WOW 13th Jan

Hi Everyone,
Where is Jan going. This post I started on Sat 9th and by the time I link on Wed 13th to Esther's WOW the month will amost be halfway over. Since New Year our days have been a mix of cloud, showers and sun and very humid. so ideal to spend time in my sewing room.
I have made good progress with my Gecko and all my mosaic pieces are now in place.

Very happy at this stage as this replicates my metal original well.

 I did change my gold and deep red over on the lower back leg this morning after making the other 3 the other way. Don't know why but light to the front of the leg just feels better to me.

The next stage is outside my comfort zone by several miles!!! I want to free motion stitch all over my Gecko to make sure the applique pieces stay in place and also give another texture.

My stitching doesn't show up very well, probably a good thing as I have some pointy turns and some crossing of my lines LOL.
 However I love the extra layer of texture it has given, I used a Wonderfil metallic copper thread, first time I have tried it and it sewed beautifully

Have also decided I want to create a real 3D effect to the head so went out this morning and bought eyes - several of them.LOL.

Not sure which is my favourite but am leaning towards the copper haf button at the bottom.

I want to create an eye hood that sits over most of the button which will be fun in itself!!!

Now to cut my Gecko away from the backing fabric and add some padding.

Traced the outline onto iron on Pellon batting then cut it out a quarter inch inside my trace line.
Had to fuse it from the right side with baking paper to protect my "skin" so it took a while but it is in place  - but - I want more  padding to the body!!!!

This is the third layer, underneath is a a smaller layer and hopefully when stitched to my background the body will really leap out. I don't like waste so these layers have been pieced from my off cut of pellon.

Decided on my background fabric after trying several and ruling them out as either too dark, too light, too busy etc

An offcut of curtain fabric which I am using horizontally as feel it gives the look of trellis work that my Gecko is climbing up. Fabric is textured which will give another dimension.
Realised this morning I needed to make my eye hoods before I place my gecko as stitching them   afterwards will flatten my head.

Very happy with the result as it was just trial and error. Steve redrew my pattern as I wasn't sure how much to increase it by to get the lift I needed. I cut it as a double shape so fused in half I had a sealed outer edge. Trickiest part was FMQ those tiny pieces but holding tight to my starting threads got the fabric moving. I then pinned an eye in place to judge what line I needed to follow for my curve to get the lift. Haven't decided which eyes to use but have to stitch him down first anyway.
 Now to get him onto my background.

Linking shortly with Esther's Work on Wednesday and looking forward to the 15th when she releases Hazel and Little Hazel which might be the one for me to make.

This week having been a long term member of Esther's BOM group I have been spending time exploring Facebook as Esther has advised members she is moving her group there.

I have been a member of Facebook for several years but guess I was what is called a "stalker" as I never posted about myself but used it to catch up on what my friends were doing. 

It was only a few weeks ago through using help that I discovered that to post a comment you push the enter key, I had been clicking here there and everywhere and my comments never posted. LOL

This week I added a profile picture - Gracie not me at this stage- so slowly I am moving with the times. I have been surprised how easy it is to navigate within Esther's groups and even managed to post photo's of my Lily Rose. Learning is a real pleasure however you do it.

This year I intend to finish my LE, only the final border to complete. One day soon I will take the time to edit my album of my LE progress and add it to Esther's group but I have taken sooooo many photo's of my journey it will take a while.

Enjoy your Wednesday Everyone, Cheers Jenny

Happy New Year

Hi Everyone,
Hope you have all had a wonderful peace filled Christmas with your family and friends.
We had a quiet day, joined very good friends for midday Christmas Dinner and shared with their family in a special day. After Mum's passing last year it was lovely spending time with a family who still have parents with them.

Since finishing my Ginny Beyer 24" block have not been sure what I want to do next.
LE has come out again and I have stitched some more of final border 2 but I can't stay focused on it but 2016 is the year it will be finished.
I loved Terry Aske's recent blog on how to create portrait quilts and am now thinking about doing one of Grace but I haven't go very far. Have played with a photo, not quite how Terry describes but I love this version.

 Used a water paint effect with Photoscape and although Grace is a jet black dog this is giving me ideas for highlights and how to bring her to life in fabric,  Also love how our horrible textured 70/80's carpet has been given a new look, could be the ideal background fabric to look for.  LOL

DH and I don't buy each other presents at Christmas but I have been looking for ages for a metal ghecko for on our front deck, the week before Christmas I finally found one I still liked on my second viewing so home he came and luckily Steve likes him too so he is our Christmas present for the house.

My favourite colours at the moment he's waiting for a few extra layers of automotive clear coat before heading outside as all the open work is copper wire so while waiting I have another project idea that might be simpler than a portrait of Grace.

