Something Old, Something New and a Teapot flimsy

Let's start with the teapots.

Now a finished flimsy and I went with 1/2" inner border

in Kaffe Fassett Aboriginal Dot

then 4 and 1/2"border in Philip Jacobs Market Basket.

Measuring 42 and 1/2" x 68 and 1/2" and the

Market Basket fabric is more colourful that

this photo is showing, I'll try again when I've sorted out my

new camera.

Something old and something new - 

the old is not truly old but it's a book my husband bought for me

as a birthday gift in October

a perfect gift for me!

I also love photographing rusting items, flowers and leaves

as they decay, I still can see the beauty in that stage.

Here's a leaf I noticed on the path, obviously well trodden down!

Something new is another book from my husband for Christmas,

I'd seen this one on a post from a blogger, it is a treasure!!

Yep, this is also just me!

The foreword by Safrron Aldridge, a long time friend of the author,

and the introduction by said author Miv Watts, are just a joy to read even

before one begins to go any further!

As yet I've only covered the few pages on Marianne Faithfull ( you need

to be of a certain age to be familiar with her), very interesting!

Incidentally, Miv Watts is the mother of Naomi Watts the actress.

This isn't much of a quilty post I know but I hope to remedy that over the weekend

'cos look where I'm going this Friday!!

Hubby is coming along, for two reasons:

1. he is a painter in various mediums

and

                                                    2. he has lived with KF fabrics and books

for more years than he probably cares to remember!

I am so, so excited!

Happy Quilting

  Maureen

Teapots, Fabric and Flowers

Good, just managing to get a post in before Christmas!

Whilst taking things slowly I've finished the applique on

four more KF teapots

only three more to go, hopefully before the New Year is upon us!

Have you see the newest book from Kaffe Fassett - 'Quilts in Ireland'?

I fell in love with Green Diamonds and decided to send off for the fabrics,

they arrived a few days ago and I'm so pleased with the

combination, this will be a project for 2018.

The weather here has been so very hot and humid, everyone heads for the beach

or stays home with every window open to bring some relief. The

other option is a very shady spot in the garden, luckily we have the large

Japanese Maple and nearby is one of my blue

hydrangeas, this year it has a mauve tinge on some of the flower heads.

This weather is great for the vegetable garden

and the courgettes are flowering nicely, tomatoes are coming along

 and I've planted basil seedlings alongside.

Before I finish up 

I'd like to say a big thank you for all your good wishes following my last post,

my spirits were definitely lifted after reading comments

and emails.

I'm hoping the New Year will see much more quilting from me!!

Wishing you all a

Happy Christmas

and a

Happy and Healthy New Year 2018

See you soon.

Maureen

sew, stitch, snap, SHARE

I'm working on a very late New Year Resolution - finishing projects!

First off the block - my Teapots begun in RSC 2015, these two I appliqued

down today.

I've tried to get a reasonable match with the colour of thread

and the main teapot colour, not that easy with Kaffe Fassett and Philip Jacobs 

fabric.

The three below were stitched down early last year,  when all 12 are finished
I can set them out in their allotted place in the row and

 add the sashing and border.

The eyes take quite a beating peering a few inches away from the

needle to make sure it hits just on the edge of the fabric to be

stitched down, two is all I can manage at one go.

Something new now

Linda at Koka Quilts
and
Julie at JulieLou

have joined forces to create a new link up
sew. stitch, snap, SHARE
I'm heading over  now to join the link and you can visit by going to their
blogs above.

Oh, and in the midst of this torrential rain we've been having here
in New Zealand this Vireya had opened up in the back garden
to brighten my day!

This and That

I just couldn't seem to get going again this week on the quilting

side of things. I worked  on stitching down three of my teapots

by machine appliqué

so that I can have a finish at the end of the quarter.

Gypsy Wife blocks were on the agenda, one of the

simple ones below

and what a pleasure to make this one after taking absolutely ages

on the Colourwheel block, purely because I changed

the fabric arrangement four times!!! That one can be posted

at the end of month link party.

The need to begin a new project or two was presenting problems

because the motivation didn't seem to be there to sit down and decide

just what I would like to make next. Monday I read the post

from 

Wanda at Exuberant Color
who had made blocks using up strips, I commented that
I had a huge bin of clean up cuts which would be
just the thing for these, I figured they would be a change
from the full on concentration of GW blocks.
 A fun two hours yesterday and I came up with

the four blocks above, my thoughts were it had been fun but they would  languish in
my parts box.
They stayed on the design wall until the evening
when I had the idea of making a large cushion and out came my
white pin dot on black

and arrived here, and I love it!! But …. I like it so much
that I'm considering a medallion quilt, the question is would I go totally
scrappy to fit in with these blocks, or would that be too much??
I would definitely use more black/white fabrics which would tone things
down a little if it became too jazzy!
What do you think?

Maureen

On a rainy day and RSC 2015

A wet day here in Auckland but a good day for ducks

and for quilting and reading!

