ava's birthday quilt

I need to make a quilt for my niece's 3rd birthday, which is in less than a month!!

I want to make a quilt similar to this pattern, but it needs an oriental theme...what do you think about these fabrics together in a design similar to the above quilt??

Do you think it'll work? Or should i just stick to the momo range? hhhmmmmm i CAN NOT make a decision!

HELP!!

another giveaway : )

ok i promise i will blog about something other than a giveaway soon! i have news that i am dying to share, but MUST wait until this afternoon : )

But for now, check out this super generous giveaway...

another tea pony

OK- i promise to blog about something other than tea pony soon! i have some very exciting news to share soon enough, but until then, my fave kids designer is having ANOTHER giveaway- uh huh, that right. hop on over here and enter for a chance to win this...

x

tea pony

this is my absolute fave line of clothing for kids (and for me, if it were in my size ; ) ) and they are having a wonderful giveaway...check out this blog (or not!! more chances for me!!!) i have all my everything's crossed that i win

x

etsy-ing...

with all the toy sales on at the moment, i am all 'plastic'd' out...so have been searching for some 'real' toys- handmade with love and all natural materials..check out some of my finds :)

all courtesy of ETSY..

how cute is this!?!

i FINALLY made one of the fabric baskets from the online tutorial over at Pink Penguin...made entirely from scraps, which were donated (via a blog giveaway) by the lovely Katy over at imagingermonkey (THANK YOU!!)

this is the first time i have made something besides a quilt, and i really liked it...i love the colours! now, it is FAR from perfect...my handles, although exactly the same length, and sewn on the same way, appear different sizes (whats with that!) and i have never boxed corners before, so they are kinda random, but still very easy to do...and it is a little messy in places...it started off great, but then i got hooked and HAD to finish it before i went to bed...so i had arguments with myself, knowing that it was getting WAY TOO LATE to be awake, and that my son would wake up soon and want his mama...so i kept going and got clumsy and scatter brained...but the next one will be a lot better, i think! and it was SO much easier than i imagined... i really did end up making it harder than it was, so i am looking forward to fabric basket number two...



But for now, i love : )

one for the aussies!

Get on over and check out this super cute giveaway!!

Good luck ; )

http://www.handmadekids.com.au/?p=1492&cpage=2#comment-1915

the bonus...

we have had a friend staying with us the last couple of days, and i heard his alarm go off this morning on the other side of my bedroom wall. as i blissfully rolled over to spoon my baby, and have my husband spoon me, i realised that it has been 11 months since i have been woken by the sounds of an alarm! heaven ; ) .....

any good knitting patterns out there?

My mum really wants to knit Kalan some winter woolies, and i am trying to find some funky jumper/ cardigan patterns, maybe some arm warmers, home socks, anything really! my eyes hurt from too much googling, and I cant really find anything!

Do you know of any good sites/ patterns??

Please??

x

the generous and lovely!

i have only been blogging for a couple of months now, but i have really enjoyed it! i have met some great people, have had LOADS of amazing inspiration on a daily basis, and have been blown away from the generous world of bloggers!

I got totally lucky a couple of weeks back with winning imagingermonkey's scrap bag (which i have been putting to good use all morning!), then with the SEWN launch, i was totally spun out...
I won 2 giveaway's!! I won a pin cushion, sewing magazine and an amazing book by author and blogger Rashida Coleman-Hale of iheartlinen! It looks like a beautiful book and I can't wait to see it : )

Then...i was the re-draw winner over at ningiu where i won 3 Kaffe Fasset fat quarters, from the organic dots range! Beautiful ; )

THEN... i wasn't even a winner, but Bron over at wippetgood was way too kind and sent me an amazing parcel of vintage fabrics which arrived today!!! YAY!!!

let me show you!

Now isn't this just amazing! i feel so lucky and blessed!! and i appreciate all the generosity and beauty that everyone has passed this way!!!

LOVE YOU ALL!!!

Happy sewing this weekend beautiful people...stay tuned, because my vintage picnic rug, which has been inspired by all of you, is coming together really well!

xxx

my awesome-ness from i heart linen

my organic dots from ningiu!

the beautiful fabric from Bron at wippetgood!! LOVE LOVE LOVE!!!

x

awesome giveaway

happening over here at Sheree's Alchemy...too generous! but really- you dont want to win... you dont need it, so try not to comment over there- i REALLY wanna win ; )

Wish me luck

x

opshop update!

