modern she made 2 received

we interrupt this program ....

I was going to post the beginner's guide to free motion quilting review but I received my package in the modern she made swap today so I just had to share it instead :)

I received a fabulous box of goodies from Teri Emerson who is know as 'craktpot' on flickr !

Terri sent me some gorgeous extras as well as the quilt - some chocolate (what all quilter's need), some cute scissors, a fabulous finger pincushion, and some fat quarters.  Teri also included the remainder of the sew stitchy charm pack that she used in my quilt.

of course, there was a mini quilt in there as well :)

its really colourful - I love the pop of colour in the binding and its been hand quilted as well

I love the big star on the back - when I saw the photos on flickr (and of course had no idea that the quilt was for me) I really loved how Teri did the star as a label as that's what I had thought of doing

but Teri's star label is nearly the whole back of the quilt - isn't it just fabulous !

I just love the little quilt that Teri has called "tropical sparkle punch".  Its based on Elizabeth Hartman's sparkle punch quilt along but Teri has used the colour in the background so that the stars are white !

can't wait to put the little tropical sparkle on my wall - with a name like that its really making me think of the south pacific :)

thank you so much Teri - I l.o.v.e. it :)

I'll return with normal programming tomorrow !

sweet celebrations

I've got a couple of book reviews to round out my month of not much blog activity ! I have been sewing a little but obviously not as much as I should be - I think I might already be winding down into pacific ocean cruise mode ! not long to go now :)

I received a couple of fabulous books from C&T Publishing this month ... the first one is Sweet Celebrations with the Moda Bake Shop Chefs.

Moda’s Lissa Alexander has put together a wonderful collection of projects by some well known and awesome bloggers.

The projects all have a theme of celebration that covers holidays as well as milestones.

The book is set out with holiday projects suitable for the four seasons and milestone events are covered with projects for beginnings (wedding and baby), school days, as well as family.

The 35 plus projects include fabulous quilts along with bags, an apron, baby layette, table toppers, lunch bags, pillows and gifts.

All of the projects use the versatile pre-cuts from fat quarters to charm packs.

There is a section on finishing touches which includes general how-to info along with pattern sheets for all projects.

I also love that there is a section introducing the designers featured in the book which has a photo and a little information along with their on-line address so you can visit them.  As the title of the book suggests, the designers also have projects at the Moda Bake Shop so make sure you check them out there as well.

I'm really excited to see fellow aussie Jane Davidson (quilt jane) in the book - Jane has a fabulous blog and a great little on-line quilt shop that has pre-cuts at great prices.  Jane is also very active on twitter and attended Quilt Market recently - lucky girl.  Jane has two quilts featured in the book and her gorgeous  "Let it Snow" quilt is amazing - especially as she lives in Brisbane where it never snows !

I'm also really happy to see Ellie Roberts in this book - Ellie blogs at craft sew create and we were both in the same swap a few months ago - Ellie made me this really awesome needle book !

Ellie has a autumn (fall) wreath project, very cute baby shower layette projects, as well as a lunch sack and messenger bag which are all just fabulous.  I have a friend who has just had a baby so I think Ellie's bib and burpie set from the baby shower layette might be my first make from this fabulous book.

With so many projects for all occasions, it’s the kind of book you’ll reach for again and again :)

I'll be back tomorrow with another great book on free motion quilting by Natalie Whiting Bonner who also happens to have amazing projects in the Sweet Celebrations book :)

a very overdue finish

I've finally finished the March long distance quilting bee block for Joy !

I took it home with me in April and nearly got it finished and I haven't seen it since I came home, even though I knew I packed it - I was really happy when I finally found it again a few weeks ago :)

Joy asked for a gardening block so I decided to do some sunflowers, lavender, and daisies - I've redone the block since I started - I originally had the the frame just in the middle so I'm happy that I've now made it like a window frame - hope Joy likes it as well :)

this week I also made a little pouch - I  haven't made one in a while and I thought it would be handy as I didn't put a pocket in my new bag !

I straight line quilted on one side (I think I love straight line quilting !) and free motioned on the other.

the pouch went together really quickly so I'm thinking they might be on the christmas list as well :)

have a great weekend !

a little wrong, a little right

its been another week since I've posted - jeepers the time is just flying - must be getting close to christmas huh !

last week I made four blocks for the Hurricane Sandy appeal and when I went to post them I discovered Australia Post has changed their rates - now you can send up to 50 grams or up to 250 grams - nothing in between (they used to have a 125 gram rate) so of course the four blocks were just over the 50 gram mark so I thought I'd make some more as it wasn't going to cost any more to post !

So I sewed up six more blocks and posted them off to Jenn in Hawaii on Thursday - there was a bit of a rush as they had to be there in two weeks.

