Spread the word!

If there are any readers still out there, spread the word - I'm going to start my own virtual quilting bee! I'm after a group that is fairly local to me, so anywhere in Australia or New Zealand, or anything geographically close to those are welcome to join. I need 12 participants in total, and already have a couple signed up. All skill levels are welcome. If you've not joined a quilting bee before, it works a little like this: there will be 12 participants, each of whom will be allocated a month. On your month, you send out parcels of fabric and instructions to all other participants, and we make your quilt blocks. On all other months you will receive one fabric parcel and instructions, and you make up the block and send it back home.

Interested? Let me know in the comments - and please leave some way for me to contact you. Alternatively, send me a message on flickr.

In other news, tomorrow is my 2 year blogiversary!! Although the blog has fizzled a bit in the last couple of months, I'm still keen to put together a bit of a giveaway. Leave a comment on this post to be in the running - that'll give me time to think about what to make! Rest assured it will probably be something quilty, but definitely handmade. Possibly even custom designed for the winner. So comment away!

And tonight I leave you with a photo of Ollie's very first sewing project - a drawstring bag! He cut the fabric (very carefully, I might add) with my fabric shears, then sewed it all up on an old sewing machine (no photos of the sewing - I was glued to his side making sure little fingers were not sewn to the fabric!). It was all at his request, he chose the pattern(with some guidance) and is very proud of his achievement (as is his mum!).

Flying Geese

Here are some more pics of the quilt I made for my sister. I can't remember if I said I made it for her as a housewarming gift. I did all the creative work (designing and sewing), my other sister contributed to the cost of materials, so it's a joint gift.

Below is the back of the quilt. It's made using some leftover geese, some strips of unbleached cotton and chocolate handkerchief linen, and larger sections of a Lecien dot.

The outer border has been stippled, the geese have been zig-zagged. The binding is a darker brown with creamy strips.

For the front I used some chocolate brown handkerchief linen and a Momo Wonderland print for the geese, very fortunately I found some sheets at Spotlight that were a near perfect colour match to the linen for the outer border. This last photo is a truer representation of the colour - not sure why the other pics have come out really dull??
It roughly measures 160cm by 202cm (or 63" by 79").