Ah April

April is here already. This year is zooming by at such a rate. All of us are worried about global warming, maybe we should be worried that time is slipping by due to the earth spinning faster. The older you get the faster it seems. Though the speed of  1,700 km/h (1,040 m/h) is pretty fast. We are pretty radical if you think that we walk on an object moving this fast.

The kittens have grown to be small cats now. They have settled into our family as it they were always there. Each of the kittens have developed their own little personalities. The little boy has been to the vet twice so far from being a boy and doing things that the little girl would not think of doing.

Though saying this, I have to admit that the little girls is a killer of any flying insect that comes her way. It is so amusing to watch them do arial fights in persute of moths. Neither of them seem to have a sense of self preservation.

One of the trips to the vet was due to the little boy chasing, catching and eating a bee. We have a hive in our chimney. We do not use the chimney as I threw out the fire place that was attached to it. The bees have now lived in the chimney for the 18 years that we have lived in the house.

Initially I tried to have them removed. After two attempts and doing all of the things you are supposed to do so that African Killer bees do not take residence, I have come to a place of peace where the bees, my family and pets can co-exist. They enjoy the garden and so do we. I would never discourage all of the birds that live on the property so why do it to the most marvelous insect. With that said, the little boy cat has to come to terms that some insects bite back.

I have finished piecing my Granny's garden top. I have cut the squares that I will be using for the back. I just need to take out the sewing machine and stitch it. This is one thing the I don't hand stitch. The back need to be smooth as possible and machine stitching has less texture than hand stitching.

I love stitching up a quilt with the machine. It is so fast. Although I have embraced the Zen required to hand piece a quilt, there is still the savage side of me that would love to produce multiple quilts in a short amount of time. This is the part of my personality that I am still working on.

From being a fidgety child 50 years ago, I think I have come a long way in being able to sit quietly and stitch away. I find it interesting that when I stitch , my mood needs to be calm, as each bit of non-calmness results in my thread snapping or snarling into a knot. Very much like the tension on a sewing machine.

Hope you all have a marvelous first day of April and have an interesting project for the Easter weekend.


Have a good one!

Granny's garden top finished

Wowser. I have just finished stitching the top to my Granny's Garden quilt. I started the first flower on the 22nd of June 2014 and the final flower was done on the 1st of December 2014. The border took me from the 1st of December until the 22nd of March 2015. It has taken me a week to sew the border onto the quilt.

So from start to finish it has taken me 280 days.

The whole reason for wanting to do a granny's garden quilt apart from the fact that they are bright and friendly was to use up a whole lot of jelly rolls that I have collected over time. Many of them were presents and a gorgeous collection of colours. I think they have melded together quite well. As you can see with the border, I just made 4 cm by 8 cm blocks and plaited them together.

I still have about 6 more jelly rolls, so I will have to think of another quilt to use them up on. 

The next step will be to create a backing. I have some lovely floral fabric, which should be perfect. The only problem is that they are not as wide enough to be a backing without some creative intervention. I am going to be using a silk batting. This will be an new experience. The batting feels lovely, but, I will only know how it stitches later. I loved the feeling of bamboo batting, but found that it was quite 'sticky' on the needles.

Hope you are all having a marvelous day and getting some stitching in.

Have a good one! 

Border progress adjustments needed

Well today is Sunday,the outside world is grey and gloomy. What joy. I have spent the whole day stitching. I have managed to stitch the edge on the border. 

These are the corners all ready to be attached. What do you think of the butterflies that I have added?

I have now got to the point where serious calculations needed to be made to do the final adjustments to the design. I am adding some blocks to the border as well as a 1cm stripe to the top and the bottom. It sometimes is fun to do follow your nose designs. The whole point is not to have a freak out when you realize you still have 20 metres to stitch. 

The kittens have been keeping me company. The poor little boy spend a night at the vet. The mean Siamese cat from next door came over to our property and scratched his flank. The scratch formed an abscess and this needed to be drained. The poor boy went under anesthetic and while he was under he was neutered as well. I know it is the responsible thing to do, but, I do feel bad for the poor fella. Extra greenies for him. 

Hope you are having an amazing day and that stitching is part of your plans. I found this funny and it really does appeal to me. Do you think it is funny or do you have to have drunk this cold drink growing up.

Have a good one.

Autumn equinox

Oh hey, oh yay today is the Autumn equinox. At 22:45 the equinox will be achieved. The weather has been soo hot for us to be theoretically in the middle of Autumn. Our Peach tree has thrown a few yellow leaves on the driveway. Apart for this decorating not much else has turned yellow. All of the wild grasses are blooming. What a glorious site. I also do so love hay fever. Even trying to be so cool, every now and again the inner nerd will out.

On the 15th my daughter celebrated her wedding anniversary.  Life does go by so rapidly. Still no grandchildren. It will be amazing when it eventually does happen. They have only been married for a year, but, they have been together for 13 years. 

The picture below is used from Victoriana quilt design I asked permission to use this picture and she kindly said yes.

All four corners have been stitched together. Next step is putting the brown stripes around the edge and then I will join the border to the quilt. Once that is done I need to work out how I am going to put the back together. I bought some beautiful soft floral fabric to use on Dear Jane, but it was too sweet for the ragamuffin that is my interpretation of Dear Jane.

Hope you have an amazing spring or Autumn equinox. I hope that you get a respite from whatever weather system you are now bored with.

Have a good one

Happy St Patrick's Day

Happy St Patrick's day to one and all. I did a quick check and eew  what we are celebrating is the death of a dude in the year 461. I find it amazing and amusing that people deaths' are celebrated in such a jolly way. 

Is that what tradition is? Do events start out all somber and then get high jacked and become a party. I enjoy seeing holidays for what they are. The worst is st valentines day. That is one holiday that gives me the willies. Celebrating a human being torn apart is just not nice. 

I like Christmas as that is actually a Roman feast. Nothing wrong with that.

Ok back to Happy st Patrick's day.  May you have a green beer and find a four leaved clover. May the genetic bits of you that were at some point Irish, have a jolly good time.

What do you think of the cute Irish quilts that I found. 

I am now busy on the corners of my border. I think this year, for the first time, I will be quilting during winter. It feels like I normally piece in winter and when the horrific heat appears, I start quilting the quilt. This normally takes about 3 months which take you through the hottest part of the year. I am looking forward to quilting my Granny's garden quilt.

Have an amazing day!