I have finished an extra Spiderweb block for the lovely Amy for Around the Block2. I used this fantastic tutorial here. Nice and easy. This quilt top is going to look amazing when finished.
I have finished my entry for the Naked Bed Challenge! With only 2 days to spare!
It is massive. 82 by 105 inches. I don't know how to photograph something so big!
Daz tried to hold it up on the step ladder but his arms weren't long enough!
It's nice and bright. I'm happy with it.
It sits nicely on the bed.
I've started piecing the backing. More rainbows. With a bit of luck I'll get it in the mail by the end of the week to be quilted.
More houses! These ones sewn by me. The birthday on Monday was overshadowed by having to go into hospital on Tuesday to have some minor surgery. It was supposed to be done on the 10th but due to the nature of country hospitals, it got rescheduled, so it wasn't it a surprise. About two years ago I noticed a lump to the right of my C section scar. I poked it and thought nothing of it but then it sort of got bigger, pea sized, 10 cents, 20 cents. So then I got it checked out September-ish last year. They didn't know what it was, so sent me up to Darwin for a needle biopsy. That was fun, NOT! Then the results came back after Christmas, sort of Endometriosis but in the muscle tissue around where my C scar is. As I understand it, a bit of my uterus has popped through the scar and so grows a little bit bigger after each cycle. So they decided to cut me open and cut it out.
That was on Tuesday. I stayed overnight in hospital, back home Wednesday lunchtime. Luckily they could do it here at our local hospital and I didn't have to go to Perth or Darwin. Daz had a few days of work and sat with me on the couch watching Glee. I have been walking around the house like an 84 year old, bent over and shuffling. It hurts to laugh and cough. Suprisingly though sitting up straight in a chair with wheels is good! And so I have dabbled in a little bit of sewing and sewn these houses. I can wheel from the ironing board to the sewing desk, perfect!
I had a birthday on Monday. A significant birthday. I turned 40. I had a lovely day, a fantastic day. I woke to presents. I received a champagne diamond and pearl pendent from Daz. It is beautiful. I had flowers delivered to me at work, not one bunch but two! I had phone calls and sms's all day and was feeling very loved. Then I went and checked the post office box and found two parcels there. One was squishy and addressed from Ad. I knew she was sewing me something but had no idea what.
My jaw hit the ground when I opened the card. I thought huh? Then it slowly dawned on me.
She had organized 20 of my quilting/sewing/blogging buddies to sew a house block for me. For me? The brief was simple and effective, a mini wonky house using bright quilt fabrics and plain white homespun. The house size to be between 2” x 1” and no bigger than 4” x 4” square with white sashing to bring block up to 5” square. And look at all the beautiful blocks that then came in!
Carmel did this cute little robot!
This cute little birdhouse is from Emma.
The car under the tree is from Milly and the chook house from Joy.
They are all just stunning. Thank you so much to all the girls who made a block or two. Bec, Lily, Amy, Amy P. Ingrid! AJ! Cass!!! Karen! Mands and Natalie. Denni and Anna, Rose and Sibylle! And Leah!!! Every block is just wonderful, thank you to you all. I'm just blown away by the fact that you had a secret Facebook group going and I knew nothing about it! Sneaky girls! Very sneaky! Big thanks to my dearest sister Ad, she is the one who put it together, did all the quilting and even the binding! She is 5 years younger than me so that gives me a lot of time to think of something to come up with for her 40th!
Remember this quilt? It's all finished now. The label sewing on took me just as long to do as the actually quilting I think! It is all ready for me to pass onto my friend now.
I ended up pebble quilting this one up to the edge of the circle that contained the foundation piecing. I stitched in the ditch in matching thread of every second point.
I decided to do it that way instead of all over pebbling like my first one as look what happens when you do that? It sort of bubbles up and becomes a lump! Photographed directly in front you can't tell but from the side..... interesting!
Here they are both together. The one on the left is done in Kona Bone I think. The one on the right is in Micheal Millers Dumb Dots, white dots on a white background. Subtle. My sister sent me 6 meters of this last year, I'm working my way through it slowly, it's my favorite white tone on tone.
This is what 72 4.5 inch squares look like. Finally finished them. Finally!!!
Started trimming them down and adding the sashing. The Naked Bed Challenge deadline of June the 1st is looming!
