Lawson and Lotti

2013-03-14T13:35:00.001+11:00

A mini for me

2013-02-28T17:00:00.000+11:00

Do you remember my mini quilt I was making for myself? It was using some of my favourite and precious fabrics.

Well I finished it

Quilted and bound

and hanging in my sewing room, I love it so much

AusModBee - Jan

2013-02-26T17:00:00.000+11:00

I was invited to join a Modern Australian Bee and oooh im so glad I did, I just need to be organised enough to stay on top of the monthly blocks!
Jan was the first month and we made AMH Feathers. These blocks look amazing but I must say I found them a pain to make and with major fabric wastage.

Dont the fabrics look fantastic!

I made a mistake with one and the pieces are slanted in the wrong direction, we were supposed to make 4 feathers but luckily I had enough fabric to make 5 so that there were 4 correct feathers.

A quilt of them will look stunning though

XPlusAlong

2013-02-25T16:00:00.000+11:00

did you join in the xplusalong on instagram? I got addicted at the beginning of Feb but since then other sewing projects have been more important and ive put my blogs to one side but oh how I love them!

Im no good at scrappy, I love how other peoples look but my brain doesnt seem to work like that, so I pulled a stack of pinks, a stack of aqua, some navy's and a few that might mix in nicely. I also wanted to use texty neutrals for the backgrounds

These were my first 4, ive gone with the same size that Amy Badskirt has a tutorial for as I like the proportions better than the 12" block. Its a really nice block to make, it does have a bit of wastage though, I tried to reduce the waste with my first block by cutting the background neutrals as hsts instead of sewing them on as whole squares and then trimming! The block is useable but its not crisp and neat so I decided to just go with waste instead

So addictive!

I found the perfect backing fabric in Spotlight, a beautiful feather voile. I really cant wait to get back to making more blocks and getting this quilt finished, I have a feeling it might be a long term WIP though as I still have lots of other things that need to be done more urgently. I think I have 16 blocks done now and im not sure how big I will end up making it, probably lap quilt size but we will see!

A Gruffalo Party

2013-02-24T10:18:00.001+11:00

Ok so we still dont have the internet so I am still rubbish at blogging! I dont know when we will have it but I will try to catch you up on all the sewing I have done recently over the next few weeks or so.

I have been sewing an awful lot recently, I think im in that manic mode, trying to get everything done before I have a newborn again that wants my full attention!

I wont show you everything at once but I will start with one of the most fun projects ive done recently. At the end of January it was Lawsons 4th birthday and he wanted a Gruffalo party! Now the great thing about us moving to Australia is that his birthday now falls in Summer instead of winter so we had a party at the park.

Now my organisational skills are not the best so the night before the party I still hadnt done anything! We went out for supper and didnt get home until about 8.30 and I had a mountain of things to do, so I had to rope Hairy into helping

We were making masks as party favours for all of the guests, foxes, mice, owls and of course a Gruffalo

Wilson was a mouse

Lawson had asked for a Chocolate cake, perfect for a Gruffalo

We had a picnic at the park

Lawson wanted to be a fox at his party, my gorgeous birthday boy!

The food was all Gruffalo themed, we did Scrambled Snake (jelly with snake sweets), Roasted Fox (cheese straws)

Owl hearts (strawberrt halves), Orange eyes (cheese puffs)

Mouse droppings (chocolate raisins), Frog roll ups (pizza scones) and poisonous warts (grapes)

Hairy put the Gruffalo mask on for all of about 1 minute!

All in all it was an absolutely wonderful day. We finished the day off by taking our boys to the fair, we havent had that much family fun in a long time

A little something for my wall

2013-01-19T19:24:00.001+11:00

I've had a mini quilt in mind for ages. Ever since I received some gorgeous Sevenberry prints as an extra in a swap, I've known I wanted to do something special for myself.
I love all the butterfly quilts that have been popping up recently and when I was flicking through my Farmers Wife book I came across the Batwing block which is similar.
I pulled some favourite fabrics and decided on a layout in my head and promptly left them sitting there for a couple of months!
Well I've been really enjoying sewing recently and yesterday decided I would finally whip up that mini

This was my fabric pull, my fav colour combination is currently mint, pink and yellow luckily as they are the colour of the Sevenberry prints so I pulled out some other favs in these colours. I based the blocks on the batwing but its not the same as I didn't include the centre square and I completely winged it with the measurements.

