I spent last night watching a dvd and sewing random pieces, and then saved all the pressing for this morning. A nice prospect; lazy Sunday morning, cup of coffee and seeing all the little seams laying down flat under the iron. Now I can arrange these units into blocks and set up my next sewing jag for when I can get to the machine.
Here are the red cross album blocks set together, awaiting corner triangles and a border idea. I think there will be a wide cream border on the outside to show up quilting, but there might be triangles or squares around the blocks. Something will occur to me.

The block in the corner of the design wall is Bonnie's Nifty Thrifty from Scraps and Shirtails- I didn't even realise it was there until I downloaded the photo. I think it's a great block and there will be some scraps cut up for a quilt soon.

Dolly and Pippi were sitting on the lounge looking so cute that I quietly got the camera out to take some photos. Keryn held up a biscuit to get their attention but it worked too well and resulted in this pose. Dolly is humming "Biiiscuts......mmmmm" and Pippi knows she has to "Sit" before she gets one- even if it's on top of her sister.
We had a customer and her grand-daughter come to pick up some quilts yesterday, and the girl had never seen Pippi before. She likes to visit because she was a fan of Dolly's but she fell in love with Pippi and spent ages patting both of them. Some people think because Pippi is bigger than Dolly she's her mother, but when Keryn remarked on this the little girl said "No, she still has puppy eyes". How astute of her.Ahh, puppy eyes..

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Henrietta asked what the stack of blue boxes in a previous photo were. They're from a hardware store and were originally meant to store nuts and bolts and suchlike. But they looked useful for a sewing room, so I bought four sets and I've used them in numerous ways over the years.
At one stage they formed a set of shelves, with boards in between them, and now they're serving to hold up a shelf above my sewing area. One contains all sorts of sewing gear, measures and cutting blades and bobbins and marking pencils.

The other has a series of narrow strips in them, when I thought I'd use such things. And I mean narrow, ranging from 3/4" to 1 1/4". The latter I still save, and have started a log cabin using them, but I decided I didn't want to keep the others. I thought I might make applique stems from them, but that's probably not going to happen so I've stopped cutting those sizes. I suppose I should repurpose the drawers but I haven't decided what to put in them yet.

Yesterday I weeded all the small lengths from the 1 1/2" drawer and sewed them into pairs, then crosscut them into 1 1/2" slices.
From these I sewed forty tiny four patches which will join the others I've already made. I have two quilts in mind to use them up, but that's a long way off.
I like to tidy up the strip drawers like this occasionally; it only takes half an hour or so and the stack of four patches is growing nicely.

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I love the blocks that are on my design wall now. They're like an album, but with more of a checkerboard feel to them. I wrote a post about them years ago, and how many variations of them I'd already made.

I'd sewn the red block and the one with the green background a while ago and they suddenly wanted to be turned into a whole project or two. Two more WIP's don't matter to me, and I'm loving how they're turning out.
I sew the blocks together in batches and leave the corners till last, and it always amuses me how they look like stars before I press them open. This would make a very cute block if I ever get around to it, but I won't be sidetracked at the moment.
However, I did feel a tad guilty about the old sets of blocks, so I've started putting one lot together. It won't be anything fancy, and there's only twelve so it won't be big either.
I'm still not connected to the internet- I won't have a big spit about it here but hopefully this week will see me back in the loop. I've missed blogging regularly because there's no record of all the time that's gone by. It's handy to have my projects documented here, and other events like the birth of the puppies.

Here's Pippi enjoying a bit of winter sunshine, we've had some very cold days here and ice on the car in the mornings. I love winter!

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I've been rearranging my workspace trying to get the best lighting and a little design wall area. I'll have to walk around the cutting table to get to the iron, but it's all exercise. I tend to sew a heap of seams and then iron them all at once, so it won't bother me to have to get up now and then. I've been cutting lots of pieces for different projects and I think the time has come to sit down and actually sew some together.

