Sew Cute Tuesday - Sneaking It In

A very late night sneaky post - direct from my IG feed.  Just a few little things I've managed to tick off my list the last five days.....

London Calling has another block.  I'm loving this Umbrella that Kristy so kindly upsized her pattern for me!

This month's Wombat Stew Queen - Marieka - gave us a link to a bunch of fabulous free paper piecing patterns to choose from for her.  I chose THIS one.  I love bright colours against dark grey.

Today's sewing was this fabulous little Zaaberry Messenger bag for my Tokyo BFF's son.  She sent me a few great Japanese cartoon prints - which my 11 year old daughter is in love with???!!  If you've never made one of these bags before, then you need to get to it....

Fabulous yes?  Oh, and did you know it's almost Tokyo-tober?  Just a little over three weeks until I go......

I'm linking up - You can too!

W.I.P. Wednesday - Gaining Momentum

I wouldn't dare to count my WIP's right now.  The pile is getting a little bigger than I am comfortable with.  But two projects that are gaining a little momentum, I shall share here....

 

I made another few blocks to add to my London Calling quilt.  The Underground sign, the Beef Eater and the taxi cab.  Thrilled with how it's all looking together, but was left wondering how I was going to make it a decent size quilt top?  The peeps on IG took care of that, throwing out all sorts of fabulous ideas for more blocks!  I even have the lovely Deborah Gunn sending me some underground map fabric.  I love crafty friends!  So I have now printed out a few more paper pieced patterns, and will add plenty of sashing in and around all the different sized blocks.  This has to be done and dusted by the end of October, so I'm feeling the pressure!

And my Aurifil Designer of The Month quilt top is taking shape!  I caught up, making July and August's blocks last week.  But of course, now it is September and I need to get that sorted!  I am loving how bright and vibrant each block is, and think that together, it will look amazing!  If you're interested in joining this BOM, I have each block pinned on one of my Pinterest boards HERE.

I'll leave all the other WIP's for another day!

I'm linking up - You can too!

T.G.I.F.F. - This And That

I have achieved quite a lot this week.  I finished off my quilt top for the Sew Kind Of Wonderful Blog Hop (you will have to be patient and wait until my stop on the hop next Friday), got all my bee blocks for QCA Bee #5 up to date, and am now a month ahead AND today whipped up this gorgeous cushion cover for an upcoming showcase at Tilda & Birdie on FB.

When I saw there was a Heather Ross Showcase coming up, I had to put my hand up.  I've been collecting HR for a little while now, and like a good showcase to make me think outside the box.  Well, clearly not too far out of the box - given it's another cushion cover - but colour palette wise, this is different for me!  I cut a gorgeous little charm of Sleeping Beauty from my original Far Far Away linen blend and then worked my way outwards.  I used my 9" Economy Block tutorial for the centre, and then added a couple more borders to bring it up to size.

I love the back of the cushion.  This Briar Rose print is one of the cutest ever!  And I even managed to match the print so well it doesn't look like it has been cut!  There IS a zipper in there :)

I kept the quilting simple.  Nice little straight lines of Aurifil #2024 on the white sections - giving it a gorgeous texture.  The pink print has a little buzzy bee meandering pattern.

And just because it's TGIFF, here are those bee blocks, care of my IG feed.....

Simple little butterfly blocks.

This not-so-simple maze block!  It did my head in for a little bit, but I do love the end result - even if it is rather "busy".  You can find the tutorial for it HERE.

And a very late night pic of the solids block for Carlie.  I'm not a solids kind of girl, and the only two solids I have in my stash that I really actually like were the pink and gold Art Gallery fabrics.  Carlie requested a sampler block.  So I browsed Pinterest and came up with nothing I really loved.  Instead, I started out with Quilt Jane's Nested Churndash, making it up to the 8.5" size, and then added a couple of borders to bring it up to 12.5".  A friend called it a "framed churndash".  Sounds good to me!

Anyway, that's it for this week.  Another busy week ahead.  I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

I'm linking up - You can too!

Catching Up - Block by Block

With all the quilt finishing I have achieved, I have been lacking a little on the bee block side of life!  I did however catch up the week before last.....

QCA Bee #5 - For Rachael.  Her request was for more "sombre" fabrics, but with sparkle?!  I was a little flustered, because A. I don't subscribe to sombre and B. Sparkle with sombre???  Anywho, as usual, my quilty friends came to the rescue and reminded me there were some Botanics prints with sparkle.  And I think the dark green in the range is as sombre as I can get!  I actually quite like the final result.

Another Mondrian block for Kathryn.  She requested the same block last year, so I'm thinking she has one big quilt on her horizon!

