A review of 2006 in quilts completed.

Well with 2006 nearly at a close, time for some reflection of the year that was in the quilting land of Helen. I did actually start up this blog to inspire me to do more quilting. Not too sure if I accomplished that as I have strayed off the path a few times sewing clothes for the girls. Have enjoyed that though, hopefully 2007 will bring more of that and more quilting!

Here's some projects finished in 2006. I haven't included any clothing, cushions or projects that I worked on with other EB quilters, just stuff finished by myself.

Below is the largest quilt I made for the year, given to close friends of Daz's for their wedding present back in February. The first and only quilt I have had professionally quilted, it looked beautiful close up. The blocks were completed at a one day workshop on stacking and slashing.



Below is a quilt finished in April for my best friends DD who turned 2. The flower blocks are based on a Jan Mullen pattern. Actually the same pattern I am a third of the way through doing a quilt for our bed, queen sized. But this one is toddler bed sized. And yes, the border strips are supposed to be wonky!



Below is a quilt finished mid in the year, but I didn't get around to catching up with the girlfriend it was for till her bub was 4 months old! Opps! And I was so proud of myself as I finished sewing the binding 2 hours before we got the SMS that he had been born! I love the cyan blue in this one.



Below is one of my favourites. The colours are just beautiful. Think the plain hot pink inner border sets it off. And I was extra careful in all my cutting as it was a present for one of the girls in my EB November 2004 group, so I wanted it to be perfect!



Below is a quilt made for one of my online EB Buddies. She had a girl in May. Lots of pinks and purples, it was a lovely one to make. I was quite chuffed as she emailed me recently to say everytime she has it in her DD's pram it gets admired.



This one below was for another EB buddy on the birth of her DD. I had hand blanket stitched these flowers when I was in hospital giving birth to Milly, so over 2 years ago. They have been sitting in the UFO pile waiting to be made into something.



And I have saved my very favourite for last. I made this for Milly back in June I think. The little squares are 2.5 inch blocks, used up a lot of scraps. She snuggles under it every night. The label on the back says simply, "Milly's Chook Quilt, made by Mummy".



Happy New Year everyone. Bring on 2007!

Christmas is Over!

Well at last Christmas is over. Its not sewing related, but thought I'd share some picts of the big day. I am glad its all over for another year. It has been a bit crazy with all these bauble writing hours, thankfully that is all over. They haven't asked me back for next year..... Christmas Day was a bit of a rush around in itself. We had lunch at my parents place with my family and then rushed down to catch the 2.30 ferry over to Rottnest to spend a few days with Daz's folks. *phew!*


Anyway, here's Milly starting off the day opening her stocking pressies. As you can see Daz is "helping"! They woke at 6.30 on Christmas morning, not too bad I suppose. Just seemed early as we were up till 12 that night wrapping pressies! My Mum made the stockings a few years back from one of those pre printed panals from Spotlight. She quilted them with gold thread, they look really great, just the right size too.

And here's Grace holding up her Christmas dress that she's just unwrapped. I felt bad as I didn't get around to making the girls anything special. Oh well, next year maybe? I think the expression on her face is priceless, it says "Okay Mum, the dress is great, can I open some more presents now??!"


And here's the girls racing up and down the back patio with their new toys. Grace loved her scooter, that was a big hit. I think the trike is still a bit too big for Milly, her feet don't stay on the peddles, she'll get the hang of it. I'm thinking I'll be pushing her too and from kindy to drop Grace off and pick her up a lot this year, so lets do it in style!

Hope everybody else had a lovely day on the 25th too. Merry Christmas!

Sewing Mail!

The mailman was good to me yesterday! Two sewing related parcels. My EB Secret Santa Paula sent me the above goodies, all the way from New Zealand!! I was most excitied, just come home from a 9 hour shift at work and kinda clashed with another one of the girls in my department so was feeling a bit over it all. Daz tried to get me to put it under the tree as it was all wrapped up but I told him no way! So I now have a lovely selection of material for my stash and some ribbon and 2 zips. The purple stripey print I think I'll make some "comfey" pants with for winter for the girls as its nice and fleecy on the other side. The hot pink peice is a great size for backing for a cot sized quilt too. Thanks again Paula, you spoilt me! :)

And also recieved an envelope from the lovely AJ. Sorry AJ, I know you signed your real name on the card, but you'll always be AJ to me!! Two patterns for Christmas Tree skirts. Hopefully this time next year I can post that I have actually finished one! I'm thinking of the strippey one to make. And also some sweet hair clips for the girls and AJ, you must have been watching me wander the other day around Target as I was looking for some of these magnetic frames they had advertised in their catalogue and couldn't find anything, and here you are sending me some! Thank you, such a great idea.

