Happy New Year!

Despite being absent from the blog for a month, I have been very busy! I have very nearly finished the flock of geese quilt I'm making for my older sister as a housewarming gift. It is mostly quilted, all I have to do is about 8 more rows of the zig zag quilting then it'll be ready to give to her in a few couple of weeks time (I've already bound it).Plus, I finally finished a Christmas Tree quilt for my mum (I hand stitched the last piece of binding on at midnight on Christmas Eve!). I has been slightly modified to make it a little smaller (I just left off the outer border).
I'm rally pleased with both, but especially so the geese quilt. I'll post more pics in the coming days (or weeks!).

Happy new year to you all - I'm off to Frankston to drink some Pimm's (and maybe a couple of Stella's) and to sleep in a tent (hope it doesn't pour with rain!!).

Cheers!

Simply Sunday

Cookie Christmas Cards

Have you spied this yet? I thought it'd be perfect for making this years Christmas cards.

I made the above card with a cute little family in mind. Even though the dad is not a well-dressed pirate, I thought they'd like it :)

Basically, I just cut and pasted the cookie people that I wanted to use, added the xmas tree, and shrunk down the boy in a box so he looks more like a 2 year old boy in a box!
For the gift cards above, I shrunk the original image and cropped it in half. I arranged four on the page so I could print them out onto card stock and cut them into 4 small cards. I bought the card stock from a little scrapbooking place in Ormond (Melb) that's closing down, so got it for 5o% off. Perfect!

Quilted Christmas Wall Hanging

Inspired by the simplicity of this quilted wall hanging I saw over at Tallgrass Prairie Studio the other day, I decided to make myself a Christmas version.I searched for a Santa quilt block with no success, but knew I'd seen gnome quilt blocks around the traps. I ended up modifying this gnomeling quilt block to make the Santa. I also googled Christmas tree block, the star was a simple nine patch star. I've quilted it in straight lines that are roughly 1/2 an inch apart, and it's bound in red and white candy stripes. Now it's due for a wash so I can see how crinkly it turns out! After the wash, I'll sew on a little bell to the top of Santa's hat, and maybe a little gold belt buckle.

Another sneak peak

This little guy is just waiting for the sun to come up so he can be photographed properly!

Hip Hip Hooray!

I'm 35 today!

Card made by my mum - check out that mini quilt!

Some of my new goodies!

Someone's onto the fact that I like to bake and sew...

FMF Giveaway

Really, if you have any regard for the fact that it's my birthday on Sunday, you won't enter this giveaway in the hope that you'll increase my chances of winning a lovely birthday present!

But, if you're not quite as self-centred as me, enter away! Just don't forget to add your name to the petition so that people like little old me can get their hands on some of this loverly fabric.

Grandma Twinkles

I'm a sucker for a new (easy) tutorial!

November Blocks

It's Meg's month in the Beehive, and she requested mosaic-y/beach-inspired improvised blocks using a beautiful range of fabrics.

The above block measures 10.5 inches square, the one below is 10.5 by 5.5 inches.
Over at Bee Addicted 3 it's Katrina's month. She sent these 2 solids, requesting wonky quarter log cabins.
My interpretation of wonky was the varied widths of each layer (as opposed to sharper angles). Having seen some of the other blocks in the group, my second block (incomplete, so not yet photographed) is ever-so-slightly more angular, but very similar to the above. This block measures 15.5 inches square.

December is my month to send out fabric for the Beehive, so I've been busily practicing blocks to decide (!!! - so late to still be unsure!!) what I want the girls to make. I need to have the international parcels sent off by the end of the week, so tomorrow (my child-free day) will be a busy one. And a hot one, I hear, so I'm hoping to squeeze in a swim at the local outdoor pool in the morning. I'm going to steal my daughters goggles and attempt a few laps - but I may end up just lounging on the steps instead....

Vintage Spring Quilt

Like Sheridan, I too have been cutting up vintage sheet fat quarters. A friend has requested a pastel coloured quilt for her niece. I searched my stash in vain - there was very little to be found. Fortunately I have a good stack of vintage sheet fat quarters after this swap.

I'm not sure that I've ever made a nine patch before - I've made a couple of disappearing nine patches, though. The quilt top currently measures 45 inches square, so it'll make a nice little lap sized quilt for a little girl who loves to steal her big sister's quilt.

Finally!

I made myself a new bag! I have searched and searched the internets for a suitable bag pattern, to no avail. Alas, I had to deconstruct my old bag to use it as a template for the new.

The old bag was one that I bought on Etsy from this seller - she makes lovely practical bags (highly recommended if you're in the market for a newbie).
My little Janome struggled over all the layers of fabric (I broke 3 needles on it!). My workmanship is a little shoddy, but hopefully it still lasts as long as my previous bag, which was of a much higher quality!

The front pocket features some fabric cut from an Aunty Cookie panel.

