Who knew? Not me....

So I've been reading hysteria filled posts for months about the fact that Google Reader is closing down. As I read them, I thought "Hmmm, never heard of it" and wondered for a few seconds each time how I read my blog posts and why it wasn't on Google Reader??

Fast forward to a few days ago, when a lovely reader commented that they couldn't find my Bloglovin' follow button thingy, but added me anyway.  And press that fast forward button again to tonight when I finally mentioned said comment to my friend Alyce over at Blossom Heart Quilts.  She suggested that I should add the button for all the new Bloglovin' fashionistas, and to use her tutorial.  So I did.

And who knew?  Well, clearly not me - apparently all these years I HAVE been using Google Reader - in a round about fashion!  Yep, technologically challenged me figured out by signing up to Bloglovin' that when you follow all your blogs through your Blogger Dashboard, it does in fact link up with Google Reader.  Derrrrrrr.......  And I only found this out when I decided to give the "Import Blogs" button a crack.  And 334 blogs a following imported for me.  Ummmmm......

So here you have it friends - 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

I'm working on adding the goddamn button!

xxxx

W.I.P. Wednesday #22 - Quickie x 2

A very quick W.I.P. Wednesday post tonight - which is fitting given the speed in which these two projects are coming together!

A couple of weeks ago, a friend showed me a quilt her Step-Mum made for her when she was 12.  It had certainly seen better days - well, it was 20+ years old, so many a day seen!  Her eldest son had loved it literally to death, and it was falling apart and really on death's door.  So she asked me if I could make a new one.  Well, two new ones - because she knew once the nine year old had a new quilt, the five year old would want one too!  I was more than happy to oblige, and the only guide she gave me was to make them boyish colours, but not babyish prints, as she wants these quilts to last them into adulthood.

The first one I used a fat quarter bundle of Art Gallery - Urban Mod.  I had this cut out, pieced together and ready to baste by the end of day one.  And quilted it this morning.  Binding will go on tomorrow!

And the second I cut out and starting piecing together after lunch today.  It's another Art Gallery range - Indian Summer.  I quite simply cannot believe how bloody quickly these disappearing nine patch blocks go together!  I wanted something relatively quick and easy, and the gang at QCA were great when I questioned in there the other day!  So given that I still have tomorrow and Friday off work - I am aiming to have both of these bad boys finished by the weekend!

I'm linking up with W.I.P. Wednesday with Freshly Pieced - you can too!

Kate Spain Blog Hop - Stopping Here Today!

Last week, I wrote about my love for Kate Spain in THIS POST, today I'm showing you my latest project using a gorgeous little FQ bundle of Cuzco!  I finished this a couple of weeks ago, so it has been very difficult for me to keep it to myself, waiting for my turn on the Kate Spain Blog Hop!  I hope you've been keeping up with the hop over at Blossom Heart Quilts?  You can find all the dates HERE.

So - what did I make?  Well, I bought myself a whizz bang new camera a few weeks ago, and at the same time, bought a generic black camera bag from the same store.  And kept the tags on.  Because I really didn't like it.  And I really didn't want to pay a million dollars $150 for the only store bought camera bag I saw and thought was ok.  So then began a Pinterest search to rival no other!  I was determined to make my own goddamn camera bag!

Many days of searching and second guessing myself later, I found the Sew Sweetness Paparazzi camera bag pattern.  And it was $8 well spent!  I made a trip to my local Clark Rubber store and bought some foam for the padding and then took to my beloved Cuzco with gusto!

And this my friends, is the end result........

I love, love, love it!  I mixed the Cuzco with some lightweight denim I had in my shelves, and added some quilting to the handles and trim, as well as the side/bottom panel.

I found a gorgeous blue zipper to pop in the back and surprised myself with a new way of inserting a zip!

The side panels of the bag have one inch foam padding, and then there are removable foam padding inserts in the base of the bag and also to put between your camera and accessories.  The pattern calls for rows of velcro to be sewn on the inside of the bag, and also on the edges of the padding.  However - after sewing one row on, I decided against the velcro.  I'm still trying to work out how to make the padding work for me!