I love the finished top although it is not perfect, my measurements weren't quite right but I don't care I love it anyway. This was sewing for fun and for me, not for perfection!
I had originally thought I'd use the yellow seed catalogue for background but when I auditioned them I preferred the black. Hairy thinks I made a mistake and should have used the yellow after all

Just need to baste, quilt and bind it!

Another baby quilt

2013-01-16T17:54:00.001+11:00

A friend of mine that is also English and living here in Oz recently had her 3rd baby. After seeing a fab quilt on the wall at Patch Fabric in Lowestoft during my trip home I thought I'd copy and do a giant star in some London fabrics on a red background. I think that Claire's larger version was based on Jenni Bs pattern.

This quilt was so quick and easy, definitely recommend this for a quick whip up. I used a flannelette for the backing and I machine bound the binding, I'm not great at it but am slowly improving!

Slow

2013-01-07T21:03:00.001+11:00

Hi folks, just checking in to say hi and that I'm still here but taking it very easy. I'm struggling with pelvic girdle pain that on some days is pretty crippling. I'm sewing bits and pieces but slowly!

Summers also here and it's hot! It got up to 45 degrees a few days ago and being 7 months pregnant I'm really feeling it. So I'm around but not checking in very often but I will post when I can.
Fill me in on anything I've missed recently as I've not even got a chance to catch up on all the blog reading I love to do :-(

Merry Christmas

2012-12-24T16:10:00.001+11:00

We are having our first family Aussie Christmas tomorrow. It doesn't feel at all Christmassy because its summer but it should be a good one.
I've decorated a bit differently this year. Our tree is not a real one

Although we do have a real one with just white lights on our front porch.
We've decorated sparsely

Instead of asking for slippers and pjs and warm socks, we are asking for sunglasses, flip flops and sun hats.
I will miss my family but we will have fun.
Merry Christmas everyone, hope yours is wonderful xxx

Broken Arrows

2012-12-17T18:57:00.001+11:00

Sorry I've been absent again, what with my hol and then a very difficult journey back to Oz (fill you in on that another time) I have been rubbish at getting time to blog.
Anyway I've got some really exciting news. My first published Quilt, broken arrows is in this months Quilters Companion special magazine, Modern Quilts

And here it is in use on my bed

The full pattern is in the magazine, it's so cool to see it printed. There are some amazing quilters in there too, Cathy from Cabbage Quilts is on the front cover with a gorgeous quilt and Siobhan from Bea Spoke Quilts has a lovely one in there too. I can't believe I'm in there sharing space with them.
Anyway I'm going to be a geek and go buy copies for all my family.
I have been sewing since back in Oz so will show you some bits soon, promise xxx

Texty Charms

2012-11-23T13:00:00.000+11:00

Woohoo they are all here and ready for me to open, sort, organise and post

So this is what I will be doing for the rest of this afternoon :-)

I love the Internet

2012-11-23T02:33:00.001+11:00

I love how the Internet brings our fab community together and its because of this that I've had such a great morning.
Through Instagram and blogging and reading blogs I came across Claire at Patch Fabrics and Leanne Fanny from The Little House Martin. They are only 30mins drive from my mums house so off we went today to meet them!

They were so lovely and welcoming and the shop was gorgeous. Leanne works in the shop and has her screen printing studio upstairs. She was so kind to show us around and give me some great tips about getting started with screen printing.
Her work is so good, she designs beautiful patterns and then prints them in gorgeous colours. I couldn't leave without buying some!

