Hi Ho, from soggy wet Brisbane, Australia where the wet season has finally arrived. It’s been raining for a few days now, and looks to continue into the next few weeks. This is the muggy time of the year – everything feels damp, even the clothing in the wardrobe. Even the tiled floor feels sticky with the heat. But, it’s a part of our climate and we embrace it and hope that it doesn’t become a flood as it is inclined to do.

Quilters love this time of year – we can batten down the hatches and quilt, quilt, quilt!! No guilty feelings for spending time in the garden – the garden is singing at the top of its voice “it’s raining, it’s pouring! Hooray”. Mind you when the rains cease and the sun comes out you can almost watch the weeds and grass grow before your very eyes!

Yesterday I quilted a very large quilt made by my friend Nicky, who is a very dedicated softball Mum. She designed this quilt with a softball diamond and bats, balls, helmets, scorecards and the like on the border and it looks fabulous (I hope to have photos next week for you).

Anyway it needed quilting quickly, so with Nicky’s help we quilted it yesterday over about 5 hours. It makes a huge difference having an extra pair of hands to help move a big quilt under the sewing machine.

That together with a very wide throat on the machine enabled us to stipple and outline the quilt quite quickly. Nicky is now binding like the clappers to get it finished for raffling at the end of the week! Who says quilters can’t perform miracles?

I needed some more pot holders last week when I finally burnt the last one in the oven. They just can’t take anymore washing, so I quickly put a few together. This prompted me to go looking for some interesting patterns and I found a terrific amount of interesting shapes and sizes.
Here’s the link to the collection I gathered: http://www.bellaonline.com/articles/art182886.asp
Why not make some up using scrap fabrics for your friends. I’ll guarantee you that they’ll love them.

Onto my goodies for you this week. A varied selection as always, I hope there’s something for everyone here this week.

http://www.incolororder.com/2012/01/tutorial-patchwork-chevron-quilt.html?spref=bl a lovely chevron quilt to make using scraps

http://fairyfacedesigns.blogspot.ie/2012/05/sew-get-started-hst-mini-quilt-tutorial.html a great beginner’s project for those new to quilting

http://www.polkadotchair.com/2013/10/large-hexagon-quilt-tutorial.html/ a machine sewn hexagon quilt tutorial

http://www.instructables.com/id/Upholstered-iPad-case-with-screen-protector/ Here’s a nice iPad holder with a built in screen protector

http://craft-with-confidence.blogspot.com.au/2010/07/football-pig-tutorial.html a cute piggy softie!

http://www.apartmenttherapy.com/pin-it-artful-pincushions-178710 here’s some very fancy pincushions

https://www.professorpincushion.com/professorpincushion/hemming-corners/ video tutorial on sewing three different kinds of hems techniques.

http://green-label.com/art/vintage-textile-taxidermy-mr-finch/ vintage textiles used in a very unique way – awesome

http://www.sew4home.com/ a cute little toy for your moggy

http://green-label.com/art/underwater-painted-portraits-samantha-french/ this artist sees how light behaves under water – an amazing gift

Well, must away and get some drying done – no hanging clothes outside this week. Take care everyone, do look after yourselves and we’ll talk again next week.

Cheerio for now

Judie Bellingham, Quilting Editor
http://Quilting.bellaonline.com

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