The pattern also gives you directions for using hidden magnetic closures, but I chose to use my good old handy snap machine with some co-ordinating blue snaps.  

And just to make sure it was a great functional bag - this beauty has just travelled all the way to Fiji and back!  Not only did it carry my camera and accessories - it also served as my handbag/travel bag!  So I think I can safely say it's great!

What I love most about this bag is the bright and bold colours.  I loved that each time I opened it up to get something out, I was greeted with those vibrant oranges and pinks.  Needless to say, the generic black camera bag was returned for a refund, and no million dollars spent.  Instead I have this one of a kind, unique bag which cost me around $35 to make!  Winner!

Thanks again to Alyce over at Blossom Heart Quilts for running this amazing Blog Hop!  I'm loving visiting all the blogs involved and drooling over all the fabulous Kate Spain inspired projects!  Be sure to link up any new projects you have made this month using Kate Spain fabric lines on the 28th of June.  I know I will be!

A Kate Spain Homage!

Today is the day of the Kate Spain Blog Hop - over at Blossom Heart Quilts - where everyone can link up their favourite kate Spain projects!  I have sat here looking through photos and really just could not choose one favourite......so here is my homage of sorts to my love for Kate's fabrics, and how it sort of began......

When I started out sewing little one's clothing for my Ms Midge business, I soon realised there was a whole world of fabric out there that I just had no clue about.  It's probably a realisation that my husband wishes I had not found, however, it has lead me to the hobby he always said I needed (he may regret saying I needed a hobby too).

Anyway, I think the third delivery of fabric from overseas was the entire collection of Terrain.  From that I made a multitude of little outfits, and not long in to it was asked to provide some photos to an online magazine called "Tiny & Little".  I was absolutely freakin thrilled!! So I called on my friend Gina from Gina Ralli Photography, who very kindly popped over and took some amazing pictures for me.  THIS is where my Kate Spain love came to life.....

I continued on my merry way, making clothing, not realising that a year or two later, I would be completely obsessed and somewhat addicted to quilting.  Thankfully, I chose to bag up all the "scraps" of Terrain and put them aside.  When the quilting bug bit, I found out that you should NEVER throw out scraps, because one woman's scraps is another woman's - or man's - treasure!

            So earlier this year, this bag of scrappage was cracked open for a number of projects.......

The first being this paper pieced cushion for my teenage god-daughter.  I LOVE the way the Terrain bounces off the black background!  She loves it too.  You can see my post about it HERE.

Next cab off the rank was this paper pieced cushion, which now belongs to my Mum.  I was so glad that I had about a yard or so of the green print amongst my scraps - it's gone a long way!  You can see my post about it HERE.

Terrain has also been used in some of my bee blocks for others, as well as the block I popped in my own month of being Queen Bee!  It's like the fabric that just keeps giving!  I have plans for the rest of my stash.....

When I went searching for fabric for my purple loving four year old, I fell in love with Good Fortune!  The colours are sublime, and whilst you wouldn't think some of the colours would naturally go together, they do!  You can read my post about this quilt HERE.

And finally - I have just finished making my project for this Blog Hop just last week!  I've used this gorgeous little bundle of Cuzco.  I'm not showing you the finished project - for obvious reasons!  You will have to come back here to my blog on the 19th of June - when it's my turn as host for the Hop!

Make sure you have all the dates for the blog hop in your calendar - you don't want to miss out!

I'm linking up with the Kate Spain Blog Hop - you can too!

Queen Bee Finish!

I joined my first ever quilting bee this year, with a bunch of lovely ladies from Quilt Club Australia.  Our official name is QCA Bee #5 - very technical!  But that just goes to show how many people are involved in Bee's from the Mother QCA group!  Anywho - March was declared my month as Queen Bee!  It took me what I thought was forever to decide on which block I would like made for me, but once the decision was made - it was onwards and upwards!  I chose the Scrapbuster blocks which you can find HERE.

