The start of a new quilt?

I did a bit of hand stitching last night on my quilt...it is nearly all hand quilted...it's so exciting.  I also crocheted a few rounds for my current granny wip.  And I had a bit of a play with some fabric, in particular this piece

leapt out at me and started chatting about how it would love to grace my bed in a giant king-sized quilt - something completely lavish.  So I listened attentively and next thing I'd cut it and had it draped across the bed.  It was so happy. Its excitement was contagious and before long it had me pulling out other bits of fabric for it to play with.  It found some lovely playmates and can't wait to be joined at the hip with its new-found constant companions.  I can still here it as I sit at work...it's shouting come home and play with meeeeeeeeeee.  Such a temptress!

Hexie wallpaper...now there's an idea

My hexie quilt is well on the way to being a king size quilt for my bed...although I'm quite very happy with it gracing my wall for now whilst I get busy getting organised...who moi?  Yes moi?

It's so lovely to have my fabric around me where I can see it and feel it.  It's been stuffed away in dark dingy cupboards for ever and not nearly as accessible as I'd like it to be.  Lately, I've even been sleeping with it :)) I find it comforting.  I've pulled a mattress out, set up a lamp.  It's my space and lovely and open and in this heat it feels so much better than a smaller bedroom.  The fan whirs overhead and I drift off to dreamland reminded of all the wonderful possibilities that await me the next day. Fabric and colour make me feel so positive and happy and hopeful and excited and joyful.

xo

Floral fabric play

For a bit of fun the other day I pulled out all my largish scale floral fabric and started laying them out in a totally random way.  I'd like to whip up a quilt from big squares to show off the fabric design.  Here was the first play around.  I've stacked them all back up again in one tall tower and will have some more play time with them soon.  The pinks and oranges and reds are jumping out at me for this quilt - I've already named it..."Spring has Sprung"...even though it might not be finished until next winter, or the one after that.. ... quilts and time frames just don't go together really do they?  :)))

Colour Therapy

 

I added in lime.

 

I should have it finished on the weekend. It's the quickest quilt in the world to make...and as I'm the slowest quilter in the world, this is a good thang! 

 

I can't get over the ''prolificnessness '' of the likes of Rita at Red Pepper Quilts! I am totally awed out.

 

And this next pic because...well...just because (fabric lovers will get it :)

 

Have a great day and thanks for stopping by xo

Retail Therapy

My last week has been very stressful, so when I got an email from my local fabric shop announcing 4 DAY SALE, I knew what I had to do :)

I've been sorting my stash a little lately - I know I have, but to the onlooker they may not see my progress.  Piles of fabric covering a fairly large floor area = sorting to me :)

So off I chuffed in my lunch break...I'm lucky enough to work in the next suburb...for a bit of light relief from a fairly harrowing office environment lately. Having recently sorted I identified a few gaps in my stash...and a sale coinciding with pay week...what serendipitous timing.  The planets have aligned and spend I must :)

Down to Materialise I drove...and here is my stash builder collection

I know you can feel my glee and hear my squeals of happiness and delight.

Here is the hero piece of the day....

The bolt had just arrived and it leapt into my arms.

All in all I think I was fairly restrained...with 20% off EVERY bolt in the store, I may have to venture back...I mean after all....it's an investment in my future......

Bits and bobs

 

My weekend was busy with bits and bobs.  I had minimal time for my crafty pursuits and spent time dreaming of an extra day at home, just to be and sew.  Anyhoo, not to be...so here's a quick reflection of what I did have time for.

 

New cushion covers for the day bed seat in the lounge room.  The colour scheme is aqua/blue/red to match the kitchen colours so I went on the hunt for some cushion covers, even though I am making some.  I've bought half a dozen inserts from Ikea, along with the red sheet that covers the mattresses.  I do plan to make an aqua/red quilt, but a $9 sheet will do in the meantime.  You know me, it could be years before the quilt is ready for action!  I found these great Union Jack covers on special at Bed, Bath and Table, my all time favourite store in the universe of the world...and thought 'YES'.  After my fantastic holiday in Scotland and England, I am honouring my heritage and love of the country!  Don't they look great?  I am happy, happy with them and love looking at them.

 

 

The smaller Hare-y cushion came from Kelso, Scotland as a gift from family when I celebrated my birthday with them while I was there.  I have a very soft spot for bunnies, rabbits and hares.

 

Now here's a pic of the first of the cushions I'm making to add to the Union Jacks.

 

 

They are going to be so fun...I'm going to quilt around the large flowers...eeek it will be my first attempt...wish me luck :)

 

And all I managed of the hexies was about 4 this weekend, but I did spread it over the bed to guage the size....still a lot to go really!  Lucky I LOVE making it.  Yep totally addicted to hexies....

 

 

 

Looking good, don't you think?