Here is my submission for the Spring 2011 Bloggers Quilt Festival! Milly's Wonky House Quilt. It was sewn as part of a block swap with 11 other ladies around Australia as part of the flickr group Around the Block.
I sent off my fabric back in August 2009!
I requested wonky house blocks. This one I sewed as a trial one.
And then over the next few months the blocks came back in the mail.
Here are all the blocks I received back (minus two that were still in the mail when this photo was taken) plus my block. I was so pleased with them all!
I then sashed it with 1.5 inches of yellow for some zing leaving 3 blocks to work into the backing.
Then added a red wedged kinda border....
Then I sent it away to be quilted by Kathy. Wrestling with it under my machine didn't fill me with joy, so I mailed it away and I was so pleased I did! It looks fantastic. Really stunning.
I choose a simple swirl and stars all over pattern. In yellow thread.
The back looks as good as the front!
And the photo that sums up why I quit! Here is Milly snuggling with her new quilt that she sleeps under every night. I gave it to her just before her 6th birthday, that was in November 2010. So it took 14 months and the kindness of 11 ladies to sew the blocks to make this quilt. Thank you again to all the ladies involved, you know who you are! The joys of blogging and flickr!! Now to sit back and go through all the other amazing quilts in the festival.
Today was Mother's Day. I'll admit the day doesn't usually excite me. Maybe cause we spend it running around after my Mum and Daz's Mum. But this year seeing as though they are 3,000 plus kms away, today was all about me!!!! I got breakfast in bed, accompanied by some pressies and cards from the girls. Inside Milly's card is classic. Thank for for making luck for me everyday Mummy. Luck I said? Lunch Mummy, it's lunch not luck!
We got in the car and went for a little drive to here for lunch.
I had a beef Vietnamese noodle soup which was very yummy. Along with a few glasses of bubbly!
We amused ourselves by taking funny face photos waiting for our meal. As you do!
Back to school this week so to mark the holidays ending, on Tuesday we went for a little drive. Haven't had any rain for a month, but the water is still coming out the ground. We drove through muddy puddles.
And we drove over rocks. Lots of rocks.
And we passed beautiful scenery like this.
And we put our fishing rods in a big muddy brown river.
And taa daa!!!! I pulled out this!!!! The elusive barramundi!
It was a family effort. I held the rod, Grace wound it in and Milly cheered us on. Grace thought holding it was "gross!"
Milly was happy to pose with it though. This is a photo that will be displayed on her 21st birthday. 59cms! Not bad! I'm happy with that for my first barra catch.
Grace was much happier hanging with a green tree frog that had hitched a ride in the bag of one of the chairs.
And then as the sun set, the girls built themselves a tee pee! The perfect end to our holidays. Only something like 43 working days to get through till the next break! But who is counting?
I did the maths, I need 74 small rainbow squares to do around the border of the Rainbow Square Quilt. 74 times 4.5 inch squares.... so I have 7 colours in my rainbow so 10 of each colour and then I just sort of wing it with the extra 4. That is the plan! I have done yellow, orange and red. Am up to pink, have done one, the others are in various stages, so 31 complete, 43 to go! Can I admit I am getting bored of this project and am itching to start something else?
We interrupted the sewing for a few days out here, as the big weekend was here. The Lake Argyle Swim. Daz and a team of 3 fellow teachers were competing in the 10km team swim across Australia's largest body of fresh water, Lake Argyle. That little orange buoy in the distance on the right? That is the 1km to go mark.
We went up the Friday before and camped at the Resort to soak up the view and the atmosphere. The view is just stunning!
Hanging at the beautiful infinity pool at the caravan park before the big day. Such a tough life being on holiday's up in the Kimberley!
The swimmer doing a few laps warming up for the big day.
Waiting at the boat ramp.
The cheering squad by the boat ramp.
And later over that day, over the finishing line they go! They swam in 5 minute stints during the race but for the last 30 meters, they all jumped out the boat and swam across together.
And he got a medal/coaster saying he survived the swim! Does he look happy or what?
We spotted a croc on the way home while crossing over the bridge to Spillway Creek. Krista, this photo is just for you!! Glad it was on the way home, would have been a bad omen if we spotted it going there! There are crocs in Lake Argyle but the swimmers were in the middle of the lake, so safe enough. So it was a great weekend, Daz is keen to do it all again next year!