I then posted the photos of the new blocks on flickr and that's when I discovered they didn't quite look the same as the previous ones I'd made - eeeeekkk - I'd managed to sew them together the wrong way - I couldn't believe it - poor Jenn - she's busy trying to sew up the quilts and I've sent her six blocks that need to be unpicked and resewn - of course I gave her the option of just forgetting about them but she was very gracious about it :)

I still can't believe I didn't notice the difference until I put the photos on flickr - doh !!


on brighter news - I finished the mini quilt for the Modern She Made Round 2 swap - I'm really happy with how it turned out especially as I had another design in mind when I cut all those half square triangles - I suppose that's why I love them - you can make so many designs with them :)

I machine quilted this one with straight line quilting - I really wanted to do the whole quilt in really close parallel lines but I thought it might take away from the design - so I was happy with doing the dense quilting in the corners.  I also  did a square spiral in the centre blocks and some outline quilting !  I'm really happy with the quilting - just hope my partner likes it as well.

I made the label and incorporated it into the backing which was fun - I also put some hanging pockets on the corners so that it can be hung different ways.  I went with white binding which was suggested by mum - I was thinking about using a bright pink but when I laid them out the pink just stood out too much and the white looked way better - thanks mum ♥

As I finished the mini earlier than I had planned I made myself a new bag - I've had this gorgeous organic fabric from daisy janie for a while and I always planned on making a bag with it - so when I saw a bag on the modern she made flickr group that I really liked - I decided to give it a go.

It was really quick and easy and came together in a few hours - its the phoebe bag by Beki and the tutorial is available at her blog here :)

so only one of these projects is on my to do list but at least that's one I can cross off - now to get those swap blocks finished this week :)

hope you're coping with the christmas countdown and enjoying life wherever you are :)

hurricane sandy quilt block appeal

I didn't really achieve all the sewing I wanted to on the weekend but I did get four Hurricane Sandy appeal blocks done.

Annabella alerted me to this appeal on Saturday night - Jenn from Knotted Thread has set up a flickr group and is wanting these simple blocks by the end of November so if you have a little fabric and an hour to spare why not make some too :)

my other Sunday sewing included the craftsy BOM October circle of geese block - I forgot how long it takes to paper piece - all that flipping and checking and pressing - but I love the end result :)

and I very nearly finished the long distance quilting bee block for Joy - this was due to be sent by the end of March so I'm very late and it was lost for 4 months which didn't help.

I've unpicked and restitched this whole block since I started - I originally had the purple frame on the inside (kind of a cross effect) so I think it looks way better as an actual frame.

I just need to embroider the lavender flowers in the top left block and I can post it - I'm so glad this is nearly done as I only have one other block to do for this group and we're finished for the year!

I was tossing up last night whether to keep sewing today or do housework - well, unfortunately the housework won but I'm hoping to get it done early so I can get some sewing in later.

hope you did some fabulous sewing over the weekend :)

a little sewing !

gee - its been more than a week since I last posted and I'm not sure I have that much to show for my time away !

I've made the October long distance quilting bee block for Rhonda who requested a maple leaf block using green and earth colours/leaves.

When I uploaded a photo of my block onto flickr I discovered that the others had done the block with a light background so I decided to quickly make another one just in case I'm the only one with a dark background !

and I've finished up some blocks that may or may not have been on my to do list !

I finished the traditional dresden plate block for my craftsy bom - I just needed to applique the circle so that's another one done.

I also redid one of the craftsy blocks that I wasn't that happy with - hopefully this one might suit the quilt a little better that the original :)

I've appliqued the ball and surfboard onto my wonky house block - I made blocks for the wonky house swap at the beginning of the year and I kept this one as (a) it wasn't finished and (b) it was the first time I'd done curved piecing :) - its nice to have it finally finished as well !

As I've mentioned I'm in the Modern She Made Swap and last weekend I finally decided on the design and some fabrics to make a mini quilt for my partner.

I'm using a design by Quiltdad that he did for a cushion tutorial (along with Julie from Jaybird Quilts) over at the Moda Bakeshop - I decided to adapt it for a quilt - half square triangles with some wonky stars.  I think my love of half square triangles is bordering on obsession !

I've now got the half square triangles sewn and trimmed - just need to put them on the design wall to arrange and then sew together - I am definitely going to machine quilt this one - mainly because it needs to be in the post within two weeks.

I've also finished a little embroidery block that I started sometime last year with the idea to make a bag for mum - its using colouring pencils with embroidered outlines - its a technique used by Helen Stubbings that she calls colourqué - I really like the effect of this technique but I'm thinking now that maybe that orange is a bit out of place !

I need to make this into a project - after talking to mum I've decided not to go with a bag or pouch as she has plenty of them so hopefully it won't take me another year to think of something to do with it !  its about 6" square so if  you have any suggestions I'd love to hear them - my only thought at the moment is to make it into a mini quilt (bordered by hst - lol) !

this weekend I'm hoping to get the capsule/pram cover finished, the modern she made swap top done, and the last craftsy blocks sewn - phew - I'd better get sewing - have a great weekend :)

weekend swap blocks

I made a tiny dent in my to be done before christmas list over the weekend with some swap blocks finished and ready to be posted tomorrow.

first up is the august design camp 2 block - linda requested improv blocks - either an all linear block or a wonky log cabin block - the fabrics she sent were gorgeous - I thought I was going to do a linear block but when I saw the little bird I changed to a log cabin - which was fun - I used all the fabric in the one block rather than doing two smaller ones.

