Latest fabric finds.

Well its becoming bit of a Friday ritual. Pop the girls in FDC and then head off to my local Spotlight! The bottom picture of fabric I got for $3 a metre, end of season clearance. Thinking another summery dress? And the Fat Quarters were on special, so how could I resist so many! Always good to have in the stash. And some ribbon. Never really sewn with ribbon before as an embellishment, but again, it was on special!

And I picked up two patterns, Simplicity 4262 and Simplicity 4557. Hope they live up to their name, Simplicity!

T'keyah's quilt top is finished!

Yahhh! Finished T'keyah's quilt last night. Here it is! Posted it off to Sarah in the ACT this morning. AJ we deserve a pat on the back. :)

Billie's Quilt goes to its home!

At last! After being born 4 months ago and despite me finishing the binding on this quilt, 2 hours before he actually entered the world, it has taken all this time for us to arrange a catch up visit with baby Billie!

So here it is! Pattern taken from a pattern in the Patchwork and Stitching mag. But I added the black and white boarder around the horse panal so had to make the rectangles the hearts were in a bit wider. Was a challenge working in blue tones as everything is usually purple and pink! His mum loved it which is always lovely to see. She is one of these girls that is just born to be a mum and after having so much trouble falling PG, it is such a delight to see a 4 month old baby on her hip! And I was proud of myself too, even though I felt a bit clucky holding him and gooing and gaaing away, as soon as I handed him back, the feeling vanished! So thats the trick, don't hold any babies Helen!

T'Keyah Angel's quilt part 1.

Well at last I have finally completed two of the boarder panals for T'Keyah Angel's quilt. Yes, I know one is longer than the other, I'll trim it when I sew it to the rest of the quilt top. I'm happy with it, just hope she likes it too. And AJ as well! I feel like I'm just complementing her hard work as she was the one that sewed all those squares together!

So hopefully at the end of the week it will be all done and I can work on some other stuff. I have promised myself that I must NOT start anything else till my current projects are all done. So I have to do the following:

1. Sew on the label for Z's quilt. Wash, deliver.
2. Softie swap for EB!!! Must start that!
3. Grace's shirring baby doll top to match Milly's, all cut, ready to do the shirring!
4. Redo the waistband in the skirt for Grace that I adapted from an adult skirt. Now I have discovered non roll elastic, I want to fix that!

Okay, off for some lunch I think. Pesto spagetti and a diet coke! Oh, talking of food, thank you all for your lovely comments about Grace and our potato stash! Great to read that so many of you also grow your own veggies and fruit. Wish I lived closer to you Ingrid with that mango tree! Mmmmmmm!

Our first potatos

Okay, so its nothing to do with sewing or quilting... but yesterday we pulled up our first few baby potatos from the back yard that Grace and I planted a few months ago. We have never grown spuds before, yes I know they are small but hey! We grew them ourselves!

Okay, back to the sewing!

You have been tagged!

OMG, I have been tagged! Didn't even know what getting a tag was till I got one! Thanks Ingrid!

The rules of the tag are: List 5 weird things about yourself or your pets. Tag 5 friends and list them. Then, those people need to write on their blogs about 5 weird things, and state the rules, and tag 5 more people. Dont forget to let the people you tag know by posting a comment on their blog! So I will tag, Angel and Natalie.

Cass has already taken the other girls I would have tagged! I have lost two blog addresses of girls when I recently changed blogger formats so when they reply to my PM's I can maybe tag them too. But I can't rustle up 5 people! Will 4 do??! LOL

So, 5 weird things about me.... or maybe not so weird!

1. I can flare my nostrils!

2. I sew standing up. Yes thats right, I don't use the foot presser thingy, I just hit the start and stop button!

3. When I get hot chips for the girls at a drive through fast food outlet, I always hang the boxes outside to cool them down! Didn't used to think that was weird, but have recently got a few odd looks from other cars driving past!

4. I use cloth nappies on my youngest daughter. I know that is not really weird here in cyber space, but nobody I know IRL uses cloth, they just think I am loopy!

5. Oh I can't think of another! I have a blog, is that weird enough?? LOL

My Fabric Stash.

Well the addition of Tessa to my sewing "room" has made me have bit of a tidy up. Grouped all the colours together, FQ's and anything less than a metre in the box or bag, everything else folded neatly. Wonder how long it will last?!

