Run, run, as fast as you can.....

Last year I started a new activity at Christmas time that I am hoping will become a bit of a tradition in my family.
Decorating a Gingerbread House.

 Here's this years effort. I can't really claim any credit for the decorating. I only did the baking and general construction. The rest was done by my lil sis inlaw and William. Didn't they do a great job. All William wanted to do was eat Smarties and sprinkle 'snow'!


And speaking of Gingerbread, here's a quick pic of just one of the 20 felt gingerbread men I made for Williams kindy class. I was going to make them stuffed and round and extra cute, but I saw this great idea/tutorial on Plushka's blog. So I sort of followed it. Used my gingerbread man cookie cutter as my template and cut and sewed away! They were a huge hit!

Stars for a baby

I started this quilt probably twelve months ago. I wanted to try making stars. It sat waiting for binding for probably six of those twelve months! Last night I got the urge to finally finish it.

I'm keeping it for our newest addition arriving in March. I fell in love with it again while I was stitching the binding, it has that beautiful organic softness that is perfect for a new baby.

Reindeer ahead!

We had William's kindy party yesterday. A whole year has gone by again. Seemingly in the blink of an eye. We were only just talking about the first day of kindy just last week. Did we remember it? YES! Like it was yesterday!

I made these fun reindeer cupcakes. They went down a treat. 

Cute, easy to make, and Very yummy!

This is the recipe I used. Minus the liqueur and I swapped marshmallows for white choc chip eyes.

Gifts

William chose the little houses from the Scandinavian Stitches book to make as Christmas gifts for his Kindy teachers.

They were quick and easy and fun to make and something different for them (I hope!)

William loves them and I hope his Kindy teachers do too!

This was a great way to use up some of my increasingly fast growing boxes of scraps!

And More

More pyjama pants have been made this week

Penguins found on a trip to Spotlight (he loves penguins)

 

And doggies found a long, long time ago at Textile Traders that I had put into a destash bag, but he found and very sternly told me that I couldn't throw such beautiful material out! Ok. 

Found!

Yesterday I was sifting around in a box of fabric (one of many) and stumbled across a pair of pants I had started a long time ago. Like, two years ago I reckon. 

Poor Samuel is a bit neglected in the pyjama department and the pants looked about his size. Instead of putting them to the side like I quite often do at the moment I went straight to the machine and finished them off. After all, they only needed the legs hemmed and the waist done. 

Ten minutes later.....

Unfortunately he couldn't wear them to bed coz he refused to take them off and ended up in the sandpit later in the afternoon. Water and sand and pj pants don't really mix!!

So Proud

William's kindy class has a mascot. Mr Soft Socks. The kids all get a turn at taking him home and doing something with him. They then have to draw a picture and Mum or Dad has to write a little bit about what they did.
On Wednesday when I picked him up from kindy he was so proudly and importantly holding onto Mr Soft Socks. Mr Soft Socks had chosen him to go home with. I could see he was chuffed.
We had lots of discussions about what we could do with him. The other two kids had taken him in the garden and to the park.
We thought we should do something Mr Soft Socks wouldn't forget. Something really fun.

William decided  to go look for whales.

Alas, there weren't any that day. But Mr Soft Sock had fun looking!

Charming

A fair while ago I purchased some Prince Charming fat quarter packs.  I thought I liked them when I saw them online, but when I got them...I didn't. 

Then the other day I was scrounging the bottom depths of my stash and found the Olive and Pink colourway and decided I should use them. After all, my stash isn't getting any smaller.

Since I've recently become addicted to patchwork, I cut them into 5inch squares, stuck them on the wall, decided to add an extra print from Sarah Jane's Children at play and came up with this.

I didn't quite have enough of that green dot (Michael Miller Ta Dot??) fabric left for the binding, so I added that last little bit of the pink gingham from the Sarah Jane in it. The back is a piece of Belle Butterfly which was perfect with its pinks and greens. 

Needless to say that I love the fabric now and wish I had bought more. Typical isn't it?

This quilt is listed in my Madeit store

UFO - Finished

A fair while ago, might have been last year, I don't exactly remember, I stumbled across this Pinwheels in the Park quilt   on the Sew, Mamma, Sew blog, and loved it. I knew straight away I wanted to make one and I knew I wanted to use Sarah Jane's Children at Play fabrics

I made this  quilt for my niece back in April, with plans of it to be a single bed size, but my sister wanted a small one for everyday. OK. I did that.

