Cats; don't use just love them?

As you can see from the pics finding time to work on my Faery Kisses quilt by Helen of Hugs & Kisses isn't the only battle I have. My Himalayan Persian, Lily, just loved rolling on the quilt itself then fell asleep on my batting (bottom photo) after she had had a play.

*

My quilt is taking up quite a bit of my time as I tack batting to my embroidered shapes so that when I quilt it I get the trapunto effect. It sure is taking a while to do this but I hope the effect will be worth it!

Ciao... Jan x

Baby Jane Blocks...

I've finished 2 more Baby Jane blocks for my Dear Jane quilt. Pictured is H1 Peek-a-boo and K12 Doris' Dilemma. I am very happy with the colours. Now I have to work out how to photograph and paste them cutting out the background. They were fun to do and surprisingly not too hard with the foundation piecing tutorial from that quilt.

My Little Owl...

I made this little softie owl for my daughter. The tutorial to make it is at Moonstitches. It is only a baby measuring 6 cm tall. It was so much fun to bring it to life! My daughter loves it. I will have to make more...

Another block embroidered...

I finished embroidering block 4 from my Leanne's House quilt. I have embroidered 5 blocks so far. Only 4x left! I'm absolutely loving this quilt - it's so relaxing to embroider in front of the TV in the evenings.

Dear Baby Jane and Roses...

I started a Dear Baby Jane quilt late last year and have just finished my 6th block. This block is called Bachelor's Buttons (B1). It was my first effort at reverse applique. It sewed together much better than I thought it would.

Living away from my garden for 12 months is hard so it was great to be among the roses again with a visit to Woolmer's Estate to see the National Rose Garden. I couldn't find a name for the David Austin rose pictured so any help with this would be appreciated. David Austin roses are my favourite roses!

A new project

I've joined a BOM called A Kitten's Tale by Lynette Anderson Designs. I will make it for a special someone in my life who adores cats and dogs and give to to her as a birthday present. I have thought I might embroider the names of all of her current and previous cats and dogs on an outer border to make it personal to her. I can't say who just on the off chance someone shows her my blog! It's a really sweet design. The fabrics are pictured behind and will really suit her decor.

Quilt in progress...

Here are the first 3 blocks of a quaint Leanne's House quilt. I began it as a block of the month with a friend. We cut and sewed the blocks together which made decisions about fabric choice so much easier. So far, I have embroidered 6 of the 9 blocks. It has been lots of fun. The embroidery is so transportable. I love how feminine Leanne has made this quilt. By the way, I did my first needleturn applique on this quilt which I have really enjoyed. Baltimore quilt here I come...

And no, we don't have a huge garden; our house overlooks a golf course. It provides a wonderful vista!

Look what I made with my son...

My 8 year old son and I had fun making a Miss Buttons . He chose the fabric and trimmings and did all of the cutting out. I did the sewing. He was very sweet and said I could have her!

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who welcomed me into Blog Land. It was very touching. You really are a friendly bunch of people!

A quilted kite...

I made this quilted kite as a gift for a close friend's new baby boy. It was a bit tricky to photograph as the hanging shots didn't work out. I was delighted to find a pattern for "something a bit different" in Australian Homespun magazine (No. 67 Vol. 9 No. 12). There is dowel attached to the back so it can be hung in a bedroom. I sewed a label on the backing fabric with the baby's full name, birth date and weight. I am not usually one to sew with bright colours so it was good to go out of my comfort zone. I hope baby Joshua enjoys looking at it!

What my flowers turned into...

I planted this patio apple tree growing in my front garden for 4 years. Last year I didn't prune it despite the DVD instructions that came with the purchase (naughty, naughty). I figured as I bought the tree for the spring blossom rather than the fruit it didn't matter how much fruit it produced. In January we moved cities for 12 months. I am returning monthly to my garden to maintain it. Imagine my surprise when I found it dripping in apples last week! The tenants hadn't even picked one of them either!

I've arrived...

After dreaming about this for months I've finally done it. Now I can share my craft and gardening journey with friends.
Let me share my latest quilting project. This is the Fairy Kisses quilt by hugs and kisses I have been doing since 2003. I know I'm a bit slow but life got in the way for a while! Well I've been working solidly on the stitchery over the last 18 months and finally have put the quilt top together. Now it's ready for batting and basting...

I have received mixed opinions in regards to the quilting of it. I would love to hand quilt it all but that may take a very long time. I haven't had any experience with mixing quilting styles and don't know how it would look especially on the backing fabric. Any opinions in regards to this would be greatly appreciated!

Ciao! Jan x