School starts and paying it forward…

Hi all,

So school started yesterday for my oldest little fella…

He is in Grade 1 this year. Unfortunately I had an anxiety attack yesterday morning and couldn’t take him myself so his dad got the honour of settling him in.

It all went fairly well with no tears! Maybe daddy taking him worked out for the best…last year it took a whole term for him to calm down and settle in which probably explains my anxiety, I have been stressing for the last week. Anyway I’m sure it will be a good year for him, he has some friends from last year in his class and he has big goals! He wants “to learn to read long books with tricky words” – his words!

Now on to paying it forward….

A couple of weeks ago I won a giveaway, there were a couple of prizes but this is the one I won -

It is lovely but it is not my style…here is a pic of the back -

I have conversed with the person I won it off and asked if I could pay it forward…

So, if this is your style and you truly love it let me know…the first person who says they love it will get it! I will post international too! Please make sure I can contact you.

X and + blocks

Hi all,

I have decided to tackle all the swaps and QAL’s one at a time. So far it seems to be a good plan.

The X & + blocks are swapped in lots of 5….so I could do 10 or 15 or even 20…as this is the first round I have just done the 5 and will see how it works and how much postage is.

These are some crazy looking blocks!

  
I have made 8 so I am keeping the 3 worst blocks and sending the best ones! There are going to be some very interesting quilts coming out of this swap…

Winner 3!

Hi all,

I really would like to thank you all for playing along and making this really fun! I have learned a lot about my fellow bloggers and found some great new blogs along the way too!

Without further ado…..winner no. 3 is -

Congratulations Heather! You can find Heather here.

A quilt in a day …. ha ha ha

Hi all,

I love making big quilts but I have this thing about having to make complicated time consuming patterns. So a lot of my quilts actually end up taking years to complete because of interruptions and lack of motivation.

I think the lack of motivation comes from not being able to afford to have it quilted professionally and not wanting to struggle trying to do it myself on my little machine.

Now that I am looking after my SIL’s longarm quilting setup I think I might be able to get some of those quilts off my wish list and actually make them! Not to mention quilting the tops I have sitting around….here is a picture of my practice stippling…

I am soooo happy with it, I have never been able to master stippling on my machine but with the longarm it just seems to happen!

Last weekend I was hugely motivated to make a quilt quickly…ha ha! I gave myself 24 hours to finish the top but I do have little kidlets and the weather was not in my favour – on Sunday it got sooo hot I had to give up sewing and couldn’t sew again for about 4 days! My sewing area is at the western end of our house and is poorly insulated so it gets HOT….and it is not nice sewing and sweating all over the fabric!

Today, a week after I started, I finished the top!

The pattern is Amy Butler’s Lark Quilt. I did make changes though, I can’t just sew up a pattern! I have to alter it!

The changes weren’t too drastic, I used a Sunkissed layer cake and didn’t want wastage so I made my strips 10” wide instead of 8 1/2”. Which also gave me a queen sized quilt rather than a double!

The quilt top is 85” square.

PS. Don’t forget to enter the 3rd giveaway if you haven’t done so already! Leave a comment on the giveaway post and I will draw the winner on Wednesday.

Winners and Giveaway 3!

Hi all,

I have a funny sad feeling that the party is starting to wind down….you know almost like a wedding – giveaway no.1 was the ceremony, giveaway no.2 was the reception and now with giveaway no.3 we are cutting the cake and preparing to wave off the bride and groom and everyone is tired and ready to go home to bed….maybe that is just me LOL it has been soooo hot here for the last few days!

Okay now I have some winners for you, Mr. Random played nice tonight and gave me what I wanted straight up!

The winner of the $25 voucher from the Fat Quarter Shop is….

Congrats to Hueisei! Hueisei is from Malaysia and blogs at Love It Sew It.

The winner of the $25 voucher from Want It, Need It, Quilt is….

Congrats to Tracey! Tracey I am kinda assuming is an aussie since she looked at Janes shop….Tracey blogs at the Peony Teacup.

Now for giveaway no. 3 I have a selection of goodies for you…which I may or may not add to as the week goes by!

I have 4 fat quarters – 3 are from Urban Chiks and the pink one goes so nicely so I thought I would throw it in too.

Aren’t they pretty?!

Have you had a chance to try Wonder Clips? They are fantastic! No more pins stabbing me when I sew on binding!

Some buttons that go with the fabric! and 1 meter of cotton tape/ribbon that is too cute!

To enter this giveaway all I would like you to do is leave a comment telling me if you are doing any Bees or Quilt-alongs etc that I should know about….I love group activities!

