Cabbage Quilts

Got That Wonky Feeling!

2012-01-25T16:10:00.000+11:00

Wow it's difficult to get back into the blogging mode when you have been awol for a few weeks!! My time away was forced upon me with yet another bad shoulder flare up. Things are settling down now, fingers crossed they will stay that way for a lot longer this time. I'm bursting with ideas and inspiration for 2012 and very excited to see what the year will bring.

One thing I did manage to work on slowly over the past month was a Wonky Stars Quilt.

My inspiration for this quilt was a gorgeous quilt I found on flickr created by Amy (Drury Girl).

Amy's (Drury Girl) gorgeous wonky star quilt that she designed.

The colours she has used here are mouthwatering!

Photo taken with permission.

I loved Amy's layout for these stars and decided to make mine like that too. I had fallen completely in love with the feedsack inspired Blue Hill Fabric with its retro looking red, pink, green and white flowers all over it and had such fun using this as the background fabric for the stars.

For the stars I wanted to continue a bit of a retro look and found Denyse Schmidts Flea Market Fancy plus some of her new Spotlight (Joannes) fabric worked a treat as always. Is there anything that FMF doesn't work with? Other fabrics used are the always versatile Japanese Kei dots and some Michael Miller dots as well as some solids and other fabrics.

The stars are wonky because they are sewn using the liberated method.

I took a few photo's to show how they are done, I will show them in the next week or so.

Recently we spent some time with friends down at Philip Island. These photo's were taken on the horse round yard on the property, the grey timber of the yard looks fabulous with the colourful stars. Kenny the racehorse wanted to make sure he starred in the photo's as well.

He is such a handsome fellow.

I'm thrilled with this little quilt and need to think about how I will quilt it. I will bind it using a black of some sort probably.

Have you made any wonky star quilts? xo

Aussie Christmas Quilt...

2012-01-03T09:01:00.000+11:00

...was the theme I had in mind when I designed the wallhanging quilt to send overseas to my SSCS partner.

I was thinking of the bright colours we see at Christmas time here in Australia, the clear blue skies, green sparkling waters of the ocean, orange and pinks of the sunsets, yellows of the sandy beaches.

For the design I kept it simple, circles to represent the decorations on the Christmas tree...

The circle around that to represent the lovely Christmas wreaths often seen hanging in doorways to welcome friends and family.

The border fabric is from Amy Butlers Love range called Bliss Bouquet. The colours in this fabric are amazing and go very well with the white background with red writing (from Annie's Farm Stand Seed Catalog range, almost impossible to find now).

I kept the colours going on the back, I love this paint splodge fabric!

You can easily see the raw edge, freemotion quilting on the back too.

Brandon Mably's tents fabric makes wonderful binding.

This little quilt now lives in the Netherlands.

Handmade Gorgeousness!

2011-12-29T14:13:00.000+11:00

Do you find that because you are a quilter, people don't tend to give you handmade gifts anymore? Perhaps they are worried we will see any faults or think that is it something we could make ourselves. But I still love receiving a handmade gift, particularly because I know the thought, love and care that has gone into the gift. I guess this is part of the fun of joining a quilt swap like Chookyblue's SSCS that she runs each Christmas. Not only do I get to make a gift for someone on the other side of the world, I also have the pleasure of receiving something beautiful that someone has made just for me. And check out what Judith from the Netherlands has made for me....

I love it. Judith this little quilt is perfect and I have just the spot for it, thank you so much!

Next post I will show some pics of the little quilt I made for my SSCS partner, also in the Netherlands. A huge thank you to the wonderful Christmas Elf Chookyblue for once again organising a very successful swap. You can see all the wonderful handmade gifts listed over on Chooky's blog too.

But that wasn't the only handmade gift I received this year. For my birthday my wonderful friend and colleague made me a quilt covered book for all my quilty sketches and designs...

This will be well used for sure

as well as a gorgeous timber thread holder with cute pincushion, lucky me. (Kathy's Dad made the timber parts, very clever!).

Talking about handmade gifts, my friend Deb finished her two monster cushions she gave to her nephews for Christmas, how darling are these?

Even the backs are beautiful. The pattern for these came from Don't Look Now's pattern Little Monsters.

On another topic, have you seen this months block for our bloggers bom yet? You might want to rush over (here) to check it out, Pat Sloans block is fabulous, but not only that, she also has a giveaway for this beautiful fabric...

You can check out all the variations of this block in the bloggers bom flickr group, I love seeing everybody's interpretations of the same blocks! I hope to make up this block with my Keiko Goke fabrics soon, but in the meantime, I'm having fun playing with some delightful fabric I found recently, isn't this just gorgeous?...

If I don't get back before Saturday, I hope you all have a wonderful New Years Eve, and not too much feeling like this the next day....!!! xo

SSCS, A Birthday & Honeycomb

2011-12-21T12:14:00.000+11:00

Recently my SSCS pressie arrived in the post all the way from the Netherlands! Now according to the wonderful Christmas elf Chookyblue, I have to wait patiently until Christmas morning to open my present, but I can open my handmade ornament...which I did...straight away!! Oh wow, look what Judith made me....

There are six sides on this amazing ornament, each one of them Judith has stitched carefully and lovingly. It is such a beautiful thing to be able to hang something on my tree made just for me from someone on the other side of the world. Thank you Judith and thank you Chookyblue for organising this years swap! After Christmas I will be able to show the big present that Judith made for me, as well as the one I made for my secret swap partner.

The other thing that happened this week was that I turned 44 last Saturday. It's funny, I really didn't enjoy turning 44, perhaps the number is too even for my liking, which means 45 should be much better next year, heehee! I had a lovely day and was spoilt by my family and friends, even though I also picked up a virus and ended up in bed for a day and a half!! Feeling much better now.

I also share my birthday with gorgeous Michelle (Quilted Tortoise) who had a big one this year... happy 40th for last Saturday Michelle.

And I just have to show some of my dotty honeycomb kei that also came in the mail recently. Purchased from the lovely and always helpful Yuki over at La Chakra, I just adore these kei dots from Japan.

Oh, and don't forget to look out for our fourth bloggers bom block, a little birdie told me it will be out just after Christmas! xo

Treehouse Textiles

2011-12-15T10:25:00.000+11:00

There is a buzz going on down here on the Mornington Peninsula and I'm so excited to be a small part of it. A very talented Mother and Daughter team (Sarah and Emma) are launching a new craft destination called Treehouse Textiles very early in the new year.

The Mornington Peninsula is renowned for its beautiful coastline and bay areas, stunning wineries, galleries and cafe's and now we will have our very own workspace, set on a magnificent 50 acre property overlooking a secluded lake. I have visited the site and I can tell you it is simply breathtaking.

Creativity will abound here as crafters take workshops in modern quilt making, dress making and crochet, with amazing lunches provided by a local chef.

Emma and Sarah will be inviting wonderful guest teachers to provide varied workshops throughout the year, I know that the gorgeous Nicole Mallalieu will be teaching here next year (I recently attended a bag class of Nicole's and learnt so much about bag making, see my bag here).

Emma herself is an incredible lady who has been running a successful children's clothing label Yknot Designs, selling her range at craft fairs and to shops in Australia and New Zealand. Her enthusiasm is infectious and I've been thrilled to get to know Emma and be inspired by her over the past few months.

I'm also incredibly excited to tell you that Emma and Sarah have asked me to come and teach a couple of classes for them next year, yay!!! I will be teaching the wonderful x and + and o blocks from this quilt...

and this one...

I adore these blocks and find them very addictive and fun to make.

For further information about this fabulous new venture and to subscribe to the monthly newsletter so you can keep an eye on all the happenings at Treehouse Textiles, pop over to their webpage here.

I look forward to seeing you there. xo

An Evening at the Beach

2011-12-08T11:15:00.000+11:00

Last night was a beautiful evening here on the Peninsula, so I decided to take my star quilt to the beach (as you do!!!).

These photo's were taken around 8:30pm, the light was just perfect.

If you want to know where this pattern came from see here.

I have never tired of these beautiful fabrics (Amy Butler Soul Blossoms and Kaffe Fassett Shot Cottons).

DH and Millie came too, DH thinks this shot should go into a magazine advertising the Peninsula!!!

The brown row is my last full round for this quilt.

The next row is my 'squaring up' round. What this means is that I will be placing triangles along the four finished sides (top, bottom and both sides), and then squares along the four corners. I've laid the readied triangles out so you can get an idea of what it will look like along the sides...

...and in the corners (now I just need to find time to stitch them all on!). Once this squaring up row is done I will need to work on the four corners until the quilt is a full square.

Initially I was only going to use the Amy Butler Soul Blossoms and Kaffes shot cottons for this entire quilt, however when I purchased some of the Amy Butler Organic Soul Night Tree in Cilantro, I changed my mind, I think this gorgeous print will look lovely for the squaring off round.

I started paper piecing this quilt back in February, so it may yet take me over a year to finish. It has come along way since then and it has been wonderful to have some hand work to pick up whenever I felt like some quiet stitching time!

Ok, back to reality now for me, I'm on the late shift at the library so I will see you tomorrow. xo

Super Easy Christmas Tree Decoration

2011-12-05T14:59:00.000+11:00

How I made this...

When I spied Amy Butlers new lark range of fabrics and found this one with large, gorgeous circles I immediately saw Christmas decorations.

First I cut out two circles...

Then I found a ribbon for the loop and tied a knot in it...

Pinned the two circles, wrong sides together making sure I had the ribbon secured...

Using my walking foot I sewed twice around the circles, leaving a gap (about 3 inches) at the bottom of the decoration (for stuffing) and making sure the ribbon was sewn in securely at the top...

Then I stuffed it fairly generously using polyester toy stuffing...

Once I was happy with the amount of stuffing, I shuffled the stuffing away from the opening and stitched the opening closed. Twice. The opening edges got a little raggy so I just trimmed them...

Once closed, I used my fingers to evenly distribute the stuffing inside the decoration...