 Traced around our ghecko, drew in the eyes as best I could (you can see how they are hooded and bulge up) and added the other pattern lines and colour shading marks. 26" from nose to bend of tail and 20" across back toes so this might be a challenge after all. Have a couple of fabrics that might work plus this piece of  synthetic snake skin look fabric.

My thought is that if I cut a complete Ghecko from this fabric and then work on how to overlay the other fabrics and colours it may come together. There is a seamless blend in the paint effect so how can I acheive that?

To other things. El Nino this year has brought us continous hot sunny days. They take Whangarei temp's at the airport by the sea in a louvered box and are being recorded as high 20's but at home we know we have been getting low to mid 30's. By 5.30pm we can barely sit in our lounge as the sun moves round and streams in for the next three hours so a solution had to be found.

This sunsail has made a huge difference although we still need a fan in the lounge to move air around.

It is a little darker inside but we can take it down for winter when we do want the late sun to stream in. Metal extension brace at one end and a new post at the other to give us good head height on the deck plus the proper tension. The support timber will come off once the post concrete has fully hardened. Because of the post's position we will now add another fence out to the boundary fence to make it look like it belongs there and seperate our exta parking space from the front yard.

Since we replaced our front fence the area has become a haven for Blackbirds and Thrushes.

I added 2 stones to our birdbath as it was never used and suddenly, IT IS being used, I think it was to deep and slippery and not private enough. On the left Mum Blackbird is on the branch and Dad is feeding Baby on the ground. These are taken from our dining room so are not great photo's Today it was Mum Thrush and her 3 chicks playing here, one still with a couple of down feathers on her head.

This is now a two week blog so Happy New Year everyone, It has gone from sweltering yesterday to a subtropical low overnight bringing first wind and now steady rain with the forecast for thunderstorms and heavy downpours today and tomorrow. - Welcome 2016 -  at least a few days of not watering the garden!!!

This morning I cut a complete background Ghecko from my pattern and fused it to another fabric which I intend to cut away once my applique is complete.

The flash has lightened the body area but this fabric is great, if I didn't want to add colour I couldn't have asked for a more lifelike fabric. While I was looking for A3 pages to trace my pattern on I came across some mosaic patterns I had forgotten about so this is my answer for colour blending
I picked 8 fabrics to hopefully blend from red through yellow to dark green and set to work drawing mosaic pieces on the reverse of my pattern, numbering and then shading them. If it doesn't work for the tail then it won't work at all!!!!

I didn't expect 60 pieces just for the tail - this is going to be a project after all.

After a very wet New Years afternoon spent with friends I got down to the task on Saturday and this is the result.

Again the flash has changed my snakeskin fabric but am I very happy with how the tail has come together, now for the head.

Not even thinking about the eyes at this stage, only colouring my background.

Dropped off the red and orange and added a deeper green at the neck end.

Only 38 pieces this time

I think I am going to do the main body next and leave the legs till last starting with the two areas that are metal on the original and then mosiac over them to get a softer blend of the orange and red.

Wrong Option!!!!

The solid cololour looked better than my mosiac overlay but I felt it was just too solid so to a new plan, luckily my fabric peeled off without problem. I cut a new solid pattern and drew my mosiac on it as I wanted to keep the crisp outline.

3 Pieces in place and this is working out like the perfect jigsaw puzzle.

Cut a shape out, pin my pattern in place and I have the perfect template for positioning.

And here we are on Tuesday 5th Jan.

Love the body elements but that leg has taken ages but now  I think I need to move my gold to the front of the leg, LOL
Photo's are a great way to view from a distance and make alterations before it's to late!!!

Another couple of garden photo's before I link to Esther's first WOW for 2016.

Old Lady Jacaranda across the street from us has been beautiful this year, we get to enjoy all her glory
 and don't have to clean up her carpet of fallen flowers.

 Agapanthus now blooming right outside my sewing room window.
I wonder why I love blue and purple so much.

Potted Hydrangea by our front steps, will have to go in the garden after flowering as although healthy last year flowers were much deeper so needs more nutrients but this lovely pastel pink is gorgeous as is the orchid peeping through.

That's it everyone, thanks for taking the time to visit and I love to read your comments.

Now linking with Esther's WOW

Cheer's Jenny

WOW for Christmas 2015

Merry Christmas Everyone,

I wish everyone a very happy Christmas and festive season shared with family and friends.
May all your dreams come true in 2016.
We have no family in Whangarei so our family catch ups will be on the phone and then sharing our Christmas Day with friends.
An update, having a tooth out was the best thing I have done in years. An altered bottom plate that no longer does rock and roll when I chew will be bliss for Christmas day, bring on the nuts and other yummies that I have had to avoid in company for years!!!