I bought 4 of her panels and she gave me the cutest little packet that she had put together for me. It has the sweetest little print, a fabric covered button and some gorgeous little squares, all printed by her. She really was the absolute sweetest! You should definitely check out her Etsy shop.
Claire was lovely too, we all stood round and had a lovely natter, there was a group sewing upstairs and it was such a happy, creative space. Claire stocks a gorgeous range of fabrics as well as some really funky other bits and pieces. I couldn't resist buying these lovely bits

To top off a lovely morning, I came home to find my PTS9 parcel waiting for me! The lovely Lara from Lara's Theme had made me the most beautiful cushion, as well as including some super cute extras.

I love it so much, love Trip round the World and she chose such a brilliant colour scheme. The back is perfect too, how cool is this fabric?

I'm feeling so lucky today, the online craft community really is pretty amazing

A little hand stitching

2012-11-19T23:56:00.000+11:00

Well as I've yet to get the sewing machine out I thought I'd keep myself busy with a small embroidery project. I drew this rough sketch

Hopefully it will translate to fabric how I'm envisioning it in my head!
I've started but its slow work

No sewing but a bit of Shopping!

2012-11-15T23:52:00.001+11:00

I may have ordered a few bits to arrive while I was away, to pick up when I got here, whoops!

Texty loveliness from Sew Me A Song

Pretties including Hello Kitty Liberty! from LilyMeru on Etsy

Essex Linens, Kokka and Woodgrain from Anna at Pink Castle Fabrics

I also won this lovely layer cake from the lovely Justine at Simply Solids

And I got a £25 voucher from my local LQS which I'm very excited to spend ASAP (I did have to buy a few bits in order to receive my voucher!)

Laura Gunn Painters Canvas, a Sarah Jane Panel and a charm pack of Quilt Blocks. I'm planning a baby quilt for the charm pack and something for the boys room with the panel.

Home

2012-11-15T23:46:00.001+11:00

Yay so good to be back for a few weeks, lovely to see everyone. No sewing so far but I forgot to share this baby blanket I made for a gorgeous new baby boy my friend had before I left Oz

It was such a quick one, cutting to binding done in 24 hrs! I've never made a quilt that quickly before

I used the boat stitch on my Horizon as it fitted so well with the nautical theme

I also did some straight line quilting

And some fmq fish! Basically every type of quilting under the fun hahaha

Backed and bound with Sharks I found in Spotlight for $1 a metre!

Briefly enjoyed by Buddy before being packed up for the lovely little Obi

Sew Seasonal Blog Hop - Christmas Wreath

2012-11-06T21:00:00.000+11:00

I was recently asked by the lovely Kirsty of Quiet Play and Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts to join in their Sew Seasonal Blog Hop and I have to say that I jumped at the chance. They have produced a range of gorgeous Christmas blocks, some for regular piecing and some paper pieced and they are currently free! As soon as I saw the wreath block I knew what I wanted to do with it and which fabric I wanted to use, so I was over the moon when Kirsty said I could indeed do the wreath block.

Now before I show you, let me just tell you that there are sponsors and prizes and you can enter to win them! Go check out Kirsty and Alyces posts for full details on how to enter and win! But put simply, you make one of their free blocks and enter it into their linky party! So simple and you get to use their great blocks for free, but hurry, after this blog hop the patterns will stop being free and will be available to buy instead

Fat Quarter Shop

Awesome Launch Day giveaways at Blossom Heart Quilts and Quiet Play - check back November 1st!

2 x $10 vouchers

Intrepid Thread

Joy by Kate Spain - full fat quarter bundle + panel

Fabric Worm

2 x $25 vouchers

Sew Lux Fabric and Gifts

1 x $25 voucher

Stash Modern Fabric

$30 gift voucher

Blossom Heart Quilts

Japanese Christmas fabric - fat eighth bundle

Quiet Play

Charm pack

Plus, are you needing some Christmas fabric supplies for the hop? Well, Chrissy from Sew Lux Fabrics has set up a special discount code on Christmas fabrics in her shop! So if you need supplies, be sure to check it out. The code is "sewseasonal10" and is for 10% off all Christmas fabric (Joy, Blitzen, and Sentiments) through November 18th. A charm pack or layer cake will work perfectly for Ornamental!

