Splendid Sampler 2 - Hashtag Love

The first free 20 blocks have now been released and the format of the sew along has changed.  From now on there will be four nominated blocks each Thursday which we find in our books that we have purchased.  I doubt if I will be able to keep up, but I'll do my best.  I think there will be some binge block kit preparation and then sewing sessions.  At least if they are cut I can try to catch a few minutes here and there to stitch.

I have completed one of this week's blocks, despite the fact that I haven't completed last week's.  It is somewhat fiddly and I will need to sit down and concentrate on that one.

"Hashtag Love" by Jane Davidson was a nice easy one.  It is good to have made a little progress at least.

Have a look over here to see what others have completed this week.

One Monthly Goal for November

It's time to set my goal for November and this month it is rather a simple task.

I have just received word that my quilting fairy has completed her magic on my Rainbow Scrap Challenge quilt and I should receive it next week.

Therefore, my goal is to have the quilt completed by the end of the month, which should be very achievable.

In the background I will have my Splendid Sampler 2 blocks to work on and there may be some Christmas stitching worked on as well.  We'll see how we go.

I'm linking up with Elm Street Quilts.  Pop over there to see what other goals have been set.

One Monthly Goal for October

My goal for October was to catch up on the Splendid Sampler 2 blocks - that meant 8 blocks to be completed.

The Bathurst Blog Meet was held last weekend and that was the perfect opportunity to get stitching.  I had them all prepped and ready to go.  I did get quite a bit done too.

Happily, I can say that I met my goal with one whole day to spare.  Here's what they look like.

"Fashionable Pineapple".  This was supposed to have lots of reverse applique squares throughout the yellow, but I didn't have a suitable yellow fabric in my 30s stash, but this one worked perfectly.  Machine applique is much easier (and quicker) for me. The background is actually white, not pink as it shows here.

"Cathedral Window" was a good block to showcase the cute fabrics.  The centre is quite bulky as there are several layers of fabric under there.

"Tulip in Bloom" was a relatively quick block, but it was still a bit of a challenge to get all the points.

Flower child was another nice and easy applique block.  I hesitated to add the little elephant, but the yellow was just right.  However, I've had lots of positive feedback, so am glad I left him in.

"Fruit Bowl" tested me with small drunkard's path blocks.  By taking it nice and slow they turned out OK.  Once again, machine applique made the circles easier.

"Radio Waves" was a quick and easy block and I finally got to add my red fabrics. I need to add more red as I go along.

"Around Four Corners" used an interesting technique for creating the circles.  I did use needle turn this time.  I need to try it more often.  It was another good block to feature the cute fabrics.

"Betty's Bloom" was one that was a little hesitant about making.  I simplified the pattern by reducing the number of different fabrics, as I thought it looked a little busy.  Once again, a little red was added.  I took it nice and slow and I'm pleased with how it turned out.

"Free as a Bird" is such a pretty block.  Another lady used ric rac for the branch and I borrowed her idea as it suited my fabrics so well.  Not to mention that it was nice and easy to apply.  I think this is one of my favourite blocks so far.

I knew I would need that typical 30s green and luckily in among Mum's collection of bits and bobs that now live at our house there was this little scrap.  Perfect for what I needed.

The last block I completed was "Cat Nap".  Our Joey is a ginger cat, so the colour was based on him.  He is also rather partial to snoozing on a quilt, as I'm sure most cats are.

I decided it was time to see how they all look together.  Happy dance!

The 20th and final free block will be revealed tomorrow.  

I received my Splendid Sampler 2 Book yesterday, so now I'm ready to continue on this journey.  

My other in the background goals were to get the final blocks made for Squared Away Sampler as part of the Rainbow Scrap Challenge.  

I got a bit carried away and finished the top.  It is now with my quilting fairy.

My plans to make a shopping bag got shelved. Blame the above photo for that.

So, all in all, I had a relatively productive month for me.  Now I have to plan for November.  

I'll be linking up with Elm Street Quilts who has provided great motivation to get things done.

Rainbow Scrap Challenge for October

October saw the final colour revealed, being dark green.

Then, I had to wait patiently for the release of then last Squared Away Sampler block pattern to be released.  The block name is the "Dewey Dream Block" dating back to 1899.

I then knew what I would do on the wintry day while the Bathurst 1000 car race was on.

Ta da!  No originality with colours this time.  They did take longer than I had expected and I had to be careful matching up the points of the stitch and flip corners with the nine patch, but I 'm happy with the results.

Now, to finally have a look at all the blocks together by spreading them out on the floor.  

We had been told that the setting diagram would be released in November and that the idea was to have the blocks set on point.

Blow it!  after a bit of a fiddle I didn't mind the look of what I had.  The only thing was that I needed 32 blocks.  I had one extra that I had made along the way, so decided to add one more.  I also decided to add a different design, just to mix it up.  You know what?  There aren't a real lot of blocks based on five by five that are quick and easy.  This is what I eventually decided on.

A bit chunkier that the others, but it will be just fine.

I stitched the blocks into their rows on that Sunday and then on the Monday stitched the rows together.

Ta Da!

I decided not to have any sashings and just let the blocks play together.  It is much more colourful than I would normally make and makes me think of summer holidays.

To say that I'm happy to be at this stage is an understatement.  Now I need to deliver it to my quilting fairy and get it finished.

Thanks so much to  So Scrappy and The Academic Quilter for the inspiration.

Sculptures in the Garden and the Bathurst 1000

We had a busy time on the second week of October.

This was the second week of the school holidays, but more importantly, the week leading up to the Bathurst 1000 car race, which draws a crowd of about 200,000 visitors to the town.

The proceedings start on the Wednesday with a street parade of the car transporter trucks followed by the drivers in open top cars.  The drivers then have a signing session in the park.  I was able to take an early lunch break to have a look see.

The trucks are seriously big and super shiny.  It highlights what a massive industry motor racing is.

Craig Lownes was very popular, this being the Holden driver's final year of full time racing.  He went on to win the race, which was a very popular outcome.

I just enjoyed seeing all the Corvette Stingrays.  There were other cars, but these were my favourites. I've never seen so many together before.

On the Saturday, we hopped in the car and headed over to Mudgee to see the Sculptures in the Garden display.  We visited for the first time last year and thoroughly enjoyed it, so jumped at the chance to visit again.  Here is a sample of what we saw.

There was a great variety of styles and it was good to see that several pieces had been sold.  The day is a fundraiser for the Guide Dogs, which is an added bonus.

On the way home we were reminded that the drought is still holding its grip when we came across this mob of cattle on the road.

After the glorious weather on Saturday it was a little more wintery on the Sunday of the Great Race.  Most importantly we had to watch the start of the race on the TV.  Joey was quite settled.  He is a great fan of sport on the TV, always gravitating to a lap.

We always hope for a bit of rain during the race to make it interesting. It did rain in the early afternoon and the commentators were referring to the "Drought breaking rain" that was being received here.  I think it was quite an exaggeration, as I popped out the front of our house and took a photo looking across to Mt Panorama.  If you can look closely, you will see that there is a shower raining on the Mount, but nowhere else.  That is what I call an isolated shower!  We didn't get a drop.

We only watched a tiny bit of the race.  I spent the day in the sewing room getting my Rainbow Scrap Challenge blocks completed, but they can have their own post.