W.I.P. Wednesday #8

I'm very pleased to bring you this W.I.P.!  Basically because I was getting to the point where I thought I would never get it going, let alone finish it in time - Yes, I have a deadline as it's a gift!

But here it is......

 

This has been the basis of the HST hell I have been sinking in over the past month or so.  But I really got stuck in to in yesterday, and manged to get it all pieced together AND basted - late last night!  Once again, my mathematics, or lack thereof, played a part in how the layout ended up!  Although I managed to get hundreds of HST's done, I had too many colour based ones, and not enough white.  BUT I managed to compromise and cut out a couple of big blue butterfly squares, and then whacked together the pink and yellow fishies to come up with some solid blocks.  I was VERY pleased with myself!

So - the plan is this - tomorrow whilst my youngest is at kinda for 2.5 hours, I will be quilting myself silly, and then hopefully she will allow me the pleasure of binding it later in the afternoon!

Stay tuned!

And just in case you missed my post from the other day, I have teamed up with Patterns Only to bring you the Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle!  18 PDF patterns for only $24.95!  Honestly, you have to go and have a look to see for yourself, the array of patterns is beautiful and the value is outstanding!  I'm planning on making the Commuter Cowl in time for a present on Saturday!  Wish me luck!  You can read all about it and buy the pattern bundle through THIS POST HERE!

PURCHASE YOUR BUNDLE HERE!

 

What are you all working on this week??

I'm linking up with:

Sew Fab e-Pattern Sale 18 PDFs for only $24.95

That’s right, you get 18 PDFs for only $24.95! 

Valued at $139!

Patterns Only and Ms Midge have joined forces with The Southern Institute to bring you this amazing offer ! Purchase this fabulous bundle of 18 PDF ePatterns for only $24.95 here and download them all instantly. You will also go into the draw to win a $20 Gift Voucher to spend on even more PDFs at Patterns Only  and a $20 voucher to spend at Ms Midge ( this is offered to our customers direct from Patterns Only and Ms Midge  ).

Just email us at patternsonly@gmail.com once you have purchased, to let us know you have so we can check your details and put you in the draw )

Scroll down to see all of the patterns you will receive

If you aren’t already, be sure to connect with us on Facebook too, just click on our logos below

                          

Today is the 1st day of the 1st ever Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle Sale and giveaway, sponsored by The Southern Institute and Fat Quarter Shop!

Over the past eight weeks a lot of behind the scenes work has taken place to bring you this amazing bundle of ePatterns from several of the top pattern designers and bloggers in the sewing and blogging world. The result is a bundle of 18 PDF sewing patterns that you don't want to miss.

For one week only, ten pattern designers have come together to bring you 18 of their best PDF patterns, valued together at over $139.00, for the incredible price of $24.95! That's over 80% off of the combined retail value! Plus you can enter to win a dream of a giveaway valued at $390 from some really great shops! For less than $25.00 you will have a library of resources that you can use over and over again. The designers that have joined this sale are experts in their craft. They have been sewing for a very long time and are well known in blogland and elsewhere. Each designer has contributed one or two of their favorite patterns to create a bundle that is sure to please! Whether you are sewing for your own family or making gifts for others, these are patterns that you will love to use. If you've never sewn with a PDF pattern before, let me tell you how great it is! After downloading your pattern instructions and your pattern, you will print out the pattern itself, creating pattern tiles, if you will. Simply tape the tiles together to create the full pattern! At that point you can cut out the size that you need and pin the paper pattern directly to your fabric or you can trace the pattern size that you need onto sewing paper or tissue paper and cut it out, saving the paper pattern for later when you need to sew another size. Pdf patterns are so convenient because you can print them out as many times as you need!

Click here to buy the bundle!

Now let me tell you a little bit about the giveaway!

The Sew Fab Giveaway is amazing! One lucky winner will win a bunch of amazing prizes from Craftsy, Fat Quarter Shop, fabricworm, Jennifer's Jewels Custom Labels on Etsy, Green Bee Patterns, author Deborah Moebes, Mee a Bee, Gussy Sews, I'm Feeling Crafty, and Ball and Chain on Etsy. See the end of the post for giveaway details. This giveaway is not to be missed!