And this delightful little circle of geese is for the equally as delightful Gina!  G gave us links to her Colour Inspiration Pinterest board and another with arrows!  I LOVED her colour scheme, and had a wonderful time pulling fabrics.  I'm a little bummed that the third Coral print looks more like the pale pink, but am happy overall with the block.

And last but not least, June's Aurifil Designer of the Month block. I'm loving putting all my Terrain fabrics together for this BOM, and am on the countdown now that I have half the blocks done!  I would show you a photo of all six blocks together, but then I'd have to kill you the photos I took are shocking and now it's too dark to take more!  So you'll all have to hold your breath until July!

That's it for tonight - I'm linking up - You can too!

Sunday Thanks

A very BIG thank you to everyone who has popped in over the past week and taken the time to leave me a comment and enter my 500 Giveaway!  I will never cease to be amazed at the beautiful feedback I receive and the smile it brings to my face!  The winners were drawn via Rafflecopter earlier today and they were:

International - Vera

Australian - Christine M.

Facebook - Merryn

I shall endeavour to get a little parcel in the mail for each of you during this coming week. 

I have had such a lovely weekend at home (No work!!!), catching up with the in-laws last night and friends today - and in between, managed to get the latest month's block whipped up from The Fat Quarter Shop's Mystery Block of The Month program.....

Such a happy little block!  I think I have mentioned in previous posts, I didn't really think the BOM was going to do much for me, in terms of style, but I'm really enjoying making up these little blocks.  Using fabric I would never normally choose, and blocks I would not think to make!  Only a couple more blocks to go and I will have another quilt top ready to rumble!

And on that note - I have a few days at home this week, and I am going to desperately try and get two quilts finished.  One that has been basted and rolled up ready to quilt for a few weeks now (economy block quilt) and the other that requires a backing to be finished so I can complete it (Waterfront Park quilt).  Life is just getting in the way these days!!!

That's it for this Sunday night.  Just a little thank you and a happy little block - that's all you need sometimes!  Ni-night! xxx

T.G.I.F.F. - Small Projects - Large Impact

It's 8.28pm on a Friday night.  I'm frozen to the bones after watching a great grand final of cricket for my son's under 12 team (which they unfortunately lost), in the very chilly weather.  The kids are all in bed, the husband is watching the footy and I'm going to punch this blog post out fast and furious in order to go and park myself in front of the television, to watch some undoubtedly shady episode of crap.

So here goes........  Three small (in size, not time) projects that have a relatively large impact!

First cab off the rank is this gorgeous paper pieced dresden, designed by Quilt Jane.  Jane put out a call for testers last week and I jumped at the chance!  I love me a dresden, and love me some paper piecing - perfect!  I second guessed my fabric selection for this block - choosing some of the Botanics prints - but I like how it turned out.  I was going to make it in to a cushion but just couldn't make a decision, so have left it to the side for now.  This fabulous pattern is now available HERE in Jane's little e-store.  It's a definite must have.

Next up is this awesome paper pieced stationery block.  Jane is the queen in our Wombat Stew paper piecing bee this month - and she wrangled Kristy in to whipping up this delightful block for us all to replicate in one colour scheme each.  I love how it has turned out and look forward to seeing all the various coloured blocks as they come together.  By the way - it IS meant to be a square block - I'm still yet to add the strip of white fabric to the right hand side!  Doh!

And last but certainly not least - today's project was this beautiful linen zippered pouch.  This is what happens when you realise you need a birthday present two days out from said birthday.  It is the first time I've ever worked with linen (it's actually a cotton/linen blend you can buy HERE if you're quick!) and I'm in love!  The lining is a divine yellow feather print from the Flora range.  I also pulled out the teal and yellow Sphere charms I left out of the Baby Blue quilt, and made a teeny little 4.5" star for one side......

And a row of 1" squares for the other.  It's also a first time covering the ends of a zipper.  This zip was the perfect colour to coordinate with the linen, but was a bit too small - so I literally winged it and whacked some of the teal on to the ends and sewed over it, then went on my usual pouch making way and hoped for the best.  Best happened!  I kept to very minimal quilting, with just a couple of echoed rows of stitching around both the star and the rows of squares.  I used Aurifil 50wt #2000 - the most gorgeous creamy gold colour, which co-ordinates beautifully with this fabric!  One of my gorgeous friends saw this on IG and SMS'd me to ask for a tutorial - so I shall try and get to that next week!

In the meantime - I have television to watch!  Ni-night!

I'm linking up - You can too!

All In A Day's Work!