Then I found a couple of buttons and matching perle 8 thread and sewed the buttons onto the middle of the decoration (one on each side). This anchors the middle of the decoration and gives it a nice shape...

Then tie another piece of ribbon above the decoration and there you are...finished...

But what if you don't have any Amy Butler Lark fabric? You could use anything. I also made a pretty Liberty one.

They take about half an hour to make and I think they are sweet for something quick to hang on your tree or give to a friend. I have also made an embroidered one using wool felt. This took longer and I might show the step by step process for this another day! xo

Bloggers Bom Block Three

2011-12-04T11:01:00.000+11:00

The lovely Stephanie (Loft Creations) designed our third bloggers bom block and I just love her split star block. Her great instructions are here. Once again I have made two blocks using the gorgeous crayonlike fabrics from Keiko Goke. A darker one...

and a lighter one...

You can see many other bloggers bom blocks over on our flickr page, they are all looking so beautiful. Our fourth block will be bought to us by the gorgeous Pat Sloan around Christmas (can you believe it is nearly Christmas time again?!!).

Talking about Christmas my SSCS pressie has been made, posted and received. It is such an exciting time of year when you are waiting for a handmade present to arrive from an unknown international destination! Tomorrow I will show how to make a very quick and easy Christmas Decoration for your tree. xo

This Time Last Week...

2011-12-03T13:17:00.000+11:00

...my friend Deb and I were stitching away at The Grange at Lancefield, near the beautiful Macedon Ranges. We had joined up with a group of women on their stitching retreat, hosted by the gorgeous Jenny K from Amitie. When Jenny blogged that there were a couple of tickets left we jumped at the chance to go. It was a fantastic set up at The Grange, lovely rooms to stay in, beautiful grounds, an amazing chef who helped us put on a few kilo's each, and a great room to sit as a group and work away at whatever we had chosen to sew all weekend.

We were very inspired by the stitching going on in that room, unfortunately I didn't get photo's of everything, but here are a few, this first is a beautiful hand pieced star by Catherine using a beautiful Liberty rose in the centre...

Next up a gorgeous Amy Butler cushion by Gillian and gorgeous braid quilt by Aileen...

Jane was making a very eye-catching quilt in pinks and greys (my bad photography skills don't show off the amazing colour in this quilt)...

A lovely Jane Brocket quilt (Purple Rain) being made by Rebecca (my photo again not the best!)...

Teena was making a stunning Mr Men quilt, how gorgeous is that?...

My friend Deb was making delightful monster pillows (pattern Little Monsters) for her nephews, I adore the colours in these...

I missed getting a photo of Chris' amazing red and white quilt, Amanda's beautiful navy and taupe hand pieced blocks, Pams incredible applique bird blocks, Moya was stitching up some beautiful applique's (I wish I had a pic of her ginger jar) and Jenny was working on a gorgeous quilt for a magazine coming out next year. Poppy arrived on Sunday and was also working on a beautiful hand pieced quilt.

I just worked on getting my next round of paper pieces done for my star quilt...

and getting some of my Flower Garden blocks ready to stitch...

Thank you ladies for such a wonderful weekend full of stitching goodness and so much laughter!
Now I need to plan to drive up to Amitie again soon, they are having a great sale. xo

Bloggers are Wonderful People Too!

2011-11-29T14:41:00.000+11:00

On the Saturday morning of our stitch day a week or so ago it was pouring with rain. I did wonder if anyone would come, but we had a fabulous turn out!

L-R: Melissa (Meli B is Making Things), Miriam (Yellow Roses), Me, Maree (On my Verandah), Chris (Chris the Quilter), Meredithe (Pomegranate and Chintz), Merran (Merran2011), Kathy in front (a lovely work colleague of mine).

Most of these girls drove over an hour in the pelting rain to get here (apart from Maree who flew down from Brisbane!), and I was so thrilled they did. We started off the day with show and tell, oh my goodness what talent, check these out...

Melissa - Meli B is Making Things

I love Melissa's crochet bag, might have to get my Mum-in-law to make me one of these (or learn how to crochet myself!)

Gorgeous circle cushion!

Melissa purchased these ugly kimono scraps (her words!!), and turned them into a stunning quilt. I wish I could show you the real thing, it was really amazing.

Chris - Chris the Quilter

Chris' hexagon quilt is incredible. Over 7000 1/2 inch hexagons all using Kaffe Fassett and Brandon Mably fabrics. A true labour of love.

Merran - Merran2011

Merrans quilts were works of art in themselves. I particularly loved her Giant Dahlia (above). These two patterns (above and below) were from Michelle Yeo.

Merran's quilt above and Meredithe's quilt below are both from the same quiltalong challenge that Meredithe is hosting on her blog. They started with an orphan block, then had to add triangles, the next border was squares, etc. What a great idea.

Meredithe - Pomegranate and Chintz

Meredithe made this quilt called Tilt in a class with Kaffe and Brandon when they visited Australia...

Don't you love this idea...Meredithe has taken a vintage doily and turned it into a quilt label!!

Kathy (a lovely work colleague) and Maree - On my Verandah

Kathy recently started to make quilts, and she is onto her third beautiful quilt already. I love the stars.

Miriam Yellow Roses blog...

Miriam is prolific with the needle!! Her hand work is exquisite. This bird quilt below didn't really show up very well in my photo, but the detail on this is amazing.

And as for this one, wow, all done by hand!!

We did get to the morning tea (at lunch time!!) and some stitching, though I think more talking and eating than stitching was done.

I often count my blessings when I think about having a blog and the amount of fabulous people I meet out there in blogland, but I'm even more blessed when I can meet these wonderful people face to face. It was a great day and I will definitely be having another stitch day at my house in the future. xo

Just letting you know...

2011-11-24T19:23:00.000+11:00

...no, I haven't forgotten to write about the awesome stitch day we had last Saturday, I just haven't had time this week! And tomorrow I'm off on a stitching retreat with Amitie so I will be back next week with heaps of photo's!!! Thinking of you all. xo

Photo taken at Morningstar Estate, Mornington

Bloggers Bom Blocks

2011-11-16T19:53:00.000+11:00

Well it's only about 9 more sleeps until the next bloggers bom block is revealed (it will be gorgeous Stephanie from Loft Creations turn for November) and I'm finally getting up pics of my first two blocks. Well, four actually! Sherri from A Quilting Life kicked off the first lovely block, and to be honest, while I knew I was going to use Keiko Goke fabrics, I couldn't decide if I liked the lighter one better...

or the darker one.

In the end I've decided to put two of every block into the quilt. Next came Vicki's (Field Trips in Fiber) gorgeous block, here is the lighter one...

and the darker one (phew, pretty bright!!)..

What a fabulous block of the month to take part in. I'm loving these blocks already and can't wait to see the next one. All thanks to Jackie (Canton Village Quilt Works) for putting together such a fun bom.

And while I'm counting sleeps...only 3 sleeps til the Stitch Day at my house with Maree and all of you who have decided to join in the fun (you know who you are!!). See you at 10:30 on Sat.

Millie will be looking forward to meeting you all too. Here she is beautifully guarding my star quilt...

...right before she walked all over it!!! xo

Kim Keiko Flower Garden

2011-11-11T17:54:00.001+11:00

My Kim McLean Flower Garden blocks are slowly growing. In fact my first panel has been sitting all sewn up on my design wall for weeks, I just keep forgetting to show it here!!!

It was rather difficult to photograph this long panel (it's almost 66 inches x 10 1/5), in the end I pinned it onto my grey timber fence sideways to try and get the whole panel in the photo.

The blocks for the second panel are done too...just need to be trimmed down and sewn together.

Kim's applique blocks are simply wonderful. Like I've said in the past, if you love applique, you will adore her designs with all their beautiful curves and stems and circles.

I am so in love with Keiko Goke's marvellous fabrics. They make my heart sing with their bright and cheery colours and patterns. Making the strippy backgrounds is a lot of work (not all of those stripes are Keiko fabrics), but I am very happy with the effect, it is going to be a hit you in the eye kind of quilt!!

Have you ever made something from Keiko's fabrics? I know Lurline has sewn a few with other fabrics into gorgeous blocks, and I spied some over at Danielle's place too, what a gorgeous stash!!

My Keiko bloggers bom blocks are also sewn up, now I just need to get around to taking pics of those!!

The Art of Bag Making

2011-11-09T15:19:00.000+11:00

Have you ever made a bag? I have made quite a few over the years, and thought I was pretty good at it, so when Andi mentioned a bag making class with Nicole Mallalieu I thought it would make for a nice day. What I didn't expect was how much knowledge, little hints & tricks and extra skill I would come away with from such a wonderful teacher.

Nicole Malallieu and Patchandi

What a fabulous day, spent with other lovely bag making enthusiasts at Nicole's amazing studio in Melbourne.

Sue and Margaret working on their beautiful bags

Nicki was so patient, calm, funny and very encouraging as we spent hours turning our choice of fabrics into wonderful bags.

Helen with her gorgeous finished bag

you can see some of Andi's lovely bag too (both using echino fabrics).

Other Helen with her lovely bag, I love the cane look handles.

This stunning Venetian home dec fabric caught my eye on ebay ages ago, and I have been wanting to turn it into a bag ever since.

Now I have!!

And the back...

All lined and even a clasp and a zipper pocket....!

Check out the gorgeous bag hardware, I love those o rings especially.

Thanks Nicki, your expertise is invaluable, I will have to sign up for a purse making class next!! xo

Yes...

2011-11-03T12:20:00.000+11:00

...I'm still here, but with my shoulder flaring up again I have once again been avoiding the computer as much as possible.

Email answering does get done even if it takes a long while. I adore reading all comments but am not answering to try and save my shoulder. I guess it is something I will have to live with it's been about two years now and I know many of you have experienced this too.

In other Cabbage household news, we recently welcomed Millie into our family.

