The AHHHH 's are back

 The latest in the Ahhhh's from Tonya.Some were easy, some a bit harder and some that looked easy I did a lot of reverse sewing in. The one on the right( blue ,purple and cream) looks like a cat to me . They do looka bit better in the flesh as the colours are a bit better.
Last Saturday I went to a market in Mernda and was delighted to see the buttons that are interspersed with the hexies. They are being sold to raise money for a young ( well younger than me) lady to participate in the Peter MacCallum Cancer ride. So far she has raised over $1,500 but needs to have $2,500 before she can actually do the bike ride. Anyway I was pleased to be able to add my contribution to her cause and I scored some beautiful buttons. Along with the market there was a very small but very good quilt show in the church adjoining the market. A devonshire tea was also the order of the day.

 This is my next project. This was a class that I attended last Sunday at Kilmore Quilters. It was a really fun day, intense at moments but I did manage to do.....

 ..... the top two stars and the section of the star that goes in the middle. I managed to finish the centre star and make the star on the left on Weds when I didn't have to go to work. 3 down 29 to go! The stars are either 12", 9" or 6" and as you can see Lemoyne stars so lots of "Y" seams! Hated doing those for so long but having been given a tip on how to start them off I no longer fear them. Think this may be my project for retreat in two weeks time.

The next installment of Ahhh's

 simple but effective

 Rubricks cube.... woule it be able to be solved???

 Stepping stones. easy

 Rainbow stars. Love this one

 Hmmm maybe my choice of fabrics wasn't so good.

 What can I say. Did lots of unsewing on this one but I do love it. The next lot are on their way from Tonya so I'd better get thehole in my finger fixed! No really I have found a leather thimble that I can actually work with so maybe my finger will thank me.

 This is a swap from QBSA from Alison

 The wonky star is from Jenetta QBSA and the two 6 " blocks are from Ann. love them all. The wonky star is made up of different fabrics put into strips and them made into the star. Quirky as but it made me smile and I am so going to steal the idea!

For those of you that thought DDlooked like me after the head shave...... you might need to revise that opinion. I think she is her dad to a tee. At the final count she raised $1780 so a mammoth effort.

 

Going... going...gone

 Lara takes the first cut, braid in hand so shoulder length hair to ......

 halfway there and more scissor work....

 to a number 4. Shaved and gone!

 One very proud mum who didn't think we were alike. Hmmm not so sure now.
Today my 25 year old DD Rachel participated in the world's greatest shave. She has been touched by cancer three times in 2012 ( cousin, me and a friend who lost his battle on New Year's Day) so she thought she would try and raise $500. At last count today she has raised $1,570. If anyone wishes to support this worthy cause visit www.worldsgreatestshave.com anf follow the prompts to sponsor someone or make a donation. For Rachel search Rachel Kenny Victoria and follow the prompts.
Well done Rachel !

Ta Da

 Pathways... did a lot of unsewing on this one as I kept getting lost

 Love the colours on this one. You know I LOVE blue and yellow

 Believe it or not there is a pale green on the edges of this one

 See I can put green in. This is very bright and in your face!

 Gracie's Glass. Didn't realise how much white was in there until it was done. Those pesky little pieces drove me mad, glued them and then still had to stitch them. Even discovered I had one little triangle left over. So I am now caught up with the AHHH's so keenly awaiting the next lot.

A start of one and five down five to go

 I have started to sew my hexie flowers from The Inchy Hexie flowers swap together. It is a far more daunting task than I had thought it would be.I think I need over 500 pathway hexies and of course the fabric I had would only yield about 480 hebce the darker green in there. As some of the flowers are in memory of my beautiful son, Christopher, DD2 has decided that she would like the quilt when it's finished.So far I have 4 rows out of 12 joined so she may get it for Christmas!

 This lovely parcel of diecut AHHH's arrived on Monday from Tonya of Hillbilly Handiworks and these have become......

 ... these. I have managed to sew 5 of the 10 that I bought and have to hurry before the next lot arrive. Tonya has made these little darlings so much easier having them diecut, they go together so well and you don't have to draw them out and then use scissors to cut them out. Easy with big pieces not so easy with little pieces. If the drawing up etc was putting you off doing these, hop on over to Tonya's blog andgrab some already cut then the biggest problem is working out where each colour goes and what fabric to use! Mine is going to be very scrappy maybe using fabric from all the other quilts I have made.The bottom one is from a quilt I have made for my boss... more on that later.

 This is the story so far. I counted and with the latest 5 I have the grand total of 45 AHHH"s . Now this will be another challenge to join together.

Just Takes 2 times 2

 This is my finished( unquilted) Justtakes2 quilt. My beautiful son and his mate kindly held it up for me so I could photograph it. As you can see it was a sunny day and as it's summer here in Aus my back "lawn" is looking very dry.

 Two of the blocks so you can see that I actually used probably 5 different fabrics mainly as I thought I would run out of the paisley fabric. Both blues are the "Sunflower of Provence" range and I used cream homespun with a couple of other off white fabrics for my backgrounds.Didn't put a border on mine as I don't even know if I have enough fabric for the binding! The whole quilt is now at the quilters for Leanne to work her magic. Do you know how hard it was to choose the quilting pattern??? We ummed and ahhed about two different ones before picking the one and for the life of me I can't remember which we chose.

 Being held up in the tearoom at work is my friend Nancy's JustTakes2 quilt. This believe it or not is her second quilt and I think she has done an amazing job.She buttonhole stitched all the applique blocks using just ordinary cotton and her stitching is so fine I am in awe. Nancy also put the propellers on her plane blocks ( unlike me) and has bordered hers as well.

 Up close and personal with one block. Nancy used homespun and calico for her fabrics. I have given her a huge pat on the back for finishing this quilt as so often she was daunted by some of the blocks but still kept on. Now on to the next challenge, just not sure what we are going to do. I rather fancy the GenX sisters BOM.

 As Marina of "Maisie and the boys" posted we had a lovely day of stitching on Friday as well as a visit  to Jemima's quilt shop.I was very impressed with Marina's hexie quilt and while with her and Rosalie I stitched some of my pathway hexies. When I got home my DD2 sorted them all into the correct shepe and put them into the box. I think they look so gorgeous waiting to be stitched together. Thanks again for a really enjoyable day mMarina.

The AHHH's are back and some block swaps

 This is a block I received in the Quilt Block swap Australia for Dec. I do love my stars. Thank you, Jane for this addition to my star quilt.

 Jane wanted another 9 patch star. I have made this for her before and I love the block. I did do slightly different colours this time.

 For Jan Brenda wanted any block in 1930's fabric. I had to visit the local quilt shop as I don't own any 1930's. I don't normally like green but the peach ( yes it is peach ) and green go very well together. Thanks to Sue for the inspiration for this block... Balkan puzzle. It was a great one to make. Brenda has got it so I can show. I eagerly await my block which is in mid air from Ohio.

 Blogger doing weird things here!!!Didn't mean to include this.

 The Ahhh's are back and this is the one I have had going for absolutely ages. It was supposed to have small stars in th corners but I gave up even trying to draw it up so just used star fabric instead. Visit www.hillbillyhandiworks.blogspot.com to see more AHHH's and see how easy it is to get started. Tonya is selling the precut papers so the hard work is taken away.

 I know that my photograhy skills are not so good but I can assure you that these strawberries that I picked from our plants tasted delicious. Nothing quite like picking them in the warmth of the day and popping straight into your mouth. Yum