So do you want to finally see what I made, its an alternative to a traditional wreath, a mini quilt for the front door!

This was so fun to make, I cant wait to make up more of the blocks. Here is a list of all the other bloggers in this blog hop if you want to check them out and join in the fun

1st November: Kristy from Quiet Play & Alyce from Blossom Heart Quilts

2nd November: TBA & Jane from Where Jane Creates

3rd November: Susan from Patchwork N Play & Kelsey from Kelsey Sews

4th November: Janice from Better Off Thread & Erin from Missy Mac Creations

5th November: Lucy from Charm About You & Rebecca from Making Rebecca Lynn

6th November: Charlotte from Lawson and Lotti & Amy from Amy's Crafty Shenanigans

7th November: Jess from the Elven Garden & Cindy from Live a Colorful Life

8th November: Elaine from Dashasel Sews & Kelly from Jeliquilts

9th November: Beth from Plum and June & Fiona from Finding Fifth

10th November: Juliet from Tartan Kiwi & Fiona from Celtic Thistle Stitches

11th November: Taryn from Pixels to Patchwork & Anorina from Samelia's Mum

12th November: Megan from Jaffa Quilts & Jane from QuiltJane

13th November: Gemma from Pretty Bobbins

Thanks to Kirsty and Alyce for inviting me to take part

Catching Up

2012-11-01T12:24:00.000+11:00

I seem to be permanently behind on bee blocks at the mo, but I have finally complete this block which was for July! The theme was camera related and it is for Piece Bee With You

This was totally inspired by a block by the lovely Lynne of Lilys Quilts. Sorry its so late Dorrylu!

Bloggers Quilt Festival

2012-10-26T16:56:00.001+11:00

Well it's that time of year again and I love this festival, its so much fun seeing so many amazing quilts. So much inspiration! Thanks so much to Amy for hosting and if you're new here then thanks so much for popping by.
My entry is this baby quilt that my sis and brother in law commissioned for their new nephew. They gave me completely free rein but asked that it reflected them. Well as brother in law is a DJ and sound engineer then I immediately knew it had to be music based so I give you SoundWaves

It measures 30" by 40"
I backed it with flannelette as I'm taking it back to England next week to hand over to my sis and its the start of winter over there so I wanted it to be cosy

I was channeling Dan Rouse for this quilt, I love his unicorn stencil quilt and so I thought I'd go down the reverse appliqué route. I did a layer of HSTs, 2" finished

And then covered them with this lovely bright red. I fmq'd my design over the top and then started cutting away the red to reveal the HSTs

Hopefully it will last long past the baby years!

I will leave you with a few other recent makes in the hope of tempting you back when you've finished checking out all the other quilts

And if like me you like a piped edging then head back next week for a piping tutorial x

Pillow Talk Swap

2012-10-26T12:08:00.001+11:00

I'm loving the pillow talk swap, I've watched a few from the sidelines but this time I knew I could make time to join in. The talent over there is amazing!
I pulled some fabrics that I thought my partner would like and I'm pretty sure that this fits their taste perfectly but I'm just not sure I like what I've made with them

Excuse my sticky out tummy!
I like the block and I like the fabrics individually but I'm just not sure about the overall thing! I think it fits my partner but I'm having such a hard time with it, maybe its because if it was for me I'd have chosen more scrappy or more neutral??? I'm just not feeling it. I'm going to try a neutral border but as its already 18" I can't go much larger!
Have you ever made a swap partner something that you're just not sure about or do you scrap it and make something you love?

A not so traditional baby quilt

2012-10-24T16:48:00.001+11:00

This is what I'm working on at the moment (among about 100 other things!)

