Perfect morning for working on my quilt!

Yesterday I had to collect Megan from school early as she wasn't feeling very well, when I spoke to Megan's teacher she suggested that I might want to keep her home today as well. So because we were having a quiet morning and didn't have to go into town ( Mark took Ryan to school ) I took the opportunity to join up the rest of Megan's quilt.

 Megan came into the room and set up a drawing station, she is working on some artwork she can sell to her brother and father when they get home. It was so nice and relaxing, no TV just the two of us chatting away for a few hours.
I knew the quilt was too big in the beginning so I reduced the size, even after joining it all up I still think it's too big.......as you can see it's only a few inches off the floor on my queen size bed.......Megan only has a double bed and her bed isn't as high off the ground as mine! I think the quick-un-pick might be getting a workout this afternoon.

I'm really pleased with the way it's all coming together, but I have to say that I'm disappointed that I've cut up way more fabric than I needed to, there is almost enough blocks left over ( after I reduced the size the first time ) to make another small quilt!

P.S. The timber shelf thing on my sewing desk was something I picked up at a garage sale on the weekend for a massive $5. I've already cleaned and sanded it ready for a lick of paint.......when I find the time!

Thanks for stopping by.

Patience!

I was on my way home after cricket with Ryan this morning when I received a text from Jacki telling of a fantastic garage sale! My eyes widened at the thought of old suitcases, sewing machines and all sorts of goodies. I did buy a few goodies all of which I'll show later but today I want to share these pictures of Megan. She bought two balls of wool for 50c and asked if I could show her again how to knit! I have tried this before but she was lacking in something called patience, so we gave up!

I don't know where she has been hiding her patience, I didn't think she would ever find it but this afternoon it all came together and she has been knitting for hours.

 I only spent about five minutes showing her what to do and left her to it, surprisingly she has only dropped a stitch once and that's it!

Thank you patience for finding my daughter, hope you stick around!

Just Listed!

This week has been one of those weeks where I didn't get much done! Running kids from here to there, running errands for my husband, a trip to Tamworth and not much else!

Today I was feeling guilty for not having made anything for my madeit store for a while, so after the kids were dropped off I made a few more bunnies..........all of which have just been listed in  my madeit store.

 The patchwork fabric used on these bunnies is one of the sweetest ranges, I found it at my local fabric store. 

 Wouldn't one of these make the perfect Easter present?

 Megan already has two sweet bunnies sitting on her bed.......somehow I don't think I'll be getting those ones back!

 

I'll have some boy bunnies listed in the next couple of days if you are interested.

Take care and have a lovely weekend.

This thing is HUGE!!!!

After completing all 132 of my blocks late on Sunday, yesterday afternoon while the kids were at school and there was no chance of them running all over it I laid it out. Oh my this thing is big, was one thing that came to mind, how on earth am I going to quilt something this big was the second, and I think I need to reduce the size of it was third!

I told Therese the teacher running the class last Thursday that Megan had a double bed and it wasn't very high off the ground, I think we may have different ideas on how big it needed to be to go on her bed.  I know it's not joined up and you might be saying to yourself that it will shrink in size when joined, but I joined one of the strips just to make sure! And yes it's too big!  I have since reduced it by taking one row off the top and another down the side.......it's still big but not so big it'll be dragging on the floor!

Since taking this picture I have also spent a bit of time moving some of the more dominant blocks around to balance it out a bit better.And as you can see this design isn't the same as the original pattern I was going to use, it looked like it might be a bit challenging for my first attempt at a big one......I opted for a simpler block which didn't give me too much of a brain strain!

Thanks for stopping by.

Quilt cutting.

I finally decided to get myself to that quilting class on Thursday to learn how to cut things out properly.......I probably could have done it all at home but I wouldn't got to spend the day laughing with friends ( Jodi, Kath, Melissa, Therese, Heath and Lil ) and more than likely I would have taken the long road when it came to cutting the thing out, the balance of colour would have been off, and I wouldn't have discovered that my pizza cutter thingy had two blades on it.

 I bought it probably 8 months back and thought it was going to be such a time saver.....not! All it did was make mince meat of everything I touched with it, I thought it was me, my technique was all wrong so I always went back to the trusty scissors. When I started to cut some of my squares on Thursday it did it again......very frustrating, I thought the blade was blunt or something. Kath and Therese pulled it apart and discovered there were two blades not the usual one..........so now I have a spare blade what a bonus!!!

