More Chocolate Hearts

The chocolate hearts quilt is starting to take shape....I wish that posting photos to a blog was as easy as patchwork!

The wedding isn't until April 2010 so I have plenty of time for this quilt. That means I will take my time and probably start half a dozen more projects before this one is finished. Still, that's one of the best things about a hobby - you only have to please yourself.

Crochet Coffee Break

I was looking for a little project to take with me to Ballarat last weekend, and I came across a cute crocheted coffee cup on the Cravings Frocks website. Just right! Followed the blog trail to the original instructions. Managed to find the wool aisle in Spotlight and purchased some coffee colours. The photo is my result.

Cravings Frocks belongs to the Northside Makers collective, a very new group from Melbourne's northern suburbs.

"Membership is open to all crafty residents of Melbourne's northern suburbs, whatever your crafty genre: art, sculpture, jewelery, photography, knitting, cooking, patchwork, upholstery, design. Anything and everything."

The group's focus is on the practical - market stalls, craft sessions, publicity - as well as socialising, eg. crochet and coffee sessions. Worth a look!

My Creative Space

Last Sunday our brass band travelled to Ballarat to perform in the Victoria Band League State Championships, a part of the Ballarat South Street Eisteddfod. We were the first band on stage after lunch, so us percussionists were given all the time we needed to set up on stage. I took the opportunity to take a photo of my spot in the band. Our band room only has two timpani so it was quite exciting to play with four.

And come Sunday evening, Sale City Band became the Number One D Grade band in Victoria. Very satisfying.

And I Spy Emma Too

I gave Emma her QAYG hexagon quilt on Saturday, you can see how impressed she was! Machining the hexagons was the way to go; she would be at school before I finished a hand pieced one.
But... hand piecing is very pleasant if you have no deadline. I've always wanted to make a double wedding ring in 1930s prints. When I was in grade 6 my best friend and I would watch TV after school; on the couch at her house was a double wedding ring quilt her grandmother had made. I loved all the cheery yet faded colours.
I've found my sheet of cutout vinyl templates that I bought years ago. The set of Matilda's Own templates have been recommended but I thought I would try I ones I already have. I'm not quite ready to start but the idea is floating up to the top of the queue.

The Virgin Retreat

The retreat was great. Our group of 15 went to Rawson Village, a very popular venue for patchwork and scrapbooking groups on the East side of Melbourne. Great food, no washing up and all day (and night) to sew. We made our booking for the same time next year; if you don't book early you miss out.

I finished Project No.1, the QAYG quilt for granddaughter Emma. It took longer than I thought to top stitch each hexagon but then it was very quick to sew together.

I made 7 more blocks for Project No. 2 the Chocolate quilt. I need more dark chocolate fabrics, so stopped on the way home at Lily Lane in Rosedale and found 3 more dark chocolate prints and a metre of milk chocolate.

Nice to get away, quite nice to get back home.

Introducing the Chocolate Quilt

Project No. 2 for the retreat weekend is the Chocolate Quilt. DS is getting married in April 2010, and I asked him and his fiancee what colours they were after in a quilt. Chocolate, cinnamon and vanilla; the same colours as the wedding invitations.
The pattern I choose was colourwash hearts - dark on light in one corner, light on dark in the opposite corner. My fabrics aren't really colourwash designs, more of a scrap quilt in six shades: dark chocolate, milk chocolate, caramel cocoa, honeycomb, creamy nougat and white chocolate.

My sewing materials are all packed. I'll pack myself in the morning, do a half day at work and go on my adventure after lunch.

I wonder what I have forgotten...

I Spy Jack

Project No. 1 for my Virgin Retreat is QAYG hexagons, all machine done. I bought the perspex templates from Kiwi Quilts at one of the Melbourne shows and they do a great job. The first quilt I made with the templates is modeled above by grandson Jack. He got his playrug for Christmas 2008. Granddaughter Emma is already 4 months old; if I wait until Christmas 2009 she'll be crawling around.

The hexagons are all pinned and ready to be machined. The I Spy pieces are a mix of my favourite fabrics and leftover squares from the charm packs on my website - 61 different prints in all and backed with five different pink fabrics. I hope to finish the whole quilt on the weekend.

Resurrection

I was amazed to find that I created my blog over two years ago; last post about two years ago. Took me a while to find it.
So, found the blog, dusted it off, and ready to have another go.
I am packing to go to my first ever quilting retreat. I have two projects to take and fancy dress is not required. I am looking forward to just sewing and Not Cooking.

Just a small post, hopefully a great leap in blogging.