In the bag.....

I made some little bags to store the two quilts I'm giving away as part of a fundraiser. Just to add a little bit of special!
The granny square bag sits in a nice little envelope style bag and features similar fabrics to the quilt.

And the 3 1/2" scappy quilt will live in a draw string bag which also features co-ordinating fabrics used in the quilt. The drawstring bag makes this little quilt the perfect travelling picnic quilt.

They're now both bagged up and ready to go to the school for raffles. Farewell lovelies.

The Picnicker.....

I present to you, the 'Picnicker' quilt. A lovely collection of 3 1/2" squares of fabric, cut from left overs and stitched together in a random fashion (well maybe not that random...and to be precise the stitching's not random...the placement is!) to create a 60" square, free motion stippled quilt, backed with fabulous fabric gifted from my lovely friend Michelle and bound with some black and white floral fabric found in the back of the stash cupboard. Wouldn't this quilt make the perfect picnic quilt?
Does this sound like a commercial?
Yes indeedee it does! But perhaps I'm rehearsing for the fact that I'm donating another quilt towards R's school's music tour to Ireland. Next week is her 'Soiree' performance and this quilt will be donated as a raffle prize.

This quilt was a delight to make. I'd spent some lovely past holiday time cutting the fabric waiting for the right time to stitch it all back together. Lots of lovely memories in each little snippet of fabric....and much of it ready to leave my cupboard, so that makes it all the more easier to say goodbye to and give away to a new home.
I mentioned before that once cut, the fabric was paired, and then pieced as a block of 4 and then 8 and then 16's. Simple and pretty accurate.

The back was a lovely bright pink/orange/white butterfly combo fabric that Michelle gifted.  I'm not sure of its origin (Ikea?) but it was a spectacular width of 57", which meant that I only had to add a few fancy strips of white and orange to blend it all together to create the right amount of backing.

Here's hoping the audience see fit to buy a ticket in the raffle and that this little scrappy collection of fabric gets a new life in another home! But I have to say, save your scraps, cut them into 3 1/2" squares and zip lock them away because you too could have something very similar one day soon! (There....that's the real commercial for all of you fabric loving, quilt making readers of this blog!)

Left to their own devices....

At the last minute, L advised that he needed to take cupcakes to school today because it was his birthday. I thought (or was secretly hoping) that by Grade 5, the kids would have grown out of that ritual. No such luck!
So in between cooking spaghetti bolognaise sauce last night, I popped on my multi-task hat and whipped up a batch of 3 dozen cup cakes. As I was running out the door to my cherished Sew & Sew's catch up, R asked if I wanted her and L to decorate the cakes.
"Oh, yes please!"
When I arrived home a few hours later the kitchen smelt delicious, filled with the aroma of freshly baked cakes, sweet icing, mini marshmallows and lollies. But my senses went into overload when I caught sight of what they had created!What clever little sausages they are - crazy faced monster cakes! Each one individual and whacky. I'm so proud of them and in particular my little 11 year old charmer. Happy birthday L!

Breathing the same air.....

It's the Queen's Birthday long weekend. Normally we would go to our shack but this year we decided not to go. R has just come home fairly wrecked from a grueling school camp to the Grampians...probably as much her late night activities coupled with the strenuous activities the school inflicted each day! Not to mention the mountain of washing she brought home and the need to dry it in this bitterly cold weather.
I have limited sewing accoutrements at the shack, although these are gradually building, so I pick my take-away projects carefully...generally ones that don't need ironing or robust quilting. This time last year I packed a small cutting mat and a ruler along with larger sized fabric scraps that could be cut down to 3 1/2" squares. I remember that weekend cutting, cutting and cutting to create a rainbow pack of squares. Seeing as they'd sat in my cupboard for a year, I thought it high time they were patchworked into a top.I started off pairing each square, then joining the pairs into 4's, then 8's and then 16's. I'm aiming for a 60" square quilt which will be 20 squares across by 20 down. Here they are placed on the floor before piecing.
What's amazing is the number of patchwork quilts appearing this weekend, it seems like there are a few of us breathing the same air! There's this one here and this one here. Both gorgeous. Let's hope this one turns out equally as nice!

