More completed projects

Because I have been off air for so long I was really scratching my head trying to remember what I had been working on, then I found an old "to do" list and this "homework" was on it!

Which became this! I had been hanging out waiting for this class, with Heather ran for our group. It is called the Quilters Carry Bag and is a pattern by Heather Ford. For those of you in Adelaide, Heather is a local teacher and runs a class for this pattern. Mind you it took most of the day to make, so I was VERY glad I wasn't trying to tackle it on my own at home - and did I mention that we had to do homework before we came to class! Still it was very worthwhile project as I now have a lovely big bag to safely transport my rulers and board as well as for storing them at home.

I went to our Guilds meeting last week, the first time for the year and I think only my third or fourth visit since I joined about two years ago. The kids and sleep previously prevented me venturing out on Thursday night, but I am so glad I went because I won these!

I had completely forgotten but the Guild give a prize (donated by the shop in attendance) to one person who brings up their work for show and tell. Well I had two quilts with me (Toms I spy and the Kinder raffle I spy quilt) because I was handing them over for valuation, and thought I would put them in show and tell while I was at it. I WAS THE ONLY PERSON in show and tell! So I won the Presidents Encouragement Award, sounds grand doesn't it? Ssssh don't tell anyone that the odds were in my favour! I was very chuffed to win these beautiful scissors plus I have a new scissors holder that is just perfect for them!

The scissors holder on the left came in my gift bag one year at Green Triangle day (an annual quilters get together in South West Victoria and SE South Australia) and I made the one on the right at patchwork camp this year from a pattern someone gave me. I am planning to make a version based on a variation of the two, but think I might keep the new scissors in their special velvet box.

I brought this cut little light at the patchwork shop at Murray Bridge (when I was at patchwork camp), I forget the name of the shop, but it was a terrific set up, with a "$2" type shop at the front, good for finding bargains in and then Aladdin's cave of fabrics and notions down the back. It is the perfect little light for extra shine when quilting, especially in winter as my sewing room faces south. However the long neck makes it a bit top heavy and it didnt stand up very well. I came with a sticky bit so you could attach it to something (your machine?) but I wasnt too keen on that idea. So my very clever Dad turned me a wooden base AND added three dowels for holding cotton reels. We measured it up so that I can put the matching bobbin on top of the reel, when you are swapping colours but know your going back to that combination. AND he was thoughtful enough to make it all out of the wood (a type of sheoak) that we saved for him when we had a tree cut down in our backyard. So I feel very blessed to have such a talented (and kind) Dad, especially as he just whipped it up in a day!

Happy quilting, Sue SA.

Techno phobia (updated) now overcome!

Apologies that I have been missing in action for two months now. I did intend to blog, despite the digital camera dying, but in the end the idea of a photo less post seemed like a waste of time. Yet here I am! So we do have a very nice new digital camera and in fact a new computer, thanks to DH boss (DH works from home) but what we dont have is a techno savy mother patchwork! So I am patiently waiting for DH to show me how the download connection works, not to mention what to do with the software once I get the photos onto the pc. Very frustrating, particulary as he is happily pruning (green bin day on Monday), cleaning out gutters that overflowed when it rained last week and digging trenches for the new/extended watering system. So while I want him to do the outside jobs, there are some inside ones thats need attention also! Three hours later and a bit of mucking around I think I have overcome my technical issues. Golden rule of thumb I will now being living by; READ THE INSTRUCTIONS!

OK so NOW with pictures I am going to try and tell you what I have been doing for the past two months. We celebrated two birthdays, DS1 turned 4 and DS2 turned 2. Turning two = no naps, so I thought that I was going to get less sewing time, however turning 4 = kinder three mornings a week so it works out about even. Kids birthdays = visits from grandparents and organising birthday parties which reduced sewing time a bit, but increased fabric purchases as my mother is a patchworker too. We have also had a lovely trip to Victoria to help my grandmother celebrate her 95th birthday, plus catch up with both sides of the family.

On the sewing front, I have made some bunting (or flags if you prefer) to hang up for birthday decorations. (opps no pictures of these to show!) While I have been keen to make some for awhile it wasnt until I visited Hetties Patch and one of the staff told me that she likes to make bunting as a baby gift, with the child's name on it, that I got motivated. I roughly followed her directions, as I had forgotten half the verbal instructions by the time I got home!

