Slack, slack, slack

Well things have been pretty slack round here as i'm sure you have noticed, both on the blogging front and on the sewing front! Summer holidays started last weekend and i've been hanging out with my beautiful little boys and attempting to tidy/sort out our house which forever looks like a building site.

I'm now behind on not only the Farmers Wife blocks (ive been behind from the start and keep meaning to catch up!!!) but on the Skill builder blocks too! I must must must do some sewing this week.

After seeing a post on Eleni's blog I'm joining in on the 30 day challenge

This is being hosted by Sherry of Oh so Lovely. I cant wait (although not that excited about having to post a self portrait, I'm not exactly what you would describe as photogenic!)


Any way, family bbq this arvo so probably not much sewing again (have to make the most of the sunshine while it's here, it's few and far between at the mo)

A moment of your time

Just a little ask! Please, please, please could you hop over to Quilt Gallery and vote for my quilt - Crocodile Quilt

This weeks theme was 'Quilts for boys' so I entered a quilt made for my two boys to snuggle under or sit/lay on top of.
Let me know if you do vote and I promise to be eternally grateful

WIP Wednesday (no.8)

So little time and so little sewing! Oh I seem to struggle to get anything done at the moment. The two boys have just gone to bed though so i'm going to make this short and sweet so I can try and get some quality time in with my sewing machine.

Managed to get two Farmers Wife blocks done

Basket weave - no.4 (I know I have already done it but I had a change of heart on the colours so it had to be done again)

Basket (haven't got round to doing the handle yet)

I'm making some cushions for a friend that is very into the shabby chic look

I've been practising my FMQing skills on this retro looking pram quilt (scallops and stippling)

I've made my pinwheel block for the Skill builder QAL

I want to join in the Summer Sampler QAL (not that I need to do another sampler but this one looks so pretty) but I just don't think I can find the time

I'm hoping to make a few hearts for Caroline, she is making a charity quilt out of heart blocks and is asking for block donations so do be kind and check out her post and send her a block, here are mine so far (they still need work)

I also posted the other week about a Pay it Forward and cant believe I had no responses, is there really no one that is up for it? I need some takers, if you are up for it then leave a comment and I will email you for your address, then in the next year you will receive a surprise gift in the post. In return you must blog about the pay it forward and offer the same chance to 3 of your readers, come on now, you know you want to, I pledge to try and make you something to your taste by following your blog and checking out your flickr

So to round up:

Quilts finished - none
Projects finished - none

Quilts waiting to be bound - none
Quilt tops finished - 70's retro owl pram quilt
Projects started - pompom roman blinds, stag cross stitch, reversible childs dress, shabby chic cushions, heart      blocks
Quilt started - Naked bed quilt, Farmers wife quilt, Skill builder quilt, basic quilt quilt-a-long
Projects to start - too many to even think about! Pj's and bed linen for the boys amongst others
Quilts to start - rainbow quilt, bob the builder, babushka, noahs ark, pair of skull quilts

12 quilts of 2011 completed - 1) Krissy's quilt

                                            2) Buddy's ABC quilt

                                            3) Cravat play mat/quilt

                                            4) Crocodile quilt

                                            5) Elsie's embroidered quilt

As usual linking up with Lee at freshly pieced, check out all the other lovely WIP's

A Fascinating Fascinator

Very little blogging or sewing has happened here this week. I have made a pram quilt and nearly finished quilting it (practising some FMQing) but I will wait to finish it before revealing.

So all I have done is
One Farmers Wife block

One block for the Skill Builder QAL

This week we had to design our own blocks, these are some initial sketches. I made my choice based on the fact that it incorporated aspects of all 3 blocks that we have made so far

Part of the reason that so little sewing got done was that I decided to make a fascinator for my cousins wedding tomorrow. They are having a Mad Hatters Tea Party theme so I wanted something a bit waccy. Oh well its a bit of fun don't you think?

A class and a pile of fabrics

Oh I had so much fun this morning. I took a free motion quilting class at my LQS Quilters Haven. The class was taught by Philippa Naylor, a really talented Quilter who has won a whole host of awards for her FMQing. It was just a morning class (I would have loved to stay for a full day but Buddy needs me - still feeding him myself!) but oh how I loved it.

This was also my first experience of using verigated thread and I think im addicted, I love love love it.

