Gone Aussie Quilting

Did Someone Say Swoon???

2012-01-27T17:34:00.001+11:00

Ummm, yes, I am so a joiner lately. Today I decided I would Swoon Along just because everyone else is!!! Haha. I decided that I am going to make a swoon quilt using my beloved daisy fabrics by Suzuko Koseki while they are still my favorite fabrics--no sitting on the shelf just looking pretty for these fabrics! I decided I would go with plain fabrics (Kona White and Coal) and leave the daisies as the feature in this quilt. If you would like to check out the other Swooners look here.

The Flying Geese Quilt---5 Years Later...

2012-01-22T16:36:00.000+11:00

This is the quilt that I mentioned in my last post that I managed to quilt this past week. This is one that I posted about way back in 2007!!! Look here to read. That's a long time waiting to get finished! The funny thing is that I really was not even motivated to quilt it at all because of the piecing of this quilt. It was one of my first quilts and I think only the second top I completed here? I was always disturbed by the border and nearly took the whole thing off at one stage. Then last week I figured I would just quilt it and then cut some of the border away to stop it from overtaking the quilt. In the end, because I had been looking at what one of my customers did to finish her quilt by scalloping it, I thought this would be a good opportunity to try this technique out. It was a bit more fiddly--especially in the fact that I had to make the binding biased, plus I had no idea how long I needed to make it to be enough for the curves. I just decided to make it really long and hope that would be enough. So, after all that, I love this quilt! I love the Japanese indigos, the colors and especially the quilting!!! Those butterflies were very very fun, even though they took a long time to stitch out!! By the way, if you are still interested in my special long arm quilting price (until the end of the month) you should contact me soon because the 2$ price will move to a permanent $2.50 per square foot. thequiltingplatypus(at)gmail(dot)com I have a catalog of patterns that I can direct you to online.

Anyway, I am quite please with how this turned out and just goes to show that you never know until the last stitch is stitched whether or not you will really love or not love a quilt... My husband loves it even with the girly colors:)

Free Form Blocks

2012-01-22T11:42:00.000+11:00

Sorry about the whinge in the last post, I feel better now. Thank you for all who left nice encouraging comments. Sometimes I need to let myself feel down and express these feelings so that I can get up the energy up to do something about it!! Haha, so I got on the phone and rang some friends up. I crashed a party of my old book club friends, who welcomed me heartily and oh how good it felt to have some lengthy conversations about philosophy, books, art, life, etc. These are the things that fuel us and make life sparkle again. I also spent some time with my local quilting ladies, who are always encouraging.

As far as farm life goes we shear lambs next week, but after that things will slow down. I don't mean to leave the impression that life of the farm is not good, it is and I wouldn't chose to be anywhere else. It's that it is different than the life I grew up with and it does take adjusting to get used to. Attitudes are different here and it takes a while to figure it all out--why things are the way they are and how to get along with it all. Quilting has been a wonderful thing for me to do here. It gives me the opportunity to focus on something other than the daily life. I find that because of my interest in quilting I seem to get along with the rural life much better than some other farmer's wives who are imported from urban environments (there are a lot of us as many country Australian females flee to the cities instead of marrying the local farmers;0 ).

Anyway, my tooth had dry socket, which I can tell you is less painful than trigeminal neuralgia or childbirth but still painful nonetheless. I drove back to the dentist on Friday to get it dressed and now am about 20% better. Thank goodness for Ibuprofin and clove oil as well.

I haven't gotten too much sewing done this week other than long arm quilting for customers. I did finish quilting one of my own though and am working on sewing the binding on that one today! I also did my two blocks for the Orange and Aqua Bee. I love that we were able to do free form piecing on these. Once I get started doing free form I realize how much I enjoy it. One day soon I will make a quilt for myself all free form. I've got an idea in my mind to use my Japanese fabrics for this idea, but I'm not exactly sure how I will execute it. Need to think on that one...

Reminder--What Makes Me Happy!

2012-01-17T19:56:00.000+11:00

Oliver Helping Mom on the Computer


Alexander getting ready to go to Grandma's on Boxing Day with his new wagon.

Oh, I've had one of those weeks where I'm just feeling like nothing is going right!! One thing after another--even though they are all pretty much small things, it's wearing me down slowly. Hmmm... Come on 2012!! I think I've been feeling a bit isolated here at the moment and all my friends seem to be away or MIA at the moment. I also just got my wisdom tooth pulled out on Monday, which involved a lot more than I was expecting. Plus, I would Really love for things to slow down with the farm work load. My husband has been working every day since August and with the summer hours he does not come home until dark. It's dragging on and on with one thing after another. Usually he has some time in January and he'll spend the hot afternoons watching a little of the Australian Open on t.v. and relax. He's so tired, I'm so tired that we just want to curl up and sleep for the next month. In saying that though, he did say yesterday that he intends to make February home month, which means he intends to work on all the jobs around the house like the painting and cleaning up from the building that has not happened for the last year and a half! We just have not been able to organize such events with the boys and the farm and everything that needs to be done on a constant basis. At least if he is home we will get to see more of him!

I often read posts from friends on Facebook that are busy enjoying "date night" with their husbands. No such luxury here. Living so rurally, there is no one here that we can get to watch the boys at night--maybe soon when they are just a little bit older and not so much is involved. But then, where would we go? There is no where to actually go out on a date. Hmmm. Another one of those adjusting to life in the country when you are from an urban environment. So, it has been over three years since we have eaten out in a restaurant. Forget taking our kids out that would be a nightmare I don't want to imagine. Instead we have had every meal at home, which means every meal must be cooked, all dishes must be washed, no breaks, no Sundays off, every day, day in and day out.

I miss getting together with friends and having people to share experiences with and to have conversations/ discussions. I started this blog years ago to help me deal with living rurally. I wanted to be able to connect with people and friends back home, but I never really break out of my shell. I'm still very much reserved in what I express even here. I am like that in real life too. I let others talk, I listen, I ask questions, but I fail to share much about myself. I have a lot I could share with people, but I often feel that I don't want to interfere in other people's lives. Don't know why, just always felt a bit like a lone wolf character without a 'pack'. I really do want to get to know people, it's just hard for me to keep up sometimes.

Anyway, there goes the phone, my husband calling to tell me that he won't be back until after nine tonight as he needs to get a bull organized to get picked up in the morning. Ongoing, please tell me when it ends???

On the other hand, the main thing I want to focus on is what makes me happy. Not that I really need a reminder, my boys are my angels that give me joy all through the day every day. Yesterday, when I was feeling a bit down (major wisdom tooth pain mainly) Alexander grabbed my cheeks and said, "mama, I love you--I love you all the time." This is from a not quite 3 year old! He really knows how to make his mama happy. My husband said to me, "I love you with all my heart." The thing is he is not a man that believes in lip service so he really does mean it. I have everything, although I do miss my mom, I wish she would come and visit us again;0 Reading this mom??

Dang teeth, make me all reflective and soppy. I think "wisdom" teeth means we don't gain the wisdom until we get them all out. I've got one left. I wasn't wise enough to listen to my dentist and get them all taken out at once when I was 19! LOL.

Daisies-Suzuko Koseki

2012-01-15T19:31:00.001+11:00

Not much to say other than you're looking at my favorite fabrics on the planet.... Mmmm....YUM!

A Few Finishes

2012-01-15T07:53:00.000+11:00

Yesterday I managed to take a couple of pictures of some finished quilts after I sewed down the bindings and washed them finally!! The top photo is of a bento box quilt I started way back in 2006 or 2007?? I bought them online and had them to Michigan while I was visiting home. I felt like I had discovered a gold mine when Joel Dewberry came out with his first fabric line. I remember telling one of my fabric stores back in Michigan that she should stock his fabrics (she had a more modern style shop) and that they would be a big hit! She had never heard of him. Ok, it's crazy, but I haven't been back home since that trip so I wonder what her shop looks like today. I'm sure she's heard of him by now. I just remember the pure thrill of first seeing that fabric in person. Oh my!! And now it's a quilt--finally. I am sending this one to my dad. I really love the bamboo leaves quilting pattern that I used--it suits the quilt well.

The second quilt is also one started long long time ago. It's from a Moda line called Climbing Jacob's Ladder. So, of course I felt inspired to use the fabrics to make a Climbing Jacob's Ladder design. The quilt looks civil war, but I really do like it. I love the pop of blue! My husband likes this quilt a lot so I believe since it has no specific home that it will stay with us for a while. I quilted this one with an all over feather design--this was only the second quilt I did on the long arm, but I didn't have any issues luckily.

Mosaic Swap Blocks

2012-01-14T14:00:00.000+11:00

One of the things I did in the New Year is sign up for another quilting bee. This one is all about making mosaic blocks each month. I love this bee because about 5 months ago I was particularly looking and wishing for a bee like this one. Thank you Yolanda for creating this one!! The best part of it is that we use our own scraps to make up the blocks in the colors the person wishes--only one way postage! This month was quite free as we could chose any rainbow color we liked but were instructed to use only monochromatic prints. My cup of tea!! My choices were purple and red...

What's on the Long Arm Today

2012-01-12T12:54:00.000+11:00

This week has been slow with new quilts--only had two to do on Tuesday so I've been working on some of my own again this week. This is a 30's style quilt that I did ages and ages ago. It's 106 inches square, so I am really glad now that I waited until I had the long arm to tackle this job! It's amazing how our tastes change, isn't it? Still, I think I did a good job with the piecing on this one--it took me quite a long time to do!! I'm still debating on what I will do for the binding--should I use the green fabric or find some other 30's fabric to use or something else all together?

The Tumbler Party

2012-01-03T19:50:00.001+11:00

Ok, I think I must really try and stay away from Flickr a bit more. I ended up finding out about The Tumbler Party this afternoon and just couldn't resist joining in. The gist of it is that we send in 12 fat quarters in turquoise, yellow and grey and Yolanda cuts them up for us into tumblers and sends them back to us. I've wanted to make a tumbler quilt for a while now and I am completely in love with this color combination. To me it a like a modern twist on the good old blue and yellow combination. These were my choices to send in...

My Turn for Bee Blocks

2012-01-01T16:17:00.000+11:00

January is my month for the Sew Australia Bee. February is my turn for the the Aqua and Orange Bee, so I decided that I will combine the two bees into one quilt. I have always loved the look of Spiderweb quilts but previously was intimidated to make one as it seemed more involved than it really is. My goal with this quilt will be to really try and bust my scrap bins--at least in the orange and aqua department. So far so good. I've got January's blocks all set to mail out and now need to get February's ready to go as well. It will be so fun to have blocks coming to me for a change!

If anyone is curious how to make one for yourself, I used this tutorial here.

Happy New Year Everyone!!

A Quilt for my Sister-In-Law

2011-12-31T21:09:00.000+11:00

This was the only quilt that I managed to get the binding sewn down to give away as a Christmas gift this year. This one was a gift for my sister-in-law. I didn't get as good a photo as I would have liked due to my hurry to get it wrapped up and under the tree in time for Christmas. For some reason, whenever I finish a quilt and lay it out to take a photo the boys decide that they want to jump all over the "new" quilt. Alexander generally smooths his hands over them and says, "I like it, I like it". Hmmm... Already he knows just what to say to make his mama happy. Ollie generally does a little dance over the new quilt and then promptly lays down on it. Anyone that has ever had a cat could relate that it is something like pulling fresh laundry out of the dryer and folding it in nice stacks. A cat will always show up when there is new fresh laundry to lie on.
I didn't get to show a close up of the quilting, but it does look nice, trust me. This quilt was started several years ago and anyone that recognizes the fabric or the design has probably been quilting for at least a few years now:)
I also want to mention that I have decided to continue with my long arm edge to edge special quilt pricing through the month of January as I have not had much time to advertise this month. That is $2.00/square foot!!! Please email me at: thequiltingplatypus (at) gmail.com for more details...