To progress on my Building Blocks pattern from Ginny Beyer. Before starting to assemble my blocks  I visited the Ginny Beyer.com  website and watched her video tips on stitching Y seams again,
Ginny made it look so easy and I noticed she had an angle marker for marking the vital 1/4 inch corner dots. I didn't have one but I do have a very handy DH and a 9" square ruler I don't use.

Explained what I needed and 5 minutes later.

Perfect for my square blocks, a little more tricky to be accurate on the diamonds but with holes now   drilled in several places this ruler will get a lot more use in future.

So on to stitch my first blocks.

My layout for block 1, but what did I was this.

I got a perfect Y seam but reversed my side block and put my two dark corners together.

I took them all off the design board at once, marked the dots and stitched them together, without checking the placement!! I didn't pick this up until after I had stitched the next blocks together and wasn't getting the effect I had expected. Didn't do that again!!

Here is the first triangular corner unit creating a new block emerging.

Anyway I carried on thinking lets see what happens, if I need to I can unpick and restitch that unit.

That video on Y seams was great, everything came together so easily. LOL

Yes, the Y corners were simple afterall but I also had to match all my fabric intersections so there was plenty of unpicking. I pinned carefully or so I thought but when opening out the seam WHY am I an 8th or 16th inch out where the colours meet.

Patience was the name of the game for stitching this together, it doesn't always go together first time but I am very happy with progress.

Now it is all together but which way is up or does it really matter???

Finished size is 24" square so could be another cushion cover, or a table topper.
Now it's time to prepare for Christmas day so my sewing room won't see much of me.

Be happy and enjoy the festive season everyone. Hugs to all, Jenny

WOW for Dec 16th

Hi Everyone,

Starting this weeks blog very early as am taking it easy this Friday.  Had a bottom tooth out yesterday and my jaw is still quite sore. Last night Steve took this photo of the recovery process

My shoes aren't meant to be on the couch and neither is Gracie and her toy but she Really Really wanted to help me feel better, swollen cheek and all.
Forget the sheet of gib board behind the couch -  I have - it covers the opening of the old fireplace.   One day that wall and our lounge will be finished.

The cushion I made from a Ginny Beyer pattern is getting well used as you can see.

This cushion cover was a learning exercise in reducing Ginny's pattern to 1 inch finished size segments. Strip piecing meant it came together without being too fiddly.

 After the painkillers kicked in this morning went back to my 9 piece 3D blocks.
A Ginny Beyer pattern from her book  Colour Confidence for Quilters.

Another block made and feel I am getting a good balance of Purples, Blues and Teals.
Now for the center square. I tried Purple / Blues and it didn't work so went back to the photo and  brown /green shades were what I needed.

So two blocks left to make before I look at the corner triangles. Yes, there is a final step, the corner triangles using template 3 the center block square's plus a triangle template to create new blocks emerging in the corners. Forgetting that for now - but I am thinking about them all the time -
I decided that the right hand block needed to be brown / green and possibly a splash of yellow.
Put my samples up for this block and found the fabrics for my left block instead, as you do!!!

However, it brought a change of position for my bottom block as this corner feels all too blue now!!!
Have swopped top and bottom blocks and like this look much better.
With my blue /mauve block stitched my browns and yellow seemed too dark for a front face block. I played for ages and cut lots of squares to try and get something I was happy with.

Finally a combo that seems to work, nothing like what I started with. At the end of the day it was a piece of my LE background fabric that gave me the lightest square in this 9 piece block which brought it together and my blue block has come back to the bottom.

I am now not sure which look I prefer and every time I blink the optical illusion changes, which doesn't help at all. Can you can see the change in 3D on the left side as well?
Steve tells me it is just too many wines, LOL

So now to watch Ginny's tips on Y seams video on her website and try to figure out in which order to stitch these blocks together.

Enjoy your Wednesday everyone, Cheers Jenny

Approaching Christmas

Hi Everyone,

Haven't blogged or done any sewing for a couple of weeks as have had a stressful time at work.
The company I worked has been restructuring and rerostering in all their stores for some months and it was our turn. Outcome - my position was disestablished and although I could apply for the new position there were no guarantees I would get it. After some hard thinking and talking with my DH I decided it was best to take the companies redunancy offer and after 8 1/2 years loving my work, move on. SO this year no long hours leading up to Christmas and I am able to have quality time with my DH while I work out what next for me, Mon 30th Nov became my last day.

Dec 1st, out came Esther's wonderful 12 days of Christmas. Steve bought me the pattern for Christmas last year and I have waited for 11 months to hang her in pride of place in our lounge.

