Patch's Place

MY LAST POST

2008-03-23T10:45:00.002+11:00

Hi there bloggers, I have decided to leave the world of blogging as I am finding it a chore rather than a pleasure to post my blogs.
Thanks to those who have visited me in the past, and especially to those who have taken the time to leave comments.
I'm sure that I will continue to look at your blogs, but am really not interested in doing my own.
Take care, Patch.

A MINI QUILT

2008-02-24T11:46:00.003+11:00

Hi everyone, I think I said last time that I didn't have time to sew due to work commitments - BUT - I just found this little pattern in my sewing room and thought that I might find the time to do it.

It takes only 5 fat 1/4s to create a 2 sided mini quilt measuring 16"x20", including the binding.

It should be fun to do if I manage to decipher the cutting instructions. They assure the intended quilt maker that there is no room for error when cutting out!! SCARY!!!

That's actually turning me off a bit so I might just think a bit more before I get stuck into it. Maybe have a cup of tea or two, read a book instead, who knows.

Talk again soon.

STITCHERY BAG

2008-02-17T13:19:00.002+11:00

As I haven't had time to sew lately I have posted the photo of a bag that I made a couple of years ago.
It was a Christmas gift for a work friend who plays the violin. She uses the bag to carry her music in to rehearsals,. I am happy that she likes it enough to use it in public.
'Scrap Basket Rose' is in a bag waiting to go to the quilter's. I hope to get it there next weekend all going well.
Take care everyone.
Patch

SCRAP BASKET ROSE QUILT TOP

2008-02-10T11:37:00.000+11:00

I have just finished the quilt top and have raced in to post it on my blog.
I took the advice of my clever blogging friends and completed the stars for my first border.
I decided to go with a narrow cream border next and finally a darker blue border - it is hard to see as the bed has a navy valance on it.
I am really pleased with the finished product as it contains fabrics that I have been collecting since I started patchwork. The only fabrics that I bought especially for it have been the blue for the final border and the backing.
Thanks to 'The Material Girls' who each made 3 blocks of the quilt - I hope you like it too.
I'll post a photo of it when it returns from the quilter in a couple of months.
Bye for now.

BACK FROM HOLIDAYS

2008-02-04T10:48:00.000+11:00

I have been away on holidays for most of January this year - aren't I lucky.
A few days in Sydney catching up with family and 2 weeks at Port Macquarie relaxing on the beach.
I made this cushion for a couple who I work with who had their first bub in January - a little boy named Gus.
Back to work tomorrow!!! That will be a huge shock to my system.
The scrap basket rose quilt has nearly had its first border done and only 2 to go to be ready for quilting. I hope to do the remaining borders next weekend.
Bye for now.

SCRAP BASKET ROSE QUILT TOP

2008-01-13T16:15:00.000+11:00

As I mentioned in a past post, the girls in my friendship patchwork group each made 3 blocks for my 'SCRAP BASKET ROSE' quilt.

It is featured in Volume 15 Number 9 of APQ magazine and is made by Susan Murphy.

I have completed the top, ( it is photographed on a queen sized bed) except for the borders, as I can't decide how to do them. I don't want to do the ones in the actual pattern.

HELP - any ideas would be most welcome!!

SECRET SANTA HAS ARRIVED

2008-01-07T13:05:00.000+11:00

How lucky am I??!! The mailman delivered my secret santa prezzie on Friday but I was in Sydney for my mum's 75th birthday so didn't get to open it until Saturday night when I got back.
I honestly could not believe what was in there - so many beautiful goodies!

a christmas decoration
a chook ( I wonder if the blue face is because chookyblue organised the swap?)
a great bag
some yummy fat 1/4s
santa
a mini duster for my sewing machine

Big thanks to http://gypsyquilterdesigns.blogspot.com/ for my great goodies and to http://chookyblue.blogspot.com/ for being santa's elf.

I am making slow but steady progress on my flower basket quilt and hope to post it's status in a day or two.

Take care until then.

HAPPY NEW YEAR

2008-01-02T17:33:00.000+11:00

Hi everyone and Happy New Year to you all. I hope you had a great Christmas - I certainly did.

I had a week at Forster on the mid-north coast of NSW with my husband, kids and my mum.

