Table Runner Challenge

Well now that the 31st July has passed and the unveiling has happened I can show the table runner I made for Quilt Challenge 2013. This challenge is organised by Donna of our Wednesday night group, but is on facebook so people from all over can enter. My swap person was in the US and the one I got came from Queensland.

Table runner I sent....close up of turtle and beading

fish swimming by the weeds and shells

table runner held up by headless woman!!!Lol!!

table runner I received - love the batik fabric.

FNWF

Well, our FNWF turned in to a weekend sewing with friends plus an outing to quilt shop we hadn't found before, plus lots of eating, drinking and chatting and generally enjoying each others company! We all went to St Leonard's for the weekend..

Friday night dinner of fish and chips - Tracee was having an out of body experience!! Lol!!

Saturday we drove to Newcombe looking for this quilt shop , The Blanket Box,  as Tracee ran out of DMC thread, 

sadly this shop didn't have the needed thread but....it did have many other things that were needed...really needed!!! Lol!!! Tania found some fabric she had been looking for and couldn't find anywhere else..she was very happy! I found two stitcheries I really needed (LOL) and some car fabric I do actually need. 

Would recommend a visit to this shop...great fabric, great service....we will be back!

We went on in to Geelong to Lincraft to get the DMC  (and some other things we NEEDED) mmmmmm..... following that, we  visited a new shop (Red Desire)  run by a young Chinese woman, I didn't take a photo but will next time, she had lovely things and her prices were really good, she had some clothes, house wares, journals, soaps...lots of goodies....we will be back there too! We all came out happy and wish her well in her new venture!

then we needed a cuppa at Gloria Jeans to set us up for the trip back to St Leonards!!

Sewing has commenced!! So did the rain and the temperature dropped and the light faded but we battled on!!

(Trying to get myself into the photo!!) Tee hee!!

We had Marg's home made potato and leek soup for late lunch, then had afternoon tea, cheese and bikkies!

I had purchased some self threading needles, and couldn't thread them!!! Oh dear!! Tracee helped me and passed it back but hey where is the needle???? It was still unthreaded and in Tracee's hand!! I think she was teasing me!!

Me being industrious...Tracee preparing dinner! ( Like we need more food!!)

Tracee still busy and Marg checking the weather.

Tracee dishing up a feast!! (And not looking at the camera!!)

Dinner!! YUM!! Didn't she do an amazing job?

Sunday morning we had a walk along the beach - me taking a photo of Marg taking a photo of us!!

And to the serious stuff!! We did get some sewing done! I am working on Block 1 of my BOM,

Marg is sewing her kangaroo's onto her strip quilt

Tania is creating beautiful hexagons

here is the full view of Marg's quilt, love the colours! They are so suitable for an Australian theme quilt,

I am also repairing a work colleague's quilt, lots of seams have come undone, so some stitching up is needed.

I need to get a photo of Tracee's Perry's Place quilt but blogger is not letting me so I will return!!

Ha! Ha! I am back!

Perry's Place is coming along - Tracee has done so much work on this quilt this year - she is blanket stitching around the fence and posts and at last count had 6 posts to go! It is already amazing and will be sensational when it is all finished...I think Tracee will be relieved too!!

Sadly all good things have to end and we headed home Sunday afternoon after having a wonderful extended FNWF!!

Sewing on the weekend

Painchwork with the free range quilting done!

beginning work on the Halloween table runner

love these pumpkins!!

hexagons coming along nicely!

Monday walk - such a beautiful day at the end of the boat ramp!

Playing with some....can't remember the name of these squares!! But I am practising getting seams in line!!!

Not bad if you don't look too close!! Lol!

I hate when this happens when I am trying to do the free range quitting! Grr! Now I have to unsew!!

Weekend away

I love having weekends at the beach, doesn't matter what the weather is like I can read, sew, walk, do nothing....watch TV (so long as the footie is not on!!) Very relaxing!!!

four seasons in a couple of days!

Lovely day Monday and Tuesday! Enjoyed a lovely walk along the beach...had fun playing with reflections!

Halloween preparations

I received a parcel of fabric from my girlfriend in New Zealand, she had found a quilting shop that was, sadly, closing down, so I scored some beautiful fabric...the only catch being, that she wants some of it made up into various things and returned to her!! So today I started on a skinny table runner

Am planning to do some hand quilting in orange around some of the pumpkins and cats, and bats!

Painchwork

I have had a lovely relaxing afternoon - have been painting on fabric and had a visit from Tania carrying a chai! I started here with traced pictures

then after relaxing painting - relaxing because I didn't manage to spill paint on the fabric or the floor and I do find it very relaxing - kind of like colouring in, I ended  up with this below!

Next step is to free range quilt on all the chalk lines (they look black now) and then decide if I do anything else to them before binding. I am a happy bunny this afternoon! Lol!!

Phew!!

Finally after many hours of tracing, cutting,  ironing, more cutting and then trying to get the pieces to fit together and then more ironing.....I have two blocks ready to sew from my BOM. ( Tracee please take note!!) LOL!!

this one ended up being a bit crooked but after an hour of trying too get it all to fit together close enough was good enough!!!

Chookies and babies went together a little better - only ironed one baby to the ironing board!! LOL!!