WIP Wednesday - Week 27 - 4 Seasons Summer Sunset Finished

Wow wee! Thank you all for the comments in my last post. I'm humbled by the response to my blogiversary giveaway! Wow! I thought I'd get about 34 comments. Currently on 56.... Just for the record I won't be including Daz's name in the draw! I'll still draw it on Friday and comments on this post will be included too. Just wish I had one quilt for everyone to give away!

Drum roll please! I have finished my Summer 4 Seasons Doll Quilt Swap, yahhhhhhhh! I went from hating it, unpicking it, resewing it and changing the design, to loving it! I've titled it Summer Sunset. Australian summers are hot and being on the Western coast of Australia, we have the sun set over the ocean. Come to think of it I don't think I have ever seen the sun rise over the ocean. Never been up that early enough when on the eastern coast of our country!



Anyway, lots of stippling and swirling, lots of different coloured thread. These mini quilts are so much fun to do when it comes to the quilting. I really like the back too. So now I have taken all these snaps, I can bundle it up to post. I do hope my swapee likes it, her quilting is exceptional. :)

Two Year Bloggiversary Giveaway!

I can not believe it is two years ago today that I started this blog here. Two years??? Wow, time flies hey?

I love blogging. I love sharing my work with like minded souls out there in cyer land or souls that just like a riot of colour. I love reading others peoples journey in the craft/quilting world too. Makes me feel like I am not alone sewing in my little pocket of surburbia.

To celebrate I'm offering the above mini quilt as a pressie to one lucky reader/lurker. Its 10 by 12 inches, hanging in my sewing room waiting for a new home. Pop a comment below to be in the draw, I'll get one of the girls to draw a name out of a hat on Friday.

Thank you to all of you over the last two years who have visited and taken the time to comment. :) Looking foward to what the next year of blogging and quilting brings.

Where is the Sun?

It is the middle of winter here in Perth and today was wet, grey and cold. Yucko. Bring on summer. The next best thing in our house today was getting stuck back in to the Summer 4 Seasons Swap. I was prepared for foundation peicing this time! Had everything cut to size and the ironing board set up right by my machine, at the height I was sitting. Perfect for my assistant to help.


She took the peices and laid them in a circle. Reminds me a bit of this stunning colour wheel quilt here. I want to make one, one day. Maybe next dolls quilt swap? ha ha!

I have folded up my 24 hour quilt top finished yesterday, reluctantly. I wanted to get stuck into quilting it immediately, but I will finish this dolls quilt swap and then get back into it. I think having that break yesterday helped, I feel refreshed in my sewing world again.

The 24 Hour Quilt Top.

After a whirl wind 24 hours of sewing, rudely interupted by mundane things like washing, cooking tea, attending to children's needs when they whinge loud enough, you know how it is I am sure! Anyway, I finished this quilt top. I don't think blogger is being nice with the colours, they seen washed out. But such a simple but effective pattern! Its called Bricks and Morter. I like it! I want to get stippling on it right away! But I'll do a bit more on the Summer dolls quilt first, even though that little voice is saying do I really have too?

WIP Wednesday - Week 26 - Binding and an addition to "The List"

This is my list to do at the moment, known as "The List". I have had a silent pact with myself that I won't start any new project until I have finished AJ's Mystery Quilt or the Squid Eye Quilt. (They were both started earlier this year and I simply must finish them this year.) I think I have done well over the last few months not to start anything new as I have been a busy bee with all these swaps.

Here is 3 lots of binding that I finished sewing down last night. 3!! Okay, one is a mini quilt and the other two are dolls quilts, so not that big but still, binding is binding! I just have to sew on the labels and then I can cross #7 and #8 off the list. Like how I am working from the bottom upwards? So you would think with 2 swaps nearly out the way, I could tackle full on my 4 Seasons Swap.... you'd think wouldn't you? hmmmm, or maybe not....