In this photo you can see how much taller Pippi is than Dolly now. She'll fill out too, so she's going to be a lot more substantial when she's fully grown.
This is the sight that greets us when we come home; two hysterical dogs dancing from foot to foot and yelping anxiously until we get through the gate.They look so funny- this isn't their best angle, that's for sure.
Dignity, they haz none...

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I just finished quilting this large quilt for a customer. It was 103 by 90 inches and seemed to take forever to reach the end. There are feathers all over it, a bit over the top but it looks effective.The coloured pieces are all reverse applique, this must have taken ages to complete. I've only ever done small areas of a block in this technique, I can't imagine doing a whole top like this. The customer must have liked it though, because she also finished her friends top.

I have no internet at the moment so blogging is difficult. I'm hoping to change that soon, I really miss reading blogs and being able to post.

I'll have to post a recent photo of Pippi, she's bigger than Dolly now, but she's still a puppy at heart.

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Okay Jan, here's a post about Curtis, just for you and his other fans.
Curtis by the way, is a cross between a golden retiever and a brittany spaniel.

Elisa assured me that he'd remember me, but it's been a long time since he saw his grandma. But when he realised that it was me standing in the front yard he went mad. He jumped all round me, raced off to tell Rob, ran around the car, back to me, leapt and spun and yipped and yelped and barked with excitement- yep, he knew who I was!
That afternoon we went to the dog beach, which is always an entertaining couple of hours. I think it's wonderful, dogs of every description running around having a great time, and amazingly I didn't see one sign of aggression anywhere. There were purebreds and mutts and designer dogs like Curtis, but they all had one intention - FUN!!This puppy was a cross between a chocolate lab and a rhodesian ridgeback, and he was huge. He had a really pronounced ridge and was a lovely reddish colour with greeny-yellow eyes. The day was so bright I couldn't see the camera screen so I just pointed and clicked and didn't realise I was at the wrong angle to see his back decoration, sigh.
I love border collies...

Curtis had to think twice about going after this piece of wood that was floating out of reach, but he finally swam out and retrieved it.
Got it!
Once he got wet he was in and out of the water, and racing around with the other dogs, collecting a vast quantity of sand in the process. His fur is so soft and doesn't have guard hairs, so he was really soaked.
When we got home Elisa decided to bath him, and he looked ridiculous sitting in this tub. He was so good natured about it, and very patient. When he was allowed to get out he shook litres of water everywhere and ran around the backyard like a mad thing, all nice and clean. He took hours to dry off, so a trip to the dog beach is quite an undertaking really.

Collapsed, too much excitement for one day...

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When I was looking through the archives on Sujata's blog The Root Connection, I found a photo of this quilt, which I think is absolutely wonderful. It is the same pattern as Keryn and I made for the bushfire quilts, but the blocks we made were 8" finished.

Sujata's quilt used pieces that are a lot smaller, and that makes it very appealing to me. I could literally make hundreds of these blocks! Mine finish at 4" and they are very cute and blindingly quick.
The reason I was so pleased to find this inspiration is that I had a little drawer full to overflowing with precut 1 1/2" by 2 1/2" pieces already. When I'm cutting up 2 1/2" strips, sometimes there's a little bit left over that I can't get a square from. I cut these bits into 1 1/2" pieces, and there are a number of ways I thought of using them. Chinese coin strips, borders for mini quilts, or blocks like Chunky Churndash from Bonnie's site.But I knew these Spinning Rail blocks were so easy (as long as you remember to have them spinning all in the same direction) that I decided to make them my Leader Enders for a while.

I can make the whole block without ironing, just finger pressing as I go, so they seem to mount up in a very satisfying way.

I thought I would make as many as I could from this little drawer, but it's taking longer than I thought. This was so full I couldn't shut it properly, but I've made 60 complete blocks and the components for probably another ten and there's still some left. It's much emptier to be sure, but I wonder if it's ever possible to use things up entirely. There's some sort of magicking involved here, where the drawer refills overnight and I'll just keep sewing these forever....