Some Quilting Highlights of 2011

2011-12-30T09:58:00.001+11:00

Today I thought I would post a little bit of my quilting highlights of the last year. I wrote these goals last January:

1. I would like to start using solids in my work a lot more.
2. I want to check out Jean Wells newest book and have a go at creating an artistic quilt, I especially am interested in quilting in different color threads.
3. I want to try doing some more applique in my quilts---like in my Birds of a Feather quilt...
4. I plan to do a lot more free motion quilting in the next year.
5. And now that I am more confident in free motion quilting I plan to finish many many more of my quilt tops over the next year.

I had also added that I wanted to blog a lot more than I have in previous years and break out of my shell a bit more. I definitely have blogged more, breaking out of my shell, well, a little bit--maybe in a different way than I had expected to. This year I got involved in online Bees and Swaps and that for me was breaking out of my shell. I did use solids a lot more this past year, in particular I took part in the For the Love of Solids Swap. I did purchase Jean Wells's book and did some more free sort of piecing, but have not yet pursued what I really had in mind when I wrote that post. The applique thing never really happened this year either. I did one wall hanging that was a mini of my Birds of a Feather quilt, but that is all. What really took over for me instead was paper piecing, which I hadn't tried previously. I did do a lot of free motion quilting though! I finished many quilts and on top of all that I started my long arm quilting business! Actually, looking back, I didn't expect to do so much in one year--especially when my days are so filled with the boys, but I did! I will write a new list of goals in the New Year...

Blogger's Choice Fabric Bundle

2011-12-29T16:48:00.001+11:00

Well, simply because I couldn't resist playing around with potential fabric combinations, I decided to enter the contest currently being offered here at Quokka Quilts. It's the create your own bundle Blogger's Choice from the Fat Quarter Shop, My choices were based on my most recent color obsession (burgundy purple and aqua) that was particularly inspired by the summer heat wave we've got going on here at the moment--I couldn't resist adding the watermelon color to go with the heat... So, if I were to choose an inspiration fabric bundle right now, this would be it!

It's Christmas Eve!!!

2011-12-24T18:09:00.000+11:00

These are what I made for Christmas presents for everyone. Ruby Star Rising tea towels in sets of 6.

I guess there is excitement in the air with anticipation of Christmas!

I couldn't resist doing up this picture. He looks so old timey in this pose.

Happy to go to sleep! Does he really understand that it's Christmas tomorrow?

Various Bee Blocks

2011-12-22T09:18:00.000+11:00

For Aqua and Orange Bee October--We were to make something random with the fabrics she provided. I love how they turned out and plan to make a whole quilt like this one day.

Aqua and Orange Bee October Block 2

For Alissa for November's Sew Australia Bee Block 1

For Alissa Sew Australia Bee November Block 2

Piece Bee With You Bee November Block 1

Piece Bee With You Bee November. I was running late so I made an extra block to make up for it.

Aqua and Orange Bee November

I haven't posted any of my Bee Blocks lately, so I thought I would post them altogether in one post. Two of these I was a little bit late getting out, but not too late. Feels good to be all caught up and ready for the New Year. January is my first time for it to by "my" month in a Bee! I'm still debating, but I am fairly certain that I am going to do a Spiderweb block. I haven't made one before and I have always loved the look of them. I will need to get that organized (after Christmas!).

Last night I managed to wrap most of the presents, which only took until 11pm. That coupled with getting up at 5am with the boys and their constant bouncing around all day, I'm feeling fairly exhausted. My husband and I were talking/dreaming of just putting them in a gigantic hamster ball and letting them roll around in them all day, but then we decided that even that would probably not wear them out enough to sit still for two minutes. Are all small boys like this? Oliver goes walking with his grandma on occasion around the farm and can walk up and down the hills around the farm without pausing for more than 2 hours, he wears her out completely -- she is always the first one to stop. I am looking forward to seeing what they think of Christmas this year, this is the first year that Alexander is really getting excited about it. More preparations today, I think I need to do a little bit of baking...

Oliver and the Long Grass

2011-12-20T19:21:00.000+11:00

I just couldn't resist posting some pictures of my baby boy going around the farm with his dad...

Stack of Quilts!

2011-12-17T15:27:00.000+11:00

I have not posted lately mainly due to issues with my internet connection. It has been slowing down more and more over the last weeks (months really) and finally went completely dead last week. A new modem has got it back up and running, but still it is running slow and dropping out on me. Ugghh! I love living in country Australia, but poor internet and bad service in general is not one of the reasons why!

On a positive note however, I stopped by at my local fabric store (not a big proper quilt store by any means) and after having done a free baby quilt for her to show as a sample in her shop, she had a stack of customer quilts for me ready to quilt! I haven't even started really advertising yet, so this is fun! It will also help pay for a huge thread order I made the other day as well... I am really moving along with the long arm and it has been really exciting and fun to work on customer quilts. I really get a thrill seeing what other people have made and working on their quilts!

And, if you have been following my blog for any length of time you'll know that I have had plenty (!) of quilt tops ready to be quilted in preparation for the arrival of the long arm. Well, I am getting those gradually quilted as you can see in the photo above. However, before I can show each one to you, they need to get bound--only two in that stack have been bound and finished. Hopefully I will keep up!

We Interrupt the Regularly Scheduled Program to Bring You...

2011-12-05T09:07:00.002+11:00

We interrupt the regularly scheduled program to bring you... Ok, so I've been busy with the long arm doing customer quilts, shop samples and quilting up a few of my own in between! It's been humming away at a regular pace--I'm still taking in quilt tops at just 2$ per square foot this month, so take advantage if you would like! I've decided that I won't add photos of customer quilts as to take so many pictures would be a big job. Also, I would have to ask permission for each one and although I am doing the quilting, it's not really my work. I want to keep this blog as a documentation of my own quilting journey as much as possible.

I did feel compelled to put this quilt top onto the machine yesterday and quilt it out (I used an Anne Bright pattern called Square Dance). I love the new Echo line by Lotta Jansdotter. It's so fresh and modern. I never thought that I would ever do a turning twenty style (I didn't have a pattern) quilt as the piecing is so simple, but I just couldn't cut these fabrics up any further. I really felt that this was the perfect way to display these fabrics. Simple and large. Now I just need to bind this and it will be heading off to be a Christmas present for someone in the States... I hope they like it as much as I do!

Some Long Arm Action Shots

2011-11-27T14:10:00.000+11:00

Because my family have been asking to see some pictures of the long arm machine, I finally got some action shots taken today. As you can see, it fills up the room quite nicely. This particular quilt is one of my own done ages ago that I am finishing up to give to a friend of mine. It's 107 inches square and will probably take the entire day to stitch out...

Second Customer Quilt!

2011-11-25T10:50:00.000+11:00

Yay for another customer finish!! Actually, this is another free quilt done for one of my guild ladies. She happens to be one of the nicest ladies, very generous and friendly to me since I arrived in Australia so I was particularly pleased that my quilting turned out so well on her quilt. She didn't know who this quilt would be for and wanted the ability to keep it masculine enough for a male so I chose an allover fern design. I thought this was also fitting in that she is a member of the local garden club so hopefully it suits her as well. I really like it and feel I did a good job with it, I can't wait to deliver it to her on Tuesday. I know she will be pleased!
I am up for working on some more tops if anyone out there wants to send them to me!!! I am only going to be offering edge to edge all over quilting for at least the next year or so because I am confident I can do a good job with that. And, I am starting out with a very low rate too---all the quilts tops I receive before the New Year I am offering to do for you for just $2.00 per square foot. Email me at thequiltingplatypus(at)gmail(dot)com if you are interested. I'm likely to be fast too as I am just itching to get quilting:)
By the way, Happy Thanksgiving! We are in the middle of shearing and when that is all over next week we will have our celebration as well!!!

The Charity Quilt

2011-11-22T18:22:00.000+11:00

So, in my last post I talked about the quilting group ladies that I used to sew with on a regular basis (before I had the boys) and I wanted to tell you a little bit about the history of this quilt and why it has to do with them. When I first arrived in Australia nearly 6 years ago now, (!!!!) I had been quilting for only about a year while I was still living in the States. I didn't have much of a fabric stash and most of what I had was still in Michigan. I was itching to sew but had little to sew with and no quilt shops close by. Ha! Imagine that, no stash!! The ladies at the quilting group had a cupboard of community fabric that anyone could use and they kindly offered me the use of whatever I wanted. In addition, my mother-in-law also let me go through her fabric trunk from the days when she used to sew clothes for her own kids. So, that is how this quilt came to life. I got the inspiration from one of Kaffe Fassett's earlier quilting books for the pattern. This quilt is probably full of a mixture of polys and cottons and whatever else I have no idea. I wouldn't normally do this, but I also felt that everyone should try a true scrap quilt at some point and so I just went for it. It somehow developed a nautical theme along the way with the anchor fabric I had from my MIL. So, anyway, it has also served me to be one of my first practice quilts on the long arm. I thought the anchor pattern fit perfectly for it.

Now, I have given it back to the ladies in my quilting group to use for the local show as a raffle quilt. Every two years they have a quilt show to raise money for the local old age home. I hope that by adding my quilt as a raffle they might make a few extra dollars for the cause. It felt like the right purpose for the quilt as the fabric started from there in the first place! I actually do like this quilt a lot even though it is a mixture of polyester and cotton, old shirts, etc. I hope someone enjoys it as much as I do.

First Customer Quilt

2011-11-22T14:19:00.001+11:00

So, I have to tell you that I have plenty to share with you over the next few weeks or so. I've already started quilting my 7th quilt, five of my own and two as my first customer quilts. I am trying to sew down bindings as fast as I can so that I can show you all my finished quilts, but you know how that goes! Very slowly sometimes... Mind you, depending on whether my boys are in the mood to jump all over me or not, sometimes I can now just be in the room with them while they play instead of constantly running and jumping to them. So in theory I could spend some time binding down quilts during the day.

Anyway, I am posting some pictures of my very first customer quilt. This particular one is from a friend who attends the local quilting group that I use to go to more regularly and now just stop in to say hello from time to time. The ladies from the quilting group are very friendly, mostly an older crowd who are not necessarily the most advanced quilters on the planet (we don't have quilt police in attendance) but who are all amazing sewers. That is something that I have found here in Australia. Most women have amazing sewing abilities having grown up sewing clothes or learning from mothers and grandmothers and have a great understanding of it in general. When it comes to quilting, my ladies are still proficient, just lacking in modern techniques and tastes. I love to visit with them and to see how they approach quilting even if it is different than the way I go about things. I am not a discriminating person, I just love for people to do what makes them happy and to have a go at things without fearing what the outcome may be.

