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December 23, 2022
2022 Christmas Countdown - Oh! Christmas Tree from Wendy's Quilts and More

 Day 23 of my Christmas Countdown and it's my "Oh! Christmas Tree" quilt designed by Wendy Williams.  



I love that this quilt represent Christmas in the Southern Hemisphere.  We still like the snowy images on Christmas cards, but we know Christmas is the start of our summer holidays and it's going to be hot.  Many people have a BBQ for Christmas lunch and eat it outside, before taking a dip in the pool (if they're lucky enough to have a pool in their back yard).  



I loved choosing all the bright colours for this quilt, and then ...

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December 21, 2022
Christmas Placemats from Baby Boomer Quilting Bee


In 2021, the Fat Quarter Shop offered a mini Christmas Quilt Sew Along which I finished and gifted to a sister.  I was so in love with the trees, I quickly made six more blocks ..... then they sat for a year.  With a push to finish lingering Christmas projects this year, I added a gift box block and made placemats.  

My inspiration for color is from a collection of Horizon Blue Vintage Diamond Point Glassware and dessert plates gifted to me years ago.  


 

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2022 Christmas Countdown - Flocks by Night from Wendy's Quilts and More

Day 21 of my Christmas Countdown and it's my Flocks by Night quilt - pattern by Wendy Williams.



Once again, I loved making this quilt.  The decorations on the trees, and the sheep on the hills are just so cute. 




Full details on this quilt, including where to buy the pattern, is here on my blog

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December 19, 2022
2022 Christmas Countdown - The Candy Man quilt from Wendy's Quilts and More

It's Day 19 of my Christmas Countdown and it's The Candy Man quilt.




A few weeks ago I blogged about a spur of the moment Christmas quilt I had started.  Well, now it's finished and all ready to be used this Christmas. 








The pattern (Watling Street) was designed by Sheila Christensen and is in her book, Quilts with an Angle.  I made my quilt smaller because I only had a limited number of scrappy Christmas fabrics in my stash.  Can you believe I made a whole quilt from stash? Even the backing and the binding? Well I ...

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December 18, 2022
This Little Light of Mine Mini Quilt from Baby Boomer Quilting Bee


 "This Little Light of Mine" Quilt pattern by Wendy Shephard, Ivory Spring Quilts is just the sweetest. For Christmas, our Quilt Bee chose to play Secret Santa and make a homemade gift.  A mini wall quilt made with one block and my stash of Tim Holtz fabric was a great combination.


I started early one morning, sewing off and on, and finishing late that night.  My favorite process of quilting is piecing (just ahead of cutting), so this one block was so enjoyable.  I  quilted feathers with holly berry leaves and hand bound for a finishing touch. 

On my 2023 ...

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December 14, 2022
Weekly Word: People Pleasing + Books, 2023 Reading Challenges, Stitches and Gratitude! from Faith, Trust and Breast Cancer

 

Hello There, 

I hope you all are doing well!  Life has been slow and with just a bit of the hustle and bustle of the holidays.  It's been a nice balance, thus far! 

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December 13, 2022
just desserts . . . from Count it *all* JOY!

Aaaaah!!  Can you believe it?  Here it is, December 13, and there are TWELVE days until Christmas!  And I'm blogging (speaking of Christmas miracles)!  That can only mean on thing . . . it's my day for the Advent Blog Hop, hosted by Jo at Serendipitous Stitching!

One of my biggest projects and happiest finishes this year, was a UFO that I started in 2008 (I first blogged about it here).  Yes, you read that right ... 14 years ago.  It was a BOM by a local quilt shop. I finished all the blocks, but the setting was a feathered star, and ...

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2022 Christmas Countdown - Holiday Patchwork Forest from Wendy's Quilts and More

 Day 13 of my Christmas Countdown and it's my Holiday Patchwork Forest quilt. 


This quilt still makes me smile because it started out as just a few test blocks from scraps in my stash.  I didn't have an overall colour plan before I started, but I really like how it's turned out.  


I did some basic machine quilting on it, but then accentuated the trees with hand quilting. Both Kaffe Fassett borders were from my stash, and the thin red strip border adds a finishing Christmas touch. 




It's another small lap type quilt that I can ...

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December 11, 2022
Fat Quarter Shop Jolly Box from Baby Boomer Quilting Bee




The 2022 Fat Quarter Shop Jolly Box project is quilted and bound.  The charm packs were from Kimberbell Designs, by Maywood Studio.  The binding came from my stash and blends right in.



 

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December 10, 2022
2022 Christmas Countdown - Holiday Homies Quilt from Wendy's Quilts and More

Day 10 and it's my Tula Pink Holiday Homies quilt.  

I made this cute quilt back in 2017 when Tula's Holiday Homies range was first released.





I didn't want to lose any of the motifs so I designed my own pattern which you can find here in my original blog post. 




My Holiday Homies quilt is just 37" x 37", but it can cover the box in the hall nicely when it's Christmas.  



Tula Pink has re-released Holiday Homes in flannel, but I was fortunate enough to get the original cotton version. 




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December 3, 2022
2022 Christmas Countdown - Redwork Christmas from Wendy's Quilts and More

Day 3 of my Christmas Countdown and it's time for a Christmas Quilt.  

