I love cherries

My good friend Rachael has passed an award my way - the first I've ever received. Scroll down her blog to find the kind words she's said about me and two other bloggers she likes.



As part of the award I must tell you three things I like and tag three blogs I like.


I really like quilts made using Japanese prints.
This is Helen's quilt - I'm sure she won't mind you looking at it.



And because I've just been there I really like to be beside the sea.
Under that frangipani tree with a good book and
the occasional swim - perfect!



I really, really like quilt history books and this one is a beauty
(pity about the pic)

Now to three blogs I can pass the Cherry award to? How about Di at Snippets and Scraps. She does a ton of good work with her quilting groups and has a wicked sense of humour to boot.
I also like Mamie Jane's where she repurposes heaps of old stuff into useful things. Anyone who knows me knows I'm into "junk" and love a good op-shop find!
And lastly I look at Ann Champion's blog with great interest. She has an amazing collection of antique and vintage quilts and quilt tops and has a little show-and-tell on a regular basis.
So thanks Rachael for the award and have a look at my favourite blogs - you might find something interesting too.
On another note I found this link to more tutorials, this time thru the Sew mama sew blog. It's on Katie Pedersen's blog and contains something for everyone I'm sure.

19 more sleeps!

til xmas that is. It's hard for me to get in the mood - it just seems we are forced to buy presents for people who don't need them, which they probably won't like anyway. I've already gone the "I've bought you a goat" or "here's your composting toilet" idea so it's back to presents. Oh well - that's xmas.
Anyway one thing that's lifted the mood is this from Di at Snippets and Scraps - scroll down to the video and take the time to watch it please.

How's this for a lust-after bag. All the girls in the class wanted it but Jeff has made it for his cousin for xmas. The pattern came from his NZ holiday and the result is to die for don't you think.

Cathie planned this in EQ to be surrounded by lots of storm at sea blocks.

Tho she is new to the program it is worth the effort I think.

Bev might need her sunnies when this is on the wall. She's a head down, pedal-to-the-metal kind of girl and has done a fantastic job on these 6" NYB blocks! She's now started on a bigger version.

Nancy's beautiful Mariners Madness

Pam's start to a NYB quilt with that wow factor.

Looking for some holiday sewing? Sewmamasew has a grocery bag challenge going on and there are lots of patterns for making cloth bags. Use up some of that stash maybe?

Classes are winding down for the year with xmas parties happening all over the place. Hope you're enjoying some too.

We just need 2 weeks of hot sunny weather for our holiday on the Central Coast - here's hoping.

Spare a thought for the people of the Central West with all those flood waters for the second time this year.

Kind deed

To start the day here's a link to lots and lots of tutorials for quilts and related projects. You could spend quite a while just browsing and I'm sure you'd come up with something new.
Now for the eye-candy:

Coral from Hobbysew

Barbara from Hobbysew

The start of Daphne's lovely quilt for her grand-daughter

Lovely Lurley in paradise

For our Cotton Reel Quilters Xmas party we had to bring a block that starts with the first letter of our name - here's my Circular saw block - groovy! 24" across - I found it in a book of 5000 blocks and drew it up in EQ. Easy piecing too.

Have you seen Barbara Brackman's blog? Always interesting with lots of quilt history and links to antique quilts. WELL! Her latest post talks about a quilt block that goes by various names - Botch Handle is one of them. I just happened to have made a quilt for my son using the same block - mine was called Devils Claw. I sent Barbara a pic and she's put it in her post with a very kind link back to me! What a lovely lady - thanks Barbara. It is an easy block to sew - 16" so nice big pieces and looks so graphic.

New things

These two pics are the result of a tutorial from Lurline in Perth who had a dresden ruler especially made for her project. I used my little 4" long ruler to create a longer version out of freezer paper and used that as my template. The proper ruler would be so much easier but weren't they fun to make. One is the French General range out at the moment and I used a layer cake with heaps left over. The other is gorgeous scraps of thirties

On a completely different subject it's too late for this Xmas but I found a website selling just the right thing for those men who have everything. It's here and it's the perfect gift! I have two on the way from Canada to put aside for significant male birthdays coming up this year. Check it out. Another interesting gift is here - not just for guys and so reasonably priced. Might have to order a bulk lot. Leave me a comment and tell me what you think. It's so hard to find interesting and unusual gifts.