More quilting required

This are the shelves where I keep some of my quilts including unfinished quilt tops but I didn't realise how many UFO's I had so I guess my new resolution is to finish these quilts.




On these two shelves they are all unfinished,some of them for over ten years the top three are my Bonnie Hunter mystery quilts from the last three years.



Macy and Murphy think they make any quilt look good and helped me to decide which ones to finish first! I might try and finish my 2001 year quilt, as my Mother was very ill I decided that 2001 was going to be a challenging year and a diary year quilt was the right thing to keep the diary.After the end of that year I coudn't do any more but I should try and quilt it when I have made the back which is going to be the diary printed out for each.

A busy winter

Today's weather is so perfect I have been working outside but to show I haven't been idle over the winter months here is some work I have completed/almost completed in the last few months.



This quilt is for Jayne and Tom I started it this time last year but is now completely finished with machine piecing and applique both hand and machine quilting.





This is my Roll,Roll Cotton Boll mystery quilt by Bonnie Hunter which also was put on the back burner for most of the year .I am thrilled with it although sometimes when piecing I did lose my cool.As always Bonnie's designs are challenging but worth it.






This is for me!!! I purchased the embroideries from the shop that used to be at Kurrajong Rumplequiltskin I think it was called.I have a collection of blue and white china and I have been saving one piece of blank wall for these hangings.





These are some blocks that I have pieced this week and will quilt as you before joining the blocks together, I haven't done this method since I was at TAFE in the 1980's doing Creative Needlecraft.

quilts

Whilst I have been laid up with my still sore leg I have been catching up with some sewing,I finished the baby quilt for Michael and Emma and I have been told she likes it.Good luck over the next few weeks Emma and Happy Birthday Michael next weekend.










This is a Bonnie Hunter design that I started years ago with a jelly roll and over the last few days have finished the top until I decide what borders to put on it.

Being Single

< I promised some friends I would post a copy of this catoon onto my blog;it has been on my desk for many years because ever since I have been single people have asked why don't I meet someone?Well this is the answer my working years revolved around Aged Care and community care and my hobby is quilting.
With apologies to the artist as I can't even remember the name of the cartoon.

Riley baby quilt

Today is the first time in nearly 6 weeks that I haven't taken any pain killers,although I have only been taking a couple of panadol for the last week I was starting to feel very addled and my concentration span was very limited.




Whilst I have been disabled I have made this quilt for Michael and Emma's baby due sometime in April ( my birthday would be a nice date Emma!).Today I pinned the layers together and I will probably not get to quilt it until next week.
After seeing Pennie's Roll Roll Cotton Boll quilt on her blog I would like to get back to mine as I put it away when I was in Adelaide before Christmas.

This is the medicinal present sent to me by Scquilter Ramona from down Upwey way;I know she says up Upwey way but to us in Bathurst it's down.


These are the hearts sent to me by my internet friends from Scquilters and QDU; I am very humbled by how beautiful they are and the kind thoughts that have been attached to them.

Wendy Carter wanted to see a photo of my purple plaster, I had a choice of red,blue or purple and as I am older I thought about the wearing of purple.

Plans of mice and men!

Well they say the best laid plans of mice and men!!!
Since my last posting I have had a tumble in the courtyard,very simple one at that but in the process I have managed to break my left ankle in 3 places.
After spending a week in Bathurst Hospital I am now home with community services and in a wheel chair;totally reliant on friends visiting regularly to keep me from self pity/loathing/abuse etc. etc.

At present I am almost confined to bed but I am hoping to become more mobile as the pain subsides,I'm doing lots of reading and TV viewing which isn't really a pasttime of mine.
Macy and Murphy are at my side day and night but it's times like these that living alone does suck.

Cot quilt

Michael and Emma's baby is due mid- April and when we were in the USA some fabric was purchased for a cot quilt which I will be starting this weekend. Here are some pictures of the fabrics. I will still have to buy a plain colour to blend this altogether.The photo doesn't do it justice as they are brighter than that,it's very dark here this morning if the sun puts in appearance I'll send another photo.

Roll,Roll Cotton Boll

As I was going to be in Adelaide from mid-November until after Christmas keeping Jayne company whilst Tom went back to Dallas TX for another month I decided I'd do Bonnie K Hunter next mystery quilt called Roll, Roll Cotton Boll. As I have done two of her mysteries before but have used co-ordinated fabrics I am doing this one with scraps from my large stash.
I packed scrap fabric requirements as well as a car full of other stuff and set off with Macy and Murphy on the big road trip to Adelaide, fortunately Tom and Alan met me in Mildura and he drove Taffy (my car) the rest of the way.