Today was much like every other Saturday - running around from one child's sporting or dancing event to another!  But once I had them all done and dusted, I got down to some sewing.  The first of the month brings the next Aurifil Designer of the Month block!  And this month Pat Sloan interviews Emily Herrick, and shows us the block - "Borders".

I pulled out my stashed bag of Terrain and dug through all the prints to figure out which ones to use.  I'm trying to be very mindful of the fact that I have absolutely no idea what all of the blocks will end up being, so need to spread around all the different colours of the fabric range I've chosen.  So this month, I've gone with the purples and green.  And it's just delicious!  I feel like I want to dive in to it?!!

 

And this is how I'm travelling...... Three down, lots more to go!  If you want to get started on the BOM, head over to my Pinterest board with each month's post.

Once I had that sorted, I delved in to the shelf that houses all my WIP's.  And found all the envelopes with the Fat Quarter Shop Designer Mystery BOM patterns & fabric.  I have been very slack, and was quite behind.  Not anymore!

 

I started off with this cute house designed by Polly Minick & Laurie Simpson.

 

Then feeling like I achieved something fairly quickly, moved on to another little house, designed by Lisa Bongean.

And at around 5pm in the afternoon, decided to tackle another one - this gorgeous star designed by Vanessa Christenson.  That little star in the middle has four of the tiniest little geese I've ever made!  I love it.  I think I'm now only three blocks behind!!  Hoorah!

Needless to say, my children had Two Minute Noodles for dinner!

So today has been a good catch up day!  What did you get up to?

Aurifil Designer Block Of The Month - February

I managed to whip up February's block from the Aurifil Designer block of the month series.  And I love it!  It helps that I adore the fabric I've chosen to use.  Love love love!

 

You can find the February post, and an interview with designer Amy Gibson HERE.

And this is how January and February look together.  You like?  I love!  If you're on Pinterest, I've started a board where I'll add each month's tutorials and my versions HERE.  Come join me!

Are you doing any block of the months in 2014?

Weekly Round up #2 - The Heat Wave Edition

As I sit here with leggings on (don't judge me - my top is covering my arse) and revel in the cool breeze, I can look back on the week that was and say "THANK GOD THAT IS OVER!"  You see, us Melbournians (and a few other parts of Oz) suffered through an exhausting week.  Five days in a row over 40 degrees (104+ farenheit) and we were all pretty much ready to crawl in to a rabbit hole and expire.  Thankfully the husband and I took the plunge a few months ago and invested in refrigerated cooling in the house.  We may be broke, but we were cool.  When inside.  On the few occasions I had to venture out, it was hideous.  Absolutely hideous.

Anyway.

I did manage to make a few things, buy a few things and ponder a few things.  For your viewing pleasure....

I ordered my divine Botanics bundle before Christmas.  And I seriously nearly hyperventilated when they arrived this week!  The colours and textures in the prints are just to die for.

Just because I don't have anything else to do, I decided to jump on board the Aurifil Designer of the month challenge.  Pat Sloan is the hostess with the mostest, and has a fabulous Facebook group! I fluffed around for a few hours trying to decide which fabrics to use, and then stumbled across my much loved Terrain scrap bag.  And that was that.  January's block can be found HERE.  It is a fabulous spool block, and I loved putting it together!  It also reaffirmed how much I love Terrain, and sent me in to a tailspin trying to track down more, so that when I've finished the full year of monthly blocks, I can put a quilt together.  I grabbed a bundle from #thegreatfabricdestash on Instagram.  Oh. My. Lord.  Did you all see that fascinating spectacle???  I swear I wasted at least a couple of hours that day cruising through everyone's destash photos, and freaking out at how big some people's stashes really must be?  Anyway, I also managed to find a fabulous store in NSW for us Aussies, who also has Terrain available, and at a very reasonable sale price!  You can find it HERE.

The freaking out continues as I put together all of my little Chloe's school items.  I was uber impressed with her fabric choice for her library bag!  I was gifted this gorgeous butterfly print from my Tokyo Bff.  Chloe was most impressed with my choice of pink Aurifil thread to free motion her name tag!  Win win!

My search for the perfect bee block continued.  My month as Queen is March, and I wanted to be organised.  I kept coming back to the block that was designed by Kate Spain for the Fat Quarter Shop's mystery BOM.  I made the block a few weeks ago, which you can see HERE.  So I took a leap of faith and emailed Kate last week, asking her permission to use the pattern for my bee.  Got a lovely reply, and went forth to experiment!  Now, if you just saw the original block, you would agree they look COMPLETELY different!  My vision for the bee blocks is for each bee member to choose a colour, and make this block in the different tones radiating outwards, from light to dark.  I wasn't sure if it was going to work, but I am really really happy with how my aqua/blue block turned out!  I spent some time last night searching online for a version of this pattern that isn't on paper.  If you have seen it on the interwebs, please let me know!  It would be far easier to point my bee to an online version, than scanning the paper pattern or re-writing it in PDF form!

