W.I.P. Wednesday #16 - Patience is A Virtue?

Last week I showed you my Bloom Bloom Pow cutting all finished.  It was hard to wait until Friday for the next lot of instructions, but once they were up - I headed straight for the machine!  This quilt along is fabulous, even more so because I have absolutely no idea what I am doing!  I have literally just had to follow the instructions by Lee and cross my fingers.  Another great part of it is the Flickr group, where you get feedback about your progress - including Lee's!  Good to know I'm doing it correctly.....

These were my first two blocks.  It's hard to imagine, but each block gets cut in to triangles and makes up a bloom.  Strange yes?

And after a few hours sewing, this is what all the blooms look like put together!  I seriously could not be any happier with my final fabric selection!

Up close and personal.  Aren't they divine?  I've chosen to make the cot size, however, I'm planning to use the finished quilt top as a bit of a centrepiece, and work outwards to make it single bed size.  My eldest daughter "only" has a rag quilt made by me - so I am hoping to make this work as her "real" quilt.

And this is my other piece to show and tell this week.  It's a big old row of chevrons, to soon be attached to my fly by the seat of my pants quilt. I think I've worked out what I want to do with this quilt.  I want to make it rectangular.  This could be wrong, but I'm just winging it.  So the chevrons will go across the top and bottom of the square.  Watch this space.....


(Apologies for the crap photo, but lighting has been shocking in Melbourne of late!)
I've said it before, this range of Sarah Fielke fabrics are just beautiful.  But as I have mentioned, I am no mathematician, and was two HST's short in width for these rows.  A quick trip to Spotlight fixed that - and you will be impressed to know that is all I bought!  Well, except for some stretch fabric (GASP!) for a little experimenting.

And this is what I made!  Some teeny little harem pants for a little baby boy.  He has hip dysplasia  and is wearing a brace, so his Mummy asked if I could make some pants for him.  They are far from perfect, and I will be the first to say stretch fabric and I are not the best of friends, but hey - they fitted him!

That's all folks.  I'm trying to be very patient waiting for my weekly instalment in the quilt along.  But it's VERY HARD!

I'm linking up with W.I.P.  Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced!

Biting more than Chewing

You know that old saying "biting off more than you can chew"?  I am quite the expert at this.  And despite telling myself every time I am in this muddle that I will not do it again - I do.

So.  This is where I'm presently at.  I have signed up to TWO QAL's.  The Bloom Bloom Pow over at Freshly Pieced and the Texas Teardrop at The Quilting Lodge.  I've managed to completely surprise myself and am up to date with the first.  I have not even managed to think about fabric for the second.  I think I am going to have to shelve it for now, and Pin it for a later date.  I've also signed up for The Fat Quarter Shop Myster BOM, which starts in a couple of months.  I've been looking forward to it since registering earlier this year.  Can't wait.  As long as I have the time!

Still in quilting world, I have my QCA bee #5, which I'm thankfully managing to keep up to date with.  March was my month as Queen Bee and  I've been absolutely thrilled with all the blocks that have arrived so far, only a few more to go and I can think about how I'm going to turn them all in to a quilt.

In very exciting news, I was invited to take part in an awesome paper piecing bee!  I was quite chuffed to think that these fab ladies think I'm up to the challenge, so I've taken it on, and will quietly crap my pants each month that the blocks are chosen!  I've just received my first block today and am laughing myself silly on the inside, but am determined that I will. get. it. done. properly.  Stay tuned.

And in HUGE news, I was approached a few weeks ago to supply an amazing homewares store overseas with cushion covers!  Not my quilted cushions, but some really fun, bright coloured cushion covers that the owner requested after seeing the fabrics I choose to work with over at Ms Midge.  After picking myself up off the floor, I punched some numbers and spat out a wholesale price, which was enthusiastically agreed upon, and last week ordered 75 yards of fabric!  Soon after hitting "finalise purchase", I had a mini heart attack wondering how I would get 120 cushion covers made and sent by the end of May?  I'm happy to say I called on good old Mum, who I am now outsourcing to, to help me in the construction to speed things up.  Soooo, from June, if you're in Bali, pop by Kody & Ko and check out my fancy cushion covers.