I haven't been happy with it as mentioned before. I have unpicked it and rearranged it to come up with the above. Summery sunset over the ocean. It looks better in real life than this photo. The pale blue on the outer has little golden metalic swirls. And then to tie in the borders, some more foundation peicing of pointing triangles.

I have the paper drawn up and material selected. A gradiation of yellow to red against a sky blue background? Something like that. Hopefully it will fall into place when I start doing it. Ahhhhh yes. When are you going to start doing that Helen? Today would have been perfect, Grace back at school, Milly in FDC, a whole 4 hour window approximately to sew. But the thought of sitting down to all that foundation peicing, well it didn't fill me with glee and a feeling of grumpiness to put it nicely about all these swaps, all this sewing for others, a little voice called out, what about meeeeee???? What about sewing something for fun?? For yourself?? Now don't get me wrong, swaps are fun and I love how they challenge you to sew things you wouldn't normally sew. But that little voice that wanted to sew for fun was calling out too loudly today and I turned a blind eye to "The List" and pulled out these yummy fabrics below. I brought these back in November. A crime to let them sit untouched in my stash for any longer!

I have decided to make this pattern here purchased at the quilt show in May. Its perfect for large scale prints, which these are definately! I've had to scale back their dimensions a bit as I can fit 4 rectangles from a FQ. So everything is cut ready to go. Feels funny having everything cut for a quilt before starting, usually I cut as I go. Feels even funnier sewing just for meeeee! Guess a girl could get used to that though.

Table Runner Wrap Up!

Well now that my table runner for the EB Quilters recent swap has arrived safely at the lovely Leah's house, I can blog it. It turned out big, a massive 18 by 54 inchs but she wrote in her preferences that her dining room table is 80 inches long by 44 wide so thought I'd be okay. She also said she liked the style of Material Obsession so this runner is based on the pattern by them called Fanciful Flowers. This pattern is in their recent book and also an old copy of Quilters Companion which is where I got it from as I hadn't won my book when I first started sewing it! I did have plans to do swirly contrast quilting in the white around the tulip but was having hassles with my tension and running out of time for the mail deadline, so I just went with some echo stitching.

And below is the lovely runner I recieved from Sandi. Pretty pastels and white stars, its lovely! Fits in perfectly with the colourful decor of our house. She enclosed stickers and pencils for the girls and chocolates for Daz and I too share, which was very sweet of her. Thanks Sandi!

Mini Quilt Sneek Peak

Had one of those afternoons today were you just sew, sew, sew! I thought I was running behind on my July swap for the 6-12 inch Mini Quilt Swap, but after todays effort, back on track! Just have to sew on the binding! Here is a sneak peak for my partner, the talented Lisa. We are both suffering the feeling of swap swamp madness, what were we all thinking??! Just a few more to get through....

Now those yellow and orange points look kinda familiar and I'll just come out and admit it.... I have unpicked my Summer 4 Seasons Doll Quilt. I took out the blue sashing/cross. On closer inspection I noticed that the cyan fabric had like a lump in it and when I picked it, it came off and left a white dot. So nope, not good enough, unpicked the lot. Its now back in 4 seperate squares, or is it?

Brilliante Weblog Award

Tami from Lemon Tree Tales recently awarded me the Brillante Weblog Award which was bit of a suprise and humbling too. She described me as a "quilter who shares my taste in the brighter, happier colours". Yep, that desciption fits alright! Tami is amazing as she does cloth dolls, quilts and sewing! My hat goes off to anyone who can make a cloth doll, they are hard! Isn't the www an amazing place, how a little blog in the maze of surburbia can reach out to other people....

Here's the rules:
Put the logo on your blog.
Add a link to the person who awarded you.
Nominate at least 7 other blogs.
Add links to those blogs on yours.
Leave a message for your nominees on their blogs.

And the winners are.......

AJ
My bestest online quilting buddy and MSN Friday night chat buddy! She is a teacher and I wonder how she manages to do any quilting at all, but she does, lovely and bright work!

