WIP Wednesday - Week 20 - My first log cabin block!

Wow! My first ever log cabin!! Few strips there from my recent swap, few strips from my recent craft fair stash! I must say I am quite impressed and have now thrown out all my plans of designing a quilt for Grace's single bed with that yummy new fabric I got on Sunday and am now thinking I'll do 8 of these log cabin blocks! They are quite big, about 17 inches square.

Am finding my quilting "style" is going down a path I didn't really expect if my last few projects are anything to go by. Pinwheels?? Now log cabins??! What will be next??!

Hugo's Hanger finished

Have had a shocker of a headache since Sunday (related to the craft fair being over for another year?!) and woke this morning feeling just terrible. Said to Daz, you'll have to stay home and look after the girls as there was no way I could function being a Mum today. Luckily he did and after dropping Grace off at kindy he returned home with some supa drugs for my head which seemed to do the trick! Managed to feel well enough to do some hand sewing later on and finally finished Hugo's hanging. "Wow! Looks cool Mum!" Grace said when she returned home from kindy. Cool? Where did she pick up that word? She is picking up things so fast at the moment. Our latest thing we do together is "sewing"! Which consists of me sitting at the machine or cutting material, and she sits on the floor at my feet and either cuts up scraps of material I pass down or I give her a big needle threaded with a strand of DMC knotted and she sews them all together, just one stitch each! This one here pictured is a toy she made for one of the girls at MG who is due in 3 weeks (Meredith if you are reading don't tell Jo!) She hasn't cut herself or stabbed her hand with the needle yet, so all is well in our sewing room this week.

Killer of a Craft Fair!

Very exciting day today! My sister and I were off to this Craft Fair and Quilt show. Just us, no kids in tow! Set the alarm for 7, bounced out of bed, usually I am so groggy in the morning and don't function till Daz leaves for work and I have a coffee in my hand. On the train by 8.20 and meet my sister at just before 9 in the city. We walked down to the Convention Centre where it was held and breezed in with our pre paid tickets that Mum had brought us for our Mothers Day pressies.

I did promise myself that I wouldn't get that much material as I really have heaps already and I wanted to just get quilty gadget things! Well........ lots of FQ's later! I did get these two triangle rulers, supposedly to make cutting triangles a breeze! Some more rotary blades (3 for $10!) A years subscription to Quilters Companion. A bundle of skinny 1/8th's. And lots of FQ's! The black and brown print I'm thinking of making some twirly skirts with. The material above, the photo just doesn't do it justice, such a beautiful print! I am going to design a single bed sized quilt for Grace's bed. Then maybe by the time I finish that, Milly will be out of her toddler bed and into a single bed too so will have to think about making her one.

But a fantastic day was had, as Ad said on departure, "It was a killer of a craft fair!"

Thank you AJ!

Look at what I found under my doormat today when I came home from the food shopping! The lovely AJ had sent me a birthday package full of quilting goodies! I was really touched, it felt like my birthday all over again! Look at all the stuff she squeezed in! Even some stickers for Grace's reward chart we have started. AJ you are such a sweetie, thank you so much my online quilting buddy! I'll have to stalk you now to find out when your birthday is!

And the orange strips below are from her too. The yellow, greens and purples are from fellow EB quilters who we have yet to convince to get a blog! LOL So I have no excuse now to get a log cabin block happening!

Cass and Ingrid K asked about my new camera! Here it is, nice and shinny! Our best man from our wedding works at our local Harvey Norman which is very handy as when we go there and buy from him we get wholesale prices which are 50% less than what its marked at for sale! I wanted a camera with a zoom, cause my other one didn't and it made it hard to take shots of the kids without being right in their face. Now I can zoom in from a distance. It has lots of nice little features I'm yet to familiarize myself with. Its a Panasonic DMCTZ1 if that means anything! $348.00. Maybe a bit more than I had budgeted for, but the zoom, oh the zoom!

My Birthday and backing!

Was my 36th birthday yesterday, so no Wednesday WIP post. Although I did finish the final strip on my pinwheel quilt, so the top is all finished, which leads me to my current deliema! The backing! I want to use what I have in my stash, and I think this is the only peice I have suitable. What do you think? Works?? Its a Free Spirit print, from their Fleurish range. Maybe a touch too busy? Will the cream clash with the white? I was thinking on doing white binding but if I use this, it just won't work. Maybe green binding?


So, turned the big 36 yesterday! Only 4 years to the big 4-oh! Recieved a lovely new digital camera which I have been dreaming about for ages, has a nice big built in zoom! Love that! These pictures in this post are amungst the first I have taken, nice and crisp? Had a lovely day, mothers group in the morning as a usual Wednesday morning. The lovely Meredith made me a cake and I recieved a beautiful bunch of flowers. The kids played, we drank coffee! Home again for Milly to have her sleep, then I had to wake her at 3.30 so we could be at Grace's tap dancing lesson at 4. Its only her second lesson and she goes with her cousin, so bascially the two of them just giggle and stomp away for 45 minutes while my sister and I sit, watch and chat!