I also finished Tom's Animal I spy quilt (left with green borders) in time for his 2nd birthday. After completing the binding on Tom's quilt, I then received back from the long arm quilter, Vicki Jenkins, the Animal I spy quilt I made as a raffle quilt for DS1's kinder. Vicki did a great job and I was very pleased with it, but after sewing on the binding of Tom's quilt I had decided that I needed to review my binding technique before I tackled the raffle quilt. After some discussions with fellow quilter Heather Ford, I decided to use her prefered method of 1/2" binding, which you cut 3 1/4" wide. This worked really well, as my machine has a 1/2" wide walking foot, so it was easier to sew the binding on accurately and then it felt fuller when I hand sewed it down. I have had both quilts valued by the SA guild this week and so wish that I had the time to fix the binding on Tom's quilt prior, but resolve that I will do it anyway, otherwise it will always bug me. (below: Animal I spy quilt for Kinder raffle)

So with those two quilts completed I pulled a really old UFO out of the cupboard - Greg's pinwheel. Greg is my younger brother and never asked for a quilt, but I found some fabric that looked "like him" (well it had wheat on it and he is a farmer) I am ashamed to admit in but either in 2003 or 2004! I brought the fabric in Geelong at a shop that has now closed down, so that is part of the reason it became a UFO. The Horsham patchwork quilters use to (probably still do) run a monthly sit and sew Sunday session and one of the members, Kay Hoffman showed us how to make the block which is a pinwheel in a pinwheel. Now without a picture I am sure that doesnt mean much, but I think the other name for the block was Waterwheel. Either way I pieced all the blocks on the machine I owned at the time, but forgot to amend the needle position so the seam allowance was more then 1/4". Then when I made the blocks I lay half the wrong way when I was cutting them, so half the pin wheels ran the other way. So I didnt want to make more blocks because a) lack of fabric b)seam allowance was out so they would be different sizes c)I couldnt figure out what to do with the ones I had! Of course the minute I pulled them out of the UFO pile I remembered all this angst, but fellow quilter, friend and angel, Heather Ford helped me to do the math so I could use every last inch of a contrasting colour to sash the blocks, thus it didnt matter which way the wheels turned. And of course I trimmed them all back first, so they were the same size and the end result was great! Even better was the fact that I was able to use the pre cut left overs to make a border, which I can only describe as piano keys (? extended rail fence?) to make the quilt a large lap size. My brother loved the quilt but admitted that he was pleased he didnt know he waited six years to get it! Oh and my other good friend and fellow quilter, Elaine Kennedy quilted it for me, (in a day!) just so that I could hand deliver it on our recent trip to Victoria.

I have also been doing alot of hand work in the afternoons, while soothing my back with a heat bag (well that has been the excuse anyway). I went to patchwork camp in June with a friend and a bunch of other ladies I had never met, in Mannum. I hadnt been to Mannum before but I had a great time and completed heaps of projects, including the final border of Greg's quilt. There was a trading table and I picked up some digger/truck fabric and a calico preprinted Christine Book stitchery. Not only did I start and finish the stitchery in a week, but I also dragged out my box of pre cut strips, and used them to make a one patch border and turn it into a cushion! Ironic that I would start and finish someone elses UFO so quickly!













So that fired me up to pull out another old UFO, a embroidery wall hanging that I think I brought in 2004. I remember buying the pattern at the Horsham patchwork show from Stitch in Time, when she still had the shop in Narracorte - which Rosemary told me was more then five years ago, as she celebrated five years in Adelaide in February this year before closing/going on line. So I have now finished the work on all nine stitcheries, but yet to find some fabric to sash them (in a log cabin style). The shop sample was done in 1930's fabric, which is too pastel for me and at the time I brought some fat 1/8's from Threadbare (quilt shop in Castlemaine) that were reproductions and more my colours (dark, country). However surprise, surprise they dont suit the compled stitcheries so I have gone mad and STARTED A NEW project with those fabrics. I brought some hexagon papers last year at the Adelaide quilt show, so decided they would look good in reproductions, so 100 hexagon's later I am out of papers but have lots of fat 1/8's of fabric left over! Partially this is because my darling mother has brought me more reproduction fat 1/8's at the Melbourne quilt show, which added to the others that I had brought from my friend Ann at Periwinkle Patchwork, Warrnambool!