This baby quilt isn't going to be very traditional (its a commission) but hopefully when it's finished it will be a lot less goth. It still has a bit of work in order to transform it into my vision, fingers crossed it works

Getting ready for NayNay

2012-10-22T12:41:00.001+11:00

Well I had my 20 week scan last week and all seems to be well thank goodness. Scans in Oz are very different to in England. I was in there for an hour, everything was looked at really thoroughly including my ovaries and kidneys! In England it only ever took about 15 mins. Not that I'm complaining, the NHS is a great service, especially when you leave the UK and realise what it's like to have to pay for everything! Any way enough about that, I'm starting to think about baby sewing for NayNay, now that is not what we will call the baby I promise but its what Lawson has decided to call the baby while its in my tummy (named after his hobby horse!)
We didn't find out the sex, it does seem that in my family you tend to just have children all of the same sex though so its probably a boy, but while I don't know I thought I'd get some girly sewing done as well as some boy stuff and then whichever lot I don't need I can put on Etsy! A genius way of finally sewing some girls things.
So I've started with a couple of quilts obviously. I wanted to do simple but pretty so a couple of + quilts have been started

Red and Aqua

Hot Pink and Lime Green

I actually have lots more important urgent sewing to do so shouldn't really be distracting myself with these! Oh well I'll just sew up the tops then put them to one side for a while, until I whittle down the WIP list a bit.

I've been ruined!

2012-10-22T12:28:00.001+11:00

Ruined from being able to sew on any other sewing machine that is! My new Janome Horizon that I won in the Sew Hip Fashion Designer competition has finally arrived at my house and oh boy it is good!

Hairy could not understand why I didn't jump on it straight away, but I had to tidy my sewing room first. I wanted to be in a clean, organised space so I could really enjoy it. Hairy decided that he had to test it out if I wasn't going to!

He was amazed, he played around with some of the pre programmed stitches - helicopters, trucks, cars and flowers!
My stash arrived at the same time so it took me a couple of days to get everything straight. Yesterday I finally sat down for some proper sewing time. Well I can safely say that when I get back to England in 2 weeks for my hol, sewing on my old Janome is going to be a bit disappointing. It doesn't have a knee lever to lift the preset foot! it doesn't have an automatic thread cutter! and it doesn't sew as smoothly! So far I love this machine. I even got up at 7 am this morning to go sew (normally I lay in bed until 8 since being preggers, if the boys allow me to!)
And to finish off with a couple of fabric pics, here's some of my stash looking organised

And a fabric pull for a project I'm planning

DUDQS3 received

2012-10-19T12:03:00.001+11:00

Wow I received my doll quilt last week and its totally amazing

It was made my the lovely Leah aka Smoochee (check her out on Flickr) and I'm so in love with it. I'd favourited it as soon as I'd seen it and commented that it would be perfect for my sewing room and then it actually arrived.
In person it looks even more amazing! It measures 16" so the piecing is tiny and perfect.

To make a good thing even better Leah also sent me these gorgeous fabrics, I love them so much

I'm so amazed that someone got my taste so brilliantly

My first EPP

2012-10-19T11:55:00.001+11:00

Do you remember my EPP panel I showed you recently? Well I finished it and turned it into a cushion

I took the panel and heavily quilted it with a crosshatch design

Made some piping using mama said sew

And put it all together with mama said sew texty back and a zip

I'm very happy with it, just excuse the chair that really needs reupholstering! Think that's going to be a project for the new year!

How Stupid can I be???

2012-10-18T12:12:00.001+11:00

About 2 years ago my MacBook did something random and lost all my photos! Baby photos of Lawson, wedding photos and all sorts of randoms, the whole lot was gone! Thankfully after lots of playing around (and lots of tears!) I recovered them.
Nothing was backed up and we decided we needed an external hard drive to back up onto. I looked around and found a few but didn't know how big to go, how much to spend etc. every so often I thought to myself I must buy one, but did I get round to it? No I did not

And now its happened again but this time it's baby photos of both my boys and my sisters wedding (I'm the only one with photos of that!) and it's looking like they are irretrievably gone!!!

Stupid stupid stupid me! So the moral of the story is just blooming well do it if its something important

My mac is still in the computer shop, I'm still crossing my fingers but not having a laptop at the mo is meaning I'm posting from my phone so may not be as frequent!