WIP Thursday - Week 42 - the start of Mrs K's quilt!

Doesn't quite have the same ring to it, WIP Thursday does it? Oh well, I am more scared by the week it is, this year has zoomed by, only 2 months to Christmas! I treated myself to an early Christmas present this week and brought the above book "Q is for Quilt" (just picked up half a metre of the yummy dotty fabric too! I am such a sucker for the same print on different colourways!!). This has some stunning patterns in it, I have photographed my two favourites below. Have seen the wonky house done before but this one is just so cool! The pattern that really grabbed my eye was "Red Mountains", its incredible! So I have decided that this is the pattern I'm going to use for Mrs K's quilt.



It was hard to start cutting up those charming Charm's! Something so nice about them all veing together is a pile. I drew a line from corner to corner and then sewed 1/4th an inch each side and then cut on the line to make the squares. I have 80 in total so maybe 8 rows across by 10??

My new bag!

Well it was worth the wait! This fantastic bag from Bec arrived in the mail earlier this week as part of the recent Bag Swap organized by the EB sewing girls. Its really two bags for the prcie of one! Bec has amazingly made it reversable, so on one side I have a print in autumn tones, as modelled by Daz below and then on the other side, a patchwork pattern! Its absolutely perfect for me to fit a lunch box, water bottle and my book in to take to work on Saturdays with, thanks Bec! And especially thank you for the magazines and fabric inside, that was an extra suprise!

AJ's Birthday Star Hanging

Now this hanging has arrived at its home, I can blog it! But have just realized I didn't take any photos of it finished! So I have pasted some that AJ has taken. Back in February I signed up for the Quilt Studio 12 inch block challenge, my theme I choose was star. My first block was the Van Gogh inspired number here. So was scrathing my head over the second one, then I thought Andy Warhol, something along the lines of his Movie Star images. Then I thought, what am I going to do with this 12 inch block? And decided to make a hanging for AJ to put in her birthday parcel.

So this week it was AJ's birthday! Happy birthday my quilting buddy! We have never meet in real life, but through the powers of quilting have formed a friendship across this huge country of ours. I think she's a star as her TTC road has been a bumpy one and I do admire her grace, courage and positive outlook that one day she will hold her own baby in her arms. I can't wait for that day for her and her husband, it will come AJ! She is a wonderful person to bounce ideas and colour combos off, our taste is very similar, one day I hope that we will be able to go on a big fabric shopping crawl together! A true friend! :)


So these two shots AJ took. It was bit of an experiment to make as the image of her. I took the photo of her off her blog and hoped she wouldn't mind! Photoshopped it till the colours where how I wanted, then printed the image onto some fine calico that had been ironed with freezer paper. The colours where stunning, I was impressed with how well it printed. Then I sewed stripes around, in a wonky log cabin style. Then the plan was to sew little Star of David blocks in each corner, but I had run out of room at this stage if it was going to be 12 inches! So I popped the binding on and then quilted it. Had such fun quilting it, random stippling everywhere! I used a little paper star as a template, as in the first photo. It was really a nice little project to do. Now to think of what to do for the last one..... idea's?

WIP Wednesday Week 41 - Quilting for Caitlin

I feel a bit bad at how long this quilt has taken. Poor Caitlin is now 4 months old! I apologised to her Mum this morning and she laughed saying it was okay, as she has only just moved into her cot!

I decided to do some simple diagonal quilting on this one, used the trusty old quilters masking tape to guide me, although there still are some wonky lines! I did a quarter of an inch inside the letter blocks and then all around the name, so the diagonal stitching doesn't go all the way to the edge of the block, stops a quarter of an inch in. I think another two weeks and it will be ready to go to its new home. Hopefully.....

Hole in the Quilt! *panic* Phew! Fixed!

Now I have finished my dolls quilt, I have turned my attention back to Caitlin's quilt. Up to the sandwich stage. So I lay the backing fabric out on the dining table, taped it down, got my wadding out, spray glued it, smoothed it out. Went to get the quilt top, started to iron it when I discovered this! A hole in the quilt!!! OMG! How did that happen?? It is a little snip, I'm wondering did one of the girls get naughty with my scissors or did I accidentally do it (like I did the other day packing up some fabric for the shop. Opps!)