Then this afternoon I pulled out another UFO, the Bedford Mystry Quilt from 2008. I have the BEST excuse ever for not completing this quilt, as I was very pregnant with DS2 when Lessa ran the class at Colonial Light Gardens - so pregnant that I had Tom two weeks later! What I had forgotten was that I had nearly finished! So all I had to do this afternoon was add one strip to each block and then sew the blocks together, which make it a small lap size. Of course it needs a border (not included in the pack), but at least its now in one large piece! Now I am a fuss pot when it comes to matching fabric, so I did struggle with the concept of using fabrics just on the basis of their colour value. For those of you not from Adelaide, the Bedford Mystry quilt is run every two years (2008 was the first year) and you pay a fee to attend, which includes ALL your fabric, food and ALL the help you need, eg they provide ironing and unpicking ladies! It is a fabulous day out, and all the money goes to a good cause (Bedford provide disability services). However all the fabric is donated, so the lovely volunteers pre cut packs of fabric (you can buy a pack to do on your own if you dont live in Adelaide) so you just sew on the day, but it is a complete mix of colours, themes and tones. And I really struggle with the true concept of "scrap", but I am very happy with the result so far, as the light and darks were sorted very well and you can really see the pattern - I think its called Puss in the Corner.

Anyway I think thats way too much information for a post without any pictures. Hopefully I can fix that soon, in the meantime, Happy quilting! Hope the later addition of photos makes this a more interesting post, Sue.

Vale - Casio digital camera

Here I was feeling very pleased with myself that I had uploaded all the holiday pictures and printed hard copy. And then I realised that all the photos my husband took in China (a week long work trip after our holiday) looked like snow. There were two or three holiday snaps of the boys that were fuzzy, but literally all of DH photos looked like he was there in depths of winter. So looks like we will be going camera shopping and until then it will be picture less blog posts! Given that retail shopping for technology in our house depends on DH input this might take some time. On the upside cameras are alot smaller/lighter and have more pixels then our old model, not to mention cheaper then when we brought the Casio six years ago. I am open to suggestions on what features to get, if anyone is a digital camera expert - we are not very techno focused in our house. Having said that Mr2yrold has worked out how to by pass the child lock on the dishwasher, which is not helping our water saving efforts, as he turns it back on before I can unload it!

However I did work out how to load my photo onto my profile, its only taken me five months, LOL! I cheated and used a photo from our wedding day, which was four and a half years ago, so its a tad out of date. Call me vain, because I did use this photo because I was all professionally tizzed up/looking my best, but mainly because 95% of our photos are now of our children and a further 5% are off my patchwork projects!

Happy quilting, Sue SA.

Family holiday

This is a bag I made for a friends birthday back in February but forgot to include on my list of finished projects. It is my own design and I had a lot of fun making it (and its six prototypes!), this being the last version, as it has a magnetic snap flap to keep it closed (bit hard to see with print). It also has two interal pockets, but didnt think to take a photo of them. I have been on the look out for new fabric to make myself one, but think I am just going to buy some more of this funky print - not my usual colour choice, but it has been growing on me.

Stenhouse Bay jetty, at the bottom end of the Yorke Pennisular (South Australia), where we took a family holiday in late April. Such a beautiful part of Australia.

The boys are so cute when they hold hands!

A friend recently told me that when you have children "the days are long, but the years are short". Well I couldnt agree more! However the kids are not to blame for my lack of posts but my husband is, as he keeps going away and taking his work lap top with him, it is so inconsiderate! I have some nearly finished UFO's to show you soon, just need to sew down bindings and take photos, hopefully before this month disappears. Happy quilting, Sue.

Beautiful Blogger Award

The rules of accepting this award are;

1. Thank the person who gave you this award:

Dear Karen from Sewing Tales, this was a lovely surprise and a beautiful gesture. I apologies for the delay in posting about this award, but this is not a reflection of my lack of appreciation! Your blog inspires me and your advice about blogging has enabled me to become a blogger - you rock!

