Cutting out and Computers

Why do computers cause grief just when we need to edit photos

and write a post!!

I haven't been able to check my reading list properly for

a few days and the darn computer totally closed down on me

earlier this afternoon, hopefully it will keep working until

I've finished this.

 First up I've now sliced up 8 and 1/2" strips for Chinese Coins

and been playing around with added solids

and  many years ago we bought six of these large Chinese Coins below

in one of those ethnic shops, presently used as mats for hot mugs

of tea/coffee, I intend to  incorporate the shape

into the quilt. Possibly raw edge applique or even photo transfer.

More cutting for Kaleidoscope

more spot fabrics for the four corners and plain cream for the

alternate wedges.

I also pulled more strips from my clean up cut bin and started

on those.

It's great fun just feeding these strips through the machine

without thinking of trying to co-ordinate colour or pattern.

I ended up with rather a good plateful - thanks to Julie for a great idea!

 I was looking at the Japanese Maple in the back garden this morning

and noticed the colour was just beginning to turn,

eventually we'll have lots and lots of the little two winged seed capsules

floating all over the place, I thought back to when we were kids in Autumn

 in England,  there would be thousands of these things falling
from the trees, whirling around and around - we just called them aeroplanes,

I guess because of the similarity to propeller blades, just like the eight "blades"

in the kaleidoscope block.

Not what I would call a stimulating post from me but

before my computer packs up on me again I'm off to try and catch up on two days of blog

posts, hope you're having a good week free from computer glitches!

Chinese Coins - a start

It's a start in that I have most of the fabrics together.

The solids and hand dyes are being played around with presently,

still need to make a final decision.

I'm cutting 8 and 1/2" across the width of the fabrics,

cutting these into half again, keeping one set as spares

and starching the remainder.

My new trolley is coming in handy here, this is not an Ikea, which I would

dearly have loved in their turquoise colourway, but given that they

seem to be around US$25 or so for quilters in the USA

and the price here is NZ$169 I went for a local made trolley, this is

a soft green and a lot cheaper!

Now I've had a break to write this it's back to the cutting

and starching.

Maureen

Gypsy Wife

Slowly working on Section 9 presently.

I had to change out two of the strips which follow down the

length of the quilt, just breaking for blocks here and there.

The strips on the RH side above were the originals but I wasn't

happy with how they looked, I kept the two narrow middle strips

but added different fabrics either side along

with another strip element and a bordered

pinwheel block directly below.

It's really important to keep in mind which fabrics are

going to hit each other, something you think will work well

doesn't when you actually get the pieces on the wall.

You can see some of the top part of the quilt below,

I don't stitch the individual elements together until I have everything

for that particular section up on the wall, so you'll be seeing threads and

pieces which need trimming.

Taking me away from the machine were two new books

as different as chalk and cheese, as you can

see from the covers,  but both beautifully presented.

I'm setting aside some time to sit and read through the

Judy Newman book, or a good part of it, this weekend.

Maureen

That Was The Week That Was

I'm using the title of a TV show from way, way back

for this post.

Almost two weeks since I last posted, it's been a bit hectic around here.

I've not been well, add to that a doctor check up which showed

my blood pressure at 196/90 - doctor not best pleased - and she

promptly doubled the dose of one of my meds.

That same evening very late at night our daughter

called me from the emergency department of the hospital.

She had been admitted in a hurry with a bad kidney infection!
A worrying time but after three days they allowed her home
with oral antibiotics (she'd been on IV during her stay).
She's slowly beginning to feel better.

Needless to say, we've been very busy and my quilting has been

on the back burner, but today I spent a little time on these

two special pieces.

Pukeko

There is a story behind these two littlies.

In a post February 2014 HERE I showed two photos of

a pukeko, a New Zealand native bird, beautifully coloured and

a real character.
Sally T at The Objects of Design
loved the birdy and made a block.

Fast forward to August last year when I was the winner of a Jelly Roll
in a draw on Sally's blog. I received the package and tucked away in there
were three surprises for me.

One  was the pukeko above, he's been living in a drawer in my
studio, today he was liberated and had two borders added, now he's going back
into the drawer until I can baste him - with needle and thread!

The second surprise was two cat blocks, each with a mouse in the tummy.
Sally and I had been having fun with cats and kittens during
the 2014 Rainbow Scrap Challenge, these two were obviously
escapees. They were stitched together today and
two borders added, again they're waiting to be basted.

Surprise number three will be revealed in a later post.

Fingers crossed that life can get back to normal for a while, I am
suffering from quilting withdrawal symptoms!

We've had some hot days recently, today is terrifically hot, and
thinking about a dip in the sea I brought up this photo below,
 the view from the front lawn of a friend's place taken
three weeks ago

I'm feeling cooler by the minute!

Have a good week!

Maureen