I'm Still Here (thinking hard!)

I didn't mean to take a blogging hiatus- I just don't know the days went...

But I have been thinking hard, and I have been inspired!

A little cliche I know - but I do love flowers, and these roses....well what can I say? I have red on my mind....which reminds me that I have a BOM to post.

I love the way roses unfurl themselves, I could look at this bouquet all day (it's ok, I take coffee breaks)

Phew....

Just recovering from non stop quilting! I like to take a few days off not really doing anything after I've been sitting away at my machine non stop for a week.


I've been enjoying some garden time before it gets too hot to stay outside for very long. My favourite time in the garden is mid morning and twilight.
Nature really expresses some great colours at these times, really vivid and fresh....or changing and glowing in the sunset.


These specific and beatiful hues are the reason I started hand dying my own fabric ranges... when I couldnt find the exact tone for a quilt I had in mind....I took it to task to create it! Of course, I learnt that the bright glossy colour in the jar doesnt stay that way after washing, rinsing and ironing, so I have pallettes of beautiful, suprising and sometimes unexpected tones.

Just recently I read about a textile artist who, after getting too old to work with fabric, started painting. She said that the best thing about painting was the colour gratification - that the colour she mixed and blended more or less stayed true to that first initial colour thrill. That idea really excites me, I dont think I'm too old to quilt just yet....but when I get there, I think I will take up painting too!

Happy Birthday Grace!

Happy Birthday Grace !

What a beautiful day

celebrating the birthday of someone we all love so much

Today the Applique Angels celebrated Grace's birthday, and yes, the sun was shining and we had a special suprise.......

Mary's Ginger Fluff Cake

Now, yes, we did promise to provide this famouse cake and *nothing else*, but Grace, we were already well under way making your quilt when we promised.... what were we supposed to do? Give it to someone else??

I love a suprise when its REALLY a suprise! and I think this was an unexpected gift (the best type I think).

So that made the suprise even more rewarding.

Here's Grace inspecting my quilting to see if it's up to scratch!

HAPPY BIRTHDAY GRACE !

Secret quilting business...continues

and now I've got the flowers, so its time to deliver this quilt!

Secret quilting business.....finished

So

I finished quilting the SUPRISE Birthday Quilt this morning

And now I'm going....where? to the florist!

I only quilted this beautiful quilt, it was made by Applique Angels, knowing that Grace loves Birds of a Feather

Secret Quilting Business

It's been quiet lately, because I've been up to....secret quilting business..... this is the only snap shot I can provide (or else I'll be in a lot of trouble!). Being the last hand on the list, I was waiting to receive the item, and now I'm quilting against time to get it finished.

You know, it doesnt matter what I plan, or what I say, last minute quilting is becoming my specialty!

After a little clean up and sorting out on my weekend , I'm back to the stitch!

Will keep you posted with more info AFTER the event.....

Basking in the Sun

Basking in the sun.....today I started emptying out my bear drawers, and came across some little bears that I made a few years ago just before I started quilting. It's a shame to keep them boxed up so my daughter took them out in the garden for a photo shoot in order to find them new homes.

I remember when I first started making bears - a friend told me that bear makers always end up making bears that look like themselves, their spouses or their pets! I remember looking at some bears of people I knew and seeing a resemblance....and then staring at my own ...and not being able to see anything....but a bear. Until today that is. This little bear, ginger fluff, has a strong resemblance to my over indulged and over dramatic cat, who was no doubt looking at me forlornly whilst I was trying to make ginger fluff's face.

I ended up boxing my bears away because my cat took a liking to biting my bears faces and trying to chew off their stitched noses.