There will be another photo when I have finished decorating the buffet as I am going shopping for new decorations to make this our Christmas feature.

I increased the size to fit the same quilt hanger as Faberge which normally hangs here.

That is why I have added the hanging bells that you won't find in Esther's pattern. which is available from her website. I so love the christmas stocking border fabric I found.

I will have to pick my decorations carefully as Gracie believes everything belongs in her mouth. 

The large bowl with candle is usually on our coffee table but not this year as the candle is surrounded with loose berries, holly leaves etc that would soon be destroyed.

Here a few photo's which show my making of 12 DOC

My Baubles, I have never been brave enough to draw the faces on 

What else have I been doing. Last blog I was heading out to hopefully buy some more Jinny Beyer fabric's from Grandmother's Gardens'  roadshow to Whangarei. I limited myself to buying fat quarters and added another 12 to my collection plus a 1/2 metre of my favourite black eyelash fabric.

I have been reading and re reading the Jinny Beyer book "Colour Confidence for Quilter's" and have been very intrigued by a pattern called  " Building Blocks"

Since making Faberge I have been fascinated by the way 3D designs can be brought to life.

There are only 3 templates for this design which on their own would make an eight inch block.

I have made them out of freezer paper so I can cut my strips accurately.

Jinny talked about fragmenting and enlarging a pattern to add shade and colour, 

This is simply making 9 patch or 16 patch square and diamond blocks from these templates and shading as desired. so my sewing table now looks like this.

I have gone with 9 patch blocks. Each block needs 5 fabrics that work together so I have the photo for a guide plus my limited selection of Jinny Beyer fabrics which don't give me a complete colour wheel so I am just playing and having huge fun!!!

I should end up with a 24 inch block to frame and use as a table center or if I add a half block to each end it will be a table runner.

 This was my first block and it didn't work as I forgot which block was reversed  and which was not, Unpicked and restitched I can use it elsewhere. The red, orange and yellow are fabrics I bought, just because I loved them!!!

I have now made several more blocks and they are pinned to my design board.

You can see how block one would have looked if I had used the correct orientation,

Combining two very different colour pallette's with limited fabric is so much fun.
A week later more blocks have been made and the design is coming together

My incorrect block 1 now has a possible home at bottom right.
Now I am at this stage my colour choices for each block are taking ages. I have 4 blocks to make but what fabrics to use. I know I need another brown/green tone one so that is probably the next and for the square on the left.
As I make the blocks I am thinking more and more about the assembly, no instructions for that and I see so many Y seams in stitching these blocks together - there must be any easy way!!!

Now back to Christmas and decorating the buffet. DH came home yesterday with a ten dollar box of 100 xmas baubles from The Warehouse. NOT what I was thinking of  buying but at least a  hundred dollars cheaper than the beautiful decorations I had seen in a lovely boutique shop.

Most had a very harsh gold finish or were plain white with no glitter but a few were a softer textured gold. DH simply said the coloured packs were 30 dollars or more so what colour would I like these to be,  Red, Silver or Blue? After an hour in the garage he helped me decorate the buffet and my 12 Days of Christmas wall hanging plus put together a centre bowl for the dining table.

Hey!!! I'm happy with these super cheap baubles.

 I chose red and silver as the new colours - automotive paint by the way, LOL

Had never thought of adding more decorations to 12 DOC until holding those drop baubles and thinking what would they look like on the outer points of the tree. From there it took off, they are all only placed with pins but for this our first  year with Gracie it really is our Christmas tree.

Thank You Esther your pattern has made our Christmas.

This bowl and 3 wick candle we have had since we met 18 years ago. The candle has long lost it's glitter and sparkle  and the leaves and berries that surround it are past their best tbut the wonderful vanilla scent is still there  year after year, We only light it 3 or 4 times each Christmas so will hopefully have it for many years to come.

The Bamboo tray was a present to us in Raro and this year has let us surround the candle bowl with deco's that won't runaway and are hopefully "Safe from Mouth"

"All Black" cereal bowls - a give away from the local supermarket last week hold the other baubles.

Am not a tinsel fan but it came with the pack, somewhere I have wide white and gold xmas ribbon that may replace it - but where is it ? I have no idea!!!

And the left over's

A never used bowl decorated with gold leaf ( which is why it is never used ) has become the perfect table centerpiece with a wild berries scented candle and more of the repainted baubles.

Again hopefully safe from Gracie's mouth.

I am applying for jobs as they come up but in Whangarei they are few and far between so am  not stressing and looking forward to enjoying Christmas with friends and our family in Christchurch then beginning a new journey in 2016.

Enjoy your Wednesday everyone, now linking with Esther's WOW on Wednesday.

Cheer's Jenny