I debated whether to go with a white background or grey - and in the end, grey won out!  So without further ado, here is my latest finish - my Queen Bee quilt!

I was sitting upstairs this afternoon and looked out to see amazing afternoon sunlight so ran downstairs and grabbed my new camera (loving. it. sick.) and threw the quilt on the grass!  Sensational!

As you can see - I took the whole scrappy look right to the end!  I grabbed a whole bunch of left over binding from previous quilts, as well as long pieces of scrap fabric to make up the scrappy borders.  LOVE the end result!

The blocks were to be 12.5" finished, however half of them were closer to 12" so I made the hard decision to cut them all down to 12".  It make some of the teeny little pieces even teenier, but still oh so pretty.

I sat out on my lounge last night watching tv with this beauty on my lap.  Yep - this quilt is for me!  One of the great things is looking at all the tiny little pieces of fabric and wondering how they came to be other people's scraps.  There's one whole block of batiks - nice bright ones!  Then there's a block made all from one range of fabrics. But mostly, they are all a bit of a hodge-podge of fabrics, united to form beautiful little pieces of art.

The backing I chose a while ago.  It's an Anna Maria Horner print and is a divine pinky/red.  What I didn't realise was that it was a directional print of trees.  So I have it running sideways!  Which you can't really see in the photo below.

I actually took the time to try and join the print so that you couldn't notice it was joined.  And I was very pleased with myself!  It's only when you look really closely that you can see the join.

I used my trusty Aurifil silver/grey to do a simple loopy pattern.  I didn't want to take away from the actual blocks.

And this is where it now lives.  Draped over the lounge.  It will be the most loved and used quilt in our home.  For now anyway!

So that would be finish number eight for this year!

I'm linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday - you can too!

Sunday Stash #17 - Short & Sweet

I don't have much for you here today!  Just one teeny little fq addition to the stash......

Some lurvely Tula Pink!  And yes, it's in a snap lock bag!  You see, a couple of months ago, I popped up a photo in one of my Sunday Stash posts of some amazing Art Gallery bundles.  And the divine Molli Sparkles took first dibs on any scraps of one particular print that may need re-homing!  I went one better and said I would be happy to do a swap.  So by virtual organisation, we managed that very swap this past week.

This post is short and sweet - much like myself.  I won't be around much over the next week - for tonight I am off on a jet plane!  All the way to Fiji - jealous much?  Well, the husband and I never had a honeymoon almost ten years ago - so we deserve it!  I have scheduled a couple of posts whilst I'm away, but otherwise, I will see you back here will a gazillion photos of Fiji!  Have a fabulous week xxxx

I'm linking up with Sunday Stash over at Finding Fifth - you can too!

Sunday Stash #16 - The one where I have no idea when I bought fabric that arrived!

Yes, that seriously did happen!  I went to my mailbox earlier this week to be greeted by a package from a business I did not recognise.  And upon opening said package I found this gorgeous Kaufman chevron print!  About a yard of it!  And I still, even after doing some investigating, cannot for the life of me remember purchasing it!  Oh well, I shall make good use of it!

 

This next  delivery was very exciting - and I remembered buying it!  I've said it an earlier Sunday Stash post that I have been re-collecting Wrenly prints ever since I realised that I should not have sent all my scraps packing back in my "quilting is too fiddly and I will never do it" stage.  I nabbed myself two yards of this beautiful dandelion print!

 

And last but certainly not least - this very exciting delivery!  I won a fat quarter pack of Bari J's Bijoux from her on Instagram!!  I nearly fell over when I saw I had been tagged in her winning post!  And I apologise for the photo, but I am typing this post very quickly before heading out to the footy, so haven't had time to re-photograph it!  But I can assure you it's DIVINE!

That's it!  I'm linking up with Sunday Stash over at Finding Fifth!  You can too!