Love that first shot, the colours are fantastic. There is a line in a Crowded House song who's title I don't remember but the line "colour is its own reward" is a line close to my heart. :)

Spilt Cheerios...

Milly spilt her Cheerio's over this runner this morning so I had to wash it and am amazed at how bright it has come up! I made it ohhhhh, trying to remember, last year sometime? The year before that maybe? From a pattern out of one of my Patchwork mags. Love the colours and it was my first go at prarie points!

Anyway I have done absolutely no sewing today despite it being a Friday and the girls are in FDC all day. Been shopping and visiting Nan. *sigh* there is always tomorrow.

Shirring Success!

Well I have done some shirring! I thought it would be so hard and it was sooo easy! The hardest thing was winding the elastic on the bobbin. I ended up doing it by hand as I couldn't get the tension right on the machine way of winding.

Anyway more of this pink flower and butterfly material, I'm not sick of it yet. Lucky cause I still have like 3 metres left! Its so light and summery. Not that we are having any summer weather here in Perth, its sooo cold at the moment, an icy wind straight off Antartica I think.

Milly's not looking too impressed though with it is she?! Maybe next time for the shoulder ties, just do one strap and have a button or a press stud at the back? That would work. Although the bow is cute!

So next plan is to do Grace a matching top and then maybe some dresses, the same style. Different fabric though!

What is with blogger and the new small text??

My new best friend!

Look at this! We have a new addition to the family! I think I might call her Tessa seeing as though the name of the make is Contessa. Does anyone else name their machines??! LOL Isn't she lovely!!

My Mother and Father In Law are moving overseas (ahhhh, to Rottnest!) and MIL is having a clear out and I asked if I could have her overlocker. She said sure! She even had it serviced for me so runs nice and smooth and has a sharp blade to cut. She said she's about 20 yers old! Makes me think, will I be giving my machines to my daughters in 20 years time?

Wow, I'm not going to know myself with all these professionally finished seams!

Patchwork? Whats that??

Ahhh the irony! I set up a blog calling it the Patchwork of Mini Grey, hoping it will inspire me to do more actual patchwork and do we have any patchwork in here? Not much! LOL

Really enjoy the fact that I can finish an item for the girls in a day or so rather than the months it can take to sew a quilt. Well thats the excuse I am using!

But am feeling a bit neglectful and so have started on T's quilt. Finished 4 x 9 square blocks for the corners and I have the letters of her name to vizofix tonight. Dipping my toes in back slowly..... AJ if your reading this picts for you! Sorry its so small!

Have finished the flower quilt that was on the felt wall a few posts back, but no picts of that till it's on its way to its new home.

Waiting for this Perth weather to warm up into spring too so the girls can actually start to wear what I make them!

Milly's Mini Twirly Skirt.

Well at last I have sewn a twirly skirt for Miss Milly. After the last two being for Grace.....

I think its too short though. I mean she's two in November, actually yesterday being the 1st, her birthday is now less than 2 months away. But it just looks too short? Maybe the bulkiness of her cloth nappy underneath? Maybe cause its only two tiers? Liked the rick tack on the bottom though, that was fun to do. Have memories of wearing rick rack on cord overalls when I was little. Finding it really hard to get my hands on some hot pink rick rack though! Can only find white or pale pink. This butterfly fabric I brought 4 metres of as I was intending to sew some cot sheets for summer but skirts are just so much more fun!

Fridays Fabric Frenzy!

Well not exactly a frenzy, only 2 metres!

Thinking some comfy pants for the girls seeing as though their Bonds ones are looking a bit sad and they don't make those Bonds strippey pants in a size larger than a 2.

And the flower print? Who knows? Found myself looking at it in regards to applique. That big daisy down towards the bottom would look great on a Tshirt.

The matching T shirt!!

At last!! A T shirt to match a skirt!!

Went to Target this morning, $6.00 later got this hot pink plain T shirt. Got home, got out the vixofix and wolah! Appliqued on three flowers to match the latest twirly skirt! So simple!! Was going to do a butterfly but the outline was a bit fiddly, so went with a simple shape. As it was my machine kinda got stuck on the right hand flower petal and when I went to unpick it left a big 3 mm hole in the fabric! So had to put another flower over the top!

Does this count as sewing even though I didn't sew the actual T shirt??! LOL

The Latest Twirly Skirt!