I also sewed the september design camp 2 blocks for suzy who sent out some gorgeous stripe fabric along with white and grey and asked for square or rectangle blocks - I managed to make three blocks out of the fabrics and I'm happy with how they turned out.

In between I did some hand sewing and appliqued the circle of the craftsy bom dresden wheel block so that is finally finished - I need to do the circle of the dresden plate block as well.

the idea of the star of africa swap is to make a block representing your country - for the July block May asked for something in pink and as I was born in Tasmania which is also known as the Apple Isle I thought I'd do an apple applique - for those who don't know Tasmania is a small island at the bottom of mainland Australia and its shaped kind of like a heart or this apple :)  I've embroidered "Tasmania" on one side and "the apple isle" on the other but as I've used pink thread it hasn't shown up too well in the photo.

I was also going to do some extra embroidery on Patti's June block so I could send it off too but I seem to have misplaced her block at the moment - on saturday I found a swap block that I haven't seen since I got back from leave four months ago and now I've lost another one - very annoying - I know I've just put it somewhere for safe keeping but I hope I can find it a bit quicker than the other one !

and lastly I've trimmed the hourglass blocks for baby Lucy's quilt and its on the design wall - hopefully I'll be able to get a layout and sew it together soon as it uses the whole area !

that's a few blocks that I can cross off my to-do list - hope you had a productive weekend too :)

first mod pop block

my plan for the weekend was to get a start on the totally groovy and the mod pop quilt-along quilts, but of course, the best laid plans always change !

I did manage to get a block of the mod pop quilt cut out and I finished sewing it up last night - I'm using pezzy mono pink and kona azalea :)

the curves were a little less stressful to do than the first ones for the totally groovy quilt and craftsy blocks and hopefully they'll improve as I do more !

I've decided to take a leaf from the finish-along girls who link up over at Quilter in the Gap and do a make list so that I get the things I need to done and don't start anything else !

so here goes - my list of things to be done between now and early December - did I mention I'll be cruising the South Pacific in December - well in 1 month, 30 days, and 16 hours according to the cruise countdown widget at the bottom of the page :)

1. star of africa swap blocks - my plan is to make two blocks each weekend until I'm up to date !
2. pram/capsule cover for baby lucy - hopefully I'll get this done soon
3. hourglass quilt for baby lucy - maybe a christmas present!
4. design camp 2 swap blocks - I've got two overdue blocks with another due this month - I hope to get these done during the week
5. long distance quilting bee swap blocks - september and october blocks plus the march block which I've now misplaced but I'm going to find and get it finished - I'm hoping to get these done during the week as well
6. modern she made swap - this needs to be sent by mid november
7. totally groovy quilt - top finished
8. mod pop quilt - top finished
9. craftsy block of the month - october blocks done and top finished
10. blogger's block of the month - top finished

and in between I hope to get more hexies done for the hexy mf quilt-along and then there's the spinning stars quilt-along that I need to start - maybe that will be my first January project !

weekend sewing

my friend Marney had a little baby girl last week - she was a bit early as she wasn't due until the end of October - I had decided to make an hourglass block using a walk in the woods and the backing fabric only arrived late last week - so my other sewing plans for this weekend were put on hold so I could start this quilt - I've got all the blocks sewn up except two - turns out I was 2 blocks short on the white !!

I just need to finish pressing the seams open and trim up the blocks then put it on the design wall for a little while !  I used the tutorial by Allison from Cluck Cluck Sew but I've made my blocks an inch bigger - Allison does fabulous tutorials and has a great blog too :)

I also sewed together the top for a pram/capsule cover - I had a ruby charm square that I used to make a zig zag top which is 20 x 24 inches - I'll add a border to make it a bit bigger and I need to think about how to quilt it.

today I also sewed the October care at do.good stitches blocks - annabella chose the patchwork wheel block using a tutorial by elizabeth at don't call me betsy and requested jewel colours - it was a quick and easy block to do so they are ready to be mailed to morocco and hopefully they won't take too long to get there (excuse the wonky photos).

I hope you had a great sewing weekend too :)

September finishes

jeepers its almost the middle of October and I'm only just getting around to joining in the fresh sewing day:)

I managed to get a few finishes done in September !

1. September care at do.good stitches, 2. September care at do.good stitches, 3. RATZ name tag swap, 4. string blocks, 5. cleopatra's puzzle, 6. chain block, 7. love lines finished, 8. fab little quilt swap - round 2

I like using the mosaic maker from big huge labs to make mosaics for these posts as I've already posted these photos either here or on flickr :)

I'm linking up to Lily's Quilts Fresh Sewing Day - don't you love the new button:)