Now that I can cut without making mince meat of everything I spent last night cutting out some more pieces of my quilt, so far I've cut out around 450 pieces......another 100 or so to go. Such a long process but I'm going to be one happy camper when it's all done.........I'd love my house to be full of lovely handmade quilts, they make a house a home!

Have a lovely weekend!

My Creative Space......Rabbit Explosion!

 There has been a bit of a rabbit explosion at my house lately! I simply can't help making these cute little creatures, every time I finish one I think of another colour I'd like to see one in so I have to make more!

I don't think I'll be able to stop......I don't think want to stop, not yet anyway!

There will be more bunnies on their way to Shop Handmade next week, some will be travelling to Brisbane and I think I'll keep one for my self, I mean Megan!

Hope you are all having a lovely week!

If you want to see more creative spaces head on over to kootoyoo and say hello.

Black Bird Cushions

Today was so nice and cool, it was an absolute joy to sit and create something without sweat dripping from my brow.

I made these four little cushions for a special order I've been working on. Loads of fun, I really enjoyed making something I haven't made for a while!

 Because these cushions are so small ( 20cm x 20cm ) I had to make the inserts to go in them.

 I also made this set of Love pears in red, I was thinking of making a few more for Valentine's Day or any time of year for that matter!

So sorry about the brightness in this picture, I don't know why it is but I can never get a nice picture of anything with red in it! These pears aren't fluro red......it's just my crap photography skills!

Thanks for stopping by.

P.S. The air-con man came and fixed my air-conditioner a short while ago! Woooohooooo!

I love a pretty bag with so many uses!

Remember way back about a month ago when I was playing around with frills? These are the new creations I was working on............Draw string bags!

 I couldn't reveal way back then because I have been waiting on a shipment of self covering buttons so I could add that little extra touch to finish them off!

 They are all fully lined in a coordinating fabric, have three rows of frills......all of which were done by hand as I don't have a ruffler. The frills are all sewn in.......you won't see any raw edges on these little beauties!

 They are all just the sweetest, so pretty to look at.....yet so useful.

 For the first time around I have only made them in with 4 different coordinating colours......I just need to see how they go at Shop Handmade before I dive into full scale production!

 If you are interested I'm more than happy to make you one........I am selling them for $39.95 plus a bit of postage.

 If you like bright colours or soft and pretty that's not a problem.........I can do either.

 I love my draw string bag........I can keep my copy of Handmade Living in it for safe keeping, kind of like a library bag.

 Or I can put my favourite pair of shoes in it when I'm travelling.

When my bag isn't in use I just hang it on the door, it looks so pretty and always makes me smile every time I glance across and see it. Ahhhh!

There will be a shipment of these very useful yet pretty draw string bags arriving at Shop Handmade early next week so keep an eye out if you are down that way.

Thanks for stopping by.

Another hot day!

I don't quite understand the thinking behind the big man sitting behind a desk in his air-conditioned office at Country Energy, why you ask.........because today will be my second day without power! Yes I came home yesterday after dropping the kids off for their first day of school.........I was really looking forward to a quite house, cup of coffee and maybe a bit of sewing. What I got was hot house, no water, no power. Why when they know what temperatures we are dealing with do they do this? It's virtually impossibly to cool the house down once the power comes back on at 4pm, the air is just too hot and it stinks!

 So today I'm packing up my bunnies and we're going to find some place nice and cool.

 I just thought I'd share these two pictures I took over the weekend.........they are of a Centre Pivot not far from my house..........it looks nice and cool doesn't it?

 Imagine running through this giant sprinkler!

Just in case you were wondering........this is one of my husbands pivots!

Have a happy cool day!

Rabbit softie.....take two!

The past few days have been so hot at my house, the mercury hit a lovely 39 degrees in my living room a few days straight..........the air felt hot to breathe, it was simply disgusting! I didn't feel creative at all!! This time next year will be a different story, I can't wait to be in a house which has insulation and doesn't feel like a hot box!

