A new sewing machine - at last!

Yes, I've finally done it.  Bought myself a new sewing machine.  Those who know me well can finally sigh with relief.  I've been going to do it for years literally.  But it was never the right time, never the right price, never going to happen.  And then last year I bought a machine in haste trusting that the brand I had bought nearly 30 years ago would still be the best choice.  How wrong I was.  I was so disappointed with that machine that I sold it again on eBay.  (losing money in the process)  It was cheaply made and not at all comparable to my old machine.  I hate to use a cliche but I will - you get what you pay for.
And as fate would have it while I was in the sewing machine shop this morning I got chatting to another lady that had exactly the same problem with exactly the same machine.  We both ended up purchasing the same new Bernina.  I spent way more than I intended, but figure that this machine will see me out.  I'm not likely to buy another as this one has everything I need.  This one should last me for the next 30 years.
I just hope the family doesn't mind living on pasta and tinned tuna for the next 6 months. :-)

Quilting Bee for Charity

Yesterday we had a quilting bee at my place. We made QAYG blocks to send to Jan Mac, in country Victoria, who joins blocks into quilts (5 x 7 or 4 x 5 blocks each) and sends them to charities or for disaster relief appeals such as Queensland Cyclone and Victorian floods, and the Christchurch earthquake. She has been doing this for many years and is very well known, receiving blocks from all over Australia and also internationally.

During the afternoon and evening we sorted scraps into themes and cut squares of batting and backing and got cracking on making blocks. We made 18 all up and will keep going at our weekly GTGs or at home to add to the total.

"Feminine" theme:

"Young girl" theme:

"Manly" theme:

Friday update

Thisafternoon just the 3 of us (L and L) at my place.  I got stuck into finishing the cutting out for a scrap quilt I started a year ago.

3 diamonds for each tumbling block times 81 blocks equals... a lot of little pieces of fabric! Nine rows of nine or 10 rows of 8 - I haven't decided yet.  Plenty of time to think about it as this quilt will be hand stitched.

There's something wonderfully tactile about a pile of fabric cut and stacked neatly and ready to be stitched together.

Memories of Summer quilt

I was reminded today that I hadn't posted a photo of this quilt finished.  I made it for my sister and brother and law for their wedding.  I gave it to them last Christmas.  Over a year late!

The finished size was 207 x 207 which covered my queen-size bed nicely but in the end was much bigger than I anticipated.  I used a pattern called 'Memories of Summer' by Suzanne Lyle.  I purchased the pattern from Ballarat Patchwork a couple of years ago.  The fabric was purchased at GJs in Brunswick.

The overall quilting design of butterflies was done by Lucy Thompson of Lasting Creations.
I enjoyed putting the blocks together but they were a little trickier to piece than anticipated because of the small squares and narrow rectangles.  The strong geometric lines and large central pieces make it a good quilt to make from fabric with a large print.  Easy to make smaller by only making as many blocks as you need.

What are we doing?

We have just got back into the swing of weekly meetings and here is what we are working on:

Leita is making "retro" covered coat hangers (we all have some of these lurking in our cupboards - and they do a really good job!). It took a while to track down a pattern but she is whipping them out now!

Michelle has had her red flowering gum tree cross stitch out and is finding it quite slow going as there are no large blocks of colour and the pattern has to be followed very closely.

Anne has been making some progress on her 9-patch swap quilt, which she is quilting in perle thread, and completed the first plain square motif on Friday.

Louise has had a change of plan with her lovely bright hand pieced hexagons and has decided to join them together and incorporate some black and white spot fabric for contrast.

Annual Relaxation

Our annual break was another relaxed relief. No quilting from me, but I did learn a few crocheting tips from Louise and folded quite a bit of paper

Sewjourn always looks inviting with interesting bedspreads in all the rooms.











Leita started piecing together some black and whites.























Louise made a great start on her Mums quilt































Leita started laying out her poof.
























Anne sewed and sewed, you can see the end result on the wall.









































Everyone enjoyed using the new wall for laying out their work and seeing each others work
























Leita played with more fabric
















We all enjoyed the good food and many cuppas together.






















A Little bit of paper folding from me and some crochetting by Louise.

A lovely weekend away

We're just back from our annual weekend away at Sewjourn.  So much eating and laughing and shopping to be done.  We barely had enough time to sew, but we did.

This is one of two tops that I made. More photo's and stories to follow from other group members.
Including the spider incident please.  : )
Louise and Anne are to be awarded bravery medals.