My Scrappy Mountains are nearly all sewn together and now

I'm starting on machine appliquéing my teapots - see HERE for

my last post with my final layout

if you click it will enlarge and you can see I have

used blanket stitch, which I have never done before by

machine but as I have 12 teapots I thought it was about time

I tried the quicker method, although because of having to change

thread with each teapot to get a good colour match, then

change again for the lid perhaps it's not as quick as I had thought.

I took out a subscription to Simply Moderne from Quiltmania

when they opened their office in the USA and issue No3

arrived during the week (already had 1 and 2 from bookshop)

and what a great magazine it is - I am enjoying this publication so much.

Very good articles  - there is a beauty on LeeAnn Decker over at
Nifty Quilts
A good selection of patterns in each issue into the bargain.

Back to my teapots and I'm linking up with
RSC 2015
take a peek at the progress on finishes here.

Before I go a photo of one of my hydrangea bushes, originally a soft mauve
but now multi-colour

and loving the rainy day!

Have a happy week with all the Christmas preparations.

Maureen

All in Pink

For those who read my post last Friday about my dilemma with the teapots

I have "lost" one of the blocks and now have the light pink

one to balance up a little and changed position of a few of them.

 Even so the bottom left hand teapot will probably 

be changed out with the middle top row so not to

end up with two red teapots side by side.

On the subject of pink, and it's various shades, one of my

most deliciously scented roses (suffering with black spot on the leaves)

 has begun blooming

the name escapes me and below a paeony, this too has a delicious scent.

Husband came home yesterday bearing gifts -  three of these beauties.

Have you ever seen such colour!!

Hope all of you celebrating Thanksgiving had a happy day!

Linking up with Angela at RSC 2015

Soon be Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2016!!!!

Sorting teapots

Working on two projects today, first of all my teapots are

on the design wall (roughly I admit) not appliqued yet and there will be sashing

between each block.

I had intended nine blocks but have 12 and there seems to be an

excess of green top halves which really stand out. I also have

three with the soft brown and lilac spots. So - do I keep to my original plan

and have nine or do I use all twelve or do I make perhaps two more

with better balance and leave two of the present ones out?

The pink base also is prominent but that could balance the limey greens.

This will keep me occupied for the best part of the afternoon I think!!

Second project of the day is machine quilting on Paintbox HERE
I'm just going around the nine blocks with grey thread and then
do the blocks themselves. I think I've found a good thread colour in my drawer

I love this multi-thread which seems to blend with most colours in these blocks.

On a purple theme my wallflowers are blooming and the lavender lagging
behind a little - need weeds pulling on the edge of the drive!

Linking up with fellow Rainbow Scrappers if you feel the need for
more colour - go visit!

Back to the machine for me. Have a good day.

Maureen

Mountain catch-up and one extra teapot

I never made Scrappy Mountains in Pink for

Rainbow Scrap Challenge, can't remember why but no matter as

I have just finished sewing up six of them, some may not make

it into the finished quilt at the end of the year but that's OK.

This month we have bright green so they're on my "next to do" list

hopefully tomorrow.

Philip Jacobs new fabrics had this luscious new colour way

in his Brocade Paeony design just begging to have a teapot made

out of it

this is for me!!!

Catch you over the weekend.

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

A sad week - Setters and one orange teapot

A sad week indeed and the end of an era.

We had to make our last visit to the vet on Monday morning with

Seamus, our old Irish Setter and the last of the seven

we have had as family members over the past  45 years.

Saturday last week his hind legs gave out on him so we knew

this was the end. He reached the grand old age of 13 years - good for

a Setter.

Seamus

Here he is below with his sister Mollie when they were just
a few years old, we lost her due to cancer

4 years ago. They were waiting for John to come out of the water

after his swim.

Seamus and Mollie

And I just have to have this one in the post, his favourite place of all, 

on the knee of his best pal!

Seamus and John

I did pull myself together and made an orange teapot 

and I'm off  to link up with Angela and the goodies on show for
Rainbow Scrap Challenge 2015

Maureen

Teapots and a finish

At last I'm back into posting and have a finish with my H for Heywood quilt for

my grandson and a teapot for RSC 2015.
The colour was indigo but I have a shortage of this colour
and we were told we could go neutral or orange, I went with orange - sort of!

I used "Dream" fabric once again, beautiful pattern.

Yes, my grandson now has his new quilt on his bed and DH and I
went along to their place this morning to take a photo.
Our son and my DH were holding the quilt up but trying to dodge the rain
meant they didn't have time to position the quilt as I would have liked!!

Although I was having a break and a general "rest" I was still busy sewing
the blocks for High Flyer for the younger of our two granddaughters
so this was ideal for working on my Tumbler Leader and Enders

a few of my old Hoffman fabrics, hunting through my scraps for these reminded
me how much I loved and still love these fabrics.

The blocks below for High Flyer are coming along, at a count up yesterday
I realised I had cut around quite a number of extra squares,  this came
about because of my miscalculation with the small triangles initially but all remedied now.

After missing last week I'm linking up to
Rainbow Scrap Challenge
but before I go I'd just like to thank everyone
who sent their good wishes, thanks so much!