Nice weather for ducks...

Yeah, I need a new project like a hole in the head but since finishing up the Daisy Chain Sampler my brain has been going into overdrive for another embroidery project.

I absolutely adore this print by Leanda at onelittlebird studio and its been the driving inspiration behind this little design Ive drawn up.  We'll see how it stitches up...

Hows this rain?

My poor little kidlets will be like drowned rats when they get home from their first day back at school!

x

Starts, finishes and everything in between...

I finished my sampler!  Its been going on for a while but i finished it off last night and i really love how it turned out.  Im taking Shays advice and putting it in a frame...

Not a lot of sewing happening around here...what with school holidays etc... but i have managed to stash  a few piles of pretty fabrics (and a lovely book with lots of projects i want to make! )...

These will be used in my + and x quilt

and these too, im thinking of using the kona solid (in pond) for a big border around the outside

still got heaps more blocks to make!...

Kids go back to school on Tuesday, its been fun but im looking forward to it! 

 The youngest will be in school full time this year so Ive decided to go back to school as well.  Just part time but it will be pretty full on I think, so i probably wont be blogging or crafting as much as i would like. : ( (Not much different to how Ive been these last few months! )  Im really looking forward to using my brain again!

Hope you are having a great weekend!

x

Christmas Sewing

Hope you all had a great Christmas, we had a very relaxing day and since then ive spent a couple of quiet days doing some sewing.  Ive got a new quilt in mind and made up some blocks...

 they are quite addictive... Im trying to achieve a vintagey looking quilt with it, not sure whether ive done that , im having fun making it anyway...

great tutorial for this block here

I sewed up a quick top with 5" vintage sheet squares - i just wanna use up some of the fabric ive got!

and i made a pile of these as Christmas presents...

(teatowels by the way!)

at least they are practical!

 Hope you are enjoying your Christmas break

and Happy New Year!

x 

Happy Mail!

Pinch and a punch for the 1st of the month! Yay, my internet has resumed normality,  its been VERY limited here this past week, but its all good now.

 Lots of Happy mail has arrived in the past couple of weeks.  I received my Pretty Little Pouch Swap from Eileen at Bluebirdluxe.  OMG it is so beautiful and perfect!  I am using it to hold my embroidery projects ( the Daisy Chain Sampler - yep im still going on it ) 

Eileen sent me some lovely extras like a pile of charm squares in Atsuko Matsuyama fabric - yum! and a sweet keyring she had made, an embroidery hoop and crochet cotton!  Thankyou Eileen - i do love it SO much!

An unexpected parcel arrived from Shay aka The Pyjama Queen.  Shay very kindly sent me a beautiful chenille bedspread with the intention of hacking it up - but i cant!

 so ive put it on my girls bed : )  She also sent a very handy shopping list to keep on the fridge and a beautiful card....Thanks Shay! x

And these lovelies arrived too! I bought these on etsy as my "reward" for completing the 12wbt.  This is the final week and I have proudly rid myself of 13kg (which was my goal ) and the other day i ran 2 kilometres without stopping.  Its not much but for me its pretty big, 12 weeks ago i couldnt even run 100 metres! LOL

Cant wait to wear them this weekend,  im heading to Melbourne for a short and sweet trip with my lovely sister...

Have a great weekend!

x

Lark...

As soon as i clapped eyes on Amy Butlers latest fabric collection i knew it was destined to become a skirt.  I cut some big 10" squares and patchworked them together and then cut out an a-line shape.  It took two attempts to get the zipper reasonable - my tip for future zipper installations is to leave a huge seam allowance (like an inch!) to make life easier. ( It would have also helped to use a zipper foot but i dont have one for my machine thats set up and i was too lazy to set up the other machine...so slack i know! )

Its all cut on the bias which gives it a fair amount of give which is good for a fitted skirt. I also think bias cut skirts are a lot more flattering to wear.   I put a waist band around the top but i think it might need some elastic in the waist band to help it fit snug, with the bias skirt it stretches a bit when i wear it so im hoping by inserting the elastic it will be less likely to fall off when i wear it!

Overall im happy with how its turned out, pretty much how i imagined and with a slight modification it will become my "new favourite",

Here are some more "favourites",   maybe you will be inspired...

(The links for these gorgeous photos are on my flickr)

Have a great weekend!

x

Happy Hexagons

Earlier this year Lynne from Lilys Quilts started hosting a "Hexalong" inspired by this quilt pattern.  I was really keen to join in but daunted by the prospect of hand piecing.  I did attempt one block which took about 4 hours and ended in tragedy so i was keen to see if i could machine piece it (which is how the original Candied Hexagon quilt is made.)  I purchased the templates - the large hexagon templates form Marti Michell - and they are fantastic. You can make all sorts of variations of this block - ive only attempted a few so far.

They are still fiddly and time consuming but this will be another one of those slow projects...

speaking of which Im still going slow on the Daisy Chain Sampler!  Im determined to get this finished though.  Unfinished projects annoy the crap out of me!

Im on the home straight!...

x

Bloggers Quilt Festival!

Yay! Its on again, I love participating in the Bloggers Quilt Fesival, hosted by Amy, I get lots of wonderful visitors to my blog and discover so many talented quilters and their amazing creations. Its so exciting and i get really inspired!  Anyway, I wasnt going to partipate this round as I didnt think i had a quilt to put in the festival.  I had forgotten all about this one and its an absolute favourite of mine so here it is ....

...The wonky scrappy star quilt!

I had so much fun making this,  it was originally inspired by this beauty, but i wanted to capture a floating star feel so made up random sized blocks of stars and jig saw puzzled them together.  I fussy cut the centres from some fun novelty prints and got stuck into my bright scrap fabrics for the star blades.

The background fabric is a dark natural coloured linen and sets off the bright jewell coloured stars perfectly, They really pop off the background!

I backed it with my favourite method, (a new vintage sheet ),  Ive been saving this sheet for something special and it seemed perfect for the job.

The binding is another favourite , a kokka stripe in a cocoa colour, which sets it off quite well - i think! ; ) I finished it off by machine quilting in an all over stipple pattern.

If you popped in from Amys, thanks for visiting!  If not, make yourself a cuppa and visit over here to check out some amazing quilts!  A couple of my favs here, here, and here!

x