Wednesday, December 29, 2010

Just a little bit frustrated...

Last night my machine started skipping stitches. In vain I tried a new bobbin and a new needle, but it didn't help... Today I rushed it into the Bernina stockist in Wellington to have it serviced only to find out that my poor machine won't be serviced and returned to me until the 20th of January! What to do? What to do? I will need to borrow a machine. I have a few outstanding bee blocks to finish and I want to keep up the momentum with the pinwheels! I am slightly tempted to buy a cheap backup machine - shhhh... don't tell the DP!

Tuesday, December 28, 2010

Mendocino Pinwheels

For my birthday last year, the DH said I could buy some fabric for my present... which was pretty convinient since I'd just discovered Mendocino for sale on Etsy and felt my fabric stash would not be complete without it. Dramatic I know.



It's been sitting in my fabric drawers since then. Occassionally I would take it out and look at the pretty mermaids and the colours, and then put it away again. I could not decide what to make with it. So in search of inspiration, I looked through my Flickr favourites, of which a large number are pinwheel quilts.

Dana over at the Old Red Barn Co made this quilt a wee while ago which I absolutely love... Actually I pretty much love all Dana's quilts. Anyway, last week while watching Son's of Anarchy for the first time, I began cutting squares. 256 to be exact. So here are my blocks in the making...



7 down. 57 to go. I am motivated though. This is my the first quilt I am actually making for me! Not to give as a gift or donate! A quilt for my bed. For me! 

I hope you all had a very merry Christmas. We sure did. Lots of eating. Laughing. And gifts. I'll post a few pics of Christmas shortly. Until then - happy sewing everyone :) 

Wednesday, December 22, 2010

Finally finished...

This one has been a long time in the making... but it is done! At last! A lovely lady from work and I did a crafty exchange. She knitted gorgeous jumpers for the boys for the wedding, and I made her wee grandson (also an Oliver!) this quilt. Lesley chose the fabrics and design. I just did the sewing.


This post marks my 100th post! Check back for a giveaway soon. Also - my pay it forward people... surprises in the post will arrive soon... I am sorry for taking so long.

In case I don't get back here before Christmas (which is highly likely as I have two hams to glaze, a few gifts to wrap, a house to clean from top to toe, a chair set to build, children to feed etc... basically a lot to do in the next 48 hours) - MERRY CHRISTMAS!

Wednesday, December 15, 2010

The DNP & Me...


A wee trial run with Gus' cot...


Wee Play love :)


The backing - a favourite Dick & Jane print.

This quilt has to be one of my all time favourites. I can tell you that wrapping this little quilt today to give to my cousin for her wee guy Theo for Christmas was pretty hard... a small part of me wanted to keep it. But our Gus will be out of his cot by February and with 2 cot quilts already it seemed a little silly to keep it. Especially when I made it for Theo too. So hopefully he will love it and it will get a lot of use. And I've still got a FQ bundle and 2 jelly rolls left to make a single quilt for Gus. I can't wait!

I love the disappearing nine patch. It's so easy but looks fabulous. I also made a table runner with the same pattern below for Aphra's mum and dad. They are so good to me. I hope they'll love the Christmas table runner. I had it quilted with an all over snowflake pattern (the same as last year) and I love it.


Now all I have to complete is another shorter runner. Although I forget who I set out to make that one for... Hmmm... I think it might be Gus' teacher. I'll have to consult the Christmas shopping list! Oh and I've got a quilt to bind tonight! I will post pictures tomorrow.

Just over a week until Christmas! Exciting! How are you spending your Christmas? With family? Friends?

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

A wee early Christmas present for me!



I am actually blaming Georgia for my recent obsession with all things American Jane... A little while ago Georgia sent me the sweetest parcel, which contained a charm pack of Recess, Wee Play and Snippets. I wasn't quilting when all 3 were released and although a good number of my Flickr favourites contained the prints, I hadn't found any online. I could not believe my luck when I opened my parcel - thank you so much Georgia for sharing these with me!

So to cut a long, obsessive story short... I ended up sneaking in 2 jelly rolls (as well as an extra Wee Play charm pack because the lovely lady happened to mention that they still had 1 charm pack in stock - seemed a little rude not to buy it!) a couple of months ago - 1 Wee Play and 1 Look and Learn with the intention of making these into a hexagon quilt for Gus. I was a little worried that 2 jelly rolls might not be enough for a twin sized quilt, so with the wedding finally complete, I began a little online search for Wee Play fabric. I could not believe my luck when I stumbled across a FQ bundle still at the RRP online. I decided that if it was still there in the morning I would order it. So I did.

