So many things happened in the past couple of months....

This is going to be a long post however i guess that's what happens when one doesn't post anything for around 3 months...
1. I am home full time and still enjoying it.
2. Ira started playschool and i have a couple of hours each morning to do what i please.
3. A lot of cooking experiments, some good, some not so good.
4. A satisfied husband and a daughter as i now have more time to spend with them.
5. A bit slower on the embroidery front....i could finish only 6 of the 19 State Flower Quilt blocks.
6. I finally got the rotary cutters and the mat that i had ordered for. All my free time is now being spent in practicing using the cutters.
7. While i was waiting for the rotary cutters to arrive i decided to try a fairly simple quilt top with circles cut using Cd's as templates. I saw a beautiful quilt at Crazy Mom Quilts and i am trying to make mine look similar. I am not so comfortable using my sewing machine for the applique so i am using the needle turn method for the circles first.

Time for some pictures:

Yippeeee!!

I won Shruti’s clutch giveaway!!! Shruti at 13 Woodhouse Road is one of my favourite bloggers.

She has a beautiful pink fabric which she will convert into a clutch and give it to ME!!! 

Well, another reason is this is the first giveaway that I have won! So the celebrations will go on till the clutch arrives!! Thanks Shruti!! 

The Cross Stitch birdhouses

The Cross Stitch Birdhouses now have a permanent place......on a bright green bedspread.

The State Flower Quilt - Progress...

Two blocks finished and i am on the third one. The camera took pity on me and decided to allow me few pictures before it went off to sleep again.

Camera Woes

It is so frustrating to have work that you can showcase on your blog but you are unable to take pictures because your camera refuses to cooperate! I am stitching the State Flower Quilt. I am seriously into this project and i am hoping to catch up with Vicki and her transfers soon. I do so want to put up the pictures of what i have done so far on my blog but the camera doesn't seem to like the idea. I guess i need to have it looked at soon. :(

Learning time!

What am i upto since the past few days? Roaming around the internet reading up on various tutorials on all aspects of quilting. I found a wonderful post on Sewmanyways on how to stitch half hexagons. I found another interesting tutorial on Circle Quilts on Crazy Mom Quilts. And the journey on the path of Quilting Knowledge continues.....

My first complete quilt

This is the floor rug that i made for my sister's house. I haven't quilted it since she said she liked it the way it is. She plans to use it to sit by the window with a book so i threw in a couple of cushion covers to match it. The blue matches the colour of her room too.

Nostalgic Finds.....

I recently came across a set of old napkins at my mothers house. I remember seeing this set since i was a kid. She embroidered these napkins but never really used them.

A Chequered Quilt

My husband is back from his trip and this weekend I finally got some time to get back to my sewing machine. My sister is getting married soon and I want to whip up a quilt that she could hang in her new home.

So here it is....a simple chequered quilt in two of my favourite colours – ochre yellow and coffee brown. I cut up the entire stash of felt before I realised that I am short of ochre yellow. Now I need a trip to the store (sigh!). I also bought some red felt because I liked the combination that the 3 colours made. I am just not sure whether I would use it for the appliqué or for just the borders. I am also not sure what fabric I would use for the backing. I would worry about it once I master joining the rows perfectly though.

Need Suggestions on colours!

This is another bed sheet that I started to work upon. A rather ambitious project, as you could see. I am doing up the entire bed sheet with the herringbone stitch for the flowers and the leaves and the running stitch for the stems. I am not sure when I will finish it as the progress is pretty slow. I am also being distracted with my first quilt that I am trying to make and I am going through a lot of stitching and unravelling. Another reason why it is stuck is because I am not sure about the colour that I could use for the small flowers. The bigger ones look good with the shaded maroon. The smaller ones look good with the lilac however the bright blue looks better in the photograph. I am absolutely confused. Any suggestions???

My first almost complete project

Here’s one of my pet projects. These are same sized patches cut to practice my skills of cross stitch. The cloth is cotton and I had to pin a cross stitch net on it. All the patches have the same birdhouse motif on them. I guess it hadn’t turned out that bad. I am now going to attach these patches to a pale green double bed spread. If it looks good then I could also gift it to my sister who is getting married soon.