So, most of my ladies still hand quilt, a few have tried to quilt on their domestic machines and one lady has tried out free motion quilting this past year. I offered every lady in my group to have me do one free quilt for each of them. I am happy to say that some of them are already taking me up on the offer! Last week I received this quilt top from Caron, who did not think she would ever get this quilt done. She was no longer interested in finishing this top with hand quilting and thought it would be her opportunity to have this quilt finished. I picked out this bow edge to edge design to compliment the bouquets wrapped in ribbon in the center panel. The quilt was not square and it was somewhat challenging to get to lie flat, but I enjoyed the process of learning how to deal with that. I was quite pleased with the end result. She was very happy as well as I delivered it to her today! It was a tad bit messy with the black fabric and the bamboo wadding, but that all came off quite easily. I was unsure whether or not to trim it for her or to hand it over to her untrimmed. I left it untrimmed and after I saw her cutting it down with the scissors I showed her how to use a rotary cutting blade! I love that! I could happily teach a quilting class, I think--I didn't realize that I have learned so much over these past years!!!

Any Australians game to have a go and send their quilt tops to me? I am offering Extremely affordable pricing for edge to edge quilting and very likely to get it finished before Christmas. Leave a comment or send me an email and we can talk:)

The Spotty Dotty Quilt

2011-11-18T09:46:00.000+11:00

Ok, so here is a quilt that has been nearly finished for about 3 years now and was started nearly 5 years ago? All I had left to do on it was to sew down the binding, but somehow that never seemed to get done!! It was also the last of my "almost done but need to sew down the binding yet" stack. I thought that I better catch up with that since I will have a huge stack of new "just need to do the binding stack" soon. This particular quilt I actually had sent out to a long arm quilter who did this lovely all over bubble quilting design on it. I wanted to have her keep in theme with the endless dots on it. I was originally inspired to make this quilt from one of Kaffe Fassett's earliest quilting books. He made one using 30's prints, mine was made with Judie Rothermel Civil War fabrics from a line I think was called Scrappy Dots? Not everyone loves Civil War prints, but I do have a great appreciation for them.

Swaps Received and First Long Arm Quilt Quilted!!

2011-11-17T19:52:00.000+11:00

Ok, to say that I have been busy lately could possibly be an understatement. Last Tuesday the machine was delivered, we witnessed an actual live tornado while unpacking the machine. Thank goodness no one was hurt but it did take the roof of one ladies house in town and ripped up some trees. Then, it was training training training all day Tuesday and all day Wednesday until my brain was so full I thought it might possibly pop. Both boys have been sick, including rushing Alexander to the doctor's office this morning after throwing up three times. I've also been concerned because he is starting to develop some asthma. We will probably try him on some non-steroidal preventives soon and see if they help. We are also at full speed here on the farm--shearing next week. Yikes! I can't wait for things to slow down a bit...

But, today I received not just one but two swap items!!! The top one (from the SewHappyGeek Wallhanging Swap) is from Shannon who was participating in her first swap! Ok, so I don't have feel I need to elaborate how amazing I think this quilt is that she sent me. The bottom line is that my husband and I are fighting where it gets hung in the house as we both want to have it in our working rooms. It is definitely something that inspires me to make an art quilt, I don't feel I will have the skills to make such an amazing piece for a long long time yet. I love it and the picture does not even do it justice. There is so much more depth in it when you see it in real life. I particularly love the tree trunk on the right side. She also sent me a pouch which is an amazing piece of work in itself! I am the luckiest swap partner!!

The second swap item was part of the Denyse Schmidt Quilts Doll Quilt Swap and mine was received from Elaine who sent this soothing quilt called "Across the Sea" with some awesome blues and greens. She also sent a beautiful pouch to go along with the quilt. I love them both! Thank you so much. I am hoping to participate in future doll quilt swaps and have a dedicated wall to hang them all up collage style. This one will hang in the number one spot as it was my first time doing a doll quilt swap.

So, I know that there are a couple of people (my dad for one) who is waiting to see some pictures and a post about my new machine. Hopefully that will come soon and I can show you the machine in action:) I did have a break down over the weekend, but a call to my dealer and some video Skyping, some elbow grease (not really, just some crawling around in tight spaces and messing around with tools and such) and we had it fixed. Thank goodness! I am learning and you can see a picture of my very first finished quilt on the long arm in the third and fourth pictures. That is my Wonky Cross quilt I made with Urban Chiks fabrics from their Hullabaloo line. I wanted something a little modern looking so I chose a quilting pantograph called Modern Mayhem. Like it? I think it turned out ok for a first go... Stay tuned for more...

The Day Before...

2011-11-07T15:56:00.000+11:00

Ok, so you've seen this part of the room previously, but now I'm going to show you the rest of the room... This is the sitting area/tv entertainment portion of the room.

Here is looking towards the area where the long arm will reside -- tomorrow!!! Notice the empty shelves on the bottom, I have small toddlers...

This is my treasured sewing area...

I got these bins at Aldi last week as I needed a system to deal with my endless scraps!

Box for rulers and case for thread (at the moment).

Close-up of fabric

View towards future long arm...

View out of sewing room window. No landscaping yet, but one day... (soon, I hope--waiting for those grapevines)

One more look---I put up the design wall today (on left side), but still needs attaching to wall.

Ok, so this is by no means finished. I still have a few more things I want to organize in here. One more project to do tonight as well, if I have time... Both boys are sick with flu and now I'm coming down with it as well. Can't stop sneezing!!! Could be allergies too as I built this design wall this morning with leftover foam insulation from building the house that was stored in the garage and I think there may have been too much dust near it. So, tomorrow is the day!!!! I hope the machine fits. We'll see, I really am excited:)))))

Calling All Quilt Angels...

2011-11-03T18:17:00.000+11:00

Please read this post here and please let's all send a block and get this quilt made! It may be just a small thing to do but the little things we do in life do make a difference...

Blogger's Quilt Festival

2011-10-30T19:53:00.001+11:00

It's that time of year again! For the Blogger's Quilt Festival this time I thought I would post about a quilt that I made a couple of years ago now since I finished another quilt similar to this one this week This quilt is one that pushed two different boundaries for me. It was my first time making an applique quilt and was also the first time I tried free motion quilting. I used a combination of two of my favorite fabric lines (Flea Market Fancy and Katie Jump Rope by Denyse Schmidt). I laugh now when I see how I quilted it to death, but it makes it nice and stiff to use as a wall hanging. It now is being used in the kids playroom downstairs to dress up the wall.

SewHappyGeek Table Runner/Wall Hanging Swap

2011-10-30T13:57:00.000+11:00

Not too long ago I signed up for the SewHappyGeek Table Runner/Wall Hanging Swap. This is what I have been busy sewing the last couple of days for my partner. She likes birds and red, aqua and pink as a color combination. I have made these birds in a quilt for a wall hanging previously and I always wanted to try making it again. I thought this would be the perfect opportunity to do so. This might also be the last time I free motion quilt on the domestic machine (at least for a while anyway) as the Big machine arrives next week. Oooolala! Now, I just need to post this!

Pezzy by American Jane

2011-10-28T14:35:00.000+11:00

All 12 New Pezzy Prints

Old Pez on Top / New Pezzy on Bottom

So, we asked for it and here we have it!!! I have photographed some of the older Mono Pez with the brand spanking new Pezzy to give you a comparison of the two. I love it, I love it, I really really love it Thank you Moda and Sandy Klop for listening to us! The new base cloth seems to be a little lighter with a tighter weave and the colors just a bit fresher. As soon as the yardage is released, I will be stocking up on these fabrics to keep as staples in my stash:)

Sampler Display Canvas

2011-10-25T17:51:00.002+11:00

I was completely inspired by this post here from Pink Penguin and then caved and bought a canvas from BasicGrey. Actually, I bought two since it was more economical with shipping costs (haha)... Anyway, I really wanted to make one to hang in my sewing room--I will post a picture of it hanging once I've finished cleaning and organizing up in there. Actually, this little project had me making a huge mess everywhere as I had to go through my entire fabric stash hunting down some of my favorites as well as sewing themed fabrics. Cutting and ironing was all that was required!!! A fun project!

Early Summer Mornings

2011-10-23T20:53:00.000+11:00

I have to admit, I have not been able to get near to my sewing machine much this week as the summer heat is slowing me down. I do suffer in the heat and with a combination of some day trips away, stomach bug and heat stroke from my weekly tennis day out (two days to recover!!!) I've been less energetic. I've been tempted to have a swim in the river, but October is still kind of chilly for that yet. Last week I was feeling great, finally getting caught up on the housework and getting projects done around here that need doing--then I crashed. However, one of the benefits of summer are the absolutely amazingly beautiful mornings like we had today. These are the kind of views we get in the mornings--it's so peaceful and I do love my life here:)

Wall Hanging for Sewing Room Finished

2011-10-14T11:12:00.000+11:00

Sewing room you ask? Yes, this is actually the sewing room. You can't see the sewing area from this picture, but one day soon I will post pictures of the whole room. My long arm (arriving November 8th!!) will be sitting somewhere where I am standing to take this photo, so I wanted to fill up some of the bareness of this room with this wall hanging as I will be looking in this direction often. It really does look better in person, it was hard to take a photo of it in this dark area. I also finally figured out how to make a faced binding (no border) using this tutorial here, which was excellent. I decided to quilt this quilt simply with vertical straight lines. Plus, I'd like to add a thank you to my sister-in-law and mother-in-law for letting us "borrow" your furniture for a little while...

Geese in a Ring Swap Round 3

2011-10-13T21:18:00.000+11:00

I finished all my blocks for the Round 3 group of Geese in a Ring Swap! Very fun -- I will always remember this block as my inspiration to finally try out paper piecing...

Garden Wall Hanging

2011-10-12T11:38:00.000+11:00

So, inspired by my latest forays into paper piecing, a stack of new Suzuko Koseki fabrics and a recent look into the 318 book by Kumiko Fujita, I decided to make a wall hanging as a birthday gift for my MIL gardener... Not sure still if it is too bright or her thing, but I will decide on that soon. I drafted the pattern on EQ7 so the sizing and other things are a bit different to the book. I'm still working my way around the program and to be honest, I printed the wrong size out and just decided to go with it. Kind of glad I did as the blocks are 8"x9" instead of the 6"x6" I was originally going for. Not sure how I am going to quilt this yet...

Piece Bee With You for Jane (October)

2011-10-08T12:06:00.002+11:00

Ok, so I'm sticking my hands up in the air for all kinds of things lately! Maybe some of you are familiar with the Ringo Pie Quilt Bee as a lot of its members are quite popular bloggers. We've seen some amazing things from them over the past year so a group of us wannabees (haha) decided to form another group along the same lines called Piece Bee With You. The idea is that every month one member chooses a theme and we (there are 12 members) all try to use our stashes (hopefully modern fabrics) to come up with a pieced block in said theme. This month Jane asked for dresses, but then elaborated the idea with examples of these blocks here.

Now, the idea of me joining a Bee that required drawing is quite laughable as I could be one of the world's worst drawers (even more laughable that I intend to be a long arm quilter!!). My son regularly asks me to draw for him a picture of a tractor and only his sweet little self could see the form a tractor in my drawings. So, I can tell you, that in producing a pieced block for the first time that I am quite proud of my efforts. My husband may have made a comment or two about this poor girl looking like a nun, but I am going to ignore that. I pushed the boundaries of size and made this the largest size that she wanted which is 10" X 10". I am not quite proficient enough to go smaller. Drafting was interesting, I ran into some hiccups, but I got my end result and that is all that matters. I did happen to let my boys play in the sewing room while I was working on this (I normally wait until nap time). I was just too excited about making this that I wanted a result right away. Today's job, clean the mess in the sewing room that they made while I was sewing.... haha.