So I unpicked the offending little 2 inch square, rather nervously, but I had to work quick as I couldn't leave the backing and wadding on the table overnight. Luckily it was on the edge. I sewed the square to the strip alongside the border, then sewed it to the edge away from the border and then to the border, does that make sense??!

Then, phew, I could breath again, all fixed and nicely ironed down in place. Looks like it was always there doesn't it?!

Ari and her Van Gogh Block!

Well after me finishing this 12 inch block for the Quilt Studio challenge back in April, today I finally gave it to the friend I made it for! I've known Arianne for the last 12 years, we meet when we were both doing craft markets and fairs around Perth in the mid 90's. We shared a house for a year in 1999 or was it '98? Too far back to remember! She is an artist herself, in nearly every room of our house we have a peice of her work. A small mirror in the study here, a canvas each in the girls rooms, a huge A2 sized print of fish in our bedroom, a stunning painting in the lounge room of a girl that represents me, holding 12 red roses that Daz gave to me once, she painted that one for our engagement pressie. So although throughout the years she recieved a lot of ceramics from me, this is the first item I have sewn for her. She liked it! Now to shortly reveal where the next 12 inch block will turn up! Stay tuned....

Charming Charm Squares.....

I had lovely mail awaiting me when I got home from yesterday's Mothers Group, a package of Charm Squares from the Fat Quarters Quilters. First of all I was impressed with the postage, my card got exercised on the 3rd, and they arrived from Atlanta to down town Perth in a week exactly! Takes longer for a parcel to get from Perth to Queensland, hey AJ??!

Now I must admit, I am not normally into Charm Squares but I have to whip up two lap sized quilts for Grace's kindy teachers so thought this would be a great way to go. Trouble is, I am in love with the pack above, a range called Fall Back In Time that I was going to make for Ms K, that I now am keeping it for myself! Its so unlike my usual palette of colours, but sooo yummy! I also got Christmas Past, to make a runner for. Sweet Baby Jane I got 2 packs of, as a stand by for a quick baby quilt. And lastly for Mrs KF, A Little Romance, 2 packs again. *sigh* I am in charm heaven!

Mum's 60th Birthday Limo Ride!

Mum was 60 on the 1st of this month. And she was away for the week with Dad on one of their 4WD jaunts, and so organizing something special got pushed back to today which tied in nicely with Nan's 82nd birthday which was on Saturday. So what does one organize to make the occassion special? A ride in a 10 seater stretch limo or as Grace called it, "the BIG car!" All we told her was 10.30am by her mailbox. So we all piled in, Mum, Dad, Ad, 5 kids and I!


Then we zoomed down to Nan's place to pick her up. I think Nan is getting used to the limo lifestyle as she was in one back in January for a do arranged by my cousin, she settled back on the seats quite comfertably! It was certainly a ride I could get used too, very plush and comfy in the back. The kids where waving at everyone, despite Aunty Ad telling them "they can't see you, the windows are tinted!" Milly was absolutely fasinated by the mirror panal inside where she could see herself and did action nursery rhymes the whole trip home!

After we picked up Nan we went to Kings Park to a kid friendly cafe they have there. That way Nan could sit quietly and the kids could burn off some energy. We had lunch there and stayed for a few hours and then hopped back in the limo to do home! As you do!! We stopped on the way to have a group photo taken, the first shot in this post, and beside the working men of the family missing, its a great shot! Everyone looking at the camera, how often does that happen??


Then it was time to go back home. Everyone was tired and cranky. Grace kept poking Cate. Oliver pulled his loose tooth out. Stu was in the front seat chatting non stop to the driver. Milly, well I caught her watching herself pick her nose in the mirror! Happy Birthday Jules! We hope you had a lovely day as much as we did!

Whats in your name?? Tagged Time!

Ingrid has tagged me, haven't been tagged for ages, what fun!

Here’s how it works:1. Players must list one fact, word, or tidbit that is somehow relevant to their life for each letter of their first or middle name.2. When you are tagged you need to write your own post containing your first or middle name game facts, word, or tidbit.3. At the end of your post choose one person for each letter of your name to tag.4. Don’t forget to leave a comment telling them that they have been tagged, and to read your blog.5. If I’ve tagged YOU (see below), please join in on the fun!