We adopted her from a family whose circumstances had changed and could no longer have her. She flew down to us from Cairns and has quickly made her way into our hearts (and onto the lounge in front of the telly!!!)

Millie is a Groodle which means she is a poodle crossed with a golden retriever (I think they are called Golden Doodles in the US?). The best thing is that she doesn't shed hair all over the place. To me she looks like a big teddy bear. She is about 19 mths old and has such a happy, friendly personality and loves lying around in strange positions!!

Millie lounging around with our eldest son....

DS has started his VCE exams today and I wish him, and all the year 12 students the best of luck with their exams. He recently had his valedictory night, very handsome!!

It was a wonderful night, a time to look back on all they have achieved through their high school years, to have a meal together and of course watch the teachers do a funny dance (fabulous!). It is great to be able to celebrate the finishing of their school years with them in this way.

Today I am working on my Bloggers Bom blocks, I hope to be able to show them soon but I can say they will be bright, I'm using some of my gorgeous Keiko Goke fabrics!

Stitch Day at My House!!

2011-10-29T19:24:00.000+11:00

Woohoo, the lovely Maree from On My Verandah blog is coming for a visit to Melbourne. We thought we would have a little get together in the form of a stitch day at my house (I'm on the Mornington Peninsula).

For those bloggers who know myself, Maree, or who don't know either of us but would love to join in the fun (I have room for about 10-12), please email me for details.

Our Stitch Day is on Saturday 19th November starting around 10:30am (byo lunch but morning tea and a cuppa will be provided).

Let me know if you want to come along, and don't forget your stitching!! xo

Paper Piecing Preparation how to!

2011-10-20T09:32:00.000+11:00

Recently I had a lovely comment asking how I prepare my diamond paper pieces for my Star quilt. It is difficult to explain so I have taken some photo's to help show how I do it. I'm sure there are other ways (prob better ones too), but this is just how I have done it for my diamonds with the very pointy ends!!!

Firstly I lay out all of my diamond papers onto the fabric I will be using (to make the papers I make one diamond template out of template plastic, then draw around the template onto a light cardstock). I leave about 1-2 inches between each diamond.

Then roughly cut between the diamonds.

Then comes the neatening....trim around each diamond (I usually trim leaving just over 1/4 inch of fabric around the diamond template).

Snip off the pointy ends, this will help to reduce the bulk when it comes to folding the fabric around the pointy tips of the diamond.

Ready to baste. Whenever I baste hexagon shapes, I baste around the shape stitching through the fabric only. However when I baste these diamonds, I do stitch through the fabric and the papers, to ensure I have absolutely no slipping around those pointy ends. I begin along an edge (not on a corner) and make sure the thread is pulled through towards me as I come to the pointy end.

Next I fold down the snipped off end and finger press it down.

Then fold down firstly the right side, then the left side. When both sides are folded down stitch through all layers to hold them firm.

I am always left with a little triangle flap, however this small flap is never a bother and can be easily held out of the way whenever you are stitching the diamond shape onto the quilt.

Continue around the diamond firmly folding at each corner as you go.

Repeat the same process with the other pointy end and continue along until you are almost back where you began. Take a couple of small stitches through the diamond to finish and to ensure the thread will not unravel and you are done! (You can click on the photo below to get a better view of the stitches).

Preparing the diamonds in this way does require work, but I find it makes the actual stitching up process easier if they are well prepared. This is what the back is looking like...

How do you prepare your pointy ended paper pieces?! xo

Blue

2011-10-08T12:40:00.000+11:00

My Wheel of Fortune quilt is still growing and I must say I do love the latest round in this sea blue colour. It was fun to photograph it in a sea of yellow flowers...

Unfortunately the yellow flowers are a noxious weed that spread everywhere, causing havoc to crops and livestock, but they do look pretty in my local park!

The quilt is now approx 76 inches in diameter, getting pretty large to be paper pieced on my lap, though I am almost done.

Just one brown row of diamonds to go before I do my squaring up row (not quite sure what colour that last round will be yet).

For more info on this quilt see here. I am very happy with the combo of Amy Butler Soul Blossoms fabrics mixed with Kaffe Fassett's shot cottons. A happy quilt!

Fairytale Finish

2011-10-02T15:04:00.000+11:00

Remember this one? I began it back in April by joining two lovely fabric lines together...Heather Ross's Far Far Away II and Denyse Schmidt Hope Valley.

Combining the cotton Hope Valley with the heavier linen base Far Far Away worked out really well and they sewed up beautifully together.

Having the gorgeous fairytale fabrics like Rapunzel, Sleeping Beauty and Owl and the Pussycat, I decided I must find a castle to hang this quilt off. Not too far from me is the gorgeous Manyung Art Gallery that looks just like a miniature castle don't you think?!

To go along with the fairytale theme I wanted to quilt this one in a bit of a fanciful manner, so I did a curvy zigzag over every seam...

and then used stipple stitch in the fairytale blocks only (click on the photo's to get a better look!).

The back of the quilt was designed by using leftovers from my stash piles plus an extra yard of orange and purple.

I'm really happy with how it turned out.

A finish always feel great! xo

The First Block...

2011-09-26T22:38:00.000+10:00

...of the Bloggers Bom has started!!! Sherri of A Quilting Life was the first cab off the rank and has done up a great tutorial for her beautiful block. If you are joining in the fun, head over to find your instructions (here). I am still waiting for a little bit of fabric to arrive before I totally commit to a colour scheme and begin my first block. Hopefully soon.

Also I have spread my wings into the world of twitter! I had been resisting for a long time, but decided to give it a go. Don't really know what I'm doing over there but I have put a button on my sidebar to find me (I think!!).

By the way, these gorgeous photo's were taken by my 14 y.o. son, you can see that photography is already a passion for him!

Where do the Children Play?

2011-09-23T11:56:00.000+10:00

To celebrate the birth of my nephew James last month, I am making a quilt for him (of course!!). Just a simple quilt, basic squares...

...with a few square in a square blocks randomly placed throughout. These blocks are simple to make, but must be trimmed down and made square because they can get a little out of shape as they are sewn.

My sometimes odd sense of humour enjoyed the fact that as I took these photographs, my ipod which was playing on random in the background was playing Cat Stevens 'Where do the Children Play' at the same time!!

These beautiful, reminiscent of yesteryear fabrics are from Sarah Jane and are called Children at Play. They are simply delightful. I have added a few other fabrics also.

I had better hurry along and get this quilted before my nephew gets too much older!!!

I have to show you the magnificent flowering cherry tree that greets my at my front door every day at the moment, I cannot get enough of these blossoms, they will only last about two weeks.

This was a shot I took the other evening, I love the night sky in this photo.

Oh, and have you seen the new Kaffe fabrics? Liza at Glorious Colour has already tempted me with some of these amazing Frilly fabrics, I just had to have some...

Isn't it glorious?
Have a lovely weekend. xo

For the Love of Applique

2011-09-20T13:02:00.000+10:00

I guess you could say I am rather obsessed with creating quilts. But one aspect of quilting stands well on its own for me....needleturn applique. Yes, I have started yet another quilt (though with all the finishes that have gone on around here this year, perhaps I will be forgiven?!). This is my first block of the fabulous pattern Flower Garden from our Aussie talent Kim McLean....

These delicious fabrics are mainly those of the Japanese quilt maker and fabric designer Keiko Goke.

Keiko's fabrics take me back to my childhood days, reminding me of crayon drawings and simple, colourful artworks.

Most of these gorgeous fabrics I purchased from Superbuzzy and Glorious Colour. Liza at Glorious Colour has committed to send all the profits made from Keiko's fabrics this year over to Keiko to help her and her community of Sendai, who were devastated by the earthquake and tsunami earlier this year. I feel happy to know that my purchases will go towards helping this community in a small way. Thank you Liza!

Inspired by Keiko's amazing quilts, check out her gallery to see more (the site is in Japanese but the photo's are incredible!), I decided to do a strip background rather than a plain one, using mainly Keiko's fabrics...

with a few other fabrics thrown in (esp Timeless Treasures London Subway and Paris Roadmap as well as Lakehouse Annie's Seed Catalogue and Valorie Wells Dehli)....

as well as some Kaffe shot cottons....

It is wonderful to be back to applique again, I had missed it so much.

Come along and Bloggers Bom with me!

2011-09-17T11:39:00.000+10:00

I'm very excited to announce the start of the Free Bloggers Bom hosted by the wonderful Jackie over at Canton Village Quilt Works. Jackie has lined up 12 bloggers to design a block each, and do a tutorial on their blog on the 25th of each month for everyone to follow. I am fortunate to be amongst the list of 12 bloggers, my block will be shown in May next year, yay!

Jackie sent us all these gorgeous Kaffe fabrics to design our blocks with....

...but you don't have to use these particular fabrics if you are going to follow along with this bom. As well as posting my block next May, I am going to follow along and make up all 12 blocks too, though I may do mine in solids, or florals, I'm undecided as yet! If you are going to join up with us, don't forget to show your blocks in our flickr group each month. Check out Jackies post here for the list of other bloggers who will be designing these blocks as well as any instructions and information you will need. Each month I will let you know whose blog to go to for your next bom block. And in twelve months time we will each have made a beautiful, scrappy quilt together!!

On another note, I must share a sign I found at my local cafe yesterday...

my sentiments exactly!! xo

Pink!

2011-09-12T11:28:00.000+10:00

I do love this pink row, very bright though it is!

If you are visiting and would like to know more about this quilt, see here!

Two more rows to go until I start the squaring up round. The next row is squares in the sea blue colour, all tacked and ready to be stitched on...

My Kaffe blocks to send to Sarah for lovely Amy are done...

Have a wonderful week. xo

Old New Stripe Quilt

2011-09-04T16:48:00.000+10:00

is finished!

You may remember my mission was to take some old fabrics that had been in my stash unused for a long time (8 yrs +)...

...and to mix them with some newer fabrics in my stash.

I love the result.

Some of the brightness had to be tea dyed out of the whiter fabrics first (here) and I'm happy to say that the dye has stayed put after the first wash.

