Table Runners for gifts

Here are a couple of table runners I sewed up for the boys teacher's for Christmas. Great pattern, and easy to sew up when you need something quick....(check out this site for the instructions, quilters) http://www.quiltbus.com/tabletopper.htm

The Wedding Quilt

Here is the photo of the quilt I made for Jane and Stephen when they got married in November. It was a pattern from Quiltsitters, based on the Judy Hooworth seminar I missed in July (sniff sniff). Those that know the pattern will see I ran out of fabric and needed to adapt the pattern, but I really like the effect that I was able to achieve. It is in between queen and king size. I finished the top, and sent it to Ellen in Padstow to quilt for me....what a great job she does!
Thankfully she helped me out and stitched the binding on for me as well. Phil picked it up when he flew to Sydney, and then took it to Melbourne for the wedding....so this is a well travelled quilt! made in Berlin, quilted in Sydney! Thanks Ellen, you are a life saver!!!!

Lizzie Kate December

Got this one completed just in the nick of time....30th November! I am enjoying doing these Lizzie Kate designs. They do not take long to do, and I am enjoying doing some smaller designs, something I haven't really done before! On to the January ones now...to be finished before Xmas....we will see. I still need to knit a couple of scarves for birthday presents, and something for teachers for Xmas presents. I am not sure how I will go for time??

Teddy Alphabet

Yippee, this one has been a long term project, and finally I put the last stitches in last night! What a relief. The backstitching on this was a killer, and in the end I gave up looking at the chart, and just made it up as I went along....I don't think you can tell! Next on the list of kits are 2 floral charts that I won in an English Cross stitch magazine. Not really my usual type of scene, but I both kits have no backstitching, so they should stitch up quickly....then it is on to the Teresa Wentzler Peacock Tapestry...that will keep me busy for quite sometime!

Mrs Taft

Finally sewn the last seams for the top of the QuiltSitters Challenge for this year. Now I need to sew the borders and quilt together. Would like to get it finished by this week...but not hopeful. The boys are on half term break (for the week), and we are off on a holiday as well.....so perhaps next week! :) Off to a festival this afternoon run by the Berlin International Women Association..no idea what it will be like, but they have face painting, and you can't beat that!!! :)

Lizzie Kate - November

The credit card got a bit of a run a few weeks ago in a craft shop in America (gotta love internet shopping!) I have fallen in love with these Lizzie Kate designs. They are quick to stitch, and a nice break from the large projects I am working on at the moment. These are the 2003 and 2004 monthly designs. Once December 2005 is out, I will buy the complete set (to save on postage). Each month I will work on the following months bell pull. I will buy 1 hanger, and some velcro. Stitch the velcro on the back, attach it to the hanger, and change them each month..instead of buying 12 hangers! Nice to be sttiching these in the Northern hemisphere....where it actually is Autumn, and there are heaps of leaves, acorns and chestnuts falling to the ground! The fabric is long enough for 5 or 6 designs...depending on how big next years designs are!

What I am working on?

quilting.....I am working on our quiltsitters challenge for this year....here is a colour picture of the quilt...can't reveal the real thing yet...sorry! But it won't be long! A really nice pattern to work with...(name of block is Mrs Taft). X stitch, still working on a teddy bear alphabet sampler, over 1/2 way there now. I really want to get this finished before the end of the year. Also got some Lizzie Kate designs that I want to start working on. These are quick designs, and I have to prepare the fabric to start stitching on these as well. There is a pattern for each month of the year, and I want to have November's done before the 1st Nov

Wedding Quilt top

This quilt top has proved to be a tricky one, but finally I am happy with the final top. It is a queen size quilt, and follows the Judy Hooworth pattern from Quiltsitters (my Sydney quilt group)a few months ago. For those that know the technique, I didn't have enough red fabric to make 2 quilts...so I needed to incorporate both sets of triangles blocks into the one top. In the centre light diamond, I added 4 red connectors to add an additional diamond, as I thought there was too much light brown fabric in the centre. I am really happy with it! I ran out of red fabric, and went to the quilt shop that I have been buying my fabric from in Berlin.....to find it closed, no sign to say if it had moved or closed down. Previously the walls were painted blue and yellow, and now they were white, and no trace of even a thread on the floor?? I have no idea what happened, and there is no connected phone (hoping that the phone was on a diversion to a new address). So, back to square one with no quilt group! But where one door closes, another one opens. I have found a mum at school who quilts, and wants to get together and sew together! So that is fabulous! Chantal is a new quilter..so I am hoping to corrupt her a bit (well a lot really!) :)

Parrot Quilt

I got this one finished on Thursday night at the first Book Club meeting I have joined up with. This one I started at Kaye England's seminar last year, and put the final stitches in the binding at the book club. Another one to strike off my UFO list (UnFinished Object) :) I only had a small amount of this parrot fabric (25cm strip), and thought this was a great pattern to show it off!

Boo

I finished this cross stitch this afternoon. I had every intention of finishing a quilt instead, but the boys have been a bit wild, and it was better to sit with them for an hour and a half and watch a video. This one is a Lizzie Kate design, and a really easy pattern to stitch. It was nice to finish something so quickly after a few late night stitching sessions! I need to look at what else is in the stash to work on next!

"It's definitely not finished Mum"

That was Cameron's reaction to looking at the current quilt I am working on. He is right, though I don't need reminding!
This is a quilt I started at last year's Kaye England seminar in November. I got the centre piece and the next 2 rows completed at the seminar. Once it was all together I decided I wanted to add an extra row around the whole thing. This got popped away for another day, while I started a new project at the seminar. After talking to Kelly,who is waiting patiently (not) for her baby to make an appearance at any moment, I thought I would tackle this one.....Mmm...sounded like a good thing to do this morning. 168 small , 12 medium and 16 large triangles later, I have decided one extra row will be enough for this quilt! I will get the rows together tomorrow. Cameron is busting to work on his first quilt, so we better get going on that one! We will try and get all the fabric cut out this afternoon before Alexander comes home from school

Zig Zag Quilt

Here is the latest finished quilt. I started this one a few weeks ago and then got held up looking after Alexander with the chicken pox. It is a cot size quilt, for a friend that has had a baby boy. I thought I better finish it today, while I had Phil home. Otherwise it would be another week before it was finished. I begin another week of chicken pox with Cameron! He is looking forward to starting his first quilt as well!

Halloween Sampler

One of the bonuses of Alexander being ill is that he lies on the couch. He wants me to sit next to him, so I can do some cross stitching while I am sitting there. I managed to finish this Halloween piece this afternoon. There was heaps of beading in it, and that has taken me awhile to complete. This piece is my penfriend Charlotte's, I just finished it off for her! I will send it to her once I can get out of the house and get to the post office.
On another note, we are supposed to be going to Hamburg this weekend, fingers crossed that we will actually manage to get out of the house....we are really looking forward to going..It is only 1 1/2 hours train ride from Berlin!

Halloween Lap Quilt

Here is a picture of a quilt I finished this weekend. (Of course I started another one as well). I was given all this Halloween fabric and had no idea what to do with it. My quilt group did this pattern a few months ago. It is called Birds in The Air.

All 6" blocks are sewn

I managed to get a bit of sewing done last night when the boys were asleep. This block is a variation on the Beggars Block, (see 5500 Quilt Block Designs, Maggie Malone Page 56). Although I didn't want pinwheel patterns on every corner, so just did the red connectors on one side each. I ran into a bit of a problem with the border, but I think I can manage this OK...just need to pick out the colour for the next border, and I can start to sew all the blocks together.