Sew Australia Blocks for October

2011-10-08T10:04:00.001+11:00

Here are my two blocks done for Sally in this month's Bee for Sew Australia. I am so glad that she chose a wonky star as one of her blocks as I have been wanting to make a quilt in this design for so long but did not know how difficult the block would be--the tutorial for this block you can find here. The awesome part of being in a Bee is being forced to try new things. It was kind of ironic too that for her second block she chose Geese in a Ring. Not that I mind after having made them for my Geese in a Ring Swap (still taking new members ongoing) and also for my DS Doll Quilt Swap. In fact, I was glad that I knew how to do it and now I am caught up with this Bee until next month:)

New Ironing Board Cover

2011-10-04T16:55:00.000+11:00

Both my husband and my best friend have told me that I would make a great tester for companies wanting to test out the hardiness of their products. I have a tendency to wear things out fast. I determined today that I better get a new ironing board cover after my "fancy schmancy" one bit the dust. It really did look ok about two weeks ago, but I find they die quickly once they rip through. This one was only about a year old. I ordered it from a lady here in Australia who sells them at a way too pricey cost. What I like about them is the clipping system that allows you to secure it on tightly to the board. So, I decided today I would have a go at making one myself. I cut out all the hardware (elastic is hardware?) and used some of my Ruby Star Rising reels that were hiding in my stash. Ha, my sewing wasn't perfect, but the imperfect parts are hidden so it doesn't matter. What matters is that I have a brand new cover that I adore and made myself!

Denyse Schmidt Doll Quilt Finished

2011-10-02T21:43:00.000+11:00

Since I have a lot of sewing commitments lately and a lot of things to do coming up soon:), I thought that I would work on some of my larger sewing commitments today. Here is the finished quilt that I have made for the Denyse Schmidt Picnic and Fairgrounds Doll Quilt Swap. I had a hard time deciding at the end how to do the layout for this. Originally I wanted to make the four geese without the framed-in blocks, but when I put them together all I could see was white! I thought it was just too much and since this about using Picnic and Fairgrounds, I decided to add more of that fabric in. Then I tried to lay it out with the geese exactly the same. Not so good. They looked liked robot geese all lined up--too much the same. This was the best layout I came up with in the end. I like it quite well. I debated about the quilting on this one too, but in the end I was so happy I decided on a simple all over stipple as it was so hard to move this around on the machine. The seams were so thick! Well, I hope my partner likes it too!

Working on a Wall Hanging

2011-10-01T10:27:00.002+10:00

I actually want to work on dressing up the walls in our house. I have quite a few places where I need to hang something to add to our home space. I thought I would start with dressing up my sewing studio/family room in the new downstairs. The walls are a dark green color with a chocolate leather couch and pink/red wood flooring. I will post pictures once I quilt and hang this guy up on the wall. He's about 40 inches square at the moment which seems about right. The only thing is that I am hemming and hawing about what to do to finish this. Here is a link to my original inspiration from Krista at Spotted Stones here. Isn't her quilt absolutely amazing? Hers is slightly larger than mine--her individual blocks are larger. I love the way that she finished it with the tucked under art border and the way it makes such a stunning statement in the room. I'm thinking I also want to do some vertical line quilting but I am tempted to add a bit of white around the whole quilt to lighten it up??? What to do, what to do...

Talkin' about DS

2011-09-30T17:28:00.000+10:00

So, any of my blog readers who have been reading me for a while probably know that I am a big fan of Denyse Schmidt's fabrics. I first fell in love when I became acquainted with her line Flea Market Fancy, which has been bought, traded and coveted by many sewers over the last few years. We begged and begged for a reprint and now it is finally happening. The sads news though is that there will be less than half of the original two collections in the reprint. And a few of the favorites, at least my favorites, like blue eyelets and blue leaves will not be in the reprint. However, there will be two new ones added to the mix--grey posies and grey leaves! And there will be grey eyelets again as well. You can find a link for the photo of the ones to be reprinted here.

Denyse Schmidt has also had some new lines out with Jo-Ann's and Spotlight (here in Australia) called Picnic and Fairgrounds, Sugar Creek, Winding Road (exclusive to Spotlight) and new to be released next month Salty Aire (exclusive to Spotlight). You can find the sneak peak for Salty Aire here.

I can tell you that I am excited that we are getting so many fabrics from Denyse. Her fabrics are usually my first picks from my fabric stash. So, it is no surprise that I decided that signing up for my very first doll quilt swap that it should be the Denyse Schmidt Doll Quilt Swap! I pulled these fabrics out from my stash this morning with the intention of making a mini circle of geese quilt for my partner. I reduced the paper piecing pattern I have to doll size and plan to make 4 circles. This will be my first attempt at making anything so small!!! LOL. That will be something new for me!!!

Caned Seat Quilt Mini

2011-09-27T15:09:00.000+10:00

Ok, so last week I had been thinking that I had so much fun with the paper piecing for the geese in a ring block that I thought I would do a little bit more paper piecing. I found this idea looking through Flickr and the link to make these blocks here. They are called Caned Seat. Hmmm... if anyone was thinking that geese in a ring is a bit of a pain to construct, these blocks blow that right out of the water. No, they are not more difficult to make, it's just that there are 10 pieces per block. You are looking at 40 different segments here. I started out thinking I was actually going to make a quilt with Erin McMorris's Summersault prints. I made one block with her pink and green fabrics and thought I would add blue and orange blocks in and alternate. I didn't think it looked very good though. Actually, I don't really feel these fabrics were the right choice for this design full stop, but they were in front of me asking to be cut and I just went for it. Anyway, rather than carry on I decided this will make a nice mini quilt around 30 inches square. If I do this pattern again I will chose the fabrics very differently. I do like the Kona Bahama Blue and Pacific border though...

Spring Time!

2011-09-25T11:30:00.000+10:00

Time keeps ticking, I'm not getting much sewing done these days as we are spending more and more time outdoors. Spring is the busiest time on the farm and the boys live for being outside. It was nice for me during lambing/calving time that my husband could take Alexander with him around the animals in the mornings. They would go together and feed out the hay to the cows and ride around on the bike or in the truck to check the mobs. We are finished with that and now onto other pressing jobs in preparation for shearing time. I'm also trying to prepare for the arrival of the long arm which should be early November at this point!! It couldn't come at a busier time, but oh well, every day seems busy when you have two boys aged one and two!!! I am posting a few shots of Oliver posing his gorgeous knitwear from his great aunt and the boys riding their truck together. They did this on their own and that is what makes it especially nice--they are slowly starting to play together more and more. And can I just tell you that the volume levels in the house are getting higher and higher too? Hope you are all having a good weekend:)

The World's Luckiest Swap Recipient!

2011-09-21T14:12:00.002+10:00

Ok, so today my package arrived from my secret partner (Uberstitch -- Pam) for The Love of Solids Swap. I have to admit that since I was so specific about my tastes and desires for this swap that once I saw the picture from Pam I suspected, hoped, crossed all my fingers at once and stalked the post box looking out for it! I kept going back to Flickr checking her photo, showing my husband and so wanting it to be mine. I knew from the first second I saw the photo that I would hang it in this particular spot in my kitchen if the size was right. You see, I've been searching and searching for a piece of artwork to put into this spot in my kitchen since we moved in 5 years ago, but nothing seemed right. I had a calendar here (up until today) but that was always a temporary plan. I just had to post lots of pictures to show how perfectly it fits into my house! I love it so so much and it will be seen and admired every day as this is the busiest area of our house. I feel very lucky to have had such an artistic partner that not only is creative but can execute perfection in her work. It is truly a stunning piece that has to be seen in person to know its true worth. So, Pam, if you are reading this, thank you!!! In addition she sent an amazingly beautiful needle book that is very much needed and will be used. She also included some beautiful Denyse Schmidt fabric as an extra (I forgot to include a picture) and this lovely card which I love for its inspirational quote from George Elliot. I truly am the luckiest swap recipient!

September Sew Australia Blocks for Kristy

2011-09-18T14:24:00.001+10:00

Yesterday I finished this month's Sew Australia Bee Blocks for September for Kristy at HandmadeRetro. She came up with a lovely design for her Circa50 fabrics. The potential quilt will look similar to the second photograph shown above. I have these fabrics as well and as of yet have not decided what I will make with them--this is an awesome idea and I will be checking on her progress! She chose her design to suit the time period of these fabrics which I think was rather cool. You can check out her awesome tutorial for these blocks here.

Geese in a Ring Swap --- All Flying Together Now

2011-09-16T12:04:00.000+10:00

I finished all my Geese in a Ring for the swap this morning. I really enjoyed making these blocks even though there is quite a long process that goes into each one. By the last couple of blocks I was rocking them out in about three quarters of an hour--so they definitely get easier to do as you go along. I wanted to finish quickly so that I can sign up for the next round. We only need two more people to sign up to make the next round a go! Maybe you? Visit Ann here and let her know you are interested!!! Go on! You know you want to try it;)

Geese in a Ring Swap

2011-09-14T13:25:00.000+10:00

I've been busy paper piecing the last couple of days as I joined up for yet another swap called Geese in the Ring. We have to make 8 blocks in each person's choice colors and will be given our choice color blocks by the other members when everyone is finished. Ann is still taking applicants for future rounds here, if you are interested in joining up. I've never done paper piecing before and this was a lot of fun to learn. I'm on roll too! Not sure what I'm going to do with these blocks, but the top block here is the one I made for myself as a test block. I requested rainbow so it will be interesting to see how they all end up looking!

For The Love of Solids Swap

2011-09-11T11:20:00.000+10:00

Ok, so I've been holed up in my sewing room since Wednesday and have used every spare moment that I've had to work on my For the Love of Solids swap. The fabrics I ordered only arrived on Wednesday and took over a month to arrive. I tried out several ideas for this swap, but none of them really worked as I knew the colors were not right--the Kona solids I had on hand were so few and didn't work well together.

Can I just tell you that I am having a proud moment with the finish of this swap? This is why... A few weeks ago, I suddenly changed my game plan after seeing some art work similar to these houses. Kind of reminds me of Hundertwasser in a way... I thought about trying to transfer it into fabric and became obsessed with drafting out a pattern and a method to do it. I made templates and played around with the solids I had on hand and was very disappointed. I had a long conversation with my husband how I felt like I just can't do this artist thing. I have always wanted to be able to draw and to be able to put what is in my mind into creation, but I feel I lack that ability to transfer what is inside my head into a real form. But, whether it is productive or not, I am obsessed with this whole creating thing. I think about fabric and quilting with every spare moment I have (not always a lot of spare moments). I went to bed that night telling my husband that I would get it right and that I would go back to the drawing board and get these houses the way I had them pictured.

I'm not sure I really believed myself, but when the new solids arrived I holed myself up in my sewing room that night and kept doing progress checks with my husband. He was doubtful, but I felt that I was going in the right direction and kept plodding along. And I feel like my persistence paid off. I did what I had envisioned. And the lesson was that I need to believe and persist. I had the same process with the pincushion. I've never made one before and after trying to find a tutorial for one and not finding anything that fit the bill for me, I went off to play again and came up with my two sided wagon wheel pincushion. I love that my creative processes have been pushed by this swap. I love that I tried something new. I hope my partner likes the table runner and pincushion--I truly did my best effort.

