way and is usually covered over with pavers which I lifted then dug out the pipe. Now I will leave it to the guys to put it all back down again LOL!!!!!!!

You can see the roots that are still in the small water pipe from the car-shed. It took me a couple of hours to clean out the big storm water drain pipe in the middle of the photo are the pile of roots.  Now you know why I did not do much at all in the sewing area this week LOL

Garden is full of colour this morning.

I’m off now to link with Esther

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com/

Thanks so much for dropping in Cheers Glenda

My Love Entwine centre is still where it was a month ago sadly I’m snowed under with other commitments but I will get back to it when I stay home long enough????

When I was looking for some thing on Sunday morning to carry in my bag while waiting in waiting rooms I found this tiny hexagon reversible bag I started a couple of years ago?????   It was very fiddly and when I had nearly finished sewing all the hexagons together (you needed to make two bags to make it reversible)  I made a mistake and sewed the last few hexagons in the wrong place, started to unpick it and cut the fabric!!!!!  So put it away in rather than keep making mistakes and forgot all about it.  Sunday night i sat and unpicked and sewed and sewed, nearly have the two wee bags finished just one hexagon to sew and then I can join them to make it a wee completed bag.  My hexagons are 1″ sided and made of silk.  I have seen it made with 1/2″ sided hexagons!!!!!!!

you start with a hexagon flower then add 6 more but you have to sew there side to, to pull them up in to the pouch!!!!!

Add two more then one more for the flap.

Showing bottom of bag

Turned inside out

Annes Memory Bag.

Bag looks big but is only 12″ deep 11″ wide and a 3″ gusset.

Front of bag

Side view of gusset made with one of Anne’s Hubbies ties with his initial added. You can see his belt that I have threaded around the top of the bag. I have a couple of more loops to add at the back to tuck this end piece in to. I used Hungarian stitch for working the L.

I was not sure how to use the rest of the buttons so added them to the other side of the bag gusset going from largest to the smallest?????

Back view and here you can see his belt clearly and where it needs those extra loops.

Front with front flap folded back to show the buckle and belt, sure looks like a wee kilt here!!!!!

Side view of the other tie gusset with buttons .

A mass of spider orchids

First of our wild life back for the wet season. Green tree frog he is around 3″long

This wee fell does not get bigger than 1″ but makes more noise than the big frogs!!!!! Some times we will have up to 100 of them in the yard and we have to close the windows to sleep!!!!!!!

Some of the trees in flower at present on my way down to the beach.

Last Wednesday I was in our capital and saw these beautiful windows wouldn’t they make a wonderful quilt?????? They were in the Queen Victoria building

Thanks for dropping in.  Off to link up with Esther.

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

Cheers Glenda

glenda_jean@bigpond.com

A visit to our capital city this week which is a 3 hour flight for us or 2500 km roughly drive.  Below are some photo’s of the buildings were we were staying which was in the oldest part of town and is now becoming very up market place to be.  Town planning makes all new construction keep the original facings so you have the old structure on street level then the towing buildings behind them?????

Caught in the late after noon sun

From our room sunset reflection

Out our window

reflections old buildings reflections in a modern high rise

Old wharf and docks building with high rise apartments now built behind them, behind the bricks is a shopping mall?????  50 years ago when I worked on a passenger ship and we would dock here if the the Rocks terminal was full this area was a ghost area all buildings were closed and deteriorating now Darling Harbour is a huge tourist attraction with over 1.3 million tourists visiting a year?????

Love this photo it shows in the foreground the original copper tower of a building built around 1886 to several different areas 1930’s to the sky scraper behind housing the cities hundreds of central city lovers plus Sydney’s tower

skylines from over 100 years ago to today modern apartments and hotel

Hutton’s meat works once long ago now is full of  Chinese Korean and Thai restaurants and  Chinese grocery shops.   Check out the name of the street ???????  does not quiet go with a meat works building?????  Top part of building is 1 inch ceramic tiles would of cost the earth 100 years ago!!!!! including the tiles to make up the animals on display.  They would also cost  a fortune today to a collector.

Cheers Glenda

This week has been spent working on the memorial shoulder bag. I made the gusset by machine the rest has been done by hand.  I hope to have it finished by Friday and in the mail next week????.

Making the gusset and shoulder tie for the memorial bag. I have joined the two ties that Anne sent me and quilted one by machine.  I never use to quilt them but found it added stability to the shape after been used a while.

