Long Weekend = New Quilt

 Here is my latest quilt top that I completed recently.

The fabric used in this quilt was a real bargain: $5 charm packs x 3.

I'll be getting my friend Fran at Willow Patch Quilting to finish this little baby off for me.

'Braided Scraps' Quilt #3

My braided scraps quilt top is finally completed. What a better way to spend a wet and miserable Sunday than by quilting?

All this quilt top needed was the patchwork sashing, which took *alot* of number crunching to get the blocks spaced exactly right.


















I ended using every spare bit of fabric I had to get the sashing just right.

This quilt top has ended up being a full QS.










I am also now moving onto making some pillow cases out of all the little scraps left over. There are little triangles, squares and rectangles. I'm stitching them up crazy patchwork style. What a liberating quilting style. I'm really enjoying it :)

Squealy's Telly Quilt

Is finally finished. I sent it off to the lovely Fran at Willow Patch Quilting. She has quilted this using a variegated thread which matched the colours of the quilt perfectly.


Quilt top prior to machine quilting.







The quilt pattern includes: mice, lions, giraffes, frogs and elephants. It has really turned out quite well, although it is *very* bright :) Perfect for a little dude!

Birthday cuddles with his Mumma.

Close up of the machine quilting.

Finished quilt. Fran returned it machine quilted and with the binding strip attached. What a star! I hate binding up the quilts A job I am more than happy to pay to have done.

'Braided Scraps' Quilt #2

An update on my most gorgeous quilt which is using Moda fabric Blush range. This braided quilt is just stunning. I am just so pleased with how it is coming along.

I have put all four braids together and trimmed them to the same size.





I've also added the sashing along all the sides and top and bottom.

The next step is to order in some more fabric for the binding and to finish off a extra patch worked sashing. This will make the quilt a full queen size.

It was quite tricky to trim the braids as they kept getting all wonky. I suspect it is something to do with the bias of the fabric. So you can see where I used a chalk pencil, to pencil in the centre line of each braid. Was worried I'd cut them all wrong!




I've also added a photo of my beautiful girl. She has been busy crafting too. She received heaps of crafty things for her birthday recently and she has been slowly working through them all.

'Braided Scraps' Quilt

Mum bought me the most gorgeous jelly roll last year for my birthday. Not that I could do anything with it at the time. So it stayed tucked away in my stash in the cupboard.

Anyway I totally fell in love with Janet's 'Braided Scraps' quilt on display at my local quilt store.

So I convinced a friend (thanks Jo-Anne) to join me in this class. Janet showed us all the tricks and I was able to very quickly knock up 3 out of the 4 braids needed for the quilt top.

Really pleased with the resulting braids, now just need to put on some sashing and borders and it will be all finished.

A 'Scraps' Quilt #2

Blanket stitch detailing.

This quilt is coming together so quickly and easily. Really enjoying making it. I have even perfected using the blanket stitch feature on the sewing machine, which turned a long, painful process into a 2 hour breeze :)

I also finished cutting all the leftover backing fabric and bits and pieces into 2 1/2 inch strips ready to add the extra borders onto the quilt. Should hopefully be finished in a day or two! Will keep posting updates until it's finished.

A 'Scraps' Quilt

String Bean has a new bed and needs some new bedding. What a good excuse to make another quilt! Not that I need an excuse.


I spent awhile looking for fabric online and at the last minute decided to check my stash instead. I found the bag of scraps and leftovers from my 'sushi roll' quilt that I made and decided to make up a pattern of my own based on a few that I'd been coveting over at The Moda Bakeshop.



So last night I made the central panel of flowers, which I will blanket stitch today and I have added several borders.


The plan is to make as many borders as I can out of the scraps remaining. Hopefully it will end up big enough for String Beans bed. She is super happy to be getting a quilt using the Hushabye fabric range, from Moda, as it is just gorgeous.

*My* New Quilt

Here are some snaps of my gorgeous new quilt that I made for me. A first lol as I usually make stuff for everyone else. This has been superbly machine quilted by my lovely friend: Fran of Willow Patch Quilting.

Am super impressed with it. Husband Deluxe made my day by saying "it is so you, really beautiful". What a lovely husband I have xoxox

Squealy & Husband Deluxe

You can see the gorgeous flourishes embroidered on the quilt. The turquoise thread is really something and it ties the whole quilt together beautifully.

Sashico Owls 2

Haven't had much time for crafting with the move looming. But here is a quick snap of my first panel.

This technique is a breeze, really quick and easy.

Should start tomorrow using the navy thread. I've decided to use the navy on all the outlines of the leaves.

Basic Grey Fabric... swoon!

Guess what I found at the Craft Show last weekend? A lush new jelly roll in the most beautiful moda fabric: Blush by Basic Grey (BG).

Now being a scrapbooker and a quilter this is like a dream come true. I LOVE BG papers and now I can make myself a funky quilt using that range.

