Plum Cobbler

Finally! Our computer is back. My files are back, and, after a bit more twiddling and tweaking and new software (ouch $$$), my emails are back. Phew. Enough said!

Anyhoo, I can finally show you the 'secret surprise' that's on its way to Margaret. It's a miniature quilt, about 20" x 20" and I'm calling it 'Plum Cobbler'. I am really into purple and white at the moment and I had quite a few lovely purples in my stash calling my name. I love how this little quilt turned out and I hope Margaret likes it too. It looks like it could be quite at home in the monochromatic challenge round of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap, of which Margaret is the swap mama.The border fabric is a lovely, dark, plummy purple from the Jinny Beyer Palette range. Yum.

And here's the label - more of my learner's embroidery!

Made for playing

I whipped up another pair of Candy Pants from Ottobre 1/2008 for Romily. As you can see from the action shots, they're also good for scootering!I also had a go at my very first raglan sleeves - from another Ottobre 1/2008 pattern (#16 Polka Dot Blouse). I've been a bit hesitant to try them, because I didn't know how they worked. Duh! They are so easy! Much easier than setting in cap sleeves, for example! Well, it would have been easier, if I hadn't made a stupid beginner's mistake - I sewed up the front and back panels as sleeves and then wondered why the body looked so narrow and the sleeves so full! I soon realised what I'd done and unsewed the wrong seams (including the finished edges...) and resewed the panels - correctly this time.
I used some giant floral cotton fabric I had in my dressmaking stash and voila. Another great play top for Rom. She likes it a lot - especially when people compliment her on her lovely top!! I was pleased as punch when she said to the Donut King lady: "My mummy made it for me"!
But, that's it for sewing at the moment. Must get this essay done. It's due Monday, but we've all managed to come down with our second cold in as many weeks, so I've asked for and received a two-day extension. I'm feeling lousy, and so are the kids, so I hope it passes soon. I'm really enjoying this course and want to put in my best effort. I hope to get really stuck into it tomorrow. Once it's done I'll reward myself with a spot of sewing before we head south to Victoria for Easter.

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And a big PHEW! Julia, for whom I made the 'Winter Blues' table runner as part of the Four Seasons Monochromatic Challenge Swap, received and loved it! I'm doing my little happy dance, as we've both had our faith in quilting swaps restored :)

Winter Blues

Finally! It's finished. "Winter Blues" is all wrapped up and on its way to the US, as part of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap 5 monochromatic challenge. (Click for larger images - for some reason this image looks fuzzy) My swap recipient chose blue or green, and my preference is blue, so I went for that. I chose to set off the blues with white and am quite happy with the finished result.
Because it's quite a simple design with classic fabric motifs, I chose to do simple cross-hatching quilting...well, it would have been simple, except I only did the cross-hatching in the background, which meant many ends to tie in! It took ages, as per my previous post on the issue. Anyway, I finally got them all sewn in, the binding on and the label stitched to the back. Et voila!
I hope my recipient likes it. It's always disappointing when you go to a lot of effort and it's not appreciated. Let's hope this table runner inspires happy thoughts in the cold of winter! (Measures 24.5" x 14")

And one of my boys. They both like the newspaper...although I'm not sure you're supposed to eat it!

Bushfire stars

Phew. Have nearly finished my FSQS#5 quilt - just tying in the 1000s of ends (so it seems) from the quilting. I needed a break from all that tying in (lesson learned: Don't use Gutterman SULKY if many ends are to be tied in. It frays - BADLY!), so I got out my scrapbag and some white on white fabric and made up five 12.5" maverick stars for the Bushfire Quilt Project. I would have liked to have made more, but I'm just so short of time these days. Studying is definitely eating into my sewing time!
I also bought some utility thread and some variegated Gutterman sulky thread to go with them. Spotlight was having a sale, so that was incentive enough for me!I also bought some cheap quilting cotton on sale while I was there, as well as some queen-size batting (Warm & Natural cotton). Glad I got that on sale, boy was it exxy!Now to get that table runner finished and on its way to the US. That'll clear my way to finally get started on a very special (and much delayed) project for my dear friend Kate in Hobart.

FSQS5 sneak peek

I've been beavering away on the table runner/topper I'm making for the Four Seasons swap. My swap recipient asked for a winter theme and selected blue or green as her preference for colour. I chose blue because I love it. My recipient prefers traditional style quilting in quite muted colours, whereas I prefer fresh and modern in bright colours, so, I designed something that I think we will both like! Here's a sneak peek.
Anyway, it has quite a bit of embroidery (definitely not my strong suit, I've decided seeing my efforts!), which I finally finished last night, after unpicking several letters several times. It's not perfect, but hopefully the slight wonkiness will add to the quilt's charms! The top measures about 15" x 25", so I'm on track for it to be just the right size. That was a real effort, as my table runners are usually quite a bit longer than that!

I was hoping to get it quilted and posted by today, but that didn't happen. Next week it will have to be. We're heading away up the coast for the long weekend and I just know that no sewing will get done there. So now I'm aiming for next Friday to have it all wrapped up.