So yesterday was a nice surprise, it was cool and fresh with a nice breeze........perfect! I instantly felt inspired to make something..........take two on the rabbit softie!

I made just a handful of these rabbits last year, this time around I thought I might use the same pattern.......just change things slightly!

 These colours are quite girly but I assure you the next round will be for the little man...........I had an idea in my dreams last night and I'd like to give it a try on the boy rabbits before I reveal, just in case it looks like it has no business being there.

 On to a totally different subject, a while back I made 40 of these gorgeous little owls for a lovely lady, they are being used as favours on the tables at a christening today. She has put ribbon and tulle holding sugar almonds on them......here they are all boxed up ready to go! I love it when someone so sweet takes the time to show me things like this............thanks Helena!

Have a lovely Sunday....I'm going to have a coffee then get the kids uniforms ready for tomorrow!

Stylish Bloggers Award

A few days ago I received this award from the gorgeous Tamara over at One Craftee Mumma! It was such a nice surprise especially when it comes from such a lovely person.

In order to keep this award there are a few things I have to do:

• Thank and link back to the person who awarded you this award.
• Share 7 things about yourself
• Pay it forward to some Stylish bloggers, contact those bloggers and tell them about the award.

So here we go........seven things about me!

1. I'd rather sew than do the ironing........that's what ironing lady's are for.
2. I don't like jelly.....the thought of eating it makes me gag.
3. If I was down to my last dollar I'd spend it on the kids.
4. When I was twelve I snuck my pony "Freckles" in the house, showed him all around and fed him peppermints..........all while mum was out!
5. I love collecting old things to put in my house.......I get that one from my mother!
6. I slipped over in the frost and broke my leg twelve weeks before I got married.......it took 3 months for my leg to heal properly!
7. I love living in the country, city life just doesn't do it for me!

So here are some blogger which I think deserve this award

http://littletedcanvas.blogspot.com/

Posie Patchwork

Chantal Vincent Art

Rosa's Room

Becky et al

Grace Designs

Badskirt

Retro Mummy

My Creative Space.

This is the fabric I bought last year that was going to be made up into a quilt of some sort for a gift! After my fabric stash clean up on the weekend and re-discovering this little bundle of brightly coloured fabric I decided to put it together.

The square construction was easy, very basic and took no time at all, but because I'm not really a quilter and the thought of stippling all of this quilt frightens me...... I decided to do something different!

 I raided my kitchen cupboard and found all the different sized circles I needed, drew circles all over with my magic fabric pen, pinned the fabric down, then stitched along the line of the circles!

 I was amazed at how quickly it all came together. I think the only thing that was time consuming on this was hand stitching the binding........all of which was done in the car yesterday on the way to Green Valley Farm ( a three hour drive ).

It was originally intended as a christening gift, but because I became so busy towards the end of last year I didn't have the time to make it up, I had to settle for a bought gift. I think I'll still send it to the mother of the new bub anyway, besides I don't have a baby boy, and have no intentions of having another baby! It'll make a nice surprise anyway, cheer her up............I hear her middle son put her mobile phone in the toaster yesterday and turned it on! It didn't look good!

For more creative spaces head on over and say hello to Kirsty at Kootoyoo.

Starting Fresh!

After the whole Hugh Hefner episode I felt I needed to start fresh, de-clutter my work area. I had such a mess I didn't know what I had stashed away in bags ( I hadn't even opened ), in baskets under the bed, even in my bedside cupboard...............basically it was driving me insane!!!

I took a deep breath and started one piece of fabric at a time. The big pieces of fabric were all folded neatly and stored in huge baskets, all the smaller pieces ( .5 and 1.5m ) were all put in pigeon holes up on my tallboy, and all the little bits were placed in containers and put away.......any bolts of fabric were put up out of the way instead of beside my bedside cupboard.

It took all day but it feels amazing to have it all done, it makes me smile when I'm sitting at my sewing machine and I look up and see everything so neat and colourful. aaaahhhh!

The fabric up in the top left hand corner was bought months back, it was going to be a gift for a friend who had a baby boy.......well things kinda got real busy towards the end of last year and I had to resort to a bought gift because I simply didn't have the time. Yesterday I decided to make it up into a small quilt.........I should have some pictures later in the week to share so make sure you visit again to check it out.

bye for now



Sometimes things don't always go to plan!