Finished another twirling skirt for Grace today. Got smart this time and asked her what fabric she would like. She choose this white print with flowers and butterflies, think it was the butterflies which did it. Got some of the non roll elastic in the waist band, it sits really nicely and funnily enough it doesn't roll! Its very gathered, I think the bottom tier of plain pink was just over 4 metres long! Still she loves it, took about 20 shots before she would just stand still! Am going to get a plain pink T shirt and applique a butterfly on the front to match. Put it on the to do list!

Disappointed!

*sigh* A disappointing day. Spent all yesterday doing fancy "free flowing" curves around the edge boarder of this flower baby quilt, it was supposed to be all curvey and graceful and instead it turned out jerky and looked like crap! I think the photo is too small to pick it up. The drawing marks you can see are chalk where I drew the curves first, thought it would make it easier to follw, they'll wash out. Anyway, so spent today unpicking it all, waste of 100 metres of thread! And started to do a straight criss cross diamond pattern. Looks better. Think I need to practise my soft flowing curves.....

Grace's "I don't like that colour" skirt

Finished this skirt last night! Glad
I took a photo of it flat as getting Grace to model it this morning was a challenge in itself! "But I don't like that colour Mummy!" Think she means the brown... Okay, next time it will be all pink!

I'm really pleased with it. Elastic worked out perfect, I did a seperate casing for it, all finished nice and tidy. Not bad for a first effort!

Hopefully she will wear it to a birthday party we are off to on Monday morning. I have to make Milly something new to wear too. I actually tried this skirt on her too, length wise it was good, but just looked a bit too "boofy" for her little frame.

AJ's lovely quilt.

Recieved a knock on the door this morning, a lady from Australia Post asking me to sign for a parcel. This is what it was! A beautiful quilt top from AJ! Wow, was so exicited! Its not for me though, AJ has sewed the top and now I am going to do the boarders and blanket stitch on the little girls name it is for. Then off to another EB Quilting Buddy to be quilted. Thats one of the things I love about EB, this online Australian wide community of sewing.

And below are the boosters I finished last night! Thought I'd post a pict for Cass who asked what boosters where! LOL Two layers of hemp terry plus an extra two layers in the "wet zone" and two layers of flannelette. Good way to use up my flannel scraps!

Clean your machine girls!!!!

OMG, nearly had a heart attack today! Sewing some boosters and they are a bit thick but usually my walking foot glides through. Well today it kept gettting stuck. Then I broke a needle! Then I got all this thread caught underneath and it wouldn't budge so I had to unscrew the metal plate to get the threads out...... and OMG! The C.R.A.P and dust that had built up underneath! Could not believe it! Haven't really always put the cover back on and my machine is in the same room as the dryer.....

So there you go girls! Put the cover back on your machine after you use it! Know I will be trying to. So embarrassed!

Milly's new dress!

Well think I have finally mastered this dress pattern! It is the third time I have made it! I extended the bodice which threw out the waist measurements, a lot of unpicking involved there and it sat in a heap on a shelf in my sewing room for a few days before I worked up the omph to finish it. And due to that the flower motif on the bodice is off centre as I had to cut some off the bodice....

Milly seems to like it! I'm chuffed that this is the only dress in the world like this! How special is that?

Went to the park this morning and I found myself looking at all the clothes the other kids where wearing, especially the girls, getting ideas how to do skirts, what looks cool what looks crap! I want to master the twirly skirt next, thats my next aim in sewing land! :)

Fridays Fabric Frenzy!

Thats it, not buying any more fabric for the rest of the month! Just got too much of it! Went to Spotlight this morning and picked up these goodies......

And still managed to forget the elastic I needed and some Vixofix. The brown flowery one in the middle is my favourite, the print at the bottom is quite detailed then at the top its different. Had to stock up on some plain colours as I have so much print stuff. Then thought I'd wander to my local op shop, I never usually have any luck there but today scored these two lovely ladies skirts!


They are both size 16, but thought I could cut them up to make a skirt for Grace. Shocking photo. More pink than red in real life. So all inspired I went home and got the scissors out. And look! I made this for Grace. Waistband is too tight, I'm not doing it right. Need some help!

Whats up on the Felt Wall today!

Well my sewing efforts for the girls dresses has come to a halt over the last few days. I adjusted the length of this bodice and didn’t adjust the skirt top width, stuffed it all up and so have been spending some time unpicking.

So in the mean time I couldn’t let the dust settle on my machine and so continued this daisy quilt top, cutting all these strips and adding on the boarders. I have found a home for it, have two weeks to finish it. Haven’t got anything finished to show off, so just thought I’d take a photo of where I am up to today.

