Gifts

Golden Horseys, a photo by craftykat on Flickr.

Been busy rolling out a few more baby quilts lately! Firstly this lovely Golden Horseys quilt for one of the bubbas in my mothers group. I got her in the secret gift draw for their first birthday. Little Bridget loves horses so somehow I had to incorporate them into the quilt. I did not have enough time to order fabric from OS so I raided our local spotlight. How hard is it to find cute horse fabric? I was lucky I found a fairytale panel on the bargain table - and on of the bits of the panel was magical horses which I used on the back. Then I was going through my stash at home and found I had some Heather Ross Unicorn Far Far Away fabric = score! I used most of it on the back of the quilt. The fabric in the front was random bits from my stash.


A few other quilts I did for friends - Green Circus with some Laurie Wisbun Urban circus fabric, and Hot Pink Flowers with more random bits.

Quilt for Oof

Quilt for Oof, a photo by craftykat on Flickr.

Wowsers it seemed like I started this a while ago. A selection of lovely African fabrics with a rainbow of Kona colours for my friend Ruth's 30th. (and yes, in true lateness she will be 32 in December). It was part of the Oh Fransson Paintbox Quilt-a-long http://www.ohfransson.com/oh_fransson/paintbox-quilt-along.html
Oof (as people of the toothless variety call her) loved it! She has spent a bit of time in Africa (Tanzania, Uganda) doing good stuff and she could identify most of the fabrics used. And her test to see if it was authentic? Lick the fabric - if it is salty it's real (and it was). She then preceded to lick some of my other fabrics...tsk tsk

Back is some scraps + Timeless Treasures Wild Thing fabric. Bit scary from a distance but I love all the animals in it - very "Where the Wild Things are".

Bec's 3 year quilt

Bec's 3 year quilt, a photo by craftykat on Flickr.

How long does it take to create a quilt? Well in this case - 3 years of planning and collecting and then just over 1 week of hard work.
My poor friend Becky - a quilter herself, I promised to make her a quilt for her 30th birthday. As soon as I decided I was doing one I started to collect fabric of things she likes - like Heather Ross' horses & gnomes, anything to do with airplanes (she is an aeronautical engineer), cooking, gardening, music and sewing (wow just realised she has many interests). But I never really had a plan for what I was going to do with the fabrics so I just collected more and more. Fast forward to about a month ago when I was planning a little visit to her in Perth (yep long way from Sydney) and suddenly the inspiration to get it done hit me. So I spent some time looking at patterns and thinking how I could organise this mismatch of fabric. I finally settled on one of Elizabeth Hartman's The Practical Guide to Patchwork patterns called "Rain or Shine". I also teamed it with some Kona Solids. So I pretty much started cutting on the Sunday, flew out to Perth the next Saturday with just the hand binding and about half the little rosettes to do (which I finished over there). So happy I finished it and she loved it!

The back


Closeups




At the little bakery in Margaret River where I sat all morning to finish the binding

Urban Circus Quilt

Urban Circus Quilt, a photo by craftykat on Flickr.

I have been sitting on my stash of Urban Circus for a while pondering what to do with it. I combined it with some Kona Solids scraps and kinda winged the desgin - and volia! Very happy (and so was my friend). I used Sandi Henderson's Butterflies for the Back and some stripy fabric from spotlight for the binding.

New Library Bag

New Library Bag, a photo by craftykat on Flickr.

As a librarian - my daughter needs a library bag! She has just gotten her first library card (who knew that you could get a card at 8 months old?) so Little Miss E finally has another thing made by her mum. Made using the new Avairy2 fabric from Joel Dewberry.

Look what I found

Now Little E can sew with me :)

Found: Gladesville Vinnies
Cost: $4.50 (1/2 price sale)

Accidental Quilt

I accidently made a quilt the other day. I have a so many projects on the to-do list so i have no idea how it happended. I was supposed to be making a competely different quilt and then I started to experiment with the scraps and before I knew it I had sewn a quilt top. It was only a baby size quilt and I had decided I needed to order some white sashing for the main quilt I was supposed to be making so that project was put on hold. So not wanting to add to the pile of almost completes I finished it! It is made using Heather Bailey's Nicey Jane fabric (and an Amu Butler Spots snuck in) and Kona Solids.




Nala took a moment to admire the quilt

Quilt for Claire

Back at the end of November I suddenly realised that my wonderful sister-in-law would be turning 30 in a few days time. I usually do quilts for peoples 30th - and while most people are usually turning 32 by the time they actually get their quilt, I decided that I could easily whip a quilt in 3 days. Also not factoring in that I had a 3 month old to look after - I was determined to get it done!! Well I did not make the 3 day deadline - though I did manage to get it all cut and about 1/2 pierced. Fast foward 3 months later ... and its done. I used Oh Franssons New Wave Quilt pattern teamed with some of Amy Bulters Love Fabric and some Kona Solids.


and the back



I love the pattern (well I do love everything designed by Elizabeth Hartman)but I probably need patterns that are a bit more forgiving with seams lining up. There were a few unpicks involved and not many of the seams line up but I don't mind. A handy tip is to pin from the centre when sewing strips together - at least if your seams don't match it is a bit more even then from starting at the top and then the bottom seams are very jagged.

Front close up


Back close up


I actually hand sewed the binding on this one instead of machine sewing. Very time consuming but I do love how it looks. Little Miss E kept staring at the quilt so i would lay it on the bed and do some of the sewing with her in the middle of it. This quilt almost did not make it to Claire because E loved it so much.

Sneak Peak

Somebody is enjoying the quilt I am making as I am hand sewing the binding :)

Queensland Flood Quilt Auction

**Please note that auction closing time has now been changed to 9pm EST Monday 24th Jan**

Toni from make it perfect has started up an auction to help in the Queensland flood appeal from her blog - So to help out I am auctioning off this funky quilt to help out my fellow Australians!

The quilt is perfect for a cot quilt or a playmat. The front contains fabric from Cosmo Cricket, Patty Young, Heather Ross, David Walker and Erin McMorris plus Kona Solids. The Wadding is 100% bamboo. It is fully machine quilted with straight lines and outlines of some of the quirky shapes in the fabrics. It measures approx 97cm x 108cm


(please excuse the photos - it is still drying on my clothes line! - I will try to take some better photos later in the day)






































As promised - some better photos!














































How this auction works:
1. Bidding will start at $30 (Australian).
2. You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address. Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.
3. Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
4. This auction is open to everyone, Postage is FREE.
5. The auction begins NOW and will END at 9pm on Monday 24th January 2011.
6. At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address). The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email. Once proof of payment has been received, I will post your quilt to you.
7. Thank you for participating and happy bidding!

New Year Sewing

OK - 2011 is going to be my year for crafting and blogging!!! (if I write it here at least I will be accountable - right???) I also have a crazy goal of opening an online shop or have a market stall this year. Oh and also finishing some of the projects I started last year or didn't start as the case may be.

To start the year off I have made

1. A cute gathered clutch - featuring Heather Ross Far Far Away II Roses fabric and some Kona Solids - not sure of the exact colour. I finally had the nerve to cut into the Heather Ross fabric and am very happy I did. It is from Noodleheads Gathered Clutch Tutorial. This is a christmas pressie (a little late) for my brand new sister-in-law!


















2. Some bibs! These are for my little twin nephews. They use an Amy Butler print from her Nigella line and the most softest bamboo terry towelling. I was a bit nervous to sew with a stretchy fabric like terry but am pleasantly suprised at how easy it was.
The bibs co-ordinate with the diaper bag I made the twins mum some time last year.