Author: Gail Pan

yes I have finished my cross stitch "Little House Neighbourhood". I changed the wording slightly as in Australia we spell neighbour with a "u"and I decided to do it like we spell it!!! I absolutely love this and will now put it away to be framed at a later date (when I get around to it !!!) Now that I have the cross stitch bug back I am looking through my patterns to see what to do next….but first I will continue on with some patterns for workshops and also for my book.
It is a long weekend here in Vic and I am going camping…..It has finally rained after 2 months and I love the rain but not when I am in a tent! Hopefully it will stop long enough and then pour next week.It has certainly been very welcome.

I will post the next block on Sat morning nice and early…which may mean Friday for some of you!!!

Take care

Gail

Hi everyone……Here I am on Monday afternoon after a lovely lunch with friends and a lovely weekend. I went to the Quilt Convention on Sat and had a lovely day with Sandra and Lesley from Foothills Fabric & Threads. I also met some lovely girls from Tassie, all with blogs, it was so nice to be able to put faces and names to blogs….I think we caused a little traffic jam just chatting away!!! I also bought some gorgeous fabric (as you do!!) this little bundle is from the great girls at The Quilted Crow

and this gorgeous set of fabrics (which I am using in my book…I have the perfect project!!!) I bought from Jane at The Patchwork Apple

and now onto the winners!!! I must say a big thank you to all who commented…..how fantastic to receive over 300 comments!!! I used my random number generator (Liam) to pick 3 winners and they are……lappequri….Peta Jane…and Deborah (2nd March 5.14am)…so let me know your address and I can pop the patterns in the post.
The quilt pattern is available to purchase from any of the stores listed on the left side of my blog….or contact your local store and they will be able to get it in for you!!!

back to the sewing room for me, I need to put the binding on a quilt for Homespun and post it off this week. (ps look out for the next issue of Homespun…I have a project in there…can't wait for it to arrive)

I'll be back on Sat morning with block 3…until then, have a great week and keep safe!!

Gail

Hi everyone……Here I am on Monday afternoon after a lovely lunch with friends and a lovely weekend. I went to the Quilt Convention on Sat and had a lovely day with Sandra and Lesley from Foothills Fabric & Threads. I also met some lovely girls from Tassie, all with blogs, it was so nice to be able to put faces and names to blogs….I think we caused a little traffic jam just chatting away!!! I also bought some gorgeous fabric (as you do!!) this little bundle is from the great girls at The Quilted Crow

and this gorgeous set of fabrics (which I am using in my book…I have the perfect project!!!) I bought from Jane at The Patchwork Apple

and now onto the winners!!! I must say a big thank you to all who commented…..how fantastic to receive over 300 comments!!! I used my random number generator (Liam) to pick 3 winners and they are……lappequri….Peta Jane…and Deborah (2nd March 5.14am)…so let me know your address and I can pop the patterns in the post.
The quilt pattern is available to purchase from any of the stores listed on the left side of my blog….or contact your local store and they will be able to get it in for you!!!

back to the sewing room for me, I need to put the binding on a quilt for Homespun and post it off this week. (ps look out for the next issue of Homespun…I have a project in there…can't wait for it to arrive)

I'll be back on Sat morning with block 3…until then, have a great week and keep safe!!

Gail

I am back this week with a new quilt finished…which means a new pattern and a give away!!! I have called this quilt "gathering hearts" and it is made with 25 strips from a jelly roll (I have used Harvest Home by Blackbird designs)

of course you could use your stash!!!

here is a close up of the block, you can also see the quilting around the block (yes, with my favourite perle 8 thread!!!)

so if you would like to win a pattern…..I have 3 to give away…….leave a comment and I will draw a winner on Monday…..good luck!!!

We had another fire in the hills yesterday, a bit too close again…..this time in Upwey…I drove up the hill to school and there was a lot of smoke..Liam could actually see it from his classroom and he was a bit nervous. I grabbed the kids from school and drove down the mountain…..with a lot of other people…as there are only a couple of roads down it was pretty hectic. Thank goodness it was contained overnight but it was very worrying for a lot of people…

I have seen lots of "merry" blocks on my travels through blogs…you girls are quick!!! Only a week and a half until block 3……..!

Take care
Gail

Look what came in the mail today!!! The new copy of Country Threads with my project on the front cover……exciting!!!

it's the one at the top!!!!

I had such fun stitching this, it is not very big, great for a present!!!