While we were there, we had a massive flood back at the farm and neighbours had to rescue Patch and Potch as the person who was coming to look after them was cut off by flood water.

All is good now but we have kilometres of fences to repair and replace.

I will have little time to sew or blog for the next few weeks.

The gorgeous bag in the photo was my secret santa prezzie from our patchwork group.

There was a pincushion inside it that I took a photo of but it is lost in cyberspace -SORRY.

I am off to Sydney tomorrow for my mum's 75th birthday. It takes about 7 hours to drive to Sydney from here so I will be glad when I get there.

Take care until next time.

FLAT BATTERIES

2007-12-16T13:27:00.000+11:00

I am sorry that I didn't post last weekend, but I was away on a school excursion. I took 12, 15 year olds to Nambucca Heads, on the mid north coast of NSW, for 5 days. We had a great time on the beach, going to the movies, bowling etc.

No pictures today though as the batteries in my camera are flat and I don't have any spares!!

I have received a lovely secret santa prezzie from Kylie in my patchwork group, and a pincushion from 'The Cottage On the Hill' pincushion swap and can't share them with you. I will get to it later this week.

Christmas At Patch's Place

2007-12-01T20:06:00.000+11:00

It is usually VERY hot here on Christmas Day. We have a hot lunch anyway.

Roast pork, turkey, ham and loads of roast potatoes, pumpkin and sweet potato, with green vegetables too.

For dessert we have Pavlova (very Australian) and Tiramisu (very Italian).

We always wear some sort of silly hat to get us in the festive spirit.

Here my sons are wearing inflatable reindeer hats. They may never speak to me again after they see this post!!

Only 24 sleeps until Christmas.

Thanks to http://chookyblue@blogspot.com for suggesting the Christmas theme. I am enjoying seeing how others celebrate Christmas.

I had lunch yesterday with a fellow blogger, Bluberyy Lane Designs as she was at my workplace for the day. It was great to catch up.

I am away on a school excursion next week to Nambucca Heads so will not be posting for at least 10 days.

Bye for now.

A Quilt For Me

2007-11-25T15:05:00.000+11:00

The girls in my patchwork group have been making blocks for me. The quilt, in blues and creams is for my bed. I provided the fabric and they provided the sewing skills.
The photo shows 4 completed blocks . There is supposed to be sashing between each block - my job is to make 130 sashing blocks and then join all blocks together.
I think it will turn out really well.
The pattern is called 'SCRAP BASKET ROSE' and was featured in volume 15 no.9 of APQ - http://www.apqmagazine.com.au
Well I must go and do a few more sashing blocks - I've only done 5 so far and I should be writing reports!
Take care until next time.

Patchwork Group - The Material Girls

2007-11-18T13:32:00.000+11:00

The blocks on the left are for the 10 year old grand daughter of my friend Lorraine who is in the patchwork group to which I belong.

Our patchwork group 'The Material Girls' meets once a month for lunch and a chat, but we don't sew.

Each month one of us hands out a project for the others to do and we return the next month with the finished work.

You might want blocks done for a quilt or some smaller items. Last year they made me wall hangings and cushion covers for my family room. This year they are making blocks for a quilt for my bed.

We also make quilts for charities to raffle. We like to get together at someone's home to do this.

PS Potch is settling in really well, as though she has always lived here. I'd better go and write my reports now as it is the busy time of the year for school teachers in Australia.

Patch's New Friend

2007-11-15T18:17:00.000+11:00

What excitement we have today - a new dog!!

My husband collected her from the RSPCA dog kennels in Tamworth today.

She was in the kennels because her previous owners had moved house and could not take the dog with them.

She is an 11 month old red cattle dog and her name is Potch!!!

No, I didn't name her, her previous owners did. So now we have Patch and Potch, who we hope will be great friends.

We need a young dog now as Patchie is getting old and can't work as well as she could a few years ago. Hopefully she will teach Potch to work as well as she does.

I should be marking exams instead of doing this post, but just had to show you all our new family member.

