Needlecase Workshop

Today, Polly and I went to the Lake Bonney Quilters group, as we have been doing for the last few weeks.  Some of the women noticed my needlecase, that I made myself a while back, using Khristina's tutorial, and asked if I'd do a workshop on how to make them.  So I emailed Khristina to make sure she didn't mind me printing it off for the ladies to use, and of course, being her usual generous self, Khristina was happy for me to do the workshop.

I printed off copies of the tutorial, and using some 'recycled' cardboard (from cereal packets and cat food packets!) Polly & I traced off the templates for the quilters.

Well, I must say, it was a fun day.....everyone who wanted to make themselves a needlecase managed to make them up....all before lunchtime....which apparently is a bit of a novelty, as they usually have to take workshop projects home, and finish them later.

Here's a pic of most of the ones that were sewn today.....I think a couple of the ladies, one in particular, made more than one, but I only photographed their 'firsts' lol

One of the ladies bought along some buttons to share out (thanks Julie) and her needlecase is the dark green one on the right hand side with the pink bow button.....not happy with the straight stitching on her case, she decided to do some fancy stitching along the sew lines, and here's a close up of it now.

Didn't they all do a fantastic job?  Only 2 fabrics repeated....which is the light green and yellow one on the back right....it's also in the inside of the green multi striped fabric that's roughly in the centre of the top pic....otherwise, no repeats!  My favourite (I know, teachers shouldn't play favourites) is the purple (that looks like fuschia pink in the photo) on the far left, and is the near the top.....hmmmm go figure that I'd pick the purple one.....talking of which, I have competition for 'purple' love at Lake Bonney Quilters....gonna have to watch them girls!

A big thank you to Polly for being Teachers Assistant today....and whilst I'm passing out gratitude, thanks Khristina for providing such a great tutorial....the girls all want to know next, so am thinking of doing Khristinas' tote bag, but with a zippered top....I love how they turn out...and I reckon they'd all be able to make them in the one day too.....stay tuned to find out lol

If you have a tutorial you wouldn't mind me sharing with the girls (at a workshop) at quilting, they're hungry for 'fresh' meat so to speak, so please leave me a message and I'll be in touch soon.

Fabric Donations received

Oh boy oh boy oh boy, check out all the fabrics I recently got for use in Aussie Hero Quilts for our Aussie Soldiers serving overseas, in places such as Afghanistan, Iraq etc.  If you know of any troops, currently overseas, that haven't heard of Aussie Hero Quilts, and the fact that they can contact Jan-Maree and ask for quilts to be sent to them, please put them in touch with the blog or Jan-Maree....the more that know about it, the better.

The first 5 pics are fabrics that I went and picked up at Berri Uniting Church "Refresh & Bloom" group last Wednesday.  I spoke with Helen a week or so before then at my regular quilting group and asked if they would be interested in making some quilts for the soldiers.  (The last charity quilts they did, were for the Queensland flood victims last year)  Helen took the information I had printed off (I can be quite the good little girl scout when I want to be!) and mentioned to me that she'd purchased a whole bunch of fabrics, and that there were plaids amongst it if I could use some?  Me, need 'blokey' fabric....heck yes please.....so I made arrangements to go pick it up.  She also had some fabric for sale, but that's not what this post is about.

 Look at all those great plaids, won't they look great in quilts for our guys???  At the bottom of that pile, is a dark pink check and also pale grey fabrics (see below)

I plan on using the grey for binding guy quilts (and if I use it all, Helen has kindly said I can go get more of the grey....if there's any left!) and the check fabric, I plan to use for some QAYG 'girlie' quilts.  There's a few metres of the grey but heaps and heaps, in fact almost a full bolt of the pink check.

The bottom fabric in the above pic, black and white spot is quite a large piece also, which teamed with some solid fabrics, such as red or green or blue will make nice cheery quilts don't you think?

 This "Paris" fabric will be great on 'girly' quilts don't ya think?

 And I couldn't resist grabbing the veggie fabric, it'll make a great quilt for someone who's missing his vegie patch at home hey? lol

I also want to say a big thank you to Marion B in WA who very kindly sent me the fq you see above, with the Aussie wildlife on it...which will be utilised in a few different quilts so it goes further.

A while ago, I purchased some fabric for use in AHQ projects, and after discussion with the seller (Linda F) she very kindly crammed the flat rate envelope with fabrics for me to use....as her donation to our service men and women....wasn't that kind of her?  Here's a couple of pics of the bag she sent, and also the fabrics laid out on my cutting mat.  Thanks heaps Linda xxx

FNSI - Friday Night Sew In

I have been trying to get the pics of what I got sewn uploaded, but for the last week, my computer has been having several 'moments' and I thought that my USB ports had died, but low and behold, today, they're working.  I struck while the iron was hot, so to speak, and here's what I managed to get sewn on Friday Night Sew In.....I had sooooo many plans, but as usual, my plans change from moment to moment!