I still wanted to go with my original plan, so once I finished nieces, I started this one.

It sat for a long time waiting for me to bind it. I was going to hand stitch it but changed my mind. Perhaps I felt guilty about not doing the hand quilting, that might be why it sat for so long. Anyway, I finished it on Sunday morning, and I love it. (Excuse my bad photography, the sun was too glaringly bright and blinding and you can't really see the blocks fantastically so I took them in the shade.)

My favourite block

The back. I love those children marching. I'm tempted to have a go at the little embroidery patterns Sarah Jane does too.

This quilt measures 137cm x 180cm and is now listed in my Shop

A Scrappy Wonky Stringy Thingy

Hubby told me the other day to make some new cushions. He is sick of the boys taking them into their little cubby. Yep, I can!

I've wanted to try a string quilt for ages but I've hesitated at the paper piecing. Hmmm, seems too hard for me.

Anyway, I decided to start small - four blocks - I can handle that.

I had scraps from this quilt, which were perfect for the boys and seeing as I've been up at 4am every morning this week with a sick Samuel, I've had plenty of time to test my skills.  

  

Turns out it isn't really that hard. In fact, I think the hardest thing was trying to get the paper off the back. I used just normal Reflex paper out of the printer. Maybe next time, I'll use a lesser quality! 

Samuel thought the Scrappy Wonky Stringy Thingy was great.....

...for about 4 seconds, then had a meltdown. 

And then that was the end of our photo shoot.

Collaborating for a Cause

So a couple of Kylie's and me have been working madly on making some items for the Facebook Charity Auction called Collaborate for a Cause.
Our chosen charity is Little Angels Memory Boxes. We are hoping to raise this amazing orgnaisation some much needed funds so they can continue to put together the special memory boxes for families who have suffered a miscarriage or baby born sleeping.
At first I chose this charity as I wanted to help someone I knew - the WA coordinator. But that changed recently when I suffered a miscarriage myself. I received a Memory Bag unexpectedly which was such a surprise but something that I can keep as a precious token of a pregnancy ended early.
Anyway, these are the items we've made and if you are on Facebook, most definitely pop over and have a look at the other amazing packages up for Auction. There are loads and loads of charities being supported.

I made a Single Bed size Ruby Patchwork quilt with matching Ruby Pillowcase

Kylie (1) from Chickadoo Lane made this gorgeous vintage style doll from the pattern that her Grandma used to make her daughters dolls from - CUTE!

She also made this sweet bunting which is sure to brighten any girls room

Some matching hair ties and clips

And Kylie(2) from Wombat and Poss knitted this amazing patchwork Cushion and sweet matching slippers.

WOW! What a Collaboration! All made out of Ruby (or matching) and all super special.

M.I.A

I've been missing for a while from the blogasphere, but I have been busy!

Look at these little pram quilts I've been whipping up for my Madeit Store

One for the boys, a mix of Saffron Craig, DS Quilts fabric from Spotlight, and Cloud 9 Organics 

Some Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille

A little bit of LOVE by Amy Butler

And some Delilah by Tanya Wheelan

Quick, easy and fun to make. And an added bonus, refreshing the quilting creativity slump! I'm now working on the Inside Out Plus Quilt from Cluck Cluck Sew.  Lots of cutting and lots of little bit sewing, but I can't wait for it to be finished. I'm making it for my sister for her new baby due in September. I hope she likes it.

Not too shabby

While I was scrounging around in my stash last week, I came across a fat quarter pack I didn't even remember was there. It was a few of the gorgeous pastel roses prints from Durham Collection Anew.

As soon as I picked them up I knew I wanted to use them right then and there. 

I could picture the quilt before I had started cutting. Do you ever get that?

I matched them with some Kona solids I just happened to have.

 Can you believe they went perfectly together?

I cut 7 1/2 in x 10inch strips from the FQs and then cut them again at 3in, then cut 2 1/2 in strips and sewed them in. Simple yet effective and perfect together!

When I quilted this little beauty I wanted to add some extra sweetness, so I added little hearts into the stippling. I was sure I had seen that done somewhere once. I think they are so darn cute!

