More Strips....

Have been having fun and whipped through all these blocks. It's looking like a square quilt. I'll sew them together and then see. :)

WIP Wednesday - Week 21 - The Start of Candy Stripes.

Those who read this humble little blog regularly will know it has been awhile since WIP Wednesday. Back here in March to be exact. Nan passed away on a Wednesday and after her death I couldn't do WIP Wednesday, I was still sewing but to do a post on Wednesday where I count down the weeks of the year, it was a bit close to the bone, all I could think of was oh, 2 weeks since Nan died, 3 weeks now, 4 weeks.... But now I've moved into counting the months and doing WIP Wednesday feels right again. So without further ado, I'm back into Work In Progress Wednesday!

Back at the 2008 Quilt Show, I admired the above quilt, by Lilley Robb. Simple wonky stripes! I have had this photo printed out on a 6x4 card and just pinned to my notice board with the intention of making one like it, one day..... Now I have finished Ruby's quilt and all swaps are out the way, I have realized I need to make a baby quilt for a girlfriend's baby before she turns into a toddler! So I thought I would make a quilt based on this one.

I went through my scrap box for pink and purple strips and I was suprised to pull out all this! This will be my basic strips and I'll rummage through the real stash to add some omph to it.

The plan is to cut a square 7.5 inches from each block, making the block 7 inches finished. Then make like a checkerboard effect, pink, purple, pink, purple. Unsure to go square or rectangle at this stage, I'm sure it will fall into place. I whipped up these ones today. I'm not usually one to name my quilts but the name Candy Stripes springs to mind, so I'll call it that.

Mini Quilt Monday.

There is a little group on flickr called Mini Quilt Monday. So this would be the perfect time to share this mini quilt that I finished last night. It is a real, real, real mini, measuring just under 5.5 by 6.5 inches, almost a postcard really. I did the flower back in January here, it has been pinned up on the noticeboard ever since waiting to be sewn into something. It's actually going to go in the mail this week, to a lovely lady who stepped in and made an Angel Quilt for the recent flickr dolls quilt swap I was helping host. I don't think she reads my blog so I am safe to say that! Just a little thank you for her kindness to another swapee.

This is why I love binding! What a mess! I sewed three strips of wadding scraps together for this mini, doing my bit of recycling for the week. Bits of wadding, backing, strips everywhere, it's nice to cut it all down to size and then sew the binding on. Sort of like wrapping a parcel.

Ruby's Cuddle Quilt Finished.

It is exactly two weeks since I started this quilt and today I literally stuffed it in a satchel and mailed it to the other side of Australia.

It is lap sized, or if you are four, it is perfect cape sized as Matilda is modelling here! Having the polar fleece on the back wasn't as tricky as I thought it would be. There is no wadding inbetween, just quilt top and polar fleece backing. It is sooooo soft and cuddly. As I sewed down the binding Grace sat next to me with her cheek on the quilt in my lap just stroking it. I hope it brings that kind of comfort to Ruby, every stitch was sewn with love and get well soon wishes.

A goldfish from Sheridan.

My fourth mail out for Chaletgirls Block Swap arrived today. The envelope felt a bit more squishy than usual and look what the lovely Sheridan made me! I have been immortalized in a mini wall hanging! I am a goldfish in a bowl thanks to Heather Ross who said the design memorializes all of the goldfish we have loved (and lost?). She had a goldfish called Helen? Poor thing! Our goldfish are named Finding Nemo and Finding Nemo's Dad.....

Thanks so much Sheirdan, you made my day. :)

I feel like bit of a goldfish in a bowl at the moment, it has reached the time of the school term when all the Mum's have made their little posee's and well I have kept to myself, I smile and say hello, make small chit chat with some that I know sort of, if our paths cross on the way to the classroom. I know we won't be at this school next year so part of me thinks what is the point? Maybe I'm taking advantage of this one last year of being just a school Mum as next year I will be that plus the wife of one of the teacher's. Wonder if that will get me into the posee then?!

And thanks to Shari who helped me find out who made the quilts I featured in my last post. Check out her blog, she was involved with putting all the quilts up, lots of hard work behind the scenes. Thanks again Shari.

The Quilt Show and Craft Show of 2009!

