Autumnal Hydrangeas; Springtime Wisterias ❣

A lovely hello to you, on this sunny, autumnal Sunday❣ 'Tis a beautiful day❣ Blue skies above, flower-filled gardens below......such bliss❣ As I wander around the garden, it is evident to me that autumn is nigh. It is amazing that only in a matter of weeks the hydrangeas have turned into the softest of hues. From the prettiest shades of blues, to greens....to disparate shades of plums. It is amazing to me that from blues so many shades magically appear. It is as if God, The Master Painter, has pulled out His artist palette and brushes, and dabbed touches of colour onto the petals, wherever He will. No petal is the same. Astonishing really❣

This week, I cut and gathered together what seems like truckloads of my favourite flowers, in order for them to dry out and provide splashes of muted colour in my home throughout the drab, colourless  winter months. Truly, I believe there is no other  flower quite like the hydrangea that gifts colour  month after month. For whatever reason some hydrangeas turn into gorgeous dried flowers and the others, well, they just die and metamorphose into a pongy mass of compost. There is no rhyme or reason why some transform into dried flowers and some do not. 'Tis one of life's mysteries. =) Of course, I could pick the flowers and hang them all upside down in a dark place, then I suppose all the flowers would dry out. BUT....I much prefer them to be in vases scattered throughout my home where they add happy colour. I adore to see the changes of colour day after day. It matters not that some may perish in the process.

The hydrangeas whisper to me that autumn is nigh but with each tiny stitch my applique wisterias nudge me, reminding  me that spring will come aknocking once again. As nothing shouts spring quite like wisterias. Every spring, here in this far rural outpost, the  wisteria vine cascades spectacularly in the prettiest of bluey, purple flowers, and never fails to delight. Both the flowers and the exquisite fragrance never fail to intoxicate the senses. 

This week there are more wisterias, leaves and birds to be seen on my applique garden. There have been a few comments re my little birdies. They are sweet, aren't they?? I found two fabrics a couple of years ago where painterly birds are dotted here and there. I purchased them for no other reason than I loved them and I knew I would use them one day. When one sees a fabric they love, it must be bought there and then because they disappear never to be seen again. From the beginning of this quilt it has been my intention to evoke a Monetesque aesthetic, so these painterly little birdies are perfect. Why, they look as if they could have flown from a Monet canvas and landed in my applique garden, nestling among the flowers. I have cut out each little birdie leaving a 1/4" seam allowance, applied fray stop around the edges (as the fabric frays dreadfully), then lightly clipped all the way round, turning under the seam allowance and stitched.  So, so very easy. 

After the stitching of the wisteria is finished that will be the end of appliqueing this quilt. YAY!! The appliqueing and then the embroidering of each flower, each leaf, has been a mammoth task. I cannot quite believe that this quilt top is nearly ready for the quilting. BUT.....not quite there yet, as there are a few more wisteria blossoms, leaves, birdies and perhaps some more butterflies, to be added to the garden. I cannot say I will miss preparing and stitching the itty bitty calyces of the wisterias! I will continue with the appliqueing this evening and some embroidering of the leaves; joining the other lovely hand stitchers who will gather together for a 'show and tell' at Kathy's lovely place. Thank you for popping by my little place where autumn is beginning it's gloriously-hued dance; beginning to show off. Meanwhile, I will just keep stitching wisterias, dreaming of spring days and the ridgy didge wisteria flowers. May your week be a lovely  one, where a little beauty kisses each day❣ 

Until the next time..............

A Most Floraliciously Delightful Finish!!

A lovely welcome to my little place♥  It is a place where there is a floraliciously, delightful quilty finish! I am so very excited! I wonder, do you jump up and down with rhapsodic glee, telling everyone who unfortunately is within earshot of hearing you bang on and on and on; that you have just stitched the last stitch on the quilt you have been working on for what seems forever??? No. Well I do. I suppose I am always a wee bit exuberant with each quilty finish because as I have said on numerous occasions, I am that gal who doesn't seem to produce a quilt in all its glory every other week.

Floralicious Delight is a quilt which dances with glorious colour and pattern. It is a veritable feast of blossomy happiness which swirls and twirls as each square settles into its possie and sings "look at me, look at me". Love, love, love all the busy-ness of all the floral loveliness. When I designed Floralicious Delight I wanted to showcase all those flowery fabrics that had been sitting in my armoire for a long time. I wanted the beauty of these flower-filled fabrics to shine in a simple patchwork quilt.

I started Floralicious Delight last October when the blossom trees first heralded that spring had once again shooed Old Man Winter and his bag of frigid tricks away to his next destination. Spring had happily set up camp ever so entrancingly on my doorstep, adorning my little place with glorious blossomy colour and perfume. The season of spring spoke to me as it always does, with the language of floral delight. Though in saying that, I consider it's always a good time to skip along the flower-lined path and fashion a pretty where there is a flower or two showcased, no matter the season.

