Just popping in quickly from my mum's place as our computer has quite literally blown up! We've had no computer for the past week and I'm not sure when it will be back either. I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and Santa was good to you all (we are still eating our way through lunches and dinners with family)!
Today we celebrated a friend's wedding which was a traditional Laotian ceremony. It was so beautiful and the colours were so stunning and vibrant. My husband's family is from Laos and we didn't have a traditional ceremony so it was interesting to see one today with all the traditions and rituals. I think my favourite was tying on a small piece of white cotton string to the bride's wrist to signify well wishes to the couple. You might be able to see them all tied on her wrist in the picture below....

Wishing you all a Happy New Year too!!! (just in case we don't get our computer back in time)

partridge in a pear tree

hello! Just popping in quickly to show you the last of the dolly quilt mailouts for the year. Must admit that I haven't had a chance to start the last couple but I couldn't resist this one.....being a Christmas theme and all! School holidays have started and pre-school is in it's last days. Plans have been made for the holiday break and Christmas shopping is all done (phew)!

The pear tree was made using an 18 degree circle segment ruler - a new favourite toy. Very quick and easy and the partridge and pears were appliquéd on.

I always enjoy sewing on the binding, it's my favourite part of making a quilt! Below are some spare change squares which arrived this week - beautiful fabrics, I think I will jumble them together and make a quilt with them as they are.

Time now for catching up with family and friends, a wedding, some sewing (hopefully) and counting down the days until Christmas!

more time

This little stash of AB goodness (except for the book) was given out at the Amy Butler evening last night . It was a nice night, hearing all about her life and inspiration....although it did feel a little bit like watching mornings with Kerri-Anne!

Market stall has been postponed, due to an over allocation of stalls and to be honest with you, I'm a little relieved. It's left me with time to make a colouring wallet by Jennifer Casa which I first spotted here. A great pattern...I think there will be a few friends receiving these over Christmas!

mermaids and pirates

Ashley's friend is having a birthday party with a mermaids and pirates theme in a couple of months so we made up these little bags to see whether she would like to use them as lolly bags. They were sewn up with some cotton canvas and a little drawstring looped through the top. The fabrics were ironed on with heat'n'bond, an iron-on adhesive, and the little pirate face was hand sewn with some embroidery thread. Super quick and easy!

....and I couldn't resist these beauties from our local fruit shop!

to market

A few friends and I are putting together a little market stall in a few weeks. We are making little things and putting them together to see if anyone would like them. I was excited about it a couple of months ago when we decided to do this but now I'm not so sure! I'm finding it difficult to sit at the sewing machine to make something for someone I don't know and progress has been slow. So far I have a stack of coasters and some little kids totes.......time to get sewing!

little ghosts

It was our first Halloween trick or treating with the kids. They dressed up as a witch and wizard, their outfits and capes quickly sewn up the night before. Lolly bags prepared for the little ones and ghost meringues for the mums and dads. All sugared up before bedtime and had loads of fun.... Happy Halloween!

too nice

This lovely package arrived in the mail this week from Kellie....thank-you, thank-you, thank-you! It is a gorgeous smock and monkey (plus watercolour paints) which Ashley just loves. The smock is too nice to use but I don't think my chances of talking Ash out of using it are very good. I've always admired Kellie's pretty designs and I have to say that they look even better in person. The detail, colours and fabric choices are just perfect.

My favourite part is this little bird.......thanks Kellie!

summer dress

I ventured into Spotlight the other day to have a look at some overlockers. After making Ashley's skirt a few weeks ago I thought I would try making her a dress as well and started to research a little on overlockers. I have no idea about these machines and haven't even used one before so any bits of advice anyone has would be greatly appreciated.

As I walked through the store, the top fabric in blue pictured above caught my eye. It looks very much like the bottom fabric in pinks which is a Liberty print I love and purchased a tiny amount of and haven't yet used. Is it just me or do they look very similar? The blue print came at a bargain price of $6.99 so I thought it would be perfect for a summer dress.....

This pattern is from here and is called the simple servant frock. A nice and simple pattern for a beginner like me.

....and I'm happy because Ashley likes it!

fun mail

It's Friday and the start of the school holidays! What better way to start them off than to have a read of these quilting magazines from Lisa, which landed on our doorstep as part of a magazine swap organised by (another) Lisa. Thanks Lisa, lots of inspiration and fun projects in these magazines.

Here is a little peek at what I'm working on.......hope you enjoy your weekend!

twirls

My daughter loves her skirts and dresses. I'm relieved that the days are getting warmer as she always likes to pick out the dress without sleeves or wants to wear skirts without tights. This little twirly skirt is my first attempt at making something for her to wear. When I finished it she asked me who it was for and I felt a little guilty because I realised that I usually make things for other children. When I told her it was for her she changed into it right away!

It twirls!