As murphy's law would have it - what has been a quiet time in terms of orders for Ms Midge - the same week I signed off on the above deal, I had an influx of orders and enquiries.  I am now madly trying to get myself organised and get all orders done and dusted before my huge fabric order arrives and all hell breaks loose!

Do you ever bite off more than you can chew??

T.G.I.F.F. #14 - What a Week

In a week that has been very busy and hectic, I don't feel like I have much to show!  This is how it went....

Monday, I turned 38.  38!!!!!!  Do you ever say your age out loud and follow it with an expletive?  I  do....  Anyway, in what could have been a rather depressing week, I made the most of it and here are some photos to show you!

Andrew had Uni Monday night (he's on the home straight of finishing his MBA!), so the kids and I travelled 45 minutes to his work and went out to the local shopping centre for my birthday lunch.  They're so cheeky!

Nothing like a birthday photo in the food court!

One of my birthday presents.  Yep.  An iron.  Normally I would not care for this type of birthday present, however after the "rust spots on the paper pieced cushion" fiasco, I was quite chuffed with my gift.

I managed to finish this baby for a showcase over at Hollipop Lane.  Have had this fabric on my shelf for a couple of years now.  Perfect for a Black theme!

I came home from work on Wednesday to find this little package of cuteness waiting for me!  I won a little giveaway from Jenna on IG.

I whipped this up one day this week.....I can't remember when?  It's the March Riley Blake BOM.  I'm still trying to figure out the settings on my iron.....

I felt the sudden urge to sew yesterday afternoon.  So grabbed the gorgeous Kokka LRRH fabric and whipped up a simple skirt.  Then offered it for $20 on Ms Midge!  I'm glad it's heading to a new home.

And finally, today, amidst getting my blooms all started for the Bloom Bloom Pow! QAL, I quickly made this self covered big mumma buttons.  They are for some of the ladies going to the Australasian Quilt Convention next week.  I'm going on Thursday as are a few others from QCA, so we wanted a way to try and recognise eachother amongst the thousands of others.  Let's hope one of these pinned on our chests helps!

Oh, and I also spruced up the blog a little.  Thanks for the handy tips Gemma!

Phew.  I'm tired.  What a week.

On a final note.  I got some sad news this morning.  My Aunty passed away.  I just want to acknowledge her, as she was a voracious and passionate quilter, whom I unfortunately did not get to learn from, as the quilting bug only got me recently.  I can remember when we first moved to Melbourne, visiting her house and thinking "what a mess!"  It's only now that I can appreciate that the mess was actually her quilting love covering her home.  She mostly hand pieced and quilted, and had chests, drawers and beds covered in quilts.  I wish I had spent more time with her.
R.I.P. Aunty Lorna xxx

I'm linking up with T.G.I.F.F. being hosted by Quilt Matters.

W.I.P. #15 - Bloom Bloom Pow!

Another W.I.P. Wednesday on a Thursday - It's Wednesday somewhere in the world!?!

This week saw me embarking on my first ever QAL (quilt along for those who just raised an eyebrow).  I'm joining in with Lee from Freshly Pieced, and making her Bloom Bloom Pow quilt.

It took me much thinking, over thinking and then a bit more thinking to finally decide on which fabrics I would use.  And also which size I would make.  I ended up opting for the Cocoon range by Valori Wells.  It's been sitting on  my shelf waiting for the right project!  I also chose to make the baby size quilt, due to the fact I won't have much time over the next month or so.

The result of a few hours cutting!  I've gone with Cocoon for the big petals, and a whole eclectic mix of prints and plains for the bloom's background.  And this afternoon I'm cutting the white.

Tomorrow, Lee will give us the instructions for piecing - I'm VERY excited!

It's not too late to join in, I've joined a fab Facebook group for some of us taking part, which is great for bouncing ideas around and a good laugh! Let me know if you would like to join in too!

I'm linking up with W.I.P. Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced!

