A FINISH........TADAAAAAA

Another Yeee Harrrr!

I loved doing this bag, it is a gift for someone so that often spurs me on to a quick finish. But also being a somewhat smaller project than a large quilt it keeps my interest focused just that bit better.

 I used a charm pack and 2 inch hexagons, the pattern came from an American Patchwork and Quilting Magazine and was designed by Sherri McConnell.

It went together very easily, and I used a very stiff interfacing so the bag can stand and not loose its shape.

As I may have ( ahem) mentioned before this gift is going to Texas so the fabrics are full of meaning.
The charm pack is designed by American Jane, the lining is  called "Yee Har" and depicts Texas cowboys and the top and handles show a typical retro American type childrens illustration.

Very happy with the way it turned out, the proportions are quite good, and it used the whole charm pack.

Now I have another reveal.....( no! come back not my feet again I promise)

This little saga that has taken yeeeeeeaaaarrrrs of sporadic bursts of enthusiasm and concentration.

There are many stitcheries, which I enjoyed doing but the whole lot came together when my darling and wonderful husband built me a design wall.

It was easy then to start placing the little 3 inch squares of fabric into some design and sew it in stages.

 The centre block

Two sentiments I enjoy

Some of the little sticheries, they took some time to complete.
The artwork is lovely, I just followed the lines.
It was designed by Libby Richardson, and I started this in 2008 or so.
It is called Girls Day Out , and I would have to agree a day doing all the shops illustrated in the quilt would be divine.

I have yet to finish it completely as I have to sew on buttons to fill the lolly jars

And the teddies in the shop window.

All in all I am feeling quite upbeat about this, I sewed like a woman possessed just lately, but it feels good to finish a large project.

I machine quilted a cross in each fabric square and stitched in the ditch around each stitched panel. I also machined down any large obvious "bagging" in the stitched panels, mainly around the buildings.
I love applique because I can play with such little scraps of fabric to make a picture. Thus as my blog title would suggest I dont throw out too much.

I am still learning how to use my little camera to its full extent, you would not believe it but years ago I was quite au fait with cameras and had a film SLR outfit which was a dream to use.

Now I struggle with a little digital, but like anything practise will help me overcome. Thank you for hanging out with me so far, I love your comments and hope to speak again soon.

SPRING.......has definitely sprung when.....

But not when these appear but when this happens.......

( caution dont enlarge these pictures, could be ugly haha)

See even the puppy boy is a little bemused...what is that!!!!

Ahhhh, pedicure, sandals and bare legs in the sun by the pool!
Now we are talking!

Now to work on Mr Sartorial.......

Lol, the camera at certain angles can distort sometimes, the Mr actually has very long legs........but mine are that short in real life.

Have sewn all the hexagons into a panel, to make a bag. I am meeting a friend in Texas....yes thats right, Texas for the Quilt Show. Can I tell you I am getting very excited about this trip of a lifetime. I decided when I reached the big 50 to treat myself for once. My friend set down the challenge, she said dont say your gunna.....say you are going to DO that thing. 

It has been a year of thinking, saving and booking and now it looks like it may actually happen.......fingers crossed.

So as I said the bag is a gift.

I am in the process of machine quilting the hexagons, check out the cute fabric from Spotlight that I have used for the top panel. It will also be used in the handles too.

Again from Spotlight, it will be the lining, because we are in TEXAS, ( did I mention I was going to Texas)...

But almost as exciting is this dear blog friends, a big TAA DAAAH
and a reveal

Here it is!!!!!!!

I know a much better reveal than my feet.

I first saw this lovely in a Better Homes and Garden mag back in 1993, and now it finally lives.
I struggled, as you know, it was fiddly and time consuming but like most things worthwhile, it is satisfying to conquer and get to the end.
Compared to the construction the quilting will be a delight, I am currently searching for a design to feature in the yellow blocks, the original had a spider web type of design. My fellow stitchers at the Stitching Post think I need something with a strong linear feel rather than a feather circle. Does anyone else have a suggestion? Please dont be shy I really love to know.

Now I will leave you with some more spring images that you may actually enjoy....

This is a non quilting post....