It doesn't seem a year since we went to last years Quilt Show but here we are again! I'll start off with the important stuff, what I brought! A pile of fat quarters. I got the red and black for the last border of my Round Robin quilt. Thats the only fabric I purchased with a purpose in mind, the rest are "just because" fabric. Some essentials too. 3 rotary blades for $10, can't go wrong there. Some printable fabric for labels, I should get two labels on a sheet of A6. And the fabric crayons, thought they could be interesting. According to the back of the packet you draw onto paper then iron the paper to the fabric and it transfers. Something to play around with the girls later on.

A close up of the extra yummy Flea Market Fancy. There was only one fat quarter of the blue background white daisy print but Ad swipped it first. May have to swipe it back when I'm over her place next!

I got these scrap packs from Amitie too. Well rather Mum got them to give to me later on this month. Suppose I will wait....

Mum did quite well this year. Last year she only brought some pins, let the team down terribly, but this year she was back giving her credit card a work out! She still brought pins though... See the little peice of paper she is holding? That has the details of a Happy Jack Quilting Frame that she is thinking of buying. She has been thinking about this for the last 2 years, time to make those thoughts a reality! I'm working on her!

And finally we come to the quilts! I didn't buy a catalouge so I am sorry I can not credit who sewed the below quilt. If you know who made it, please pop a comment down or email me so I can edit my post.

I brought the pattern to make this quilt last year and it's still sitting in it's zip locked bag. Opps! I love this black and white version, stunning!

This was an interesting one. Sort of a wonky Dresden Plate. It is titled "To Celebrate Difference". Sewn by Trenna Bridge.

Something to try one day. I like it much better than the traditional Dresden Plate pattern.

Loved this one. Titled "Chilli Pepper Cocktail". Sewn by Jenni Prijt. Something about black, white and red always draws me in.

This one was amazing too. Called "Effulgence" by Robyn Vallence. Look it is all triangles but gives the impression of circles! Tricky!

Fantastic use of colour. Love it.

And to end with the best. This amazing quilt by Brenda Smith as part of the display of fantasy quilts from the inaugural AP&Q AQC Challenge. This one was called Magic Carpet.

Very inspiring. Can't wait till next year!

K.Q.I. Quilting.

Now the anticipation and excitment with the flickr Dolls Quilt Swap is over, well saying that I still have 4 ladies awaiting their quilts, so it's not really over yet. But I have turned my attention back to our little K.Q.I. swap and started the quilting.....

Hope it doesn't give too much away Sarah!

Flickr Doll Quilt Swap #6 Recieved.

I arrived home from doing the very boring but essential food shopping this afternoon to find a parcel awaiting me on my doorstep. Squeezing the package indicated it was squishy and also an address on the back I wasn't familiar with, so I knew my quilt for the Flickr Dolls Quilt Swap #6 was here! I opened it up to find this treasure from Bronwyn.

The colours are just stunning, love the green's. Her hand quilting is so neat and even! And thank you for the extra's of the fabric scraps too. :)

Always a great swap this one. Who's ready for the next round?

Chaletgirl's Block Swap Round 3 and a Letter.

I received my fabric for Round 3 of Chaletgirl's Block Swap a few weeks ago, but have only got around to sewing them today. The blue and white gingham blocks are for Sadieandlance. This fabric is the same as my girl's school uniforms which now makes me look at that fabric in a different light! I teamed it with two prints I got recently from Sarah with my mini quilt, how is that for a swap within a swap? The purple floral is for Becky. And the pale blue and white floral is for Bekka. Hope you like them girls!

And now to change the subject totally.....

I have a dear friend who has taken up the joys of blogging and she has thrown out the challenge that May is the "May-be I'll write a letter month". The art of letter writing is dying, as we are all blogging maybe? I used to be a prolific letter writer in my late teen's and early twenties. At my peak I had 34 pen pals and would receive on average 3 letters a day. As I got older that turned to writing daily in a journal and now, well, I blog.

One thing I have done over the years is write a letter on the eve of their birthday, a letter to either daughter. A letter to be received and opened when they are older, maybe on the eve of when they get married or become a mother themselves. With all that was going on back in April, Grace's letter this year just didn't happen. Until now! I took up the challenge here and finished the letter. The other envelopes behind this year's are from previous years. Now I have tied them back up with a ribbon and pushed them to the back of one of my drawers till next year.