So I ate my tea last night feeling very warm and fuzzy at the thought that I recieved two lovely parcels today from girls I have never meet in real life but have become friends through EB. Its amazing. Thanks AJ and Paula! :)

Free Motion Love Hearts

Feeling quite stoked with myself as last night I actually got to do some sewing. That in itself is such a rarity these days. Still working on this mystery quilt. Decided to get a bit adventurous and do some free motion quilting. (Is that the correct term?) I usually just stick to sitch in the ditch which I have done in this one, but thought I'd just put some love hearts in the corner of each block. Hope it shows up okay in the photo. They are a bit wonky in places but sewn with love.

Pingu Island

Had a lovely time on Monday, ditched my regular Real Life Mothers Group girlfriends to hang out with my Essential Baby Online ones! Ann and her family were over from NSW for the week so together with Tanya and her son Max, we all ventured to Penguin Island! Although Grace decided to call it Pingu Island. The kids had a ball, chasing around the giant lizards, playing on the beach. As you can see, both girls totally crashed on the way home!

A relaxing day, lovely to finally meet Ann after chatting online with her for nearly 2 years. Its an amzing thing this internet thing.

Family Santa Photo!

We have had another Santa photo taken, as you do!! Worked on Sunday and Daz brought the girls in to work to pick me up, and Santa isn't that far from where my bauble card table is, and it was quiet so we decided to go say hi to Santa. Milly wouldn't have a bar of him this time, so Daz and I had to get in the shot too. Turned out okay, I actually like it better than the other one. Think I might use this on our Christmas cards instead! Please note Grace is wearing a skirt I made! Shock, horror!!! :)



Thank you too for all your lovely comments on the video Daz made me from my last post. It really meant a lot to both of us, thank you! Glad to share the awwwwww tears around!

You are my Happiness

*sigh* After 5 years together DH still can suprise me with bursts of romantic jestures. Work for me has been frantic the last few weeks and time together has been lacking for us. I keep telling myself its only for a few more weeks. Last Saturday though he made me this DVD, a compliation of the last 2 years of Milly's life. Put an Alex Lloyd track to the footage (my favourite singer) and it was just a reciepe for tears as I sat on the couch and watched. Brought back a flood of memories about Milly's birth and how my baby has grown up so quickly and how we are starting to think about having another. Have a look for yourself if you like. Its a snippet of our life.

You are my Happiness

Ho! Ho!

Well I thought I'd get a bit creative this year and take a shot of the munchkins and print out our own Chrissy card. Great idea Helen but leads to the question, what to wear?? So, while walking past Cotton On For Kids last week I noticed these fire engine red singlets, bit of a ruffle on the sleeves for the bargain price of $9.95. So picked up a size 2 and 4. Then, over the weekend, Mum gave me two huge garbage bags of scrap material for Grace's kindy (doesn't start till Feburary next year but thanks anyway Jules!) and I rummaged around and spotted a bit of white with red polka dots and thought, hmmmmm, lets make it jazzy with some Ho Ho applique! Quite pleased with them, all finished in less than 24 hours from starting. Seems like I never get anything actually finished these days so that felt good. They look cute. I'll match it up with some white shorts and a Santa hat and hopefully wolah! Cute Christmas Card photo??!

More US co op fabric.

*sigh* Had the most lovely suprise in my mail box after coming home from work on Friday. Well not really a suprise as I knew it was coming, but it only took 8 days to arrive, how fantastic is that?! A parcel with 3 yards of fabric from the latest co op. Both Timeless Treasure fabrics, I love their designs. The photo of the green spotty doesn't do it justice though, its lovley. Now just to find some time to sew. Would like to make Grace some more twirly skirts now the weather is hotter.

Have wondered too why I haven't had any comments lately, the lovely Andrea let me know I had some weird members only setting message popping up. So I think I have fixed that! Please post a comment so I know I have! LOL

Lights Camera Action! WIGGLES!!

