Keeping Out Of Trouble Part 2....

I was asked to make a special gift for a special Dad for Father's Day this year, and I couldn't refuse! 

It started with "I'd love to buy a hexie brooch off you" and "Do you have any blokey fabric in your stash?" and a deal was done! (I'm cheap sometimes...hehe)

Surprisingly (or not if you've ever seen my stash) I had it all in there. I added some Curlypops fabric, of course! Also a mix of quilting cottons and thin to thick corduroy. For some reason I wanted texture in this quilt! (I had free reign, but checked in regularly with Cam).

  

there was cutting, sewing and basting....

 and the quilting. I was with outlining all the squares, and then some diagonal lines. I had heard of and been recommended to try the quilter's gloves, and luckily Coles has the Ansell brand of gloves that worked a treat. (If you click on the link, just add 'quilting' to the uses haha). In case you've never heard of using them, they help grip the fabric to be fed through the machine. I don't think I've made such a heavy quilt before, due to the cord, so I literally had to pick it up to feed through; the gloves help you push it a bit more. Just what I needed!

  A 'mid quilting' layout and admire inspect

and a full shot when I delivered it to Cam. We were to busy gas bagging to remember to do it outside in the sun, so an inside shot unfortunately.

I named it 'The Bloke' haha

 Trying it on for size- my eyeballing on the design wall is always off- I thought I would need to add more before I tested it this way! Lucky the kid will sleep through anything...

We ducked out to vote on the quilting day (ie election day here in Oz) and came home to find the first seal of approval... (the backing was a lovely soft flannel with a teeny purple stripe. Poor cam had bought something similar it Spotlight for the back, but this from my stash trumped it- sorry Cam!)

 The binding is the Denise Schmidt green and blue check fabric, in a smart move I'd grabbed a bit when it was on clearance at Spotlight, I like how it's a bit scrappy with some bits green and others blue.

And the best pic and the reason I love making them? A happy new quilt owner!

 Awww! (yep, there may have been choking up at that!)

Finished cushions

I've been teasing during 'My Creative Space' and on Instagram with pics of these cushions, and can finally reveal the finished items!

I bought this pattern over here and found it fantastic, so many pics and clear instructions. Only mistake I made was I didn't read them close enough, der!

Fabric is by Aneela Hoey, called Walk In The Woods.

Little Miss and I love her designs, and most of the cushions on her bed are made from her fabrics!

(actually searching for them on my blog made me realise I should label them all under "Aneela Hoey" rather than the fabric lines, and I'm sure I'll be getting her newer ranges too at some point!)

 

  

So here is Little Miss's cushion- complete with the Big Big BIG Book of Tashi ( "so they can see how big the pocket is, Mum")

 and I somehow managed to line the fabric up at the front of the pocket- a complete fluke!

I also made one for my friends little girl, who's birthday I just missed! Hopefully this will make up for me missing it!

I machine stitched the quilting around this one.

the blue/purple back is Little Miss's; scallopy quilting seen on a few other blogs lately, so thought I'd give it a whirl!

 And some spesh Far Far Away on the birthday gift.

  and the mistake? I used the Walk In The Woods fabric for the back and front of the petals, not realising they were being sewn down! I didn't want to hide the gorgeous fabric (or unpick them all, eek!) so I left them loose, just stitching up the seams of the Dresdens.

Oh, it also fits Teddy! ( A very tired, post birthday party face on the kid!)

So thanks for the pattern and fabric, from 2 very clever ladies! I learnt a lot making it!

PS a tip- don't try and making the binding smaller, go with the pattern directions! I tried to use my 2inch premade stuff, and as it's going around about 9 layers at some pints, the extra 1/2 inch is essential!

Oh, and I'm heading over to the flickr group to add my pics- there are amazing finished ones there, and boys versions too!

a few things

Making Brianna a wrap skirt;

I was gifted one of the small clocks...and the kid got made a big one!

and someone's liking learning to knit!

Finally some craft camp pics....