When I got home I was also nosing around on the Moda website and found this gorgeous pattern using the Blush fabric. *yay* I am so excited. Natalia Bonner is a clever girl! I can't wait to make this quilt.

The best bit is that my lovely Mum decided to buy the fabric for me. She said she wanted to get me a present. I love my Mumma. She also bought herself a kit to make a quilt.

Can't wait to get all crafty together in our new craft room in the new house. So this is a taster of my next project. I have to finish my pillow cases to go with my sushi roll quilt, finish my owl sashico panels and complete Squealy's telly quilt.

I guess this will motivate me to get my skates on sooner rather than later :-)

All photos courtesy of the Moda website.

Sashico Owls

I've started a project for the new house. 3 beautiful Japanese Sashico wall panels featuring owls. They are so adorable! I'll be quilting these the traditional way using sashico needles and gorgeous pearl thread in white and navy, using the navy for the leaves and the white everywhere else. This is a really quick and easy hand quilting technique. Should have these done very quickly indeed. Will update as I make progress :)

Hmm long time, no blog!

Well I have been busy healing (lumbar sprain which had me flat on my back for the better part of 6 weeks). While I've been home with little to do but watch DVDs and surf the net I've been busy acquiring:


a new HUGE family home :)

Lucky us ;P

a new pet: the lovely Amber.

Gorgeous girl we rescued from the RSPCA. She has fitted in so well. Like she's always been here.

a new quilt: using 2 x Jelly Rolls by Moda.

Hush-a-Bye fabric. About time I made a quilt for the adults in the family. Completed using the 'Sushi Roll' pattern from Calico Patch and some help from Rhonda. The nice (easy) thing about Jelly Rolls is that all the fabric is colour matched and precut into 2 1/2 inch strips... makes quilting easy peasy. Will be sending it off to the fabulous Fran Wilson of Willow Patch Quilting tomorrow.

It's Funny How Things Work Out.

I bought this panel of jungle print quilting blocks when Squealy was a newborn and tucked it away carefully into my stash. Well Squealy is now heading for his 4th birthday in October and it's time to make his very own telly quilt for the lounge room.

While looking through my local Op Shop I was lucky enough to find a stack of quilting magazines and I flicked through and found this pattern in Country Favourites by Natalie Bird.

The best bit is it requires 16 blocks to make the square in a square blocks of which there are in the original fabric purchased!

They also need to measure 3 1/2 inches, which they do!!

Doing the happy dance today. So I figure it is just meant to be. I have a really good feeling about this quilt.

Am now off to equilter to see what I can find in tonal prints to match the fabric I already have. I'll also have to come up with a jungle pattern for the applique in the centre.

New Art

I was very lucky to score this beautiful piece for our home from the lovely Fran at Willow Patch Quilting. She is so talented. This just looks gorgeous in our home.

String Bean's telly quilt is featured here on Fran's website.

Another Finished Project

Fuzzy's much longed for telly quilt is at last completed. Have decided 2010 is going to be a finishing off year for me. So first project off the the UFO pile is this quilt.

Sent it off to Fran from Willow Patch Quilting for machine quilting. Given how busy I am, I also got her to do the binding strip (highly recommended, as this step sucks!)

He was overjoyed to snuggle under his quilt. Lasted like 1 minute as he doesn't feel the cold and it is stinking hot here at the moment.

Telly Quilt

String Bean's telly quilt.

I decided to make the kids some small lap quilts to use on cold winter mornings when they get up early to watch TV. Well String Bean's has ended up becoming nearly a single bed sized quilt! Not a lap quilt at all really.

Her quilt ended up being so big because the focal point was a series of 7 batik squares of gorgeous butterflies. To match in with her room decor of course.

I used a variety of stunning Japanese fabrics. All using the same tonal palette and incorporating a black back ground. The only exceptions were the strips used to boarder the main blocks. I chose a batik though.

Back of the quilt: strip quilting.

This quilt is fully reversible with a 'strip quilting' back. I had it machine quilted by the very talented Fran from Willow Patch Quilting. So finished at long last, argh I hate doing the binding & it always takes far longer than it should. Now off to start Fuzzy's telly quilt.

Mini quilt

String Bean's mini quilt.

Here is the finished mini quilt I started awhile back. The hand quilting got done super fast but the rest of it seemed to take forever. It has turned out beautifully. I'm def. getting better at this quilting gig. String Bean loves it and is especially happy I have made it into a cushion for her bed.

A Mini Project

Just in time for my craft/dessert night with my besties, I've finally gotten around to working on this pillow for my daughter.

I had started by cutting the background fabric and the border. It then sat there for weeks while I worked on other very worthwhile projects, in typical Gemini style. I generally have five or six projects on the go at anyone time!

Last night I traced and cut all the visofix, ironed it all on, trimmed, pressed and ironed it all in place. Looks gorgeous.

This is a Country Collectibles quilt kit I picked up at my local quilting shop: Calico Patch.