I {heart} the mailman !

I love the mailman, espically when he brings goodies like this :

Approximately 6 inches - selvedge to selvedge of the entire Moda Basic Grey Blush range, my next all time favourite fabric range after Tanya Whelan's 'Darla' range !!

Am going to use this in the next bee block of mine I think... not to just find the right block to create.

2 presents

A quick post.... halfway through tidying up and finished these aprons for Rosanna and Olivia. Not the best photos but I am sure the girls will like them

I love the fabric on Olivia's pocket, it has cute kitchen motifs on it such as a rolling pin, apples, cupcakes, knifes and forks, etc. The pocket does not look straight in the photo but it is !!!

Again the pockets don't look straight but they are. My machine is still not 100% - have packed it up and am going to get it serviced, so I will have to complete hand stitching things this week 1

My Messy space !!

I am usually a very neat and organised person. For example my desk at work has each of the subjects I teach in colour coded folders, with all the spines lined up and I always write my teaching programs using the same font and style. Some say I may be 'anal' but I like to write in my day book in a certain type of pen and am a highly routine person. So it is rather embrassing to show my creative space at the moment. My desk and sewing area is a mess !!! I blame the fact that I have literally about 10 projects on the go at the moments, and that I am littled for time so I tend to 'push' things to the side and not put things away. I am hoping posting about my mess will force me to clean it up.... a bit like a 'before' and 'after' shot !

My baskets on the shelves hold everything, so really it it a matter of putting things away as I go. Lucky you can't actually see under the desk as that is a complete other story !! I am currently sewing /working on :

1. An apron for Olivia's birthday

2. An apron for Rosie's dedication

3. A gathered clutch

4. A hobby horse for Isabella

5. Pot holders, plastic bag dispenser for the urban home goods swap

6. Presents for my niece Gabi - birthday in October

Plus my month is coming up in September for the 'Bee seam piecing down under' bee.... and then I would like to make myself a plastic bag dispenser and oven mitts with some cute fabric I found.

My only wish is that the cleaning fairies will come and make my creative space neat and organised again and then they can grant me some more time in my day to actually get some of my projects done !!!

A onesie for Noah

Today we went to a first birthday party for our little friend Noah. It was a glorious day and the kids had a great time playing outside, eating bright green birthday cake and chasing the dog. I struggled for 'boy' type ideas for a present in terms of making something. We already had chosen a wooden stacking toy and I always like to add something personal. So I purchased a 'onesie' appliqued a cute car motif before adding the birthday boys name.

I hope he likes it. On a sad note my sewing machine is playing up so not much to show at the moment. I have to work a half day tomorrow so hopefully I can fix it and clean up my sewing and desk area because at the moment it is a disgrace !!!

A brooch for Bron

It's a friend's birthday coming up, and this year I had decided to make all my own cards for various occasions and to not buy a single card from the newsagent. So far so good !
However today I created a card and present in one.... My friend is quite difficult to buy for as she has everything but does always appreciate a handmade gift more then a store bought gift. So brooch and card in one.....

So the brooch gets removed from the card and would cute on a cardi.... or even pinned to a bag. I used quite muted colours but would love to see what a bright red poka dot one would look like !!

Bias maker and WIP

I thought I would give my new bias maker a workout that I bought last weekend at the craft show, and use it to make a pot holder - an item requested by my {Urban} home goods partner. After quitling and using my tiny scraps of Heather Ross fabric I made my bias from the same print of Kaffe Fassett that I used for the leaves on the tree. I am hoping it dosn't look to '60's with all that orange and green espically as it is going to be used in the kitchen !

The bias make was easy to use and I will definately get a lot of use out of it ! A great purchase ! I need hand stitch the bias, clip the curves etc and then probably work on sometihng smallish and personal to send ????

{Urban} Home goods swap - Sneak Peak

As mentioned before, my swap partner in the {Urban} home goods swap requested a few home items, before outlining a few fabrics that she likes. Some of these fabrics are not my usual style and I was worried about the 'look' I was trying to aspire to create.
Anyway..... here is a sneak peak of what I have done thus far:

It was destined to become a pillow, but it also would look really good put in a frame to hang on the wall.... Any suggestions or thought ?

A present from Portugal !

I have been involved with a blind hexie swap which has just been fantastic - looking at everyone's cute little goodies made from some gorgeous fabrics. I received my today from Isabel in Portugal and they are just perfect ! Notice all the pink and the darla prints.... just lovely ! Thank you ! She also included a cute little pouch to keep them in.

I have about 1000 ideas that I could use them in.... I just wish I had more time to do everything. I also need to start thinking about my urban home good partner swap - her choice in fabric is not my usual style but I am up for the challenge... stay posted !

Time for a giveaway

Well it's been a few weeks using blogger and I think it is much easier then wordpress. To celebrate I thought I would giveaway one of my sweet skipping ropes.

To win all you need to do is tell me your favourite childhood game, and get an extra entry my becoming a follower of my blog.

If you want to go and make a purchase other designs can me found in my shop here. Stock is limited but I am also able to do custom orders.

Good luck and I will annouce a winner next week - Tuesday 17th August !

Red and aqua bee - August block

This month in the red and aqua bee it was Leah's block. She requested a plaid block based.
It almost killed me - the tiny pieces and the accuracy needed but how cool is it !

Love the way it looks and how it turned out...... would I make it again - yes, but don't think I have the patience to do a whole quilt. Hope she likes it !