I had a vision in my head of the rabbit I wanted to  create, but it didn't quite turn out as planned!

Now that it is completed I find it hard to look at, it has an old and wise look about it.........it reminds me of Master Shifu all dressed up in his reversible holiday outfit.

 Is it the shape of the head that's putting me off? The neck looks kind of weird too, or is it the fact that it looks like a skinned rabbit with it's pasty appearance? If it were green with pointy ears it could be Yoda!

 I don't know where I went wrong, but all I can do is put it down to experience ( or lack of ) and try again!



P.S. One skinned rabbit needs a home!

Mr rabbit has just been donated to Hope Softies!

My Creative Space.

I'm so pleased that My Creative Space hosted by the lovely Kirsty is back......such great fun to join in and see what everyone has been creating.

Although I have some orders I should be working on this morning I decided to experiment on something new.  I wanted to keep the sad eye theme going ...........it doesn't mean that I only like sad things, I just like the look of the over-sized eyelid. I wanted this item to be washable ( gentle hand wash not tortured in the machine with everyone's socks and jocks), but I had to come up with some way of putting the eyelid on with no raw edges. 

 I don't mind the idea of raw edges myself, I like hand stitching to be visible, I think it gives things a more used look, rustic handmade......I don't know, I just like it but if this item eventually has to be washed........there might be more than a few sad eyes!

 A few cups of coffee later my new little friend has eyelids and a nose........finally starting to get some personality, don't you think?

Now all I have to do is figure out how to attach it to a body!

For many more Creative Spaces head on over to Kootoyoo and say hello.

New project for 2011

This year I have many things I would like to accomplish and one of those things on my list is to make Megan a beautiful big patchwork quilt for her new room!

I've been keeping an eye out for some fabric for a while and when I came across this range by Riley Blake I fell in love with the colours.

Not knowing how much fabric I needed to make a decent sized quilt because  (I've never done one of these before ) I took a stab in the dark and just ordered a bit of this and a bit more of that.........I ended up with 9 yards in total. 

I was so pleased when they arrived in the post and all the colours were as beautiful as they looked on the computer screen.

 It all started a few months back while I was having a look around in my local fabric store ( adding to my ever growing stash ) I noticed this quilt on the bench.

 This quilt was made by a local lady, she had taken it into the shop for a bit of show and tell. I took a picture of it for later reference, for when I found the perfect fabric.

I've since bought the pattern and I'm almost good to go......though I think I might have to add in  few solid colours to break it up a bit. 

It hard to concentrate with the kids home through the holidays so I thought I might wait until the kids go back to school so I can go to a class and learn how to do it properly, but it's driving me crazy looking at my new project and not being able to start.  

I'm totally inspired by all the quilt blogs out there, these people are so clever and they can whip up a gorgeous quilt in no time at all.......many of these clever people are participating in  Quilts for Queensland organised by the lovely Corrie over at Retro Mummy. Well worth a look!

That's all I have time for today,
Thanks for stopping by.

Sunday afternoon.

After finding ourselves glued to the box for the past week, and after a quick trip to Orange to see my parents, Sunday afternoon we were determined to have some fun and relaxation.

We have a special fishing spot we like to go to on the Namoi River further up in the hills behind Manilla.......it takes about an hour to get there from where we live (which happens to be along the same river ) but it is well worth the trip!

The afternoon was spent splashing, swimming and playing along the waters edge. Ryan found that it was much more relaxing if he sat in the water and waited for the big catch to come along, while Megan built a dam to house a few yabbies! Megan is usually not the type of person you want to take along when you want to go fishing! She is loud, always splashing in the water, throwing rocks trying to make you think that the fish are jumping out of the water, generally the fish clear out when Megan is around! She did do all of the above but after a while she sat in the water on her chair and waited. This time her patients paid off! She was the first one to catch a fish........a Murray Cod. She was so excited, she screamed, jumped and was more than happy to pose for a shot with her big catch!

I wasn't log before my big boy Ryan was in battle with something on the end of his line as well. He was a little annoyed that Megan got the first Murray Cod but was more than happy when he caught the biggest!

Just so you know we released both fish, neither of our catches were big enough for the dinner table.......maybe next time!