And here's a pic of my blue-eyed boy. Just because :)

Hot tamale - Four Seasons quilt received!

Thanks must go to Floribunda, who made me a lovely, warm, red, red, red table topper as part of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap #5. I received her parcel late last week and wasn't going to open it until I'd finished mine...a gal needs a reward you know...but Margaret, our fabulous swap mama, convinced me I should open it straight away!

Thanks Floribunda, it's very lovely.

And check out the gorgeous fabric she used for the backing! I fuzzed up the label so surnames, etc. weren't blasted out there into cyberspace.

Mine is making progress. I have finished piecing the top, but need to get some floss in the right colour and do some embroidery before I can sandwich and quilt it. We're heading away this weekend and after that uni is calling, so I'm aiming to have it all finished and posted by Friday.

4SQS5 - sign-ups are open

If you're game, the Four Seasons Quilt Swap is on again...although this time with a twist. Head on over to Margaret's FSQS blog for details.

Four Seasons Quilt Swap summer quilt received

A big thanks to Calico Cat for the darling little quilt she sent me for the final 'summer' round of the Four Seasons Quilt Swap.

It's beautifully pieced and the retro fabrics are really cute. I've never worked with 1930s prints before, so this is a really lovely, fresh and different quilt for me. Check out that tiny piecing! She also sent me a huge piece of the border/backing fabric, which will come in handy for other projects to do with 'the baby'!

Also a huge thank you to Margaret, aka Supermom, for organising this mammoth swap. She's done such a great job over the past year.


PS. All quiet on the baby front!

Strawberries & Cream is done and dusted

(Click to enlarge)

Don't you hate those people who finish their swaps before you've even started yours? Makes you feel guilty doesn't it? Well not any more for this little black duck! I have finished and posted Strawberries and Cream and it's on its way to Europe (ouch to the postage charges!). It was remiss of me not to say how big this quilt is! I managed to confuse a couple of you! It finished up at 19 3/4" square. The QSTs finished up at 1 1/2" - all 81 of them!

I am very happy with it - I ended up going with the diagonal cross-hatching for the quilting, using Gutterman sulky thread. Thanks for the suggestions. Here's a photo of the backing fabric - too cute! It's from the Strawberry Lemonade range by Moda.I love it so much that I used it to applique two onesies and make a bib for a girl in my online mother's group who's just had a baby girl. The bib pattern is from Nested. Of course I changed out the velcro tabs for snaps. Have snap machine, will use it!
I was also very lucky during the week to receive the French quilting magazine I won on Nicolette's blog giveaway recently. The very generous and totally sweet Nicolette also sent a gorgeous onesie for Baby#2 as well as some stickers for Romily from the same artist who did the design on the onesie. Thank you Nicolette!All well here. Had a quiet and relaxing weekend. Took Romily down to the lake again and she and Carl had a great time rambling around the castle playground together.
Then we fed some ravenous ducks and went toadstood hunting. There are lots about at the moment.
It was the most gorgeous day...of course since then the weather has turned and it's been windy, raining and freezing the past couple of days. Winter is here with a vengeance! Good thing we spend most of the time inside with the heater on these days.

We have our final ultrasound scan tomorrow - it will be nice to see the baby again before he comes out in about 6 weeks. And nice to see who's been poking me with his toes!

A strawberry sandwich

(click to enlarge)

I am on fire! Couldn't sleep this morning, so got up with the birds and sandwiched the quilt after getting the borders on last night. Now I just have to work out how to quilt it! All suggestions appreciated :)
Here's a gratuitous picture of Romily: 'Mummy take a photo of me' - so I did!

Sneak peek - FSQS

As Anne pointed out, my strawberries and cream quilt for the Four Seasons swap is good timing - Wimbledon starts tomorrow :) I've made quite a bit of progress and have now completed the centre of the top. Two borders to go on and it'll be ready for sandwiching.

Here's the sketch I made of it before I began - I knew I'd need a 'map' to ensure those QSTs were all facing the right way and that I'd get the colour placement right. It sure came in handy - only one QST was sewn the wrong way - that's good for me! I'm also pretty pleased with my piecing. Most of my points actually match. Not that I get too carried away about these things, but this is the most intricate piecing I've done, so it was nice that it turned out pretty well.(Sorry about the photo quality - it was late when I snapped this pic. I'll get some proper shots when the quilt is finished.)

We have had a reasonable weekend - after discovering during the week that I actually have five weeks at work left, not the four that I thought *groan*. Carl and I took Romily down to the lake yesterday after lunch out at a cafe and she had a great time chasing ducks (and then being followed by them and a couple of swans hoping she had food) and playing on a 'castle' playground. We were both tuckered out after that and had sleeps - mine for two hours and hers for over three! Last night I got cracking on the QSTs and got all 81 of them pieced.

Unfortunately, my big plans for today fell by the wayside as I woke up feeling dreadful. Hot flushes, feeling faint, just revolting. I took it really easy, spent most of the morning horizontal and came good by about 3 o'clock, so got out the sewing machine and joined all the blocks together.