Then that night just the four of us went out for tea at our local child friendly tavern. Chips and lemonade for the girls and a big steak for me!

An Alien!

Have been doing some hand sewing in the evenings. Working on this hanger for Hugo, a dear friends son who is nearly two months old. Going to put it away for part of his Christmas package. It is so cute! I have finished the quilting of it, I used wadding instead of pellon so it looks puffier than usual. I have sewn on the binding by machine and just have to hand sew that in place and the hanging tabs as well, that will keep me busy for a few more nights. I'll post a finished picture then but just thought this little alien was too cute not to share!

Sunday's Pinwheel Post

Spoke to my sister this evening and she requested a picture of how the pinwheels was progressing, so seeing as though it has been 4 days since I last posted *shock! horror!* So here is an update just for you my sister dearest!

Managed to get a bit done this weekend. The weather is cooler now, definitely quilting weather. We received some vouchers in the mail from our local video/DVD hire store so continuing my neglectful/unattentive/slack Mummy week, went up with the girls and we got out 5 weekly movies! Shrek 2, Cinderella 2, Brother Bear 2, Toy Story 2 and a Princess one. Had a relaxing 2 hours this afternoon sitting snuggled on the couch with Daz and Grace watching Toy Story 2 while Milly was napping, I was doing some hand sewing, Grace was enjoying being alone with both parents.

Anyway, backto the pinwheels....... finished three sides. Thought I did my maths and worked it out that I needed 50 rectangles, but no! When I laid it all out before sewing them together, discovered I was a few short! The ends fitted perfectly, but the one side I have had to fudge a bit and sew a little bit in the 1/4th inch seam, just in some places to make it fit! I like the pinwheels on the corner too.

Thank you all for your lovely comments too from my last post. I love logging in and seeing how many people have left a comment. If you are a lurker, do pop in and say hi!

WIP Week 18 - More Pinwheel Progress!

Finished all the pinwheel blocks for the centre panal. Wasn't sure about the white but I think its working now.

Now I have to cut out 2.5 x 5.5 inch rectangles for the boarder. The pattern says just a 5.5 inch block of plain for the corners but think I'll do 4 more pinwheels instead.

*sigh* Have been feeling really grumpy the last few days, I am turning into a yelling Mummy, which isn't an attractive look especially when you hear your 4 year old yell in the same manner and tone to your 2.5 year old. The kids skateboarding over the road in their driveway are sh*tting me with the noise, we live in a cul de sac so its usually pretty quiet. Think its a combination of Grace's partically challenging behaviour at the moment and a bit of PMT. We are going to try a star chart to see if we can at least fix that!

And also been having questioning debates with my self over the joy of sewing quilts for other people. I used to love doing it but lately, well I'm not feeling the joy of doing it, more like its expected of me? So after this one for Elliott and one more for a girl in my Mothers Group who is due in June, thats it. I'm starting to look around my house and think about what I could sew for my girls. Not like they need any more quilts but Grace hasn't got one for her big girls bed, only toodler bed sized. And our queen sized bed quilt..... still a WIP for 2 years, so plently to do here.

929 inches of blue strips

A few of the quilting girls on EB have organized a log cabin strip swap. So far there are 4 of us. The swap is to send 300 inches of your nominated colour to each other swapee. 1.5 inches wide, various lengths, nothing shorter than 2.5 inches.

Woops! I thought there were 4 of us, but its actually 5! So I have to go cut 300 more inches! :) Well, technically only 271 inches.

My colour is blue and I should recieve in the mail 300 inches of orange, purple, green and yellow!

Time to get Tagged!

Kim and Belinda tagged me over the weekend. A bit of blogging fun.

The rules:
• Start with 7 random facts/habits about yourself.
• People who are tagged have to write their 7 things on their blog.
• Then choose another 7 people to get tagged and list their names.

So I am going to tag back AJ, Muffington (bring her out the closet!), Austy's Mum, Brazen, Marie, Jill and Atet.

Okay random facts/habits.....

1. I can flare both my nostrils! Great party trick!
2. I have an ebay feedback of 402.
3. I have a mouth ulcer at the moment and it really, really, really hurts!
4. I had an affair with a lecturer while I was at Uni! OMG!!!
5. I drive a car with personalized football number plates!
6. I need to paint my toenails.
7. I meet Daz on an internet dating site.

There you go! Hope you'll all still pop back and read my blog!

Happy Mothers Day!

Happy Mothers Day to all the Mummies out there! Its a crazy day Mothers Day, all this hype, every day is really Mothers Day! I had a coffee in bed this morning and the girls brought me in their pressies. I told Daz not to go crazy, take them to the $2 shop and let them pick out something all by themselves, so........ I scored a boomerang from Grace (Hey, it is pink!) and a lovely silver tiara with Princess written on it from Milly! Grace also gave me the above dough figure which is me, that she made at kindy. I've always admired my small dainty flat ears but here she has given me big Prince Charles ones! Its so cute though, I'm going to frame it.