H.... Happy. I like to think I have a happy outlike on life. People often say that my quilts are happy.
E.... Eggs, I am currently teaching Grace the correct way to crack an egg when we make a cake. A messy affair indeed! Lets just say we have shell in our cakes!
L... Licorice! mmmm! Just plain licorice, not the allsorts, just plain normal licorice!
E.... ET, a movie of my childhood that sticks to me cause I really wanted a bike that could fly (didn't realize till later it was ET in the basket that made it fly!) and I wished I was Drew Barrymore.
N.... Neat some of the time. I do have a thing that the lounge room has to be tidy before I sit down and relax for the night in in. Daz is happy to sit amungst the mess, but me, nope, I have to put away those megablocks and books and tidy all the cushions.

What a hard name to do, 2 E's! I was stretching it there to think of something! Okay, now I am going to tag Novy , Lily , Emma , Natalie and Kylie.

WIP Wednesday Week 39 - More wonky log cabins

Have been in bit of a blogger slump lately. Friday night we listed some more material in the shop here, which went off, so I was busy sending emails, tallying, trying not to mix up people's orders! It was a long weekend here in Perth, so three days of family stuff, had a nice picnic on the Monday at a local park by the river we have just discovered. I have seen articles about it in the local paper, but only just got around to checking it out! Sunday we hung in the garden, pulling endless weeds and Daz has finally removed the last of the ugly cocos palms from the front of our lawn. And I have finally signed up to here. Have held off for as long as I could, but after 4 invites from friends in the last month..... I thought why not. So what time I have had on the net lately I have been hanging in there. A dangerously time wasting site! And amungst all that I decided to join up with the girls from Essential Baby in a Body Blitz 90 day challenge! I'd like to loose those few extra pesky kilos from having the girls. So, I have been exercising! Shock horror! I am so not an exercise person. But have brushed the spider webs from the stepper out the back and been doing 30 minutes a day, in time that I would otherwise be on the net or sewing.

So Facebook, long weekends, selling fabric, gardening and exercising means just a little bit of sewing. Just a little.....

I'm doing another quilt for the dolls swap. Why? Why not??! Well cause I like the first one, but I think I can now make this one a different shape. Above is just a sneek peak. Another wonky log cabin. They look easy but this one has been a challenge as I have wanted it to be a certain size, so I'd sew on a round, then measure, ponder and sew on another. I have actually missed sewing the last week. I am all set for tonight, have got my 30 minutes of excerise out the road, most of my household chores are done, the new series of House starts, time to sew baby, sew!

Grace's new dolls quilt from AJ!

Look at that grin! Doesn't that face say it all?! We recieved lovely mail on Wdnesday, a package from the very talented and sweet AJ who made Grace and Milly a little dolls quilt because she didn't want one of them to miss out in the EB Dolls Quilt Swap we are all in. Awwww! AJ you are the bestest quilting blogger buddy a girl could have! Thank you for not only this lovely quilt but for your friendship, the chats on MSN, the quilting tips, the gossip about fabric! All the fun stuff in life, looking foward to catching up one day in real life...... Sydney, March, maybe????!

WIP Wednesday - Week 38 - The end of the raggedy edge quilt

Well don't fall off your chairs, but I am about to do a post about quilting! LOL I'm up to the binding on my Dolls Quilt swap, unsure now about it, it looks a bit "safe" may just have to sew another one! And up to sewing the label onto the back of the Quilt Studio's 12 inch challenge, so with two projects nearly scratched off the WIP list, I decided I was on a roll, and dragged out the raggedy edges quilt I started back in June that was a sew along/tutorial for some of the sewing girls on EB, they have all finished their's ages back! Check out Natalie's here and Ad's here and Kylie's here. Great work girls!

But for anyone else who is interested, the getting ready instructions are here, and then when you are ready to sew, here are the steps to part 2. So now, when your up to that bit, here comes to fun bit below!

Once you have all your squares sewn in rows, you need to sew the rows together. Same as sewing the squares, pin it down and sew about 1cm in from the edge. When you get to the bit where the squares are joined, its a bit chunky as you are sewing through 8 layers of material, you can fold one square "flap" up and one down to get it under your machine, or just pull it through. With a walking foot it shouldn't be a drama.

