Well...

I have actually made a start on No.4's quilt!  Yes I know!  Amazing, it really is.  And I started on the spur of the moment as well.  I just decided two nights ago to rip into it.  I'm not sure if many of you sew like I do.  I just went into this quilt with no idea of what I was really aiming for.  I knew that I was having squares and doilies, but as for design, really I was in the dark.  So I just began stitching squares together and I have to say I really like it so far. 

I might need to find a couple more bigger sized doilies, but that's OK.  I don't really know if I'm going to fill in all the small linen squares or just some of them with little doilies and bits of table cloths. 

I do think I'll make the whole quilt and then stitch the doilies on in case it shrinks and looks blimmin' awful.  And no I haven't pre-washed any of the fabrics.  And yes I know that linen mix isn't the same as the cottons and the shrinkage may differ. As I say, I like livin' on the edge a little.

And today I ordered another pile of fabrics as I ran out at cot size!  It's very me I'm afraid.  Not to worry, they should be here tomorrow.  There was a panicky moment or two when I saw that one of the fabrics wasn't available on the online shop.  Turns out she just hadn't listed some of them.  It sure does pay to ask ladies.  Actually it might pay to make sure you have enough fabric in the future when embarking on a quilt, unless you prefer to live on the edge like me.

So this is the quilt so far.  I've used bigger linen squares for underneath the doilies for support.  'Cause a doily needs a lot of support you know.  I've even decided to do quilting lines either side of each seam which another first for me. 

The little lady thinks it's a bit special to finally be getting a real quilt.  "Is it really mine?"  She keeps asking.  Although she's not keen on the spotty squares.  Who knows why??  This is a girl that hates to wear stickers and name tags, fake tattoos and pen marks on skin.

I'm thinking, yes I know I've done a bit much of that lately haven't I?!! Anyway I'm thinking that I'll just do more squares around the edges but not any more doilies as it will be less fussy that way.  But who knows what it will turn out like in the end.   Now I think I've prattled on quite enough for one day!  See you later xx

Modern Meadow Quilt

I've had a collection of Modern meadow for quite a few months now.  I do love it.  I bought it because I loved them, not with a use in mind.  That's the nicest kinda fabric shopping don't you think?  Anyway it seems I'm not the only one who fancies it.  No.4 also thinks it is pretty and her thing.  Could I please have a quilt with this fabric she asked one day?  I really thought she was having me on as it's quite sophisticated fabric and not little girly at all.  She's only four after all.  Anyway I was thrilled to hear her say that and they have been labeled with her name since.

I've been searching for the perfect quilt design to use for her quilt.  And finally last night I found it - inside my own head!  Well actually it's pretty basic, just what I like, but with a twist.  You may remember that I was wanting to make a quilt out of doilies and traycloths?  Well this incorporates these with the collection of fabric as well.

So I got a cutting last night at 8.30.  Yep I cut every last piece of them and some linen/cotton as well.  I'm still a little shocked at the speed of cutting and the fact that I've actually cut through them!  Have I done the right thing?  Maybe squares are too yesterday?  Well if they are that's perfect because doilies are from the same era, right?  And old fashioned is what my little girl likes.  I do love that.  She and I delight in changing our dressing table mats, choosing which new one to have.

Are you seeing my vision?  Am I right in thinking it's going to be beautiful?  Or am I loosing the plot entirely? 

The whole quilt will be stitched together with larger squares of linen.  I will then sew the doilies and cloths over the top when the top is finished.  I'm thinking of handstitching some flowers and hearts onto some of the smaller linen squares for a nice handmade look.

And let's hope that they will NOT still be sitting in this container next year!!  I can be rather naughty like that sometimes.  I'm hoping that No.4 will be really bossy and nag at me to get moving on her quilt.

Now I must order some more of one fabric for the binding.  I'm thinking of using the circles one.  And now I really must run.  Have a super weekend everyone!!