 

 

Holiday snaps

So I promised some more pics and after days of trying to upload photos I seem to have finally pressed the right button somewhere to make it happen.  Why would my computer suddenly stop uploading photos?  One of the items on my "things to do this year'' happens to be computer courses.  Even though I work all day on a computer, there are aspects of it that are completely unknown and mysterious to me - and I lack the skills to figure it out myself, it would seem.  Take my blog - it's very stock standard and I would love to change it up a bit, but I struggle with that and it takes me hours trying to do something that I know other computer-savvy-bloggers do in 5 seconds.  It's one of the reasons I sometimes want to do away with my blog, in that I can't create the look I really want to create.  I am very time poor, so having someone show me would be a very constructive exercise I feel.

I digress (I do a lot I know)... here are some pics from my 2 weeks in Victoria.  Who else but me would go to (arguably) the shopping/fashion capital of Australia and return with wool and fabric only?

This is my hero piece from the pieces I bought.  I love it so much I want to base an entire quilt around it.  Now I know I'm not the only person who does that, am I?  Finds a piece of fabric as an excuse to make a quilt?  Below is a pic of my shopping...

Mum took me to the most fabulous shop called Morris and Sons. I'd never heard of it, but that means nothing.  This is an institution in Melbourne.  It's in the CBD!  Ma and I spent AGES in there browsing and I picked up the yarn pictured for my collection-of-many-splendoured-coloured balls for my granny square rug.  It is going to be G-OR-GE-OUS! Yum, yum, yum.

The fabric came from Jiddi's Patch in Geelong.  A great shop with LOADS of great fabric.  As you can (just) see I picked up some of the reprinted Flea Market Fancy range - this time in the green, grey and orange along with a few delicious bits.  I showed great restraint believe me.  I flew over with a suitcase full of fabric as I was going to get stuck into sewing - I had the beginnings of 3 quilts I hope to finish piecing the tops of !  I am nothing, if not optimistic!! Needless to say I worked on one of them, still unfinished.  So I flew home with a suitcase full of fabric too, in fact MORE fabric than what I flew over with.  I am a nutter! I also took knitting, embroidery and linocut tools.  

Here's a taste of what I did finish....

Yep that's it - one hat!  In 2 weeks I started and finished one hat!  I worked on other things I might add, however, only one item was actually finished.  I'm not a slacker you know!  :))

This is another Snow Hat by Rowan.  It's going to live in Chicago on one of my sister's heads... happily I hope!

I spent a lot of time enjoying the countryside.  It's beautiful country. Rolling hills, cattle, horse and sheep grazing.  I saw several native animals in the wild - koalas, an echidna, roos, owls, kookaburras and endless other birds.  Here's a few photos you can play "Where's Two-Thumbs? (the koala)'' with.  I promise there is a koala in every photo!.

It's always a thrill to see creatures in their natural habitat...

Hay bales were littered over fields everywhere

We ventured to and along different parts of the Great Ocean Road over the course of the 2 weeks. It is a spectacular coastline.

 A sign tickled my fancy in Apollo Bay.

The lighthouse at Aireys Inlet - lighthouses are  just so wildly romantic don't you think?

some local flora

Russian Doll Quilt

I purchased the sashing fabric for my Russian Doll Quilt a week ago and had a quick play with it.  All the blocks are a different size as they have grown organically, so their "placement" will be random, not uniform, with different widths of sashing fabric between the blocks.  I'm inspired by all the modern quilts such as those in Block Party of which I am the proud owner of!

The fabric is linen blend which I thinks complements the organicness of the blocks.  The spots marry nicely with the doll's cheek (y) dots.  

Another one of my years-in-the-making quilts is a tiny step closer to being finished. 

I picked up three quilts from the machine quilter - I mentioned that already but here's a pic of my pile :)  I will reveal more as time goes by.  They are my black and white, kaffe fasset's floral parade and my flea market fancy quilts.

I love donkeys

You may remember me waxing lyrical about donkeys in a previous post when I bumped into one on Mallorca last year, but just in case you're a new reader/visitor and don't know ........ I lurve donkeys. 

So this dress brought a smile to my dial when I stumbled upon it on the Anthropologie website..

Now I don't want to own it - it wouldn't suit me - I couldn't carry it off and do the donkeys justice.  But I am really excited by it.  There are obviously other people out there that share my love and appreciation for these gorgeous stubbon creatures, cousin to the glorious horse.  Now I did know that there are like minded souls who share my love, but to think to take it to this level?  A chic silk shift!  Fantastico!  Bravo!

I'm pretty certain all the elegance of the garment would be lost if I was to wear it (I would just look like Major Frumptown),  but if I did adorn my body with it ... I think high heeled brown boots and a scarf tied at the neck may well complete the look.

I'm going to google donkey fabric and see what I find.......

Russian Doll Blocks

I've sewn the solid colour border around all 25 blocks now and am starting on the the outer strips to build up the block. 