Soriee Progress and Sewn!

Going wonderfully with the Soriee Cuddle Quilt. Thank goodness for jelly rolls, thank goodness for jelly rolls is my mantra at the moment. I just have another strip of the plain pink marble and then all ready to sandwich. The pale pink in the background is the polar fleece I am going to back it with, it is soooooo soft! Wasn't sure about the blue at first, but it seems to frame it nicely and brings out the blue in some of the centre charms.

I stumbled across Sewn the other night. It's a new site for sewer's.

"The website will have just about everything you can think of that you would want online as a sewer. There are forums, online advice from industry experts, conversion charts, colour wheels, free patterns and class listings. There will be interviews with all your favourite designers, quilters, patterns makers and authors. There will be tutorials with me and with other sewers from here and overseas, podcasts and coverage from shows and articles about all maner of exciting things."

Sounds like fun! Being launched in June, they are holding a blog launch party, a little competition to win stuff that crafty bloggers like to do. Above is my contribution. I have a pile of fabric I don't like any more, ugly stuff taking up room in my stash, fabric I doubt I'll ever use, fabric that you may love? It is all fine, sizes range from half a metre and fat quarters to charm squares. Leave a comment here and go in the running for it, if you dare! Good luck! Winner's drawn on June the 8th.

Sorry, but due to postage costs, I am going to have to say Australian residents only, I'll fill a 500 gram satchel, but to post overseas, it's just too much money, sorry.

24 hours of sewing.....

Whoever invented charms squares is a legend, thats all I can say about that! I did have these Soiree charm squares set aside for a project for a bolster cover for Milly's bed but well, that can wait. I also had a few charms left over from this quilt that I added in for numbers. I didn't have enough for 6 rows of 6 so ended up being 5 rows of 5.

The plan was to have all the white triangles on the top of each square but somewhere along the way it got mixed up so I have left it as is. You can't notice anything can you? Border of 1 inch of a pink marble to frame it.

Then I unrolled my one and only jelly roll that was going to be a stacked coin quilt for Milly's bed which again can wait, and took 4 strips to frame the pink. I'll admit I am making this up as I go, I think now another 1 inch of pink and then..... the next 24 hours will tell.

Ruby's Quilt.

Back in March 2006, before I started blogging, I finished this quilt. It was made for a dear friends little girl who was turning two. She is now five. I found out late yesterday the shocking news that she has just been diagnosed with leukaemia. She is still having tests done to determine which kind, they think it is ALL, which is the most common childhood cancer.

They live in Sydney, over 3,000 kms away from us. I feel so helpless sitting here, all I can do is call my friend and send her our love and hugs in words. I am just so shocked that such a terrible thing can happen to such a normal, loving family. She is inbetween the ages of Grace and Milly. I have a photo on my fridge of her and her younger brother on Santa's knee taken last year and think why? how?

Nan died of ovarian cancer in the end and it was sad but she had a long and happy 84 years of life. For this to happen to a 5 year old is just so unfair...... I can not stop thinking about her and the heartache her parents are going through. Hug your children tighter, read them an extra bedtime story tonight just because you can.

I don't consider myself a religious person but I'm praying. Praying and sending love. I think I have to make a new quilt for Ruby. A cuddle quilt with a warm polar fleece soft backing. All other WIP's are being pushed aside, time to do some serious sewing.

Another Dissappering 9 Patch Finished.....

I have had mixed feelings about this quilt. It is the second quilt I have made from these blocks that I recieved in a charm square swap ages ago. Maybe I have just had enough of these blocks as I have had it sandwiched and pinned, ready to quilt for the last 2 weeks, just drapped over the ironing board, waiting patiently...

Then seeing as the baby it is meant for is nearly 6 months, thought it was time I actually finished the thing! I didn't want to have just a mass of colour in the center like I did for this Disappearing 9 Patch quilt, I thought if I framed each with white, sort of a window effect? Looking back now I think I should have done the white "cross" part thinner, its 2 inches, maybe half that would have been better?

I like the back. I used up the last of the squares so I won't be tempted to make another!

I stippled each of the pink and purple areas seperatly and then on the white, I stippled one long wavy line all the way around. In a nice pale pink cotton. Now it is all washed, label on, folded up on the ironing board ready to post to it's new home tomorrow.