My Top Five of 2021

 I'm joining in with the linky party 

hosted by Cheryl of Meadow Mist Designs by sharing 

my favourite five finishes of 2021!

I think my favourite quilt finish for the year was 

my last one.....

There was hand and machine piecing, appliqué, and lots 

of hand quilting in this one!

And at 78" square it's a great size on my bed.

My favourite clothing make was my Whittaker pinafore, 

the third one of this pattern I have made.

It is a lovely soft denim which I really enjoy wearing.

Another garment that I made was this hand knitted 

jumper!

It is also very soft and snuggly!

My sister gifted me this purse kit for my birthday back 

in February.....

 

and I really enjoyed making it!

Finally I chose this cushion as my favourite fifth make...

The octagons were unusual and a unique shape to work 

with!

But because this is primarily a quilting blog, 

I thought I would share a collage of the twelve quilts 

I made this year!

Six of these I have given away, the other six I still have!

Can anyone have too many quilts?

Thanks for all your support this year. Your views and comments mean a lot to me....

See you in 2022!

SUZ

Merry Christmas....

 from our house to yours....

We celebrated as a family on Christmas Eve....

Blessings to all!

SUZ

A Flurry of Finishes.....

Despite some sluggishness on my behalf, I do have my 

last two quilt finishes for the year! 

While the weather has been sunny, it is also windy, so 

photo opportunities are few and far between.

I chose to quilt in gently wavy lines, like a rain in a 

rainforest.

I think Tommy Toucan is my favourite!

And the backing with its simple leaf shape was perfect!

I am confident that this will be well received by 

Finnley's mum, come Christmas Day.

Quilt # 11 for 2021

"Finnley's Rainforest Friends"

Lifetime Quilts #140 

Peppermint Parade looked so nice on the chair as I left

  

it to be finished the other night....

And here it is on my bed.

It finishes at 78" square, so not even having one 

agreeable quilt holder would be enough to show it off 

any other way.

I started this back in January, and only finished 

yesterday....

It was a wonderful distraction from the trials of 2021!

I found this striped fabric in my local quilt shop on sale, 

and decided it would be perfect for bias binding.

I really enjoyed the process, and followed this tutorial 

on YouTube as a reminder of how it's done.

I love that 60 cm (24") of fabric makes over 820 cm 

(320") of binding

Quilt # 12 for 2021

"Peppermint Parade"

Lifetime Quilts #141

I probably won't be posting again before Santa comes down the chimney, so may your Christmas be filled with joy and peace.

Happy sewing!

SUZ

Of Needle and Thread....

If you're here for some quilting inspiration or sewing eye candy, you may wish to save yourself the time and leave now!

My mojo has temporarily left me...

although I have finished Finnley's quilt top.

The orange gingham I chose from GJ Fabrics is called 

Midnight Magic by April Rosenthal

and suits it perfectly, I think.

While purchasing batting for this quilt, I snagged four 

new clothes patterns for $20!

I'm thinking I might have a go at a patchwork coat for 

next winter.

This little tree is decorated with mostly handmade, felt 

Christmas decorations, some made my be, others by 

friends.

Finally I have been stitching together an Advent 

Calendar- 

a cute Christmas Panel from Red Tractor designs.....

Look at all those wonderful Australian references...

a real Aussie Christmas!

Happy sewing,

SUZ

A quick catch-up

 Life out of lockdown has been busy!

So sewing time has been found in small bursts!

I managed to complete the four blocks for Finnley's 

quilt....

 

I think you've already seen the Spider Monkey...

He has been joined by Mr Leopard....

Tommy Toucan....

and Sammy Sloth!

I had a bit of fun putting together a collage of the four 

together.

The yellow gingham was a background option on a 

photo editing app I have on my phone!

I'm away for a few days, so this will have to wait for a 

bit!

Happy days!

SUZ

Moving forward.......

A beautiful Spring sunset

I've made another Lisette top...

This time in a lovely soft double gauze from 

Darn Cheap Fabrics.

 This one is for my sister.

And every new baby deserves a new quilt.

My daughter-in-law has picked out this pattern.

As the full quilt is about 82" square,

we decided to choose four of our favourite rainforest animals.

I've never made one of Elizabeth's patterns before, 

and boy, are they intensive!

Look at all those little pieces in the spider monkey's 

face!

Needless to say, the unpicker was given a workout!

While it is a complicated pattern, I am certainly 

enjoying the challenge!

Happy days!

SUZ

 

Where to now?

 As we begin to open up after our eleven week 

lockdown,

there is still some nervousness about how life will look 

in the near future.

It is wonderful to see people enjoying our new-found 

freedoms-

Getting a haircut and new glasses were high on my 

priority list!

The spectacles are my usual shape but I do love the 

green! 

I finished this dress a while back.

This is the "Emerson" Stylearc pattern, which I altered 

slightly, by not having it button all the way through.

I also had a little trouble with the Mandarin collar so I 

just bound the edge, as I would a quilt!

I finally decided to begin a new quilt, by sorting through 

my scraps, yet again!

These are 16-patch blocks made from 2 and 1/2" 

squares.

This is the quilt I am using as inspiration.....

but first I need to make a trip to my LQS for some 

white solid fabric.

While not all retail is open, many innovative businesses 

are able to set up shop on the footpath outside.

All this will change on Friday when we will have 80% of 

our 16+ population vaccinated,

allowing regional travel and retail/entertainment to reopen!

Here we are in Vietnam, New Zealand, France and Melbourne!

Today my husband and I celebrate our 40th wedding 

anniversary! 

So there is some cause for celebration.

Unfortunately our plans for a meal in a restaurant together, for the first time in who-knows-when have been scarpered......

 by a malfunction in the kitchen of our chosen 

restaurant!

Life certainly is looking a little different from last week, from last year AND from 1981!

😄

Happy days!

SUZ