Heather Ross Far Far Away Sand Castle Quilt

2011-09-06T16:26:00.001+10:00

See who has been helping me finish up this quilt this morning? Alexander kept busy while I was finishing putting on the borders of this quilt while Oliver was napping. He's getting to be such a big boy these days. He loves to help around the house and when I am sewing he is good company. Oliver still is too little yet, but such a sweetie that keeps me occupied as well! Oliver and I usually keep busy together in the mornings while Alexander goes with his dad to feed the cows or check the sheep, etc. We have been going for daily walks now that the weather is getting warm. I'm so impressed that he just turned one and can walk over a mile with me on our trail my husband built 2 years ago. He just keeps going and going and never seems to tire himself out. He kept his grandma busy walking with him for two hours straight all over the farm the other day so I am not sure what are his limits!

So, I bought a stack of fat quarters of Heather Ross's Far Far Away 1 just before it started to get scarce. It was sort of a last minute decision for me. I love the designs and the colors of this fabric, but I hate that it is double gauze. It takes a lot of dedication to follow a designer into double gauze to be used as quilting fabric, let me tell you! I hated working with it. But, I think it was worth it in the end. I was not too terribly original in the design I chose for this fabric. The pattern designer used Far Far Away 2 in her sample quilt. It is a pattern by Chasing Cottons that you can find here. I did change quite a few things though. I added the solids to brighten it up and because by the time I finished the blocks I needed to add some stability around the double gauze. Also there was no way I was going to use the tiny tiny scraps of FFA1 to make the scrappy border tiles so I used the solids instead. This is a quilt I will need to quilt heavily to give it some stability but I think I will love it in the end. It is intended to be a commission piece for a friend, but I'm waiting to see if the final effort of quilting is worthy or not...

Mono Pez Will be Reprinted!!!

2011-09-01T07:35:00.001+10:00

Do you remember when I posted about the mono pez reprint campaign here? Well, I just heard from Mamaspark that we have had success! There will be a reprint due out in January with 12 mono colors and 6 multi colors! If you want to check it out for yourself the link is here.
I'm so excited! January seems like a long time to wait now...

Denyse Schmidt Picnic and Fairgrounds Doll Swap Starting Soon!

2011-08-30T08:47:00.005+10:00

Denyse Schmidt Picnic and Fairground, a photo by heidigoneaussie on Flickr.

If you like Denyse Schmidt's Picnic and Fairgrounds fabrics and you like swaps there is a new doll swap starting. If you are interested in signing up you can check it out here

This will be a fun swap. I'm very much looking forward to it. Hope you can join us:)

Still Plugging Away at Japanese + and X Quilt

2011-08-29T14:47:00.000+10:00

Just in case you think that I've put my Japanese + and X quilt on the back burner, that has hardly been the case. In fact, I love making this quilt so much that I actually force myself to go slow at it. I want time to think about what I am doing and where I will go with it in the end. These are the latest nine blocks. I've lost count as to how many I've made already, but I think I have over 90 now. I'm still thinking of a 12 X 12 layout, so I have a few more blocks yet to enjoy making... Seriously, this has been the most fun I've ever had making a quilt!

August Sew Australia Blocks for Kelly

2011-08-28T16:20:00.001+10:00

I finally got around to sewing my August blocks for Kelly for the Sew Australia Bee that I am in. She requested two different blocks for her month. The first, Lynnebobsquarepants, you can find the tutorial for here. The second block, a dresden plate you find the tutorial for here. The second block was a lot of fun since I've never made anything like this before. I might have a go at trying to make a quilt with these blocks in the future.

Joel Dewberry Heirloom Quilt Top

2011-08-27T11:40:00.000+10:00

I have been busy sewing this week, but not posting much on the computer due to headaches and tiredness this last week. I think I went to bed at 8 o'clock three days in a row now. The boys, starting up at tennis again and the warm weather has been wearing me out. Oh well, it's all good. I'm looking forward to warmer weather and swimming in the river again soon:) That will really wear me out in a good way...

Last week I was chatting with a fellow blogger Mamaspark about what to do with our Prince Charming fabric. She came up with all kinds of great ideas!!! One of the ideas was to make a disappearing nine patch. I've never been interested in a disappearing nine-patch previously, but somehow setting it on point makes me suddenly love it as a pattern! Ok, I was considering doing this quilt with the Prince Charming fabrics, but I was cutting up the Heirloom for my Etsy shop. It was already cut into neat 5 inch squares and somehow these Heirloom fabrics seemed more fitting for this design. So, I paired them with Kona Snow and Kona Stone and voila, here is the quilt top. I did find that I didn't like the technique of cutting the nine patch in half. I found that the pieces were too imprecise so I trimmed each one down to 6.5" blocks and it worked perfectly that way. Oh, and by the way, there has been a lot of talk on Flickr about the lesser quality feeling of this Heirloom fabric. I would agree. But, for those of you familiar with the quality of Kona cottons--they feel just about the same as them. It really is a shame that we are not getting the beautiful smooth quality fabrics that we once did. Will we ever get anything as wonderful as Heather Ross's Lightning Bugs line or similar again? Probably not for the price we once paid anyway:(

For the Love of Solids -- Storm at Sea

2011-08-20T17:54:00.001+10:00

I ordered my solids for the Solids Swap on Flickr but they still haven't arrived yet. It sort of makes it difficult to make what I had been planning to make. So, luckily I had a few solids in colors my partner said she liked. It's only a small variety and I was hoping for a much bigger variety. I want to work with solids much more in the future too, so I do would to have them in my stash as well.

I have had a Storm at Sea template set for years that I had not used previously. Today it was staring at me in the face saying, "use me, use me". This block is what I came up with--it's about 14 inches. I don't know what to do with it though. Do I keep on building this larger? Do I stop and make this into a hot pad. What should I do? I'm not very happy with my piecing skills either, but I am keen to keep on and see if I can improve as I go along. My partner asked for something to hang in the window.... I could do that, but I have no idea how people finish a piece that hangs in the window. She also asked for a table runner, placemats, bag, etc... What to do???

Sometimes It Takes Me a While to Get With the Program!

2011-08-18T14:39:00.000+10:00

Ok, a couple weeks ago Fat Quarter Shop was having a half off some of their fabrics and I decided I would jump in on the deal. Wow, I'm glad I did! I don't live near any decent quilt shops so I mostly rely on the internet for my fabric resources, which works out well sometimes and other times not so much. There are definitely occasions when I see fabric online that I think I would love only to feel lukewarm about it in person. Then, there are times when the opposite is true. I had seen Tammis Keefe's fabrics online and was amazed how everyone was excited (in blogland) when the fabrics were reprinted. I just didn't get it. But now I do! They are so lovely in person. I also somehow missed out on the Bon Vivant and was able to get a fat quarter bundle at the same time. These are also amazing in person--the maps and the poodles are my favorites.
And there is my little OllieBear playing with the fabrics as I photograph them. This is his last day as a baby:( Tomorrow he turns one. We can't imagine what life was like before him!!! He has been a sweet little treasure to add to our family.

Yellow Mosiac Block

2011-08-16T15:43:00.001+10:00

So, I haven't been checking in as much these last few days as I am mostly doing lots of cleaning around the house. I've got a lot to do and in particular I want to get my sewing room organized and finished in preparation for the arrival of the long arm machine. That is still probably 2 months off or so, but it is on its way by now! Exciting:)
Today I got a little distracted though as I was sorting through my scrap bin. I'm trying to iron and organize scraps by color and it got me to thinking about a quilt technique that I've been wanting to try out for a long while now. I've wanted to try making a mosaic scrap quilt. What I really want is to make one with all the colors of the rainbow in it. I thought I would start with yellow as it seemed to be one of the harder colors of which to get enough scraps . I've decided to make each block 15 inches and then with at least 10 different colors make two of each block. I wasn't quite prepared for how fiddly this block would be, but I think I'll get better at it as I make a few more...

Arty Wall Hanging Quilts

2011-08-10T22:03:00.001+10:00

Each measure 20" X 20" and will hang together as such in my quilting room.

Sewing Bee Blocks for July

2011-08-10T20:42:00.000+10:00

I'm a little late getting Danielle's blocks out for the Sewing Australia bee. She asked us to make Japanese + and X blocks!! So, I made a few extra (7) because I love this block so much. I tried to use all the pieces that she sent out and mingled it with my own stash while trying to keep the color theme that she has going on in hers. Notice that she uses all grey/neutral backgrounds... I really really do love this block.

First Attempt

2011-08-09T13:31:00.000+10:00

Yesterday some of the solids I ordered for the Solids swap came in the mail so I had a go last night trying to do some free form art quilty sewing. This piece measures 20 inches by 20 inches. I don't know. It's fun to do, but I'm not sure what it takes to make free form look good. I ordered the Jean Wells book, maybe once I have a chance to read it I'll learn something. I only had a handful of colors to work with as well. Hmmmm.... I was trying to go for less color, but I just kept adding to it, so maybe I should have held back a bit. The quilting could add a bit of interest to it to, we'll see.

My Two Little Men

2011-08-08T09:56:00.000+10:00

Waking Up on a Winter Morning

Dr. Seuss Quilt Wonky Quilt Top Finished

2011-08-06T09:27:00.001+10:00

Do you remember way back when I posted about this quilt here? I came up with this design for these fabrics. Dr. Seuss + Wonky = Perfect. Right? Well, that part of it I think I got right, but when it came to what to sash around the blocks I got it totally wrong. I chose the black and white striped fabric in the line to sash around each block. My thinking was that I have often seen bright colorful quilts toned down by the simple addition of black and white. But for this quilt it just made it crazy. I didn't even bother to take a picture to show you all as it was just too yucky. I completely miscalculated my fabric selection. In the meantime I had many people ask about this quilt. Seems that it inspired a few people to make wonky Dr. Seuss quilts, but I had yet to finish mine! All that unpicking! I finally pulled it out again this week and did the boring unpicking job and resashed it in something sensible this time--kona snow. I added the black and white (where it belongs) and the Cat and the Hat blue border. Voila! I'm happy now and I will be able to quilt it soon (my machine is on it's way!) and the boys will get lots of use of it. We read Dr. Seuss quite regularly around here, Alexander already starts reading along telling me what comes next, so hopefully he will have many happy memories in association with this quilt. Of course, he'd like me to make a tractor quilt most of all... I'll work on doing something about that soon.

A Rainbow of Japanese + and X Blocks?

2011-08-03T15:10:00.000+10:00

My Japanese + and X quilt is gradually growing in size. Here is my 9 X 9 layout. At the moment, I'm thinking I will go for a 12 X 12 layout so I'm over half way done now. I'm also playing around with this rainbow-ish layout. I know when I polled last time whether or not to arrange this quilt randomly or arrange by color that I had more people chose the random look over arranged. I especially liked one person's description that random looked like light coming in through the trees. Still, I want to play around with the arrangement as the quilt grows and see how it evolves. I also realize that as a bed quilt it might not look as interesting to have the rainbow effect as it might if it were a wall hanging instead. Still, I have a long time to decide yet...

Winners of the British Patchwork and Quilting Magazine Giveaway

2011-08-03T14:56:00.002+10:00

Yesterday I got my copy of British Patchwork and Quilting and immediately opened up to the page where my blog is listed under the "Wandering the Web" section. So fun to see my little blog featured in print. Also, I forgot to mention the winners of my magazine giveaway. The two winners were:

Bluquilt who said...
Congratulations! I'd love to win a copy! I live in Australia (Melbourne).

Lyn who said...I've just found your blog and will have to bookmark it so I can continue to visit and be inspired by your work. It must be exciting to be published in an international magazine. Congratulations from me in New Zealand.

Thank you so much for participating!