And last BUT definitely not least in my week....... I received my Wombat Stew Secret Santa gift!!!!  Yes, it's a little late, but given that my Santa had an international move to contend with over the holidays, I was very patient.  That doesn't mean that when I saw the package in the post box and saw Gemma's name on it, I didn't run, hands flailing in the air, then ripping the parcel open?  No, not me.  What can I say??  Gemma is one of my closest on line friends, and she has made me the most beautiful sewing machine cover ever made!

Every single part of it is divine.  I spent last night staring at the free motion writing on the sides, writing down the words Gemma had shared.  Some of them I have had to write ? because they've disappeared in to the binding, but like a true sleuth, I shall deciper them!

 

This is the INSIDE!?!?!?  WHA??!?!?!!?  As usual, Gemma has managed to incorporate her beautiful free motion quilting in to the project.  Sigh.

Thank you so much Gemma! I absolutely adore my gift, and I look forward to another fabulous year of being a wombat, and getting quilty with you and the other ladies! xxx 

So that's it my friends! In a nutshell. Another weekly round up, because school holidays are still in force. ONLY TEN MORE DAYS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!! I'm off to the beach house (sounds fancy yes?) tomorrow, with the six of us stuffed in to our car, and trailer full of bikes and crap behind us. Five days of relaxing and sitting around. Who am I kidding? Five days of refereeing children at a different location..... I AM looking forward to it! Have a wonderful week, and I will see you all back here next week with another round up! I'm sharing this all over the place, cos I can! You can too!

Weekly Round Up

We are nearly half way through the Summer school holidays here.  And this week - Summer arrived!  We've had a very unseasonally cool few weeks, so we have taken advantage of the sun and heat and spent some time outdoors.  I thought I would share some evidence of such frivolity.....

We don't get to the beach much, it's a minimum 30 minute drive, but one of my best friends lives down near the sea, so we traipsed down there!  It was brilliant!

Chloe received this sprinkler fun set for Christmas.  Now up until a year or so ago, my kids had no idea what a sprinkler was!  You see, for many years we were on water restrictions here in Melbourne, so no sprinklers allowed!  We've had plenty of rain this year - so it's fun for everyone!

My husband plays cricket every Summer.  Yawwwwnnnnnnnnn.  I try really hard to make a concerted effort to get down and watch him every now and then, but really, I have sewing to do.  Anyway, my youngest son goes with his Dad every week, and is sort of like a club mascot.  He has his own club shirt etc, and is water boy for the team.  He takes this very seriously.  I don't.  This photo was taken yesterday, when I took the girls down for an hour or so, and I was laughing at Cadyn's enthusiasm.  God love him.

Anyway, I wanted to show you how I've been spending my time and exhausting myself, and why I haven't been blogging!  So I'm putting all the pretty photos in to one post to display my week of sewing!

I'm taking part in the Sweet Pouch Swap, hosted by the lovely Ros from Sew Delicious.  I've missed out the first two rounds of the swap, so am very excited to be joining in this time round!  I've been partnered up with Barbara from Germany - you have to go and check out her blog HERE.  Click on translate or just enjoy the beautiful photos!  Given the deadline for posting our pouches is the end of this month, and I am working quite a bit and will be going away for a week - I deliberated for a few days on what I would make, and then got it all sorted the other day.

Here's a sneak peak at the finished product.  Now to fill it with sweets!  I will do a big reveal of it once it's arrived in Germany!

The other project I've been working on is my Waterfront park quilt.  I finished another three blocks yesterday and then laid it all out to see what I needed to do colour wise for the remaining blocks.  It did my head in.

But I kept going and got another six blocks finished today!  Phew.

And last but certainly not least - I got my January block done for Fiona in our Wombat Stew paper piecing bee.  Now if you can't figure out what the theme of Fiona's blocks are, I'm in trouble!  This little beast was very fiddly, but I got through it!  It's another fabulous pattern by Kristy at Quiet Play.  All of her Star Wars Lego patterns are free - so head over and check them out!

And that's it.  I'm working the next few days, then have Thursday and Friday off before working all weekend - but am looking forward to then heading down to the beach the following week!  SO much to do - SO little time!

I'll be linking up with a bunch of peeps this week, when their linkies open up!