Christmas Stuff

I made two mug rugs to go with a table runner I made a couple of years ago so I could give them to my parents this year. The only problem is I lost a mug rug. I cleaned my sewing room and now it has disappeared. This is what happens when you clean up!
The mug rug is a free design using this tutorial by Megan. It was part of the mug rug madness holiday addition over at Erin's blog, Two More Seconds.

Ready to be trimmed

I got an early Christmas present of a charm packs and decided to make half square triangles. There are so many quilts I want to make using these that I will decide later what to do. I will probably make some more with fabric from my stash before making any decisions.

An early Christmas present and a summer quilt

 I decided to give Dave a canvas of a photo he took of the Golden Gate Bridge when we were in San Francisco for Christmas. I was so excited at how it turned out that I had to give it to him early. I came up with many excuses to justify it but really I just could not wait! It is not often that I think of something he will love. I had the photo put on a canvas in black and white. The only problem is that I think it would look better on a  different colour wall.

 I decided to try something different with my jelly roll race quilt and make it a summer quilt. I did not use batting and put a green flannel on the back ( it does not show up in the photo). I love how it feels. I t is so light and drapes beautifully. I now want to try using flannel instead of batting. I quilted it with straight lines along the seams.         


                                 

I could not resist taking a photo with Brittanys new dog. It is solar powered and wags it tail in the sun.

Ready For The Quilter!

 I added the borders to this quilt in anticipation of going to a quilt shop with a friend and leaving it with a quilter. The photo does not do the fabric justice and it will make a great wall hanging. I bought a kit in Paducah (oh so long ago) from Fern Hill. The fabric and quilts Stephanie designs and makes are amazing.

 It is nearly Brittany's birthday and I like to make her something. She has a great quilt cover which is white with a black desk and dog silhouette on it. I would take a picture but her room is a bit scary. I will make this into a cushion for her bed.

I wanted to make something quick and easy so I made this zippered pouch. I used the Lazy girls design perfect pouches pattern. Not sure what I will do with it but the fabric looks great.

More of the same and something a little different

I loved the last table runner I made so I decided to make another one with scraps from my Jelly Roll Sampler Quilt Along. This one is a little wider than the figgy pudding one and looks great.

I really wanted to make something with different colours. I decided to use the tutorial for the Geometric Quilted Table Runner over at Sew We Quilt. I love the pattern, not so sure about the colours.

 I took a photo outside to try and show the colours.

 I have so many things I want to make that I don't know where to start and I have so many UFOs that I don't know where to start to finish!

Christmas leftovers

 Of  the fabric kind.

 This table runner is made with the scraps from this quilt. The pattern is a Moda Bake Shop called City Windows.The fabric is 12 days of Christmas by Kate Spain. It is a gorgeous range.

I love this one. It is the scraps from a schnibbles I made in 2009 with Figgy Pudding. I love Figgy Pudding and I love how this one turned out. It is lots of little scraps cut off while making this quilt. I got the idea from the Skinny Verna pattern once again at Moda Bake Shop. I still have 2 charm packs of figgy pudding that I am saving for something special but I don't know what yet.

Another One Ready to be Quilted

I put a plain snow border on my whirly gig quilt using the tutorial over at Hyacinth Quilt Designs. This is a great blog with gorgeous quilts and helpful hints. Cindy has written a few books too which are full of beautiful quilts.

I actually quilted another table runner I made last year but the photo was crap so I will blog about that next time.

Spring came and then left

We had some beautiful spring weather this week and then it got cold and wet again!!! I decided to try and finish some UFOs but instead started some new projects. However I did finish one.

 I love table runner It is the ziggy zaggy mini quilt from a tutorial by Kaye at Miss-Print. It was very quick and easy (which is why I actually managed to finish it).It uses charm squares with background fabric so is a great thing for scraps. I can see me making more of these.
                                    

I used some aboriginal fabric and black for the back.

I also started a whirly gig quilt. I used another tutorial. This one is here at Quilting on Turtle Hill.

Between Charming Friends

I finally finished my quilt from the between charming friends quilt along last year! I used a Tula Pink charm pack and love how it turned out although it is a little too pink for me so I am not sure what I will do with it. Of course because it took me so long to finish I could not get any fabric from the same range for the binding. I ended up using some green from Tula Pinks latest range Prince Charming which looks good. The quilt is quite small. It measures just under 30 x 36 inches.

I am quite happy with the quilting which I kept very simple and easy.

A Cushion and Sashiko

I made this cute little cushion last week. I used the wonky star tutorial by the Silly BooDilly.

I used an idea I saw on Quilt Dad for the back. The binding finished off the back nicely.

My main purchase at the craft fair on the weekend was some fabric to make a sashiko table runner. I love how it looks and it is very easy. Unfortunately it is very expensive. The fabric cost more than the usual quilting fabric! I got the sashiko fabric, sashiko thread, sashiko needle and some fabric for the borders at a great little stand called BeBe Bold. The lady who runs the store was lovely and gave a little tutorial to help us get started. I can see me getting addicted to this.

Shopping Bag

I finished this shopping bag from the love...Quilting book in time to take with me on Sunday when I finally get to a quilt show. It is a big bag with plenty of room for purchases and

a big pocket for a water bottle.

This book arrived a couple of days ago and it is even better than I thought. It has instructions for using jelly rolls and scraps. Once again many projects on my to do list.

I have been sewing but....

I have had to do some sewing this week but unfortunately it has been costumes for B's music festival. This has been very time consuming and not fun. I now know why quilters use 100% cotton. I am also very glad we are not a dancing family!!!