We don't need many quilts at Christmas time in New Zealand because it's summer, but I couldn't resist this Redwork Christmas pattern when I saw it advertised in a magazine.



This quilt was designed by Rosalie Quinlan more than 10 years ago, and I'm not sure if the pattern is still available.  But here's a link to some of her other designs which are similar.  Sadly Rosalie passed away from breast cancer which is such a pity because she was a ...

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November 29, 2022
Fat Quarter Shop Jolly Box from Baby Boomer Quilting Bee


My First Jolly Box from the Fat Quarter Shop .... won't be my last.  Among the goodies, a Christmas Quilt pattern with two packs of Kimberbell, by Maywood Studios, Cup of Cheer Charm Packs. I used a navy background from my stash.   Relaxing after Thanksgiving was the perfect time to whip this little throw together.  I'll share again as soon as she is quilted and bound.

 

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November 18, 2022
A Little Christmas Quilt from Wendy's Quilts and More

I hadn't planned to start anything new before Christmas, but when I was pulling out Christmas quilts to  show Wellington Quilters last week, I realised that I could do with a couple more small Christmas quilts to use as table runners.

So I checked what I had in my stash and found these fabrics: 


They're not all especially "Christmas" but they are red and green and that says Christmas to me.  

Surprisingly I settled on a pattern quite quickly, and was cutting and piecing within an hour of pulling the fabrics.  


I made as many blocks as I ...

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November 13, 2022
Sunday Chat – Plants and Quilts from From My Carolina Home

My Thanksgiving Cactus is blooming its head off. I have never seen this plant so happy. There are more red blooms than pink or yellow, but I do have some of all. It came into bloom a few days ago, and there are more buds forming, so I think it will be in bloom for a couple of weeks.

The shape of the flower has always fascinated me. They are like little rockets.

Every year I share this plant’s flowers, someone will say that they have one but call it a Christmas Cactus. So, once again, here is a ...

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October 25, 2022
Home Sweet Holidays Sample :: A Finish from Alamosa Quilter

 It's all quilted, labeled and bound now.

Home Sweet Holidays Quilt Kit sample

The panel is from the Home Sweet Holidays collection as are three of the five fabrics that surround the panel. This collection is a Moda collection from last Christmas. It arrived really late last year (the week before Thanksgiving) so I didn't even bother making a sample with the collection last year. I have a few kits available using the exact fabrics shown in the photo above - no substitutions. 

The quilt finishes at 47 1/2" by 67 1/2". The pattern used is called Panel Squared Quilt. If you purchase ...

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October 19, 2022
Christmas Time QAL from Baby Boomer Quilting Bee

 


The Christmas Time Quilt, from the mystery quilt-a-long hosted by the Fat Quarter Shop is done and delivered to my sister for her birthday.  This time I used my miscellaneous Christmas Stash - some from many years gone by.  The machine quilting was a simple swirl pattern and was hand bound.

A Big Thank You to Kimberly and her staff for a quick little pre-holiday project!



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October 18, 2022
All the Trimmings Mystery Quilt from Baby Boomer Quilting Bee


Love a good Quilt Along ... the Fat Quarter Shop hosted the "All the Trimmings" Mystery in 2021 and it was so much fun.  I finished it last year in time for my sister Rayna's Christmas Present. This year, I will be gifting Sister Phyllis the 2022 Christmas Time Quilt for her October birthday (99% complete).

Are you one of those who buys FQ Bundles, then hates to break them open?  That's me!  This bundle was from 2009 by Sandy Gervais, for Moda, called Crazy Eights.  I was so happy to be able to finally use the bundle and ...

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October 5, 2022
Two More Five Point Star Quilt Designs from Stof genoeg

I promised you more quilt designs with the latest Inklingo shape collection, the 4″ Five Point Star blocks. Today I am showing you two designs which have a more modern look than the previous designs, which look more traditional / … Continue reading

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October 1, 2022
Friday check in: the geese are flying, and the stash report from With Strings Attached

 I went to Joann's, Hobby Lobby, and two quilt shops to find a print that I liked for the Christmas Geese borders.  (I'd hope to find more of the green check (Lori Holt). The first shop had it  in a lovely turquoise but not green.)  I was pleased and relieved to find the red print (Moda) at the second LQS.  I bought the 1-3/4 yards that was left on the bolt.  It turned out to be a tricky-to-match diagonal.  After some fiddly cutting I managed to piece the lengths required.

   72 x 80, 6 yards by weight ...

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September 27, 2022
Weekly update: cemetery walk, a little progress, and flying geese from With Strings Attached



Saturday afternoon was sunny, breezy, and a bit cool -- a fine day for the Zion Historical Society's Lake Mound Cemetery Walk.   I was  among the ten people who portrayed historical personages who are buried in Lake Mound.  (Well, technically, nine. The tenth was a soldier who died in Italy in 1944.  The cemetery has his cenotaph, which is what is placed when there is no body.) I played Josephine Landon Kellogg whose grandfather was the first non-native settler in Benton Township.  Josephine lived at Hollyhock Hill, the successor to the family farm, all her very long life -- born in ...

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