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I received a copy of the latest Homespun magazine in the mail yesterday, and inside there was my four patch quilt! For some reason it looks like it has blue sashing in the first photo, but the next page is closer to it's real dusty green colour. Hmm, it would look nice with blue sashing, now that I come to think of it....
These photos are terrible, my camera didn't like the shiny paper, but it gives you an idea of what it looks like. I think it came up very well, and the pattern was lovely and easy to do. It used up a whole heap of scraps and I'm tempted to start another one soon. perhaps with that blue sashing this time!

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While I was away I was tempted to buy some precuts at the markets, and stopped myself with the thought that I just don't use them. I have a number of charm packs already, the remains of a layer cake that Keryn gave me and a jelly roll project that I'm not enthused about. I don't want to add to that little pile of guilt if I can help it.

I love seeing all the fabrics in a range, but there are always ones I wouldn't choose to work with, I hate the pinked edges and and I don't like the feeling of constraint that I 'shouldn't ' add any other fabrics. That's my silly perception, but it does affect my enthusiam. So I bought the fat quarters instead, which I know I will use.

Determined to use the charm packs I did have I started making sawtooth stars. (This block is square by the way, but I rotated and cropped a photo so it looks out of whack.)

These finish at six inches, and use four squares each, so I'm not going to get a lot from one pack, but I don't care. I've stopped trying to keep charms separate from the rest of my stash, and I'll just find similar fabric to make more stars.

From one square I cut four 2 3/8" squares and then cut them on the diagonal. These are the light triangles in the flying geese units that will make the star points. From another square I cut a 4 1/4" square and cut it twice on the diagonal. These will be the 'geese' in the flying geese units, and the background of the star. Hardly any wasted fabric here.
Then I cut four 2" squares from one charm; these are the corners of the block and a 3 1/2" square for the centre of the star.
There is a little bit of waste, but I can live with it, especially as I cut those larger bits into 1 1/4" strips for my little log cabin. So for me there's no waste at all.

I'm having fun making combinations of four squares, and I've picked out some other fabrics which will go with these. I have no idea what this range is, it was a generic charm pack of assorted fabrics (made by some shop because it didn't have pinked edges) and seems to have a variety of reproduction prints in it.
I'll have fun making more of these; I'm thinking perhaps a medallion quilt with these as a border, but I've got a lot more to make before I decide anything.

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I can remember watching Di and Charles wedding on tv and then Sarah and Andrew's. My son John was about three and a half when the latter were married, and this is an excerpt from a letter I wrote to Keryn at the time.

"Did you watch the Royal Wedding? Or as John puts it, the "Oil Wetting."

I let him stay up to watch it, and he was fascinated. He loved the horses and carriages and the church and all the people, but I had a hard time explaining what it was all about. I pointed out Sarah in her carriage and said "That lady's going to be a princess!" He stared and asked "How are they going to make her a princess?"
"Well" I explained "She's going to marry a Prince."
"No she's not!" said John firmly.
When Andrew and Edward came on I said "That's the prince she's going to marry, and the other man is a prince too."
"No, they're not Princes!" protested John. "Where are their swords?"
I pointed out that they did have swords on their belts, but he still wasn't satisfied. "Where's their hats?" he asked.
"Do you mean crowns?" I said.
"Yes, those hat-things they wear on their heads!"
I couldn't anwer that so I just said that they left them at home sometimes. He watched very intently for a while then asked "What are majesties?"
"They're Kings and Queens, you have to call them Your Majesty....."I said, hoping the questions wouldn't get any more complicated.
"Where are THEIR crowns?" John asked, obviously quite sceptical until he saw at least one crown amongst all the fashionable hats.

Eventually Sarah got there and started to walk down the aisle. "What's that thing behind her, that bit of dress?" he asked. Inwardly I groaned and said "It's called a train." John fell about laughing, then said "That's not a train, what's it called ?" It was a while before he'd accept that it was indeed called a train, but I could see him thinking all this was getting weirder and weirder. "Where's HER crown?" he asked, looking critically at the wreath in her hair. I ignored that and said wasn't she pretty etc etc.

