Instagraming.....

I've joined the instagram brigade.I haven't quite got the hang of the hash tag thing but I'm loving the images floating around the instagram-o-phere. It can be mildly addictive....but I have a 15 year old to keep me in check. You know the look, the rolling of the eyes when I pull out my phone...enough said?You can find me as 'sewandsews'.

Non gender specific....

R's English teacher is leaving at the end of the term to have her first baby. Now I've mentioned many times that my circle of friends are done with our own babies and are embroiled in the daily dealings of pre-teens and teens. I shouldn't complain too much, we'll hopefully be grandparents in next to no time if the speed at which our own babies have grown up is maintained! In any case, I jump at hearing about impending births so I have an opportunity to whip up a little quilt. Baby quilts are so satisfying in between the bigger productions. Short sharp and shiny and done with in a weekend!Ms J doesn't know the gender of her baby so I've gone with something that can go with either a girl or a boy....lots of red, blue and green. Once again I combined fabrics from my stash and went with my favourite 5" blocks. There's a healthy does of DS Quilts fabrics, some pezzy print and spots of various colours.I've also machine bound this quilt, something I'm getting better at with each attempt.

Zesty...

It's Springtime on this side of the hemisphere and there are blossoms bursting, leaves unfurling, bees buzzing furiously and today an endless blue sky all wrapped in a perfect mild 20 degrees celsius. We've had a bitterly cold winter and plenty of rain (not complaining about the rain but enough already!). The weather was so beautiful this morning I couldn't help make the most of it and took my latest quilt finish outside to finish off the loose threads.This quilt is another donation towards R's Ireland trip. The jazz ensemble has a performance on Friday night at the Royal Institute in Adelaide (RIAUS), the old Stock Exchange building and this quilt will be used as a raffle prize.I've used a similar layout to this quilt, 5" squares on the diagonal with white set in triangles. The colours are really citrus-y with a mix of hot pink, green, orange and yellow. Selecting fabrics for this quilt really took me out of my comfort zone. I'm very much a 'fabric story' quilter....so this was a very brave step forward in selecting colours and prints but I was determine to use what I had and the scrap bag is rather depleted (joy!). I know most of these prints are much the same saturated tone but it was the mix of colours I was going for in this instance.Not a huge quilt at 54" square but big enough for a lap or a picnic.
The binding is a funny little print of zany green and yellow diamonds with a hot pink dot. It reminds me of crocodile skin! I picked it up for $2 a metre at a Spotlight sale and it blends perfectly with the rest of the colours. Zesty looks right at home under the very last mandarin but only for a day or two!

Thank you for the memories....

As part of R's year 9 curriculum, she is to coordinate and participate in 8 to 10 hours of community service. After a few wild ideas on her part I suggested that she might like to spend her time back at her old day care centre. She checked with the teacher who agreed it was a worthwhile commitment. She set up her placement, recruiting three other of her classmates who were still searching for somewhere to go. Year 9 girls don't do solo, they do things in packs! Needless to say, did they luck in or what!
The first visit to the centre was an introductory session that included a tour and a meet and greet with the carers in the various rooms. Many of the carers are still at the centre and came out to meet R and remind her that they used to change her nappy and tell to her she hadn't changed a bit! Talk about 'rock-star' treatment.
Over the past 4 Fridays after school, each of the girls has spent 2 hours at the centre, rotating themselves around to the various rooms to get a taste of what the centre offers. They've loved it and I've loved hearing the stories once I pick them up to take them home. All agree that it's been a blast and not like hard work at all. For R it's been a trip down memory lane to a place that she spent her first 5 years of life once I returned to work. She is amazed at how much smaller it is than she remembered! (Of course....you're 10 years bigger!)As a thank you for accommodating the girls, I've made 4 little dolly quilts for each to give the centre. Each one is made completely of scraps and that includes the batting which I cobbled together from wider strips trimmed from the sides of quilts. It never ceases to amaze me how the smallest piece of fabric can turn into a quilt. The quilts have also given me many opportunities to try out some new techniques. This little exercise has exposed me to slab piecing, wavy line quilting using a wide zig zag (gotta love that!) and my Achilles heel....machine binding! Trying out and practicing on small quilts is brilliant....so not only has my scrap bag had a bit of a dent put into it, I've become a bit of a fan of machine binding. I'm ready to give it a go on the next big quilt.The girls will finish up next week and are all talking about returning for work experience next year! Good for them!