Just thought you might like to see what other tricks we get up to as a family.

We are slowly.....and I mean slowly, updating our abode and we have finally replaced the chest of drawers in our boudoir. 

This chest has served us well for 20 odd years but the brown no longer goes with the new colour scheme, and the drawers didn't close properly so we trekked off to the big store with the yellow and blue logo and anticipated a fun filled family day of assembling flat pack furniture!  ( big breath)

Guess how many drawers the man of the house has in this setup.
....one .....
Yes I am a bit bossy, it holds his socks and jocks, he needs no more!
He does have half the closet, so dont fret.

let the games begin!

I had to laugh, I think it means that it needs two people to assemble, so I had to find another man with a pencil behind his ear to assist. Couldn't find him so we rebelled against the good advise and went with me.

The excitement was all too much for some, (hehe ....she is going to kill me but this will test to see if she really does read the blog)
Mummy loves you dear...very very much.

Half way there, great we thought that didnt really take long, hang on we have to build the drawers?
All eight of them?

Three hours later

Guess how many drawers the good man has now.

.....two......

and I am ashamed to say, I did try to get him to use just one!
He put his dainty little foot down and pouted so I said he could have another because he had been so helpful...hahahaha.

And so ends another busy and productive day.

( hehe he will kill me, but this will test to see if he reads my bog)

I love you all very very much.......

Pardon my absence I've been sick.....

Nothing serious but enough to sap my energy and make me lie on the couch and in bed, coughing and spluttering.

Boy and when mum goes down, the whole house sorta misfires a bit, well it does in that it doesnt go according to my schedule. 

Methinks I need to stop micro managing and take my own advise and let it be.

Lessons life teaches you when you have time to think......you need to know how sick I was when I was aching from lying in bed too much so I got up and watched MORNING TV.....yes completely brain dead....numb to all feeling from the neck up.......but I am better now.

I felt I needed a new and slow project to get me through that period, and I am NOT saying english paper piecing is for slow people but is was a beautiful and gentle way to just sit and sew.

So this is what I got done before the coughing started.

It is the base of a purse designed by Brigitte Giblin, 1/2 in hexagons, and I am learning heaps about what to do and not to do. I am glad this is the base of the purse so my mistakes will not be on public display.

Then I stopped all activity for a while but prepared hexagons for this project.

This is going to be a tote bag made from a charm pack and they are 2 inch hexagons. Completely different skills learned again, but the few wobbles will not be so visible over the whole project.

I you tubed quite a few tutorials when I was sitting quietly, and I have put together my own method using hints from many sources.

Everyone has their own way of doing some things and we must go with what makes sense to us. I personally am not folding my pieces together but butting them together keeping them flat and catching the stitches behind. 
I have found this keeps my stitches more invisible from the front.

I should take a photo and show you shouldnt I, stay there a second I will be back.

Thanks for waiting!

I am adding the dark hexagon, so I line up the points and stitch them together, then I hold them a bit like this and sew whip stitches with the hexies butted up together.

As I am not changing my style, I do not find this difficult, and I just take small neat stitches, catching the yellow then across to the dark, and so on down to the next intersection, a few stitches in the joining point and across the next line etc etc.

This works for me, and I dont think its foolproof or better but just another style of sewing.

The photos are being taken at my craft  kitchen table, where all good projects end up at some stage.

Luckily it seats 8, and we are a family of 4 most nights, and when guests join us I move the pile current project to the very end of the table and we eat.

This was another slow project that inhabits the table

Quilting the borders, sorry about the blurry closeup.

This is the stencil

Now you may notice some nibbles on this stencil, not me but my puppy boys.

They being small and quick often run into rooms and seek trouble, I was very lucky that my husband came home and as he passed the lounge room wondered what the dogs were playing with.

Its all good I can still use the stencil, ( lucky cos they are not cheap) and lucky the dogs are small because I could well imagine our previous fur child who was a Bull Mastiff would have swallowed half of it in the first ten seconds.

I must pull out some old photos to show you all some day, he was a brilliant boy. Boris was his name and we loved him a lot.
Now I must go before I get all soppy and nostalgic about my pets.

Thanks for the chat, stay away from coughs.