During the service they showed the man conducting the choir, making trembling passionate gestures and frowning at the singers. I turned to look at John, and there he was, throwing his arms around, glaring at the telly and generally being a temperamental Artiste. When he saw I was watching him he was quite embaressed and explained "I'm conducting, but you really need a stick!"

After Sarah had signed the register and came out I quickly spied the tiara and said to John "Look, Look! She's got a crown now!" He stared at her open mouthed, then turned to me with huge round eyes and breathed "She IS a Princess!" After that it was sealed. Sarah was a princess, Andrew a prince, her train a train, it was all true because Sarah had a crown."

Ah me, that was a long time ago. I think I'll go and make a pot of tea and wonder where all those years went...

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I spent four days in Newcastle, catching up with Rob and Elisa and little Logan. He's five and a half months old now and terribly cute; I had the best time getting to know him. I took quite a few movies of him so that I can watch them at home and remember all his little winning ways. I'll just have to make more frequent trips to see him, he's changing so quickly now.

Although I took some hand sewing to do I really preferred to spend as much time as I could gooing over him. He's such a good happy baby and very much like his Dad, except Robert had pale blue eyes and Logan's are dark. He's certainly got a big voice like his father and plenty to say about lots of things, but as it's all good natured chat it's just funny to listen to.He likes books at bedtime too, just like his Nanna.What a little dear.

Rob took me to a local market and as we were walking round he said "The fat quarters are over here Mum," and showed me a little patchwork stall. I've trained him well!

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When I made this Irish Chain top years ago, I spent quite a while working on a checkerboard border to go around it.But when I laid it out the top absolutely rejected it, too heavy, too overpowering, wasn't having That, thankyou very much! I packed the bits away in a drawer and every now and then I'd try them against some other top, but they were just too ....red.
Then I decided to mix them with other four patches of all different colours, and that toned it down somewhat. It's still horribly bright compared to my usual tastes, but at least all my work hasn't been wasted. This will be a donation quilt too.
That blue is so intense it throbs!

Once that was off the design wall I got out my Scrappy Trips blocks and sewed them together- another bright and cheerful top. These colours are so not me, but I've enjoyed working with them, and it's nice to move them out of my stash. I'm not quite sure how I ended up with so much fabric that isn't my style, but I won't be replacing it, that's for sure.
I've still got some bright blue, perhaps this will get the border treatment too...

I can't believe how big Pippi is getting, she's as tall as Dolly, but not as muscled. She'll fill out like a good staffie should, but that adorable puppy shape has gone forever.
I love her personality and she's such good company, I can't imagine life without her now.

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The rail fence top is in one piece, I rather like the basket weave effect in this one. So easy to do and it gobbled up quite a few strips in the process.The strips that were too small for the rail fence were made into these four-patch puss in the corner blocks, which have been set together into another top. I'm going to put borders on this when I get the chance, hopefully this weekend. And there are still 2" strips left over; I think this is the fourth or fifth top I've made from this container. It doesn't do to think of how many actual quilts are lurking in the stash, does it? I might get a bit overwhelmed.

And one of the good things about finishing tops is now I get to choose the backings, which will use another pile of fabric from the shelves. Oh, and bindings...!
Every evening Keryn and I take the dogs to the golf course, which is mercifully free of golfers at the moment. We keep threatening to take a thermos of coffee and just let the dogs exercise themselves by chasing mice and rabbits while we lean against a tree and relax after some very full work weeks.That would make a nice end to the day, and if I rigged up a doggie backpack we could even get out of carrying the thermos.
When we are walking the streets to get to this lovely spot we see many dogs who never get out of their yards, ever, and I wonder if our dogs realise how lucky they are? It doesn't take much effort to make these two really happy, and sometimes it's only half an hour there and back, but it makes their day.

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