Summer Days...

 means a little sewing...

 lots of cycling....

visiting beautiful gardens.....

and the beach.....

op shopping.....

and general relaxing!

We are experiencing a bit of heatwave at the moment, 

so motivation to sew is not high! 

When it cools down, hopefully there will be a flimsy 

finish!

Happy days!

SUZ

Two weeks into 2022

 and barely a stitch has been sewn!

I have moved house after spending 18 years in my 

previous 'home'.

During the unpacking, I managed to rip one of my 

favourite "Gorman" dresses....

Not a large hole but front, centre and at knee level.

So I decided on some visible mending....

 a little piece of fabric from my extensive stash was 

found....

 and applied with a running stitch of stranded 

embroidery thread.

I also sewed a denim skirt, challenging myself with a fly 

zip closure....

The colour is not a true representation

YouTube is your friend when the pattern's instructions 

are brief and confusing! 

When I get the buttonhole made and the button sewn 

on, I'll to share another photo.

I have enjoyed knitting in the evenings....

I find it very relaxing! 

This will be a long sleeved version of my Soldotna top 

which I made a couple of years ago.

Now that we are settled into our 'temporary' home,

 where we will be for about five months,

I'm planning my first quilt for 2022....

and my second and third!

Happy sewing!

SUZ

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