Welcome 2017

Happy New Year everyone,

Hope you have all had a relaxing start to 2017 and are looking forward to a wonderful year.
Ours started with the hottest days of summer so far with officially 30 degrees for the first few days however in our sheltered back yard we could add on several more so it was time spent inside.
Steve had decided on xmas morning to take out our old laundry tub ready to install the new one we have had waiting patiently for several months. We had a week being unable to do any laundry as water had been disconnected and he was busy from boxing day helping friends shift their business.
Finally ready to start on New Years Eve our kitchen looked like this.

 It was takeways for dinner as we couldn't reach the cook top and couldn't sit at the table anyway.  

Our laundry is a really small room, just measured it and in quilters terms it is 72" wide by 60" tall, a med size wallhanging  would fit on the floor. It also houses our tall and narrow hot water cylinder so maximising space was a necessity for the new layout.

  

Plumbing moved and tiles in place, cylinder cupboard is on the right

What a transformation.

Priority was to get it working again so the floor got tiled but only painting was where it was necessary on the lower walls. Cupboad door is waiting to be put on  and the bench needs it's trim but I love the bench space, my food processor and standmixer now have a home where they can be used as well, Even found a use for the wine rack which didn't fit in our kitchen, fills the corner gap perfectly,will be adding more overhead cupboards above the bench as well.

For my quilting year ahead I want to finish my ufo's, luckily I don't have many so will be able to start some new projects as well, am looking foward to the 15th to see what Esther has planned for her new BOM, if it's applque I probably won't be able to resist . Just before Christmas I bought some dice as I really like the idea of how Jenny in Wellington rolls a dice to decide her quilting project for the week.

Only problem is I don't have six projects at the moment, maybe I just have to keep rolling until one of my numbers comes up - or I give my favorite projects two numbers.

My oriental style quilt is on my design wall with more blocks added as a japanesse friend at the thurday group gave me some beautiful fabric that she thought I might like to use.

The fabrics were too beautiful to cut up

These two blocks make up one repeat of this gorgeous Obi (sash) fabric.

The second fabric, also Obi I think but it was wider and folded in half, 

I have added applique elements to this fabric.

Origami Kimono's to this one

3 dimensional fans to this one.

Fans are backed with gold satin and only attached with the blue at the top.

Both the Kimono's and the fans are from the pattern by Yvonne Morris that I used for my quilt Oriental Expressions a few years ago.

I still have some of the blue brocade fabric and I plan to use it for the sashings for my blocks.

 Silk Kimono fabric which I have had for many years and have never found quite the right place to use. Correction a little bit found it's way into the small flower baskets of my LE.

The last couple of days Fly Away came back out as I finally decided how to quilt my background and I have literally been going round in circles ever since.

I read an interesting blog a few days ago on tips for spiral quilting which I found through pinterest.  http://flourishingpalms.blogspot.co.nz/2015/11/10-tips-for-spiral-quilting-success.html

Thought I would try it with three rings around my small stars that were seperate and then like topsy it just grew, ended up not being spirals at all but keeping the sets of three rings has given an interesting effect which I am happy with, now to work on the rings themselves.

Finishing here to link with Esther for her first WOW of 2017

Enjow your week everyone,

Cheers Jenny