Find Me A Soapbox!!!

I've just been aimlessly wandering around Facebook, you know, checking out what everyone's up to, reading inspirational quotes and looking at cute photos.  And then I see it.  Again. 

The word "retard".

Seriously, what year do we live in?  I could almost understand if we were still in 1485....

But we're not.  It's 2013, and this word has been well and truly outed as a derogatory term used to call people who have disabilities.  The fact that it is still used so widely to put people down, make fun of others AND give shit to people with disabilities makes me really cross.  Yes, I'm cross!

Now, I'm not perfect.  I think we've established that over the years.  However, I am a grown up.  I have grown up to realise that such derogatory terms should not be used.  That with growing up, you learn to use your vocabulary.  Broaden your knowledge and all that.  Apparently this does not happen to everyone?

Maybe I'm a little bit precious about this?  Maybe because I've spent the past 16 years of my life working with people who just happen to be living with intellectual disabilities, I'm a little bit touchy on the subject of derogatory labels?  Maybe.  Or maybe it is just because I'm a human being with empathy.  And common sense.

For God's sake people - start using your brain before you post something on a social media site that could potentially upset or offend your friends.  Think about the fact that you may very well have friends or family who actually have family members living with some type of disability.  And think about how you would feel if you child, sibling or someone you love was being called a "retard".

And yes, I am writing this very hasty and annoyance fuelled blog post because if I didn't, I would be blurting this all out on Facebook, possibly offending others who actually like to call people retards.  How is that right?

Ok.  Stepping down off my soap box.  For now.

Do you have any words or labels that really offend your sensibilities?  Share.

** Disclaimer - I am not saying I don't use labels for people - I use the words Dickhead, Idiot, F*ckwit etc quite often..... But it's generally very warranted!

Sunday Stash #11 - I have a problem....

 You've probably already heard that right?  Well, I'm finally confessing to having a major problem with fabric.  Some may think the problem is that I have too much?  Others may think I don't have enough?  No, no - I'm running out of places to store my fabric!  You would think this would curb my fabric purchasing yes?  No.

I keep filling shopping carts of the online variety, but then remember that the international shipping rates have jumped considerably from the U.S. and I quickly empty the cart.  This makes me sad.  You see, fabric makes me happy.  There.  I said it.  Here is a very good example of how fabric fixes everything.....

Friday just gone, I had a funeral to attend.  It was for one of the most beautiful people I have ever had the privilege of knowing.  I also had the great job of being a carer for her for many years, but her failing health got the better of her, and she passed away quite peacefully around ten days ago.  So Friday was a very big celebration of her life.  It was one of the most gorgeous funerals I have been to.  Her family did a fabulous job of sharing the joy that Tess brought in to the world, for all 49 years she was here.  But as you would know, no matter how wonderful a celebration some funerals can be - they are also incredibly hard to get through, and you feel like you've been through a marathon.

Sooooo, on our way to the wake, my passenger spotted a lovely patchwork shop........  I could probably end the story here, because you probably know how it goes?  I'll tell you anyway!  My passenger just happened to be the same fabric enabler I worked with on Easter weekend, so when she suggested we stop there on the way home, I did not protest.

Patchwork on Central Park is a gorgeous little shop with an amazing range of fabric.  They have an extensive range of Liberty prints (which are always unfortunately out of my budget), lots of organic and Japanese fabric, and two whole walls of big name prints.  I nearly hyperventilated when I saw the sign "50% off for 1m+".  I tried to rationalise that I really did not need more yardage of fabrics.  And started pawing through the fq basket.  That was when I found a LouLouThai fq.  The end was nigh........

I headed straight over to the 50%off shelves and hit the jackpot!  One metre of LouLou left!  Mine!  And then not far away found that gorgeous Tula Pink print!  If you look really close, you will see they are snails.  Here's the punch line - with 50% off, they were $8.25 a metre!  Bingo!  I also grabbed those cute little fq's and fat 8th's.  $27 all up!

