I lost my mind...

...somewhere, and picked up an AWFUL cold instead! It's no fun, especially now that the weather has fined up! So while I would love to show you some fancy no project, it's just some more mindless piecing:

See what I meant about the seam allowances in my last post? To the left block 13 completely pieced, to the right block 14 with the first lot of string piecing done. Of course I know how much the 1/4" sesm allowance is, but every now and then it still surprises me! I'll try to get block 14 done tomorrow, and then I better find out from Suz what's on for October :)

I promised you some pics of my German fabric purchases; remember that I had a hard time finding material and I never found any 'German' themed ones at all? These came from Ikea, not necessarily patchwork fabrics but they will work:

Just 3m of cream and 1m of cream with black handwriting. At Ikea you had to cut your own fabric. this was then weighed by the attendant and the machine spat out that little sticky. The prices were incredibly cheap (1€ approx. NZ$1.60, and with my SiL's family card they took another € off per metre!). I had two more pieces but they have come to live with Suz and with our housesitter Donna.

I also bought some curtain material to replace the cute but outdated Dino blinds in the boys' bedrooms :) One (two!) of the when I get (a) 'round to it' projects!

I really liked these fabrics though they are nothing like my 'normal' colour palette. However, I have since realised that they are polycottons, so I am not quite sure yet what I will do with them.

I also got something very special, my MiL gave me some Damask for duvet covers from her hope chest. I need to make a start on these :)

Last but not least Suz gave me this for my bday last month: 

All about music - I love it! Will have to save it for something special!

In between coughing and sniffing I haven't achieved much today, I tied up some of the piles in my sewing room and mended a few shorts etc. but nothing that would be obvious to anyone but me. I think I need to start some little creative project - middle DS' Great Barrier Reef quilt? A Germany inspired piece? Make a start on the next AQC Challenge (I better check dates)? I have a nice pile of pinks, but inspiration hasn't struck yet.

Then there are these grey/black/white/reds (not 100% sure about the ones on the left). Hmmm...

Lastly a saddish photo: My Mended Heart didn't sell so was returned to me (that's not the sad part yet!). This is what it now looks like: 

Can you see the hole in the right half of the heart? It must have happened in the mail, as the envelope has the same hole through and through:

I still haven't done anything about it, I don't think there is anything that can be done. However, I will email the organiser to please return quilts in bubble wrap envelopes in the future to better protect them.

I hope you have a productive weekend! Happy Sewing!

MiA from Blogland

I feel like that a bit, there has been so much on lately that I just haven't had time to post!

Work has been really good-crazily busy if you know what I mean, I have been on the road heaps but I feel I am making progress (if you like to know, this year I am working as e-Learning Facilitator, that means I work with currently 6 primary schools in Northland, New Zealand, about implementing a blend of traditional and digital learning in their classrooms for increased student engagement and achievement - big words I know, but great fun!). Still I got quite a bit done on the sewing front, so here are some photos:

 The Sewing Circle Tote is done and I am very pleased about it!

It is large and heavy - about 1100g empty lol

Lots of pockets inside - 3 zipped pockets and 5 with elastic, plus 4 pockets outside

The smaller elastic pockets easily fit an iPad Mini lol

See my feature fabric peeking out? Not my usual choice but I love it!

This comes in very handy because the Kerikeri Patchwork Club have decided to run a monthly Stitch and Chat every 3rd Saturday, 11am - 4pm at Cherry Park House. We had great fun last month, so if you are in the area, bring your sewing and lunch and join in ($1 contribution towards the room hire). There were oldies and newbies, and I am sad I won't be able to make the next two but I will definitely be back. But as you could see from one of the above pics, this bag might come in very handy in my work also to take some of my tech geeky stuff to my schools :-)

Next we have...

Mended Heart, my contribution towards the Red Challenge of the Aotearoa Quilters at this years Quilt Symposium in Taupo. The lovely Ms Lottie had been experimenting with a few different projects for this and as usual she got me into mischief she inspired me to get going, too (between Suz and her I have gotten my a into g a few times!). I wanted to play with quilting with contrasting thread following a piece Rona made a few years ago. It consists of a layer of dropcloth, then two slightly differently painted pieces of silk chiffon behind a piece of red batik, using reverse applique method. The cut out shape is a broken heart, and I wanted to show how after a heart was broken it might never quite be the same, but it grows, stronger, bigger, maybe slightly out of shape but nevertheless the heart and therefore we are still there. Is this ok to send in I wonder??

Then there was...

another oven mitt to take with us to Germany - 5 completed now (I have cut out one more and fabric for two after that. I am getting a bit over them, though!)

Out of the blue...

I decided to make a rag quilt from some gorgeous flannels I bought from Ngaire at The Apple Basket. I didn't really look at any instructions so I have batting coming out right to the ends of the squares which made the piecing a bit challenging...

With some of the joints needing a bit of hiding, in good scrapbooking tradition I put a button over them :-)

and as middle DS just got a new sofa in his room, this will probably live there! Need to measure it first, but from recollection its about 40x55" and there are some leftovers to make a cushion cover eventually.

Last but not least, DP4 has a name: "(I wish it was) Summer all year long". I have pulled it out again and have completed just under half of the feathers. I got pickier with the shapes, though, so I have started unpicking some of the wonky ones - after all it's meant to be a present! - and I will continue working on this for a while still:

I hope you have a lovely weekend and a productive week whatever you might be up to!
Happy Sewing!