Both ties quilted and now ready to add to the front and back of bag shape.

I have hand sewn a narrow navvy satin biases fabric around the front and back of the bag shape to add strength when I sew the gusset ties to the back and front shape of the bag;  as  they are made of a very loose woollen weave.  It is just under 1/8th wide showing in the front.  I choose the navy to tie in with the work buttons I needed to use on the bag.   Photo below looks like a wee kilt to me at this stage. ??????!!!!!!

Back of Memorial bag

Above photo the gusset has been hand sewn on to the front of bag.

Back of bag has the narrow satin bias sewn on it ready to attach now to the gusset .

Back part of bag has a flap to fall down across the front of bag. I have added two heavy round flat pieces of lead about the size of a 20cent piece to make it hang firmly and not flap about.

Early sunrise this morning.

I gave my DGD a wee babies bed and mattress for her doll; she does not put the baby to bed but her self instead??????

She loves her new babies bed??????

I meant to show you this helaconia last week it is off a young plant they can have up to 10 or 12 flowers which end up around 18inches long , they look like plastic and it is hard to believe they are a real flower.

Tourist train arriving to a  beautiful day in the local rain forest village. Taken from our front veranda

Off to link with Esther if my iPad will let me?????

http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com

Cheers Glenda

Snowed under this week so I don’t have time to blog.  Off to meet a plane at 9am this morning. Hope you all have a lovely week.

A memorial shoulder bag.   It started with a wee parcel from some one who’s hubby had died and she wanted a memorial bag using some bits and pieces from their life together .   Butons from his work shirts and coats, a leather belt, some brackets that he gave her just little reminders and two of his ties.  First I needed to find a woollen coat that would tie in with the yellow and orange tone ties.  I finally found a lovely soft jacket that had been made in italy.  I took the two fronts of the jacket and made a front and back of the bag to be see below.

Front of bag to be.

Back of bag to be.

Front of bag laid on top of back with back coming over as a flap to the front.

Close up of her initial A using his blue work shirt buttons and other tiny pieces.

Now I need to join the two ties and use them as the gusset and ties to make it in to a shoulder bag.   I will show more next week if I fine time to  work on it.

Before

After ?????  Wall almost completed after painting it white.

5.45am Off to join with Esther http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com/ i

Cheers Glenda

Now we are 3 !!!!!!

Finally we are nearly finished beautiful vase 3

I ended up making some flowers of my own for vase 3 as she would NOT grow?????? Notice I said we not I as I’m not the only one making choices here I find LE has a mind of her own!!!!!!!

Do any of you some times all of a sudden see that your work room is no longer your sewing area????? I just did this morning I need to declutter LOL

This is what I opened my eyes to this morning a perfect day, as Goldie Locks said it was not to cold or to hot just right!!!!!

There is a new animal in the garden????? rather worn so it must have had a tough life some were before arriving here?????  Grandchildren have not found him yet!!!!

This is a new Paw paw tree and is still very small about 1 1/2 metres but is bearing fruit all ready. Fruit looks large but is only about 3″ long!!!!!  When we lived in Tonga Island when it rained the locals would cut these Paw Paw trees and walk along using them as an umbrella LOL

New deck is been used daily and it is like having a new sitting room but outside

Spider Orchid in all its glory

Gardina the perfume is heavenly.

Below is a desert rose and yes that is a white orchid behind it and straw berry plants below it

Thanks for dropping in I’m going over to link with Esther now http://www.estheraliu.blogspot.com  there are so many interesting links all ready there.

Cheers Glenda till next time.

Photo is taken tonight and looks strange but the colours a very true, I will take another hope fully tomorrow in the day light and add it to my WOW on Wednesday.

Last night and today I added the last of the leaves and tiny flowers to vase 3 of Love entwine.  On the left side of the flower arrangement I had this gaping hole right in the middle of the arrangement and it really bugged me, finally today I added 3 little flowers there they are not in the original design but I feel more comfortable with them added??????  I have also changed some other flowers I don’t know why but this vase arrangement would not flow for me so finally I gave in and changed the flowers and hey presto it started to grow !!!!!  Now it is almost complete after months and months of me procrastinating LOL.  Looking at the photo I really must add those wee brown dots to my last oak leaf it sticks out like a sore thumb LOL.  Cheers Glenda