A great mail day!

Hi guys,

I feel very spoiled today! It is not everyday that there are 4 parcels in my letterbox and 2 of them from overseas!

I have been involved in a number of swaps and now I am reaping the rewards!

 
I participated in Another Little Quilt Swap 5 this year, my little quilt went off to Vreni. I got this quilt today….

It came all the way from Pam in the UK. It is called “Memories Quilt” because it is made with fabric from Pam’s daughters dresses and the buttons are off a liberty bodice worn by Pam. And it is vintage, made 43 years ago!  I love that it encompasses so much meaning!

I also did a little swap with Janet.

I received this piece of loveliness today. It is gorgeous! I love Janet’s work and I feel privileged to own a piece of her quilting! And a gorgeous piece of fabric was wrapped around it!
I will show you the quilt I made for Janet when it arrives at the other end.

I also tried my hand at a fabric swap through Flickr. I swapped a layer cake. I swapped a Spirit for a Plume! It is gorgeous, I love the feathers! You can see it in the first picture!

I have also started getting back blocks from the girls in the quilting bee I am in, I will show them later too!

Marti Michell Magic!

Hi all,

Yesterday I did a class at Sew This and That. Each month they do a Ruler club but I had never been, it is tough doing classes with little kids so I don’t do many. But this was Hexagons…..so I had to go!

We used Marti Michell Perfect Patchwork Templates – Set G. For small hexagons plus….hummm sounded interesting to me!

(excuse the colour of the photos, I don’t what happened when I took these.)

I was blown away by what can be achieved with the right templates, careful cutting and marking, using a scant 1/4” seam and careful pressing!

Imagine sewing a Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt on the machine in only a fraction of the time it takes to paper piece it all!

 

Baby Blocks – I have always wanted to do one of these quilts but was put of by having to paper piece it or the other method I have seen where you cut the top of the block in two parts so that it can be pieced in rows.

These are called Inner City. It would be interesting to see a whole quilt like this.

In all honesty, I wouldn’t have bought the templates without having the class. The price of the set is prohibitive in Australia but when they are included in the cost of the class it was quite reasonable. Since using them I think they are well worth the money, but doing a class to learn how to use the templates properly is a good idea too.

To say I am impressed by the possibilities is an understatement!

Have you learnt any new techniques lately?

Quilt tops…

Hi all,

I hadn’t wanted to post about these until I gave them to Christine, but here goes…..

 
Christine gave me some fabric, shop samples I think, it is a gorgeous girly range. With the instruction to make a couple of tops.

I was going for a Stacked Coin quilt. They are BIG coins, about 11”x4”! I didn’t put a white border around the edge because I think they are plenty big enough, maybe white binding will finish them off nicely.

There sure are a lot of polka dots in this range, I had to be careful not to get a heap of dots in the one area. But I think they turned out okay.

Tomorrow they are heading back to Christine to be quilted and given to people affected by the floods for Quilts for Queensland. 

I couldn’t be expected to sit on these lovelies for any longer could I?! They needed to be shared! LOL

Pantry shelf mats

Hi all,

I have been busily crossing things off my list. Today I want to show you my pantry. I LOVE my pantry!

We have been renovating and have put in a new kitchen and built in part of the hallway to make a walk in pantry. This is my fantasy pantry!

 
We painted it all with Dulux 101 which is apparently the best paint you can get. Colour is Pebble Bay.

 
To stop cans and what-not sticking to the shelves I made shelf mats. I used “Cherry Baby” and “Cherry Toss” by Lakehouse Drygoods for the tops and “Tapestry” in black for the backing.

The best thing about these is that I can throw them in the washing machine when they start to look grubby and then use them again…over and over!

What have you been doing this weekend?

A Giveaway!

Hi all,

No it’s not me having the giveaway….

It is over at the Vignette blog! They are giving away a Stitchers Keeper by Leanne’s House.

Check it out!

Happy cars!

Hi all,

My “Happy Cars” quilt is off to give some little boy a much needed quilty hug, as Christine so nicely put it!

 
I made the quilt top a while ago, it just needed the right opportunity to be finished and set free.

The cute little cars are screenprinted by my SIL Debbie from Jump Creations.  The border fabric and the green and blue fabric on the back are also hand-dyed by Debbie too.

I really love the look of a pieced back!

My favourite colour for the car is the black one, but they look so cute all together!

Unfortunately, I cannot say that my real car is happy anymore. I crashed it this morning taking TP to school. He never got to school, we never even got out onto the road. That is the worst part, and maybe the best part, it happened in our driveway…..anyway TP and I are not hurt physically, maybe a little shook up though. But the smash repair guy thinks the car will be written off because it will cost more to fix than the car is worth. I could kick myself, where is Michael J. Fox and his time machine when I need him!

So that is what has been happening here today….the good, the bad and the ugly!

WIP Wednesday and some finishes!

Hi all,

I have the WIP Wednesday button on the side of my blog and had been meaning to play along every week, but things happen and other things get pushed back.

On Monday I made a list of the WIPs I want to get finished ASAP so I can start some other things!

The problem is I keep thinking of things to add to the list! The finishes so far are -

The boys ties are crossed off!

I have made 1 book bag, I may cross them off the list though. The library bag TP is using seems to be okay so hopefully I won’t have to make another bag.

Some of the other WIPs are -

This is the Pure quilt using Schnibble Plan C pattern. On my design wall, where it will stay for a bit longer!

And a tiny sneak peek if Janet’s quilt! It is coming along nicely and I might have it finished within the week!

This is what I am dying to start -

The Vignette mystery quilt. I am going to use my Make Life fat quarter pack and can’t wait to get started! I want to give it the attention it deserves so I am trying to get some more things crossed off my list first. So far it is keeping me motivated!

How are your WIP’s going? Is the list getting longer or shorter?

That’s my diet out the window!

Hi all,

You may have noticed on the side of my blog a button that says “Fabric Diet”. Well I have been on it since the beginning of the year, and doing really well I might add. But things happened that are way beyond my control…..

The flooding of my local patchwork shop. Which led to this…

  
You can read the particulars on their website. The fabric was a fantastic price (for aussies anyway) and I felt bad buying it that cheap, although some had slight marking from dirty water and the dark fabric next to it bleeding.

Kaffe, glorious Kaffe! I could not leave it there on that shelf!

 

A gorgeous Mary Engelbreit panel and other assorted goodness!

And a nice stack of fatties to build my stash up! Does it need building up? I am finding I have gaps in the rainbow, here’s to filling them in!

I hope all our quilty friends in north Queensland faired okay in Cyclone Yasi. My thoughts and best wishes are with you.