Another shot with blossom in front, don't worry, the blossom around here will be finished soon and then there will be no more blossom shots!!!

For the backing I used a gorgeous flannel from Amy Butler...

The binding is also an Amy Butler called Wallflower.

It is quilted solely by hand using (of course) perle 8 thread, just stitching straight lines across the quilt spaced about 1 1/2 inches apart. I used coloured threads to match the colours of the fabrics.

The hand quilting along with the flannel back have made such a soft, snuggly quilt. My young friend who turns 18 on Tuesday is going to love it I'm sure! xo

Two Good Reads - Kaffe and Sarah

2011-08-31T17:00:00.003+10:00

My copy of the latest Kaffe Fassett book Quilts in Sweden arrived in the mail the other day, yay!!

You know I can never resist any book Kaffe designs be it quilting, knitting, mosaic, whatever. The man sees the world in pure colour and never ceases to inspire and excite me into a colourful creative frenzy!

Ooh I love this Barcode quilt by Kaffe Fassett.

I might need to buy a kit for this one!!

This book does it for me again. Full of delicious quilts photographed in beautiful locations throughout an outdoor museum of period houses in Stockholm, giving added detail and beauty to each page.

A stunning quilt called Headlights by Liza Prior Lucy

Apart from Kaffe himself, various quilt makers have contributed to the book including Roberta Horton, Mary Mashuta, Liza Prior Lucy, Brandon Mably and others. There are also some interesting process photographs and info showing how Kaffe and Pauline Smith work on the quilt designs for his book.

Romantic Shawl by Mary Mashuta, love that green!

Ooh I love the carnival horse on this page...!

Beach by Kaffe Fassett.

Can't you imagine taking this quilt on a picnic?!

The other book I received recently was Sarah Fielke's (The Last Piece) Quilting From Little Things...

This is another gorgeous book, beautifully photographed with clear instructions and a good how to section at the back.

The Night Garden quilt. Beautiful!!

In the book Sarah presents the quilts in pairs....a dolly quilt and a larger quilt, both using the same techniques. This is a great idea if you want to learn something new...begin with the dolly quilt and progress to the larger one to reinforce your new skills.

I'm thrilled with my new books and know I will get much inspiration from both of them. Now I'm saving some pennies for the new Amy Butler fabrics due for release next month called Lark. Have you seen them yet? They made my heart skip a beat!!!

L) Kasbah and R) Floral Couture

from Amy Butlers new Lark range

Bumble Beans Basics Quilt Gather

2011-08-27T16:24:00.001+10:00

When my lovely blogger friend Victoria (Bumble Beans) put out the call last year to raise quilts for the homeless in the Bronx, I said I would send one. However I got slack and didn't get around to it. This year Victoria has teamed up with Pat Sloan (Pat Sloan) and together they have put out a second call for quilts. This time, I am getting my act together and sending over this one....

This quilt is an exact replica of Mary Mashuta's All Season Garden Quilt, found in Kaffe Fassetts Quilt Road book (pub 2005).

I love the zig zags on this quilt and hope to make the pattern again in different fabrics one day.

The backing is two tone, mainly because I didn't have enough of one!!!

300 quilts have been donated so far, with the target set for 700. You can learn lots more about this quilt drive here, this site also tells you what sort of quilts are needed as well as where to send the completed quilts. Jackie (Canton Village Quilt Works) has also generously offered to quilt up to 5 quilts if anyone has a spare quilt top lying around...though I imagine those five spots will go super fast!!!

Mine has been washed and now just needs a label. It will be packed off on Tuesday. I hope it can bring some warmth and comfort to someone in need.

As an added note: please keep the east coast of the US in your thoughts and prayers as Hurricane Irene is currently threatening and it doesn't sound good. xo

Green

2011-08-23T10:32:00.000+10:00

My star quilt is still growing, albeit very slowly now that it has become so big.

For those who haven't seen this before, I am English paper piecing this quilt and hand stitching each square and diamond together, row by row.

Back of the star quilt, with papers still attached along outer row.

These get removed when the next row is added.

The hand stitching is very relaxing to do.

I have three more rows to go before I start to square this quilt up. Next up...pink diamonds!

Japanese x and + Quilt Top

2011-08-19T17:21:00.000+10:00

Finally, some pics of my Japanese x and + top that I finished quite a while ago.

Not the best photo's, but you get the idea.

I'm still working on my pink and brown Japanese x and + and o quilt, it needs more blocks added on to make a decent lap quilt size. Hopefully I will get to that soon.

Part of the fun of these blocks is all the fussy cutting you can do (I love those butterflies).

These blocks are a riot of colour!!

Speaking of colour, we went to one of our local beaches the other day and I must say, I adore the colour of some of the beach boxes we have here on the Mornington Peninsula.

This one almost looks edible!!

Wherever you are, have a fabulous weekend. xo

Fernleaf Snowball Quilt Finish

2011-08-13T16:10:00.000+10:00

Winter can be such a lovely time to stitch, which is perhaps why I have managed to have a few finishes lately. On a sunny day recently I took my quilt to the local park for a photo or two!

This quilt is made using Anna Maria Horner's Little Folks voile. These voile's are divine colours and so soft to snuggle into. They can be a little slippery to sew with, but they are not too difficult to handle. My design was based on the various snowball quilts that Kaffe Fassett has made over the years, and I added the fernleaf applique which was done using the needleturn method.

The inspiration for the fern appliques are my ferns here at home, they are what I see when I look out of my kitchen window. At the moment one of the ferns is being set off beautifully by the vivid yellow wattle flowering behind it...

This quilt was started in April 2010, so it has taken me a while to get it finished. Part of the reason for that is because I quilted it totally by hand.

Using, of course, the gorgeous perle 8 threads...

I am totally addicted to quilting this way now. To quilt this one I firstly quilted in the ditch both vertically and horizontally. Then I stitched diagonal lines and around the diamonds...

...as well as around all the applique shapes...

The backing is more voile in the beautiful purple and cream colourway..

I am thrilled with how this quilt has turned out, even if it did take me a long time to complete!!

It felt a little weird taking photo's of this quilt in a public space, but I love how it looks on the little pirate ship in the park.

Luckily for me, the kids in the playground that day didn't make me, or my quilt, walk the plank!

PS...did you know, Kaffe Fassetts new book Quilts in Sweden is now on sale at Liza's shop Glorious Colour? Hurry up Postman!! xo

Scrappy 25 Patch in Flannel

2011-08-07T11:28:00.000+10:00

Earlier in the week we had a small burst of warmer weather which was perhaps why our plum tree burst into bud...

Looks like spring is almost here! Anyway, my scrappy 25 patch quilt top using Anna Maria Horner's gorgeous Folksy Flannels is done.

I had tried a few layouts on my design wall before I hit on the Scrappy 25 patch on point idea!! Firstly the usual two colours in each block 25 patch.

Some of the fabrics in this range were fairly plain, so I felt it needed a bit more of a scrappy look to it. Starting with a half 25 patch block then filling in the rest with diagonal lines of colour was a good idea, but I didn't like the end result.

Lastly I turned the blocks back on point and began again with half a 25 patch block in one colour...

Then added various colours to the block in perpendicular lines. Some of these lines cross over into the next block.

I'm pretty happy with the result and will definitely use this design again.

The jagged edges will all be cut off and straightened when I attach the binding.

I loved using these flannels, usually when cutting and sewing with flannel the whole house gets covered in dust bunnies. Not with this range...no dust bunnies anywhere, I was very surprised.

I am going to have to get moving on quilting this if I want to snuggle up to it while it is still cold, though I have a few other quilts to finish off first.

Japanese Fruit Salad

2011-08-02T12:55:00.000+10:00

Some photo's as promised...!

This quilt is based on the beautiful Fruit Salad quilt designed by Liza Prior Lucy and found in Kaffe Fassetts book Quilts en Provence (pub. 2010).

Liza Prior Lucys quilt Fruit Salad Quilt

Kaffe Fassett's Striped Vase fabric is delightful as the backing for this quilt.

I had a lot of fun quilting this one. I really didn't have a plan to start with, so I decided firstly to do some hand quilted straight lines using Perle 8 threads in various colours.

I felt it needed a little more than that so I added tan machine quilted lines in between.

Still not satisfied I decided to add some machined curvy zig zag lines in coloured threads.

Lastly the border was hand quilted with a cream perle 8. Very happy now!!!

The binding is a gorgeous lime green Japanese fabric.

It is so nice to have a finished quilt! Have you had a finish lately?

Quilts on Display!

2011-07-30T16:38:00.000+10:00

Recently I was thrilled to be asked to hang a couple of my quilts in our council/library foyer. There was just enough room for four quilts, two are Andrea's amazing creations (our shire cultural planner) and two are mine.

Mine is the Japanese Fruit Salad on the left, rather dwarfed by Andrea's huge log cabin quilt made out of 1000's of incredibly tiny log cabin blocks. Check out a closeup....

I also hung my Fassetted Mosaic quilt. We have yet to put up some info sheets.

What fun to have our quilts hanging in a public space for a couple of months. If you are visiting the mornington library you will see them on your way in!!

I will get a few pics together of my now finished Japanese Fruit Salad quilt to show very soon. xo

Blogging?

2011-07-23T21:35:00.001+10:00

It's funny, I haven't blogged much this month and now I feel as though I'm out of the habit of it. So tonight I thought I need to just say something to get me back into it. But what?

I could show you some photo's of my finally finished Japanese x and + quilt...

but this is the only pic I have taken, so I won't show you that.

I could show the eggs that were pulling funny faces at me in my kitchen yesterday...

they were so mischievious...

so I cracked it and whipped their butts...

and now there is nothing to show...

Or, I could show you what my design wall has looked like over the past two weeks. It all started off with a few 2 1/2 inch squares of gorgeous Folksy Flannel. I wanted to make a 25 patch quilt, but I wasn't sure how I wanted it to look. I tried a diagonal 25 patch...

