Blocks 7 , 8 and 9 Faithful Friends Stitch a Long Quilt

Blocks 7, 8 and 9 of my free block of the month quilt pattern, A faithful Friend are now ready for you to download. Just click through to the Complete Craft website by clicking the link here. It will take you straight to the page. Click here for free pattern blocks

Don't worry if you missed the first block, you may be able to locate a back issue of volume 12-4 of Homespun Magazine. For US readers Ericas still have copies. Click here for the magazine that contains pattern one. For Australian readers contact the Homespun Subscriptions department on 1300 303 414. Otherwise I will have it available at the completion of the program towards the end of the year.

Hope you enjoy these blocks.
Warmly Lenna

New Christmas in Italy Quilt

Last November my family and I were blessed to spend 8 weeks in Italy. The trip was a dream come true for me and something I had been planning for a few years. The experience of soaking up another country's culture was a wonderful experience and something we will all never forget.

One of our very special moments was experiencing a white Christmas, something very different for we Aussies who normally sweat in the heat of summer over an oven, or contend with seafood, salads and sand at the beach. Seeing snow fall from the heavens was something very new. And I will never forget the delightful squeals of  excitement from Miss 10 as she looked up into the falling snow and exclaimed "It feels like fairies are dancing across my face".

For so many reasons I felt that my next project should be one inspired by my trip to Italy.

Truth is though it took me a while to get my Mojo back in full swing, but thankfully when the ideas started to flow I was soon on my happy way, sketching from images fresh in my mind.

A few months on, the quilt is now complete and I have a confession to make. I have not been very diligent in taking photos of my progress. So instead I have another idea.

Over the next few weeks I thought it would be fun to show you where my inspiration has come from. So I will include some photos of sections from the quilt and then show you some of the places and buildings that inspired their creation.

The overall concept for the quilt flashed into my mind as we were driving through farmland in the Northern part of Italy just outside of Venice. Red and terracotta brick farmhouses nestled amongst snow laden trees was a scene quite new to me. The colours were so pale and yet so beautiful. It was the trees that intrigued me the most, their delicate branches dusted with snow silhouetted against the sky. Hopefully you will get an idea of what I saw from these photos, taken from the inside of the car (it was too cold to wind down the window).

So including these trees within my design was a must. I discovered a variegated DMC thread that gave the perfect effect, doing all the creative work for me.

As you can see there's lots of little houses, hills dusted with snow and lots more to come...!

Warmly Lenna

Block 5 and 6 A Faithful Friend Stitch a Long Quilt now ready

Blocks five and six of my free block of the month quilt pattern, A Faithful Friend are now ready for you to download. All you have to do is head over to the Complete Craft website by clicking the link here

Hope that you are enjoying the sewing journey!
I also wanted to let you know that there is an exciting competition being offered over at the Stitching Cow blog. The winner will receive the complete kit of fabrics and threads for this quilt project worth over $250. For your chance to win click here for all the details.

Best of luck
Warmly Lenna

Block 3 and 4 A Faithful Friend Stitch a Long Quilt now ready

It's time for tea!

Blocks three and four of my free block of the month quilt pattern are now ready for you to download.
It's so easy, just click on the link here to go there now.

Click here for blocks 3 and 4 free block of the month quilt pattern A Faithful Friend

Or if you would like more information about this quilt and how to purchase a fabric and thread kit please go to free block of the month quilt pattern

Hope you are enjoying the stitching journey.
Warmly Lenna

Block Two A Faithful Friend Stitch a Long Quilt now ready

Block two stitchery of my free block of the month quilt pattern is now ready for download.

This Stitch a Long quilt project is proudly supported by Homespun magazine.This block is the first of 19 small embroidery designs which will be released for you to enjoy each week from the www.completecraft.com.au website.
All you need to do to take part in this exciting stitching journey is visit the Complete Craft website and navigate to the Homespun section and the Faithful Friends Stitch a Long project, then simply click on the pattern links to download your free patterns. It couldn't be easier.

The embroidery stitches used are easy to master, although if you feel you may need to brush up on your skills then check out my embroidery videos. Watch over my shoulder as I demonstrate some of the embroidery stitches used in this quilt project.

Block three will be ready for download next week, so check back soon for all the details. And please let your other sewing friends know about this exciting free block of the month quilt pattern. Better still grab the promo button and help us to promote it by including it on your own blog.
Copy it from here:

Until next time, enjoy block one and happy stitching!
Warmly Lenna

A Faithful Friend Stitch a Long Quilt for Homespun Magazine

Last Friday my issue of Homespun Magazine was popped into my mail box, which means my Stitch a Long Quilt project, "A Faithful Friend" has been launched...Yippee

That also means that the fabrics have been cut, folded, pressed and lovingly packaged with a bow all ready for you to enjoy. What better way to indulge your passion knowing that the complete set of 21 patterns that make up this quilt project are FREE.

All the hard work of choosing fabrics and threads has been done for you. Be quick to secure one of the kits because unfortunately my supply is limited and I will not be able to restock the fabric range used in this quilt project.

Please pass on this information to all of your sewing friends. I want as many people as possible to enjoy this free project while it is available. If you belong to an online sewing group or have  a
blog of your own please feel free to copy the button ad included at the top of this blog for use on your site.
And here is the link to the information page which you will need to embed under the graphic, just copy and paste it.
http://www.stitchingcow.com/freebies/a-faithful-friend-stitch-a-long-quilt-for-homespun-magazine

Come on this sewing journey with me it is pure sewing bliss. Read all about how to get involved by clicking the link here, it will take you to the information page so that you can get started.

Stitch a Long Quilt A Faithful Friend information page

Happy Stitching!
Warmly Lenna

Stitch-a-Long Quilt project with Homespun Magazine

It's getting very exciting now because my new Stitch a Long quilt project for Homespun magazine is almost ready for release.So I have been cutting, folding, ironing and playing with all the gorgeous fabrics getting them ready for the fabric kits.

And I am very pleased to report that this had a great affect on my missing Mojo!
Hooray Hooray!

Here are some pics of what my dining table looked like a week ago:

Just waiting on the beautiful threads to arrive from DMC and all will be ready to go. The fabric kits will be available from the www.stitchingcow website and will contain the exact fabric I used for the quilt, as well as the background fabric and all embroidery threads.
All you will need to do is to get your hands on the April issue of Homespun magazine for the first pattern. The remaining patterns will be available for download each week for the next 20 weeks...and all for FREE.

So stay tuned. More to come soon
Warmly Lenna