I'm not sure I have enough of the Russian Doll fabric to go round every block.  If I do I will ahve to eek it out by joining bits.  I have lots of plain fabric so I'll be using it to build up the blocks. They are all a bit wonky!

I haven't quite worked out in my mind yet how I'm going to bring it all together.  I just want to do the fabric justice with my quilt and not be disappointed in the end result.

Fabric Stash

Me thinks my stash needs a bit of organising!  My dilemma is .... HOW...?  Anyone got any helpful suggestions? 

The problem is I regularly play with it.  I pull out different fabrics and put them beside others and rearrange them.  Then another colour catches my eye and I start on another pile of cuts that might make a great quilt.

Like these... I so want to put these in a quilt. It will be a very dramatic colourful quilt.  The colours don't quite work for me just yet, a bit more playing and arranging...and I'll finalise it.  Squares  I think surrounded by a border, surrounded by rectangles, surrounded by a border.  Or is it time for me to branch out to triangles....?

Away I play, then I run out of time and realise I'm overdue to cook a meal or pick up a child or go to work, so I throw them back in the cupboard and shut the door.  And I don't think any amount of organising is going to change that habit.  My stash is destined to be one colourful, chaotic, temptress of a pile.

I'm beginning to think there will never be enough time for me to use all this fabric.  I had a one-day-a-week  job at a fabric shop where I got paid in fabric which is when I accumulated the bulk of it.  The job completely and utterly fed my fabric addiction, which had festered for years, but the job meant I completely lost myself to it.

And then there is my box of Liberty...

I think it's time to USE it not just admire it...

Then there's the Christmas stash and the black and white pile and the retro cowgirl range and a few pieces of Chinese brocade floating around the mezzanine.

I think this stash says a lot about me.  Chaotic, full of ideas and possibilities ......



Black and white leftover quilt

A little teeny eeny bit of crafting has been happening on the mezzanine...I put together the left over squares from my black and white and aqua quilt.  An unfinished project getting a little bit closer to completion.  I'm thinking about whether to put a border on it...just a plain black border to frame it.  I think it will finish it off.  I wasn't planning it, but I think it needs it. Alas that will require a trip to my local favourite gorgeous divinely inspiring quilt shop!  Oh dear!  Poor me!

Spare time is in very short supply around here lately.  So I felt as though I was stealing a few hours away from other important tasks that require my time.  But it felt so good to back at the machine after months away.  Hopefully I can keep stealing more hours.  The weather is certainly helping.  Lovely lovely rain and cooler temps.  How I love autumn after our looooooonnnnng hot summers.  Rain falling after months of intense dryness is like a wonderful new phenomenum.  All of us oooh and aaah over it.  It's thrilling.  We talk about rain amongst ourselves.  Look out at it and marvel at it. Perth doesn't offer an integrated approach to rain.  You have months of dryness and not a lick of moisture falls. The sky is blue day after day for months on end and you truly begin to wonder if it will ever rain again.  You hear weather news for other cities and they mention rain and you begin to think how odd!  Rain.  Then it arrives again here and you remember rain.  Ah, yes, rain.  I think we're really lucky, because it's so fascinating when it arrives and we marvel at mother nature. the puddles, the gushing water on the streets. We don't take rain for granted.  I love the rain. 

All in the family...

Liberty love is being passed on!

These were our first purchase when we were in London last year.  The girls and I flew in on a Saturday afternoon, made our way to our hotel.  Found food and then crashed for a big long sleep.  Next morning we were up bright and early ready to EXPLORE! 

I decided being a Sunday to take them to Camden - in particular - the markets.  I forgot one minor detail...that they don't open until lunch time! So we arrived to deserted streets and dead quiet!  Barely a soul in sight.  Quite surreal for the girls who had just flown into one of the biggest cities in the world!  The perfectly still waters of the lock, with only a ripple from a passing duck were hardly the bustling beginnings they were expecting!

Slowly we wandered and watched as the street came to life.  One of the first shops to open was a shoe shop so in we tramped.  And joy-oh-joy they sold Liberty Nikes!  Eek.  3 pairs were purchased in record time. The girls opted for high-tops and I opted for the norm!  The girls wear theirs a lot for hip hop dancing!  And they borrow mine! They are well worn for sure.

Here's some more views...I would have liked the girls to model them, but getting us together, with camera and time is proving very tricky these days. (Ths is a post I was going to write when we got back last October!)

And then this pair have been in Miss G's wardrobe for several years.  Lucky her shoe size hasn't changed - we are talking about the child that wore the same brown lace-up school shoes for 5 years of high school!  (The hem on her dress uniform never had to be altered either).

Two loves - shoes and Liberty in one product.  What more could a girl want!

One of these days, I'm going to share/record my Liberty stash with you too.  And all my plans for it...although Liberty fabrics bring me so much pure pleasure from just being.  I'm not sure I need to do anything with them ever - just owning little pieces of heaven is enough.