My UFO quilt went for $26.00. Not a huge amount but that’s $26.00 more to go buy more material with!

The less than 24 hour dress.

How geeky does it sound "Oh, I just want to go and update my blog" after dinner is over. Daz just goes, "Ok!" Think he's chuffed his wife has her own blog! Okay, here is my second attempt in making a dress. This one is a size 3 and it actually fits Grace as I sewed closer to the seam allowances, as opposed to just whereever on the green one made on Friday! Really quite pleased with it, as I worked out how to do the bodice with the lining perfectly, looks real professional inside. I'm just amazed, started cutting on Sunday lunchtime, all done by today! Well I guess the pattern does say "easy!"

Here's Grace pausing from twirling around the room modelling it. Such beautiful fabric. One of my USA Co Op purchases. Have cut the fabric out for the same pattern again, one for Milly now, have done it a size 1 this time. Using the fabric I got the other day with a green bodice this time. Think I like the bodice in a contrasting colour.

The dress that was NOT pink!

Well I promised myself that I would not buy any fabric this month..... Okay, well that lasted till the 11th! I brought these fabrics today. Spotlight all reduced end of season stuff for under $5 a metre, how can you go wrong at that price? Love the first bit. Amy Butler style without the big price tag? Photo doesn't do the fabric justice.


Then I went to a patchwork shop where I recieved a voucher for from Christmas, had to spend that before it expired. And so I got half a metre of this beautiful Micheal Miller print. Going through bit of a blue/green stage?

Well it seems I have been inspired to sew the girls some clothes. Have been following the sewing threads on EB, reading other members blogs and been inspired by what they can whip up. My sister has been sewing her daughter clothes, just simple leggings and twirly skirts for the last few months. I'd like to make some too! So thats why I brought all this material today. Suitably stocked up, the girls in FDC, I headed over to my sisters place for a day of sewing!

And here is Miss Milly wearing the dress that I made today! Its a size 2, massive on her even though she is 21 months old. Not totally happy with the shoulder seams but hey for a girls who hasn't sewed an item of clothing since Home Economics class in 1984, its okay! The pattern was from Simplicity, it took us 3 hours to make, not bad. And it even fits my Gracie who is 3 year old! Tight around her arm holes but she loved wearing it. But its not pink Mummy she said!

Other sewing related news, the UFO on ebay has a bid! Still on 99 cents with 4 watchers so at least it will go to a good home.

UFO Discovery!

Well last night I had a rummage through the sewing cupboard and discovered some UFO’s, unfinished objects! This above one is sooooo bad, one of the first things I’d ever attempted. Colours and design okay I suppose, but the actually quilting? Very cringe worthy! So I have put it on ebay! Starting bid of 99 cents! Just couldn't bear to throw it away, so hopefully someone will take it off my hands and finish it. Its about half way finished in the quilting on the boarders, I used the wrong colour thread, too dark a pink, shows up where I went wonky!


And I also discovered some 6 inch blocks of flowers, simple daisies that have been blanket stitched. I've just cut some more matching and make that into a quick little baby quilt too. Oh, can I ever sew anything bigger than cot size???! Its so cute though.

Layla Mae's quilt is finished!!

Well I finished sewing on the label for Layla's quilt last night. Just got to wash it then wrap it. And iron it too, looks really wrinkly in the above photo. Always feel a bit funny at this stage of finishing, you spend so many weeks working on it, bonding with it in a way, then label on and its goodbye! Onto its new home. Layla lives in Adelaide too so can't imagine I'd get to see her wrapped in it anytime soon being in Perth myself. Oh well, hope she gets to poo and spew on it heaps! LOL

Latest 3 Wet Bags for Buyena

Well the binding continues on the pink quilt. In the meantime I have whipped up these three wet bags to sell on Buyena. I haven't any more PUL at the moment, waiting on that order, so these three will be the last for a few weeks. I like making them, so cute, don't take long and hey the extra money is nice too!



Have started thinking about my next quilting adventure. Seeing as though there is a baby boom early in the New Year, time to start. My daughters go to FDC one day a week and their carer, a lovely lady is pregnant with her first. So I am making her a baby quilt. Was thinking this design. Photo is taken from the latest adition of Patchwork and Quilting. Pretty soft baby colours and teddy bears, not really my style but it is her's and always a challenge to work outside ones square!