Relishing Retirement

After a minor health issue recently,

retirement is starting to agree with me!

 I seem to be busier than ever!

I love the freedom of being able to look after my 

grandchildren when needed!

I've found time to prepare all the octagon square 

blocks for my Bessie Creek Rd quilt,

which I'll finish by hand piecing.

These are the ones I've made so far!

I've finished the embroidery on my 

Daisy Love Purse....

now to make it into a zippy pouch!

I recently purchased this lovely soft laminated cotton 

from Frou Frou, a Parisian company.

I want to make a drawstring bag for travelling.

Finally, on the sewing front, I drafted a couple of 

LeMoyne Stars for a small project I am planning.

Finally, I have been tagged in a couple of Instagram 

posts recently,

with versions of my Scrappy Sandwiches tutorial,

 being made by girls on a quilt retreat in the United 

States!

It is very humbling knowing that my little blogposts 

reach so far!

 Happy days indeed!

SUZ

Processing....

 My Bessie Creek Road quilt is slowly coming along....

I hand pieced the centre star

        

        and it's playing nicely with its neighbours.

      All twenty of the hexie flowers are complete...

I have now also finished the circle squares...

made my way!

I pieced a four patch block and then ironed a freezer 

paper template to the back,

cut it out with a 1/4" seam 

and painted a thin line of Flatter, a spray type starch, 

around the edge, before pressing.

This Flatter spray smell amazing!

This helps the seam to sit down flat for applique!

It was then time to see how the blocks were looking 

altogether.

This arrangement (above) is the square version, but

 not the actual one, but shows most of the blocks 

                            complete so far.

    

    This is how the layout will look, except the hexie         

                  blocks will be in the outer rounds.

      Four more different designed blocks to do.... 

                        mostly hand piecing!

                    So lots of prep still to come!

                                

                                Happy sewing!

                                    SUZ

               Please excuse the horrid formatting. Blogger doesn't behave like it used to!

A change of pace!

 My quiltmaking took a back seat for a while,

while I made some clothes...

a blouse in Kaffe cotton....

and pants in linen for me,

And a dress in vintage cotton plisse ,

and top from an Outback Wife cotton/merino twill for 

my sister, Helen!

We had a bit of fun taking photos 

and trying to give the features a fair showing

such as the splits in the top....

the ruffle on the back of the other top....

the pockets..... 

and matching checks on the pants....

or the spotty binding on the dress!

The joy is definitely in the making and the wearing!

Happy sewing!

SUZ

My process!

 With only two WIP's waiting in the wings to be 

quilted,

it was time to start something new!

I have had the "Bessie Creek Rd." by Emma 

@Treehouse Textiles for a few months now!

Available here

I seem to be drawn to 6" blocks, made from my 

favourite rainbow palette!

I think I was drawn to the medallion style of this one!

While I love the spiral-bound booklet (above),

I made my own version where the line drawings, 

templates and coloured photos were all together.

I generally do not need the construction diagrams...

I'll start prepping these tomorrow!

Not all blocks are machine pieced, but as I am busy

 in the evenings with my knitting, I started with those.

12 Hour Glass blocks...

8 Cross blocks...

And today I completed 16 Mitred Square blocks

I did follow the instructions on how to piece this one,

for the sake of accuracy....

Now to cut 216 two and a half-inch squares for the 

Nine Patch blocks!

I'll try to keep you updated as I make progress with 

this one!

Happy sewing!

Suz

Forgotten!

 It seems I have forgotten to share a couple of quilts...

I finished "Pampered Pooches" a couple of weeks ago,

quilted with an all-over stipple!

Secondly, I finished this flimsy/top between Christmas 

and New Year, I think?

I'm not sure if there is a top or a bottom...

I'm thinking it is more balanced this way.

I need to source some backing and contemplate a 

quilting design.

After my recent Snowflake finish, I'm rather prepared 

to tackle this one...

It measures about 56" by 64"!

"Pampered Pooches"

Quilt #1 for 2021

Lifetime quilt #130

Happy sewing!

SUZ

Snowflake Swirl

 is the name of my latest, and possibly my greatest 

finish!

Why my greatest, I hear you say?

This is the biggest quilt I have ever machine quilted 

before!

It is nearly 80", or 200cm square,

And it took me nearly a fortnight to quilt it!

My trusty Juki in action

I did no other sewing during this time.

The swirls seemed like a good idea at the beginning,

and, boy, I got pretty good at them by the time I'd 

finished.

I did some straight line quilting in the white section too. 

I lost count of how many bobbins I wound, 

Or how many different reels of thread I used!

It is by no means perfect, but I can live with 

the imperfections.

I hope the buyer can!

Yes, this is a commission quilt, one I committed to 

some time ago!

The original Snowflake pattern is made from an 

off-centre

 snowflake, but the buyer wanted all eight dendrites!

So that took extra calculations and fabric of course!

Maybe I should make one in black and white?

                           No, maybe not!

Quilt #2 for 2021

Lifetime quilt 131

80" by 84"

Happy sewing-

SUZ