Done and Done!!

I am determined to get through the pile of unfinished projects that is looming in the corner.

First off the list is the quilt I gave my brother for Christmas - it just needed to have the handquilting finished. Done!!



This pattern is called Mitali - designed by the very lovely Mitali, my amitie colleague. It's great for using up lots of scraps and having some fun with the perle thread.



And yesterday I finished a cushion for one of Daph's little friends. I went through a lot of changes with this design. First I found a big mark on the white fabric so had to chop it off. Then sudden inspiration hit and I added the row of bunting and another colour. It also meant the bird is standing on something which is good really!



I had extra bits appliqued on it and really wasn't happy. That's why it kept getting put back on the pile. So I simplified it and then went nuts with the quilting - and I love the finished result.



It was given to its new owner yesterday and has apparently been slept on so it is well loved already which makes me very happy!

There is more to come.......

UFOs and other pretty things!

So while I am working on my little doll quilt for the swap I am also trying to get a few ufos off the pile. Some have sat there for a rather long time.

It's the hand quilting that gets me. I always think it's going to take forever but if I actually just got on with it I wouldn't have such a huge pile of unfinished quilts!

A perfect example is this quilt for my little friend Ruby.



Ruby is now two and the quilt was basted waaaaaay back when she was about 7 months old! We spent New Years with Ruby and her family so I decided to get stuck in and finish it off. It took me one week, a broken nail and a few holes in the finger! Not bad.

Mostly it was just lines but I added a few hearts and flowers.



and then some trees for the border.



And of course a little message.



We're both pretty happy!

But you know there's always more than one quilt on the go and I have since added another basted quilt to the pile so it is no lower - just a different colour!

Here's one that was for my brother and his family for Christmas - just finishing off some quilting and the binding.



And this one here is for my bed - finally one of my own!!



I have been collecting a heap of beautiful blue and green fabrics for the last few years starting with that gorgeous Liberty bird fabric. During the holidays I finally found time to jigsaw puzzle them all together. No real plan, just lots of big pieces to show of the patterns and I LOVE it!



It will be very simply quilted with lines using this lovely pale greeny blue Perle 8 thread.



But right now I'm finishing another one that has also languished on the pile for way too long. And I will challenge myself to get it done to show off in my next post because it is for Chloe and it is her 11th Birthday this week.

So enough chatting I'm off to do some quilting!

Happy Birthday To Me!!

Yes, today is my 44th Birthday and it has been a completely lovely day. The lead up to it, not so good as we have all been sick with a horrible virus and I'm still no where near back to my normal self.

But today was about being spoilt, having lots of visits from gorgeous family and friends and loving every minute of it.

And to share my joy I thought I would show you all my wonderful presents.

My husband is giving me a new sewing machine but I need to investigate the best options first. So as a little surprise for the day he gave me some fabulous books. The apron one is a copy of an old apron pattern book and is amazing.



Chloe gave me a beautiful locket.



Lucinda gave me a wonderful new CD and some of my all time favourite chocolates from little Daphne who really wanted to keep them for herself!



Some gorgeous kokeshi girls from my gorgeous girlfriends Christina and Daphne. You can pose their little heads - aren't they adorable!



A completely brilliant teapot and mug in my favourite red spots from my sister Michelle.



An amazing orchid called Dancing Lady (oh yes that is sooo me) and vintage treasures from one of my oldest and dearest friends Michelle, who also brought over some yummy lunch and the biggest lemon meringue pie I have ever seen.





And as if that wasn't enough, she is also making me a little quilted sewing bag which I promise to show off when she finishes it.

I told you I was spoilt didn't I.

Then my lovely Mum and Dad turned up and they had been trawling the local antique stores in the rain and came up with these.





A totally stunning Royal Crown Devon Art Deco vase and another little matching one.



I'm in love..... aren't they fabulous. My Mum and I found another Royal Crown Devon vase at a market once and we have been interested in them ever since. So the collection is well on its way now!

What a truly lovely day. Thanks everyone for all the visits and the cards and the phone calls. I feel very loved and not too, too old!

Now crafting.... hmmmm have been living in a sinus pain blur with sick children to entertain. Sooooo, over the next couple of days I should have two finished quilts to show off to you. One for the Four Seasons swap and the other for the Doll Quilt III swap.

In the meantime here's another little teaser of the Spring Four Seasons Quilt Swap quilt.

Paying it Forward!

I can finally tell you who my little green quilt was for. A couple of weeks ago I had an email chat with Margaret the fantastic organiser of the Four Seasons Swap. I explained that I was very disappointed that I never received any thanks for the Autumn tree quilt I made and wasn't sure whether to sign up for the Winter swap. She then told me that the woman that received my quilt didn't send her partner Beth one. After reading her blog Modern Jax, it appeared that it was the second swap this unlucky girl had signed on for and both times she had received nothing.

So I HAD to make her a quilt - it made me feel good to make it and send it and made me feel better about my little tree quilt disappearing into nowhere! Go on over and visit Beth and say hi, she also has a very cute felt ornament tutorial to try.

