Festival Garden 17, 18, 19, 20

I don’t seem to be able to stop thinking about gardens, even when the weather turns cold and damp, but at least I can stay warm with virtual gardening.

I love that interlocking border, which I think was designed several years ago at a quilt exhibition when I was demonstrating some of the things I could do with Electic Quilt, and spending lots of time catching up with fellow quilters.

Another interesting effect around the centre block.

Third time playing with those same blocks, with no central feature. Probably better for a tablecloth rather than a bed quilt, though the table would have to be tall to show off the outer borders.

I will never have a garden as grand as these designs, but at least my real flowers have perfume.

Ferns and Flora 16, 17, 18

Love these designs, but will have to add some quilting lines, and new colours. A new project file to play with in the future.

My favourite for today is the second one.

The last one is the last in the project file, but the block designs will reappear tidied up, with new colours and some modifications, and quilting lines will be added too.

Gnomes in the Garden 2, 3, 4

Spending time in the garden is often spent looking for a fork, trowel, spade and sometimes even the wheelbarrow … I suspect the gnomes may have something to do with assorted tools not being where I can see and reach them … it has nothing to do with me leaving them behind when I move from point A to point B!

I enjoy playing with quilt designs in Electric Quilt, but when it comes to starting a new project in the real world it is so hard to decide which variation of a design to make, and even harder to not make changes once I start cutting and sewing.

Perhaps I can blame the gnomes for moving things around on the cutting table too!

Ann’s Album OP 19, 20

Nice.

Another nice one.

Another nice gardening day coming up, and I hope I don’t find blocks of concrete a couple of inches below ground level today! Much easier to play in dirt planting irises, and I am sure the plants will grow much better!

Birds in the Orchard 13, 14

Lots of space to quilt! I think I would basically cross hatch, but add a few flying birds swooping and gliding over the surface.

No birds on the second design, but the little fountains and the apple trees are sure to attract them sometime.

Again, lots of space to quilt, and once again I would keep it simple, with straight lines echoing those narrow borders, and yes, those birds would be flying around.

The last couple of days I have noticed a lot of birds flying around in addition to the few small birds which fly around the garden catching insects every day, but no photos because I had been playing in the dirt and the camera was safely inside. To cap it off, yesterday as I stepped outside for the first time a kookaburra laughed at me from the top of the tv antennae still standing at the edge of the back verandah.

Annie Clover Quilted 15, 16

Love the first design.

The star at the centre of the first design becomes the quilting motif for an almost whole cloth design.

Cornerstones + 56, 57, 58, 59, 60

Middle of another week already … the last few weeks have gone by slowly, but a nice fine week suitable for gardening is rushing by!

Before I head out to add some plants to borders, here are this weeks Log Cabin designs to maybe inpire someone out there to think about playing with Log Cabin quilt designs.

These layouts would be suitable for basic Log Cabin blocks as well as these Cornerstone blocks.

The design above is very close to my favourite Log Cabin layout, usually named Barnraising … with eight blocks turned around the wrong way.

I like the little sparkle added near the centre.

The last one is an interesting variation.

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More Log Cabin designs mid week, next week.

Bright Life 27, 28

Yesterday I shared designs from a similar project file to the one I am using today, and commented that it was to brighten the day … it worked, and I spent pretty much all day in the garden playing in the dirt! Started some projects I hope to finish today, but hopefully the sunshine will ease the aches and pains while I am out there!

Despite the fun and happy colours, I much prefer to live with comparatively muted colours in the house, but like a colourful garden.

Back to Basics 21, 22

Something to brighten up the day.

Some very basic blocks from the EQ library , and some very bright fabrics from the EQ library stash, along with some black for the background.

Lovin’ Spoonful in the Pink 6, 7, 8

Winter has set in here in our part of the world, so I went looking for some designs which looked warm.

Now things feel so much warmer … but it might be an hour or so before I poke my nose out the door.

Love all of these … and now I will press the schedule button and go make a coffee, using the spoon which inspired these designs.