Tree peek

This is a custom quilt I'm working on. It's ready to bind, but I'm not sure if I'll be able to hold the quilt well enough with my sore finger to hand-sew the binding just yet.

Tree Quilt in AP&Q

Yesterday the latest copy of Australian Patchwork and Quilting arrived in my letter box - with another of my quilts in it!

The spring version of my Seasonal Tree is featured as a project from page 32.

This one has pink blossoms in place of the apples, and warmer spring tones than the winter tree.

Desperation?

Is this desperate? I really need to get this done. I started it over the weekend!

I went to my doctor to get it checked tis morning. The non-stick dressing had stuck, but he patiently helped me soak it iff gently. It looks a mess, but he's confident it will heal well. He re-dressed it (using better stuff, and also did a much better job than the emergency doctor!) and will do it again for me on friday.

And when I got home, my first pieces of Parisville were on my doorstep! The rest is coming in a large box...

OUCH!

I've benn out of action for a few days. Late on Wednesday night I got careless with the rotary cutter and sliced off half a fingernail and a sliver of finger, and spent from 1am-6am at emergency - most of that time waiting.

This is how I left what I was doing (at least there was no damage to the fabric!) and the current state of my finger. Offending tool in plain view - blade replacement due before I start cutting again! I've been on pretty strong pain-killers, and have been either sleeping or feeling very woozy most of the time, but it's slowly getting better and I'm feeling more like myself - but if I don't keep my finger above shoulder level, or if I move it, it throbs badly, so I'm kind of useless!

Before the accident, I had added the last 2 borders to this quilt, so it's now ready to sandwich and quilt - one day!

I was cutting another flannel quilt, using slightly softer pinks this time:

I'm hoping by tomorrw I'll be up to doing a bit more; I can't afford to lose any mre time!

EBDQS - received

No thanks to Bec's postal contractor, the quilt she made me in the EBDQS finally arrived today. Bec made me a convergence quilt using a snowflake fabric as the main print. Hmm, I wonder where that idea came from?!

And after she pieced it, she machine-embroidered delicate snowflakes in a drift, just gorgeous!

I wish I had a machine that could do these!

Thanks Bec, it was worth the wait!

Piecing again

A peek at the palette for my next quilt. It will feature an owl right in the middle.

Pageant day

Today was the Adelaide Christmas Pageant. It's the biggest in the world, and draws over 300,000 people each year - nto bad for a city of about a million people. It was much more pleasant this year (cool and overcast, even a few drops of rain), compared with the blazing sunshine and heat of last year's pre-summer heatwave when it was nearly 40C. The streets are closed all morning, and before it starts, children draw in chalk all over the streets while they wait. It starts at 9.30, but to get a good spot, some people are there before dawn!

A new float from last year was pandas WangWang and Funi, who arrived in Adelaide around the time of  last year's pageant:

A new float this year was Possum Magic, from the children's book:

And of course the favourite to finish it off:

Fabric, mmm

Parisville by Tula Pink has just hit stores, and I've got a stack of it heading my way. Some serious reorganising of my cupboards is definilely on my to do list now!

Another new range I rather like is Rosalie Quinlan's Sweet Broderie, and you can enter for a chance of winning a bundle of it at Retro Mummy's blog:

I finished a big quilting job last night, and have been playing with ideas for a couple of flannel baby quilts. If I can settle on a design, I should be able to get the first one cut and pieced tonight. I love working with flannels, even if I do waste time stroking them!

Spring

Our garden is all lush and green right now. It's amazing how nice it looks given the complete lack of attention it gets. I really must find some time to trim and prune though! We had a wet early spring, and now the roses are doing especially well. Adelaide is known to be a good for roses, and ours are flourishing all over the garden.

Just for Adds

This is an order I received recently. It's mostly Valori Wells' new Bliss flannels, but there's also some Nest quilters' cottons, a few other treats. The best thing about this order wasn't the soaring Aussie dollar, but the unlimited shipping for $40 - the combined shipping on this order would normally be over $100, so this is a bargain.

Festival of Quilts

Last weekend was the South Australian Guild's Festival of Quilts. I didn't enter any quilts this year, but ended up spending a day there helping out at the Express Publications stand. Express publishes Australian Patchwork and Quilting, which has had a number of my quilts in it recently, and there will be a few more in the coming months, too. I then helped pack up at the end of the day and took home two of my quilts (Andrea's Dream, which came out a week or so ago, and my spring tree, which will be out in a few weeks) in exchange for the next one (Nurture, which will be published in early 2011).

After my shift, I had a short time to do my shopping and admire the quilts. I did take some photos of the quilts for inspiration, but I'm not allowed to publish them. However, this year's exhibition was excellent and enjoyable, even though I had a nasty headache by the time I got to it. I did well with my shopping. I picked up some new tools and a nice selections of of half and quater-metre cuts...

I decided way too late I'd like a sampling of both Verna and Hunky Dory, so was pleased to find these packs...

And I've been meaning to get some Angelina sheets and fibres for a while; now I just need the book on how to use them...

A new quilting stencil (I could have done with more choice, I'd've bought more!) and general notions; more marking pens - some the same as I've used before and some new ones to try)...

My complimentary copy of the current AP&Q, plus a special thankyou book, which I'm going to love, from the editors for making the Christmas quilt so quickly for them - they took note of my love of snowflakes; aren't they just lovely?!

A selection of fabrics; I'd not come across the damask in the pewter before, and more skies are always handy...

Thsi delightful selection from Michael Miller (Antiquity), which I didn't recognise, but have since found online (it's far more spectacular in person, and delightfully glittery and fresh) and ordered in serious quantities, plus a coordinating Indian silk...

And finally these fat quarters, which I was surprised I didn't recognise, until I searched online and found that in many US stores it's still on pre-order (Fleur Nouveau from Clothworks). I'll be getting more of this one, too. It has a lovely 'spa' feel to it.

I tried to strike a balance, between buying a bit at the show and supporting it and the Australian shops, and being able to get about three-times the amount of fabric online. I think I came home with enough... but I'm loving shopping online right now (yes, even more than usual!), with the Australian dollar worth more than the US$!