Then once all you have sewn your rows togther so you have two rows joined, you want to keep joining them up till you have the whole quilt top complete. I sew my rows in batches, like if it was a 10 row quilt, I'd sew 2 groups of 3 rows each, one of 4, then sew then together, rather than just adding one at a time, makes it easier to handle when your running it under the machine.

So once all the rows are completed, this is what my quilt looked like! You need to sew around the very edge of the quilt, about 1 cm in again, twice for strength. And now for the fun part!

Get out your little scissors and get ready to be covered in little offcuts of thread as you snip snip snip the edges all the way around! Every side of every square! Be careful not to cut your stitching though. I cut about 2 mm away from the sitching. Then you want to give it a good shake and then pop it in the wash. Don't wash it with anything else cause you'll get little offcuts threads over everything!

After you have washed it, pop it in the tumble drier, this will make the raggedy edges, soft and more raggedy looking, like above. I like to repeat the wash and dry process twice.

Then the next and last step is to snuggle under it, or be a ghost as Grace is here! Hope these instructions make sense, pop in a comment if you make one, love to see a photo!

Thank You Miss Frugality!

A few weeks ago I posted a comment on Miss Frugality's blog and somehow managed to win a little competition she was holding! And look what arrived in the mail last week, all the way from the UK to my mailbox, a lovely parcel of goodies from Julia. The brooch goes perfectly with my new bottle green cardy I got yesterday. And the cards are just lovely, so beautifully made! Thank you Julia, you have spoilt me! Check out her picts in flickr here of her lovely work.

Of all the places to fall asleep....

Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday, I can't get Milly to have a day time nap cause Grace is home and its much more exciting having "quiet time" with your big sister in the lounge room. So come around Thursday and Milly is knackered! Grace has afternoon Kindy Thursday and Friday, so we rush up, drop her off, rush home, put Milly to sleep and then rush back up to pick Grace up a few hours later. Madness! Last Thursday I put Milly down, then went on the computer for awhile, it was quiet so I thought I had success. I went out to the lounge room to do some sewing, to find on the way down the hall, Milly's door was wide open without her in the room, so I checked in her favourite hiding spot and found her! She likes to play in this little nook my Horn cabinet makes when I have it pushed against the couch. So here she was complete with two teddies, her pillow and a globe, sleeping sitting up! Awwwww!

Flashback Friday - Week 7 - Wacky Hair!

My Mum was a hairdresser. She left school in what is now the equivelent of year 10, and did a 3 year hairdressing apprentice. The above photo was takem in August 1963. It has on the back in Nan's handwriting "Julie, Hairdressing Examination, Town Hall, First Year Apprentice, August 1963." So she was 16 here as she is the big 60 in a few weeks! Wonder what grade she got for this exam, and its a good thing she wasn't getting graded on the following picts! Fast foward to 1977 and this is my official year 1 shot! Classic bowl cut! Please note the wonky smile!

Things didn't get much better for the Year 2 shot the next year, bring on the mullet! What a geeky looking kid I was. I look at my two girls and am blown away with what beauties they are, I don't know if I am biased or because they really are stunning.

I suppose with Mum as a hairdresser I'm lucky that these are the wackiest photos of my childhood hair that I could find, quite tame really for Flashback Friday. I do have a memory of Mum cutting my hair when I was about 10 and the kids at school teased me terribly and vowing, never, ever to let Mum cut my hair again!

WIP Wednesday - Week 37 - Caitlin's Quilt Top Finished

Two work in progress items today! I have just finished the boarders of Caitlins quilt! I had Mothers Group at my house this morning, little did Caitlin's Mum know what was sitting in the next room from where we were drinking coffee and chatting! Thanks for all those who commented regarding my square or rectangle deliema. I liked the idea of the rectangle, but the thought of making more blocks didn't grab me, and I didn't want it to get too big. So I took out all the blocks that were just 4 x 3.5 inches, cause I thought I could use them in my Dissappearing 9 Patch Quilt for Milly. So I culled it from 48 blocks down to 35 blocks and slimmed it down to the size above, 91 x 120 cms. I'm liking the pink strippey boarder, thinking a dark pink or purple binding.

