Year of The Pies and Tarts!

I hereby name 2014 the Year of the Pies and Tarts!

I started this quilt way back in December 2010 when on a trip to Dublin for my brother in laws wedding. Over the past few years I have pottered away on them but I now have a bee in my bonnet about them and they have been hanging around for FAR TOO LONG!!

My goal for 2014 is to finish the top - I have 39 pies and tarts to go, out of 100 of each. Once the top is together I need to applique the tarts onto it. This is where I want it to be by year end. I just need to double my yearly average to get all the piecing done and then get the applique done, and I will meet my goal! With my track record, not sure if I like my chances but I am going to give it one helluva shot!

Then 2015 will be calling for it to be sandwiched, stitched in the ditch and then the hand quilting that I oh-so-love will begin...but I think I am getting a little bit ahead of myself there.

The funny thing about this quilt is that it really does not go with our house, so I have no idea where I will put it once it is done. One thing is for sure, I will be keeping it after all the blood, sweat and tears of putting it all together!

The Sydney Modern Quilt Guild

Today I went along to my first meeting of the Sydney Modern Quilt Guild, also the first meeting for 2014. You can read more about the group here.

I first made contact with them sometime early last year and then soon gave up when other commitments "got in the way" and I couldn't get to any of the meetings.

One of my 2014 goals was to take more time for me to indulge in the things I love, so joining up to this lovely little group was the perfect way to do it. All the dates for the year are set so they are now locked into our calendar and I am hopeful I will make the majority of the meetings.

I didn't take any pics today but Sel took some photos so hopefully she will post them and I will be able to link the pics up here once they are posted to the blog!

The shop where the meetings are held, Gretas Handcrafts at Lindfield has just downsized to a gorgeous little shop space. As there is only room for handcrafts I took along my notorious Pies and Tarts, which I am determined to get close to finishing this year. I did a Pie and a Tart as well as cutting another lot in the 3 hour meeting.

It was so nice to meet the girls and listen to their chin wagging of different fabrics and ranges and bloggers and patterns and plans. I felt so out of the loop of the quilty world, but I still thoroughly enjoyed the time.

The fun thing is that once every 2 months there will be a sew-in day at a new quilt shop at Castle Hill, which I believe to be fabulous! I am looking forward to heading out there for a nosy.

It was pretty hot in Sydney, so I spent the afternoon organising my 2014 schedule for when the girls are back at school and worked out the plan of attack for next week to finish up the holidays with lots of fun. We swam and hung out - so it was a great mix of family time and self indulgence today. A perfect mix for a lovely Saturday!

Pies and Tarts progress

More Pies Progress

20 pies completed and appliqued onto their backing + 20 tarts put together.

Ready to move onto the next lot!




For reasons unbeknownst to me, blogger keeps turning my pics!!!

Pies and Tarts - A block of the month project

When out in Bathurst, I love to visit this shop if I am able to.

Sometime ago, I dropped in and spied this BOM (which they don't seem to have anymore!) I signed up for it immediately! I love it. The little packs of triangle papers and beautiful fabrics, started popping into my PO Box on a monthly basis...and all of a sudden 10 months had past and I hadn't even started.

With a trip to a cold and wintery Ireland coming up back in November I decided to take this along with me to keep me busy when I was cosying up next to the radiator. There was a lot more than stitching to be done on our trip to Ireland so Block 1 didn't even get finished however now, 3 months after our return, I have finally completed that block 1 and can now move onto the other 9.

I really love the fabrics, and will keep slogging away on this BOM to get it done. Sounds like a good thing that my machine broke as now all I can do is hand stitch until I can justify forking out for another machine