A Party and a Special Friend

Well Miss 10 sure did have a lovely birthday.  Thank you all so much for all the kind messages you left.  We even took a photo of her when she was exactly ten years old.  It's easy when you are born at a reasonable hour, 12.59pm to be exact.  She was a fairly quick arrival.  Well not completely, she was eleven days overdue!  But from arrival at the hospital, to induction, to birth, she was here in two hours.  

 

Check out the party girls cupcakes!  What a lot of fun they had with these.  There were some very busy ones and lots of cake swapping as well which was lovely to see. 

The scrapbooking boxes went well.  Look at my baby (pink hair clip one) sitting up with the rest of them making her box so neatly.  She's going to be four next Sunday.  Yes seriously!  How wonderful for me!  Two parties in a week, woo hoo!!!! 

I'm looking at her in the photo and she looks so much older suddenly.  I do hope she doesn't grow up too quickly.  We have just over a year left together before she goes to school with the others.  I'm not looking forward to that day at all. 

Now onto another subject completely.  I have recently met a very dear friend Lara who has a very sweet blog Sew Many Stitches Later and she's made heaps of fabulous quilts, among other things.  She lives in Wellington but is moving up to Auckland very soon - lucky me!  Anyway she's the sort of friend that everyone loves to have.  Recently she went through all her WIP's and decided to give a few away to reduce the feeling of guilt.  How funny, not sure I'd be able to do that myself.  Well she picked me to take over this baby boy quilt.  I've never make anything boyish before, having four girls myself.  What a refreshing change.  It will go to Retromummy's Quilts for Queensland when completed.

Wonderful fabrics, Moda from the Odyssea range.  Well I was expecting everything from the top picture, but not the extra charm pack as well!  I've unpicked her white border and added the extra charms.  She neglected to tell me the quilt was prewashed due to vegemite stains!  Now I know why none of the seams matched up when I added the new squares.  A quick wash later and they match up better, but not perfect.  Not to worry, once it's quilted no one will notice.

Now the stripy backing fabric has become the binding because I adore stripy bindings.  Loving this fabric range so much.  I just need some backing fabric now and it will be ready for quilting.  Thank you so very much Lara!

Now when Lara heard of my disaster of running out of white cotton fabric for my girl baby quilt, she immediately contacted me and suddenly a metre of the stuff was flying my way as well! See what I told you about the type of friend she is?  I can't wait to meet her and her two boys.  Isn't it neat how you can be good friends with someone without meeting them?  You've got to love the computer for that kind of thing.  The saying comes to mind "I love my computer because my friends live in there".  And I sure do have a lot of them in there.

Now I'm back in the sewing seat again.  Well only for a little while, I have another cake to make, a party to plan and things to shop for.  Oh heck, she's going to need some presents too!!  When I asked her what food she wanted at her party she said "party food I guess".  Guess I can arrange that!

What's Happening Here?

Well my auction is going very nicely thank you.  It's now up to $160 $170 which is fan flippin' tastic!  A huge thank you to all my lovely bidders so far.  You are wonderful!!

Pop over here if you fancy my wall hanging and place a bid.  You have to be in to win!  The auctions are all doing very nicely and I heard today that so far they are up to $45,000 and we are only up to day 2!!!  Isn't that fabulous?!  If you click here you will be sent to the full list of auctions.  Boy there are some wonderful items there.  Please be generous and remember all the money is going to be used to help the flood affected Queenslanders.

I've made the four pincushions for the Sewing Caddies.  They were fun and are now attached to the caddies.  My dear Gran gave me $100 to use to buy the necessary bits and pieces for the kits.  Isn't she a sweetie?  I'll pop over to Spotlight with my little list tomorrow I think.  I'll have four of those... four of these... oh won't it be fun!

I bought some very lovely fatties earlier in the week.  Let me just go and see what the range is called...  Modernmeadow by Joel Dewberry.  They go beautifully with linen so my head is spinning with ideas.  I also know that sewing with linen can be messy.  Still if I use a simple design the fabric shouldn't fall apart too much.  I hope!  Perhaps some old linen cloths too?  With pretty edging?