I also received this a couple of weeks ago from my mum, it is for our 20th wedding anniversary…it replaces the one she made 20 years ago (although I will still keep it of course!!!)

it is made with wildflower serenade which I just love!!!

And here is a peek at a new project for my book (yes a book….am I being ambitious?)

not to give too much away, there will be lots of stitching and a bit of applique…..my mind is running at a million miles and I just don't seem to have enough stitching time!!!

Back soon!!

Gail

Just a quick post to let you all know that we are safe here in our little town from the devastating fires that have swept through our state. We had a small fire on Saturday and with a huge effort by the CFA they managed to get it under control. With such strong winds and temps of 47 degrees celcius it was a bit scary. Our hearts go out to all the people who have lost family, friends and everything they own to this disaster.

Gail

After what seems like a very long month, I am back with block 2 of A Christmas Wish!!!

I have finished the quilt and written all the patterns but……one at a time with only 7 to go after this one!!! I hope you have all enjoyed stitching the first block. I have received lots of emails and comments and have visited lots of blogs over the last month…wow….from all over the world!! (google translate is coming in very handy LOL!!)

Block 2 merry

Download Block 2 merry

Thank you all for spreading the word and putting a link on your blog…….it is so exciting to visit all the different blogs and seeing a link!!! It sounds like you have all loved block 1 so I hope that you like block 2 too!!!!!

Now that school is back this week I have been trying to get into a routine…it is still hot but not as bad as last week (although tomorrow will be about 43 deg Celsius…very high fire danger, especially where we live near the forest).

Enjoy block 2!!

until next time

Gail

I am back from a lovely holiday in Warburton, where i was able to stitch all day and read all night, in between swimming in the river with the kids (not to mention the chocolate and watching the tennis!!)

this is how much I have done on the cross stitch……..It's a bit addictive, I haven't done any for quite a few years and now it is all I am doing…except for a project that is due to Country threads mag by the end of the week…oops I really must get back to work!!

here is a little peek at what I have done so far…..I will concentrate on this in the afternoon.

My middle son started a casual job today so I have both older boys at work!! Only Liam and me…very quiet. They all go back to school on Monday and then I can get into some kind of routine….the tennis (Aust Open) will also be finished, I have been watching a lot of it and before I know it the time has flown by.

In Melbourne we are getting ready for about 5 days of extreme heat….up to 40 degrees Celsius not very good sewing weather but I will do the best I can!!

Bye for now

Gail

Wow, thanks for all the wonderful emails and comments about block 1…….amazing….I am so thrilled that you all love it!! There has been a lot of stitching in blog land and here are a few

This is Monika's

and this is Johanna's
and if you go here to Maike, here to Christine and also to May Britt you will see more finished blocks…wow so quick!!!.

a big THANK YOU also to everyone who has posted a link back to my blog….I really appreciate it.

If you look to the left you will see a photo of block one, feel free to use it on your blog if you can figure it out (Jarrod did mine). Also there is a bit more info about the quilt as I have had a few questions. I have finished the last few blocks today…it is very tempting to post block 2 already but I will be good and wait until Feb ….

I have also taken advantage of holiday time to work on my Friendships Garden quilt, this is the middle block

and to also start this

it's the "Little Neighborhood" that I saw on Nicky's blog and I just love it…I will see how far I get before I need to put it away and concentrate on work.

That's all for now

THANK YOU SO MUCH for all your support for A Christmas Wish….

Gail

At the risk of overloading blog land with a free Bom, here is mine. I have been working on it for a couple of months now and had good intentions of posting on the 1st of Jan, however…other things got in the way.

It is 9 months long and on the 7th day of each month I will post a free pattern for you to stitch. (well hopefully on the 7th!!! it will be around then anyway!!) so maybe by the end of September you will be almost ready with a new quilt for Christmas!!! I haven't quite worked out the final layout yet but I have a few ideas to play with. Each block will end up 8" finished and each block will have a 5 1/2" square (cut) as the centre. (just in case you would like all centres to be the same fabric)

If you would like this pattern click Download Block 1 love . I am working on a little icon at the moment (actually waiting for Jarrod to get home from work to help) and hopefully you will see it in my sidebar soon!!!

Feel free to spread the word…..(it really isn't too early to think about Christmas is it?)

Oh…and just a sneak peek at the quilt I have sent off to Country Threads

Bye for now

Cheers
Gail