But I didn't like it. Next was an on point 25 patch...

Better, but a little boring perhaps! Ok how about an on point scrappy 25 patch...

Ok, I'm going with this one. But...I can't show you any more of this either cause I haven't finished sewing it yet.

So, perhaps, I won't show you anything after all. I hope you have all had a much more productive week than me. (And perhaps I shouldn't blog when I'm in a strange mood!!). Hope to be back soon with something good to show. xo

Touching Base

2011-07-10T20:04:00.000+10:00

We are having a wonderful time with our visiting family. As predicted I have spent much time in the kitchen, and a lot less time sewing. It has been fun though. Last night we finally got around to giving our eldest son an 18th birthday party (only about 3 months late)!!! It was a wonderful evening, he has gorgeous cousins, and lovely friends. My youngest son took a few food pics for me...

Pizza scrolls on a stick...

Easy sausage rolls (made by wrapping a gourmet sausage in puff pastry, a brush of beaten egg and a sprinkle of sesame seeds and throw in the oven to bake, easy and yummy)!!!

The 'candle floating on water with a flower inside the jar' idea came from Pinterest. It can be a bit of an unreal world over there at Pinterest, but there is lots of eye candy and some fabulous ideas. These looked great on the table.

The cupcakes were lovely (a Donna Hay recipe from this book) they tasted delicious and were a hit.

Amongst all the partying I have had a little time to work on this..

See you soon. xo

Experimenting...

2011-07-03T19:52:00.001+10:00

...with the Japanese x and + block. As you know I've become addicted to making these gorgeous blocks. I am still working on my blocks I started here, but I got to wondering how this block would look in just two colours. I have always thought that the Jennifer Paganelli Sis Boom toile (called Nuala but now oop ) is my absolute favourite toile of all time, and especially lovely in this pink and brown colourway. I teamed it up with Denyse Schmidts Flea Market Fancy bubbles in brown, and Kaffe Fasetts Guinea flower in white and brown. I really liked the block using just two (main) colours and three different fabrics.

However when I joined all the blocks together I didn't like it so much....it looks more like a x and + and - block now!

So I added a border to see if I like it better.

I didn't. So I unpicked it!!!

I decided to make alternating blocks, so I made up some new blocks this time with brown in the middle cross...

twisted the four corner sets around...

and placed them with a slightly different setting to the usual Japanese x and + block.

Then I sewed the first block with the pink middle cross, alternating with the second block with the brown middle cross. I'm much happier with the design now.

Yes, I think I will keep this pattern.

A stained glass photo...

Now to decide if it needs a border or not.

I may be a little preoccupied for the next week or two. We have had a wonderful visit from my brother and his wife this weekend (til tomorrow), and also today we gained three extra teenagers, (our nephews and niece visiting from Brisbane for 10 days), so we are a full house. It is always fabulous to have time to see our family, but I may be a little scarce from here for a bit, I think I will be in the kitchen a lot instead! May your week be a wonderful one. xo

Orange

2011-06-26T21:52:00.000+10:00

It is funny that out of all the Amy Butler Soul Blossoms fabric, the orange is the fabric that speaks to me the most. However as I have done each round on my Star Quilt, the orange round has been the one I have liked the least!!! I do still like it though. Now that it has grown so much it is becoming harder to get a full photo of it. Here it is awkwardly handing on my fence...

I now only have four more rows to go until I start to square it up

Next up will be the green row I unpicked here, then pink, aqua blue and lastly brown.

I have been looking into some plastic templates for this quilt as quite a few people have expressed interest in making it. Perhaps there will have to be a Star quilt quiltalong in the future!!

On the subject of quiltalongs, I am going to join with Jo over at Bearpaw to make a different paper pieced star quilt using up some of my liberty prints.

I hope you had a lovely weekend. xo

Backs

2011-06-12T17:05:00.000+10:00

Life has overtaken me a little at the moment, I'm way behind on my comment answering I apologise, and not that much stitching is being done either. I have finally managed to put together a couple of backs.

This back...

For this quilt...

It was fun to make a little feature block...

And this back...

For this quilt...

I did manage to make my first ever sponge cake this week.

It's a Donna Hay recipe and was very easy and straight forward and yummy! I had to give half of it away to make sure we didn't eat it all!

And that's about the sum of it! I hope you are having a great weekend, and for those living in Australia (who get the holiday), have a great Queens Birthday holiday tomorrow. xo

Leftovers Mini Quilt Done

2011-06-08T12:27:00.000+10:00

Thank you everyone for your gorgeous comments on my Leftovers Mini Quilt. I loved reading all your great ideas for what to do with leftover bits of fabric that often get thrown out! I have had a lot of fun with this one and it is now finished. It ended up being around 80-90cms (a yard) or so, of course I posted it before I measured it!!!

Mini quilts are so quick aren't they? I managed to get a photo of this yesterday just as it started to rain. We have had wild, cold weather here at the moment, and lots of hail. Today the sun is out but the wind is freezing!

After cutting out my Japanese x and + blocks I also had some 1 1/2 inch strips leftover, I'm going to try and use them up too. At some point I will get back to those Japanese blocks and finish them off as well!

The quilting on the back is all nice and squiggly...

This is the quilt after it was thrown in the washing machine and tumbled in the dryer...it came out nice and wrinkly and not too much fraying!

A little label on the back, this one is gifted and on its way to a lovely friend.

Also made this week were a couple of churn dash blocks for Christine at Once upon a Quilt. Christine is generously making up a quilt for Lurline's hubby Ed who has been very ill, you can read more here.

Mmm my stash is mainly brights and florals, not too many manly colours but I think these blocks will be ok.

Have a wonderful week. xo

Leftovers Mini Quilt

2011-06-04T18:45:00.000+10:00

After making some of my Japanese x and + blocks, I have lots of little triangle 'ears' leftover.

I really find it hard to throw them away, though there is not much else to do with them. This time though I decided I would use them, so they got sorted into colour piles....

And lined up on a dotty piece of fabric. The dots were great as I didn't need to rule lines to make sure my triangles were straight, instead I could simply line up each triangle with the dots.

Each triangle was then glued onto the dotty fabric....

A couple of borders added...

Basted...

Now I'm going to stitch twice around each shape using my darning foot, and the same coloured thread as the triangle I will be stitching!!

If I did this again I think I would iron the triangles to vliesofix (heat and bond) first, then iron them onto their backing fabric. When I made my mosaic quilt (below) the heat and bond helped to seal the edges better therefore I had less fraying...

But that is ok, I'm quite happy with this so far and if I go around each triangle twice that should be stable enough!

Hope to get quilting done and quilt bound tomorrow. What do you do with your teeny tiny leftovers?

For the Love of Liberty!

2011-06-01T16:04:00.000+10:00

For a little while I have been buying up some Liberty Prints and I now have a lovely little shoebox of Liberty...

I'm a little late getting on the Liberty bandwagon, so helping me to increase my little stash of Liberty have been some wonderful Etsy sellers. I thought I would list them here (mainly because I love seeing where other people make their purchases) so these places are where I found most of my Liberty's!...

The wonderful Katrine from Liberty Charms has been so helpful in supplying me with both vintage and new Liberty prints. Katrine sells good sized pieces of liberty for patchwork, as well as gorgeous 6inch square packs.

Then there has been sweet Alice from Alice Caroline Supply who sells lovely fat quarters as well as 2.5 inch and 5 inch charm packs.

Lovely Lily from Lilymeru sells divine Liberty that is printed in Japan. This fabric is even softer than the English Liberty if that is possible!!!

Lily also has the fun Hello Kitty range of liberty.

Some other lovely pieces have been found through... Tilly Charles, Scarlett Rose, Hyggeligt and Miss Elany. As well as these fabulous Etsy sellers I have found gorgeous Liberty at the Shaukat shop in London, and a lot closer to home...Calico and Ivy and Patchwork on Central Park have been fantastic.

I have a couple of quilts in mind for my Liberty, perhaps one of them will be based on Patchandi's amazing scrappy work in progress here. Another may be a snowball type quilt and perhaps even some applique! Whatever I make with these gorgeous Liberty Prints, I know I'm going to love it! Do you have any Liberty, and if so, where do you buy it?

A Lovely Morning

2011-05-28T16:26:00.002+10:00

It has been such a cold grey week here this week, so it was lovely yesterday to meet up with the lovely Miriam from Yellow Rose Quilts and her gorgeous daughter Heidi. We met at a relatively new garden centre and cafe and enjoyed wandering through the interesting plants and statues. We fell in love with this amazing pergola...

Heidi & Miriam

It is made out of rusty metal and decorated with gorgeous flowers and butterflies cut into it. I love those circles at the back of the structure, they could inspire a new quilt I think!!!

Gorgeous and simple pots with succulents hanging from wire, lots of trees in full autumn colour!

Thank you Miriam and Heidi for a wonderful morning.

I've been getting more Japanese x and + blocks done...these are addictive!!

I hope you are having a wonderful weekend. xo

Japanese x and + Blocks

2011-05-25T13:21:00.000+10:00

My blog reading a couple of days ago took me over to the lovely Mrs Schmenkman's blog where I spied these gorgeous Japanese x and + blocks (along with another beautiful block Mrs S is hopefully going to make a tutorial for, hint, hint!!). She linked to a fabulous tutorial for these Japanese x and + blocks over on Badskirt Amy's blog. Amy linked to the Japanese x and + block quiltalong happening over at flickr and I simply had to join up!!!

Amy's fabulous instructions for these blocks (here) are brilliant and easy to follow with great tips and straightforward photo's (thanks Amy). These blocks do take a lot of work in the cutting department, but wow, they are so much fun to make, I'm having a blast!

There is perhaps a little too much colour in my blocks and the eye doesn't really know where to rest, but I'm going with it. I'm trying to mainly only use what is already in my stash, though some of these are not that old!

Oops, upside down strawberries anyone?!

