Ups and downs

It's been a week lacking in motivation! 

I've been fiddling around and not achieving much at all really,

a little quilting on Paintbox

using grey thread one quarter inch around the blocks, intending

to quilt two rows then deal with the border and the blocks

will be hand quilted using the multi thread.

All very simple I know, but that's how I like this one.

Our two youngest grandsons - 4 and 6 yrs and brothers - love The Minions so

after spotting Minion fabric online I had to buy some and

made the simplest cushions for each of them to cuddle up with

when watching their heroes on TV,

we took them around to their place today and they went crazy!!

Small package arrived in the mail, all batiks

and enjoyed looking at my hydrangeas, I love this one

below with the limey green which gradually changes to the pink as

it matures.

I've also been giving a lot of thought to what I would like to

achieve next year with my quilting - far too much is the answer - so 

more serious thinking this week and a long "want to do" list!

Have a happy week

Maureen

A temporary break in my quilting!

It has been two weeks since I last put "needle to fabric"

due to not being well and having an emergency stay of a few days in hospital!

Follow up procedures are coming up - not very pleasant ones - but in the

meantime I intend to get busy with my quilting, and there is nothing like

fabric in the mail for raising the spirits

I'm not in the habit of buying a number of fabrics from one range

but I fell in love with the Tula Pink "Eden" range, same with the

Amy Butler fabrics and of course I had to have a few of the new

Kaffe Collective fabrics - I did buy more but didn't get around to taking a photograph.

Trying to get back into quilting gear I made an extra teapot this afternoon

not in the colour of the month for RSC2015 but just because

I love the Dream fabric in every colourway.

So, taking it easy I have been busy reading and wandering around the garden

 and my freesias are

just coming to the end of flowering

I shall certainly miss their lovely perfume!

Hope you all have a happy week of quilting and I hope to get more done this week.

Maureen

Almost There - RSC 2014

Yes, almost time to call it a day for my kitties!

Six more to add this week which actually brings me over the

total number needed and I now must  make a decision 

as to whether I add another vertical row to make

the quilt a little wider. Present measurement would be

70" x 81" and I guess this would be a good size.

There are a few cats in my collection

in the Guinea Flower design

which I'm very fond of. Rings

also I have, I think, in most

colourways.

Seems as if I once again I have resized one of the cats slightly larger  - the one here on the right - looks like a much fatter creature!

Beloved Batiks - I love working with these because it doesn't fray and the 

colours are glorious.  

The gingko kitten on the left I think is just beautiful, this is the only colour way I have in this design. Had I known it was going to look so amazing when the fabrics arrived 

I would have chosen a couple more colours.

 

 Besides my cats I'm into quilting my Purple Challenge piece and loving it, cutting more H blocks today and plan to work on Cotton Candy tomorrow.

If the old knees were in good working order I would be basting my Bargello but that's going to 

have to wait for another day.

After all the rain we've had here in NZ the garden is looking lush and flowers opening up left right and centre, the rose below is either Yellow Charles Austin or Graham Thomas, I've lost the label! It's a beauty.

Quickly on the subject of flowers I am expecting a bundle of digitally printed fabrics from
Fingerprint and one of their fabrics is just covered in fallen rose blooms, quite a delight to see. If you have the time go and have a peep.

Posting this now and linking up with Angela and all at RSC 2014.
Hope you're all having a happy weekend.

Scrappy Cats and Ice Cream

First off in the post four more cats to add to my collection

and I'm linking this to all scrappy fans over at scrap happy Saturday

Two more seams to sew on my Red Sea Sunset, then I will  be putting the last border on Desert Rose and that will be two more for quilting. I have three more projects to work on but they will have to wait a while. Yesterday we had a sad visit to long time family friends of over thirty years,  the husband is terminally ill so we try to see them as often as possible. My intention had been to come back home and work on Red Sea but I felt so sad after our visit and decided I really wanted something very simple to work on, no matching of points required just back to basics. Naturally I started another project! I found this extremely therapeutic and the quilt will be a lovely memory of M. This is a keeper.

Cotton Candy

It's a Kaffe Fassett quilt pack which I bought possibly three or four years ago from Glorious Color, the original quilt is called Ice Cream and is in Quilt Romance, I've given it a different name.
 The simplicity and colour way attracted me and this has been sitting in a box with three other fabric packs from the same place collected over the past few years. It was a dream to sit and sew straight lines, read instructions for strip width and length and just go for it! Can't wait to sew more strips tomorrow.

I was hoping to get into the garden today but it's really cold out there so contented myself with just looking through a couple of gardening magazines, did a visit to the garden centre at the end of last week and more hellebores were in stock this one was particularly eye catching

didn't bring one home as they were quite pricey and I aim to have a look at the new Kaffe Fassett book "Quilts in Morocco" so I'll have to choose between plant or book!

Better go and do my link now, have a good week