We went to the Wiggles today! Our second concert, we saw them back in September last year. They are such fantastic guys, big fans in our house. It was a bit sad as this was the concert it was announced at that Greg has officially left due to illness and they had video footage of him explaining it all and handing over the yellow skivvy to his replacement.

Milly got a bit alarmed during "Play Your Guitar with Murray" as the giant inflatable balloon of Murray kept falling over as it was being blown up! Grace looked cute as a button in Ingrids top too. Finally got to post a pict for you Ingrid!

Pretty green thread

Well the sewing here is zilch at the moment. And as a result I have a very shinney kitchen and bathroom! Did sandwich together a quilt last night, but no pictures or chat of that...... I did go to Spotlight the other day after work and buy this beautiful green thread though. Multi coloured greens, how pretty is that? To quilt Michelle's bear quilt with. Please note scarey shadow in background! :)

OT - Girls Santa photo!

Well I know, a bit crazy as its not even December yet, but I have had the girls Santa photo taken already! After the disaster last year where Grace just screamed in the car park and Milly wailed on his knee, thought I'd get in early this year. So we have been talking up Santa in our house and yesterday before I started work, thought we'd go visit the jolly man. We were the first ones in the que, he wasn't even there! But shortly arrived walking up the mall, came over to where we were waiting, asked the girls names, said hello to them and bit of chit chat. He then went and sat down on his chair and we approached, Milly has a bit unsure, clung to my leg but Grace suprised me by being as bold as anything and saying "We'd like a fish tank thanks Santa with finding Nemo in it!" They had little showbags with lots of advertising material in it but one little chocolate which they are holding. So that is the reason I got a photo where they aren't crying!

Fabric Retail Therapy

Seems like I haven't brought any fabric for ages! Didn't really mean to buy any yesterday..... Went to my sisters for morning tea and so the girls could play. After she spent the first 20 minutes raving about how beautiful Ingrids Rose Top Grace was wearing, we then just popped into Textile Traders where I picked up the above fabric, for no reason than just because! Was stoked as the one on the left I have been watching on ebay goes for $6US for a fat quarter and I got 2.4 metres for $4 a metre! The strippey ones are just perfect for backing material too, I have the yellow/orange stipes already put away for my current project.

Is it a U or a N???!

More sneek previews! I'm just busting to show a picture of this one, it looks great so far! Totally opposite direction to the teddies of the last quilt.

Have missed posting here in my blog. Bauble writing work is getting in the way. I even dreamed about posting in my blog last night, how sad is that?!

For when I need inspiration.

Okay, look here: quilts by mellicious and also in flickr. Try tags of patchwork, quilts and quilting.

And here: Jan Mullen.

Drool and dream!

What icecream are you? And notes to oneself...

Bit of blog fun hey! Thanks AJ! You Are Chocolate Chip Ice Cream

You are kind, popular, and generous. You tend to be successful at anything you try. A social butterfly, you are great at entertaining a crowd. You are most compatible with strawberry ice cream.

What Flavor Ice Cream Are You?

Notes to oneself: corner squares 4 inches square. Triangle squares 4.25 inch square.

Off to eat some icecream now!

Welcome back colour!

Well I have folded up the teddy bear quilt top all ready to quilt over the weekend, and already got stuck into my next project! Am just so excitied to use some bright colour again! It is so much fun in my sewing room/laundry at the moment! This is what my ironing board looks like!

And here is a sneak peak of the actual thing I am working on...

Bears Quilt Top finished!

Well I finished the teddy bears quilt top this afternoon. As I was laying it out on the floor for this pict, Grace says "Gee its really pretty Mummy. Is that for me?" Why does a 3.5 year old think everything is for her?

In hindsight looking at it and maybe being a touch picky, I'm thinking the red in the corner "economy patch" blocks (no idea why they are called that! But thats what the pattern called them!) is a bit over powering? DH thought not last night when it was laid out on the lounge room floor, he loved it. He is a bit baised though!

Just have to go to SL tomorrow or Friday to get some backing and more wadding. Don't have any in my supplies this big. Then let the quilting beginning!

Now whats next on that list of mine......

Layout of second boarder....