I know you're dying to know "What is included in the pattern bundle?"

18 well-loved ePatterns from 10 well-known designers are instantly accessible to you by PDF download upon purchase of the Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle. Here are the patterns that you will receive (click on the links below to see more details):

Goodship Dress by Circus Wear, Mommy & Mia Apron by Sew Much Ado, Ruby Lou Doll by Sew Much Ado, Mini Maxi Dress by Seamingly Smitten, Miss Mod Top by Seamingly Smitten, Love Your Lunch Box by Ginger Cakes, Modern Folksy Bunny by Ginger Cakes, Banyan Pants & Shorts by Figgy's, Banyan Top & Tunic by Figgy's, Go To Shift Dress by Go To Patterns, Go To Gift Bags by Go To Patterns, Sidekick Suitcase by Sew Fearless, Madeline Dress by Me Sew Crazy, Forget Me Knot Dress by Me Sew Crazy, Alex & Anna Summer PJs by Peekaboo Pattern Shop, Alex & Anna Winter PJs by Peekaboo Pattern Shop, Commuter Cowl by luvinthemommyhood, Scirocco Dress by Figgy's The Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle is only available for one week and will never be available again! You can purchase the bundle from February 4th at 8 a.m. EST through February 11th at 8 a.m. EST and there will be no late sales offered. Due to the nature of the sale there will be no refunds offered.

You don't want to miss this unique opportunity to purchase a ready made collection of 18 PDF sewing patterns from 10 of the best designers out there!

 

And now for The Sew Fab Giveaway!

You are not going to believe the prizes included in this giveaway! Can't buy the bundle? It's okay... purchase is not required to enter. Take a look at what you have the chance to win:

A Sewing Themed Box of Goodies from Pick Your Plum Fabulous Wristlet from Gussy Sews (not necessarily the one pictured) The latest release, Stitch Savvy, by Deborah Moebes Sterling Silver Sewing Machine necklace from Ball and Chain on Etsy $50 Gift Certificate to Fat Quarter Shop $50 Gift Certificate to fabricworm A free online class from Craftsy.com The Scoop Tote Pattern from Green Bee Patterns 60 Custom Tags from Jennifer's Jewels Red Riding Hood Little Girl's Satchel from Mee a Bee Handmade Sewing Machine Cover from I'm Feeling Crafty

YES, ONE WINNER WILL WIN ALL OF THOSE GOODIES!!!

There are lots of chances to win and no purchase required to enter the giveaway. Just use the Rafflecopter widget and enter to win this amazing prize package that will inspire you in your sewing as well as keep you stocked with fabric for many projects to come!

a Rafflecopter giveaway

The Sew Fab e-Pattern Bundle Sale!

Sew Much Inspiration right at your finger tips...

only $24.95!

Get your bundle now!

Graphic design by Andrea Panell.  

                          

Sunday Stash #4

A very exciting edition of Sunday Stash for me today!  I placed an order a couple of weeks ago with an Etsy store I had never used before, basically because they had what I wanted, and once I have in my head what I want - I then need.  So thank you to Westwood Acres on Etsy for making sure my new love was delivered safely and in a timely manner!  Even if Australia Post did then stuff it up and deliver it to a completely different address!  Thankfully someone was looking out and the incorrect address happened to be the ONLY school Mum I know in our newish area!  Hoorah!

So I present to you my fat quarter bundle of Joel Dewberry's Notting Hill.....

Fabric Love, on Flickr

These are my favourites in the range.  The colour palette is sublime. 

Favourites!  On Flickr

Stacks on, on Flickr

I bought this bundle after a few days of consideration.  I would love to make a queen size quilt for our bed, and this my friends will be the starting point!  I have no idea what sort of a pattern I want to use - so suggestions are most welcome!

Love A Freebie! on Flickr

And everyone loves a little freebie yes?  Teeny tiny pre-cut squares - nice!

What's new to your stash?  I'm linking up!

