"Autumn is delightful"

I love autumn, you still get those lovely summer days but it also reminds you that winter is coming and you can get onto those projects beckoning from the sewing room without feeling guilty.

Look at these fabulous foundation pieced mariners compass blocks I have been trying.  They are from Brenda Henning's book  look at www.bearpawproductions.com  Be very careful when placing segments together it can get confusing so don't do it when you are tired!

Wonderful summer days

Wow can you believe it is February 1st!  We have had such a wonderful summer, the weather has been like it was when we were kids.

Finally got the binding on the kiwi icons quilt, here it is.  This is made with just fat quarters look back on blog to get details.

Today is not that fabulous.  I am getting together some class  stuff hopefully a handbag class and also Mariners compass, paper piecing.  What a hard way to earn a living!  But love it, so all you stitchers out there enjoy your profession if you can make a living out of it, I'm so lucky I get to dabble any way with such a wonderful supportive husband. 



Leanne Beasley - Down in the Garden

What a wonderful joyful block to stitch while on holiday.  Fabulous time away with the family.  Love the bright threads, and have just bought the Larkspur cottage garden thread to stitch the forgetmeknots in the block.  This is Block 5 the centre block.

Check out Leanne's site for this Quilt. Leanne Beasley

Down in the Garden

Summer Holidays, Wow it is January 2012 already, I hope everyone out there in cyberspace had a wonderful holiday.
My family and I are on holiday, yeah, we arrived into Arrowtown at our holiday home on 28th December and the weather has been fantastic, really like when we were kids and you got up every morning and put on your togs and jandals and the sun shone all day from 7am until you finally flopped into bed.

We headed to Christchurch, (we weren't quite sure about going due to the continued earthquakes)  but we have been here for 4 days and had so much fun.  The kids went on bikes,playground and jumping bean at the lodge we stayed at.  Great for Kids, Meadow Park a top 10 park in Christchurch.  We spent a fair portion of the day in the Antartic Centre at the Christchurch Airport.  We went through a storm, saw the blue penguins, had a fun time at the 4D theatre watching Ice Voyage. 

Lots of shopping for kids stocked up on clothes at the dress smart outlet,  BUT best of all I had time exploring the patchwork shops.

I started the DOWN IN THE GARDEN Leanne Beasley and wow its fun can't seem to put it down as the colours are bright and cheerful.  Will load some photos to blog.   Purchased a couple of bag patterns as I feel the need to play with some bag designs.

Happy Stitching everyone until sometime soon (hopefully not too long away)  We are away to Hamner Springs, South Island, New Zealand,  Hot Springs, bush walks and hopefully happy children.

Applique Techniques - Purrrfect circles

Sorry I haven't posted much but holidays children and life has kept me busy but still sitchin.

Purrrfect circles..................

When I make circles I generally need a lot of them, so I sit watching my favourite tv shows and make them in bulk.

Save those card inserts in magazines you generally get lots of them especially in craft magazines.

I use a circle template as shown below, but you can get mylar circles on a loop that are heat resistant and great to use too instead of cutting out light cardboard.

So mark the size of the circle you require onto your light cardboard, and fabric choices. Shown above.

Once you have marked enough circles to work on then cut out the light carboard around the line of the circle.  For the Fabric DO NOT CUT ON THE LINE, you need to cut at least an eighth of an inch probably more for all the newbie's past that line.  NOTE first photo.

Once you have done this then thread a needle with cotton and knot.  Stitch a fine line all around the outside of the marked circle and past the knot.  This will help pull up the circle.

Once this is done then place your cardboard in the circle on the marked line  and pull up the thread so it pulls over the carboard and as the light carboard is heavy enough to hold a good smooth edge, be careful not to buckle this.

Once you have made as many as you need then iron these with a hot iron be careful not to burn, you can also starch these.  When you are ready to sew these down onto your work then you will need to remove the light cardboard.  I use an unpicker and grab the circle from one edge and pull out the cardboard, press these again and they are ready.

Happy Stitching............

Cathedral Window

We have finished the cathedral window class.  Yeah we had great fun.  I hope the participants did.  This is a  time consuming pattern but well worth the effort of being tidy in the first stages of this technique and your cushion will shine.

Such different looks

I will take some photos of the completed cushions and show later in the blog.

Live Well Laugh Often Love Much

What wonderful thoughts to live by but in such a busy world we live in perhaps we need to remember the simple things in life.


simple things





daffodil joy



magnolia blooms



Yesterday it was a beautiful morning and hopefully the start of spring which hasn't really shown itself too much yet.  Look at these great pictures of nature.  I planted a magnolia tree and this is my first bloom ever, boy it makes me happy.  (See the simple things make your heart sing)



Cobweb miracles

Hopefully finished some applique today to post and show you. Also coming,  how to make fabulous circles in bulk ready to sew onto those applique blocks!