So now I just want to practice, practice, practice, especially by trying out some different designs. I have been following Leah and her Free Motion Quilting Project for a while (her designs are fantastic), so now I think I have the confidence to actually try some of them out.

Philippa was lovely, and such a good teacher, she even signed a copy of her book that I bought

You should definitely check out her work, it is really amazing. Great book too

Thought I should also show you the fabrics that I have bought in the last couple of weeks (very naughty but I couldn't resist!

Firstly my lovely Monaluna fabric, aren't these prints scrummy? And they are organic!

I first saw this range when Megan posted about it on Quiltstory, she was asking what she should make with hers. I suggested pyjamas and bed linen for her boys and then realised that I wanted to use these fabrics to make them for my two boys.

A few days after mine arrived I noticed that Cindy had got some too, I think this fabric is going to be pretty popular, can't wait to see what Cindy does with hers.

Also bought:

 Spots for my stash

 These gorgeous geese - i'm thinking baby quilts

 A panel of this lovely Marimekko fabric (bought from ebay)

 Then I got all of these in the remnant basket at Runaway Coast (sorry about the creases, I haven't ironed them)

 Giraffes

 Dragonflies

 Lovely wide stripes

 Twisted Rope

White Waffle

 Large Seashells

Stars

And finally I got these lovely snuggly flannelettes to make a Retro 70's inspired baby quilt for the pram. Think I will practice my FMQing on this one

Hopefully might have something to show you with these on Monday

WIP Wednesday (no.7)

I have signed up for a Pay It Forward over on Carolines blog. Karen has originally set this up. So in the next 365 days I should receive a lovely hand made goody through the post. It means that I will pay it forward and in the next 365 days I will send out a hand made goody to the first 3 people that put the word balloon in their comments (so I don't accidently involve anyone that doesn't want to join in). In return you have to pledge to send 3 people a delightful handmade goody and blog about it


This week I have achieved the following:

Completed my central log cabin for my learn a basic quilt quilt-a-long

Made my block for this weeks Skill builder quilt-a-long

Made some bunting for someone at work (sorry no picture of the finished item)

Things I need to finish:

This reversible dress for a little friend of ours (need to put buttonholes in and buttons on)

My Roman blinds (it's getting ridiculous how long they have been sitting around for nearly finished) I have bought new pompoms though, instead of having red pompoms on all 4, I'm going to have 1 with red, 1 with pink, 1 with turquoise and 1 with orange so they match the cords I have. Still need to find some orange pompoms though

Things I need to get off my backside and work harder on:

My Farmers Wife blocks - I got one done this week but I don't know why but they seem to be the last thing on my list to do, I really enjoy doing them so why aren't I getting them done???? - Must try harder! I'm going to try to coerce the husband into taking the boys out Sunday arvo and spend the time purely on those lovely little blocks.

My Naked bed quilt - it's just sitting there taunting me. The husband keeps reminding me that we need a quilt for our bed asap as we are currently sleeping under a winter thickness duvet and it's too hot - must get a move on!

Things I need to start:

A lovely little summer embroidery I've got in my mind that I want to make for a friends birthday, I'm thinking flowers and a camping scene

Matching bed linen and pj's for Boo and Buddy - some gorgeous fabric arrived through the door this week for this project but I will post about that tomorrow

A pair of skull quilts for Boo and Buddy

So to round up:

Quilts finished - none
Projects finished - bunting, embroidered childs pinnyQuilts waiting to be bound - none
Quilt tops finished - none
Projects started - pompom roman blinds, stag cross stitch, reversible childs dress
Quilt started - Naked bed quilt, Farmers wife quilt, Skill builder quilt, basic quilt quilt-a-long
Projects to start - too many to even think about! Pj's and bed linen for the boys amongst others
Quilts to start - rainbow quilt, bob the builder, babushka, noahs ark, pair of skull quilts

12 quilts of 2011 completed - 1) Krissy's quilt

                                            2) Buddy's ABC quilt

                                            3) Cravat play mat/quilt

                                            4) Crocodile quilt

                                            5) Elsie's embroidered quilt

As usual linking up with Lee, go check out all the other WIP's

Charity, New Fabrics and a quilt-a-long

Firstly I'm sorry but I have a shameless plug my 9 month old baby is doing a sponsored underwater swim with his swimming group Waterbabies in order to raise money for Tommy's. Tommy's is a charity that researches into the causes and prevention of miscarriage, premature birth and stillbirth, if you can spare a £ or $ then it would be greatly appreciated, every tiny bit helps. So if you would like to then please click on the link and donate, just a small amount that you won't miss adds up to a large amount if everyone does it.
Buddys sponsored underwater swim
Thank-you x

Well I feel as though i've been pretty busy this week but I don't have much to show for it. I have however got a nice new package of fabric that arrived this week from the fat quarter shop.

