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30 November 2011

omg - huge storms and hail stones

that's right - I said hail stones - a day before the first day of summer and last night we had huge storms with some of the biggest lightening strikes I've seen for a while and to finish we had a hail storm  - and of course I had to take these photos at 2.30 am :)

hail stones at the front door

hail on pippi's garden seat and see that other chair on an angle - its not supposed to be there !

and now pippi has a broken food bowl :(

its been raining all morning as well so looks like we're set for a wet start to summer.

before the storm last night I finished sewing all the strips together for the postage stamp quilt - and while I was pressing the final seam on each row I discovered a little boo boo ...
so a bit of quick unpicking, move a block to the end of the row and then a resew and you'd never know !

I figure with 1,800 2 inch square blocks that make up this quilt - something had to go wrong :)

29 November 2011

november blogger's bom finishes

finished all three of the november blogger's bom blocks last night

as well as the second August modern bom block - soooo glad this little baby is done :)

28 November 2011

improv piecing

on the weekend I made the august improv block from the modern block of the month - it certainly took a little bit of time and of course I'm sure I mucked up the instructions a bit but got it finished which is the main thing - yes, I still need to do the second one ...


and I finished sewing together the square one l'amour quilt top and now just need to put the border on - I also sewed more blocks together on the postage stamp quilt - so hopefully I'll get both these tops finished this week (I'm sure I took photos but can't seem to find them now !)

I turned the radio on during the power outage yesterday so I would know exactly when the power was back on and headed straight for the sewing room - it wasn't that bad during the outage and I did get the November Blogger's BOM blocks cut out so they were ready to sew - nearly finished the three of them - just have to sew them together tonight.

25 November 2011

another string block

I did another string block last night - I must admit they look better in numbers so I'm going to do a few more tonight and tomorrow - along with trying to finish my square one and postage stamp tops !



We have a major power outage on Sunday from 10am to 4pm that is affecting a big area around my town as well so I figure I'll be reading or doing some handsewing that day - I must remember to fill up the thermos so I can have a cuppa occasionally :)

hope you have a good weekend and get some sewing in.

24 November 2011

mini scrap basket block swap

I've joined in a mini scrap basket block swap over at flickr - we're making 6 1/2" string blocks for our first swap.

I'm a bit nervous cause its my first swap and after I made my first block and then saw photos of others on the group page I suddenly felt a bit scared that mine wasn't as good :0 but the gorgeous Shawn (our bee mama) left a comment on my block photo saying it was beautiful so I feel a bit better but not before I changed a couple of the strips !

here's my first block
 

then with the couple of strip changes
and my second block
and the two together


its amazing how the look changes when put together differently.  We are to make sets of 4 blocks so they can be put together as 12 inch finished blocks.  I'll definately make 4 and hopefully get some confidence to do more :)

21 November 2011

a couple more modern bom blocks

nearly up to date with the modern bom ...

this weekend completed september
and october
just need to finish the august block which is improv piecing that I haven't done before but I'm going to attempt it tonight !

also made a wall hanging from the aunty cookie home sweet home fabric I recently received - purchased an inexpensive canvas frame last week and stapled fabric to the back - looks great on the wall


hope you had a fabulous weekend :)

18 November 2011

do. good stitches

I'm so excited - I've been accepted to join the do. Good Stitches {a Charity bee}- yay ! I'm looking forwarded to starting early next year - and also this week I joined the toy society - so I'll definately be stitching with a bigger purpose now !

so I've finished block 12 of the blogger's quilt-uber-fest and I've unpicked the block 11 - I've also decided to get a fat 1/4 of each of the Drop Cloth in Plum and Innocent Crush in Plum so I can finish off blocks 13 to 16 and I might even have enough to do the extra block 17.


I've also finished the first block in the Modern Block of the Month being hosted by Sew Mama Sew and hope to get the others done this weekend - I'm doing two of each month's blocks :)


14 November 2011

weekend sewing

I finished block 11 of the Blogger's Quilt-Uber-Fest on Saturday - I have the pieces cut out for block 12 but then I'm down to mostly scraps and struggling for blocks 13 - 16 !


I might try and get a couple of fat quarters to finish the last blocks but for the moment I've put them away to think about it - after a week of non-stop uber-fest block making I need a change ! oh, and after seeing this photo - eeek - I think I need to redo the middle row !


I also started sewing my postage stamp quilt blocks together...it was a big chain sewing session yesterday with 72 blocks !


then I thought I'd better get a move on with the Sew Mama Sew Modern BOM - I'd like to get up to date before the November block is out...this is the July block - ready to be sewn (i ♥ this colour combination)

so that was my weekend of sewing...hope you got some sewing in as well :)

11 November 2011

uber-fest blocks

my Elna has been doing a great job of keeping up with me - I've managed to get 10 of the blogger's quilt-uber-fest blocks done this week and hope to finish the other six this weekend.


a couple of the blocks aren't quite the same as the originals - that's what happens when you do all the cutting for 12 blocks without doing any sewing !

08 November 2011

she's back...

yes, my gorgeous elna is back home where she belongs - after 6 1/2 weeks of being away - I'm soooo happy that she's home and I can get back to full-on sewing  - and because she has had her motor rewound I'm sure she will cope with the backlog I've got !