We spent the day at the zoo, just the four of us. Becoming bit of a yearly tradition as we also went last year on Mothers Day. It was a great day as it was a cool and overcast 22, so all the animals were moving! The monkeys were going crazy, the crocodile moved, in all my trips to the zoo, never seen him budge! The giraffe's and zebra's were grazing and the giant turtle doing laps of his enclosure. It was great. Here's a shot of me and the girls going down the slide, having a break half way through the day. I am so lucky to have them in my life, happy and healthy munchkins they are, I am blessed. My Mum is about to come down for Chinese takeaway for tea, so that tops off a perfect day! Happy Mothers Day!

Blue Crazy Patch Quilt finished.

I finished this quilt the other week but didn't post a pict of it here as I'm unsure if the person who's baby recieved it reads this blog. But it has now arrived at its new home and so I can share.

I loved the colours and design while it was being binded and hanging on my wall but now looking at this photo, I am just unsure. Maybe just blogger? My binding was a bit wonky and wavy, I haven't had that happen before.

Finished 24 of the pinwheels. Sewing the last row of them together now. The pattern is for a square quilt but I am adapting it to make it rectangle, looks nicer on a baby's cot.

WIP Wednesday - Week 17 Pinwheel Progress!

Well here we have the first 15 pinwheels for baby Elliott's quilt. I must admit the white is growing on me. My rotary blade is on its last legs and my local Spotlight never has any replacement blades for the 45mm ones. I'm hanging out till the 26th when my sister and I are off to this big Quilt and Craft Fair on in the city. Always pick up cheap blades there and maybe I can keep my eye out for a rotary blade sharpener! Would be interested to hear from any Quilter Bloggers out there that have one..... are they really, really good??

Anyway, back to the pinwheels. Trying to create a rainbow of colour but finding it a bit tricky with yellow against the white. And as usual, going for the brights. So I need 25 for the centre, 10 to go! Think I need a bit more green and purple.

Co op Fabric - AT LAST! And a homemade 1/4th foot

Arrived home from the kindy run this morning to find a parcel on my doorstep. It was 2 yards each of the above fabric from my latest and last co op I'll be involved in! Joined this particular group, a year ago? I ordered and paid for this fabric back in November. The two ladies that run it have since split and gone their own co op ways and so things have gone a bit pear shaped which is sad cause I love getting fabric in the mail! Beautiful prints but no idea what to make with them!

And below, a pict just for Kylie! And I suppose for anyone else who is wondering, do I really need a 1/4th inch foot to do patchwork? Not really I say (although I do use one, just set up the shot below!) Just lower your needle, don't have a foot on, use a measuring tape to work out where 1/4th an inch is, then tape some masking tape to the plate to use that as a guide, put your normal foot back on the machine and there you go!

While I am thinking of it, why is quilting all in inches?

Bag 2!

Here's the second bag made! Finished last night. This one is a bit neater, I made the top of the lining an extra inch so easy to turn under and then hand stitch into place. The pink/green/orange vertical stripes is a ruffle. Its cute! I like it.

Okay, off to cut out squares for this pinwheel quilt. Went to Spotlight this morning and brought some white for the background. White? I'm unsure about that. We'll see.....

Meeting Elliott

Meet Elliott! Here he is just 3 days old. Awwwww. Good friends of ours had their second son on Friday morning at 6.25am. And here we are visiting them in hospital on the Sunday morning, just couldn't wait any longer! So tiny and perfect. Grace was so curious, touching him, whispering to him, wanting to cuddle him where as Milly was like oh, whats in this cupboard?? Such a slacker though, we have known this baby has been arriving for the last 7 months and I have sewn him nothing! Which is very embarrassing. So on Friday I dug out all my favourite mags looking for a pattern to get inspired, no luck. So searched through my favourite free pattern sites on the net and decided I am going to make this for Elliott. That should test my accuracy!

The first bag

Here's the first bag. The bag that when I showed Grace and said "Wow! How do you like your new bag I just made?" her response was, "But Mummy, I like trucks and helicopters!" Okaaaaaay! Deep breath Helen, luckily you have another daughter to give it too! Milly said "Thanks Mum!" like I had just handed her a million dollars, and promptly went off and filled it up with mega blocks and carried it around the house for the rest of the day!

Not the most user friendly patterns though..... Its by Rosalie Quinlan who has a blog here I have just discovered. They have a scrappy log cabin block challenge, here! Which is kinda spookey as AJ and I were tossing around the idea of a log cabin block for our next swap! Anyway, back to my pattern gripes, just didn't make sense it parts to me, turn the side and bottom seams together and sew to make a triangle? I just got like a tunnel in each bottom corner! So I cut it off and make it a nice curve. I found the lining too short too and so it doesn't tuck under nicely but sewing a strip of bias binding around the inside should fix that.

I'm back!

I have had the most horrid of a week so far. Blogger was being a blooger! 4 days of not being able to log in to this blog, felt like 400 days! Whinged and vented away to the poor girls in the EB Sewing Group!

Anyway, its over, don't want to think about it anymore!


So back to the sewing, it has been a riot of colour under the machine this week. This is the first of 4 bags I have cut out. Why I decided on four, who knows? Its been one of those weeks!