Quilting Owl

Its that time of year when lots of hand stitching happens as we keep an eye on the Aussie cricketers.  If you miss any of the vital action well there is always the replay to watch and today they are giving the South Africans a run for their money.   I am hand piecing at the moment and with some blocks that have lots of different shaped pieces I usually lay them out on a block holder (a piece of card covered with cotting batting) as this way there is less chance of sewing the wrong sides together and having to do some reverse stitching.   My current favourite tools are - Mettler Heirloom 60-weight 100% cotton thread, John James quilting or applique needles (the smallest size I can thread), Clover very fine glass head pins and small scissors for cutting threads.   As I finish each block I lightly finger press it to arrange the direction of the seams and then place the block in a zip bag for storage.  By flattening the bag and zipping it clos...

I was up bright and early this morning to watch a very exciting event, a total solar eclipse.  Cairns was ideally situated for this event although the weather has not been the best for the last few days and we were worried that there would be nothing to see particularly as the town is full of visitors from far and wide.  Luckily the clouds cleared just in time and armed with special glasses we watched from our front garden.  These are just some photos we took with a simple point and shoot auto camera and I am sure the medial will be showing the specactular ones.           Till next time Frances      

Life has been busy of late while I try to finish off lots of projects including a mystery quilt for the last gathering of the Sunday Stitchers.  I did, however, find some time to make a cute little dolly quilt and have some fun with some French General fabrics. Till next time Frances