Lily
A Canberra quilter who is about to have her second child any day now! Her attention to detail is amazing and her blog posts are always full of photos which I like, you really feel like you are there!

Cass
The lovely Cass who I got to meet IRL in March, such a sweetie. She is the bagmaker of blogs! Check out her latest post of the idea she scribbled on a scrap bit of paper and what she has created!

Ad
Well, what can I say? Check out the comments on this post!

And here's where it gets tricky as some of the blogs I like already have the award! LOL So I'll just second the nomination for Susan and Tine and Sheridan. Lovely blogs and worth a read if you haven't discovered them already.

Happy blogging everyone.

WIP Wednesday - Week 25 - Quilting Rows of Wonky Geese!

And she is on a roll at the moment finishing the quilt tops for all these doll quilt swaps I madly signed up for! Seemed a great idea at the time but now am feeling swamped. While the 4 Season one is pinned to the felt wall waiting for quilting inspiration to strike, (it is going to be a long wait there I think but that is a whole another post...) I got these two beauty's finished. I was going to do a coloured square background like this trial one, but then thought no, white, crisp, simple, let the colours speak for themselves. So its just on white, showed it to Daz and although he is biased, he said it is his favourite quilt I have done this year! Big call Daz!


I have sewn two of these. Why two? Cause I want to keep one for myself. And in case I stuff up one I have a back up plan. And it would be nice to have a dolls quilt on Milly's bedroom wall that was actually made by her mother! So just a quiet whisper, this one will be up for grabs in a blogiversary give away later this month.

Can you spot the difference? The top one is the "perfect" one. That is the one my swap partner will get. The second one, on one strip I left out an orange triangle, fourth on the left. So I balanced it up on the right side by missing out one of the blue ones. I think the colours still gradiate nicely, just a bit quirkier than the other one.

I'm quilting a shadow effect around the triangles, 1/4th of an inch in from them and then another cm out from that. Echo quilting? Is that the correct terminology?! LOL I'm happy with it so far, smooth stitches, nice and neat, no puckering. Looking good! Happy, happy Hel!

4 Seasons DQS - Summer top finished!

After a break from my sewing machine, I threw myself back into it last night and put together the 4 blocks for the summer round of the 4 Season's Doll Quilt swap. I should have taken more photos while it was coming together, as it was 4 wobbly blocks, then I sewed on 1.5 inch of sashing and it turned into the below quilt top!

I have it pinned on my felt wall, over the red, white and black "Squid Eye" quilt which I haven't touched in months. Pinned it up waiting for some inspiration to strike on how to quilt the thing. I'm thinking stippling the red and blue and a straight stitch in the ditch for the sun's rays? Hopefully that will tone down the blue cross as thats all I can see at the moment. It actually looks a bit religious to me.... Or maybe I shouldn't say that, cause if you point out the faults of your own quilt, nobody knows they are faults until you say it. LOL

And on a sad note, here is Grace and her beloved Uncle Just, her favourite Uncle, Daz's middle brother. Justin and his wife are moving to Brisbane as a result of a work promotion for him which is a fantastic opportunity for them but sad for us as the girls, especially Grace just adores him. She doesn't get that he's moving away though, she thinks he's going to live in Bindi's tree house! On the plus side, they are still in Australia, only a 4.5 hour plane ride away. He doesn't know I have a blog but see you soon Uncle Just! We'll all miss you!

A Wintery Weekend at Rotto

We have just come back from a long weekend at Rottnest. I must admit I had much rather go on holidays over there when the weather is warmer like this holiday and this one. But Daz and I scored a day each off work and so going away for a little trip was too good to refuse! Being in the middle of winter though I packed welly boots and rain coats for the girls! They still had a ball, building sandcastles, going to the movies one night, riding our bikes around. My first trip ever that I didn't take any hand sewing to do or visit the bakery! A world first indeed.....

