Fabric...how I love fabric

So this week its about fabric.

I chose my fabric and some other items for my Snickerdoodle's Paper Bag Swap that commences in May. I will send it away and receive a lovely gift in return. How lucky am I?

Furthermore, my friendship challenge that I have started with my friend has begun. I went to my local quilt shop Miss Sampson's Drapery for some fabric.  Of course, I just needed to buy new fabric for the challenge and not use what I already have at home. My four year old daughter accompanied me on the adventure and was looking at all the beautiful fabric asking me constantly if this is what I wanted to buy.

I love spots. I have so many spots in my stash I could make a spotty quilt. So just some more spots but these special spots will go into a quilt made by my friend Simone.

Quilting is Murder.....

I just signed up to become a quilting detective. Yes that's right a quilting detective. The hunt begins for clues on May 1st 2011.

 

http://www.quiltingismurder.com

How much fun am I going to have????

Challenge between Friends

So I have this awesome friend who I have got to know over the past couple of years. We both share a love of patchwork and quilting. She recently moved away for all different reasons (6 hours and interstate) and I don't get to see her much anymore. Thanks for Facebook and blogging.

In our recent discussions, she hinted that she wanted to be involved in a challenge. So I put on my thinking cap and made up a challenge, which she accepted. YEAH!!!!!

Current Challenge:

We would each make the other a lap size quilt which measures 48" x 60" and uses 20 blocks.

The conditions are the following:

1. Each person would purchase 30cm of two different fabrics that they would like to see as a feature in their quilt. You have until the 15th May to find the fabric that you would like in your quilt. It can be any colours, patterns, etc. It is entirely your choice about what you would like to have. 

The fabric is then sent to the other person.

2. Both parties would make the same block. I chose the bottom block as it is easy and only lots of half square triangles. 

Depression Block

www.quilterscache.com

3. You have to use some of your own stash in the quilt and are not allowed to purchase any further fabric to make the quilt other than the backing, binding and wadding. The quilt is supposed to be scrappy and the other person has discretion about how the chosen fabrics fit in.

4. Each person has to quilt the quilt themselves as part of the gift.

5. We have until September school holidays 2011 to finish the quilt. We will have an unveiling and catch up them.

6. We have to blog about it so that we can show each other our progress but don't reveal to much as it would be awesome to see a surprise at the end. We will take a photo of each of us holding up our respective quilts and put it on our blogs.

How much fun and I going to have????

Can't wait to begin. First step finding my fabric......

Easter endeavours...

Well we into our last day of public holidays after the Easter Weekend. Its been extra long this year as we have also had ANZAC day and its public holiday as well. ANZAC day is when we remember our soldiers who have lost their lives. So I have had some extra time for crafting especially because it has been the end of our school holidays as well. The routines return to normal tomorrow and things will be full steam ahead.

I did some work putting together my quilted fabric basket which needs to be finished in the next couple of weeks.

I've also been stitching for my local quilting group's friendship block swap. There is no picture yet but I will post it once I have finished the block. I enjoy stitching and it is a nice break away from the sewing machine.

But I have spent quite of bit of time outside with the little ones. The weather has been glorious and too nice to stay inside. So my DH decided that he would take a photo of me outside whilst my daughter was busily riding her bike up and down the street.
I just happened to be writing on my blog and putting up my Christmas Cards group on Flickr .

But what I loved the most was taking some family shots of my other babies. As my mother would call them my Furbies. Well some of them anyway. Here are Abbey (black Labrador cross) and Roxy (Golden Retriever).

Also the newest addition to our menagerie is the resident garden spider who has been living between the fence and trampoline for the last 6 - 8 weeks. It is getting huge but not at all bothered when the kids are jumping on the trampoline.

Anyone interested??

Happy Easter!

As I sit at my Mum's house contemplating all the projects I have waiting to complete, I remember finding a blog that encouraged people completing a similar project to join together to complete the project as a Block of the Month (BOM).