 I've made one of these bags before, and when I made this one I took a series of pics to write a tutorial in English (as all the others I've seen, have been in another language and google translate seems to not like converting it into full English and is very confusing to follow!)....and I will get around to doing that.....although I vaguely remember saying way back when, that I wouldn't use Pellon or batting in any others I made, but I went ahead and used batting in this one anyway....lol  It makes them hard to draw the string as it doesn't bunch up too well.  I still have to put an embellishment over the joins front and back, and am thinking I might pop Yo Yo's on it....what do you think???

This is a side on view, to show off the pockets that are formed at each end of the bag/pouch.

This is a simple quilted pouch.  I had to reverse sew some of the quilting as I was too stubborn lazy to put the walking foot on, but I ended up doing that and it's turned out quite nice I think.  It's for a swap gift, so hopefully the recipient doesn't work out who they are!

I even managed to remember to attach one of my labels I made for myself!

Ding A Ling A Ling A ling

That was the sound of the alarm bell going off......lol

Click the link below to sign in for the Santa Sack/Stocking swap.  There's limited spaces to be filled, so don't delay or you could miss out.  You have to become a follower of that blog, as that's the only place that any notifications or updates will be posted this year.  I've already entered....coz I wouldn't want you all to beat me off with a stick and get my spot!

*Santa Sack Swap*: Let's BeGiN: Time has finally rolled around again this year to get the Santa Sack/Stocking Swap up and running. You will notice (swappers from last...

Hope to see you there, you'll have heaps of fun, I know I did last year, and was thoroughly spoilt by my swap partner, Annie. 

Mothers Day

Last week, I had a surprise 'flying' visit from my daughter and her partner, "Kotter".  They were going to a nearby town and thought they'd drop in my Mothers Day pressie a week early....yep, I've been holding out on you all!

Here's what they bought me.....a lovely bunch of coconuts flowers, a wash mitt (think they're trying to tell me something??? lol), a notebook AND the pretty bouquet of homemade ferrero rocher in a box.  Thank you so much Hayley and Nic xxx

  

FNSI - Friday Night Sew In

I know I said a month or so ago that I was doing this, and believe it or not, I did, but I couldn't post any pics on my blog at the time, so didn't exactly finish it to the rules! I've worked out the new blogspot changes somewhat now, and I've signed up again.

You can sign up and join in on the fun too, by clicking the button below to read more about it.




Sign ups can be done by clicking HERE which will take you to Bobbi's blog.  She has a linky on that post that really makes it a simple task to sign up.

So in under a week, I'll be sharing pics of what I've made, but a little heads up, I'm going to be making as much as I can towards two quilts for Aussie Hero Quilts & Laundry Bags, which you can read about HERE and I'm going to be using the method that I shared a video for HERE.

What are you going to sew?  I hope to see you there.

I spy with my little eye....oh wait, that's not it....if you click on the sparkly mermaid below, you can go enter a giveaway for a surprise package that sounds like ANYONE would love to win, including me!  Good luck.  The other day I could link to a pic and now I can't, so it's actually the link beside the pic that you need to click on. 

http://welovequilting.com/may-give-a-way-5/

Lots of things

Well, albeit a few days late, I opened my cushion cover swap gift from over at the Craft Forum, and hoot hoot, it's got an owl on it!  Seeeeeeeeeeee!

And check out the 'wrapping paper' Jeanette used

Yep, fabric, tied up with ribbon, both of which will end up being recycled.  Thanks for my cute cushion cover Jeanette, I love it.

Talking of swaps, I've joined in on Ally's (ala Quilting Mumma) Mug Rug Swap, and here's the mug rug I'm sending off to.....oh wait, ssssssh it's a secret who this is going to be sent to, which, unfortunately won't happen till Monday now....sorry mystery new owner, but I've had car woes again this week, but even if I have to catch a taxi, I'll get it to the Post Office on Monday.

 You can find the tutorial for this mug rug here.

See my little label?  I printed a whole bunch of the off a while ago, and had buried them on my craft table, but recently I re-discovered them, and decided to start using them up, as I want to make myself some that are a bit bigger, and a bit more user friendly!


I've also been messing around with HST's and here's some of the layouts I discovered so far:

 The gap in the middle in the one above, would be where you would insert a stitchery or a completely different block!

Of all the different ones I tried, this is my favourite layout of them I think, not sure if it has a name, but I like it....do you know if it has a name????  My absolute favourite block to use the HST's on is Annies Choice and here's a couple of examples of ones I've made for a Birthday Block Swap I'm in on a Facebook Group.