I think the best hint I can give is to start these blocks with a brand new sparkling rotary cutter blade!! If you take these blocks on you will be doing a lot of cutting and you want to stay on the sharp edge (just keep the fingers out of the way)!

My wonderful sister sent me the most fabulous gift a sister can give a quilter last year....how cute is this little iron? I can sit this right next to my sewing machine and iron each and every seam as I make them. This saves a lot of time running to the ironing board every time I need to flatten a seam. Invaluable!

Woohoo, I'm in fabric playing heaven!

What are you making this week that is giving you joy?

Tea Dying the Brightness out of the Whiteness

2011-05-21T17:33:00.000+10:00

My quilt top combining older fabrics from my stash with newer ones is done.

A nice little strippy quilt, a bit of a girly one!

Before I could sew the strips of this quilt top together, I had to first lightly tea dye two of the white newer fabrics I had, they were very bright against some of the other more off-white fabrics. To do that I brewed up a nice little brew...in a bowl! Two tea bags sat in there for about 5 minutes before I took them out.

Then the strips got thrown into a sink of cold water...

and dipped quickly through the bowl of tea...

The idea was not to make these look antiquey, but just to take the brightness down a few notches. Then they got thrown back into cold water to set. I don't know if your computer screen will let you see the difference between the 'before' and 'after'? It is very subtle. The strip on the left has been dyed, the one on the right is still bright!!...

After being gently wrung out they were placed on a towel to dry. Next time I would probably dye the fabric before I had cut it into strips, but the whiteness didn't really stand out until they were up on my design wall. Anyway, dying them as strips didn't seep to pull them out of shape at all.

Once ironed, they were ready to be sewn up with the rest of the fabrics. I'm thrilled with the end result of this little quilt.

Doesn't it look lovely sitting on a chair at my friends house under their gorgeous ornamental pear tree with its beautiful orange Autumn leaves?

I will definitely be looking at more older fabrics from my stash to see how they look mixed with new ones. This was fun!! xo

The Lovely Dresden

2011-05-17T21:26:00.000+10:00

If you would like to see more of this....

You may wish to click here...

Unpicking!

2011-05-15T10:29:00.000+10:00

One skill I have honed to perfection in my quilting repertoire is using the quick unpick!!! I had chosen green to be the next round for my Star Quilt (Kaffe Fassett Wheel of Fortune quilt), however it was only when I had sewn about half of the green squares onto the quilt that I realised that no, that was not the correct colour to go next!

So out came the trusty quick unpick, never far from my side...

And off came the green squares, quickly to be replaced by brown...

Ahh, much better!! I loved using the edge border pattern on Amy Butler's Sari fabric...

...it fitted perfectly over the squares.

I can see now that I am going to be repeating the colour pattern that is already done...the next rounds will be: orange, green, pink, aqua blue then brown to finish. On the last brown round I will again use that gorgeous dark brown shot cotton. I love how well Kaffe's shot cottons have complimented Amy Butler's Soul Blossoms.

Which means there are now 5 more rounds to go before I square it up. Getting there slowly.

Do You Flannel?

2011-05-11T09:54:00.000+10:00

I love to flannel!! Flannel quilts are the best for snuggling up in front of the telly on a cold winters night. Now I realise that a lot of the world are heading towards summer, but we in the Southern Hemisphere are fast heading towards a cold, dark winter! We even had snow here this morning...

Ok, so it's not snow, only hail, but it looks like snow (we don't actually get snow here we have to head to the mountains for that!!).

Over past years I have made a few flannel quilts, this was my first...

I put the leftovers into the back...

My second, I wish I could remember the pattern I used for this, so pretty...

My third was a rag quilt.

This was fun to make, but wow, cutting into all those raggy edges sure made my hands hurt!!

This winter I want to make one for my bed, a queen size flannel using the gorgeous Anna Maria Horner Folksy Flannels. Yet to decide what pattern I will use, something simple though I think.

I'm off to light the fire, it has only warmed up to 7 degrees so far and I'm freezing!!

Oh, by the way, I apologise if you have emailed me this past week and haven't heard back, we have had some troubles, fingers crossed it is all fixed now, you should hear from me soon!!

Have a gorgeous day. xo

Fairytale Mushrooms!

2011-05-05T08:38:00.000+10:00

Check out what hubby found growing on our grass under the birch tree this morning...

Until recently I seriously thought these only 'grew' on the pages of a children's fairytale book!

Perhaps we have some mythical creatures visiting!!

A Mindful Journey

2011-05-04T10:35:00.000+10:00

Ok, so I guess we all know by now there has been some interesting discussions in blogland lately, that have unfortunately opened up a bit of a minefield of negativity and even, I hate to say it, nastiness. I admit I read some of it, but after a little while found myself becoming disheartened, sad and even losing confidence in what I do. It brought me to the question - why am I quilting and blogging in the first place? I have spent a couple of weeks ruminating (I love that word!!), and pondering and I have worked through some of these issues and come up with my own statement, mantra if you like, of why I do what I do, why I make what I make, why I photograph the way I do, etc etc. I am putting it up here so I can always come back to it if I need to:

I need to create.

To create is to express myself and find joy.

To make things with my hands is life giving to my soul.

It doesn't matter what I make, as long as I am making.

To find pleasure in the simple things I do,

and fulfillment in the difficult.

The process of creating changes me.

So that is me. I am moving onwards and will keep finding enjoyment and satisfaction in this wonderful world of quilting and blogging. I also want to thank those of you who come to this blog to read, hopefully be inspired in some way and leave wonderful comments. I am blessed by you!

Ok, enough of the heavy! A little while ago I had yet another sewing room clean out, and decided I needed to start bringing out some of my older fabrics sitting in my stash and try and use them. I want to see if I can mix them up with newer fabrics and see what happens. They may end up being used as dog blankets but that is ok!!! So these are the first older fabrics I grabbed....

Some lovely romantic leciens and others in there that I have had for well over 8 years or so. I thought I would mix them with some Kaffe's, Amy Butler, Tanya Whelan, etc...

They look quite nice combined, this could be fun!

Have a fabulous week with whatever you are creating. xo

Squares & Rectangles

2011-05-03T15:32:00.000+10:00

My Denyse Schmidt and Heather Ross combined quilt got finished a week ago, I just haven't got around to blogging it due to a bit of a nasty cold. Haven't been good on answering emails this week either, sorry about that. Luckily I took photo's when it was made because it is a rather cold gloomy day here today.

In the end I just went with simple squares and rectangles.

All of the Hope Valley fabric ended up as 3 inch finished squares.

With the Far Far Away II fabrics I decided to fussy cut them into larger squares and rectangles with some 3 inch ones as well.

Sleeping beauty was cut into 6 1/2 inch squares (finished size 6 inch).

Ooops, green sleepy beauty has a flower petal on her head, don't tell her, she might wake up!

Rapunzel in her tower became 3 1/2 inch x 12 1/2 inch rectangles (finished 3 x 12).

The Owl & the Pussycat were cut up into 3 1/2 inch x 6 1/2 inch rectangles (3 x 6 inch finished).

Because it was sunny a week ago, I was able to get the stained glass shots...!

It has been very enjoyable playing with these two fabric lines.

A Quilty Finish!

2011-04-30T11:21:00.000+10:00

I guess this Single Girl was never going to take long to finish, considering she is only little.

She was made to hang on my wall above a long lounge, which is why she is long and skinny!

Now that she is done, the mismatched red polka dots don't bother me at all.

The straight line quilting was really addictive, fun to do!

...it stands out well on the back (hanging sleeve stitched on all ready to go!)...

The backing fabric is the gorgeous Michael Miller Eiffel Tower.

A happy fabric binding...

I am very pleased with this little quilt and it was great to quilt along with so many others over at the
flickr support group.

Denyse & Heather

2011-04-25T11:43:00.000+10:00

Some rather pretty fabrics have been sitting on my shelf for a while.

A fat quarter bundle of Denyse Schmidts Hope Valley...

And a fat quarter bundle of Heather Ross' Far Far Away II...

A little while ago I was looking at these two bundles wondering what I would do with them, when it struck me how beautiful they looked together.

I'm not sure how the Hope Valley cotton will sew up with the heavier weight Far Far Away linen base, but I'm going to give it a go, I will let you know.

Yummy! xo

Blue

2011-04-23T14:21:00.000+10:00

Sick of this one yet?

I have to say this round is my favourite so far, that blue is simply gorgeous!

Four more rounds to go til I start squaring up this circular quilt. Green again next.

For anyone visiting my blog and not a regular reader, you can see how this quilt is done here.

Have a wonderful Easter. xo

Quilt Sandwich Process

2011-04-20T22:27:00.000+10:00

My Single Girl quilt top, laid out on my table, clamped, waiting to be...

...ironed...

...then pinned, ready to quilt...

Clamping the layers taut onto the table, then ironing the quilt sandwich from the middle to the outer edges helps make it so flat and smooth. No puckers on the back...

Of course if the quilt top had quilt marking lines on it, the iron would make them unwashoutable, which would not be good!!

My sewing machines' walking foot has never been able to sew straight quilting lines without puckering up the fabric, no matter what I do. So I use masking tape to give me guidelines...

...and do freemotion quilt lines with my darning foot.

A little wobbly, but very addictive!!

A Weekend of Achievement

2011-04-16T15:25:00.000+10:00

Yesterday and today I have been playing with colour! Playing with fabric! Oh the fun you can have in your own sewing room!! Old fabrics are being pulled out of drawers where they have been lurking for years, newer fabrics are being sorted back into their colour piles. I have a long way to go, but I'm getting organised.

