A few options

Huge thanks to Jacqui, Karen, Beena and Ahava who answered my call for help with my quilt layout.  I’ve had a bit of a play using their suggestions and come up with 4 options.

Number 1 – Diagonal pattern

Number 2 – similar to the one above, but alternating the blocks in the middle

Number 3 – Bigs outside, smalls inside

Number 4 – 2 big, 2 small,  alternating rows

So which one do you like best?

Help!!

Can anyone help with a puzzle?  I’m bad at logical stuff, so thought I would ask my trusty readers.

See this quilt layout…………….

Well, I’d like a better layout, where there are no big blocks next to each other, and no small blocks next to each other, if you get what I mean.  I have 5 large blue blocks, 5 large red blocks,  5 small blue blocks and 5 small red blocks.  So 20 in total.  It’s about the right size being 4 x 5.

If anyone can solve this for me, I’d be extremely grateful.

A bit of this and that

I joined a new group, not a quilting bee though.  If you have a look on my sidebar there’s a link for “Joy in the New Year”.   Jacquie of Tallgrass Prairie Studio (one of my favourite quilters) is issuing a challenge to get as many quilts finished as we can by New Year.  Well, you know I have a few in progress, and I’m a great procrastinator, so I’m in for that one.  So here’s where I list what I’d like to get finished by then, and how finished, just the tops, or quilted and bound.

The Emily quilt – needs quilting and binding

Park Slope Bear Paw – about 18 more blocks to make, so for this the top finished (if I don;t get a bigger machine I’ll send this one away for quilting as it will be huge)

My Island inspired quilt – needs quilting and binding

The Asian free motion quilt – needs quilting, applique and binding

Mermaids in the pink – needs quilting and binding

Beryls quilt – needs the top finished, quilting and binding.

I have one other for the list, but it’s a secret squirrel item.

This doesn’t include other projects that are half done, but hopefully I can make some headway on the listed ones.  I did make a start on Emily after signing up for the challenge, and have almost finished quilting.  Wanna have a look???

I’m just finishing the edges and adding a few finishing touches.

Cam was having fun tonight, I got Nathan to go outside and snap a few pics of him playing.  He said he was making a nest.

I got lovely fabric in the mail yesterday.  I did a swap with the lovely Liberty, she also has an Etsy shop, called Liberty Original, so with the NZ dollar so high against the US I took the opportunity to fill the envelope she was sending me with a few more fabrics.  Liberty is fantastic to deal with, super helpful, and the service was very speedy.  These were my swap fabrics….

Not my usual style (which is why I chose them), I think most (all?) are Amy Butler.  These were my purchases…

Alhambra II by Art Gallery

Girly girl by Art Gallery

I don’t have a project in mind for these yet, but did show Ian the Kaffe Fasset Quilt Romance book at the book shop today, so maybe something Kaffe inspired???

Some TNN friends have started a new venture, Coco Kids custom Handknits.  I’m jealous, not only can they knit, but they have got a website up and running already.  I wish them all the best, and if you’re in the market for a wee something special and yarn challenged like me, go and see if they can make it for you.

Nathan is meant to be making me a new label, so I can get my Etsy or Felt shop up and running, but he got the huff with me, so I’m back to square one. Oh well.

I’ve been working on a boy quilt tonight, just because I can’t sew with black thread so working on Emily will have to wait till tomorrow.  I have 10 blocks on the boy quilt done so far.  Might be back with pics tomorrow.

 

Giveaway

No, not here

Jump on over to Block Party, they are having a quilt along, and a giveaway.   I can’t wait to see what blocks we are going to make.  I’m sure the book will be awesome.

And another one gone…..

Finished binding the Park Slope quilt, just need to deliver that for the quilt sale.

Got a block done for the Sew Kid Bee. 

I started a new quilt, but I’m working all from stash at the moment, so it’s all good

Had my first day of freedom today.  My post op instructions said I could drive after 4 weeks, it wasn’t specific if that was 4 weeks from the op, or 4 weeks from discharge, Ian thought it was the latter, but I wasn’t having any of that.  So while Cam was at preschool today I went to the post office, the Library (got 2 good quilting books and 2 novels), and even went to the Sallies and scored 2 really nice vintage sheets for a quilting project.  Awesome.  Nice to be in charge of my own life again.  Tomorrow night I’ll drive myself to sewing class.  Yay.

Charming Wonderland

Yay, another one bites the dust.  Quilted, bound, labeled and even delivered for the quilt sale.

How happy is that?

Lilly has been learning the drums at school for over 3 terms now, without a real set to practice on.  Thanks to her lovely cousin (and a small swap) Lilly has a set on loan.  Yay, it’s good to finally see the outcome of the lessons we’ve been paying for.  She’s pretty good too (well I think so). 

The bonus is that they fit nicely in the corner of the spare sleepout, away from the house, without disturbing my design wall or the space I use for laying out quilts.  Score !!!

Cameron was delighted with the drums too and I had a hard time convincing him that they weren’t for him.  I might see if I can get him a miniature set for Christmas.

Cameron’s tractor.  Simple yet effective.  He has a great imagination.  I’m not great at pretend play, but Ian and I are good with encouraging engineering.  Cameron spends a lot of time building with Duplo.  He scored some off Aunty Michelle when we visited a few months back.  Not a flash set, just a whole lot of mismatched stuff.  But I think that may have been the best kind to get.  It never built anything specific so it is up to Cam as to what it turns into everyday.  A lot of trucks, trains and planes, some houses.  It’s provided many peaceful hours of play.  I’m looking for some more, but will buy 2nd hand, so comes as another mixed set with no expectations to build a set project.

The piglets survived the night in the new home.  It was a cold night to be away from the Sow, but they obviously kept each other warm, buried in the straw and ate a hearty breakfast.  All is good.

New girls

“Thelma” and “Louise”

Just binding to go….

This is one of the few quilt I’ve made that has no solid colour on the front.  The aqua sashing is a fine polka dot.  The only solid is the pink on the back.

I’ve decided that this will go in the quilt sale as well.  The more I put in the sale, the more chance I have of selling some.

A day at the beach

It was a fabulous day here yesterday so we went to the beach.  Not for swimming, it’s far too cold here for that.  Still another couple of months till it will be warm enough to go swimming in the river, and hardly ever gets warm enough to swim at the beaches round here.  We don’t go to the beach  very often even though they are all about an hour away, as you have to drive horrible windy country roads to get to them and Lilly still gets car sick, me too sometimes.  She was away yesterday at a friends place

So we went out to Tora on the east coast.

We collected shells, saw neat stuff washed up on the beach (including a large bird we later identified as a shag, who knew they were that big in real life?), wrote names in the sand, walked, rolled down sand dunes, etc.  Here’s some pics of the day. 

Hau Nui wind farm (on the way there)