Aren't these lovely.

I ordered these salmony pinks and greys to go into my Farmers Wife blocks and I'm so happy with them, the only problem is that some of the pinks I had now don't really go, but that's ok as I much prefer my new fabrics and so this is what my FW fabrics did look like

and this is what they look like now

It has meant that i have had to discard a couple of the blocks that I have made but oh well, they are so small it's not going to take long to re-make them. I've also got far too many light fabrics but I will just use my darker fabrics more frequently I think.

Other news is that I have started teaching my basic quilt to The Crafty Campers. The first lesson went brilliantly and I think it was throughly enjoyed by all, they are doing some great fabric combinations. Hopefully I will remember to take some photos next week although the light in the hall is awful!
Here is my version that I am making as we go so I can demonstrate.

If anyone fancies doing it then you need

• 6.5 inch square for the centre of your log cabin (this will also be the centre of the quilt). I have chosen to do rainbow colours and have started with a solid red, you could have a large print though as this would work well.
• 6 dark fabrics (approx 25cm of each)
• 6 light fabrics (approx 15cm of each)
• 2 meters of an accent fabric that can be used in your quilt and as part of the backing (i'm using white)

Here are a few links on cutting with a rotary cutter - here, here and here

All fabrics will need to be cut 2.5 inches wide, the lengths are as follows:

Light fabric 1 - 1x(2.5 by 6.5) 1x(2.5 by 8.5)

Light fabric 2 - 1x(2.5 by 10.5) 1x(2.5 by 12.5)

Light fabric 3 - 1x(2.5 by 14.5) 1x(2.5 by 16.5)

Light fabric 4 - 1x(2.5 by 18.5) 1x(2.5 by 20.5)

Light fabric 5 - 1x(2.5 by 22.5) 1x(2.5 by 24.5)

Light fabric 6 - 1x(2.5 by 26.5) 1x(2.5 by 28.5)

Dark fabric 1 - 1x(2.5 by 8.5) 1x(2.5 by 10.5)

Dark fabric 2 - 1x(2.5 by 12.5) 1x(2.5 by 14.5)

Dark fabric 3 - 1x(2.5 by 16.5) 1x(2.5 by 18.5)

Dark fabric 4 - 1x(2.5 by 20.5) 1x(2.5 by 22.5)

Dark fabric 5 - 1x(2.5 by 24.5) 1x(2.5 by 26.5)

Dark fabric 6 - 1x(2.5 by 28.5) 1x(2.5 by 30.5)

 All seams should have a 1/4 inch seam allowance. If you are new to this then I find the best way to achieve this is to get some coloured tape, measure 1/4 inch to the right of your needle from where your needle goes down into the feed and stick a length of tape so you have a guide to follow.

This centre block is a basic log cabin so you need to sew your 6.5 inch fabric 1 to the central block. 

Press your seams as you go, I like to finger press mine open and then use the iron. It is important to PRESS rather than to iron, you want to ensure that the fabric doesn't get stretched or your seams will distort slightly.

Next, still using fabric 1 sew your 8.5 inch strip to the central panel, it should form a right angle around the central square.

Next sew dark fabric 1 8.5 inch strip to the centre square on the opposite edge to your 6.5 inch piece of light fabric 1. Sew your 10.5 inch strip to the remaining side of the square.

Continue on alternating 2 light fabric strips, followed by 2 dark fabric strips until you have a panel that looks like this

Log Cabin block complete - well done

I will bring you part 2 of the basic quilt next week. Please let me know if you decide to follow along, I'd love to see the results you achieve. Also if you find the instructions confusing or hard to follow let me know as any feedback is appreciated.

Linking up with Sew Modern Monday , Sew Happy Geek and Fabric Tuesday, check out all the talent.

And lastly for those of you that donated, thank you again and here is a picture of my Boo when he did his underwater swim a year ago