It struck me last night that we have UFO's and WIP's for quilts in progress, but what do we have for old fabrics that haven't even made it to the quilt stage yet? OFYTBU's perhaps? (Old Fabrics Yet To Be Used). OFN's? (Old Fabrics Neglected?). I don't know, I'm not very good with names. I have decided though, that I am going to take some of my years old fabrics (I'm talking between 5-15 years and not a Kaffe or Amy Butler in sight!) and make them into a somewhat modern quilt. Will that work? Perhaps add some red spots or black and white toile to spice up a duller colour scheme. Or just use a more modern looking pattern like, say, a stripe quilt, with some lovely straightline quilting? Then I can call these fabrics OFMM's! (Old Fabrics Made Modern). Ok, I give up on the names, but over the next few months I hope to show some older, loved fabrics turned into something new.

And because I have been rolling in, err, sorting out fabrics, rather than creating anything, I will show an older quilt that I made about 5 years ago. This is an Aardvark quilt pattern called Harlequin that I purchased from Lisa Prior Lucy's shop Glorious Colour in kit form.

I just love it. To quilt it I did the large diamonds with a freemotion clamshell, the smaller diamonds with a stipple, and the 4 patch diamonds with a freemotion diamond shape.

The back was a bit of hodgepodge, whatever I had in the stash that fitted! All gorgeous Kaffe fabrics of course!

Pretty isn't it? Have a fabulous Weekend. xo

Handquilting & Fabric Stash

2011-04-10T12:36:00.001+10:00

The handquilting on my Little Folks Snowball quilt is coming along bit by bit.

All the vertical and horizontal quilting is finished, now I am quilting it across the diagonal.

The hera marker tool has made it very quick to mark the stitch lines. It leaves a crease in the quilt making it very easy to stitch along the crease, no pen or chalk marking needed!

I am using Perle 8 threads most of which I purchased from Amitie. I'm sure I need another visit up there in the school holidays for a restock!!!

Recently I came home from a very busy day at work to find a gorgeous parcel sitting on my doorstep. The lovely Jackie from Canton Village Quilt Works had sent me this divine package of colour...

These are delightful Terrie Mangat fabrics. I love them all but I think my absolute favourite is that purple with the red dot.

I have been very good this year on my fabric diet, though I have broken it a little lately to purchase some gorgeous Liberty of London fabrics. Hope to show them soon. Have a lovely Sunday. xo

Round Again...

2011-04-06T09:12:00.000+10:00

With pink...

I love these Soul Blossom pinks with Kaffes shot cotton pinks.

Paper piecing this quilt is so relaxing, there is something truly wonderful about sitting down with needle, thread and a gorgeous fabric in hand.

I love the back of this one, I take out the papers as I go only leaving the edge papers in...

The next round is already decided, it will be blue...

It may take a while, I now have 72 diamonds to cut out, baste, stitch together in pairs and threes, then attach to the quilt. That should keep me out of trouble!!! xo

The Lovely Dresden

2011-04-03T13:08:00.000+10:00

Now that my Single Girl quilt top is done (yet to be quilted!), I have started another quiltalong. The gorgeous Lynne from Lily's Quilts is hosting a Dresden QAL.

I am only going to make one block however as I have so many other projects I need to get finished and this is a large block. This quilt will be for a friend who is into pink at the moment, so firstly I grabbed a few pinks out of my stash to see which ones were happy to be made into a dresden.

The pink fabrics with touches of orange screamed loudest, so they won!!!

For the background I'm using a gorgeous jacobean type black and white fabric called Salt & Pepper, I just love it.

You can see more beautiful dresden blocks over at Lily's quilt flickr page.

On another subject, I've been trying to play around with my blog 'look' and somehow have changed some colours but not others. I really have no idea what I'm doing, if anyone has any good hints or ideas, I would love to hear them, I am fairly computer illiterate!! So if my blog is looking a little weird for a while, or even disappears all together, you know I have been playing around with the html code (whatever that is!!!) xo

Single Girl is Done

2011-03-28T17:01:00.000+11:00

She is long and skinny and only consists of three blocks because she needs to hang on my wall above a long lounge.

Instead of going for the same dotty red for the border, I chose a smaller white dot on red instead.

At this stage I have no idea how she will be quilted, still ruminating that one!

I am happy with her though.

You can see other beautiful single girls on flickr. xo

Sunday Lunch

2011-03-27T14:11:00.000+11:00

It struck me today that while I love to cook (when I'm in the mood that is!), I have never shared a recipe here. This little gem is one we often have for an easy but very tasty Sunday lunch. I call it my 'P' pizza...Pumpkin, Pesto, Parmesan, Prosciutto, Pita Pizza and a little fetta & rocket too!

Start with a base of wholemeal pitta bread, spread this with basil pesto and top with prosciutto...

Chop up small cubes of pumpkin...

Add pumpkin and crumbled fetta (or goats cheese) to pizza...

Someone once gave me a fabulous hint for keeping leftover deli cheeses and meats longer...simply wrap them up in alfoil to store in the fridge, rather than keeping in plastic or containers.

It seems to last so much longer, no more throwing mouldy fetta or parmesan in the rubbish after a few days. I have kept fetta up to 3-4 weeks like this!

But I digress, back to the pizza! Bake in 180 degree oven for 25-30 mins. While cooking, pick some peppery rocket from the garden (or pick from the fruit & vegie shop!). Ooops, someone forgot to cover these with a net this year, the caterpillars have been enjoying our rocket...

Once pizza is browned and pumpkin is soft, remove from oven

Top with very well washed! rocket. Using a vegetable peeler, shave parmesan cheese onto pizza. Serve with iced lemon water...

Yum...!

My Sister

2011-03-22T20:03:00.000+11:00

I have been a little awol from the computer for the past few days, I had a lovely visit from my gorgeous sister Rochelle. She lives two states away from me and flew down on Saturday to have a mini holiday with us. On her flight down she took this incredible photo out of her airplane window...what a pic!

We had a fabulous time drinking lots of coffee, walking, talking, eating, drinking coffee, we were lucky to have good Melbourne weather...

A revisit to the Gordon Hill Glassblowers where we admired so many glorious works of glass art...

These pieces are incredible, like licorice allsorts...

Rochelle is turning 40 in April, and it was fun to give her her birthday present while she was with us...

Yes, my Leanne House UFO was for my little sister who had always loved this quilt, I'm so glad I got it finished in time!

Thank you for your visit Rochelle, I'm blessed to have you as my sister!

Single Girl Going Dotty

2011-03-16T17:45:00.000+11:00

While working on my ufo I have also been playing around with my single girl quilt. My first block is done...

The dots don't line up perfectly, and I was initially worried about that, but after lots of encouragement from the Single Girl Support Group on flickr, I decided to leave it alone and go with the imperfect look!

I WAS planning to use a Kona Taupe for the background...

...but as my Single Girl arcs sat waiting for my attention on the back of my lounge, they kept whispering to me that they wanted to go with the red polka dot! Of course, I had to give into them and I think they do look rather pretty with all those dots.

Poor Mr Taupe will have to go back into the cupboard and wait for an outing in the future. The polka dot is a 'Thats It' dot by Michael Miller in cherry. Such a bright, happy fabric don't you think.

Thanks to Katy, Nova and Megan who are putting in the hard work to keep this fabulous quiltalong going. xo

Leanne's House Quilt Top Done

2011-03-14T10:12:00.000+11:00

About six weeks ago I started working on this 8 y.o ufo. I had two blocks to embroider before I could put the quilt top together. Yesterday I finally got it done.

While my tastes have changed since starting this quilt, I can still say I enjoyed making it, and I love the different details over the quilt...the little stitcheries...

The needleturn appliques...

The blanket stitch appliques...

I now have until Friday to quilt it, bind it and add a label before I gift it on Saturday! Wish me luck. xo

Round...

2011-03-08T18:10:00.000+11:00

...and round

...and round!

I'm loving these Amy Butler Soul Blossoms and Kaffe Fassett Shot Cottons together, the colours are delicious.

Still not sure if this quilt will look any good in the end, I'm just adding each row as I go, rather than planning the entire quilt from the start so we will see. In the meantime, I'm having fun!

A Wonderful Week

2011-03-04T18:03:00.000+11:00

Once again my bad shoulder was getting me down this week, so it was lovely to come home from work on Tuesday to a beautiful parcel all the way from the gorgeous Mrs Schmenkman! Mrs S was my inspiration into the world of blogging and continues to inspire me two years later. Recently I fell in love with her Soul Blossoms Clamshell quilt...

Photo taken with permission from Mrs Schmenkmans blog!

Isn't that divine? (See here for another pic) Mrs Schmenkman cleverly put this together using a drunkards path template set...one of which she sent to me, yay!...

But that wasn't all, she included two dietry staples...chocolate and fabric! Fabric is considered a daily intake in the healthy food pyramid isn't it?!!! As far as the chocolate goes, this is another Lindt flavour I have not seen before, how many flavours do you have in America that we don't have? Yum!

Fabric is the stunning Gypsy Bandana range from Pillow & Maxfield

And a wonderful quilt mag! Thank you Mrs Schmenkman, I will have fun choosing what fabrics I will turn into clamshells.

If that wasn't enough, later in the week I got to spend some time at the talented Andi's house! I even got to stand in her incredible 'patchwork' kitchen...those colours just invite you right in...

As did the yummy spanakopita Andi made for lunch...

We sat amongst her beautiful quilts while we stitched and chatted...

I got to sit on her ottoman I had adored when she re-covered it last year (here)...

And met Mr Camel sitting on another stool Andi beautifully re-covered...

Thank you Andi for a fabulous stitchy day. You and Mrs Schmenkman have made my week!

A Single Girl

2011-02-28T12:54:00.000+11:00

No, not me, I am still very happily married, however I am joining in on the Single Girl fun kicked off by Katy over at I'm a Ginger Monkey. The Single Girl pattern by Denyse Schmidt is one I have 'been going to' make for a long time, so Katy's group was all the encouragement I needed to get started.

My templates and fabrics are now chosen and cut...

This process has taken a couple of days, the fabrics I initially chose have been auditioned and they either made the grade, or were rejected, other fabrics then found to take their place. Lots of Flea Market Fancy, Kaffe and Brandon fabrics, some Lizzie House, one Good Folks, a Sis Boom Toile and some Peas and Carrots.