Another Granny....

The Granny Square quilt that Clare and I have been making for our friend is finished. It's just lovely ...even if I say so myself!
We shared the block making and it's surprising what you can find in your scrap bin to turn into a Granny block. Together we brought a bunch of random and donated bits of fabric (thank you Kay and Michelle) that stitched together into an eclectic colour mix to create nothing short of a wonderful quilt top and backing.
We had a splendid time sorting and balancing colour choices. It sure is a fun task playing with someone else's 2 1/2" pre cut squares! So much so, the girls and I have already spent another evening throwing fabric scraps into the centre of the table to cut into 2 1/2" squares for us to divvy up next time we meet. This is a great way to move around some fabric that we've pulled and used just one too many times! So stay tuned for a bit more of the Granny Power!Clare stitched this top and I quilted and bound it. The binding is a quite wide stripe of red and the palest of pinks that I've had in the cupboard for a while now. The red works with the front (we both do red...a lot!) and the pink works with the back....(which I do...a lot!) I love it....we love it, I'm sure J will love it too!

Meet Miss Polly....

...Actually, it's more like Miss Poly....Poly short for Polyester!
I saw these fabrics at our local 'super-sized' fabric/craft/habby store and fell in love with the designs and colours. Clare and I dubbed them the 'Cath Kidston knock-offs' and we both thought that we'd like to work with them. We agreed to go halves in some 1/2 metres to give ourselves a set of fat quarters.I was in the neighbourhood of the newest superstore during the recent school holidays and whizzed in to pick up a bunch. I was more concerned with grabbing a big enough bundle of rolled fabrics and lining up to be served quickly and dashing out again in the amount of time I had available.
That afternoon my Spotlight catalogue arrived in the mail and after a bit of speed reading to determine what bits I was keeping and what was going straight into the bin, I turned a page to find that what I'd just purchased was a 'poly-cotton'. O.M.G! I had committed a fabric purchase sin. I have a cupboard full of beautiful cottons and I've purchased poly-cotton and didn't even notice it beyond thinking it was a bit stiff....which I assumed was sizing and this would wash out.
I cut the fabrics up and confessed my blunder to Clare. She didn't mind. And, truth be told, I was torn. I hated the fact that these fabrics were synthetic....but I still loved the prints and colours.
We both decided to soldier on and each added some cotton sateen's to the mix.I cut my bunch up into 5" squares and set them on point to create a lap sized quilt for my mum.
After a bit of calculation I worked out how big to make the triangles to set into the corners. These are in white cotton....now we have a mixed marriage!Cutting and piecing was easy...in fact, I think the stiffness helped to keep things straight. But I did notice my needle blunted very quickly.
I've stippled the quilt and whilst I was very concerned about slippage....it's quilted quite well both front and back.The binding is scrappy and uses pretty much the last of the 'knock-off' poly's.....I didn't want them hanging around!
Having said all that, and even with this total fabric dilemma I'm suffering, I think it's probably a good thing to have fabric that's a little more robust for a lap quilt that will endure everyday use by an older person. Time will tell....at least it's pretty to look at!

Ruby +.....

I'm a bit lost for words over this one so I'll pepper this post with lots of images.
This is my Ruby Plus Quilt that I commenced back in December last year. I finally finished it last night and I'm as pleased as punch to have done so. Here goes....
Quilting started last Sunday morning. I was on a mission to get this quilt quilted before my holidays ended and even though it was the last day of our holidays and we'd headed to the country for lunch, I managed to finish it by days end. Needless to say I was a little bleary eyed once back at work!
This is such a pretty line of fabric by Bonnie and Camille. I've used the reds, greens, greys and a smattering of the pink.The binding is delicious!
This one will end up on R's bed. Those of you who know me will guess why!
It's lovely to have a quilt finished. Now onto some of the other UFO's that are calling for their finish. And here's another pic just for fun!