Progress with Japanese + and X Quilt

2011-07-29T20:24:00.000+10:00

I haven't been working quite as much on this quilt this month, though every single time I work on a block from this quilt it makes me think about a book I once read called, "A Journey of a Novel" by John Steinbeck. Every day as he was writing East of Eden (which he considered his masterpiece) he would first write in his journal to warm up and unwind his thoughts. Every time I work on one of these blocks I think of it as my warm up and then continue to move along in the sewing room doing various other things. But, the reality is that I don't get very long to putter around in the sewing room at any one time so it's not much to warm up for.

One of these blocks is my interpretation of my best friend. Let's see if she can figure out which block is hers... I'm sure it won't be too hard.

So, today was the day we took the plunge and ordered the machine. Eeek! I am excited, but a little nervous too. Oh well, gotta keep moving along in this lifetime. No time to watch the grass grow--I want to make sure I actually do the things I dream of doing!

Little Apples Garden Fence Quilt Top

2011-07-27T15:19:00.002+10:00

Ok, so this is my little contribution to the Garden Fence Quilt Along here. I don't know how I did it, but I've manage to turn a feminine line of fabrics into a masculine looking quilt. I have that tendency with everything that I do. Oh well, that's me I guess and why I am the mother of two boys. Never have I played with dolls as a child and as an adult I struggle to enjoy buying clothes, shoes, make-up, etc and all the things I know that I'm supposed to get excited about. Give me a tent and the great outdoors any day over a shopping mall. Or at least lock me up in my sewing sweatshop and I'll be perfectly happy:)

I struggled trying to figure out a neutral color to use with these fabrics. White would not have looked nice against the white. Grey clashed with the grey. Anyway, I like the blue, it's a Kona cotton -- Nightfall to be exact. A very fun quilt top to make in all. I look forward to quilting it!

Ruby Star Rising Table Linens For My Mom

2011-07-23T21:00:00.001+10:00

So, I've been slightly under the radar the last few days or so, busy with life and farm stuff mainly. That includes packing in a year's worth of meat into storage and all that good stuff. I do feel quite lucky that since moving to the farm I have been able to enjoy good food including all our own beef and lamb. We also enjoy a garden full of fresh vegetables, plus we have various fruits and berries around the place. It makes a difference when you know where your food is coming from. Lots of people these days talk about eating organic foods, but sometimes I think that that is only a small part of the picture. We should be thinking about sustainability as well. We should be thinking about how animals are killed before butchering. Are they treated well? Have they endured a long transportation in terrible conditions only to feel panic and terror during the last moments of their lives? Did you know that the meat from an animal that is stressed before killing is much tougher than one that has not been stressed? And how often do we think about how good the vegetables and fruits that we eat actually are for us? We cannot get goodness from vegetables and fruits if the soils they are grown in are depleted and devoid of minerals. I guess I get a little bit annoyed when I hear people say things like, "It's organic, it's good." When a person uses the word organic it sounds to me like they are declaring that they are a member of a special club of individuals who are making the world a better place by repeating liberally and loudly the word organic. Ok, I'm being a little bit cheeky with that comment. I'm not pro or con anything in particular, but I do think it is wise to stop occasionally and think about where your food comes from. Also, not to put particular blame on any one area. Our system of getting food has been created because it has been an evolution of what people needed over time. The process of asking questions is helpful in getting people to think about the direction we want to continue to move towards. So, all I am saying is when you talk about organic food continue to ask more questions.

That all said, I really just wanted to post a few pictures of the project I recently completed for my mom. I ordered some of the Ruby Star Rising Vintage Dishes in Aqua for decorating my kitchen table, but I was sent Grey instead. I asked my mom if she liked the fabric for decorating in her home and she did! I made four placemats, a hotpad/trivet and a tea towel. She requested the border to be "a darker shade of grey", which I supplied with Kona Coal. I couldn't resist putting my dishes out with the set to see how they would go with the grey. I love it. Oh well, I still they the aqua will look better in my kitchen overall.

For the Love of Solids Swap

2011-07-18T17:31:00.003+10:00

For the Love of Solids Swap, a photo by heidigoneaussie on Flickr.
So, I had such success with my Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap on Flickr that I decided I would participate in another online Flickr swap. This one is called For the Love of Solids, which will involve making an item solely out of solids. I am excited about this one! It was part of my New Year's resolution this year to work with solids. Specifically I would like to try an art or freestyle modern quilt in the fashion of Jean Wells (top left and third in from top left). But, I want to create mine in mainly all white, off-white and tans, with a pop of color (more like the bottom left photo or third in from bottom left). My pop of color I would like to make in blues with just the barest hint of orange/red. I love the idea of this, this is the sort of thing I would love to make my partner or to receive. I also love the idea of hand stitching in perle cotton or machine stitching in various colors. I don't know, but I do want to play with solids a whole lot more in future and I feel this will be a great kickoff for it. *Note to partner, I would love an art quilt/wall hanging but I'm open to anything.

Moda Rouenneries by French General Octagon Quilt

2011-07-17T13:44:00.000+10:00

So, I pulled out another almost completed quilt top out of my magical cupboard of never ending possible quilt tops;) and finished this one today. I had 16 insets plus the corners left to do, so not too terrible, but I still need to work on improving my y-seams. Does anyone feel like calling me the "Octagon Quilt Lady" yet? I think this is the ninth I've made plus I have one more in that magical cupboard that will appear at some later date.

I have to say that I really like this quilt and it has found its home. These pictures are in guest bedroom and I have been wondering what quilt will live in this room permanently. I had this one in the back of my mind as a strong possibility -- especially when my husband requested that we paint this room red. Ummm, no. No red interior walls, thank you very much. We have a red house, my husband chose the color--it looks great, but I refuse to have red on interior walls. I told him I could compromise and decorate with red and chose the oyster wall color with this in mind. Anyone with great decorating skills have any ideas how I could add to this room with this quilt in mind? I still have to pick out the curtains too--(that is a long story as to why I don't have curtains in this room yet...)

Little Apples + Garden Fence = Happiness

2011-07-14T13:03:00.000+10:00

Ok, so a few weeks ago I couldn't get Little Apples by Aneela Hoey out of my thoughts so I bought a pre-release bundle of it on Etsy. It arrived it the mail two days ago and I didn't even get a picture of it I cut into it so quickly with this quilt block in mind. Oh the joy and the fun of it! I love it so so much and am itching to get back to my sewing machine to continue. The boys are wild today though, so it probably won't happen until tonight. It's cold and rainy and when they can't get outside even for just one day they turn wild. I'm convinced boys have a need to be outside like I have a need to quilt;)

Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap

2011-07-13T10:23:00.000+10:00

I received my Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap package from Leila this week (photos 2 & 3). I'm a lucky swapper! The top photo is what I sent out to my own partner after much hemming and hawing about what to make. I love love love my package! The colors go perfectly in my kitchen and the mitts are already in daily use. I love the teapot she sent as well. She told me that she was having trouble deciding what it should be. I think it is so lovely that it might just have to be a wall hanging to look at and enjoy everyday. This was a fun first time swap experience. Thank you Leila!

Sweet and Swell Pinwheel Quilt Top

2011-07-11T09:20:00.001+10:00

Ok, so this is on a queen sized bed, so it will be a king sized quilt! Yes, I do get carried away a bit with my sizes. But, in saying that, I think of people that I want to give the quilts to and almost everyone I know wants a king size. Queen sized beds are not what they used to be either. What I mean by that is that the mattresses have gotten thicker and therefore smaller sizes just don't do anymore! I know this as when we changed our mattress a couple of years ago on our Queen sized bed that the quilt I was using just barely fit.

This quilt I had in my storage for some years. I only had the border left to sew onto it. Can I just tell you that this top would have been finished ages ago if I hadn't tried to rush finishing it? I started sewing the borders on without pinning and it turned out horrible and wavy. I had to unpick. Then I put it away. Then I lost the borders, but yesterday as I was organizing I found them and decided to finish this up! Yay!!! I am very happy to have this one ready for quilting. I did run out of the border fabric and used some extra pinwheels on the corners. If you are wondering what this fabric is, it is from two of Urban Chiks lines, one called Swell and the other called Sweet. I thought they went very well together.

British Patchwork & Quilting Giveaway and Some Cherries Jubilee Sewing

2011-07-08T13:18:00.000+10:00

Oh, so I've been holding out on you! I'm excited to share with you that a couple weeks ago I received an email informing me that I am to be published in the August issue of British Patchwork and Quilting, on sale July 15th! In celebration of this event I'm hosting a giveaway for a copy of this beautiful magazine full of wonderful projects, stories and pictures. If you have never had your hands on a copy of British Patchwork and Quilting, here is your chance! I have two to giveaway, one which I will send domestically (Australia) and one I will send internationally. Please leave a comment whether you are in Australia or abroad and I will do the drawing on July 15th.

Lately I have been busy celebrating our 5th anniversary (on the 4th), enjoying some sunny winter days with the boys and sewing up old projects. I'm working on 3 or 4 at once doing most of the processing sewing (chain-piecing, etc.) so there is not much to show you at the moment, but here is one that I can show you. It's been in storage three years now, but I've decided to get it done! I love love love this line called Cherries Jubilee by American Jane. My only problem is that I am not sure that I picked a block (design) that will do this line justice. We'll see how it unfolds. I've got a lot of trimming to do before I can work on sewing the pieces of the block together...

Denyse Schmidt Picknic and Fairgrounds Wonky Quilt Top

2011-07-03T16:52:00.000+10:00

It's finished! I wish I had better light for this photo. The colors look nicer in real life. Another quilt to add to the stack that is growing! It will be so much fun to do all the quilting on the long arm. Waiting patiently until I can order the machine. In the meantime I will try and finish up as many projects as I can to clear out the storage closet!

Stayed Tuned for DS Wonky Quilt!

2011-07-02T16:12:00.000+10:00

Do you remember when I posted these blocks here? I finished 40 of these blocks quite a while ago using the Denyse Schmidt Picnic and Fairgrounds fabrics from Jo-Ann's in the States.

I really was happy using all these fabrics together in a quilt UNTIL... Until I found out that there were going to be more released here in Australia. Exclusive to Australia.

Hmmm... So, I decided that I wouldn't sew these blocks together until I had some of the Australian prints to add in as well. Well, I've finally started making the "Australian" wonky blocks to add into the quilt and should have them finished tomorrow if all goes to plan. I've had a bit of a week and am still recovering from our trip up to Canberra on Wednesday. Whew! We took the boys with us and it made for a very full day. Let's just say that we have two very active boys and I'll leave it at that.

Winter and Spring Japanese + and X Blocks

2011-06-28T21:24:00.000+10:00

Ok, so you are probably going to get sick of seeing these + and X blocks, but really, this is the best fun I have had since I started quilting. I really love making these blocks and trying to fussy cut and come up with color or story themes for each block. Not every block, but I want to have something to look at in this quilt.

The first block is my Winter block with snow falling in the background. I'm laying in bed(I believe I'm a princess of course) drinking my morning coffee (brought to me by Tim), ah a perfect way to start the cold morning. Then, I'd go out for a ski (too bad this girl is on a scooter.)

The second block I'm calling Purple Rain in Paris. That would also be April in Paris or Springtime in Paris... Anyway, you get the idea. I need to stop this, it's too much fun!

