Blocks, quilting and building

Little bits of progress on various projects. 

Four violet blocks for Block Lotto (black and white backgrounds) and eleven for the Old MacDonald Mystery (green backgrounds) for March.  

Up to date with 365Challenge (except the Birthday block which I'm keeping for later this month), all but one are 3.5 inch square unfinished, the one being 18.5 inch square.   NOT doing white/cream as light but medium and slightly lighter brights.

Got this on the quilt frame last week and quilted - I still need plenty of practice, but there are one or two areas I like - it is a quilt top done as a (own) Liberated Round Robin, a blogging group, long ago! 

 

 

 A bazillion one inch and three-quarter inch strips cut for an upcoming class on Saturday.

The rest of the pictures are of our bathrooms - nearly four weeks from the start and no clear view of the end date!!!!   It has taken us more than five years to start this renovation, so mustn't complain too much, except about the dust, and the grit, and the noise, and the dust....  and the plaster off the adjoinging bedroom wall - looks like maps of Australia and South Africa (artistic licence here!), and the builders tools in the main bedroom... new carpets at the end of this!

  

Books in the mail

A day's leave and Bonnie Hunter's latest book, String Fling, collected from the Post Office (deemed too large for delivery, but at least no customs and vat to be paid), yippie!  Managed to write a blog post for Liberated Round Robin showing the flimsy (pictures in last blog-post).  Am looking forward to quilting this one.

And last week collected Leah Day's book, 365 Free Motion Quilting Designs (paid customs and vat this time).  Yes, I know you can see all the designs on her blog, but it is really nice to have them in one place to page through.  Go see what my Fish Hoek Friend has been doing!

T says "will it never stop raining", and my response is, welcome to Welsh summers!  I wish I was there instead of watching it rain here in Cape Town.

My plan is try and sew, if not every day, then every other day, even if only for 15 minutes.  So after looking at the six blocks from 15minutesplay that have been pinned up for the past year (there were more, and good intentions, etc), suddenly I knew what I wanted to do to put them together.  So I grabbed all the 2.5" red strips to make the blocks bigger.  Sewed for 30 minutes last night.  Pictures next time, when there is more to show.

I made a promise to myself when I turned 50, that in that year I would make 50 quilts for charity.  Four years on, I think I'm up to number five actually finished, with about 3 or 4 tops waiting to be completed.  But I now might have a secret helper, who has been raiding my crumbs and strings boxes and making the most beautiful "made fabric" - no pictures yet!  I think I have her hooked!

Love to you all!

Sorry!

I have been a bad blogger :(   I was embarrassed to find that I had 4 comments that I had to moderate to publish, oops.  Thank-you for commenting!

Some pictures, seems like I have also been bad at taking photos!  And taking bad photos, need to take them outside, but its been kind of wet.

Needle-cases for Cape Embroiderers Guild (to be stitched on by my good friend, F) for their annual event.  the one says "I never met a chocolate I didn't like"

 Liberated Round Robin progress and flimsy

Birthdays

Today is T's birthday.  Is it possible that I have a 30-year old daughter?!  Just wish we weren't half a world apart today.  Happy Birthday T.

Some progress on the Just Takes 2 blocks, and an update on my hesitant contribution to Liberated Round Robin - although having done it, am looking forward to the second part.

Just Takes 2:  3 more blocks, trying hard to do them in order (at least the machine-piecing ones and omitting embroidery for now), but am now 14 blocks behind!!!   - Easter weekend coming up, should be able to catch up. 

This was block 1! - circle in centre is hand-stitched.

House block - this was second attempt!

 With some help:

Liberated Round Robin:

This was the original block, not quite sitting flat.

Then sliced the corners off

Inserted mauve strips, and squared up, but something missing.....

... a thin slice of turquoise!

Liberated Quilters

Deep breath... I have taken the plunge to join the Liberated Round Robin.  After originally thinking I don't have time (and yeah, probably don't! lol), and, after reading and seeing what is being done, and yes, I do have an odd block that could be liberated, here goes.

This year in my quilt group we are doing a block of the month, contributions from randomly selected members... I was nominated for the first month.  My first quilt block ever made was a Log Cabin block (circa 1975), and my first four quilts were log cabin blocks.  Last year my daughter was teaching herself by following Leila's blog and she was turning out amazing blocks, the first ones being Log Cabins.  So thought it would be a breeze, hmmm. This was my 12.5" BOM but it's not flat!  It definitely needs liberating.