What a lovely way to spend the day......

After spending the Good Friday morning at my mum and dad's (oma & opa's) doing the traditional chocolate making, we came back for a lovely afternoon of crafting. Madi (my niece and best friend) is making a quilt using a gorgeous jelly roll. We are going to quilting classes together but she chose a much more difficult pattern (or rather, time consuming) so she is still piecing whilst I'm planning the next quilt!

Emily is finishing off softies for her swap that she has organised with a girl in England. She was a little envious that I was participating in swaps, so she organised her own. More on that later though as it's a secret.

On the quilting front, I've actually finished piecing the top AND I've finished quilting it. The squares in the middle are quilted with giant X's (I really don't know the technical term for it) and then the rest of it is 'stitched in the ditch'. So, I think all that is left do do is to attach the binding which hopefully won't take me too long. The evenings are getting cooler - it will be lovely to have a lap quilt to use soon.


This is the back view of the quilt - which shows the pattern I stitched on. Now I know all you seasoned quilters out there are used to it, but I think the back looks really groovy!


So, what's next you say.......well the funny thing is I just happened to have this jelly roll hanging around (thank you Madi!!) and I'm planning on using it to make a picnic rug.


I'm thinking of making as many nine patches as I can with it and putting borders around in a complementary colour. I'm not quite sure if I'm ready to tackle triangles just yet - so I'm going to stick with squares - but just make them smaller!

On the Easter front - we had a good one but unfortunately my camera decided not to work yesterday so I don't have any photos :(
The boys woke up at 6.00am for the hunt but as Easter was so early this year they had to wait till just after 7.00am to start the hunt as it was too dark.
We all ate a bit too much but we have survived. Now I just have to convince the boys that they can't eat chocolate all day....

To top off a very nice long weekend, we managed to get to the Northern Lights!!!! I took photos on my mobile but they are really bad, so for those who do not know what I'm talking about, check out this on You Tube.

Happy Easter everyone.

l
x

borders and ice

wednesday's quilting class went very well. i'm so pleased i decided to go to a class as i'm learning lots of things that i would have glossed over if i had to rely on a book.
like measuring for borders - i would have just followed the pattern instructions and cut according to their pattern. but instead i measured and made my borders quite accurate!
amazing!!

sorry, bad picture - and yes, they are my toes and thongs.
when it's completed i will take some better photos. what impresses me most is how much i love my quilt. when i bought the fabrics, i had help choosing them and i loved them all but i couldn't really picture them all together. but now, with each border i add, i love it more.
fabulous! you've just gotta love crafting.

and here's a picture of louis having fun in the snow!




actually he's not in the snow - he's pretending the ice from my newly defrosted freezer is snow. it's quite hilarious as the photo was taken in 38C heat. we had just come back from a long leisurely swim. let me just say that the snow didn't last long......


my easter swap is ready to send. i will try and remember to take photos to post after it's received. i hope my swap partner likes very homemade bunnies. this one certainly doesn't look like it could have been bought from a shop.

i'm not going to mention the heat. there's no point.
l
x

We're having a heatwave.....a tropical heatwave

well, not so much of the tropical - more like a very dry, stick your head in a fan forced oven type heatwave. i'm not coping. i would take photos but you'd just get pictures of blinding white light. on a positive note, we went to the beach this morning and it was pure bliss - so cool, so refreshing - just what I needed. it's times like this that i really, really, really wish i had a swimming pool.

okay - enough complaining!

on wednesday i went to my first quilting class at hettie's patch and i loved it. the teacher is really sweet and very helpful. i think there were some nice ladies there but to be honest i was so stressed when i was cutting and sewing that i really couldn't make small talk. we'll leave the getting to know you business for when i make my second quilt. so tell me, do you ever get over the fear of cutting?

anyway, i got half of my centre done in the class and i finished the rest at home and this is what i've got so far.......

and here it is draped over a chair.

i have to admit that i absolutely love it - which is a good thing as i have to live with it. mind you, it is by no means perfect - but it's good enough for me.

on friday night i gave emily her first cutting lesson and she has cut her pieces for the centre of her quilt.

she hasn't started sewing yet - but no doubt she will start soon.

i've almost finished my bunny for my easter swap. i like it, but my sewing and especially my hand sewing skills are pretty poor. it looks like a bunny though which is pretty good?????

now i have to make a card. i'm really not a card maker, but i'll give it a try.

okay, i'm off to the only room which is airconditioned to cool down. i will leave you with another one of louis' self portraits. he really does come up with some incredible shots.

here's hoping a cool change comes soon and it brings rain with it. i would really love a big storm with lots and lots of rain and a drop in temperature of about 20C.

cheers
l
x