Saying Goodbye to December

Tomorrow will be the last day of 2011 so this will the final post for the year!  To say it has sped by is an undertatement, it has been very full indeed, especially with the beautiful weekly Civil War blocks by Barbara Brackman!!! 

Because of the time of year I would have expected the last block of December to be a bit Christmassy and so we have #52 Christmas Star!

I decided to Foundation Paper Piece this block because trying to get 5 even measurements out of an 8"x 8" block was really playing with my head, so I reverted to my trusty method LOL!!!!

I was very fortunate to have been the receipient of some lovely gifties too this Christmas!! Santa certainly didn't bypass my house LOL!!!

I did a swap with a few quilty friends,  as you can see I nearly ripped off all the wrapping paper before I took a pic!!!

From Elyte http://teafabricandotherthings.blogspot.com/ I received this delightful little embroidered pouch and pin!  Elyte's stitching in red on white is a real treasure!!!   Thankyou Elyte!

I sent her a Mugrug with matching mug and a pincushion!

From Barbara http://sanguinestitcher.blogspot.com/ I was lucky enough to get a gorgeous cross-stitch pincushion and delightful FQ with a wonderful little tatted tag - I will definitely save that and use it on something special!   Tatting was something I always wanted to learned to do, but haven't done so yet!!!!  Barbara does exquisite cross-stitch, just love her work!!!  Thankyou Barbara!

Because Barbara lives outside Australia I thought I would send her a little something that was Aussie!

I included a pair of Scissaroo scissors, they feature a kangaroo pattern on the scissors instead of the traditional stork!

From Lyn I received a two gorgeous embroidered placemats!!!  I just love the embroidery stitching design, they are perfect and will definitely be used and treasured!!!   Thankyou Lyn!

I sent Lyn some items using 30's prints!

From a couple of my Quiltbee friends I received  some beautiful sewing threads and quilt labels and a homemade Christmas cake!!!!    Thankyou to Sharon and Margaret!!!!

Thankyou girls for making this Christmas quilty swap such a lovely experience, it is so nice to receive treasures from others, we all have our special talents and specialities, so all your gifties are very much appreciated!!!!!

I wish you and all my followers/ readers a very safe New Year holiday, and all the best in needle and thread for 2012!!!

See you next year.........

Take it easy,
Merilyn

Happy Christmas Season to Everyone!!

Can't believe that Christmas is just around the corner, this year has just flown by and here we all are!!!!

As I drive to work each day past farms in the rural area where I live, there is a very old tractor that has been sitting in the same spot for years.   Around 3-4 years ago the farmer did a paint job on it and it is now bright red!   Each Christmas the tractor is decorated with some tinsel, a Father Christmas and sleigh!!!

It is quite a sight to see on the side of the road, but nice to know that someone is motivated enough to do this ritual every year!

There are usually cows in this paddock but they must have wandered off to the back on this day, you can see Father Christmas is cordoned off with an electrical fence to keep the curious bovines from interfering with the display!!!

Just one of the nice things about living in a rural area, not overly flash like in the city, but someone has decided to use what he had at hand and put it to good use -  good old Aussie ingenuity!!! - it's always a pleasure to see it as I drive into town and work most days of the week!!! 

We are also coming to the end of Barbara Brackman's CW blocks! 

#49 Yankee Puzzle

#50 Grapes of Wrath - it was great to be able to use some of my purples for this block - love purple!!!

#51 New York

I decided to use a different block format for this one, I had a look through EQ6 for a block where I could incorporate some stars 'n strips and this one fitted the bill nicely.  It was nice to be able to use some of the star farbics I had in my stash!

Only two more blocks to go and then the real hard work begins LOL - arranging the blocks into some visually pleasing order and sewing them into a flimsy - I'll definitely get a long-arm quilter to do the hard yards though,  I'd like to think I could have it finished before June when Barbara closes off the blog for this project!!!

Last post I put up a picture of a Christmas wall-hanging, but it was the uncompleted version, I must'n'have been concentrating, so here is the completed version complete with binding and little hanger!!

I used a lot of stitch in the ditch and stippling for the blocks and free motion quilting for the borders!!

This is a table-runner I made for Christmas 2010.   I created it after being in a Christmas themed 4"x 4" block swap through Carol Doak's online Foundation Paper Piecing group.  I made 12 blocks,  and received 12 blocks in exchange, I had to make a couple of extra ones to fit in with my design, I put in a 12"x 12" centre block, also one of Carol's designs.   This is the centre block.