Japanese + and X Block For Alexander

2011-06-28T11:21:00.000+10:00

So, of course I had to make a block for each of my boys as well! I will have to do Oliver's next, but this one is Alexander's. It's hard to come up with ideas as they are both still so young yet, but one thing that is for certain is that Alexander loves cars! Tractors too, but I didn't have a piece of fabric with a tractor on it. This block is mainly about his name. We love the name Alexander, but here in Australia everyone makes nicknames out of people's proper names. We were prepared for that. We always planned on nicknaming him Zander. Everywhere we go though, as soon as I introduce him as Alexander, people say, "oh, hello Alex." Ugghhh! I really do not like that! Then somehow along the way, my husband started calling him Dandy (he did/ does what we call a little Dandy dance). Then that turned into Dandelion by me, though he just calls himself Dandy. Can you find his name and day of birth?

Japanese + and X Block for my Husband

2011-06-26T12:28:00.001+10:00

Ok, back to projects that are a little more fun. I made this block this morning to be the representative + and X block for my husband. It's fairly self explanatory, except maybe the rulers as the background. He is always seeing how things "measure up", so sort of a literal translation of that personality trait. Now you know his name as well:) The tree in the center was a must have as my husband has planted several thousand trees all over the farm. He believes in taking care of the land, loves the outdoors and truly is a genuine person of top quality. I debated about adding a bit I found that said "extra fine" but I didn't want to inflate his ego too much;)

Little Houses Quilt Top

2011-06-26T10:22:00.000+10:00

There is a lesson in this somewhere, I'm sure of it. Yesterday I pulled out the pieces to this top that were deep in storage and hidden away from sight. What I mean by that is this is a top I was not sure I would ever get the energy to complete. I started this some years ago with great gusto. I didn't have a pattern, but I drafted the houses the best I could and paper pieced the middle bit. I used a fabric line by Moda called Urban Indigo and was quite pleased with it as I went along. Then suddenly and I mean suddenly, I lost all interest in the fabrics and even the design. It was so strange to be so into it and then suddenly be so unmotivated. Also, as I was going along I miscalculated fabric amounts and only made enough for a 5 X 5 layout instead of the 7 X 5 that I wanted to make. That put me over the edge and the project was set aside.

When I pulled this out yesterday, I thought, Ok, I'll finish this with the blocks that I have finished and have a simple 5 X 5 small square quilt. It will be done and then I can move on and be satisfied that it is not sitting in the closet. I mustered up the energy to finish the quilt in the 5 X 5 layout during the boys nap time. I took a look at it and still didn't feel quite happy about it. I did what I told myself I would do, but I hate square quilts and it was never my intention to make it square! So, I pushed on, delved down into the scraps and the half started blocks and found that I had enough to finish my 5 X 7 layout. Whew, and last night I finished it! It looks a mess on the back, I compensated for many many errors by adjusting seam allowances on the back so it looks wonky and messy back there. I hated finishing this quilt, it felt like a chore, but the lesson is that once I finished it I realized that I like this quilt again! It is going to be a perfect one to send to my mom. She will love it--it will make a perfect throw for a couch and the fabrics and style of the quilt are very much her sort of tastes. Oh happy happy, done done!!!

Another Finished Top to Add to the Stack

2011-06-25T10:08:00.001+10:00

I'm trying very hard to motivate myself to finish projects that I have started over the years. I spent about an hour and a half yesterday night finishing this quilt top. This top was started about 3 years ago and I got as far as sewing the rows together until I realized I was short one block! I couldn't understand how I was short just one block. I was sure I had made enough and my brain was too tired to go back and make the one extra block that I needed to make to finish! Then I just didn't get to it. I lost interest in the fabrics. They were purchased when I was last in the States visiting home and family, which was four years ago now. I also made this quilt here out of the same fabrics...

Then I decided to use as much of the 30's fabrics as I could so I started making the yellow one. I love the design of the quilt and hope to make one like it with modern fabrics someday. It's a good design in that you can use charm squares to make it. The one on the bed also uses 5 inch charms squares. That's it, no more 30's fabrics. I sold the rest of what I had on Ebay and now can move on. I do think these quilts will improve once I quilt them. It will give them that vintage crinkly look that they need to be really 30's style.

+ and X Block for My Mom

2011-06-23T12:42:00.001+10:00

So, I've been thinking about my Japanese + and X quilt and I thought I would add in some special blocks dedicated to special people in my life. Of course one must then start with one's own mother first! This is what I came up with for my mom. It includes a little bit about her hopes and dreams as a younger person (to become a figure skater, to teach French) etc. I kept the colors of the block simple as she would prefer. The leaves are for her love of nature and of course she has always said that she loves to cook. If you look closely (my husband didn't see it) you can find her name and of course the day she was born. Yes, I do put a lot into each of these blocks!!!

String-X Blocks for Stitch 'n' Bits

2011-06-22T08:54:00.000+10:00

I've been feeling a bit like I'm in a fog the last couple of days. I think it's because Oliver has just gotten through some more teething (he got his two front teeth in now) and I've been getting up in the night somewhere between 4 and 6 times. Normally I get up 3 times and consider myself lucky as Alexander was a lot more demanding. Ha! He still is too, but in different ways. I'm pretty much convinced now that boys are more demanding all around than girls. Our house is so lively, jumpy and loud! It could be the weather too. They need to get outside, but it has been cold out, or wet, etc.. Even when we bundled Alexander up to go out with dad, he comes back and says, "Mama, bike's cold!" We have a ritual that every morning I ask him what he dreamed about during the night and yesterday he surprised me and said, "Warm bike!" He's only two and a half, but the things he comes up with are so entertaining. I think anyone that knows me would know that I am in my element having two boys. I love the action, the liveliness, and most of all the cuddles.

So, did I tell you that I signed up for my very first quilting bee? I'm in a new bee called Sew Australia and I am excited to be able to get to know some online peeps a bit more and sew together! This month's block, the first round, is for Stitch 'n' Bits. Isn't it beautiful? She has beautiful taste using the Henna Garden and I'm looking forward to seeing how her quilt comes together. If you are interested in making one of these blocks/quilts for yourself. This is the tutorial we are using here. I do love love the look of the quilt when finished. If you want to see an example of a finished quilt check out this link here. I did have trouble making my blocks though. It's not quite as easy as it seems. There are a lot of biases to work with and it requires precise trimming. It took me a while and a couple of goes at it before I felt I had something workable. I did find that I didn't like the part in the tutorial where you have to use a triangle laid underneath each corner to show where to cut. I don't like procedures that are not precise and require a lot of adjusting to get right. Instead, I marked the centers at 2.25" and then used the 45degree line on my ruler to cut off the corners. Made me much happier! I will make a quilt out of this design one day--I really love it!

Japanese + and X Progress

2011-06-18T07:51:00.000+10:00

I thought I would share with you how I am progressing along with my Japanese + and X quilt. I scanned all of my blocks into my computer and then have been able to use the collage feature in Picassa to be able to put them together. I think it is a great way to have a "design" wall without having to move fabric around. Also, gives me a great way to play with arrangement and be able to save an arrangement I like to refer back to. I might start scanning all my quilt blocks after this! Well, maybe.

So, I would love if you could help me by leaving a comment. Can you see what I was trying to do with the second layout? Do you like this method better or do you prefer the randomness of the first one? I didn't play around with the second one too long, but hopefully enough that you can see my intent. I'm considering either a 10x10 or a 12x12 layout with this quilt. Each block is 7 inches. I would love to hear your opinions!!!

Climbing Jacob's Ladder

2011-06-16T15:18:00.001+10:00

Joining the seam

Mitered corners with joining seam in lower left corner


In case you were wondering what the boys get up to while I'm sewing and such...

Are you watching me Mama?

We like it! And so relaxing too!

Ok, what else can we get into?

Mud! That's what!

Another completed quilt top! This one also only needed the final border putting on it to be considered a finished quilt top. I know that most of my readers will not be enthusiastic about this quilt as it is not modern, but I actually like this one a lot. I like modern, but I also like civil war prints too and I think I will always appreciate them. These fabrics were from a line by Moda called Climbing Jacob's Ladder. Of course that is what inspired me to make a Jacob's Ladder quilt out of the fabrics. And the turquoise blue is what makes me particularly like this quilt.

The reason it took me so long to put the final border on this quilt is that when I ordered the border fabric for this quilt I thought that if I bought enough to go the entire length of the quilt that I would only have to cut it along the grain length to make the border. Nope. The direction only worked for two directions not all four. So, I realized that I was going to have to piece the border together. And to line it up as well. Ugghh! And, to make mitered corners, which I've never done before. So, all of that seemed quite daunting. But, yesterday I took it slow and after a couple trials, I did managed to figure it out. I almost felt like an experienced quilter by the end of it. Get that word, Almost. Not really quite there yet. I did wonder if there was a way to line up mitered corners so that the print would look continuous on the corners as well. But, my head got tired and I figured I was fine with it as it was. Does anyone know the answer to that question?

I thought I would include a few pictures of the boys to show you that even though it looks like I'm getting work done, they are always here with me keeping things lively! Never a dull moment, most obviously boys and always as cute as the dickens!

Chocolate Lollipop Quilt Top Finished

2011-06-15T10:02:00.000+10:00

So, I'm trying to finish up quilt tops that just need borders added or blocks sewn together, etc. I have a few more to get through yet! This one just needed the borders though. In case you are wondering, this fabric is by Anna Maria Horner from her Chocolate Lollipop line. I bought this fabric last time I was in the U.S., which is now 4 years ago!!! At the time I thought this fabric was a little bit crazy, but I was somehow attracted to it. Now, I feel that there have been many fabrics that I have lost interest in since that time, but this line I love more and more with time. I have to say that I really love Anna's fabrics and the vibrancy of her color palette. And I do love the way that this quilt top turned out too. I know I have an obsession with octogon quilts--don't know why, maybe because my favorite number is 8? No, really, I have no idea why.

In case you might have a fondness for octogon quilts too, you can find the pattern for the 1974 quilt (from my previous post) here. The 1974 quilt is different than the Lollipop quilt if you look closely. It is made using a free pattern that Tula Pink published for Moda. On the other hand, the Lollipop quilt is made from a template set that I bought here in Australia. If you are interested in purchasing the templates they are only available through one quilt shop as they are made by a local guy for her shop specifically. This is what she told me, but she also said that she would be very happy to post out templates to anyone who would like to purchase a set. You can find her shop here. Just click on the contact details for information to call or write to her. Hope that helps =)

1974 Urban Chiks Quilt Top Finished

2011-06-13T13:19:00.001+10:00

So, I've had this one on the pile for quite some time now. It was all done except for the sewing on the borders, which I did last night. This is one that I totally love. I am sure that it is going to be the kind of quilt that dramatically improves once quilted, so I am looking forward to doing the quilting on it when I get the longarm. I am thinking custom quilting is in order for this one! I'm so glad that back when I started this quilt I had no idea how popular and loved a line 1974 would become otherwise I might have been reluctant to cut into it!

It's All About Cars

2011-06-12T10:19:00.000+10:00

Yesterday I was tidying up the sewing room and found this fabric by Alexander Henry. Alexander is absolutely crazy about cars, trucks, trains and most especially tractors. I asked him if he would like me to make him a shirt from the fabric. He's so cute, he stokes the fabric and says, "nice, soft." I thought it would be good for him to see the transformation of turning a piece of fabric into something wearable. Good thing he isn't too concerned about my sewing abilities yet. He helped me put the snaps on this morning and happily put the shirt on. This photo shows that he needs a haircut, I'm just waiting until his hair recovers enough from Grandpa's buzzcut a few months ago--we will never do that again!