I've just finished making a disappearing nine patch quilt with the two charm packs for my cousins wee little guy Theo. I have to confess that parting with that quilt will be rather difficult. It is gorgeous. Even if I do say so myself. It's with the LAQ at the moment, so as soon as it's back I'll share a pic! I've got one quilt to finish before the end of the week for a friend before I can begin playing with these prints again. I can not wait.


Happy sewing!

Saturday, November 27, 2010

A few more photos...


Little Gus


Gus





Oliver - too busy to stay still for photos!


My boys and I


My favourite photo


Attempts at family photo...



Oliver - "I'm off!"


And my little Gus again!

Thank you very much for all the sweet comments on my last little photo update! As requested I've included more photos of the boys this time! We didn't get many of Ollie - he just wouldn't stay still! Gus, however, well - he definitely worked the camera!!

 I actually managed some sewing this week! AMAZING! But we still don't have a camera - so no photos to share just yet. I almost have enough Flybuys to get a new camera! Hopefully before Christmas! Whipping up a few little Christmas presents! Hopefully I can get them to the LAQ today and hopefully she'll be able to quilt them for me in time for Christmas.

It's been a stunning week here in Wellington. The weather has been amazing. And warm. Who knows - we might actually get a summer this year!

 And sadness this week -]\. NZ has been rocked by the Pike River Mine disaster. 29 men lost. We're a small nation. Just over 4 million people. So everyone knows someone who knows someone... we used to think we were separated by two degrees of separation - I actually think it's more like one degree of separation these days with social networking - so this tradegy is definitely affecting everyone. I can't even begin to imagine the pain each family is feeling. One thing that always amazes me at times this like though, is how people band together to do good. There are so many good people!

Sunday, November 14, 2010

It's been nearly 4 months since my last post!

Wow! How time flies! I can't believe it's less than 6 weeks until Christmas and I only began thinking about it yesterday. I've been somewhat preoccupied planning our wedding. There's only so much planning you can do though - and planning the weather is one thing I just couldn't manage... but that was ok. Everything else went well. Not 100% to plan but fortunately that's the story of our lives so we just went with it!

We had a wonderful day. Made especially wonderful by the people we got to share it. The kids were also brilliant! And my little Gus finally started walking a fortnight before the wedding! Thankfully!

 Here's a few snippets taken by our wonderful photographer Meredith from Amor Photography




It's been such a long time since I managed any sewing... My poor machine has been resting in our wardrobe for some time... but with Christmas fast approaching, and no more wedding plans to finalise, organise, confirm and complete, I feel as though I will be able to squeeze out a few wee Christmas gifts. Maybe a few table runners, and a wee quilt for my cousins little guy Theo. He is just the cutest. And some bee blocks. I've started some... but need to catch up quick!

So there you have it... I am now Mrs Simpson.

Wednesday, July 21, 2010

Thank You.

Thank you so much to everyone who left words of wisdom and encouragement on my last post. It really means a lot :) and it was just what I needed to get back to my machine. I can't show you what I've been working on because my camera is still holidaying with the MIL. Hope to get it back this weekend! Some yummy fabric arrived today in the post too. That's always nice after a LONG day at work. I will post pictures soon I promise.

Thanks again everyone. You know who you are and you are awesome.

Saturday, July 17, 2010

Absent.

It's been a month since my last post. I have been hibernating. The boys have been taking it in turns to be sick. The DP is sick. I've been sick. It's been very wet and my washing pile keeps multiplying. Add to that planning a wedding, working full time, trying to run a house and a surprise birthday party and you can probably guess why I've been missing. Ohhh and a new baby. My cousin had her wee boy last week. They named him Theodore Rupert... isn't that the sweetest name. I'm going to call him Teddy :) He was 9lb 2oz and has the cutest chubby cheeks. He is exquisite.

So amongst all the madness I haven't touched my sewing maching for about a month. Apart from Bee Blocks. I am having withdrawals but just can't quite seem to get myself motivated to sew right now. Did I mention that the DP is away every week for a night too?

Anyway... I have bought myself some hexagons to join the hexagon madness and hope that this will be a nice crafty outlet when I just can't find the energy to sew. I have also binged on some fabric. Just waiting for it to arrive in the post!

What did arrive in the post yesterday morning was our wedding invitations! Exciting! Now to address and post. That'll be a task for tomorrow. Today I am just going to hibernate some more. And maybe play with some fabric. Oh and do some washing.

Do you ever loose your sewing mojo too? How do you find it again?

Monday, June 14, 2010

Ollie's new winter quilt - a WIP


or this post could also be called the continued monkey n round saga!

Oliver decided he'd quite like a new quilt too...  so last night I began playing around with these prints and decided upon this simple layout. What do you think? Honestly? Obviously there is quite a few blocks missing! But you can kind of get the idea?

I still love the sawtooth star block I tried out last month, but these blocks are so much quicker to put together and bigger too! So hopefully I can finish this quickly, get it quilted and onto his bed! It's been very cold the last few nights,  so I am  keen to settle on a pattern for my Mendocino too to keep warm!