I had a couple in my hand and then thought, what the heck, and decided to just get the whole jolly package.  They just go together so nicely and I can see such a pretty quilt in them.

Oh here's another wee quilt I'm working on.  Nothing like a few things on the go aye?  It's actually been stitched together since taking this photo and looking rather lovely.  I think I need to make another row on the bottom unfortunately.  Don't you hate that when you think you're done? 

This is just a baby sized quilt.  I'm just trying out new techniques and having a bit of fun.  No I'm not having another baby!  Although we did enjoy teasing the girls a bit!

Our ensuite floor got a bandage or two yesterday.  Tomorrow, super duper early, the man is coming back to lay the tiles!!!  Oh my, that's going to be so exciting!  They are so lovely too.  Nice and natural looking in an off-white colour.  Gosh I hope I'm not still in bed when he arrives! 

My mind is excited about the thought of playing with different techniques.  I've seen this quilted hanging in the Australian Quilters Companion magazine and I'm keen to give it a go.  You have to use water soluble paper.  Never heard of it before. 

And just in case you are wondering how the house is holding together with all this crafting going on...

well I think this says it all really.  I cracked up when I saw Miss Barbie folding the washing, but then Miss Barbie 2 arrived to do the ironing!  Fantastic! 

These chicks aren't just beautiful, they're handy too.  I wonder if you look that glamorous when you do housework?

NYR's

I've reeled you in with my amazingly coloured Zinnias haven't I?  I adore their colour so much in my vegetable garden.  Aren't they just the cheeriest flowers out?  How could you not be happy looking at their beauty?  Anyway I went out and bought another five pots of them yesterday as I just can't get enough of them!!  Yum-me!  Consider these a Happy New Year gift for you, from me. 

Now I'm not really one to do New Year's Resolutions, but... this year I decided that we would each make one for another member of our family.  No.1 drew my name out of the box.  Lucky me, look what she wrote...

Isn't her writing just a tip?  Her bedroom is exactly the same!  Anyway isn't she just the sweetest?  Hubby and I nearly wet ourselves reading it.  I mean does she really think I clean all day??  Has she not noticed the huge folding pile?  Well she didn't mention cooking so I guess I'm not hiding the fact that I haven't cooked for days.  But spending more time sewing and gardening sounds rather lovely.  I actually was thinking that I should cut back a bit this year, but clearly not.

So I did exactly what I was told.  I've been very busy in the garden all this week in the boiling sunshine getting the garden back into some sort of order.  The tomatoes are finally staked.

The pumpkins are doing a splendid job in the compost heap.  All self sown I might add.  Yes the whole pumpkin I'd say!  I have no idea just how many pumpkins I'll end up with but we'll all be making pumpkin soup, pie, quiche and more for some time I'm sure.  This year I'm planning to use my new garden diary and garden by the moon.  Should be better for me as I will know what to do when.

And of course I must do some sewing!  A new quilt just cut out ready for sewing.  I actually pinned and started quilting a quilt for No.1 last night.  Long overdue!  Of course I ran out of thread so had to stop mid flight.  Off to the sewing shop for more tomorrow when the shops are open.  Gosh I wonder if Spotlight will be? 

I think I've made a good start to my NYR, don't you?  So funny.  Oh and I took the big girls to the supermarket tonight so that was good quality time, sort of.  Well it was fun except for the trolley running into the heels moment!  And they all had lots of cuddles through the day too.

Moving right along now.  Here's a sneaky peek at our new bedroom I've been promising you...

This is all I can show you as this is basically it.  The ensuite still only has a shower in it and we need to choose the tiles for the floor soon.  The bedroom needs new carpet and the wardrobe is naked.  We also need a new bed and storage either side of our bed.  But for now it's perfect.  It's dark.  It's relaxing.  It's ours.  It's so quiet in the mornings too.  Just heavenly.

Have you made any NYR's?  Don't be too hard on yourself.  It's pretty clear that we are too hard on ourselves.  Go on, have some fun this year, you have permission!

Once Upon A Time...

