My Other Love

What is "My Other Love"? Decorating........ I just love getting in and making a room take on a whole new look. Hubby and I have just spent a week at our house in Burra and turned the front room into a formal loungeroom. We did just have a bed and chest of draws in there and it did look rather drab.....but not anymore.

So I thought I would show you some before and after photos of all our hard work. Really it's not hard work when you love doing it.

Hubby and I work well together when it comes to decorating. I buy and plan it all and we both get in and work the magic. He is good at getting up high and I work well down low. At the end of the day it all happens.

At long last the piano has a home. It was spending it's days in the hall but not anymore. It has pride of place in the new formal loungeroom. The room did have a sliding door and I soon got rid of that and put a by-fold with leadlight in it. I am not a fan of the old sliding door!!! Next year we plan to do up the hall and I think we will need more than a week. It's very long, many doors and I want to put a new front door with leadlight in the frame either side of the door. I'm already planning it and now I just have to get my bits and wait until May 2011.

Patchwork Hugs,

Debs

At Last I Can Show

At last I can show you all the little bag I made for my beautiful niece, Amy. She is the daughter of my sister and I felt very special to have been asked, by Amy, to make this for her to use on her wedding day.

I hand sewed 262 beads around the top and it was made out of satin which matched Amy's dress perfectly. If you would like to have a look at my beautiful niece you can do so by going to my sisters blog at http://stitchselection.blogspot.com/ Also there is another beautiful girl there I would like to show you. She is my daughter, Josephine, and she is the bridesmaid in green. Amy and Josephine are very close and I love them both dearly.

Patchwork Hugs,

Debs

A face lift.

No not my face , my blog is the one with a facelift!!! Not that it has been a total facelift but it looks better. I haven't been happy for a long time with this and that and wanted my blog to look more interesting and to express friendliness and to show that people who visit my blog mean a lot to me. So I do hope my blog now expresses this and I thank you all from the bottom of my heart for visiting like you do. Without you all, my blog would be a waste of time.

I bought this great book "Wonderful 1 Fabric Quilts" by Kay Nickols and it is fantastic. Throughout the book it shows you how to make quilts with only one fabric and it is how you cut the fabric that creates the over all look. You use what is called "Wall Paper" fabric. It is fabric with stripes and repeat patterns. You can either fussy cut or random cut for different effects. From one piece of fabric you can get 2 totally different quilts, depending what method you use for cutting.

Now to the table runner. This is my first (so far only) table runner that I have made and I used the "random cut method" from 1 piece of fabric. It was so much fun and I can't wait to make a quilt and I plan to use the fussy cut method for this. It will take more material fussy cutting but I think it will be worth it.

Patchwork Hugs,

Debs

To Show or not!!!!

I didn't know whether to show "My Rooster" or not but then thought oh well here goes!!! He is out of Creating Country Threads Vol 10 No.8. He was to be filled with Hobby Fill only but I have put rice in his feet because I want to use him as a door stop. The 2 males in this house just laughed when I showed them.....you would have thought I would have known better. I guess we shouldn't let what others say or do affect us but their laughing did. At the moment "My Rooster" is sitting in the cupboard waiting for me to get over it. I will bring him out soon, I promise.




This is block 4 of the Breast of Friends. I completed it a few weeks ago and forgot to show you all. The border against my lace table cloth doesn't show up very well but it does look good in person. I think anyway.

Patchwork Hugs,

Debs

Can it be so long?

I cannot believe it has been that many weeks since I last updated my blog. Life has been busy but now that my Hubby has his pilots licence things will slow down. No more trips to Adelaide taking me away from what I love doing. Yippeeeee.

I have done afew things in the sewing room. I won't show everything now.........I want you to keep coming back to see what else has been happening!!!

I would like you to meet Lizzie. I only made her this week and I am very happy with the way she has turned out. She is hanging on the wall in my country diningroom. Lizzie is my second doll and there were somethings I wanted to improve on and I think I have. The colour of her skin, the size of her limbs, the style of dress is all better that the first one. I really wanted to decorate her in an olde worlde / country look and I kind of think she has the look!

Don't forget to come back soon and see what else I have done. I promise it won't be so long.