2. Share 7 things about yourself:

• I am addicted to fabric, my sewing machine and all things quilty.


• I aspire to have my designs published...one day.


• I owe my patchworks skills to the ladies of the Horsham Patchwork Quilters (Vic), who taught me "how to" patchwork and quilt.


• I survived a interstate move to Sydney (and a wedding and baby all within 2 years) because of the Eastwood Quilters, Hunters Hill Quilters, the Quilters Guild of NSW (and in particular the girls from Community Quilts), who provided me with patchwork friendships and hours of quilty fun.


• My ongoing sanity (as a stay at home Mum to 2 preschoolers) is thanks to the friendships and hours of quilty fun with the After Dark Quilters (SA), where I can "switch off", relax with some sewing or seek advice for my quilting problems.


• My blog title came from a friends DH who use to say she was going to "The House of Patchwork" or to see "Mother Patchwork", when she was heading out to stitch with me. At the time I was neither a mother or a wife, but I did own a house with a dedicated sewing room!


• I feel obliged to try and convert non quilters to my world. I have a few successful converts, including my mother, a former Sydney workmate of my DH and some girlfriends. I aim for a quilting sister in law if my brothers ever marry.

3. Pass the award onto five bloggers who you have recently discovered and think are fantastic!
OK I have a small issue with finding 5 new bloggers, given my recent decision to reduce blogging time, because it was impacting on my sewing (and family) time. SO I have just nominated two blogs that I have been following since I discovered blogging;

Keryn of Quilting Twin blog posts the most beautiful pictures of her quilts (including in progress shots which I love) and her customers quilts, is a prolific patchworker, plus owns up to her fabric addiction and is keeping a tally of fabric brought and used - brave lady!'

Leanne from The Stitching Room posts fantastic pictures of ... everything, her scenery shots are inspiring/gorgeous and her stitching is beautiful also!

Both of these blogs are local and include great photography, so promote the fantastic place that I now call home (South Australia) and patchworking - congratulations!

4. Contact the bloggers you have picked and let them know about the award.

Happy quilting, Sue.
PS spell checker doesnt like "quilty" but I am sure that it is a word, even if I just made it up!

What happened to March?

What happened to March? Well it disappeared in a flurry of family visits, work trips, serious sewing and kinder commitments! But at least I have some completed projects to show for it! This is the completed I Spy quilt top that I have been making for my son's kinder as a raffle quilt. I took the top with me to Horsham (Victoria) at Easter and asked Vicki Jenkins to quilt it for me on her NEW long arm quilting machine. So I had to rush off to find some backing fabric before the shops shut and then the next day delayed our departure (such is the patience of my husband) long enough to piece the backing. Vicki taught me to rotary cut and quick piece four patches many moons ago when I was a beginner quilter in Horsham. These skills fired up my enthusiasm, because at the time I was hand piecing my first quilt, a sampler. Although I finished the sampler, it was the knowledge that I could QUICKLY cut fabric and piece it that keep me going! Vicki Jenkin has steadily been building on her skills in quilting (with a domestic machine) and applique (needleturn mainly) and is now a multiple award winning quilter, who not only had a quilt accepted at Houston USA last year, but also received an honorable mention for her work. I look forward to seeing the completed quilt, but guess I am going to have to wait until our next trip, as I am definatly not trusting this to the post!

These are the make up purses I made to sell at my stall at the local kinder's market day. Well I finished five (few half made) and you can now be warned that if your having a birthday, thats what your likely to recieve, as I didnt sell one! Mind you I turned a healthy $3 profit from sale of pre loved clothes and toys so was happy to be rid of some baby items and cover the cost of my stall. Of course it was all for a good cause and it looks like the kinder reached their fund raising goal - all proceeds going towards a bike track.

I have also been making some more nappy wallets - they are great baby gifts and we have a few friends expecting. Jude did ask me what the inside looked like, after I showed you Max's wallet. I have put a nappy disposal bag and Huggies disposable change mat in one pocket so you can see that it is a pocket (made from clear tablecloth plastic) ! The wallet easily fits two nappies one side and disposable bags and a packet of wipes (pkt of 40 wipes or a Huggies travel pack) on the other. The magnetic catch is on a long strap, which I designed that way, so that I could put an extra two nappies in the fold (with two already in pocket) so that I could carry four nappies - two in different sizes for my son's. So now on my to do list is finishing writting up the instructions, so I can sell the pattern.