Just had a mental blank. How do you spell boarder? Border? Boarder? Looks weird. Anyway.... I sewed all the 4 patch blocks that will alternate the bear blocks for the second boarder. Here they are all laid out. The 49 square block completed a few weeks back will go in the middle, I have to frame that with a plain colour boarder. Am thinking green or purple? Don't know if this baby is a boy or a girls, so trying to make it gender neutral. It makes it so hard for a quilter when the parents don't find out the sex of their bub! :)

Finished the bears!

Well at last I have finished these 12 bears! All the blanket stitching done, eyes and mouths done by hand. I find it amusing that a few different sized stitches can make the difference between a smiley bear or a bear with a smirk!

I asked Michelle on Friday her EDD, 19th of February. She's working up till the 25th of January. Just writing that in so I have it recorded somewhere as I will forget!

Can cross one thing off my list of to sew projects that I posted awhile back. I was planning on making my neice a bolster out of those Strawberry Shortcake flannels I got from that co op. But the other day when my dearest sister was over, Grace was wearing the comfy pants I made her from the same material, and boy did my sister go on about how ugly the material was! She is never one to mince words! So I thought pfffttttt! Not wasting my time doing that then!

Our new house!

Now I must admit I am not really a Christmassy person, but I think the last month of working in The Christmas Shop at Myers is starting to rub off on me. This was being unpacked on Saturday to go on display and I saw it and it was a case of "ohhhhhhhhhhhhhh, I have to have that!" So here is our new Advent calender! When you open each of the day's doors the figures at the top move around, some background lighting comes on, the little door at the top opens and a boy with a goose pops gently out and of course it plays a tinny Christmas Carol!

Little bit more $$ than your average Advent Calender but I thought, this is the sort of thing that I can hand down to the girls. Our first real Christmas heirloom.

Now to work out what to put in each days door...... Any suggestions?

Grace's First "real" drawing

Bit of excitment in our house yesterday, well for me anyway! Grace, during "quiet time" drew this picture and its her first real picture. She's been drawing people for awhile, well big circle heads with arms and legs sticking straight out of them! But here is her first drawing that says something to us adults.


I asked her to explain it. Its her and her cousin Cate, she is handing Cate a present (as was Cate's birthday's on the weekend) and they are standing on a bed of flowers doing a dance.

Awwwwww! All I hear is how much like DH she is, so chuffed to think maybe, just maybe she'll have her Mum's artistic streak!

Teddy Bear - Work In Progress...... slowly....

Well I seem to have been blanket stitching for days and this is all I have at the moment to show for it! But at least this one is finished, well sort of!

This is how it looks after I have finished the machine stitching. I now have to thread the top thread underneath, knot it and cut it, can't have any stray threads as being a pale yellow they will show up. Have learnt that through experience! Then I have to hand sew an odd single blanket stitch here and there so it looks all even. And then hand stitch the bears face and then I am finished!

The other 11 blocks are in various stages. I have done all the paws and face, just working my way through the clothes now.

I must admit I am finding it hard to find time to get to sew at the moment. Work has been a bit full on this week, 25 hours which doesn't sound like much, but thats a chunk of my Tuesday, Thursday, Friday and Saturday gone. Still, its making me appreciate my time at home with the girls and my machine much more.

Happy 2nd birthday Matilda!

Here she is! My baby is two today! I did a search of EB to find her birth story here. I always read it and get teary, even after writing it nearly 2 years ago.

Today we have spent at home. Had Nanny Chook, Grandad, Nanny Biscuit, Nanny and Poppy, Uncle Justin and Catie Rose over for morning tea. Aunty Ad and Oliver and Stu are due after school for more presents, cup cakes and twistees.

*sigh* where did those two years go? If someone said to me, do you want to live them again, exactly the same? I'd say yes in a flash. Happy Birthday Milly. Mummy loves you very much.

12 Naked Teddies

Well at last I have finished cutting out all these teddy bits and bobs and ironed them into position. Now all I have to do is blanket stitch them! Wonder how long that will take......

This one is interesting as I am actually following the pattern! These rectangles are 6.5 x 8.5 inches, quite big really.

Anyway, a blanket stitching, here I come!

My 50th post about 49 squares!