I'm taking a day of leave on Friday, so another short week at work for me this week. I'm hoping to get the borders on and Strawberries & Cream sandwiched by the weekend. With luck, I might get it quilted and out the door early next week. Here's hoping!

I'm keen to get the Hungry Caterpillar quilts started and I've bitten the bullet and ordered a Carol Doaks book on foundation piecing (it comes with a DVD so you can print out the blocks), as well as bought a box of papers that will go through my printer. While browsing a 2nd hand bookshop yesterday (between lunch and the park), I also found this book. What a bargain at $6! So, I am all hot to trot on foundation piecing. Wish me luck!

What I learned about quilting today: While QSTs look great, there's a lot of bulk with all the abutting seams!

Strawberries and cream, pop and fog

Some fab fabric arrived from Quilt Fabric Delights and Hancocks of Paducah during the week, as well as some from my LQS. It's all for the 'summer' quilt I'm making for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap. Here it is all washed and ready to go. The quilt will be called Strawberries & Cream. Yummy!
Also, my slack postie arrived on Wednesday with a whole bunch of mail, including four more FQs from our birthday swap. Well, three FQs and a 30cm strip of divine Amy Butler fabric. Clockwise from top left: Cylie, Helen, Bec and Helen again. Helen you have really spoilt me with an FQ and a 30cm strip! Thanks ladies! Only a few more to come :)
As for pop, here's Romily, who's discovered the joys of popping bubble wrap!
And fog - this is the view we were greeted with this Saturday morning. Hopefully it will be a beautiful day once all that fog burns off!
Have a lovely weekend!

A little giveaway and a finish!

To mark 300 posts on this humble little blog, I am launching my very first giveaway! Leave a comment by Thursday night and Romily will help me draw the winner of a mystery prize :)

We've been busy since I posted last - 10 whole days ago. And I've been tired too. We've also been moving furniture - our computers and all the junk that goes with them from the top floor to the bottom floor, built a new chest of drawers for Rom (well, assembled would be more accurate) and moved the old chest of drawers, which doubles as a baby change table, up from our bottom floor to the top. All this physical work has tired me out! I guess that's allowed at 25 weeks pregnant!
I have also managed to squeeze in a little bit of quilting time, finally finishing 'Spring Breeze' - my little quilt for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap - it'll be on its way to the US tomorrow. I am quite happy with how it turned out - although I am not sure I would have done such a complex quilt (for a beginner) if I'd realised how complex it actually was when I started:

1. First time I've used organza/gauze over the fabric and under the quilting (centre panel)
2. First time I've tried quilt as you go (and it was a bit rough)
3. First time I've tried perspective
4. First time I've tried a pieced border (not perfect, but hey!)
   

Click for a close-up of the effect the organza gives - quite effective! Learnt this trick at the Beth & Trevor Reid workshop I did recently...and the free motion quilting techniques!

Probably too many firsts for a 19 1/2" square quilt! Anyhoo, it's done now and I hope my swap recipient likes it - she asked for 'brights no pastels' and her favourite colours are lime, turquoise and purple. I'm thinking this meets those 'criteria'!

Click for a close-up of the quilting on the reverse side

I also finished off a dress I made for Romily, although my little model was being less than cooperative today, so that photo will have to wait. Meanwhile, you can see from this sequence of photos that Romily has taken to playing dress ups with her own clothes. There are four t-shirts and two pairs of track pants on in these shots. Goodness knows how she gets them on, but she is a determined little minx :)
I had some more wonderful mail during the week. The notecards I ordered from Doodlebug Gail arrived in super-speedy time from Canada - they are gorgeous! And one is on its way to the US! Talk about round-the-world mail :)

And the very, very generous Sarah over at Quilt Fabric Delights sent me a huge satchel of fabric she had left over from making clothes for her gorgeous girls. She refused to take any money for it - she said she'd be satisfied seeing it put to good use. I will make sure that happens!
We've also managed to do a bit of baking, with Romily loving helping me make these muffins. My goodness they are good! Jammed full of peach, coconut, white choc bits and brown choc bits. Yummo!Romily and I are continuing our crazy scrambled eggs tradition on Sunday mornings - experimenting with food colouring to make all different whacky coloured eggs. While they may look revolting (except to mad-keen Dr Seuss fans), they taste exactly the same! We still haven't worked out how to make blue eggs - the yellow in the egg yolk turns all of our combinations green! We tried for purple last week, only to end up with brown...hmmm, I definitely tried NOT to look that particular day :) So if you have any tips on how to make yellow into blue, please leave a comment!
Early yesterday morning (6.30am) we braved the cold and a pea-souper fog - our first for the year - to head down by the lake for the annual Canberra balloon festival. It was very cold and after an hour Rom was asking to go home...the balloons can't take off in fog, so it would have been a very long wait to see them take off. Fortunately we had hot drinks and some yummy muffins with us for breakfast - they helped, but it was still freezing!We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the biennial Queanbeyan Quilters show last weekend. I only took a few photos as I wasn't too impressed with the quilts I saw and my camera battery died anyway! But I'll save those photos for the next post...I think I've rambled on for long enough!