Tadaa!


Gus' wee winter I Spy quilt is completed!




And here's a shot with all his teds.... quite a growing collection at that end of the bed!



I used some flannel Monkey n Round that I had in my stash. It's super soft and super cuddly! The inner is wool and I love it! It's so warm.. If you enlarge this picture you might be able to see the all over quilting a bit better - it's super cute barnyard friends! Sheep, goats, cows, ducks, geese and pigs! It's a bundle of fun!

And just because... here is the blanket under Gus' quilt. It doesn't belong to me. It belongs to the MIL but I desperately want my own to keep. Isn't it a lovely pattern



Ollie was a tad jealous that Gus got a new quilt so I've got a new WIP... but I'll post that seperately!

Hope you're all having a good week!

Wednesday, June 9, 2010

The prarie points and me!

 
Finished! Well kinda. Still needs quilting and binding...

I almost didn't add the prarie points. Eech.... They ought to come with a warning when ironing. I burnt myself. More than once. They were surprisingly easy to sew, but definitely a clunky seam to press. I am not sure how to quilt this one - suggestions? oooh and what on earth to back this with? I'll have to pop into my LQS tomorrow before whipping this to my LAQ. She's already finished Gus' quilt... so I will be picking that up tomorrow. I can't wait to see it and bind it!


And this is where this little quilt will be soon :) Aren't those wee birds above the curtains cool?!
They are wall paper cut outs!

Happy sewing!

Tuesday, June 8, 2010

The weather outside is frightful...

Tonight the temperature has dropped significantly, and hail and sleet are are coming down with the pouring rain outside. I always get nervous when it rains like this because the back of our property completely drops away and I half expect the garage to disappear...

Anyway, with the temperature being in the wee single figures, I thought I would baste Gus' winter quilt tonight after managing to find some wool batting for $17 per metre! HUGE price difference! It definitely pays to shop around. Anyway, I basted the quilt - doing my absolute best to ensure that the backing, batting and top were nice and flat. I pinned every patterned charm square.


 See the Monkey N Round flannel in blue - that's what I chose as my backing :)

And then I attempted to sew. 1/4" straight lines either side of the squares. It didn't work so well... It kept bunching. I am not sure if it's because

a) I am useless (extremely possible - the actual quilting part scares me a lot so I like to 'outsource')
b) the wool batting is rather stretchy - more so than just cotton or cotton/bamboo so the stitches were not even
c) the flannel backing made the quilting more difficult

I am going to go with d) all of the above :)

So, I have already unpicked my stitches and shortly I will begin taking the pins out. Tomorrow (weather permitting) I will drop this quilt off to my LAQ and I'll let her do a lovely job :) I am sitting under the quilt at the moment, and Georgia you are sooo right! It is delightfully warm!!!! I am so toasty warm. I can't wait for this to be in Gus' cot. I think I might beg Sue to hurry!

So, I will try to quilt again, but I think it's best if I practice my skills on quilts that aren't as stretchy. How on earth do you guys do it?




Monday, June 7, 2010

Windmills WIP - Update

Four more blocks to make, then the prarie points and this baby will almost be done!

Mending Week Finishes

When I saw that the girls from Making More with Less were hosting a mending week, I knew it was just the kick I needed to finally mend my 'mend it' pile... Most of the items have been in the pile for months - and now they are finally done. Buttons, bust seams and a patch (although a very wonky patch - aaah well they're only for daycare!)...



I even mended my rosary beads my MIL bought in Fatima. Oliver kindly 'unmended' them for me last week. They're not quite as they were - I think a bead or two may have got lost in translation somewhere (read the couch). 

All I need to do now is figure out the best way to make a label for Ollie's quilt where a small seam has popped :(
I've hand stitched it down but it looks pretty silly - luckily it's on the back and I never did quite label it in time for Christmas. So if you've got any label making tips - please share!!

Thanks for hosting mending week Alisa and Suzanne!

Sunday, June 6, 2010

Sweet windmills...


Just so you don't think I am a complete slacker... I have made two blocks so far for Aprha's baby shower. Aphra chose the Sweet charm pack in my stash which will go perfectly in the baby's room. Only 10 more blocks to make :) Then a bunch of Prarie Points! Thankfully its a long weekend! And the weather is miserable (again!) today - so looks like we'll be staying in :) Perfect for sewing.

And when I don't have energy to sew, I like to just pet these little beauties...




I've just got another 1/2 yard to arrive (yep I was naughty!) of the aqua swimming mermaids which is ridiculously hard to find and a bit more expensive than I care to mention! And then to settle on a pattern....