I recently had the very good fortune to 'win' a Pay It Forward treat from Cathy at Pink Green. And I now get to offer the same to three of my lovely readers. So....

I will send a handmade gift to the first 3 people who leave a comment on my blog requesting to join this PIF exchange. I don’t know what that gift will be yet and you may not receive it tomorrow or next week, but you will receive it within 365 days, that is my promise! The only thing you have to do in return is pay it forward by making the same promise on your blog.

On the crafting front I am still working on lots of little bits and pieces for Christmas. Some of them I will be able to show you and some probably not as the recipients read this blog and I would rather surprise them.

So instead I will show you my ornament swap prototype which will definitely be changing.



I like her but want to make a couple of changes. She's a little too big and I'm not sure about the black and white.



We've started our Advent stockings, have put the tree up and this year we even have some lights on the house! I still don't feel remotely organised for Christmas and I also have Daphne's 2nd Birthday party on the 15th but thanks to my lovely Mum I have a fairly childfree day on Thursday to get some stuff done. I'm even getting a haircut which will be the first for some time.

Enjoy your week!

Progress, parcels and pics

I thought you might like to see the progress on the train quilt. I had all kinds of trouble with the measurements I was given and finally managed to calculate them myself. So it's all cut and I'm sewing every spare minute I can because I can't wait to see it all together and get quilting.



And there's more to show you. Yesterday these gorgeous fabrics arrived. I am a bit suspicious though as there is meant to be two parcels and so far I only have one. I bought them on sale through here and their prices are fantastic. I am collecting lots of 1930's and flour sack fabrics to put aside for a single bed quilt for one of my girls. Something like this or this.



I also bought some to add to a blue and green stash I have for a quilt I plan on making for my bed.



And the rest is to use for a summer twirly skirt for Chloe and maybe a wrap skirt me.



Yesterday they emailed me with another 10% discount so I have bought even more - it's simply too hard to resist!!

The other day I received this book from Amazon.

Aside from the beautiful pictures and patterns it has some really clear instructions on all the basics of cutting, handsewing, machine piecing and applique. It has one particular quilt pattern perfect for the blue and green quilt that I want on my bed - another project, another day.

And today I received my new camera. Did I tell you my very sweet and lovely Lucinda was mucking around with my camera a few weeks ago and virtually threw it under the table she was sitting at. It was going to cost more than $250 to fix because the iris was broken so we bought a new model for $295 instead. And it's gorgeous!



Lucky for me my mother has one too and let me borrow it for a while. I couldn't imagine life without a camera!

And with that I leave you with a photo of my Lucinda ......



.... how could I stay angry with that beautiful face!

Back to business!

Due to a 'problem at the exchange' I had no internet access this week. It's really tough to look at your little laptop and not be able to see what you have all been up to. When it came back on I thought I'd have a quick look at how many visitors I'd had and got quite a shock to see that over 350 people had dropped by on Tuesday! So I checked where they had come from and found this. Wow!

I started the tutorial after Jen saw one of my children's aprons on Flickr and asked for some advice. I thought it would be easier to just show her how to make a whole one with photos. Jen wrote to me to thank me and said she would be passing it on to a craft site. Thanks so much Jen, I don't think I would have been brave enough to submit it myself!!

So, has anyone actually used the tutorial to make an apron yet?

And just to update you on the pillows/cushions, they went for the grand sum of $36!! They went to one of the fundraising committee girls who has the most gorgeous house and furniture - I kind of made them with her sofas in mind anyway so I know they have a really good home. The trivia night was loads of fun and raised about $8,000 for our kinder. Have you seen these for Tamara's kinder's trivia night - just amazing work and such a great keepsake for the lucky families that get them. I'm dying to find out how it all went.

I've had quite a nice weekend. Chloe and Lucinda went to the footy with their Dad and some friends yesterday, so I had an afternoon to myself.





I didn't do any sewing but I did do a lot of cooking. My poor brother has had a really bad week. His entire family including his mother-in-law went down with Type A flu. His 3yr old son was so ill with asthma he was hospitalised for the week. I know first hand how stressful that can be and apart from being sick they are all exhausted. So I made a yummy quiche, some pumpkin and sweet potato soup and a batch of anzac biscuits. I hope they are all back to a healthy normal soon.

Today I had a few hours with my gorgeous girlfriend Ros at Patchwork on Central Park. She has just started to learn to quilt and is making a beautiful quilt for her daughter - I love it so much I want it for one of my girls. She wanted to look at fabric for the quilt back and I was after lots of bits and pieces.

It was so nice to be able to shop without the little people. I got some great help on a quilt I am making for new baby Lochie. It is to be a vintagey, scrappy looking quilt based on the great Michael Miller train fabric 'I think I can".



I also bought a little extra piece for my autumn quilt which I am going to leave for a week while I get some other things done. I am still mulling over the idea for this quilt but the fabrics have finally sort of come together.



I also bought a little piece of fabric for a totebag I am making for this swap - but you're not seeing that yet!

So I'd better get sewing as I have a few deadlines looming and I am sure I am coming down with a cold. Better go to bed!