Birthday Quilt

2007-11-11T14:12:00.000+11:00

Sorry that I didn't post last week, but I was in Sydney visiting my sons as they both had their birthdays. They were born 2 years less 1 day apart. My baby is now 20 and my older son is 22.
Before I show you the birthday quilt, i though I'd include my second attempt at pleated log cabin.
This time I made another cushion cover using one large block. It measures about 40cm square. This one is for me and I have one more to make which will be a xmas pressie for one of the girls I work with.

Here is the quilt I made for my son's 22nd birthday.

It is called ' I Can't Believe It's a Beginner' by Margot Languedoc of http://www.thepatternbasket.com.

It is made mostly with Bound To The Prairie 2 fabrics. I made it at http://www.cottageonthehill.com.au

I think that it is very dark and masculine, which is the effect I had hoped to achieve.

What Do I Have Here???

2007-10-28T14:57:00.000+11:00

These fine bone cups and stand became mine this weekend.

But what exactly are they? I don't know.

They are a bit bigger than an egg cup and have J&C Bavaria trademark on their bottoms.

I would be very happy if someone could help me out with their identification.

I haven't had time to sew this week but must finish my son's quilt as it is his birthday on Saturday.

Take there until next time.

Voila! The Paris Cats Are Finished

2007-10-21T13:43:00.000+10:00

Last weekend I bought some fat quarters from the Paris Cats range of fabric. All week I wondered what to make with it and yesterday, decided on a cushion cover.

I chose the pattern 'Chelsea Log Cabin' - I know it's not French - I just liked it. I made 16 individual blocks. These 8 had dark starting squares.
I decided to make the cushion back using these fabrics too. I just joined squares for this, and buttons in the closure.

Here is the finished cushion front. I am very happy with it and hope my friend who will be receiving it for xmas will like it too. As she is a French teacher I thought the fabrics would be great for her.

I have started some more pleated log cabin cushion covers and hope to finish one or more for my next post - probably next weekend as I am back at work now. Only 9 weeks until xmas holidays start.
Take care until next time.

Dubbo Quilt Show

2007-10-14T11:40:00.000+10:00

Above are some gorgeuos fabrics from the Parisienne Cats range that I bought from The Cottage On the Hill and the little wooden thing in the foreground is a tapemeasure. How cute - i bought several so I have some for gifts - I should keep one for my 50th post giveaway i think. (it may be an antique by then!!)

Chookyblue and I travelled to Dubbo on Friday. While Chookyblue did jobs and had photos developed I went for some seroius retail therapy. I neede a white summer top. Somehow I now have three white summer tops. Lucky (and happy) me! We had dinner with Dragonfly and On The Hill and a few other friends. Great food, great company and a great time had by all. Thanks to on The Hill for organising dinner.

Dragonfly hosted Chookyblue and I for the night - thank you very much. We were up bright and early and at the quilt show just after it opened.

Lots of stalls to look at and lots of quilts to admire. It was lovely meeting some of the girls who exhibited their works.

I did a little bit of shopping, including this table runner kit. my lounge/ dining area is soft pinks and greens.

Every time I add a link the previous one disappears, so there are no links today I'm afraid.

Take care until next time.

My Hexagon Quilt

2007-10-10T11:05:00.000+10:00

I am still on holidays at the moment and have been trying to complete a few UFOs. I have made 3 xmas presents but won't be posting them - one is for my Secret Santa swap person - hope they like it (fingers crossed that they will) , another for my secret santa person in my quilting group, and the third is for a family member of mine. I have taken photos of them so will post them after chrissy.

I am very happy that I have finished this quilt! It is special to me as it contains fabric from many of my past projects and reminds me of them. There are also some fabrics that I bought for my stash and couldn't seem to fit them into anything - there was too little of them or they were not quite the right tone or shade.

I bought the pattern at Cottage On the Hill (http://www.cottageonthehill.com.au/) while I was at a weekend retreat there last year. I have been trying to post a picture of the pattern for you as well, but am having a technological glitch - well actually, I am the technological glitch - SORRY am only a beginner at this blogging after all.

The pattern is by Threads Of Time from Bowral in NSW, Australia. Let me know if you want their details - they don't seem to have a website.

Until next time , take care.

Here I Am

2007-10-08T16:19:00.000+10:00

Thanks to chookyblue I now have my very own blog!! I just hope I will remember how to add to it after today --you may never hear from me again.

This is a block from my 'remember when' quilt that i did last year.