Below is a sneek peak of my Dolls Quilt for the EB swap. I used the macro setting on my camera for this shot, I'm impressed, you can make out the grain of the fabric! This has been sitting up on the felt wall for a week, working out colour A or colour B background..... Now I have Caitlins Quilt top all done, I'll get stuck back into this.

I have just listed some half a metre of fabrics in the store too.

My Bag Swap for Leah

Well now the lovely Leah has recieved the bag I can post a picture! Cass you inspired me to get outdoors and take a photo of it in a tree!

This bag was based on a pattern by Rosalie Quinlan, called Leanne's Shopping Bag. Well sort of.... that was my intention, but when I looked at the pattern the finished bag size was 36 x 41 cms and I thought whooooah too big! Leah wanted a medium sized bag, so I adapted the size and layout of the patchwork blocks to make the bag panal. Then I saw the flower heart motif was actually a pocket! I doubted my pocket making skills, so ditched the idea of a pocket and just used the flower and heart template for an applique. I got to use a fancy stitch around the insert for fun. I did a simple straight quilting around the outside and added a ruffle at the top for fun.

I'd love to be able to put a link to Leah's lovely blog but alas she had to delete it last week due to a "friend" following her in cyber land which I'd find scarey. Only one real life friend knows I have a blog and she hasn't a mean bone in her body so no worries there for me! (hello Ms VDK!) It is a fine line in cyber land, just a shame you had to delete it Leah, I enjoyed reading your news and seeing your latest sewing adventures. Glad your bag arrived safely and you like it. :)

Flashback Friday on a Sunday! - Week 6 - Say Cheese!

Flashback Sunday doesn't have the same ring does it? I found this photo at my folks house this morning. Daz and I had a night out to celebrate his birthday so the girls had a sleep over. I got Dad to scan it in and email it to me to give him practise as he's just discovered the WWW. Anyway, he has scanned it very small, so my apologies for that, its a bit hard to see my cheesy grin!

This picture was late 1970's, maybe 1979? I was year 6 or 7. I remember thinking I was so hip for this shot as Mum had tonged my hair into all those curls, and the little brooch I was wearing was for special occassions only, it was a peacock and the tail was made of tiny seperate bits all chained together. I loved that brooch, no idea where it is now, knowing how my girls treat their jewllery, I most likely broke it. When I saw this shot my illusion of having a straight even smile was shattered, I have a lop sided smile. Even now its wonky, I practised for my wedding to tilt my head a certain way to even it out, but nope, even that didn't work, I have a wonky cheesy grin!

Happy Birthday Husband!

Today was Daz's birthday! Happy Birthday Husband! :) I love saying that word, husband, husband, husband! There was a time when I thought I would never find one and then to be so lucky as to find this guy and have him! I'm a very lucky girl, he puts up with all my grumpy moods and my excessive fabric buying. He's loving, caring, a great cook and an excellent father to the girls, they adore him, he always has time for them. They were so excitied about making this cake, they stuck all the smarties down and Milly seems to be getting some practice in for her birthday in November, she's practically in the container with the cake!

So Daz, looking foward to the upcoming year with you and lots more years to follow that. Happy birthday sweetie, we love you!

WIP Wednesday - Week 36 - Layout of Caitlin's quilt - Square or Rectangle?

These blocks have been pinned up on my felt wall for a few weeks now. I have just taken them down and laid them out and now I am torn! Square or rectangle layout? I just need one more block to make it square, that wouldn't take much to whip up. If I did square then I'd move the C down so it was next to the A and the N up so it was next to the I, balance it out more. Square quilts are more for bub to roll and play on. Rectangle layouts are more practical I suppose, this would fit nicely on a single bed. Caitlin is still in her bassinett though at the moment her Mum told me! Maybe I should foward the pictures to Caitlin's Mum, see what she says? Or would that spoil the suprise? I am thinking of boarders as well, about another 4 inches all the way around.

Looking at the photos too, I'd move some of the blocks around. Its too dark around the I and N and that medium sized square under the first I, looks like there should be a letter on that.

Help! So square or rectangle??