Stitches and craft fair - part 2

After a quick coffee - no time for lunch when time was limited I went to a workshop with Monica Poole of 'Moon shine designs' and looked at quilt as you go blocks - very inspiring ! For her book and range of patterns see here.
Then the workshop was over it was time to hit some more stalls. See my purchases below:

In summary I purchased: 1. a quilting glove - to help with free motion quilting

2. A new rotary cutter

3. A bias maker

4. A jelly monster ruler - this amazing device cuts perfect triangles, heagons, and squares in one easy swift motion from two strips of jelly rolls joined

5. A pattern by monica poole to make these cool ruffles flowers perfect to embellish bags with or wear as a brooch

6. A piece of special plastic that when sewn onto fabric, it causes it to shrink and shrivel up - will have to try out a piece and post about it

I saw plenty of fabric and could of spent a fortune but sense prevailed !!

Show and Tell - Part 1

O.k, so I have less then 10 minutes to post a small part of the experience of the Canberra Stitches and Craft show and of course to show what I bought. Running like an hour late we arrived and I attended my first workshop on 'raw edge applique' as the name suggests you don't finish the edge and you free motion around the shape several times before adding the detail later. I still prefer traditonal applique with blanket stitch I think, but it did look good on bright modern quilts. The edge frays slightly apparently ??? Then I did a workshop called ' Scrapbooking - French Style' I was thinking hmmmmm nice white provencial furniture, cute bicyles, florished edges.... nope it was just cutting photos into 3 circles and leaving a small gap before adhering them ?? Then I saw an amazing demonstration by Stephen Mapstone ( husband of Prue mapstone ) who showed an amazing french knitting machine that created cord in like 10 seconds !! It was pretty cool. I could use it at school when doing textile arts....

Two hours into the show and I made my first purchase.... some sashiko supplies. I am thinking I will quilt my blue asian inspired quilt this way when I make up all the blocks. However never having done it before thought I better practise on a small sample.


This will be made into a pillow and I have used a blue veriagated thread. It basically is a simple running stitch and is super easy. I did this little bit on the way home in the car.

I think the sashiko stands out better in the dark fabric.... I have got my thread into a bit knotted mess already ! I also got a book on Japanese sashiko designs and project ideas. Even though it is in Japanese it is fairly easy to follow.

Stitches and Craft fair - Canberra

We are home from the stitches and craft show in Canberra. A very looooooooooooooong day. Left at 7:00am and got home at 7:30pm. It is approximately a 3 hour trip to Canberra from home, so that means little Miss had to spend 6 hours in the car.

I was dropped off at the fair and hubby hit the shops with the 17 month old, she didn't sleep, eat her lunch nor did much shopping get done.

Will share goodies from show soon.... got to do a few workshops as well. Canberra's stitches and craft fair is 1/4 of the size of the Sydney show.... would of loved to go to Sydney but that's when I was in plaster and on crutches... it would not of been much fun.

Also got my swap partner for the Urban home good swap...... thinking cap needs to go on for this one... am also concerned I may have sent mixed messages to my partner but more about that later.

I Love my fridays !!!!

Friday is the only day of the week that my daughter goes daycare.... giving me a day to catch up on chores, make something scrumptious from my 1000 cookbooks and of course do some sewing !!!! Although I do miss her, I love the fact that I am not battling to get her to sleep, eat properly, entertain her etc.... She is a shocking sleeper during the day and I am lucky to get a 30 minute sleep out of her. Needless to say by the time friday comes round I almost jump out of bed with joy at the thought I having a day to myself ! I have been doing some casual work on a friday but this has been rather sporadic. Today I am piecing together my blocks from the 'Bee in my Bonnet' month. I asked for a wonky square and requested that they be 12.5 inches. I didn't sent out enough fabric, so people struggles getting it together but managed quite well. I have laid my blocks out and love how no two are the same. I need to make a fe more to make it a bit bigger and then quilt it. I think I will do the binding with the left over scraps I have.
Any thoughts on how it should be quilted ???

August block for Julie

With a busy month ahead I thought I would knock over Julie's blocks tonight.... the fabric only arrived in the mail yesterday so thats not a bad turn-a-round !!!!
She requested blocks that have large interesting squares and her inspiration were these two quilts:

http://tallgrassprairestudio.blogspot.com/2009/07/please-dont-tell-my-husband.html
and

http://tallgrassprairestudio.blogspot.com/2010/07/sophisticated-baby.html

I love the lime green used to border the first block.... would of liked more but I used every bit.

This block allows the fabrics to stand out.

Quilting bee

August is Abi's month in the 'Bee seam piecing downunder' bee. She requested a log cabin style block using cool vintage fabrics. They remind me of a rainbow.

That's all for today as I have a child who has been up since 5am and refuses to have a sleep

A 'stash' to die for.....

Yummy !!!! While searching for various crochet flower patterns to embellish my bag/pouch I found this :

Photo belongs to : http://rosehip.typepad.com/rose_hip_blog/2010/05/growth-spurt.html

just had to share it with you !!! Imagine the possibilities !

A crochet pouch/bag

I whipped this up yesterday, it will do for now to hold my crochet hooks and patterns in. It closes with velcro and hase 2 large pockets and smaller ones for the hooks at the front. I want to embellish the front of it with a flower or two when I get better at crocheting. I need to work on my tension and they way I hold my wool/yarn.

Learning to crochet

Learning to crochet has been on my 'bucket list' forever, and despite reading books and watching you tube videos I just could not get it. I could do 'parts' like chain stitch but would get lost when having to treble or double crochet. Anyway my friend Gabi and I sat down and mastered an easy hat for our girls. The pattern came from Retro mummy and was super easy to follow and do especially for a novice like me. The pattern for the hat can be found here.

My 'model' ( daughter) is in bed so I had to take a picture with the hats on the lounger and put fabric underneath it so you could get an idea. Both of these were made according to corrie's pattern but I have added the 'edge' to finish it off.

I like the different colours of the wool in this one.

Now................. onto something to hold my crochet hooks and patterns in !