There is a reason why patterns advise you to read the whole thing before you start a project. I was so excited when I saw this hand pieced house pattern in a magazine included a paper pieced option. I made one block without reading the pattern and then realised the 4 sections had to be hand pieced. I once started a hand pieced table topper. It looks like I will be pulling it out to practice so I can finish this cute little house.

A Christmas Present

I finally finished a Christmas Present. It is the January Table Runner from the Fresh and Fancy series by Cotton Way. This will be for one of my brothers. Not sure which one yet! There is three to choose from after all.

This is the back. I used a darker grey on the back and quilted it as it was shown in the pattern picture.

Had to finish with this shot of Rhani and B.

A New Book

Whenever I go to Newcastle I check out the bookshops on the hope of finding a quilt book. I found this book the other day which I have never heard of. It has patterns designed by Marion Patterson, Sally Ablett and Sue Warren. There are some great designs and I could not resist buying it. These are now added to my never ending list of projects I want to do!

I went to see the last Harry Potter today. Another good movie although I always like the books more.

Everyones a winner baby

Well maybe not everyone but I am. YAY! I won the Scrap Basket Sensations book by Kim Brackett from the Fat Quarter Shop. I love the Fat Quarter Shop. I always have a shopping cart on the go with many things I would love to buy, then when I cant resist anymore I place an order. The service is always great.

I really miss living near quilt shops and being able to browse and buy fabrics and books. I love quilt books (and Magazines) and read them over and over dreaming of what I will make.

Manly Table runner 2

I need to make some manly things. I have decided to try and make Christmas gifts this year and with three brothers some of them will need to be manly! This is a Cotton Way pattern, the January Table Runner for the Fresh and Fancy series. I really like how it looks in batiks. Now to quilt it.

It's been a while!

I managed to finish my cherry house quilt along quilt and am happy with how it looks. I think it might be a good baby quilt for a little boy. I have a pregnant friend who it would be good for, if she has a boy, of course.

I made a cute pincushion for a friend and forgot to take a photo. I might try and take one next time I am at her house. It is not good to forget to take photos when you are sewing so little. It is school holidays so with some luck I will have more photos soon.

It is very windy here today but still not very cold. We have been having a very mild winter which is a good thing!!!

Races

We had our outrigger regatta a few weeks ago. It was a great weekend with a lot of canoes from all over NSW and one from Victoria.

I finally made my jelly roll race quilt although it took several weeks so hardly a race. I love how these quilts look and it was very quick except for the first seam which took forever. I did it again. Messed up with the background fabric. I decided to make a hugs and kisses from the park quilt by Melissa Corey at Moda Bakeshop. I used the pink lemonade fat quarters I had which my husband picked so I thought I would make it for him. As I had plenty of print fabric I made extra blocks for a bigger quilt and then realised I didn't have enough background. I used a black batik but it is different from every other black batik I have (of course). I think I will have enough to finish if I make all the strips 2inches instead of 2.5 or maybe all the sashing 2.5 and 2 inch borders. I will have to measure and work it out exactly before I cut it out so I am putting it off. I thought about using less blocks and adding a print border but Dave really likes it without borders.

I will not be sewing much over the next few weeks as I will be working a lot. Bummer. Last weekend we went to one of the surf beaches to check out the big surf that has been around lately and saw some dolphins surfing in the waves. It was amazing but we did not have a camera with us. From now on we will take the camera every time we go to the beach.

An award and a runner

Erin of Whittle Stitches has kindly tagged me with the Stylish Blogger Award!!!!!!!Thanks Erin.

When you get this award you need to

1.Thank and link back to the person who gave you the award.
2.Share 7 things about yourself.
3.Pass the award on to newly discovered bloggers.
4.Contact these bloggers and let them know they have won the award.

OK so 7 things about me ( I am not very exciting).

1. I was born in Perth, Western Australia and lived there until I was 21 when I left to backpack around Australia. I have not lived in Perth since but go back as much as possible to visit family.
2.I still love moving and recently lived in the US for 3 years.
3.I worked in hospitals for many years until I did a DipEd and I now work as a high school science teacher.
4.I believe you should exercise everyday although I am not as obsessive now and can handle missing a day. I vary what I do and my latest sport is paddling in the outrigger canoes which I have been doing for just over 1 year.
5.I also believe you should have coffee and chocolate everyday (one reason why I need to exercise everyday).
6.I met my husband at a P party. He was a priest and I was a party.
7. I am domestically challenged. I cant find the time to do housework everyday as I have to many other commitments.lol

I finally finished something. This is my runner made with the Disappearing 4 patch tutorial from love laugh quilt. I really like what Marlene did with her blocks too.

I am on the look out for new blogs to tag with the Stylish Blogger Award.

Just Because

I love Just Because presents! They are unexpected and a great surprise. Miss Nancy sent me these gorgeous mug rugs last week. They are gorgeous pastel batiks which look amazing and definitely remind me of summer days at the beach as she planned. The kids love them and picked which ones they wanted to use. They better not spill anything on them.

I admired the disappearing 4 patch a while ago and after seeing them again on Marlenes blog Under the rose I decided to make one.

I used this tutorial at Love Laugh Quilt. I used fat quarters so I will probably make two more and make a small table runner.

What do you think Gran?

I made this mug rug for my mum. Now I just have to post it. Do you like it Gran?

I got the idea from Erin's Blog two more seconds. She has links to lots of great mug rug tutorials. This one is based on Terri's scrappy colour mug rug found on her blog Sew Fantastic. I made it narrower as I like to use mine on the arms of couches to keep them clean.

We went to Sydney last weekend and had a great day at Taronga Zoo. This giraffe loves having his photo taken and

we found the Loch Ness Monster. This sea lion was having a great time. Couldn't resist another photo of Rhani.