Sewing Caddy for a Friend

I decided to make a sewing caddy for a friend's birthday. This lovely lady makes beautiful quilts and her fabric choices are impeccable. She is particularly fond of traditional American prints.

Christine Book's delightful design was just the ticket. Here's Christine's version...


I chose a red, white and blue theme to acknowledge her American heritage and dyed the osnaburg with Parisienne essence to *age* the fabric. Unfortunately, I lost the pattern sheet for this project and had to draft it myself (after the intial panic subsided).




Sadly, I wont be able to include all the sewing accesories when I post it as it may trouble the post office. I'm sure my friend will delight in adding her own personal touches. I would love to see her face when she opens the parcel. I do hope she likes it.

Happy Stitching...Ann :)

Pink Ribbon Day

Monday 27 August is Pink Ribbon Day for breast cancer awareness. At my work place we will be holding an afternoon tea to raise donations for the important research work being done in this area.

Many people support this worthy cause - including quilters.

Thank you.

Ann

Magazine Swap

I recently participated in a magazine swap with the talented Christine (StitchNiche) from APQ.

Christine kindly sent me Quilts and More, Quilt Sampler and McCalls Quilting. I added the October issue of APQ and spent a delightful afternoon reading through them all. So many wonderful projects - I want to make them all! Well almost.

Along with these I also had Country Living, Victoria and Martha Stewart - what an indulgence!

Sigh. Such a pleasant way to spend an afternoon.

What about you? What magazines do you enjoy?

Ann.

Spring Blossom

Although it rained almost all summer last year, prior to that we had experienced a rather prolonged drought. I lost so many plants in the garden. I don't yet have a rainwater tank and couldn't justify keeping decorative plants alive.

One of the few plants to survive was my dwarf Indian Hawthorn (raphiolepsis indica). It's planted in a hot, dry corner and doesn't receive much attention.

Despite that, it seems to have thrived. I certainly delight in it's pretty pink blossom.

Ann

Making the Hourglass Block

I recently made a quilt that used lots of Hourglass blocks and I have been asked how did I make them.

Take two squares of equal size.



On the lighter square, draw a light pencil line along the diagonal. Draw another line on each side of this, 1/4 inch away from the centre line.


Place the two squares right sides together and stitch a 1/4 inch away from the centre diagonal line - on the marked lines.


I have used a bright blue thread so you can see where to stitch. Now take your ruler and rotary cutter and cut along the centre line to create two triangles.


Gently press open with the seam allowance towards the darker fabric.


Trim the *ears* from each block. Place your ruler along the diagonal bisecting the two fabrics and cut in half.



Match up the pairs from each block.


Pin the the blocks together matching the seams and sew with a quarter inch seam.


Gently press, then press the seam open. You should have a block that looks like this.


The more traditional method has been very well documented by Crazy Mom Quilts. Neither method is *better* than the other but I find that with the traditional method, I have problems with the bias edges of the triangles.

Try both and decide which one suits you best.

Happy Stitching,
Ann.