I Spy - a wee WIP


I should be working on this wee quilt here for my cousins baby shower in a fortnight - but instead I've been working on piecing this wee I Spy quilt top. This quilt started out with no real intention other than it was inspired by this cute quilt here by Amy. I purchased the charm pack from Amy's Etsy store and added a few prints. As I was working on this quilt I fell in love with all the prints, so this will be a winter cot quilt for my Gus.




A closer shot of some of the prints. Love those robots and those wee gnomes. A lot.



See the Simple Abundance, Wonderland, Everything But The Kitchen Sink, Mendocino and Odyssea in there?

I originially wanted to border this in red, but my LQS didn't have anything in the 'right' red. I had both the boys with me, so I really didn't want to try another store in the City. I'd promised Fluffy's and a trip to the park if they were good. So in the end I went with two more of the Everything But the Kitchen Sink prints for the borders. A nice orange spot. And the circus print in blue. I really like that blue - and it will match his curtains perfectly.

I am going to back this quilt in my most favourite cot sheet that both the boys have slept on. I think. If I can bare to cut into it. I am still using it as a sheet at the moment but I really want to immortalise it. It's a Curious George print I picked up when I was in my first trimester with Ollie. We didn't know he was a boy yet but I was pretty sure :) So I bought the fabric and whipped up some lovely flannel cot sheets. This quilt will have a wool/cotton inner. The pure wool batting costs $56 a metre!

Happy Sewing! 

Friday, May 28, 2010

A Winner...

It's lucky number seven this round! Lis wrote "Cute fabric, please count me in!" - Congratulations Lis! I'll be sending you an email :)

Hope everyone had a good week! I've had a man cold this week. Finally on antibiotics! So bring on feeling better :)

Happy sewing everyone!

Tuesday, May 25, 2010

A little bonus giveaway...


2 FQ's of Japanese prints by Cosmo Textiles

Leave a comment to be in to win... entries close Friday :)

Monday, May 24, 2010

Blushing - some more Mendocino


Oh Mendocino how I love thee... Mendocino in blush - my latest arrival bought from Kerri's shop on Etsy.





And here is my little Mendocino line up - I love those swimming mermaids. A lot! Now to settle on a pattern design... If you have a moment take a look here, here, here and here and tell me what you think!

Ohhh and here, here, here, here and here!

Thanking you in advance! Happy Sewing!

Work In Progress Parade - Asher's Quilt Part Two


Quilt top - done. Just need to quilt this little quilt and it'll be on it's merry way to it's new home. I am going to back this quilt in flannel to make it snuggly. Anything I should know about quilting flannel?

Friday, May 21, 2010

Blogger's Quilt Festival - Seeing Double

Amy is hosting another Blogger's Quilt Festival and I am very excited to have an actual quilt to enter this time round... make that two! For Christmas, I made two of these Bot Camp quilts - 1 for each of my very own little sprockets - Ollie and Gus.



This was Ollie's quilt in the making - his is bound and machine quilted in Blue...



This is Gus' quilt on Ollie's bed - his is bound and machine quilted in orange.

I decided that I wanted to make the quilts fully reversible - you know for those unexpected accidents... and also so I could use up all the fabric (my ulitmate goal :)).



This is the back of Gus' quilt... I love those sprockets. A lot.

Please head on over to Amy's site to check out the other lovely entries - trust me it's perfect quilty eye candy :) Lots of fabric coveting and inspiration to be seen :)

We have a winner!

Lucky number 11 - Alisa commented "Those Japanese prints are just so cute! Thanks for the giveaway!"

Alisa - I'll email you now! Congratulations! And thanks everyone for entering... I'll be having another very soon :)

Monday, May 17, 2010

Work In Progress Parade - Asher's Quilt

I just need to finalise the layout and sew the blocks and rows together. Then quilt it. Myself. I think this quilt will lend itself well to straight lines - fortunately :)

If you haven't already... don't forget to leave me a comment here to win some super cool Japanese FQ's!

Monkey. N.Round - Testing the blocks


The Sawtooth Star block - 8"




The Snowball block - 5"

So... the verdict is still out... I like them both - while the snowball block is quicker, it's a lot smaller, so I'd need to make more which could take longer? Maybe a quilt of each is in order?

Mr Postman delivers and a giveaway!

Some yummy Hushabye by Tula Pink FQs - these were part of a fabric swap on Flickr...

Some cute Japanese prints from Dana's destash sale... I missed the boat on the Sew Mama Sew giveaway, so I'm just going to host my own little giveaway here for my followers :) I'll be giving a FQ away of each of these Japanese prints! Just leave me a comment at the end :)

And Dana also kindly sent me some of her Mendocino strips of unused fabric...


Still another parcel (or two) to arrive! Hopefully tomorrow! Hope you all had a great start to the week! Don't forget to leave a comment below to enter the giveaway :)