Granny square finish....

I haven't been sitting on my hands, although my lack of posts probably looks like I have been! Not that I have to make excuses but sometimes life gets in the way and it's not really blog-able or we get busy and just miss the opportunity.
However, the quilty gods must be happy with this offering. It's my Granny Square quilt that I'm going to give away to R's school as part of a fundraiser for the music student's forthcoming trip to Ireland. Did I hear you say 'lucky'? I got a lovely email from a dear friend recently who said that the only overseas trip she ever got with the school band was to Kangaroo Island! Thank you Bev, I laughed for hours after that.I loved making this quilt from start to finish. I adore each and every block and when it all comes together with the sashing (I used Kona Snow), it's nothing short of divine. And, against this dull late Autumn sky it's like a little bit of springtime has been delivered to my clothesline. The back is a really pretty aqua with white polka dot that was recently gifted from another gorgeous friend. It's a fabric colour that I probably wouldn't have been drawn to in the past but I'm smitten with it now. It goes perfectly with the whole quilt. The back also features a band of left-over 2 1/2" squares to help join the fabric.I haven't quilted anything for ages and I don't know about you but I tend to get really nervous before quilting...in case I muck up all the hours of piecing I guess. But the size of this quilt made stippling really manageable and it went like a charm.
Finally, the binding. It's the last of my Amy Butler Martini Dot in orange. I love how it frames the whole scrappy-ness of this quilt. Sigh....it's going to be hard to give away. I'll just have to make another one for myself I think.

Autumn bounty....

We have a lovely 4 year old espaliered quince tree that over the years delivers an equally lovely bounty of quinces each May. After a bit of a rocky start, and after a bit of advice, Joe has been using some fertiliser that we bought from the grower which whilst hasn't produced too much extra fruit, has produced mega sized fruit! So in preparation for Mothers Day dessert next week, I set about picking 8 of these magnificent yellow orbs which easily filled my large Le Crueset casserole, and prepared them for poaching. I use Stephanie Alexander's recipe. After 6 hours on low in a light sugar syrup, lemon and vanilla, these beauties turn into ruby coloured gems. Not to mention the divine smell that swims around the house for hours. It amazes me that such tough old fashioned fruit turns into such delicious, highly sought after produce! Stay tuned for next week's installment!

Lots of lots of....

I've been having one of those 'doing lots.....not achieving too much' periods.
Work has been super busy and I've loved just coming home, stitching a bit and sorting fabric. I've made piles of strips, sorted small size scraps, small prints, florals, you name it, I've sorted it!
I found this gorgeous tutorial over at Nana Company for needle books and this has totally fed my desire for small print florals and Cath Kidson-sh contrasts of florals, gingham and polka dots.When I left last Saturday for the red-eye to Melbourne (which sadly was delayed 2 hours!) to visit my 3rd Australasian Quilt Convention, I had just this look in mind for my fabric purchases.
And let me tell you, I indulged....big time....bought lots, spent too much...but suffered little guilt....after all why else was I there?The biggest delight were the two stands selling Tilda fabrics. I've had the Christmas book for years and had no idea these fabrics existed. I was thrilled to find these divine prints which completely fed my lust for florals and polka dots....not to mention my favourite colours of pink, red, aqua and green!
Next thrill was the Doctors Flannel from Ballarat Patchwork. I've used this inside my needle-books for the pages and it is spectacular. So lovely to work with and cuts amazingly well with pinking shears. It's on my list for future purchases! Such a shame it is seriously pricey!
Interstate fabric buying is fun right down to the scrap bags and long sought after fat 1/4's but you need to make room in the cupboard so I started paper piecing some scraps for a strip quilt. I've managed 16 blocks over the last few days and this has made quite a dent in my scrap bag. I've shelved them for a while as I need to make some more quilts to get some more scrap stock. Isn't that ironic!
Now I'm playing with left over 2 1/2" squares and a back for my Granny Square quilt. Maybe I might get something finished some day soon!