So I decided to put it out to all bloggers. I currently have a completed kits of Kookaburra Cottage Christmas Cards


I joined up to complete the quilt with Country Pickin's. They were using a Christmas range by Nancy Halvorsen. I just loved the fabric and had to join. The finished quilt size is 68" x 68".

I have actually finished Block one which is the Santa. I will post a photo before the BOM starts to show my progress on the quilt blocks.

So starting in July 2011, and I know that it won't be ready for Christmas this year, I am asking other people if they are interested in joining me if they already have this pattern or BOM to complete that project as a group. The BOM is a 10 month project. People can take less time or more time to finish off their blocks. There will be no race to the finish. All I am asking is if there are any interested parties in joining me on this Christmas journey to complete the quilt or small wall hangings or however you would like to finish off the blocks.

In Australia, we celebrate Christmas in July (as it is winter here), so it seemed appropriate to start of this group. I will organise the group to run from July 2011 - July 2011. Photos of your blocks and progress can be put up on Flickr and my blog.

I'm keen if you are. Just leave me a comment to let me know if you would like to participate.

And the winner is....

I was just checking my emails for the day when I was surprised to discover that I had won the Alphabet Game at the Quilting Gallery on Facebook. I'm still in shock as I never win anything. So I get a lovely early Easter present.

Thanks to all those involved in the competition to make it happen.

Quilt Block Swap

I finished off my next Quilt Block Swap log cabin blocks last night to send over to Florida for the April swap.
I found this swap on Facebook. It's great. Every 2 months, a fantastic lady in Florida who coordinates the swap puts up on her blog the next block. You can either participate or not it is entirely up to the individual. I discovered this in November last year and have participated in the last 3 swaps.

As part of the swap, you make 5 blocks to swap (or how ever many you would like if you would like to make more) 1 block that goes into a charity quilt and 1 block for yourself.

I made 12 blocks to send overseas as part of this swap. I was asked to make the charity quilt for this block swap and I agreed. The quilt I make will go to a child in foster care with our local agency. Kids in foster care usually don't come into care with many personal items and this quilt will be their very own possession which they can take with them when they leave. My kids love their quilts and I wanted to pass on something wonderful to another child that may not necessarily have that experience.

For those that have been keeping up with my posts, I just wanted to share Katy enjoying her quilt.

Quilted Fabric Basket Swap

I'm amazed at all the different baskets that have been popping up over the past week for this swap. They all look amazing and I would be happy to receive any one of them.

But for my basket I decided to go with the hexagons. I love them and can't resist the idea of adding some paper piecing to the project because I'm addicted to it. So the hexagons will be in the orange fabric on dark purple background and there will be four little 3/4 inch hexagon flowers on the basket.

I also found some amazing purple buttons that will go lovely in the project as well. Here is a sneak peek.
Now to get the rest of the basket made.

Busy Weekend

Reading my last post made me realise how many errors or grammatical mistakes I made. Oops, I guess that it must have been the time of the day. I'm not really a morning person and the caffeine hadn't reached my brain.

So I had a busy weekend. My little girl decided that her favourite doll, Katy needed a quilt. Katy is so loved that the pigment on her face and hands is rubbing off which gives her a lovely dirty look.

She is usually very interested in what I do and always requests my cuts of scraps that would normally be put aside as rubbish to make her own quilts. So whilst my son slept, I decided to make a QAYG doll's quilt with my daughter.

As you can imagine, she helped select the fabric and we were making a very simple log cabin type block. After the third strip she decided that she had had enough but continually asked for the quilt and when it was going to be finished. It had to be played with after each strip was added. So after two hours of putting the doll quilt together, I still had to do the binding, my little girl was begging to play with it.


I was exhausted by Saturday evening and couldn't bring myself to bind the doll quilt. I actually sat and finished knitting my daughter her new winter scarf in variegated pink acrylic wool.