Rain + More Rain = Flood

2011-06-11T22:10:00.000+10:00

Yesterday morning I woke up early and took this photo out the on the deck with the eery sunrise light to show that the river had come up higher than usual. We had two mornings of bright red sheperd/sailor warning sunrises.

After my husband decided to go to the farm and check on the pump by the farm river I took this photo. It was about an hour later...

It quickly turned to this.

And this. Lucky he got the pump, but it was in the water and had to go waist in to get it. This is the second flood we've had this year. Before that, it was about 20 years that this river has had so much water flow down it!

Sewing For the SUTK Swap On a Cold and Rainy Day

2011-06-10T07:22:00.000+10:00

Ok, so I just have to say that I am NOT a good three dimensional sewer. I seem to make so many mistakes in my execution. Often, it's directional mistakes. These are the gloves/oven mitts I made for the Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap. They were very time consuming, which I didn't quite expect when I started out. It took me as much time to sew these little guys up as to sew up a quilt top. And there are a ton of mistakes, but I did the best I think I am capable of at the moment. I do love them and wouldn't mind them for myself. I don't mind showing these now as I know my partner doesn't read this blog, but I'm fairly positive that she will like them too. In my opinion the colors will go well in her kitchen. I really enjoyed making them as I learned a lot and was able to stretch myself a bit in deciding what to make. If I have a little more time before the mailing due date I might add a trivet into the mix as well... Trivets are always useful.

Can you see what sort of weather we are having today? It's very cold, very wet and windy. We are all indoors today, making messes, cooking and not getting very much done. I do love days like this!

Red and Aqua Half Square Triangle Quilt

2011-06-09T08:07:00.000+10:00

See, I am actually finishing up old projects! Well, at least I'm gathering up some quilt tops for when I get the long arm machine. I am really trying to organize and get my old projects squared away, but sometimes I can't help but get excited and carried away with the new. This top was created from the left over half square triangles that I had from a couple of quilts I made previously. I am kind of fascinated with half square triangles and the way they can create so many different designs. I was so inspired at one point that I started this group on Flickr here. Go ahead and have a look at the many wonderful half square triangle quilts in the group and feel free to join up as well and add your own versions!

Hullabaloo Wonky Cross Quilt

2011-06-08T07:25:00.001+10:00

So, it's sort of tricky getting a half way decent photo with the winter light we've got going on here now, but this is my latest quilt top I recently sewed up. I had a fat quarter bundle of the Urban Chiks Hullabaloo fabrics staring at me in the face and I suddenly decided that I had to do something with them. I really have an obsession with Urban Chiks's fabrics. I started a Flickr group for quilts made from Urban Chiks fabrics a while ago here, if you want to take a look. Feel free to join the group if you are interested and post pictures of your own quilts made with their fabrics. I like their Hullabaloo line, not my favorite, but a good one. I thought it needed to be split up though into two groups--masculine and feminine. I used Elizabeth Hartman's Wonky Cross tutorial to make the quilt which you can find here. It's a really fast and simple quilt to make, the only tricky bit is getting the cross to line up on both sides in the final part of sewing the block. After a couple goes, I figured out that I need to pinch the seams and hold to find out where it needed to line up adjusting it carefully, then I just sewed over one seam to hold it in place. After checking to see that it was straight I could go back and sew the entire bit. It saved me a lot of ripping out and realigning and made it quicker to do.

The other half of my fabrics I will pair together with Kona medium gray (instead of the Kona coal in the Wonky Cross). Not sure yet what I will do with them, but I am thinking about making something wonky, but not crosses... I'll test it out soon.

+ and X Progress

2011-06-07T07:46:00.001+10:00

It's growing!!! Can't stop. Need a 12 step program...

Dear Spicing Up the Kitchen Partner...

2011-06-05T21:26:00.000+10:00

I forgot to write a note to my secret partner in the Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap. You've probably already seen my inspiration mosaic in the top picture and what my kitchen looks like. In case you are wondering what I would like to receive, I would be excited to use anything that you make for me. Do let your imagination run wild, I'm not really set in stone. I often decide my tastes are a certain way only to discover the next that they are something else yet again. I do like fruit themes, blue is my identifying color (I have imperial blue Denby dishes and blue Le Crueset). I like hints of yellow. I have an obsession with duck egg blue as well. I love linens and tea towels. I love anything that helps me organize, cool ideas to do things more efficiently and effectively--I am truly a gadget girl. I would love oven mitts or a trivet -- placemats would also be at the top of the list. But, really, please go wherever your creativity takes you and follow your heart. I want you to put yourself in what you create, that is what will make it truly special. And Thank You for all your effort. It will be appreciated. My kitchen is valued highly--it is a place for me to create and I love every thing about it including what you will add to it:)

Spicing Up the Kitchen Swap

2011-06-03T17:46:00.000+10:00

Ok, so I finally signed up to do some online Flickr swaps. I've been wanting to do it for a long time now as so many people seem to be in on the action. My problem though, is that I am so so reluctant to make commitments. I hate the feeling of having too much to do and the feeling of not being able to get done what I want to get done. But, I also don't want to miss out on some fun in life, so here I go to a new life chapter of getting myself more involved in things! I signed up for Spicing Up the Kitchen swap. You can read about it here. I've been going round and round in my mind what I should make for my partner and found some of this teacup fabric and thought that it might be something she would like. It's so hard to know what someone else will like!!! I'm going to make some oven mitts to match and then see where to go from there. This apron still needs a pocket too...

Denyse Schmidt Picnic and Fairgrounds in Australia!

2011-06-01T10:56:00.000+10:00

So yesterday I had my first day off as a mom and went to Canberra on my own mainly to visit a friend who is going away to the States for a couple of months so I needed to catch up with her. We had been putting it off for one reason or another and in the end it worked out perfectly! I was able to stop by Spotlight and pick up some of the new fabrics just released by Denyse Schmidt called Picnic and Fairgrounds that was only ordered over here. These prints (in the top photo) are available only here in Australia!!! I bought quite a bit of it and decided I will sell a small portion of it in my Etsy shop. I don't foresee going back to get more anytime soon, so once it's gone it's gone as far as I can see right now. I'm going to use these prints in my Wonky Log Cabin quilt that I have been working on. I was waiting for these prints to become available so that I could add them into the quilt to help balance out the color. So, I hope it will be worth it. I also plan on making a kaleidoscope quilt out of these fabrics as well. When I get to it that is...

Can you believe what I found at my LQS up there as well? I know that they must bring out fabric from the back or somewhere else as I have been looking for brown posies EVERYWHERE. It has been almost as hard as grey seeds for me to find. I will do a back flip if I walk in there next time and find grey seeds. Can you imagine? Eeeek! I'm now obsessed with trying to find some fabrics by Suzuko Koseki for my scrap quilt and because I just love them, but I guess they are very hard to come by. I will keep searching. And for some other text prints as well. I would be happy if anyone could point me in the right direction:)

Progress on Japanese + and X Quilt

2011-05-30T21:52:00.000+10:00

This photo made it on Explore yesterday... Working on some more blocks and then I will take a break to go back to old projects. Think I kind of got addicted to this one, but I will need a little reflecting time...

Erin Michael Za Za Quilt Finished!

2011-05-28T17:39:00.000+10:00

Long ago I started this quilt. You can read about the last time I posted about it here. I finally got around to sewing down the last of the binding today. Whew! It takes me a long time to get through bindings sometimes, but I think it is worth the effort to hand sew them rather than on the machine as it gives it such a professional finish. The fabrics in this quilt are by Erin Michael for Moda from a line called Za Za. It didn't get very much hype, but I truly love the fabrics in this line. The colors are so vibrant and fresh that I am surprised that it didn't gain more popularity. I love this quilt! I'm happy it's finished too, the only thing is that I was thinking I would keep it for the guest bed, but it's a tad bit too small. It would really be better on a full size bed rather than on a queen. Oh well. It will find a home somewhere... Are you an Erin Michael fan? I wish she would design some more fabric lines. I especially love her paint by numbers. Are you listening out there Moda? :)

More Japanese + and X Blocks

2011-05-27T12:00:00.000+10:00

Ok, I'm having way way too much fun making these Japanese + and x blocks! I stayed up past my usual bed time making more blocks. I think making these blocks are the most fun I've ever had making a quilt! I love using the scraps I've got on hand. Yes, and a special thanks to Amy, for the Munki Munki scraps you sent me:) I didn't originally intend to use them in this way, but I'm just loving using them. My next goal is to see if I can get a hold of some wordy, text sort of Japanese fabrics to use for the x part. Check out what Tamiko did with her amazing blocks here.

Japanese + and X Quilt Along

2011-05-26T16:41:00.001+10:00

It seems I caught the bug from Flickr! I had to make some of these blocks that are now becoming popular. The block was originally designed/published in the 1930's by Loretta Leitner Rising under the pen name Nancy Cabot. More recently it became popular when a quilt made by Setsuko Inagawa was shown at this year's Tokyo Quilt Festival. Apparently, it has been the talk of Flickr since January and a wonderful tutorial was created by Amy of Badskirt which you can find here. If you are interested in joining the quilt along, you can find it here.

The best thing about this quilt is that it is scrap friendly. I've decided that I will make this quilt mainly out of my bucket of scraps, which really will be a first for me. I am not going to worry about color themes or anything like that. My only goal will be to use the coolest fabrics that I own. I will try to do my best at piecing accurately, but I am not going to worry if they are not perfect. And, I'm not in a hurry...

In a Gridlock

2011-05-25T13:15:00.001+10:00

Ok, let me show you what I have been working on the last couple of days. As I have stated previously, I am really trying to work on my New Year's resolution to finish old projects this year. This one has been a LONG time in the making. You can read my first blog post about it here. Can you believe how long it has been? I must say that I am absolutely STRUGGLING with getting this top finished. I had finished all the checker blocks back when I started this quilt and then decided to put the project away for awhile. There were 60 blocks that I made and maybe I was just overwhelmed. I can't remember. Now, I have pulled them out again and am trying to make the other half of the blocks. The non-checkerboard ones. Wow, is it ever getting to me though. First of all, I am not happy with the quality of my piecing back from 2006--I didn't even have a quarter inch foot on my machine back then! Second, while I love the look of shot cottons, these do feel quite flimsy. I'm not sure now if I would ever recommend someone to use Kaffe Fassett fabrics. The quality, even of the printed fabrics, does not seem up to the standard of other quilting cottons. Third, I'm just struggling with liking what I am doing with these fabrics. Maybe once they are all together I will like the quilt more. In the meantime I will make a couple, take a break, make some more, take a break... I will finish it though!!!

Oh, I did want to explain about the apples since a couple of people asked me what I meant about by wrapping up them up for winter. Sometimes I forget that even though I've only been on the farm for five years now that many of the things we do were not always so familiar to me before I arrived and so it probably is not familiar with some of you as well! We store the apples by wrapping them in newspaper individually. Then we can put them into the cold storage and have apples for a long time--at least through the winter. When they are wrapped they keep from touching each other and therefore one bad apple will not spoil the whole lot. We get a lot of apples from just one tree and we have a couple that produced this year. I will be making a lot of apple pie:)

For Those of You Who Like.... Apples!

2011-05-24T11:06:00.000+10:00

Ok , so this post isn't exactly quilting related... But, (excuse the pun) I couldn't help but post this as it is farm related- sort of. My husband found this apple from our tree this morning as we were wrapping them up for winter storage. He said he was sorry that we couldn't get all our apples to look like this one. Hmmm... What does this say about him?