I got lucky!! i found some new (old) sheets that had come into a local charity run op-shop. they are not exactly what i am looking for, but they are closer than nothing. some of them are quite threadbare in the middle, but i got 2 double sheets, and 2 pillowcases for $2, despite the price tags...bargain ; ) AND she threw in this gorgeous baby blanket, which will be perfect for my next quilt. I am thinking of using old jumpsuits/ onesies and some new fabric for a soft cuddly one of a kind blanket for Kalan. have you done anything similar?
so, between my new vintage finds, the ones i scored last week, and the awesome bag of scraps i won over at i'm a ginger monkey, i am nearly set! plus, not to get my hopes up, but i think there may be a very special surprise package in my letterbox in the next few days! i will let you know when (it) arrives!! fingers crossed : o )

the baby blanket for my next super cuddly project- stay tuned for that one!!

my super cool retro sheets! the lady in the opshop thought i was hilarious- she had no idea what retro meant...i was like 'you know- grandma florals!' we got there in the end!

my inspirations from over at just tutes

this is my next quilt, bases on outgrown jumpsuits and baby blankets. this is from the talented little brooke

wish me luck : )

x

log cabin- and the going is slow ; )

but i am still totally loving it! i know i am supposed to use scraps, but i don't own any of those, so i ordered some more designer fabric sample packs from fabric closet on etsy, and i am off and running (or is that off and sewing!) i have done like 16 or something now, so yeah, about 90 to go!! what the, i will be 103 before i get to snuggle with this beauty...but at least i DO think its a beauty!

what do you think?

I am still trying to work on my friends picnic rug, but i am struggling to find anything at my local op-shop's. trying to find pastel-y floral vintage fabric...sheets, pillow cases, anything really, but no luck...Do you know of any vintage sheet swaps going on lately?

Maybe i should try and organise one? would anyone be keen to join me?

too much reading?

are you like me? are you addicted to books? do you always have at least one on the go? struggling to find something decent to read?

well, i've decided, since i struggle to come up with interesting posts (!) i will let you know what i am reading ATM. I spend SO much of my time with a book, especially now as i am on maternity leave, and spend so much time reading while i try to encourage my son to sleep (it takes a LONG time, trust me!) and since i cant sew one handed in my rocking chair, i read! I always have read a lot, it is a love affair that began as soon as i could read. and i treasure my books, they are a part of who i am. they share a path as to how i got to be me. my partner looked at my bookshelf last night, and said ' why don't you sell them, you could buy so many more with the money'...he doesn't understand!! do you?

So, anyway, my current book is I Am The Messenger, by Markus Zusak. he wrote The Book Thief, have you read it? another great book.

This book is set in Australia (love that) and is about a pretty pathetic guy who stumbles onto a very noble journey. His writing is amazing, he makes his books come alive. With sentences like 'the breeze looked away, almost embarrassed at having watched-and i'm left here alone' and 'i stand in the long grass and hear the river now for the first time. it sounds like it's drinking'. or how about 'Ritchie sits there like an injury'...it is just beautiful to read, and in some parts laugh-out-loud funny! and trust me i did- woke my son up i was laughing so hard!

So if you need a new book to read, let me highly recommend this! hope you enjoy, and please let me know if you do!!

a vintage picnicer!

Well, the sewn launch is over, the blog parties have ended, and i didn't win anything :( And i entered sooooo many hehe. Oh well. I am sure those that won, will love their prizes just as much as I would have, so its all good ; )

So, anyway, moving on....

It was my best friends birthday a few weeks ago- she turned 30 too...we are both old now...but anyway, i am super slack and haven't gotten her anything...i know....even after she spoilt me with the most amazing witchery purse for my birthday...she even gave it to me EARLY which means i am doubly slack!! BUT i intend to make up for it with a lovely handmade pressie. She has had a really tough year, and i really want to make her something special- bright and cheerie and full of love. But since i am so new to sewing, all i know how to do it quilt!! So i thought i might make her a lovely picnic rug. But i am broke! So it needs to be cheap! Now come on, I am not cheap, but my bank balance is, so...i gotta get thrifty (secretly i think this is part of the fun!)
Now my lovely friend loves antique/ vintage/ shabby chic (i hate that phrase, but there i go using it) so i need to find some lovely floraly, spotty, stripy vintage fabrics, preferably in pastely pinks, blues and greens. I would love to make a real hodge-podge-y mixed bag, improv quilt..and this is all i really know how to do anyway...but one that will show of all the beautiful prints i hope to find...somewhere...maybe ebay, maybe my local Salvo's...dunno yet...know of anywhere good?
BUT- i want to make it a little more durable on the back- not just another sheet....does anyone have any experience or suggestions for a fabric to use? i would love to know what you have done or heard of. What works and what doesn't...Please, help me out!?!