...there was a little girl called Sophie.  Well that's what No.4 insists she's called.  She also thought I should write her name at the top of the quilt and hang it in her room!  And the little girl called Sophie should have a face too.

Can you tell I'm having a whale of a time with this new-to-me free motion quilting stuff?  My goodness it's fun drawing a picture and then seeing it come alive.  So fun that I'm going to have to make some more mini quilts I think.  I'm planning a Christmas one next.  Not too sure who is going to get this quilt, or even if I will sell it.  Who knows.

What I really love about this type of sewing, is that it's very random.  You just make it up as you go along.  No lines to follow, no rules.  Just going for it.  And when your little assistant bumps you once again, it's OK, bumps are character adding!

I thought you might like to see how I began this quilt.  Cutting up tiny bits of fabric and suitable colours.  Making little trees and window shutters.  Ever wanted a white picket fence?  Maybe one a little straighter than this one!!

The square background bits are now stitched on and the house is 'glued' into place.  This stage is so much fun because it takes you right back to when you used to make paper collages at kindy.  Completely fun and childish.

Oh and my favourite part, the binding, was a complete nightmare!!  I had quite a few joins in the binding and would you believe I ended up with a join in three corners!  Just the worst thing imaginable.  So an unpicking we went.  And now it's nicely hand stitched in place and looking nice and neat.  I do love a bit of hand stitching.

I really should be making real sized quilts, but I do love to do something really fun sometimes.  I am itching to get started on my doily quilt too.  Oh so much to do and so little time!  It seems to be a shame to be inside when the sun is blazing down too.  But it's meant to be fun, we should remember that more often.

OK ladies, I must be off now.  Places to go, people to see, school in particular where the big girls are having their athletics day.  Hope they have a fun day today.  Always something on!  I hope you are all well and enjoying your creativity today.

I Don't Neglect My Children... Honest!

This morning, before school (naughty, naughty!) I finished this little picture that I started last night.  I haven't played with felt much in recent years.  There's so much fun to be had with the little coloured fabrics.   It's the perfect fabric for beginners to sewing.  I found the idea for this stitching here.

When you have a little three year old helper standing by you side, you end up doing funny things - like turning your house into a person!  I drew the line at giving it arms.  But maybe that would be cute!

This pile of yummy fabrics...

turned into this...

 

which ended up as a finished quilt top overnight.  I sewed it in an evening and a bit during the day while No.4 was at kindy.  Hubby was quite stunned just how fast it all went together!  But really there isn't much to squares is there?  Now it's all ready for pinning.  I would have done it already, but I didn't realise just how much fabric I would use for the sashing and didn't have enough for the backing as well.  And I bought four metres of it!!

 

And finally we have a quote on the wall hanging.  I did it freehand which probably wasn't the best idea.  But I generally just go for it and hope for the best.  It could have been better, but it's OK.  Can you tell I left the second 't' out of stitched?!!  Too funny!

It was a bit of fun, nothing serious. 

 

And lookie lookie.  Look at what is finally finished!!  Last weekend I tackled my string quilt again and didn't stop until it was finished.  I do love it.  All that lovely rainbow colour.

 

It was ironed, really!  Why don't things stay looking nice and flat?

 

And yesterday when the girls were busy playing racing car driving on the PS3 with their Daddy, I played with the fabrics.  A bit of applique and stippling later, and we have a pretty cushion to go with the rainbow quilt. 

I found the stippling strange after the rose quilting.  It's all over the show instead of planned of course.  I think I'll do the quilt the same way.  It's not my favourite to stitch, but I do like the look of it. 

So I have had a very lovely, productive week, even though I had to sell chocolate bars in the rain on Saturday morning.  The things we mothers have to do for school fundraisers.  Still it's nice to meet the neighbours once a year.  Those that have electric gates are lucky people I've decided! 

So what did you do in the weekend?  Something nice I hope.  Hope you had nicer weather than us.  Oh I've joined up for a lovely Christmassy swap too.  Selina is hosting a stocking swap that sounds just fabulous.  If you want to join in, just click on the stocking button in my side bar.  Right, see you!  xx