Wow, this is my 50th post! And to celebrate, here is a picture of 49 squares! LOL Have finally started on one of my quilting projects listed earlier. This one is for Michelle's baby, she is 23 weeks now. Michelle is the girls FDC carer, Grace has been going to her since October 2004 and Milly started in December 2005, every Friday they go to her place and have a ball.

This is the centre, it will have teddy bears and more squares around the outside. She is a pastel kind of lady and this is as pastel as my work gets, bright pastels, such a thing? Happy with it fo far except for the 3 blues in a diagonal row in the middle.

My husband Daz is a big spunk and I love him very much! He wanted a mention, so there you go Daz!

Secret Santa questions & answers

1. What's your favorite colour?
Pink and purple for the girls. Personally in my quilting I love the citrus tones, lime green and orange and yellow.

2. What's your favorite item to sew?
Shirring is fun. Like making cushions too.

3. What items other people have made would you have loved to have done yourself?
Hats and bags. Haven't yet either. Looks too hard?

4. What takes your fancy in the notions world? Rik Rack? Ribbons?
Both!

5. What is your fabric weakness?
Material that matches. The same print but in different colourways.

6. What's one thing you haven't tried but would like to?
Same answer as #3, bags and hats!

7. Are there any patterns that you like in particular?
Easy ones! LOL

8. For how long have you been sewing?
For about 3 years.

9. What size are your kids?
Milly is a size 2. Grace a size 4 top and 3 bottom.

10. Do you like quick projects or projects that take a little longer to finish?
Both. Love sewing stuff for the girls to wear as thats quick. On the other hand a baby quilt can take a few months, but nothing beats the feeling of sewing on that final few cms of binding!

11. What do you hope to do with your sewing in the future?Selling/Sell more/keep as hobby etc/Design....?
Just keep it as a hobby for the moment. I don't mind selling the wet bags on ebay for some extra $$, but I enjoy it just as a hobby.

12. What is your favourite time of year?
Summer. Love those warm twilight nights.

13. What is your favorite type of fabric?
Cotton.

14. What is you least favourite fabric to sew with?
PUL's bit of a PITA to sew with.

15. Do you have any christmas traditions?
Started a new one this year. Took the girls to Myers and they got to pick out one special decoration for the tree. They have a stocking at the end of their bed on Christmas Eve and open the presents in there in the morning on our bed.

16. What frustrates you about sewing?
Trying the outfit on Grace to see if it fits! And not having enough time in the day to actually sew.

17. What 'style' do you dress your children in/ which shop clothes do you try to imitate?
No style as such. I like the Fred Bare prints but the only FB we own is hand me downs from my sisters 4 year old! I do like some of Pumpkin Patches skirts though. But nothing wrong with clothes from Target, Kmart and Big W either!

Millys Party Frock!

Well I finally finished Millys birthday party frock! I know I said a new posts back I was going to use that lovely Alexander Henry fabric but I had a change of heart. Thought I'd do a trial one before using the "good" fabric but I think this one came out quite nicely and she'll be wearing this on the big day next week!

I altered the pattern with the tier width, took 2 inches off the top and bottom tier. And for the back of the halter neck bodice, it said to insert two lengths of elastic but I decided to do 6 rows of shirring instead. The ribbon could have been tied tighter around her neck for these shots but her curls got in the way, I didn't want to put her off wearing it! She loves it though, twirls around and keeps patting it. Look at that expression on her face below, "As if your going to get this dress off me Mum!" Can't believe she's 2 next week.......

Fustrated!

Argggghhhhhhh!!!!

All is not well in the sewing land of Helen! Going through a really fustrated and why the heck am I doing this phase. My sewing time has been so disjointed lately, 20 minutes snatched here and there, maybe an hour if I'm lucky when the girls are asleep at night but then I find I am too tired myself and so just keep making mistakes and unpicking everything I sew. I've lost my sewing groove.

I am working on two dresses for Milly at the moment for her party in two weeks time. One looks way to big, even though its a size 2 and I have followed the measurements and the seam allowances religiously. Have to try it on her yet, but it just looks huge, like it would fit Grace better. And the other one is just a shirring number but the hassle I am having with the straps and top hem! Pulling my hair out!