Thanks peeps....

mmMMMWWWWAAAAHHHhhhh

missing...

today i am missing Orlando....he is (was) my gorgeous ragdoll kitten...well, not so much a kitten, he was 2, and very much a man : ) But he passed on in a tragic accident (cars and cats don't mix) and i find myself missing him too much today.

I have been considering getting another boy to cuddle, but my allergic husband wont even consider it...so for now its just memories of warm kitty cuddles to snuggle up to today

x

check this out!!!

i am finally making a log cabin quilt!! YAY for me!! HOORAY!! i know, i am a tool, but i am getting a bit sick of doing coin quilts, as that is all i know how to do...but since i asked for your advice on what to do with my little fabric bundles, i went on over to this flickr group, like you suggested and went from there. there are some seriously awesome log cabins out there, i feel a bit intimidated! but anyway...
i then found a really good online tutorial from Aussies Melly and Me. here it is! it is awesome. maybe i could have done it free hand, or just made it up as i go, but from what i have seen this is fool proof, and makes the best looking quilts around. take a look, it is SO worth it if you have never done one before.
and look, here is the proof. i am loving this. i find the repetition so satisfying...it is calming and relaxing, but beware- do too many in one day, and you WILL dream about them lol
sorry bout the quality of my photos, but it is STILL raining outside and i think the sun has forgotten to come back, so my kitchen bench it is...for now!

very generous giveaway

check this out!! wanna win? 40 Katie Jumps Rope fat quarters??? i sure do...

head on over here and enter!

blog giveaway : )

ok, so i have been feeling a bit sorry for myself lately...i am totally hooked on sewing, quilting in particular, but it just seems to be a massive expense....especially when you are not working. i look at fabric stores here in oz, and it just blows my mind how expensive the designer fabrics are...so i look online in the states, and see that it is much cheaper...but then postage is a killer. so to make it more economical, you really have to fill the whole package...which means i am blowing my budget out. so i had a big whinge, a little cry and now i have moved on! i have decided that, especially while i am still learning, i am going to op-shop it for a while. i headed down to a couple of my local ones, and i did manage to find a couple of old sheets. but my fave find were some old pillowcases...they are all linen, which i have never sewn with before, but i wanted to make a bit of a retro, florally picnic rug (yes, i know its winter!) and i thought maybe linen would be a little tougher? so then i thought, well why cant i use tea towells- you know, just the cotton ones...so today i am off to ikea to find some el cheapo's! i guess the whole reason people started quilting was to use up any old bits of fabric, clothes, bed linen, whatever they had...it was born from necessity, not fashion...so i too am heading back old school : )

my thrifty finds- aren't they sweet

then, to top off my thrift extravaganza, i entered the coolest blog giveaway over at imagingermonkey. as she lives in the UK, i could only enter the giveaway for her scrap bag...but i WON!!! YAY FOR ME!!!! WOO HOO!!!! do you know, i am totally in love with the thought of someones old scraps...it may sound scabby, but i think its cool...someone has lovingly picked out these fabrics to make who knows what awesome creations....now its my turn! hopefully some of the creative juices are still running hot through these goodies! How awesome is that bag of goodness!?!?

when i checked through my blog roll look what i saw!! YAY : )

i have my eye on making a fabric basket and maybe a drawstring bag, like these...
you can find tutorials here.

This is an awesome blog- her creations are fantastic and her fabric is to DIE for!

But for now i will have to wait and see what exactly is in the bag!
so, there you go...my lesson: be patient, have faith, and enter ALL blog giveaway's...you never know your luck ; )

Thanks Ginger Monkey x

help me choose a quilt...please!

I need help-desperately! I have been scouring blogs, books and the Internet in general to try and find something to do with my new fabric...I bought a few yards of fabric (far left) and also a few sample packs from Fabriccloset on Etsy. They are 9'x11' and i have about 25 of them to use. I bought them with a play mat in mind, but now i think i want to quilt with them instead....But what to do??? I don't know if they are too small to make a log cabin...i have never tried that before...or maybe the half triangle squares with linen...hhhmmm what do you think? Can you help?