Skirts for Girls

I've been wanting to make the girls some clothes for a long long time. I discovered this easy tutorial.  I purchased some cheap fabric ($5 per metre) on sale from spotlight to test the pattern out.

The larger size skirt was the 'trial and error' one. The next one I made in about 30 minutes. The girls loved them!

Happy Stitching,
Susie

My other project - shhhh, this one is a secret..........

Besides the handquilting on this quilt (which I happy to report is almost finished!), I have been busy creating a calendar for my Mum and mother-in-law for mothers day.

Its pretty safe to say that I don't even know if my Mother-in-Law (MIL) knows I have a blog so she won't see the preview, and I think my own mum has forgotten about it.

I am creating them on the Creative Memories Storybook package (purchased from Wendy here) which is totally amazing (and heaps of fun). I don't know half of it yet but am learning as I go.

sorry - didn't know how to turn the flash off my camera!

I created a calendar for mum and dad last year. They adore it so much they have asked for another and have offered to pay for it - think it will be a nice gift instead.

I am so very grateful for having my mum and MIL around. They are both so wonderful and generous and I only hope they enjoy this little gift from me hanging on the wall.

Happy Stitching, Susie

Generosity Abounds

This blog post is long overdue and I feel terrible it has taken me so long to take these photos. Given today is a bit gloomy we are all stuck indoors but it gave me the perfect opportunity to capture these images and to say 'Thank you'.

Most of us all know how wonderful this blog world is, and some of you may already be aware of the extremely talented Liz over at broderie. A couple of posts ago I mentioned how I adore Liberty fabrics and I have a quilt in mind that I would love to make using them, but haven't quite got a collection going as yet.

But with enormous thanks to Liz and her generosity, now I have.......

Just a couple of my favourites..........

adorable........

here is the full 'collection'...........

 Liz said they were scraps, I don't think so........

 I just love them!!! all of them!!!!

Now the first quilt I have in mind is the 'Mitali' (no picture sorry) quilt, using squares of Liberty fabric and Linen sashings, which can be purchased from Amitie.

And if I have some left, which I should, I have this triangle quilt in mind.......

 havenspie.tumblr.com

I can't wait to start........

I can't thank Liz enough for sending me her scraps. I hope she realises they mean alot to me and look forward to showing her (and perhaps stitching with her) the quilt soon.

Go make yourself a cuppa, sit down and check out her blog broderie, its a visual delight! (oh, and arm yourself with your credit card as its really hard to go past the patterns she sells!).

Thanks again Liz.

Happy Stitching,
Susie

Australasian Quilt Convention (AQC)

Today I was fortunate enough to attend the Australasian Quilt Convention. I was really excited to attend this year's event, particularly due to the Japanese quilt exhibition - 'Cotton Poem' by Kayoko Oguri (and others). I love everything Japanese and today did not disappoint. It started with a traditional Japanese (Green) Tea ceremony. It brought back lovely memories of living in Japan when I was younger.

I took so many photos today that I'll probably have to do a number of blog posts.

Here are some of the stand-out quilts - there were a lot of those! I really admire the  hand quilted/pieced/appliqued quilt. They truly are a work of art.

The Tumbling Jacobean by Anne Pearce

Hand pieced, appliqued and quilted!

The colours are delightful

2031 charms!!

Next was a quilt that really caught my eye titled Surfers Paradise. This quilt was quilted on a domestic machine - I just love the detail of the dolphin in the solid colour quilting!

by Ansa Braytenbach

look at that detailed quilting!

Next was another domestic machine quilted quilt by Deborah Louie. Amazing work Deb!





 I have many more photographs of inspirational quilts. I can't imagine the hours put into these quilts but after all they really are a labour of love.

Happy Stitching, Susie





Everything old is new again

I made this library bag in 2008 when Charlotte started kinder. Her kinder had a lovely library and it was a special time for the girls to go there together where all the 'big kids' were.........After two years of kinder, the bag was no longer required and became the ballet bag to hold precious ballet shoes.

Now as Miss Lily starts her kinder year "a drawstring bag is required unique to your child. One they can identify with". Now I know I could have made another, but the fabric is just so cute. So I took Charlotte's initials off and appliqued Lily's name to it.

This was the first time I had used my (new (yr old)) machine to applique and was fairly pleased with the results. I only have white cotton at home too - so white cotton it was!

I probably should have used a zigzag stitch, instead tried to use a blanket stitch which sometimes ended up looking more like a zigzag anyway (not sure why, tried adjusting tension but didn't really work).

I just love these little prints - I have seen a Liberty fabric almost exactly the same. I know mine was relatively cheaper than Liberty fabric - at $2 a metre. Not sure you can get Liberty fabric at that price.

Now the end of the poor drawstring has almost had it. May have to change that soon. But hey, whats the motto? "reduce, re-use, recycle." or as the song goes "everything old is new again"...

Happy Stitching, Susie

Thinking outside the square (or inside)

Now my husband will tell you I'm not really one to think outside the square. But - my son obviously is. With limited display storage (just tubs of toys around) he obviously wanted to make sure he could see his little bits and pieces.......

Now we can't give him credit for placing all of these in the holes but most of it. With a family of five and on one wage, our wine rack doesn't get used for wine anymore. Any wine in the home comes from a cask.....So..................we wanted to keep the rack (for future wine usage) and placed it in our newly renovated lounge empty. But not for long....

Thomas made an appearance.....

Buzz and Iggle Piggle were also made use of.

Even those pesky puzzle pieces that you can never find when you want them!

So, ta da! New toy storage and didn't cost a thing!

Happy Stitching all
Susie



Finally the 'tis the season SAL quilt is complete!

This quilt has been on my 'to do' list for so long..

Now our renovation is almost complete I have a sewing room/study where I can leave the machine set up instead of waiting till late at night, sewing at the dining table and packing it all up ready for tiny hands to leave alone in the morning.

I used a high loft (cheap) batting from Spotlight (joann's) which I wouldn't recommend for a first time machine quilter!! It was too high. This was the first time I had used my walking foot to 'stitch in the ditch' around a quilt. I thought about attempting some free motion quilting in the border but decided it didn't really need it.

This backing fabric was also purchased from Spotlight a long time ago. I didn't pre-wash it and am now terrified that it will run.......

Its one of the 'puffiest' handmade quilts I've ever seen.

The fabric is 12 days of Christmas by Kate Spain. I purchased it a while back before I found the Stitch a long and thought it would be perfect!

I wasn't sure whether to use a red, green or blue binding but I'm pretty happy with the red. After all - it is a Christmas quilt - all ready for Christmas 2012!

Happy Stitching, Susie