Moving along......

I'm super excited, there's only 11 more sleeps until sign ups start for this years Santa Sack Swap, hosted by the awesome Cheryll from Gone Stitchin.  This year, she's limiting the amount of participants, so if you think you might like to join, make sure you mark the 15th May down in your diary, or else you might miss out.  You'll be kicking yourself if you miss it, I did it last year, and it was a blast!  Cheryll also hosts several other great swaps throughout the year, so be sure to visit her blog to see what's on the schedule at the moment.

Back tracking slightly, as well as messing around with the HST's, I've also been finding heaps of tutorials, one of them being the D9P Variation, which you can find here and the pics of the ones that Polly made with my fabric (whilst I was busy making some D9P's of my own!) are shown below.  Sometimes, well usually, Polly usually brings her own projects with her (she lives next door so it's handy to have a crafty neighbour hey? lol) but when she doesn't and she's starting to look like she's going to spontaneously combust if I don't put her to work, I of course have to oblige!  That night was one of those times muhahahaha, well she does call me the Evil One!

Chock-A-Block really is chockers with some great blocks and I highly recommend going there for a squizz....grab a cuppa first, you'll be a while!

And below are the pics of the D9P blocks I was working on.  The bottom pic is a close up of the prints, although the green one is still a wee bit hard to see....they are little meeces on the green background.  I bought a few packs of 4" charm squares a while ago (read a couple of years or more ago!) and have finally used them.  I have a few of the fish ones left, but I've used all the kitty cats and mice squares and they will make a great quilt.  I just have to decide whether to make two cot quilts with sashing and borders, or to make a single bed sized one with sashing and borders. I think either will look great and I'll use the remaining fish ones in as corner stones.

 Well, that should have kept you busy a while, so I'll say ciao for now, don't forget to mark the Santa Sack Swap in your diary, and if you miss out, don't be blaming me, I've made sure you know where it's at, when it's at and have even put the button up on my side bar, should this post get buried under new posts before the 15th.

Forgive me readers

......for I have sinned, it's been 6 days since I last posted....and with no further religious references, because I don't want to offend anyones' beliefs, I'll get into my latest post.

Here's a sneaky peek at the cushion cover I made for a swap in the Craft Forum (link in my sidebar).  Opening day is tomorrow, and I'll post again then to show you not only the full cover that I made, but also the one I received from my partner.

 Doesn't give much away does it?   LOL, oh well only one more sleep and you can see the rest of it!

 I have a very dear friend, Jenny C, who I went to Para West Adult Campus with, a few years back, and we've kept in touch, via Facebook.  Well, a couple of times now, I've managed to be on at the right time, to catch her "who'll give me $ (insert amount) for (insert photo) this fabric....both times I've scored BIG TIME, and this last time was NO exception.....I even scored the huge bucket the fabric was in....as you can see, it's overflowing...and I got all that for $10....BARGAIN CITY right?

These are all pics of the fabrics I received....most are fq or bigger, some are even 2+ metres.  I don't believe I found one useless/ugly piece of fabric in there.

 I'm happy with all of it, and if you look at the pic below, you'll see she even had some owl fabric in the mix!

Honestly, it was like emptying out a Mary Poppins Bag....the fabric was just coming and coming....lol  Love it all, so thank you Jenny xxx

I did give a piece or two to my next door stalker, Polly, but the rest has been re folded and stacked neatly back in the bucket and will be getting used as I begin to practice quilting...yes, I still haven't mastered the art of FMQ on a domestic machine.....boo hoo hoo.

I have also started a new page (up there at the top of my blog) for videos I like, and no, the closest you'll get to porn is fabric/quilting porn!  The first video I've embedded there is a great FMQ stencil video tutorial by Don Link.  Do watch it if you've been searching for an alternative to plastic stencils and/or press and seal.

I had a friend visit for the weekend, and whilst I didn't get much done in the way of sewing, I did get a frilly scarf knitted for a client/friend who saw me showing the yarn on Facebook and put an order in for one.  They are sooooo quick and easy to knit, and once I had the right needles, had it finished in no time.  I started out with a circular needle, but got fed up of wrestling with the long loopy bit, then I swapped to straight needles but as they were long, I kept getting them hooked up in the knitted dangling end of the scarf, and it was driving me nuts, yeah yeah, I know, not a very long journey!  Here's a pic of Colleen B's scarf.

It's a really crappy pic sorry, but no one wanted to model it and the only place I could think of putting it, was on the door, which just so luckily happened to have a white dressing gown that I'm supposed to be 'blinging' up for someone!  Guess as it's gotten cooler, I should think about doing that soon hey?

hasta mañana