As the mystery quilt unfolded I was able to keep up for the first 2 steps but then life and Christmas intervened and it was all packed away; however i did take a couple of photos of step one.

A new look

I've have had a painter here at home and I just love the look of my courtyard " beer garden" some friends call it considering I don't drink beer.
But I love the colour don't you?

New quilt

Some of you might remember the quilt that we saw in Lancaster County that Jayne fell in love with, I've started by sewing the heart blocks and I've also sewn some nine patch blocks( don't have a photo of them!)

Another purchase to show off

Whilst in Lancaster County I bought a small (about one metre square)Amish Quilt which is hand quilted and shows off some of their skills. I managed to hang it yesterday in the lounge room.

Back quilting

After my long holiday where I only did some hand sewing I have made a lap quilt over the last week.It is for a friend who warned Tom about the hazards of taking two 'witches' to Salem by car.There was lots of Halloween fabric in the shops in the US so it wasn't hard to find some witch fabric.I started it last Wednesday and finished it in time to post it to Adelaide on Monday;I was quite chuffed at the witches hats and brooms that I quilted free motion.

Water, water everywhere!

This was the scene outside my side fence last night, the main burst and the hole just got bigger and bigger,Bathurst Council were quick onto the scene considering it was after hours.One worker told me he just had time to get home and make a cuppa when the call out happened.No water from then until about 9.15 PM put a dampener on my dinner preparations so I called Yum Car which is a service that delivers food from various restaurants/pubs and takeaways and within half an hour I had a delicious Lambs Fry.
The Council are back this morning doing road maintainance so poor little Lord Street is again blocked off and my 2 'angels' are again barking furiously at the strange men sitting outside the side gate having a leisurely morning smoko!

Shopping in USA

My Friend Lissa wanted to see how much fabric I bought when I was in the States recently and last week when I was putting it away I thought I had better take a photo to show her.I bought some civil war repros. and some Kaffe Fassett at Hancocks but it is a bit bewildering there because thre is just so much fabric to choose from.I bought lots of fat quarter packs in Lancaster County and the majority of them were from an Amish shop and were $14.95 for a pack of 8 fat 1/4's(Moda fabric).
I also bought a set of Tsukineko inks that iwas introduced to at a Pam Holland workshop in Canberra 2 years ago.

Dallas, Texas to Australia

Well here we are back in Dallas getting organised to fly home Monday evening (USA time).Since we left Dallas 3 weeks ago Tom has driven for 87 hours and 51 minutes and we covered 4183.8 miles or 6694 kilometres at an average speed of 76 klm per hour .The Cadillac used petrol to the tune of 22 miles to the gallon or 9 klm to the litre.

During this time we visited 15 states some more than once, others we didn't even get out of the car-

Texas________________ The Lone Star State
Arkansas______________ The Natural State
Tennessee_____________ The Volunteer State
Missouri______________ The Show Me State
Kentucky______________ The Blue Grass State
North Carolina________ The Tar Heel State
Virginia______________ The Old Dominion State
West Virginia_________ The Mountain State
Pennsylvannia_________ The State of Independance
New York______________ The Empire State
Ohio__________________ The Buckeye State
Indiana_______________ The Hoosier State
Michigan______________ The Wolverine State
Illanois______________ The Prairie State
Oklahoma______________ The Sooner State


And of course we popped over the border into Canada to see Niagara Falls.

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Here are some pictures from our Chicago and St Louis stay

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Niagara Falls

We had 2 nights in Niagara Falls in a Falls View Room on the 12 th floor of the Hotel, the view was spectacular but it is probably the dearest place to buy food and drink.We went on the Maid of the Mist Boat and I got very,very wet.I hope you enjoy the pictures

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Lancaster County

We spent days here in Lancaster County and I'll let the pictures do the talking but the area was just so mind-blowing and the food at the Amish restaurants was very yummy.

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Nashville Tennessee

We spent 3 days in Nashville and toured the city including The County Music Hall of Fame and the Rymill Theatre which is called the Mother Church of Country Music.Then we went on another tour which took us into the hills of Nashville and visiting the Jack Daniels Distillery which was very interesting but we couldn't taste or buy any because it is situated in a dry country.

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