On Sunday I have my monthly get together with an amazing bunch of like minded women who love patchwork and quilting. So I sat and cut fabric for my quilted fabric basket, made hexagons and chatted. This is my solo time and I love it!!!! My DH who works night shift even gave me a leave pass (Nanny's away and has the kids when DH works the night before my Sunday group) and woke up early so I could go.


I did get the binding completed on Sunday night after the children were in bed. Now just to sew it down. So she is patiently waiting for the doll quilt to be finished because Katy is desperately waiting to use it. But requests have started for her other beloved toys as I've been told that they are asking for their own quilts now too. What have I started?

New Project on the go

We all know as quilters how we just can't help ourselves when it comes to creating new projects for ourselves. As it happened yet again, I was contemplating the quilt I would be making for my sister in law's upcoming wedding and finally deciding what I would do that I discovered in my fabric stash some left over flannel off cuts (the same I'm using for the wedding quilt) and decided that my gorgeous boy needed a flannel quilt this winter.


So I cut. I cut 4" squares and 2" strips and 1 1/2" strips and still had some off cuts to play with to.

So now to design. I will keep you posted. But when you can't sleep (its 6:30am here), I've decided to be up blogging because I nothing better to do. But at the end of this project and I've made a promise that its not going to be another UFO, it will be for this gorgeous little monster.

Quilted Basket Swap

Shh, its a secret but here is my fabric colours and choices for the Quilted Basket Swap that I joined in the Quilting Gallery on Facebook.


My swapper lives internationally and has a daughter who loves these colours. I have a huge collection of spot fabric so it will be a spotty bag when its finished.

Now the big question is what to do with the overall design. Do I....

1. Add some hexagons because I love them

2. Plain and simple with basic piecing

3 Add some Dresden flowers because they are cute too

Oh the dilemma. I'm sure I'll decide soon and it will just come together. But I will have to get a move on.

If anyone is interested in what the finished product will look like check out the button on my blog.

Friendship Block Swap

I recently posted that I was part of my local quilt group's Friendship Block Swap.

Well as it happened, my first friendship block happened to be my mother's block. She wanted a Christmas block using applique so that she can make herself a Christmas quilt when she receives all the blocks back.

So I just happened to find an gorgeous block from an old Homespun magazine and I used the fabric Mum supplied in her box (We have our friendship blocks in a pizza box - unused of course - and put in fabric to help our friends complete the blocks).

Here is her finished block


My next swap is a stitchery of a house that comes from Anni Downs's A Gardener's Journal.

Naked Bed Challenge

Have you read about the Naked Bed Challenge. Well if you haven't...for the next two months, Sarah Fielke has put out a challenge for people who haven't got a quilt on their own bed to make one for themselves. The best thing about it is that there are prizes for those who are interested as well. Quilts do not need to be quilted but the tops do need to be finished by 1st June 2011. Photos can be placed up on Flickr.

Because I can't help myself and because I love a good challenge, I've decided to make myself a new queen size quilting using the gorgeous Park Avenue fabric range by My 3 sisters.


I have a button on my side bar if anyone else is curious.

I just never have enough to do in my life..I just have to find more...

Kylie

Time Flies...

Where does our time go. Apart from being a busy mother of two kids now 2 and 4 years, I was actually lucky enough to have my husband home for a 2 week holiday which we went away. It was wonderful as I was allowed to take my sewing machine and hand stitching.

So I've been a bit busy. As you can guess, writing in my blog isn't one of my top priorities in life but I do enjoy my blog browsing. I will have to change this habit if I want to make the public more aware of my achievements and addictions.

Anyhow, stay posted. I have some pics on the way of some of my 2011 resolutions, a friendship block swap with my local quilting group, a quilt block swap from facebook and as usual I have joined a couple more swaps for the next couple of months.

My favourite monthly Sunday quilt group has decided to participate in the Civil War Quilt block of the week. I have yet to start my blocks but just love the idea of doing something free with a special group of friends. I will just have to use my special 1800 reproduction fabrics that I collect as 10" sample squares. My fingers itch just thinking about it.

Happy quilting

Kylie