Mouthy Stitches 2 Flickr Swap

I have loved being part of the Mouthy Stitches 2 swap over on Flickr!  We all had to make the same simple tote bag but piece/applique/quilt at least one panel to our partner's tastes.  

According to my partner's lovely mosaic, she liked scrappy and 'quilt as you go'.  So this is what I made.

I tried to take an arty photo with my extremely non arty clothes line in the background.

The reverse of the tote.

The pattern is for a reversible tote, so I chose this gorgeous Prince Charming Spotlight drill for the lining.  I've also made my daughter a pair of pj pants out of this print.

I received an email today to say that Ceri (Inspired By Felix) has received her tote and that she loves it!  I am so pleased!  We also made a key ring but I forgot to take a photo of it.

I've received my fabulous tote, and as soon as I get some nice weather I'll take some photos.  I really love it!  So glad I signed up for this wonderful swap.

Blogger's Quilt Festival

Amy's inspiring Blogger's Quilt Festival is happening again!

Great timing for me because my fabulously creative niece Evie, who is 12 years old, and her friend Maya took some really nice photos of my Tangerine and Lime Wonky Cross Quilt.  We were all at the local Art Show last weekend where Maya's mum Tina and I both had booths in the Maker's Market.

They took off with my quilt and got busy.  These two photos are on the stairs leading to the stage.  They show off the wonky cross blocks and the bright colours of the quilt in such a great way.  When I started this quilt it was orange, grey and had a little bit of black in it - the Denyse Schmidt Greenfield Hill fabrics.  These colours looked fine but I thought it was lacking something.  My quilty friends recommended adding either aqua or lime.  I loved both of these suggestions but ultimately decided on lime - probably because I knew I had some nice lime fabrics in my stash!

This picture is my quilt hanging over the handrail of the stairs.  As well as some solids, there's some more Denyse Schmidt (some of her Spotlight/Joanne's patterns), some Aneela Hoey Sherbet Pips puppies, Patty Young's gorgeous bees from her line Flora and Fauna, and crabs from Going Coastal by Emily Herricks, as well as various fabrics from my stash.  I also made a pieced backing using some of the solids, an orange Denyse Schmidt print and the Going Coastal fabric.

This is a close up of a few of the blocks taken by me back home, showing the simple stipple quilting I sewed all over the quilt.

I love wonky cross quilts so much!  This is my third, and I think there's at least one more in my future.

I had to include one of Wombat on the quilt.  He's so cuddly and loves to bask on any quilt he can find.

Details of the quilt are:

Size is 60" x 60"
Quilted by me on my Husqvarna
Best categories are Favourite Quilt Photographer (for Evie and Maya's lovely photos) and Favourite Throw Quilt.

Art Show & Market!

This weekend is the Wimmera Art Show in Horsham.  Opening hours are Friday night from 6 to 10, the official opening event, then Saturday from 10 to 4 and Sunday from 10 to 3.  They have a great little market there too.  I'll be there with my quilts and other crafty creations!

There's going to be some great art on display and a few other stalls offering all sorts of fabulous stuff, including Courtney and her furniture and Pam and her jewellery.

It should be a fun weekend!  If you are in Horsham this weekend, call in to the Town Hall and say hello, I'd love to see you!

Fabric Fusion Quilt

My friend Kaye made this gorgeous FunQuilts pattern.  She used the leaders and enders method and heaps of lovely colourful scraps.  

We took some photos in her pergola on a very sunny day, so the colours here are a bit bright.  This picture shows the a little of the lovely quilting done by another friend, Vicki Jenkin.  Vicki has a long arm business and does a wonderful job.  This pattern was a simple curved zigzag.

Here's Kaye with her quilt!  She used a solid grey for the sashing and a fun stripe for the binding.  The pattern is free and called Fabric Fusion.

Kaye's other great love in life (aside from her three boys and husband!) is Ruby, her pup.  Ruby had just been to the clipper in this pic so looks shorn but she is a real sweetie.  That face is adorable!

Tonight's sewing

I finished quilting my orange, lime and grey crosses quilt tonight.  Feeling very content I popped the quilt on the couch ready to sit down with a drink and take all the pins out of the edge, and sew in the thread ends.  When I returned from getting a drink, look what I found.

Wombat is my lovely rescue cat.  He turned up at a friend's house as a tiny kitten, too young to be away from his mother really.  When my daughter saw him she simply wouldn't put him down, so he came to live with us. He had lots of health problems as a kitten, and still has regular trips to the vet.  He is such a character and has eased some of the upheaval of Indy leaving home and me living on my own.  I love that he follows me around and is always investigating anything new that he finds, including newly made quilts!  Now of course I can't move him as he looks so cosy and adorable.

I guess I'll have to find another project to work on tonight.

Blogger's BOM Catch Up

The final Blogger's BOM block has recently been posted.  I am a fair way behind but managed to make these four blocks a few weeks ago.  

This block I actually made about three months ago but hadn't posted here.  It's not my favourite block, I think I should have used fabrics with more light and dark values (instead of all medium).  It will look good once it's surrounded by the rest of the blocks I hope.  It was designed by Quilt Dad.

I really love this block.  It was provided by Amy at Diary of a Quilter.  I think a whole quilt of these would look sensational.

I like the fussy cut tortoise in the centre of this block but think the whole block may be a bit busy?  The instructions for making this one can be found at Cluck Cluck Sew.

I really like this block too, it's from Mrs Schmenkman Quilts.  That means I've made eight blocks and have five to go.  I've got a couple of markets soon, so won't be able to get back to it for a little while but I'm excited that I am over halfway!  I am looking forward to seeing how it will all go together.

I'm very tempted to join Lori Holt's Row Along, another free quilt along at Bee In My Bonnet.  I adore Lori's quilt designs and her fabrics as well (she is a designer for Riley Blake and her fabrics are so lovely).  I should really finish this quilt along before I start another though, shouldn't I?  I love quilt alongs and find them very hard to resist!   There are so many patterns and ideas that I'd love to make, I'm surprised really that I have time to go to work!  I guess I have to pay for the fabric somehow.

Modern Scrappy Bits Swap

I have been known to sign up to too many swaps and bees, and stressing myself out with deadlines and worrying about what to make for partners.  I swore off swaps for a while, but was pleased to sign up to the Modern Scrappy Bits Swap a few weeks ago over on Flickr.  It was a simple swap, we made our partners a zipper pouch or pincushion and added scraps from our own stash.

This is the pouch I made my partner.  She asked for a pouch that she could store her paper piecing in.  I loved making this fussy cut panel, and then used linen for the background.

I love this measuring tape trim on the reverse.

The pouch all ready to post, filled with some of my scraps.

The scraps I sent - I have to admit it didn't make any dent in my scrap basket!

Here is a link to a pic of the adorable pouch I received from Lee, she called it 'Thar She Blows'.  If you click over to the photo you will see why - it is so lovely and I feel so lucky!  I thought I'd taken a photo myself but I haven't - I will rectify this next time the weather is good for taking photos.  I enjoyed this swap so much, and now I've signed up for another one - Mouthy Stitches 2.  We are all making the same basic reversible tote for our partners, however one side of the tote must be pieced keeping in mind our partner's mosaic and what information we can discover about our partner by stalking them on Flickr.  I can't show you my partner's mosaic as it is a secret swap but you can click the link to see my mosaic, I can't load the photo onto my blog tonight for some reason.  I am so enjoying this simple swap, working out what design to sew for my partner.  I have a few ideas and I'll be doing some sewing soon.