I had a bit of math to do to work out how to make things all fit together, and here is the result!

It is 46 1/2" long and 19" wide.

Here is a couple of close-ups of each end!

I'm ashamed to say that I still have some work to do on it, some stippling mostly, I used a stiffer batt, (for placemats and bags) and it wants to fight with me everytime I try and do some extra work on it, being stiff it has no give, so I have avoided some of the battles, but I'll eventually get it done - you can see some of the chalk marks on the green border!

It's been a very busy year and despite my best efforts have not been able to post on a weekly basis, but that's life I guess, other stuff gets our attention and we just have to go with it!!!

I wish all my followers/blog readers a very happy and safe Christmas, I have really appreciated my followers comments, your support, generosity and in some cases wonderful friendships, thankyou all, you have made this journey into blogland a very happy one and I've had a lot of fun too!!!!

Stay safe and we'll see you in the New Year!!!!!

Take it easy,

Merilyn

Red, White & Green!

I have no idea where the time has gone lately, but it sure is puttering along at quite a speed, only 22 days before Christmas!!!!  November just whizzed past LOL!  it didn't register at all this year!!!  (to me anyways, dont' know about you!)

We're getting very close now to the end of Barbara Brackman's BOW's,  somehow I have managed to keep up my weekly habit of getting these blocks done!

#47 Dixie Tea.   I really enjoyed choosing the fabrics for this block, I'm happy with how it turned out!

I just loved the opportunity to use some of these rich brown/reds by Jo Morton and Judie Rothermel, and the maple leaf block is one of my favourites!

# 48 West Virginia

I badly needed to include some more purples into my collection of blocks for this quilt, so this block lent itself very well.  The centre print was a 10"x 10" square in a small bundle of purple prints I bought recently at the Brisbane Quilt Show.   Luckily I had just the right purple print to go with it and another wonderful rich red as well.  That shirting has been hanging around in my stash for the longest time and finally found a home!

I decided to Paper Foundation Paper Piece this block to stabilise it due to the 'y' seams and the fabric being cut on the bias, didn't want any unwanted stretching LOL!!!

Well, now that December has arrived I have been able to put up a couple of small Christmas quilts on my walls.   I love the look of these cheery pieces, and I will have to make a few more for next year.   I always love sewing with Christmas fabrics, they are kind of special and fancy!!!!

I made this wallhanging for last Christmas!   I was inspired to make it because I had been in a 'crazy heart' block swap (Carol Doak's yahoo group), and received one 'crazy heart' block made with Christmas fabrics from a lady in New York.   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/CarolDoakQuiltingGroup/#ans

Sandra did a beautiful job with this block using all my favourite type of traditional fabrics. I had held onto it for a while before deciding to add to it and create a wallhanging and use some very similiar style of fabrics that I had in my stash!

I used Carol Doak designed blocks for the other three: 'tree', 'gift' and 'candle'.  I used stitch in the ditch and free motion quilting in this piece!

This next little quilt is a Kathleen Tracy design.  It's called Turkey Tracks and was a Christmas Challenge on her yahoo group October last year!   http://groups.yahoo.com/group/smallquilttalk/

I just loved the blocks in this little quilt!  I did both machine and hand quilting on this one!

During the Christmas season I also like to bring out and use special cups with a Christmas theme!  So I've put away my usual blue & white cups and now have my tea in my little Chrissy cups!

I made some little placemats using another Carol Doak 'crazy tree' block!!! 

The red, white and green theme is carried through in my rather feral garden as well!  At this time of year my little gardenia tree is in full flower, I just love the smell of these blooms as it wafts up to the house from the garden below!

This little tree is completely neglected yet it rewards me every Christmas with beautiful flowers!!  I cut some to bring inside too, I especially love to have them in the bathroom!!

I can't remember where on earth I got the vintage brass vase, but it seems perfect for Christmas blooms!!!

Out the front my hibiscus is also full of gorgeous little red flowers!!

It was a bit bright and sunny when I took this photo a couple of hours ago, but you get the general idea, the bush is just full of blooms.

These are known as a single, as apposed to a double flower, love that red!!

I've also been doing some Christmas gifty sewing, but I won't be able to reveal just yet!  When the girls open their packages at Christmas I will then show you what I've been up to!

Hope you are all having a great weekend! 

Thankyou all who drop by and leave a comment, it is most appreciated!!!

Take it easy,
Merilyn