Well, I had to sort through the pics so I didn't double up and you wouldn't want to go here and read Brianna's awesome post! (Don't rush over there, though, there is a great animation of a terrible me being greedy!) As the other 2 pals are a bit behind in their blogging, we have to give them a memento too!

Essentials were packed (Coffee machine not in pic!). However, awesome meals were

also consumed.

Brownies kept us full of energy (and a chance to use my vintage Bessemer plate!)

My driver and sewing 'sister'

The beautiful sun on Saturday was a bit of a pest.....it only seemed to hit my machine!

And for anyone else that goes to or wants to go to Sewjourn, this is THE best bed.

Mel finished a quilt.....

and Brianna brought along her finished Sherbert Pips quilt

Brianna started and finished this quilt top....

And I finally got into my 'It's a Hoot' quilt 

Liesel struggled with a badly written pattern most of the time, but on the first night dressed the dressmaker's dummy, and introduced us to baked doughnuts.......mmmmmm, doughnuts!

And then 'visual merchandiser" Brianna styled us up and we all went 'awwwwww'.

Thanks for an awesome weekend girls, I loved every minute!



A prize! For Me?

It was my first day back at work today after a delicious 8 days off. I thought I

was ready. I really did.

Nope.

We slept in. Raced out the door. Risked the whole trip with a flashing petrol light.

I rang a colleague on the way to cancel my first few appts, and the lovely girl drove over to my centre and opened it up for, AND saw my first client! That gave me time to get me and her a coffee!

The rest of the day was a blur; I jumped in the car FINALLY and headed to school pickup and basketball training. Halfway home we realised- the kid left her school bag in the hall! In our hurry in the cold to the car, I hadn't even thought about it! A mild tanty occurred when I firmly said 'NO' to driving back to school for an empty bag.

Imagine my delight when I found the card in the letterbox and found the postie had

cleverly hidden my parcel for me.

Surprise!

 Jennie had a giveaway over on her blog, which was hotly contested for and

which I luckily won! Check out the cute remote control!

I was also channelling my lovely afternoon yesterday today,  when I thought it would collapse around me. An amazing afternoon tea, organised by...the most organised hostess! Nikki provided the venue, more pics are over there as well!

 Amazing lemon tart- after the first one disappeared, I kept saying 'there are two!' Yum!

Awesome prizes for a raffle;

and even a take home treat, which I gave to my lovely sister for allowing me a

 child free afternoon!

 And that mini dress? soooo cute! I put the hat on top to help reference the size,

the pen didn't help for me!



Yep, the good stuff definitely outweighs the bad stuff. What crappy day?

A very productive day

I was going a bit bonkers during my week off looking after the poxy kid, so my young pal said she'd come for a play! Blog land is the only place an old bird like me would make friends with a spring chicken like B Fab!

She came bearing gifts (the best kind of friend ha ha). A slightly used but about to be thrown out cutting mat! Too long for my table, but practically perfect in every way!

we didn't muck around and quickly set up the machines.

A beautiful winter's day....the sun called us outside....

to the backyard of quilting! My old neighbour Wal came and repaired the table for me,

and we couldn't resist the sun. I needed sunglasses!

 We got 2 cot sized quilts basted, and then did some machining.

Fresh cupcakes made by Little Miss and I

and a little trip to the oppy, or a 'tea break' as we like to call it. B-Fab spotted

 these Ken Done placemats, perfect to go with....

my other set! Ah, the genius that is Ken Done!

Thanks, Brianna, for braving the pox and hanging us with us girls for the day. 

Stamping away

I have been getting lots of help from Holly recently with my foray into the stamping world. She has the best tips for buying products- my tip is as soon as you see a Speedball lino cutter on the shelf, GRAB IT! It is quicker to buy form the US online I think than get RIOT to find one in their stores.

But I can't complain, it was worth the wait and I have a beautiful 'hand made' stamp to show. I recycled the wooden backing off an old folk art stamps I had in my drawer (don't ask me how it got there, folk art is up there with scrap booking and Feathers wool to me).

If you like these, but want someone else to make it, see Jemma for more.