Sneak Peak

The flock...

...is finally coming along. It's one of those projects that I know I have to finish, so of course it sits on the back of the couch glaring at me, night and day.

I've just laid the strips out to get an idea of the finished size (my little helper there thinks I'm making a snake quilt - the triangle edges on the sides are apparently teeth). The strips are already joined in pairs, I now need to join those pairs up to finish the quilt top!

Skirts Ahoy

Melbourne has put on some summer weather this week, so I thought it was time to get into sweat shop mode.

A super lovely person bought me this gorgeous Clothkits skirt a while back. The fabric panel sat on a shelf, washed and ironed, for far too long. I finally cut it on Sunday night, and sewed it up today.

I'm delighted with it!

Before sewing it up, I traced a pattern from the pieces. I figured if I liked the fit, it would be a simple A-line pattern to have on hand. Needless to say, I liked the fit, and made myself another! This time I made one from an upholstery weight fabric - perfect for the cooler months :) I can barely even try it on in this heat!

Oh well, at least I have the perfect skirt for next winter!

Tea Wallet

A quick gift whipped up for a friends birthday today. I've seen these around the internets here and there, but just went with my own measurements as I couldn't be shagged hunting down a tutorial.

The colour is not a true representation - it's actually a limey green, but the time of day that I took the pics coupled with the dark green cutting mat has distorted it.
In case you haven't yet figured it out, it's a tea wallet. My friend drinks herbal/camomile/peppermint - types of tea (which I never seemed to have in the house), so I thought stashing this in her bag would be handy.

The outer fabric is Aunty Cookie's white on lime papercuts, the pocket fabric is from the ginger blossom range, and the binding is green and white woodgrain.

A pity the colour didn't come through in the pics - I really love the green!

Old meets New

My mum upgraded her digital camera recently, and passed on her old one to me. On it I found some photos of her trip to the UK last year, including this cool one.

Triangles

A WIP for one of my sisters, based on a Denyse Schmidt pattern, using chocolate handkerchief linen and a MoMo Wonderland print.

Four

A bit wobbly looking, and very lumpy and bumpy, but recognisable as Lightning McQueen (I think so, anyway!).
All a bit last minute, really. Ollie decided this afternoon that he had to have a McQueen cake for his birthday. As soon as he hit the sack, I got crackin' in the kitchen.

Currently it's safely hidden away, ready for the big day tomorrow!

King Ollie

It's all the rage wearing your crown low over your eyes.

Silky blue pantaloons are a must have item, too.
The outfit was well received by his princess girlfriend. They even had a big kiss and cuddle at the end of the party. Sooo cute!!

FYI the crown is a slightly modified version of one found here.

The Royal treatment

Ollie's off to a dress-up party on Sunday, and has asked to be dressed as a King. His robes are coming along nicely - just need to elasticise the neckline, and maybe make it a little shorter. Pantaloons are next on the sewing list (I'm modifying a pair of men's silky boxer shorts), then I'll make a him a felt crown to wear. I've bought him some white stockings to wear under the pantaloons.

I can't wait to see it all complete! And I hope he doesn't have a problem wearing the stockings...

Adjustable Side Release Buckle Tutorial

My son's birthday is fast approaching and I wanted to make him a camera bag with adjustable strap and side release buckle (for safety reasons). I had all the hardware I needed in my stash, so I assumed it would be a quick and easy sew.

In fact, it took me most of the day to make it - many hours of which were spent sitting on the couch trying to work out how all of the pieces needed to be threaded with the strap. I searched my house high and low, but could not find anything with a similar strap on it to copy! I googled it, hoping for an online tutorial, but found nothing suitable.

In the end I worked out something that I'm happy with - so here's my tutorial!

For the purpose of this tutorial, I have used a 20mm side release buckle and strap adjustor (bought from a fabric chain store). I have also made my own strap using a fabric that coordinates with the bag this strap will be attached to. Alternatively, you could purchase webbing or tape to fit the size of your buckle. I made a linen/cotton blend strap that measured 18mm wide by about 1.5 metres long.

Please note, I only used one of the strap adjustors pictured above.
Thread strap through the smaller of the two openings on the buckle.
Folding the end over to neaten, sew a fabric loop to secure the buckle. Cut the strap to the desired length.
Attach the end to your bag. I have inserted the end of the strap between the outer and lining fabrics, then sewn them all together.
This next part was the confusing part for me. I may have done this incorrectly, but it worked for me (any suggestions here are welcome!).

Looking at the photo above, I started threading from the left hand side.

Holding the strap adjustor by the tab, insert a length of strap through the opening furthest away from the tab, then back through the opening closest to the tab. Feed a bit of the strap through.

Thread the strap through the buckle insert piece next.