Sunday Stash @ Finding Fifth

PS. Don't forget to check in for ALL details of the

SEW FAB e-pattern bundle sale!

SEW - Some Very Exciting News!

I'm SEW excited to share this awesome and exciting news!  

Ms Midge and Patterns Only are joining forces to bring you a fabulous offer!  For seven days only, February 4th - 11th, a Sew Fab bundle of PDF patterns will be available for only $24.95!!  And you can purchase it right HERE once it goes live!!!  

FULL DETAILS of the sale start and finish times will be posted HERE tomorrow and the patterns you will receive?  Well, you have to wait until Monday for that!  I can tell you that the designers involved are Amaze-balls!  Figgy's Patterns, Go To Patterns, Peek-a-boo Pattern Shop, Seamingly Smitten, One Girl Circus, Sew Much Ado, Luvinthemommyhood, Gingercake, Sew Fearless and Me Sew Crazy!  

Ms Midge and Patterns Only will also be running a give-away for all who purchase the bundle!

Please feel free to share this with all of your crafty friends and family!

Do you love to sew?  I do!!

TGIFF #4 A FMQ Debut!

Just over a week ago, I had this quilt top finished, but wasn't really a "fan" of it!  I kept looking at it and thinking it had no personality.  Then my random visit to Spotlight lead me to finding and purchasing the gorgeous bright, lime green leaf fabric for the binding, and I was egged on to get it finished.  It also helped that a lovely lady was holding a Very Hungry Caterpillar inspired market night on her FB page Lil' Miss!

Once I had this little baby basted, I wondered how on earth I was going to quilt it?  I ended up biting the bullet and googled "free motion quilting".  I found the Oh Frannson! blog, and her posts on "basics" were really helpful.  So I built up some dutch courage and got my Free Motion on!

I was REALLY worried that I would end up with a really bad end result, but was completely thrilled as I made my way around the quilt, firstly in big squiggle shapes (I have no proper terminology here!) to "frame" the beautiful big pictures.

And then moved on to doing some smaller squiggles around the food prints on the top and bottom borders.

But I have to admit - I then got a little carried away!  Free motion quilting, it turns out, is just a tad bit addictive.......I was going to stop there, but couldn't.....

So I've basically squiggled myself silly over the entire quilt, except for the food prints and the big prints on the panel!

To say I'm happy with the end result would be yet another understatement!  I love the way the prints that haven't been attacked by me quilted sort of pop out!  And the binding just brought the whole thing together.

To shake my life up a little, I've actually listed this cot quilt in my MadeIt Store in the hope that someone will fall in love with it and snap it up!  Otherwise, some lucky friend of mine will score it for one of their babies!

And that is ALL I've finished this week - but it's a pretty good one even if I do say so myself!  I'm looking forward to next Friday when I WILL have another quilt finished to show you all! 

Addicted much?

I'm linking up with Quokka Quilts today!

W.I.P. Wednesday #7

My darling children went back to school today!  And Chloe was at creche.  I took the day off work being their first day back and all - so what do you know?  I had the WHOLE day free for uninterrupted sewing! I laid out Chloe's quilt last night, ready to baste this morning, and by 10am - I got cracking!  This quilt is actually much bigger than I had remembered, so I started having a little panic about how the hell I was going to quilt it?  I put some tunes on, and got my pinning on, in an attempt to put the quilting to the back of my mind.  Failed.  Only managed to stab myself once, but got a drop of blood on the quilt!  Suggestions as to how I get that off would be most appreciated.  I had heard of putting your own saliva on it to remove it - but that did not work for me!

About three quarters of the way pinned, and I ran out of pins.  So I jumped in the car and went to TWO local quilting stores - the first one was sold out of pins AND quilting gloves, which I've had recommended to me to use.  But I must put in a mention to this little store - Lilly Patches.  The lady who runs it is just lovely, and we had a great chat - particularly about the vast variety of Aboriginal fabric she stocks, that is traditionally painted, and then made in to fabric in Collingwood, here in Victoria.  So if you're ever in Boronia - pop in there!