I had to write the word 'up' on each template because I was quickly getting confused which way was right side up!!!

I'm thinking I will team these colours with a gorgeous Kona cotton background in Taupe.

Talking about confusion...I did a full post last week about my wonderful time in class with Kaffe and Brandon, only realising a couple of hours later I had posted it on the Glorious Applique blog rather than here!!! So I deleted it from there thinking I would re-post here, but now cannot be bothered to do it again! Perhaps I will down the track, but for now I will leave you with a pic of Kaffe chatting about what he liked and what he would do differently on my 'smouldering' (kaffes words) dark Bordered Diamonds quilt.

You can see a lot more about the awesome time we had that day over at Patchandi, Yellow Rose Quilts and Meli B's gorgeous blogs. Perhaps when I finish this quilt I will show more.

Almost Wordless Wednesday

2011-02-16T12:35:00.000+11:00

A Knitting Bag.

For a friend.

Soul Blossoms.

Pinch Me I'm Dreaming!

2011-02-10T11:11:00.000+11:00

Kaffe Fassett has inspired me for 26 years with his passion for colour. On Tuesday I had the privilege of meeting him! I flew up to Sydney and stayed with the gorgeous Kim McLean who was having a dinner party for Kaffe and Brandon Mably who are currently taking classes across Australia.

L-R front row: Sharron (Dragonfly Gypsy), Kim McLean, Kaffe Fassett.
L-R back row: Sue, Brandon Mably, Janet (Quiltsalott), me!, Kathy (Material Obsession)

It was a dream come true to meet these very talented people and there was show and tell...

I alway knew Kim was an incredibly talented quilter, but seeing her quilts 'in the flesh' was a fabulous experience.

Janet and I have been emailing for a couple of years now and it was great to finally meet her

Janet brought her Stars & Sprigs quilt (a Kim Mclean pattern) and it is amazing.

Janet has been teaching herself to quilt, can I say, she is definitately not quilting at a beginner level, her quilting is incredible.

Of course I had to take my Fassetted Mosaic quilt to show...

I think they liked it.

Thank you Kim for a wonderful night. Now I am home again, I think it was all a wonderful dream!

Soul Blossom Star

2011-02-07T10:39:00.000+11:00

Ok, I gave in! I'm supposed to be working on my ufo, but that gorgeous pile of Soul Blossoms kept calling me. Especially when I teamed them up with some of Kaffes stunning shot cottons. Putting them together using an older pattern of Kaffe Fassetts called Wheel of Fortune from his Caravan of Quilts book (pub. 2004), this is where I'm at so far....

I have made this quilt before but always wanted to make another one. Last time I used Kaffe fabrics mixed with some batiks and checks...

Instead of using the templates and cutting out the fabrics and machine sewing them together as the pattern instructs, I prefer to paper piece this one. Firstly cutting out the card templates...

then basting the fabric to the templates...

Working around the circle, I then add each colour in layers...

As my quilt grows, I then remove the papers from the earlier layers...

As anyone who has paper pieced a Grandmothers Flower Garden quilt knows, stitching by hand over papers is actually very therapeutic! I promise I will get back to my ufo, but for now, I'm loving these bright, blossomy colours!

Our Thoughts Are With You...

2011-02-02T18:52:00.000+11:00

...as the monster tropical cyclone 'Yasi' crosses the North Queensland border tonight. Please keep our brave Queenslanders in your thoughts and prayers as they face the biggest cyclone our nation has seen.

Image from here

First 2011 UFO

2011-02-01T11:51:00.000+11:00

Towards the end of last year I decided I would like to attempt to finish some of the ufo's I had lying around my house. I was able to finish this one...

The Wonderful Half Square Triangle Quilt (blogged here)

And this one...

Allotment Quilt (blogged here)

My first ufo for this year will be one I started about 7 or 8 years ago!! It was a BOM that I began with a friend when I still lived in Brisbane. A lovely Leanne's House quilt, it combines patchwork with applique and embroidery...

I still love this quilt, but my tastes have changed since I began this BOM. I now plan to give this as a gift (I cannot say to whom yet for she may read this post). I have only 6 weeks to finish it. These are the seven blocks already finished...

I have just two needing the embroidery and applique finished on...

The little details in this quilt are simply gorgeous...

My plan is to quilt it simply, in the ditch and around the appliques. I can get it done in 6 weeks surely? Mind you, I am slightly distracted by my lovely pile of Soul Blossom at the moment, I have started a quilt with them, hope to show you soon. xo

Soul Blossoms & Hydrangea's

2011-01-25T16:40:00.000+11:00

Deb (blogless) dropped in today and I couldn't resist showing off her wonderful new quilt top. She has put it together with Amy Butler's divine Soul Blossoms range, based on Jane Brockets Hydrangea pattern.

It is simply delicious! These stripes make me swoon!

Another pic under the apple tree...

Wow I have to get back to some sewing soon. Thanks Deb, it has been fun to be inspired by your beautiful quilt top.

DH and I are off to see The Kings Speech movie tonight (sans kids, yay!). This will be my second time, I loved it so much the first time I had to go again! Have you seen it? What did you think? xo

A Fabulous Trip!

2011-01-22T12:28:00.001+11:00

Our little trip to Ballarat was wonderful! I had not visited Ballarat since I was a young child and the size of it surprised me. It is full of wonderful gold rush history, with many incredibly old (for Australia!) ornate buildings built in the mid to late 1800's. While it was so lovely to be a tourist around Ballarat, our first priority in visiting was, of course, Ballarat Patchwork!

Ballarat Patchwork is a little jewel that beckons you in as you drive into town.

Crammed full of colour (heaps of Kaffes in there!), and patterns and accessories it is lovingly run by the incredibly capable Emma who made Deb and I feel right at home (thank you Emma).

Emma folding some of my stash!

We had not been there too long when we had a wonderful quilting star visit the shop...Jodie Carleton of Ric Rac fame!

Jodie is a very friendly, funny lady and has many beautiful patterns on sale in the shop. Jodie has two of her wonderfully detailed creations on offer in the QLD flood auctions, you can still get in if you are quick!

We also got to see Emma's incredible Victorian Quilters Raffle Quilt she has made (quilted by Vicki Jenkin)...

Wow, this is one quilt I would love to have come to my place look at those Kaffes set off beautifully by the white. You can find more info about it and see better pics at Emma's Scrap Bag Blog.

We hadn't really set our minds to buying too much, but we did come away with quite a nice little haul....

Most of these are Kaffes shot cottons and Brandon Mably's stripes with a few other luscious colours thrown in. And look what I found...

Aneela H of Comfortstitching blogs new fabric. Absolutely gorgeous!

Deb found some beautiful new Aboriginal prints that she wants to make into a table runner (Deb doesn't have a quilt blog so when she makes it up, I will get a photo!)...

And some gorgeous brights to go along with the beautiful Don't Look Now Little Monsters Pattern by Kellie W.

I purchased another little nifty item that I will get pics for next time. Overall we spent two fabulous hours wandering amongst the fabrics and chatting with new friends. I will definitely be visiting again! xo

A little trip.

2011-01-17T21:10:00.000+11:00

I'm very excited. Tomorrow my lovely friend Deb and I are heading off to Ballarat for a day and a night. Of course a visit to this place will be at the top of our tourist priorities.....that's right, tomorrow I get to visit Ballarat Patchwork for the first time ever, Yay! Will tell you about it when I get back. Oh yes, must remember to take the camera!
See you soon. xo

Thank you!

2011-01-09T16:05:00.000+11:00

...for your patience, for your support and encouragement. I am slowly healing. In the interim from having a bit of a stitchy, bloggy break, I have been spending some time playing with some of the silver findings and lampwork beads I have purchased on etsy over time.

I love these lampwork beads (alas the shop I purchased these from appears to be closed). Those fat bali silver beads are one of my favourites. It is a very comfortable bracelet to wear (please excuse all my wrinkles!!)...

My Little Folks Snowball quilt is being worked on from time to time...

The handquilting is very soothing I find. Big stitches using these gorgeous perle threads...

Had to have a photo of them piled up...that colour is divine!

On a matter of housekeeping, I have changed computers and in the process lost all my email contacts! Also my email address has changed, you will find my new one in my profile.
Hope to see you soon! xo

Yes, it's about time....!

2010-12-22T14:36:00.000+11:00

I know, I have not been around for a bit and for that I apologize. Alas my shoulder flared up again and I have been dealing with some darkness that long term pain can bring. I have not stitched, sewn, cut out fabric, blogged, blog read, barely even walked in my sewing room for weeks. And I have missed it all, and you all, so much!

A few days ago however, I felt that it was the right time to return to my addiction/therapy/quilting and I have finally started the Japanese quilt I purchased as a kit from Kathy at Material Obsession back in July.

Tokyo Rose pattern and fabric kit from Material Obsession

It's funny you know, I had seen this pattern around for a long time before I bought it, one of those that kept catching my eye. However when I came to make it up, I decided I didn't want to go with the squares after all. I had been inspired by a quilt the lovely Andi had made up for her Mum (see her quilt here), and decided that triangles were what I was after.

When Kaffe's latest book Quilts en Provence was released recently, I adored Liza Prior Lucy's Fruit Salad quilt.

Liza Prior Lucy's Fruit Salad Quilt

Photograph taken from Kaffe's Quilts en Provence book (pub. 2010).

After checking out the fabric requirements, I discovered that I could turn my Tokyo Rose kit into a Japanese Fruit Salad quilt.

I am thrilled that it turned out so well.

Only 3 extra fabrics were added to the kit...these two divine Sevenberry fabrics the blue and the pink..

and the red for the border...

More red will probably be added to this border before I quilt it I think.

Looks great as a table cloth...

I'm thinking a simple all over pattern for the quilting. I will think about that for a little longer before I decide!

Thank you also to everyone who wished me happy birthday last Friday on facebook, I really appreciated your wishes from around the world and had an awesome day. xo