I put her through her paces as soon as I got her home yesterday and did the first 5 blocks in the bloggers' quilt-uber-fest and she went like a dream :)


oh, and before I go I just wanted to show you pippi's favourite morning spot - she's in the kitchen where the sun streams in through the kitchen window ♥

06 November 2011

the ghastlies giveaway

gee - I was blown away by the response to my day on the ghastlies blog hop - thank you ALL so much for visiting and leaving very kind comments - it took me a little while but I've replied to them all - except for comments from no reply bloggers ! if you are one of those then visit Madame Samm to find out how to fix that :)

just before I announce the giveaway winner  I thought I'd show you my finished blocks for the blogger's block of the month

this is my third of block 1

and this is my third of block 2

and these are all of the blocks 1 and 2 - I'm making 3 of each 


oh and just a little something I've been working on this afternoon - its from a tutorial by Helen Stubbings who was a guest on Madame Samm's Sew We Quilt last month - the design is coloured in with pencils and embroidered around the edges


ok - I've kept you in suspense long enough ... drum roll please ...

the winner of the ghastlies mug rug is ... Shirley C - who left this comment:

I love mug rugs. Yours is so cute too! This hop is so ghastlie cute!

Congratulations Shirley C - I've sent you an email so Aunt Gertrude and co will be with you soon !



05 November 2011

blogger's block of the month

I've finished my second block 1 of the blogger's block of the month


and I've also finished two of block 2



and I'll be back tomorrow evening with the winner of my ghastlies mug rug giveaway :)

03 November 2011

day 7 ghastlie winner

thank you to everyone who visited my blog on Tuesday and left lovely comments ... I was amazed to receive so many wonderful comments and my followers increased from 3 to over 30 - wow - thanks so much ♥

the lucky winner of the ghastlies day 7 giveaway who wins ...

These wonderful Auriful Threads from IHAN...Kelly at I Have A Notion is sending one winner this collection of some pretty colorful threads. Looks like we have a thread cutter too...see his sharp knife lol


is Jacqueline from Mrs Gramma Sherie Ghastlie - yay congratulations Jacqueline.

remember the ghastlies blog hop goes until Friday so there are more chances to win some great giveaways - check with Madame Samm Ghastlie for the daily giveaways and make sure you visit my ghastlie sisters !

my mug rug giveaway is open until Sunday so leave a comment to be in the running - I am in the process of replying to all of the comments I received but of course didn't expect so many and its taking a bit longer than I thought but I'll get there !

01 November 2011

it's my ghastlie day

Hi there I'm miss daisy ghastlie and this is my day on the ghastlies blog hop - I'm so ghastlie glad you could join me ... but  first I interrupt for an important message !

its also my mum's birthday today so I just wanted to wish her a very happy birthday with lots of cuddles and kisses - mwah ! they are on the last days of a cruise so hopefully dad has made sure there are big celebrations on board !!

now back to the ghastlies 'cause that's why you're here !

so welcome ghastlie fans - I hope you're having fun on the ghastlie hop - aren't there some amazingly talented ladies who have caught this ghastlie flu - I've been soooo inspired by my ghastlie sisters :)

I heard Madame Samm's call to ghastlie fans for the hop a while back and thought I'd join in 'cause that ghastlie fabric is just so ... well ... ghastlie !  it took me a little while to realise that this meant my blog was going to be one of those being hopped to !

eek - my blog wasn't even live and I didn't have any ghastlie fabric - but it was just the nudge I needed to get my blog a bit respectable for visitors so I did a few posts, ordered some fabric, and thought about what I was going to make...so far so good !

then at the end of September I put my sewing machine in for a service thinking it would be away for a week at the most but ... 5 1/2 weeks later and I'm still waiting for it to come back - thankfully I was able to borrow a machine to do a couple of ghastlie projects and I think they turned out ok :)


so without further ado ... my ghastlie projects (sorry if some of the photos seem a little blurry - must be halloween!)

Every ghastlie sister needs a ghastlie handbag - I absolutely love how sebastian just made it on to the front of the bag by a whisker ! but its ok 'cause he's inside as well
this little bag is from a tutorial by Rachel at PS I Quilt - I made mine a bit bigger though!


and a glasses case - well of course I needed a couple - and I love Prudence - especially when she's holding the hammer !
I've used flexi-frames and I think there are a few tutorials on-line - I used a pattern from the Anni Downs book "in the life of a bag".

 I couldn't bear to cut up Aunt Gertrude on the chaise so I made this mug rug which is a smidge bigger than the other one with just straight quilted lines

this mug rug has sebastian looking sneaky as usual and the spinster aunts knitting and is quilted in a grid so it looks like they're looking through the window with those beady eyes!

Aunt Gertrude's mug rug has a bramble backing and the spinster aunts have to contend with sebastian again !

if you'd like to know the names and info of all the members of the family - visit Mrs Doris Ghastlie here

now don't forget to leave a comment so I can enter you into the sponsor giveaway - Madame Samm will be drawing a winner from the names that my ghastlie sisters and I provide at the end of today – there are some ghastlie prizes to be had so good luck !

and I'm having a giveaway as well - if you like the Aunt Gertrude on the chaise mug rug, leave me a comment saying you love mug rugs and I'll enter you into my giveaway as well as the main one - and no, you don't have to follow but you can if you like :)

I will draw a name on Sunday 6 November (Australian time) so good luck with that one as well !

I'm not sure that I'm over the flu - in fact I think after visiting my ghastlie sisters my fever has reached high point and I'll be making more ghastlie goodies and of course a quilt very soon !

so be sure to visit my ghastlie sisters who are also posting today...

oh, and did you hear - the ghastlies blog hop is going to be an annual event - thanks so much Madame Samm !

that's it from me - I've had so much fun - thanks for visiting :)