My purple clam shells are finally finished.  This quilt started way back in May 1993 when I attended the 5th National Patchwork and Quilting Symposium in Upper Hutt.  This was a very exciting time for New Zealand quilters.  Big name American quilters like Caryl Bryer Fallert and Ruth McDowell were taking classes, along with Australian and New Zealand tutors.  Sadly, I can't remember the name of the tutor I had for the clam shell class.   We were shown how to cut out the clam shell shapes with an acyclic shape and a small rotary cutter, and how to stitch ...

Many years ago while visiting the Michigan State Quilt Museum, in Lansing Michigan, I came across a quilt from 1876. I will never forget it. The boldness of the red and green stopped me in my tracks. Many more years … Continue reading →

This was another week of hand stitching projects.  I finished off the outlining of the dark purple lupin and moved on to the lupin to the left.  It was partly done before and I am almost finished it.  There is more outlining to do on the leaves at the bottom of the picture. 

 Block Printing - Hand Stitching 

I don't do a lot of Hand Stitching but whenever I do I find it So Relaxing.

Late last year I did some Fabric Stamping on some plain canvas Bags and Zip Pouches I bought from Amazon

Block Printing 

The Fabric Stamping itself was very easy and fun to do.

I have quite a good selection of Wooden Stamps

Most from Colouricious

And I used some of the Stamped Bags as Gift Bags at Christmas.

The little zipper pouches have come in useful over the last few weeks as storage for my Little Janome Gem ...

Three days and two nights of quilting!  I always bring more with me than I can possibly do while I am at a retreat but I like to have options in case I feel like changing projects.  However, by the time I left today, I only had one project that I did not touch.  Much was accomplished!  I started out slowly with a warm up projects.  I am making nine patch blocks for my Rainbow Scrap Challenge project this year.  March's colour is yellow.  They are a bit brighter than they appear in this picture.  The lighting in the ...

It's about time I worked on my purple clam shell quilt again, goodness knows when I last got it out of the bag.  This project came with me to a monthly craft group I recently joined.  We can take anything we like to work on,  there was knitting and crochet happening, needle felting and one lady was setting up a hand loom, that looked rather tricky to me.  After doing big stitch hand quilting around all the clam shells, I'm now up to the borders.  I won't tell you just how old this project is, but believe ...

In a heartfelt journey of transformation, we embraced change, moving closer to our grandchildren, and creating a new dream studio. Through meticulous design and cherished memories, I built a space brimming with intention, comfort, and inspiration. Blessed with love, light, and creativity, it reflects a life dedicated to passion and purpose. Continue reading →

For many Christmas’s, my five siblings, and I, rotated through our names and each made a hand crafted gift for another. I almost always make a quilt. I had previously made three (sadly no photo of the first…) for this … Continue reading →

This is the second time I’ve made this Freewheeling Single Girl quilt. The first time was for our oldest granddaughter’s high school graduation in 2017. Both times I resized the rings so you got more rings per quilt. To make … Continue reading →

And now to Part D of my posts on Kokomo (Stars Upon Stars)

D. Hand Quilting

And now to Part C of my posts on Kokomo (Stars Upon Stars)

C. Assembly

Though I try to keep the open ended projects at 10 or less, a couple projects just demanded to be started this month. First off is the barely-there start to a very large improv. style Log Cabin quilt. It's going to be golds, cream, brown, black, green and rusty reds. Had to start it before the snow fell or it might end up being another year!