Unfortunately there is a reason behind this store selling off all this fabric.  The lovely lady who served us said that the online fabric stores are killing their business.  Which I completely understand.  I really do wish that the import taxes were not so high for Aussies, so they could sell their fabrics at a much cheaper retail price.

Anyway, if you're in Malvern East, Melbourne - pop in and see them!

I took the kids away for a couple of days last week and returned to find this little parcel of Japanese goodness.  I purchased a scrap pack and some fat 8th's from Alyce over at Blossom Heart Quilts!

And today?  Well, I popped back in to Spotlight.  Stupid.  I only went to get some off white homespun.  You see, I've signed up to take part in my first Quilt Along.  It's the Bloom Bloom Pow! quilt along with Freshly Pieced.  I have been giving myself plenty of grief trying to decide which fabrics to use for the quilt, as I didn't have the money at the time to purchase the fabric packs Lee is using.  I've changed my mind several times, but "think" I'm going to use a couple of fq packs of Art Gallery fabrics.  Anyway, their background colour is off white, hence my trip.  Whilst standing at the counter (with the off white and four other bolts whoops) I thought I'd check if I needed anything else for the QAL.  Turns out Lee suggests using a 60 degree triangle ruler.  So I went and found one (25% off yeh!) and grabbed that too.  I seriously have no idea what to do with that baby - but am looking forward to learning something new!

And that is it.  Again.  The good news about this new problem I have?  Well, I think I'm going to destash a whole range of fabrics.  Stay tuned!

I'm linking up with Sunday Stash at Finding Fifth!

T.G.I.F.F. #13 - Paper Pieced

It's that time of the week again - Finished Friday!  I did manage on almighty finish this week, against some odds that left me cursing and almost crying.  I only tried paper piecing (or foundation piecing depending where you come from I guess?) for the first time last month, and it has sort of got me just a little bit hooked.  You can see my other attempts HERE and HERE.  

Last week I had to get my act together and make something for a "no children allowed" showcase over at The Handmade Library.  After umming and ahhing, I decided to go with yet another cushion cover - my "thing" at present it seems!  Who doesn't love a nice cushion cover?  And with Mother's Day coming up, I thought someone may just fall in love with it and grab it for their Mummy.

Anyway, I spotted THIS tutorial by Pitter Putter Stitch on Pinterest, and ran with it.  It was quite interesting to work out that you could in fact just draw up a little square with lines on it, and that it could potentially end up something pretty!

I pulled out my trusty bag of Terrain "scraps", and some white homespun, and off I went!

After a failed first block - not leaving enough seam allowance - the nine blocks came together relatively easily.  "Only" took me about three hours!

And then THIS happened!  I'd sewn all the blocks together and was ready to give it some steam therapy - and my iron had a hissy fit - promptly spitting rust spots on it.  I followed with my own hissy fit......

Thank God for Google!  Dr Google told me to treat the spots with lemon juice and salt, then lay in sunshine.  Well, Melbourne was lacking in sunshine this particular day, so it didn't get much before a wash.  The spots are still there but very much faded!  I believe another treatment will get rid of them fully - but I was on a deadline - so soldiered on!

And this is the finished result!  If you looked at the tutorial, you may notice that I switched the layout around?  So I have white stars instead of coloured.  Well, I wish I could say that was intentional!  Still getting the hang of this paper piecing gig!  But I do like how the white stars Pop!

I did a zippered back, which I am going to try and write a tutorial for sometime soon.  They are really quite easy and look much nicer than your regular envelope finish!

When it came to quilting, I went through my thread collection and found some bright "Signature" brand variegated thread that I was given a while ago.  It's almost rainbow like.  I think it worked beautifully with these Kate Spain prints.  I did the straight line quilting inside the stars and then some loopy free motion quilting around the green border.

Isn't she pretty?

Sooooo, this little beauty is up for sale over at The Handmade Library!  I have popped it up with a little discount for the fact that those little faded spots are still there.  I'm hoping that someone falls in love with it and snaps it up - otherwise someone I know will be getting it as a present!

And that's it - I'm linking up with T.G.I.F.F. over at Quokka Quilts!