 For the backing I found a Shabby print at my local fabric store The Blue Box. It wasn't cheap but it was exactly what I was looking for. 

Can you see that little random heart? There are a few spaced around the quilt too. I had forgotten about those. I just saw it! 

This is by far the most feminine quilt I have made, but I love how it turned out. It measures 128cm x155cm or 50in x 61in. 

It is listed in my Madeit store

Finished Peak Hour

I finished the Peak Hour quilt the other day. 

This one is toddler size. It's quite wide so can tuck under the mattress in the cot. I love this fabric. I started this quilt here

While I was stitching the last little bit of the binding I found a hole. A pinhead size hole. Deflate. The quilt was intended for sale. I darned it.

Took photos. Offered it on my FB page at less than 50% off for 24hrs.

Then gave it to the one little boy who wanted it most in our house (the quiltless Samuel)

He doesn't care about a hole. He loves cars, loves anything he can hide under or lay on.

He loves this quilt and so do I!

Wild Whimsey Ponies

A few weeks ago while scouring Etsy, I stumbled across some gorgeous lime green pony fabric. I just had to have it. It was too original and perfect to leave there. It was designed by the very talented Brenda Salzanos in America
On Sunday I was quietly working on some pinwheels when all of a sudden the pony fabric called to me. No! Shouted is more like it! (ever had that happen?) Straight away I knew what I had to do with it and what to put it with. My Modern Whimsy from Laurie Wisburn. Perfect.

The colours suit perfectly. It was a bit of a mission for me to match my measurements of small blocks with the larger fussy cut ponies, but I got there in the end and it fits together really well. 

Unfortunately I only had one fat quarter of the pony fabric so at the moment the quilt is only small, but I've ordered more and am so excited to say that the quilt is sold before I've even finished it! It will end up being a large lap quilt for a horse mad adult!

Brenda has also designed a pink version of this which I have on order as well. I can't wait for it to arrive!

Sneak at Peak

I'm working in this at the moment. I am loving the newly released Peak Hour from Kellie Wulfsohn. 

I just adore bright colours for boys. Both of mine are car crazy (though what little boy isn't?!) and William has already put in a request for some pyjamas too.
This quilt is cot size and I am also working on a single bed size with the same design. Can't wait to finish them.

Trying to keep up

I've been a bit slack on the blogging front lately. Since I got back from my holiday, I've had a lot of trouble catching up on all the blog reading I missed while I was away! Everyday there are heaps more posts to read! Not only that but I have severely caught the 'Crazy Sewing' germ, so I just can't stop sewing either. My house looks a mess, there's washing everywhere (clean, just needs folding) and the gardens are seriously neglected.

While I was away I finished hand quilting this little pinwheel pretty for my niece. I love how it turned out.

I used Sarah Janes Children at Play, and backed it with this pretty Robert Kaufman floral print.

 (this is my fave block)

Before I left I started a little experiment. I tried a Swoon Block in Bliss Flannel, with Kona Cotton sashing.

It is backed with super soft flannel again and after it went through the washer and drier, it came out so warm and adorable. I love it. This one I donated to a charity auction to raise money for an organisation called Heartfelt. They take special memory photos in hospitals for parents who have lost a baby or has a seriously ill baby.

I hope it raises lots of money! If you like, you can bid on it here.

And now I've just got to get back to my next project - hint - I'm in a bit of a 'Rush'...

Holiday

I'm leaving in 10mins for Kalbarri

Horsey Quilts are Finished

I have finally stitched the last stitch in the last Horsey Quilt today! They are all off to their new home for three young girls to love forever.

I actually started this one all the way back here. I decided it needed to be bigger. Unfortunately in my excitement I packed it into the post box with the others and forgot to do a final measurement. 

I've used a variety of fabrics including Heather Ross, Heather Bailey, Michael Miller as well as a couple of others and bound it with some HopeValley. It's very bright isn't it! It felt great all washed and dried in the dryer. 

 

This one is number 2 horse quilt. I finished this one last week, just hadn't gotten around to blogging it. I used this Pony Club print that I got off Etsy (last year, not sure who, where or what anymore) and aqua solid from Spotlight.

I backed it with this sweet pink tossed horse flannel. Got it off Etsy ages ago.

And here they all are together. All different, all special and all gone to their new girls.

Hope they love them as much as I do!

I'm itching to make more Horsey Quilts now!