Floralicious Delight is a simple patchwork quilt. It is a quilt where a hexden, rosette-type flower sits oh-so-prettily on a 7 inch square of floral fabric. There are 120 squares in all. Each square was then joined to each other by machine into rows, resulting in a quilt measuring 84" x 70". For the backing I used a fabric with large flowers dancing all over and I used this fabric for the binding as well. The quilting was done by hand, stitching around each square and flower. A simple design but that is what I wanted. I adhered to the KISS (keep it simple stupid) rule when quilting. I desired each floralicious square to be the star. I love the wrinkled and soft look of a hand quilted quilt, even though my hand quilting is far from perfect. Once I get in the groove, I can sit and happily hand quilt for aeons as I find the slow hand stitching relaxing and rather therapeutic.

So, another floraliciously, delightful quilt finished. Well, I think it is oozing delightful floralicious-ness....but hey, that's just me. =)  Another floraliciously, delightful quilt resting on my bed for a little while. Aahh.......flowers.....and hexies, how they make my li'l ol' heart and soul sing.  As it is Sunday tomorrow  and for months and months I have been hand stitching this pretty including many a Sunday, I am linking up to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching, where each Sunday lovely ladies from all over the world enjoy the pleasure of a little slow hand stitching. Oh....and I will find a little hand stitching to enjoy tomorrow; perhaps a little Sweet Sunday hand piecing to while my Sunday away.

'Tis with much gratefulness, overspilling with many thanks to you, for visiting my little flowery patch. May your day be a floraliciously delightful one♥

Until the next time........

Floralicious Delight

Welcome to my little place brimming with floralicious delight. Let me say before I ramble on, an armful of thank you wishes to all you lovely lovelies, for your beautiful thoughts and prayers for the throngs of people who have suffered such loss and sadness these past weeks. The fires still present many problems. It will take a very long time to recover from this disaster, but Australians are a resilient lot. There has always been a community camaraderie here downunder  and when catastrophic events occur such as these bushfires, people pull together and get on with the rebuilding and healing. Indeed, outpourings of generosity and beautiful thoughts from all around the world have touched the hearts of many an Australian.

Here in my little place I have been slowly hand quilting my little quilt which spills over with floralicious delight. As I have sat  slowly stitching I have racked my muddly brain as to what moniker I could call this pretty. It's funny, words more often than not spill out from the dark, cobwebby recesses of my brain-pan, but when it comes to naming a quilt, well, I always seem to run into that metaphorical brick wall. For the life of me I can never think of a name! So, seeing as I am always waxing lyrical about the floralicious delight that dances in the garden that envelopes my little humble abode; and in this quilt.....that is what I am going to name it.......Floralicious Delight!! Duh....Kim!! I know, the obvious always seems to escape me. =)

This last week I have enjoyed many moments of stitching this pretty. I decided upon simple hand quilting as I wanted the fabrics to shine. The hand quilting dances around each pretty hexden flower and the centre hexie of each flower; then I have quilted around the border of every square. I am loving the simple quilting. Sometimes the KISS (keep it simple stupid) method really is the best.

Yesterday my friend, Anne and I (and our husbands) went to a little quilt show held by local quilters. There were some lovely quilts showcased but what stopped me in my tracks was a little stall where fabrics were being sold for a proverbial song. Now, you lovelies in America always seem to be able to acquire fabrics for a reasonable amount, but us poor ol' quilting souls down here at the bottom of the world, pay a king's ransom for a metre of quilting fabric. I happened upon one of the prettiest fabrics I have seen for a very long while. It is called Wild Meadows designed by Chong A Hwang; and is digitally printed. Isn't it amazing!! It is a meadow blossoming with floralicious delight....pansies, daisies, foxgloves, irises, bluebells, lilies, nasturtiums, zinnias, lupins........a right royal, floral extravanganza! I am afraid I caused a few ladies to laugh as I walked out of the door as I repeatedly sighed  "I am in love", as I tightly held my three metres of fabric!  This fabric with the gorgeous flowers in the foreground, to the trees and distant hills that kiss the sky, reminds me of this little patch where I happily live. I have no idea what I will do with it....but for now it makes a pretty backdrop for a few summer blossoms. It truly is a bit tricky to see where the fabric flowers stop and the real blossoms begin. Why the flowers on the fabric look so lifelike I can almost smell them.

It is early Sunday evening here and this afternoon I enjoyed a little stitching by the pond, whilst I sipped a cup of tea, or two. Why, the gladdies are beginning to flower. That is a wee bit exciting! It was a lovely afternoon, sitting in the garden whilst the sun beamed it's happiness and warmth for all to enjoy. I must say it was so very pleasant.

Thank you for popping by my little place overspilling with floralicious delight. My wish is that I have sprinkled a little beauty into your day♥

Until the next time...............

Linking up this week to Kathy's Slow Sunday Stitching.