Patchwork Hugs,

Debs

More fabric

Isn't buying fabric addictive? One piece just isn't enough and you try to tell yourself "I'm going to be good and not buy anymore"..............yeah right!!! I bought these fat 1/4s at my local Newsagent. They have a lovely little corner with all sorts of quilting bits and bobs and every time I go in there the fabric calls me over. Good thing I live 125km away from the Newsagent. I'm planning to do a Stack n Slash with them and thought I would add lace here and there. I have never made one before but can't wait to get started. Just have to finish what I am doing at the moment. Don't want a UFO flying around :)



When I went to Hetty's Patch with my sister I just happened to pick up this fabric. I could have picked up more.........lots more.........but was trying to be good. Now I am home I wish I had been bad, very bad!! The 2 top pieces I just had to have and the 2 bottom pieces have already been cut to make the sashing and borders for my Friendship quilt from my quilting group. Once it is all finished I will post a pic to show you all.


Patchwork Hugs,
Debs

Block Three

Here is Block 3 of the Breast of Friends. I did finish it a little over a week ago but only now have found time to show you all.

Like with blocks 1 and 2 I found it enjoyable to put together. Block 4 is going to be very different to the last 3 and I think quicker to put together. I will post a pic of the next one once completed.

Patchwork Hugs,

Debs

Percy

I would like you all to meet Percy. Who is Percy I hear you say. He is one cute little pig my sister Lucky1 made soon after she started sewing just over 12 months ago.

Percy goes on holidays and has been to places I have never been to...................like America. He sends photos home to his Mum, Lucky and she posts then on his website. Yes he has a website!!!

At the moment Percy is here on holiday with me and if you would like to see what Percy has been up to, you can by visiting his blog at http://www.postcardsfrompercy.blogspot.com/

Plus you will get an insite into where I live.

Patchwork Hugs,

Debs

Breast of Friends

I am doing the Breast of Friends quilt along with my sister, Lucky. We are doing one block a month in the colours of our choice. I am enjoying the appliques but most of all doing this with my sister is the best part. We live 300km apart but with emails, we are able to checkout what each other is doing. We each have a daughter and plan to leave our quilts, along with a Journal about the making of the quilts to our daughters. The first photo is Block 1.




This is Block 2. At the Adelaide Craft and Quilting fair I bought 2 fat 1/4s for Lucky to use in her quilt and she bought me 2. The reason for this was so that a little bit of us was in the other ones quilt.

This is Block 3 and all you get is a little hint of what it looks like. If you want to see the Blocks Lucky has done you can by visiting her blog at www.stitchselection.blogspot.com

Patchwork Hugs, Debs

It's been so long.

I can't believe it has been so long since I have posted anything on my blog. I do apologize to anyone who has taken the time to come to my blog to see what I have been up to.

What have I been up to? A lot really but not in the sewing room. Life has become hectic with business trips away and other things. I can however see a light at the end of the tunnel and life should get back to normal..........................whatever normal is!!

I think we have to make time for what is important and to say no to things that get in the way. Not always easy but it sounds good all the same.

Thank you for visiting my blog and I hope you will find time to pop in every now and again. I will be here. xxx

Sewing Table

Look what my hubby made me. A lovely quilting table for my Bernina. They are not cheap to buy and he is very handy so after him offering to make one, I couldn't spoil his fun and say no.... and he got all the material to make it free!!!!! I have already used it and it's great.

Quilts, quilts.

Here are 2 quilts I have recently quilted. The first one was started in June of last year and the second was started in September. My Brother machine was not up to the quilting and in late August 09 I bought myself a Bernina Quilters Edition sewing machine. I cannot believe that I can quilt. I truly was starting to think it was me and not my machine.

So you can imagine how excited I still am when looking at "My 2 Quilts". They are not perfect but they are quilted and I think look okay. I'm hoping the only way I can go with my quilting is up from here!!!!

Another Bag

My daughter Josephine was looking for, you guessed it.............another bag. I bought this fabric at a lovely quilting shop and Josephine was with me and she fell in love with the fabric and I just had to buy it. Thinking one day I would use it to make her something not knowing "that something" would turn up in less than 12 months of the fabric sitting in skinny cupboard!!

I didn't have a pattern so just went for it and I am rather happy with the way it has come up. There is even enough fabric left that maybe I could make myself one.