WOW: Working on HOYH

  WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays  

Oh wow, look away now. I am driving myself crazy with selecting the right fabrics for my full colour HOYH quilt. I have been shopping up a storm, going backwards and forwards and ending up in a different place every time. And the worst thing is that I love every possibility and can't decide between them. I really thought I would struggle with my 'limited' pallette quilt, but actually it's this full colour version that's causing all the drama in my studio.

 There's no way you've been able to keep up with my flipping and changing. So here's my update: in the last week I've been torn between using this golden polka dot linen, the Fassett poka dot above and the Tula Pink polka dot in aqua below. All I know is, I have an issue with polka dots. The issue being, I can't get enough of them. 

I have these combinations up on my design wall where I can see them with 'fresh' eyes during the day. At some point I will commit. 

I just don't know when..

 What's Your WOW? 

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'Queen's Garden' by Sandra Pearson

Queen's Garden by Sandra Pearson of the UK

Sandra has created an absolute stunner - I love how these fabrics shine against the light background. And the quilting is superb. Each flower block has been enhanced and is looking fabulous.

Queen's Garden is such a fun applique quilt, I love seeing how every single make is just a bit different and comes into it's own through use of colour and fabric.

It's gorgeous Sandra!

'Queen's Garden' 

Read more about this quilt by clicking here now

--------------------------- Open Quilt Gallery--------------------------- 

Thanks to Sandra Pearson for sharing her finished quilt with us all to take inspiration from. If you'd like to see more finished quilts made from any of my patterns, visit my Open Gallery. It's a place for all quilters who make any of my quilts to show off their creations in a central online gallery. It's new and I hope you'll join us by adding your own quilt there. Submitting your quilt pics is easily done via an upload screen directly on my website. Click here now if you'd like to submit your own quilt.

'Love Always' by Shirley Tchou

'Love Always' by Shirley Tchou, Pepper Pike, Ohio, US

Take a look at this beauty! I look and get my fill, but find I have to keep looking. My eyes are just drinking in this wonderful colour scheme. It feels cool, lush and enchanting. The balance of greens and purples with accents of yellow is inspiring and I am in love with every inch of this quilt. 

I'm so blessed to see my quilt designs presented to me in so many different colour schemes and moods; I'm ever grateful to the talented quilters who take the time to send me their work and allow me to enjoy my designs paired and transformed through their creativity- it's a partnership of pleasure. Thank you so much Shirley, you have made my day. 

Love Always is a special quilt, I consider it to be the sister quilt of Love Entwined and it definitely has a large dose of romance and mystery about it. I love how the simple rose vines create gateways inviting you to spend time in the centre which is anchored with three large flourishing blooms. I love every last detail and it's a joy to see others  interpreting the design over and over again - each time is a new story that I can't wait to read.

'Love Always' 

You can read more about this quilt or buy this quilt pattern by clicking here now

--------------------------- Open Quilt Gallery--------------------------- 

Thanks to Shirley Tchou for sharing her quilt with us all to take inspiration from. If you'd like to see more finished quilts made from any of my patterns, visit my Open Gallery. It's a place for all quilters who make any of my quilts to show off their creations in a central online gallery. It's new and I hope you'll join us by adding your own quilt there. Submitting your quilt pics is easily done via an upload screen directly on my website. Click here now if you'd like to submit your own quilt.

Hop To It: Easter Wall Hanging

Here's the 'Easter Blessings' Wall Hanging I started 2 years ago - boy does time fly! I think it's about time this beauty was completed, so I've set myself the task of getting it done this week. This Easter I intend to have it hanging in my kitchen. As you can see, I reached the border stage. The pattern calls for a pieced border that creates egg shapes, but I was so in love with this print fabric (I picked the one on the left hand side), that I decided to opt for a floral border.

The pattern includes 3 designs:

This is the one I'm making above, in Landscape layout

It also comes in a portrait layout option

and then there's this 'Bunny Hunter' version with a satisfied bunny after an egg hunt. Cute huh?

Like it? Make it! 