WIP Wednesday - Week 24 - 4 seasons swap

Well its school holidays here at the moment and while it is lovely not having to do the mad runaround getting ready in the morning, there was not that much sewing going on today for Wonderful WIP Wednesday. Now my table runner is finished, still just need to do the label, I have been working on this today when I have grabbed a few seconds for myself.

Does it look like a sun? Its getting there. I am liking the accuracy of foundation peicing but I must say the routine of sew, walk to ironing board, iron down, hope its okay, breathe out when it is, reposition next bit, pin down, walk back to sewing machine, sew, walk to ironing board, iron down, hope its okay......... It gets a bit boring after awhile!

Table Runner Sneek Peak!

I have just finished sewing down the last of the binding for my table runner! Just under 3.5 metres! It looks good, the girls at Mothers Group ohh'ed and ahhh'ed this morning but they always do that. Thanks girls! There are a few sneek peeks over in our group blog, can't wait till they all arrive at their new homes and are revealed! Just have to do a label.

There has been a lot of focus on Grace in the last week or so with the school term ending and getting her first semester report, which was fanastic, but Miss Milly is shining in her own little light. She did this drawing on the weekend which blew Daz and I away with the detail. Its me in the garden with some clouds and her as well in the right hand corner. Clever little thing she is, not biased am I? So ready for kindy next year!

Mini Quilt House.

I had so much fun sewing this I have signed up for the July round. My June partner Ellen, has recieved this little mini quilt so now she has had her suprise I can blog photos. Quite a cute little quilt I thought coming from a 4 year old WIP that had been forgotten totally!

WIP Wednesday Week 23 - The Start of the Summer 4 Season Doll Quilt Sawp

Swaps! Swaps! Swaps!!! And here is the start of another, the summer round of the 4 Season Dolls Quilt. Summer to me means hot days, burning sun, endless blue sky. So with that in mine and my recent fasination with foundation peicing, I found this pattern in a copy of Quilters Companian (No 19, Volume 5, No 3, April 2006!) and though ahhhhh ha!

Its a pattern called Summer Carnival by Donna Ward. I'm thinking of doing just two blocks, sunrise and sun set? We shall see..... Here's the first part whipped up. Foundation peicing definately gets easier as you do it. The blue fabric this in on is actually the backing for my runner for the EB Quilters table runner swap. I'm unpicking some stippling I wasn't happy with.

And the Winner Is...... ME!

Today was one of those lovely mail days. The mailman delivered prizes!!! Prizes? Prizes I had really and truelly won, I never win stuff so I was stoked! A few weeks ago I entered a giveaway on Novy's blog and out of 32 comments that were left, Random.Org picked my number comment. Novy was kind enough to offer a choice of a pencil roll or an apron or a pini or a wrap dress or an Amy Butler Swing Bag which is incredibly generous! I choose the pencil roll as my girls are always carrying around pencils in the car and when we have to go somewhere that they need to amuse themselves. They arrived today and Novy had made two pencil rolls, one each for the girls! Awwww, so sweet and will save countless fights of there had been one! She also included a sweet card and a little notbook for me. Thank you Novy. :)

And also a parcel that I didn't know who was from but when I started to open it, it quickly dawned on me! Back on May the 19th, (thank goodness for dates on digital photos, hey?) I entered a competition in the Down Under Quilts magazine to win a copy of the Material Obsession book. I never, ever, ever win stuff so I sort of took the "I don't care if I don't win this competition so I am not going to play by the rules in entering" attitude. So maybe this could be a guide of how to win a competition as it worked!

I choose a large envelope, I stuck scraps around my contact details and then I wrote way more than the 25 words that they asked for to answer the question: What is your material obsession? Ahhh, a wise question indeed! My material obsession is spotty fabric, floral fabric, strippy fabric, bright fabric, tone on tone fabric, jelly rolls, charm squares, Amy Butler's new range, anything Jan Mullen touches! Fabric is an obsession that can't be restricted to 25 words! Pick my envelope please! And they picked it!

Thank you Down Under Quilts and thank you Novy! It was a great day in my mailbox today.