This pattern is the Ruffled Skirts Tutorial from Grand Revival Designs. Give it a try, it's simple and fun!

counting down

Is it too early to be thinking about Christmas? I'm one of those people that always get caught out with last minute Christmas shopping. This year I'm hoping it will be different. I'm trying the handmade approach this year....not sure how it will go as I always feel a bit nervous when making gifts for family and friends. I made some coasters from the last minute patchwork book, you can never have too many coasters can you?

I love the new Urban Chicks range 1974 which I'm hoping to make into a quilt for home. I ordered it from Pink Chalk Fabrics which has the speediest delivery. Only one week, which is super fast from the US to Sydney. Now I just need to decide on a pattern for it!

just in time

Our nephew's 1st birthday party was yesterday and the quilt was finished just in time. I ended up quilting rows just inside each block with white perle cotton. It was a bit tricky sewing straight so I stuck some masking tape down to help me sew straight lines up and down and across the quilt.

It's a cot sized quilt and I added a white border to make it just a little bigger. Making a quilt that is big enough to fit over an actual bed is something that is on my to do list!

Here's a peek at the back which is mostly white with a strip of coloured squares. Now for a rest......until the next birthday!

this little piggy

I have a nephew who is turning one in a couple of weeks and I have been frantically trying to finish up this quilt for him in time for his birthday party next weekend! I spotted this tutorial for a disappearing nine patch and thought I would give it a try. I think my quilts all look the same, made up of squares and usually in blues, reds and whites. At least this one has different sized squares! It is a crib sized quilt and the top and backing are done. I think I will sandwich it together tomorrow night as it's been a long day.

Here is a little close up of some of the piggy fabric....he was born in the chinese zodiac year of the pig! I'm hoping to hand quilt it with a perle cotton, maybe just around the inside of the squares. I always get stuck for ideas on quilting....anyone have any other ideas?

hello spring

It's the first day of spring and we couldn't have asked for a better day! Blue skies and not having to wear long sleeves or scarf made for a beautiful day. We spent the morning baking fairy wands and then ate them outside in the sunshine. It was difficult not to want to make pointy stars and ice them evenly but watching the little ones creating their own versions was worth it!

I also pulled out this spring inspired quilt which I have been hand quilting (for quite some time now). Almost there......

roll up

The thing I like most about sewing is being able to make gifts for friends and family. Making something with just that one person in mind, something that they would like, in their favourite colours and hoping they will feel happy using it, knowing it was made just for them!


Our friend Eliza is turning five this week so I made her a little pencil roll using the pattern from Last Minute Patchwork & Quilted Gifts. She loves to make things and likes all things pretty so I thought it would come in handy.

Packaged up in a little tote bag for her so that she can take it with her anywhere....in her favourite colours. Happy Birthday Eliza!

another dolly

Is it just me or are the days getting colder? Spring seems so far away with our frosty mornings and windy afternoons. Perfect weather for quilting which is why I have a few pictures of the July dolly quilt from material obsession....just finished!


I'm used to patterns and structure, squares and triangles, so this was something new for me. It will be interesting to see how some of the other quilts turn out.

This one is quilted with a perle 8 cotton.

.....and bordered with assorted fabric tongues. Hope you all had a good (warm) weekend!!

lunchbag

A couple of our very close friends are living in Tokyo at the moment and the good thing is, we can visit them (we popped over last April) and they stay with us when they are in Sydney. Carol knows about my weakness for Japanese fabrics and craft magazines and always brings over some treats, so when she asked me to make a lunchbag for her daughter, I jumped at the chance! Her daughter is in daycare and apparently all the little children bring their lunches in fabric drawstring bags made in cute fabrics. I made one with a matching placemat with a yellow polka dot trim. The picture doesn't show much, which could be a good thing because I haven't sent it yet!

I did manage to send my quilt for the 4SQS but only took this picture of one of it's corners in the hope that I would take more on a sunnier day (but I forgot!). It's on it's way now to it's new owner....I hope she likes it.

it's a wrap!

There are so many great tutorials out there at the moment, one of which is this gratitude wrap which I managed to put together last night. It's nice and simple and perfect for keeping cards and stationery in!

The trickiest part was getting the binding on straight. I used some ready made binding but it was still fiddly around the corners!

Some other tutorials that I'm hoping to try are these pinwheel quilted coasters and some button top brads . If you have some time, make sure you have a peek at free design goodies too as they have some wonderful freebies to keep you busy!

mail

This arrived on my doorstep yesterday afternoon.....a swell summer quilt from Lisa. It is so perfect, the fabric, the colours....the stitching!

a peek at the back, I love this line of fabrics......

and it arrived with goodies!

A close up of the corner which had some giant ric-rac added on. I think I've been lucky to receive this quilt, thank-you so much Lisa, I love it!

another block

Another block is done on the ginger grove quilt. I started this quilt while taking quilting classes and the shop is now closing down so I'll be finishing this up on my own. It's a slow process, all those berries to stitch on......