The same end now needs to be threaded back through strap adjustor to secure to the bar furthest from the tab. Please refer to the photo above.
Folding the end slightly to neaten the edge, sew the end close to the strap adjustor to secure it.
It should now look like the strap pictured above. Cut to desired length, then attach to the other end of your bag. Finito!

I hope you find this useful. If you find any glaring errors, please leave a comment and I will amend the tutorial as needed.

Please feel free to link to this tutorial on your blog, and send me a quick line to let me know.

I've become such an inconsistent blogger, haven't I? If it weren't for the quilting bees I joined, who knows when I might have found the time to blog again....

I have been kept pretty busy with a 6 week stint of work that finished on Tuesday, as well as school holidays, and lots of drama when my car broke down 110km's from home! It's a long story, involving a very dodgy tow-man/mechanic and a week with no car. I finally got to pick the car up on Friday, sweet relief!

Anyway, onto the sewing! The following block is a big one, measuring 18.5 inches square. It's made for Belinda from the Beehive. She's making a quilt for her son, who likes aeroplanes (hence the one in the centre of the block, found in my stash). The pattern she's using is from Material Obsession, the Retro Starburst quilt. I look forward to seeing it when she gets all the blocks - I've had real difficulty visualising this one (having not seen the book myself).

The following two blocks are for Brioni of Bee Addicted 3. She sent a heap of yellow scraps, along with the unbleached cotton, and requested wonky stars floating on the unbleached background.
I've not made wonky stars before, so didn't get too adventurous with the design. I did try to mix up the centre squares a bit in an effort to use each of the fabrics she sent.
All posted today! Which leaves me set to sew birthday gifts for the mother's group kids, most of them turn 2 or 4 in Sept and Oct, and I'm a bit behind!

It pays to be nice, apparently.

Ollie and I arrived home from child care today to find a parcel on the doorstep. We took it inside to open it, and when the fabric was revealed, Ollie exclaimed "The postie must know you are nice to bring you so many parcels of fabric!"

Note to self: leave a little treat outside on the letterbox for the postie. He clearly knows me well.

On a side note, Ollie and I are taking a little trip up to Sydney in early December with my sister. We'll be there for a few days (with a 4 year old), so if anyone has any hot tips on what to see and do in Sydney in December, I'd love to hear them. This will be my first trip there, so I really have no idea of where anything is etc. Thanks in advance!

The Possum Pelt

Yay, finally finished last week - all I had to do for the last few months was cast off the sleeves and sew on a button. And yet, there it sat on the unfinished pile all through winter!

Anyway, done now. Used a button from my stash.

The free Shalom Cardie pattern is available as a pdf from here. I made a modification or two (not that I can remember them now!!). I think I reduced the number of rows in each of the top sections, maybe by 2 or 3 rows. I was also going to do 3 buttons holes, but forgot to do the 3rd. I'm happy with the one button though.
The yarn I used was a cheapy from Spotlight - I think it was called Mousse. A combination of wool and soy perhaps... Very soft, but very prone to pilling - as you can see in the pics above. It has only been worn 3 times. Oh well, I knew it as I made the purchase.

Sorry for the wishy-washy details - I'm blogging from 'work', so can't run off and find the leftover balls of yarn to give you more info.

FYI - I've named it the possum pelt, as it is a lovely browny-grey and super soft. Just like a possum. Feel free to feed me apples if you see me in the street.

September Blocks

Did I mention i joined another online quilting bee, Bee Addicted 3? This one also started in September, and I'm the only Australian in the group (which means I need to buy shares in Australia Post!)

The first parcel of fabric came from Becca. She requested wonky houses of any size, untrimmed as she is unsure of how they'll all go together.

My first house is a little toadstool house. It was my first attempt at putting a curve on a quilt block, and although it's not perfect, it's pretty cute!

I wanted the second house to be a more 'traditional' wonky house, but decided it really needed a garage to house this cute car!
I've also been tossing up ideas for quilt blocks for my month (not until July of next year). I like the look of string quilts, and love the idea of using scraps to make it.
I made these four blocks using 1 inch wide strips. The middle strip of each block is made from charcoal kona cotton. The blocks are 8 inches square, and in hind sight, I really should have gone for a slightly wider strip, just to make less work for myself, but I do like the look of the narrow strips.

I think I'll make these blocks into a cushion cover, and I have enough strips left over to make another too.

Super-Puppy Photo Shoot

The favourite puppy has had a great day today. As well as receiving a new puppy quilt, he was also lucky enough to get a super hero cape. He was more than happy to model it for us (despite the sad look on his face!)

It's simply made from a circle of stretchy red fabric, sewn onto an elasticised loop.
Easy for the boy child to put on when he thinks that puppy wants to fly (which is often).
Poor old puppy is looking a little worse for wear! He gets thrown around, sucked, chewed, pummeled, and cuddled near to death. I really must look for another, but this one was a gift to my daughter about 10 years ago, so I fear I may never find one the same...