I digress.  I headed to the next store to find they had the pins but no gloves.  So off to Coles I went.  Got me some gardening gloves!

The best $4 I've ever spent!

Once home, I asked for some advice in my quilting group, as to how I should quilt this baby?  I ended up going with a meandering pattern - basically just winging it!  Five hours later and I must say - I'm extremely happy with how it turned out!

The back is a lovely light grey.

The gorgeous front!

Close-up squiggles.

Now I just have to find the binding fabric and finish it off!  I've followed THIS tutorial over at Samelia's Mum's Blog.

And the other W.I.P. that I think will be featured for the next few weeks is the Kissing Fish Quilt.  I'm getting somewhere fast slowly on the HST's.......66 down - 44 to go!  Definitely a marathon opposed to a sprint this one!

That's it!  

I'm linking up......

PS. The GIVEAWAY winners were announced this morning - in case you missed it!  Thanks again to everyone for entering!

An Underwear Wrap

It just occurred to me, whilst sitting here looking at the screen blankly, that I failed to write a post about the Underwear Drive, and the end results!  Back in the first week of January (we're almost at February people!!!  How did that even happen?), bushfire season started with way too much of a bang, in the beautiful state of Tasmania.  We had just returned from a week there, we left the day after the fires began, and I entertained the idea of doing another Undies Drive.  I ran one back in 2011 for those affected by the devastating Queensland floods, and thought I would be able to get a box or two together to send to Tassie......

The difference between 2011 and now is that I have a much more viewed FB page, with lots of charitable people it seems!  I set up Events on both my personal and business pages and before I knew it, had parcels arriving on my doorstep, people I had never met before knocking on my door and strangers trusting me enough to deposit cash donations for me to purchase underwear on their behalf.  K-mart became my second home and I became accustomed to strange stares in the underwear department as I filled trolleys and baskets with a varied and interesting array of knickers, socks and bras!

The best plans can sometimes stumble, and when my hope for how it would all be delivered fell through, I went searching.  I found a fabulous page on FB that a lovely gal called Mel had started called  - "Tassie Fires - We Can Help".  I found a post from a lovely lady in Melbourne called Tess, who was taking a 3 tonne truck down on the ship to Tassie, and would be happy to take any Melbourne donations.  I got straight on the phone, and before I knew it, had a way of getting it all there!  I also messaged Mel to find out who I could donate the underwear to, and she pointed me to Foodbank Tasmania.

I was astonished and very proud at the end of the ten day drive to tally everything up.  The Queensland drive delivered just over 400 pieces of underwear.  The Tassie drive?

225 mens jocks, 102 bras, 528 ladies undies & 49 camisoles, 89 pairs boys socks & 6 singlets, 107 pairs mens socks & 6 singlets, 151 pairs ladies socks, stockings, 94 pairs girls socks & 19 singlets, 350 girls undies, 303 boys jocks, 4 schools bags, 6 lunch boxes, 2 drink bottles, 15 hand knitted jumpers & cardi's, 2 bags of school supplies and odds & ends!

That is a ridiculous 2029 pieces of underwear!!!

My house was taken over by bags, boxes and coat hangers.  My kids got used to strangers dropping undies at our door.  And I was overwhelmed with the kindness of people all over our beautiful country!

All the boxes piled up during sorting.

Waiting for more boxes...

All sorted and ready to go!  15 boxes FULL of brand new underwear!

I'm happy to say they were all delivered to Tess on Saturday the 19th of January, and they were to be delivered to Foodbank soon thereafter.

So a big THANK YOU to everyone who participated, spread the word and eagerly helped out!  I'm sure that all the recipients of your generosity would thank you too if given the chance.

And as our country continues to be ravaged by Summer storms, I would urge you to help out a little more if you can.  The Red Cross have appeals set up for bushfires, floods, everything!  You can find details HERE.

On a slightly different but same note, I was just reading over at Edenland, and Eden asked why her readers read her blog?  Amongst other things, Eden gave me a gentle nudge the push I needed to become more charitable last year.  I'm planning to continue.  Do you have plans to be charitable this year?

Ps - Giveaway finishes TONIGHT!