Month: March 2008

I have taken some better photos of the blocks as the previous ones look very bland. I have put the quilt top together and am very happy so far. The task now is to find  green border fabric!                                                                                                                                                                            

I have been tagged by Kris at Tag Along Teddies for 7 random/weird/unusual  things about me……..I am pretty boring and usual but I will try!

1. I don’t drink tea or coffee (have done this one before but you know…)

2. I don’t do dress ups (includes aprons!!! now that’s weird)

3. I never swim in the ocean (suffered from eczema as a child and the salt water always made it sting)

4. I am always on time ( well most of the time….I have to remember that it doesn’t really matter if you are 5 mins late!)

5. I always wear a watch (even if the date is 2 days out and I can’t change it because the thing on the side broke! don’t know what I am going to do when daylight savings ends…maybe get it fixed?)

6. I hate cooking (unless it involves chocolate!)

7. I don’t iron anything unless I need to wear it now ( excluding fabric of course!!) I have started to buy clothes that don’t need ironing..

there are a few new blogs out there so I will tag the following….Jo, Lorraine, Lynda, Nic, Cathy…..only 5 but hey…..?

Cheers

Gail xx

here are the first few photos of my new BOM, still thinking about what to call it…..maybe "December’s Garden" what do you think?

Block 1

Block 2

not very exciting photos but these will be for the covers. I received fabric in the mail yesterday from Leanne from Fortunes and Fairies. Of course I ran out of one of the reds I was using and all the stores around me didn’t have any left. I quickly looked on the net and Leanne had some left….I rang her and now I have it…yeah..I can now put the whole quilt together.

My No1 son comes home tonight after his 2 week adventure to central Aus with school…he tells me he is sleep deprived so I can imagine he will hibernate for the weekend!

Have a great weekend!

Cheers

Gail xx

Sabrina Bernina and I have been very busy this Easter weekend! I thought I would finally have a go at quilting some tops that have been sitting around for a while. First thing though, I finished the baby quilt

and I am very happy with the way it turned out!

Second was " A Gardener’s Journal", a pattern from Hatched and Patched, I didn’t quite finish the quilting as I ran out of thread……but almost finished!

third was a star quilt from "Australian Patchwork and Quilting", I love this pattern and managed to use a lot of scraps!

This top was finished over a year ago..I am pleased I have now a lovely quilt for me!!

And last of all, an applique quilt from Jennifer Knol, it is called "Grandmothers Tea set", I finished this top about 2 yrs ago… it looks a bit bright in this photo but is actually quite dark…….

I have finished all the blocks for my BOM and am waiting on some fabric to arrive to finish the sashings…..pop back later this week for a few photos!!

Have a great week!!

Gail XX

Hi everyone, I hope you all are enjoying the Easter break….. I am on a mission to get some things finished this weekend, I will see how I go!!

First take a look here at Sylvie’s blog, she has almost finished my Home Sweet Home BOM. It looks fantastic! Also May Britt has been working on Angels Sewing Basket BOM (you will need to scroll down to a couple of previous posts) and that looks great also.

Lorraine has started a blog called Granny Loz so pop on over and say hi…I met Lorraine at Loxton last year and it is her fault that we now have red shoes!!!!!(a thousand thank yous as I LOVE my red shoes)

I have been busy working on my new BOM and here is the final sneak peek…all will be revealed soon…

I have also decided to make a baby quilt for a mum at school, No3 son is best friends with her son and she now has a little girl after 3 boys, so I can’t resist!!! I was given some pink fabric so this is what I have started..

I hope that you all have a great Easter and enjoy the break with family and friends (and maybe get a little sewing done!!!)

Cheers

Gail xx

I was up bright and early this morning to see No. 1 son off to camp with school. They are going to Central Australia and will have a ball!!! So needless to say I had a bit of time this morning to go up to Monbulk to the Quilt Show. I ran into Nic who also was up early to see her son go on the same camp.

There were some wonderful quilts on display and I especially loved the antique quilts from America. They belong to Rosemary who kindly allowed me to show them off!!

Isn’t this gorgeous!!! I have been wanting to make a blue and white quilt for a while now and I think maybe this one? or then again…..this one?

and what about this one?

thanks to Karen and all the girls who put on a great show, it was a lovely morning out and I am very inspired to come home and sew (it is going to be hot again today 38C so I better get going before I wilt!!!)

Have a great weekend!!

Cheers

Gail xx

Today I received in the post a copy of the latest edition of Homespun magazine……and I have a project in it! If you turn to page 66 (now why would I remember that LOL) you will see my little wallhanging…

how exciting!!!!!

With much coaxing from Leanne, I have named my Bernina……Sabrina Bernina!!! Hoping she will weave a little magic……LOL

Cheers

Gail xx

I am making progress on my Christmas quilt and have few more photos to show!! This is part of block 1….I have used a bias maker and a roll of fusible webbing to do the stems, it is a great little tool and makes perfect bias strips. Peel the paper off the back of the stem and once in place, press with a hot iron and it stays there while you stitch it down.

and this is part of block 3……..not so good on the point here but in the big scheme of things it will look okay…….

and to finish things off, a photo from my garden..

Have a great weekend (we have a long weekend in Vic….weather looks great….it will be very relaxing)

Bye for now

Gail xx

I have had a few requests for a tutorial on needleturn applique. There are several ways of doing this and I think that it would be more appropriate for those of you wishing to learn, to enrol in a class at your local patchwork shop. I am by no means an expert and have had several classes with different tutors to learn  various techniques. I have then worked out a way that suits me. It certainly takes practice and I would recommend starting with a simple pattern with basic shapes before tackling anything that involves lots of curves and points.

I like to use Roxannes Glue Baste to hold the pieces in place (I still sometimes use pins also) and I use size 11 straw needles (they also come in size 10) to sew with. When tracing on light fabrics I use a brown pigma pen (this is PERMANENT so be careful) and when using dark fabrics I use this fantastic Clover white pen which disappears when you iron over it. (it takes a little while to appear at first). I don’t use freezer paper at all, I make templates and then trace around them.   

Good luck!!!

Gail xx

PS I have added some more shops to the list of retailers and also a page with the details for wholesale enquiries.

For all wholesale enquiries please email me at

gailpandesigns@gmail.com

or contact me at

PO BOX 7156

Upper Ferntree Gully

Vic 3156

Australia

(613) 9758 8802