And if you are a follower leave a 2nd comment saying so!

That is all folks….I will draw the winner next Wednesday the 18th of January.

Too many great things happening!

Hi all,

There are so many great things going on this year in blogland and on flickr! I have been really careful not to sign up for too many, but here are some I couldn’t resist -

(Click on the pictures for the links)

The Japanese X & + block swap

This is my practice block…why I can’t take a straight picture I’ll never know!

Name Game Swap

 
Hosted by Samelia’s Mum….I love the one she made for herself so this should be great! Sign ups are open until the 15th.

Swoon Quilt Along

 
I have the patterns for two different sizes of this particular block and I really wanted to make a Swoon quilt this year so I couldn’t resist!

Dress Up your Roll

This one is Hosted by Jane and I think it sounds different and fun so I am going to give it a go! Official launch is today so go and check it out!

Just Takes 2

This has started already, not that I have started yet! I am going to do mine scrappy purples with white background….I think!

So far that is all….and scrolling back through this lot I am wondering what I have gotten myself in for!

Just a reminder that I will be drawing giveaway 2 on Wednesday so if you haven’t left a comment on the giveaway post yet don’t forget to!

Winner and Giveaway 2!

Hi all,

Are we still in party mode? Well I am!!

I learned so much about you all with my question from the last giveaway, I hope you all have a healthy and creative 2012!

Now - The Random Number Generator got to pick any number between 1 and 48 …..

The winner is number 26 – Penny from S.C.

Congratulations Penny I will send you an email shortly to get your address!

I have a fantastic giveaway this week -I hope I can come up with something equally good next week…the pressure!!

There is not one but two gift vouchers up for grabs! Yay for you! Pity I can’t win my own giveaway!

So for the Aussie ladies I have a $25 gift voucher for you to spend at my friend Jane’s shop!

I have meet Jane a few times and not only is she a lovely lady but her prices can’t be beaten here in Australia!

And for the International ladies I have, with sponsorship, another gift voucher for $25 for you to spend at the Fat Quarter Shop!

 
How cool is that!

To enter I would love it if you would go to either of the shops and have a look around then come back and tell me what you would spend $25 on!

And if you are a follower you get to leave a second comment telling me you are a follower!

I will draw the winners next Wednesday when I announce the 3rd and final giveaway!

Some quick sewing!

Hi all,

Believe it or not I haven’t turned my sewing machine on for nearly a week! What the?!

But when I saw the tutorial for a “Bapron” over at The House on the Side of the Hill….it is sooo cute!

The tutorial is done by Jess at Craftiness is not Optional. They are so sweet and very easy to make!

My SIL is due to have a baby in about a month so when I saw these I knew what to do – make some of them of course! The pink one is from Cape Ann fabric and the blue one is some Organic fabric. Lined with pale blue flannelette.

This is the last blocks for the Bee in Oz for 2011 -

It is called Drunk Love and should make a beautiful quilt.

I don’t know if we are doing the Bee again this year so I have signed up to do Just Takes 2!

 
Which has just started today so you need to get in quick! Click on the picture for the link to the webpage.

And lastly – I will announce the winner for giveaway 1 on Wednesday so if you haven’t entered yet now is your chance!

Reflecting on 2011

Hi all,

Last year was a big year for my little family….

Lets start with my quilting/sewing finishes. I finished 4 quilts that range from wallhanging size to single bed size.

I think my goal of 2011 was to finish a lot more quilts than this! And make less smaller things -

I finished quite a few smaller projects. Mini quilts, a table runner, mug rugs, Magoo, bags, a spider shirt, placemats and napkins!

As a family we have had quite an eventful year. We all got bikes and have been doing plenty of family rides….We bought a caravan and did two trips – one to Charleville and the outback. One to Bundaberg for a week.

TP completed his first year of school as a Preppie, and is eagerly awaiting Year 1. And we shall never forget BW breaking his arm…

I think that 2011 was actually a pretty good year for us. We have plenty planned for 2012 – family holidays and adventures…we are thinking about starting a family blog about our adventures!

Now my creative goals for 2012 -

1 - I really do want to make more big quilts. And maybe that will be more achievable because of my next goal…

2 - I am going to learn how to use a long arm quilter – I am looking after my SIL’s quilting machine set up and have the opportunity to figure it out so that is the plan!

3 - I am going to go where ever the creative winds blow me! Without fear!

4 - I will sew what I feel like sewing, I will be ME on my blog and I will continue to sell some of my creations so that I can afford to be creative.

Family wise - I will try to be a great mum to my 2 little fella’s! And a good and loving wife to my very supportive and loving hubs!