So was thinking last night as I was unpicking, will solider on and finish these two dresses and then put all my clothes patterns away and turn my attention back to patchwork. I have the following I would like to make:

1. Bolster for Cate's birthday. Strawberry Shortcake flannel?
Birthday 4th November.
2. Chicken cushions for Stu and Ollie for Christmas?
3. Little bags for Cate and Ruby's Christmas pressies.
4. Michelle's baby quilt. Due February?
5. Sue's baby quilt.
6. Meredith's 40th quilt. Birthday mid January.
7. Kelly's baby quilt. Due May?
8. Nic's baby quilt. C date 5th May
9. Jo's baby quilt. Due June.

So I think its time to start on that list. And hopefully I'll have some sewing success......

My Softie Attempt!

Well now that Dani has recieved the softie I made for her and she has gone to a loving home, I can post the picts I took along the way as I made it.

I agreed to take part in this swap as I always enjoy sewing things outside my comfort zone every now and again. This one stretched my little sewing brain as I had a pattern but thought there must be a better way!

So here she is all naked. I made her out of calico and tea dyed the body to give the skin more of a rustic look? The shoes I sewed to the calico then I cut the leg pattern from that.


Next I did the dress. Must admit the arm holes weren't as neat as I hoped, haven't yet mastered doing small hems! And had to make the neck hole a bit wider to squeeze her fat head over it! Then the hair! The pattern said use wool, but all the wool I saw in SL didn't really suit, so I made my own out of strips of fabric with a decorative stitch to hold it together, then hand sewn onto her head. Should have taken a close up but didn't think of it. By this stage I just wanted to post it!

Softies from Ingrid!

Recieved softie mail! Came home from a long day at work to find a parcel from the lovely Ingrid. Two of her beautiful birdie cushions. Grace was so excitited, immediately grabbed the larger one and said "Its just like a chicken!" And called it her chicken cushion.

They are so cute, almost too cute to let the girls drag them around the house. Might find a corner of my sewing area where I can perch them too admire all the time.

Thanks again Ingrid, the are lovely! Looking foward to the next swap!

Not enough fabric.

I have been on a self imposed fabric buying ban since visiting SL on the 16th of September. Told myself I can't buy any more fabric till the 20th which is this upcoming Friday. I have been successfull in my challenge except for buying this beautiful Alexander Henry print. Although I can't find the print I have anywhere in this site, brought my fabric from good old ebay.



Anyway, I spent last night tracing out this pattern as its Milly's 2nd birthday soon and I want to make her a special dress for her party. I was thinking this fabric for the bodice and middle tier then a contrast for the top and bottom tier. And I discover I do not have enough fabric!!! ERGGGGG!!! DH could not believe that I didn't have enough fabric!

So I'm stuck. I could either buy more of this fabric as I love it so much, use a totally different fabric or maybe, just maybe fudge the tier's to make them a bit smaller? As I am only just short.

Its just annoying. Thanks for reading through all my waffle if you have made it this far!

Strawberry Shortcake "Comfy Pants"

Well after such a busy weekend (work on Saturday) and a day in the garden yesterday with tea at the IL's, they were home from Rotto for the weekend, I got absolutely NO sewing done. But today has been better and finally got to finish these "comfy pants" as she calls them.

I'm really pleased with them. All the seams are neatly overlocked, both the casing and leg hems are neatly turned under. And what I am really chuffed about, I came up with the idea of tucking a little peice of ribbon into the casing when closing it up, to show that its the back on the pants!!

Now, the challenge of getting Grace to actually wear them!

Small and useless bags!

I have been sewing, nothing terribly exciting, just these wet bags to sell on ebay. I was selling on Buyena, but has become a bit quiet the last few months, smaller market? These are fun to sew, really easy to whip up. DH calls them "small and usless" bags as one of the very first ones I sold last year recieved a negative in my feedback, she thought it was small and usless! The name has stuck and has become a joke between DH and I now, even though the bags are big and very handy out there when you have a wet cloth nappy!

Today is bit of a big day for me, I start work this afternoon. Just a small shift of 2 - 5. Then tomorrow 9 - 5. Myers, Christamas causal, thats me! Quietly nervous but hopefully this time next week I'll be fine. Hope its all worth it, the girls seems to be getting pushed around between me, one day in FDC and with Mum. Bugger the IL's getting that job at Rotto! There goes another babysitter. Oh well.......