This is a Millamac pattern "How tall are you?", which is an applique height chart/wall hanging. I have not put the measurements in along the side, waiting to see if my friend wants them or she likes it just as is. As you can see I have attached the binding but not hand sewn it down - yet. I completed a three part machine quilting class with Lorraine Cocker in March and this has certainly helped me build some confidence and skills in free motion quilting. However I must admit that I used the walking foot for the straight lines on border and echo quilting in background. This took only took an afternoon to complete (the quilting) so I was delighted, as it has been a cupboard UFO for many years. I had not included it on my blog list because 12 months ago I gave the top to my friend (after she admired the completed one I made my own children) and told her to pay to have someone long arm quilt it for her. However the recent course fired me up to suggest she hand it back and I would finish what I started!

Happy quilting, Sue.

Finally a finish!

I made this nappy wallet as a commission, which I have never done before. The wallet is my own design and the version the lady saw was the original, which I then updated second time around. The new version had a nice (easy) machine written name label, but she wanted the original name version (with her sons name), fine but do you think I could replicate it again! Anyway I hope she likes it, as she hasnt picked it up yet. I did stress about the whole process, was the colour right, was my stitching perfect enough, will it come unpicked, blah blah blah! In the end I was pleased to be finished, so certain that I wont be making my living by selling patchwork!

Pillows for creche Dolls corner, made using excess four patches.

My favorite quilt, I love four patch and one patch combos. And the soft pink and green is nice, restful.

This blows my mind and gave me a headache when I had to quilt it. That orange is crazy on the eyes and I dont know what possessed me to buy it! Still it was the last bit in the scrap bin and I had run out of the yellow that matched the lime green. I told a lie to someone a few weeks ago, boasting about how I had stepped out of my comfort zone because I had put a orange binding on a quilt- claiming it was my first ever. Liar, liar pants on fire! I found THREE orange bindings in my left over binding box which ironically made the exact correct length for this quilt. I am not sure what to make of that other then I have a very poor memory! That and the fact that it is good to know that keeping left over binding finally came in handy!

This was the quilt for the largest dolls bed, which I started making BEFORE I measured the beds! Hence the funny combo of colours and design. You know the funny thing is that I was just SO pleased to use the last of the awful floral print in the border, I really should have just given it away. Pleased I didnt though as it saved me, as now the quilt is the right size.

Been crazy busy here, sewing my little heart out, but a lack of photos put me off blogging. That and the fact that nothing was quite finished. I made the long weekend my deadline and finally finished the three dolls quilts for the dolls corner at Mr3yo creche, plus sheets, mattress, pillows and pillow cases. I dont think that the pictures show the true colour, the purple/orange/green and pinks are vivid and make my eyes water. However I made everything out of scraps/stash and as I only have boys I didnt have any nice fairy prints, so figured brights would be fine. The nicest thing was after I delivered them (and made up the beds) there were three little girls playing with each dolls bed within ten minutes, so that is the ultimate compliment!

In the last fortnight I have completed two (out of three) nights at a machine quilting course. This has really opened my eyes up to how to free hand quilt, as I was purely a straight line and stitch in the ditch quilter. In fact I called myself a quilter, but I was really a piecer as I prefered making the tops rather then quilting them. Not anymore, which is a good thing as I have several tops that need quilting. This is important to me, as when they are done, I will then feel that I can finally tackle some of the really outstanding UFO's on my list.

In the meantime I have distracted myself trying to make some easy gift's, as our local kinder (Mr3yo started early entry) is having a market and I offered to have a stall. My one past attempt at having a stall was a failure as I didnt sell one thing! So this time I am only going to make things that I like and can use as gifts for friends and family, so if they dont sell it doesnt matter. Still I am fast running out of time, so been stitching every opportunity I can. The up side of this is that I have found some great free patterns on the internet and made some things that previously I have been putting off, in preference for focusing on the UFO list. Well thats my excuse for yet again delaying tackling the UFO list!

Happy quilting, Sue.