Easter Blessings Wall Hanging

Complete Digital Pattern

$9.95 USD

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WOW: Getting Easter Ready

  WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays  

Twenty years ago, I used to make my own door wreaths. I know, I can't believe it either (this was before I had discovered quilting as a way to spend all my time and money). Back then, you just couldn't buy the sort of thing I was after, so I made them. I spent hours - no, more like entire days and hundreds of dollars putting together a wreath that would make a statement. My favourite seasons were Spring and Autumn, although I made one for all four as well as birthdays and Easter and I have long suffering memories of drying huge bouquets of hydrangeas and various leaves for my staple supply.  Looking back, I just can't believe how much work it all was. Even as I type this, I'm actually shuddering at this brief walk down memory lane. Boy, how I would have loved to just be able to purchase a lovely door wreath for the season and be done with it. Well, I'm happy to report that this is just what I'm doing today. 

No more will I while away hours toiling over dried stems when there's a design backlog, a chair leaning over with the burden of blocks and quilt WIPs stacked to the ceiling. I have gone modern. 

I have my eye on the one above. Do you like it? I'm taken by the pansies. I'm all in a pansy kind of mood because of HOYH. My DD (who has inherited the need for wreaths of all kinds) purchased this tulip beauty below, and we're all happy about it. We've decided to pool our wreaths so that we don't double up and have an interesting enough supply to rotate all year long. So far, I've lived without wreaths for nearly 15 years now but it feels like 15 years too long. I am totally ready to get back into loving my front door again. 

I'm pretty sure the pansies are going to find their way to me and I'm going to spend the rest of my precious Wednesday working up a storm on my two HOYH beauties..

And that's how it should be.. on with the Quilt WIPs!

I'd love to know: 

what crafts did you indulge in before you found quilting??

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up

Blogs I Love: The Pioneer Woman

I've been blogging for over ten years now. It feels like an enormous thing to have accomplished - especially given that I'm sticking to it as my longest ever Work In Progress! I only set out to document my work and designs; when you spend all day creating, time becomes 'relative' and it's nice to have a journal to access as the years roll by. The early years were less organised than my posts today, but being online is a learning experience and I'm still learning what it means to be online - even now.

When I started blogging, there weren't many quilt blogs around and over the years, many have fallen away or become inactive. This is such a shame as really nothing compares to the 'unedited' voice of creating and managing your own blog. One of the first blogs I followed when I set out on my own journey online was 'The Pioneer Woman' by Ree Drummond and I've been reading it for well over 10 years now. I found it completely by accident - via links from one blog that led to another blog and finally ended up at her ranch. Boy am I glad those winding links led me there. 

This might sound strange, but when I see Ree on a magazine cover or on the TV, she feels so familiar, it's like recognizing a friend. I suppose that's the power of the internet and blogging. It's hard to read someone for so long and not feel connected to them in some way - even though I've never been to Oklahoma or met her in person. This might explain why I'm so thrilled with her homewares range, it's like congratulating a friend on their success, you feel so happy for them and that happiness is contagious. 

And here's the weird thing: the items in the range are exactly the kind of thing I would have designed, I just love them so much. My DDs and I have been creating a wishlist of items we simply MUST HAVE but it's a futile enterprise, I just want to back up the truck and take two of everything. Sigh. How can I even decide?

About 20 years ago, I actually 'folk painted' our rice cooker, which is the nearest I have come to finding the kind of home and kitchen ware I want - boy am I tired of white and metal finishes! This just steals my heart. If it wasn't for the electrical differences between the US / EU and AU, I'd already own this. 

and this..

but I'll just focus on what I can have, like this

and who doesn't need these?

And I just love that Barbie have created a Ree doll in her own kitchen; can it get any cuter than this? If Barbie made a Quilter playset, they'd have to bury the doll under layers of fabric swatches to make it lifelike; and scatter the toolkit randomly. It could be a kind of treasure hunt to find the rotary cutter, matt, ruler and threads. Ha! The idea really appeals. 
This post is not paid or endorsed or requested. I have no connection to the Pioneer Woman, she doesn't even know who I am. I'm simply posting my love and happiness at another blogger's success and fawning over her knockout homeware collection.

You can visit the Pioneer Woman here
You can visit her recipe posting site her (you can be sure I do!)

I'd love to know, who's your favourite blogger? What blogs do you LOVE to visit? 

WOW: What A Mess!

WOW = WIPs On Wednesdays 

There's actually quite a few things I'd like to do today, but I can't find any of it - there's fabric, patterns, freezer paper, fusible and general mess in the way. So that's my task - tidy up and put everything away.. just so I can create a whole new storm of creative mess for a different project. Sigh. I need a bigger sewing room!

What's Your WOW?

An InLinkz Link-up