Wordless Weekday

Just For Ria...

...you had an eye for colour and a style that I so admired and knew I could never achieve so when you were selling some quilts, we bought 2 knowing that we had acquired some really special things....

Every quilt was a journey for you and an adventure to the onlooker....


You were so good to my boys, giving each a quilt lie on...

and to learn to crawl on...


You gave me some orphans blocks and scraps which I have put together, but not completed...


I am too sad to do it now.
I shall miss you...

I hope your journey to the next place is kinder to you than the j0urney you have just had. Rest in peace dear Friend.

Filling in the gaps

I picked up my hexagons again as I have not had a chance to get any white fabric and I just can't sit and watch telly without something to stitch. So while my Lilies lie languishing, I am trying to get my rose hexagons to finished top stage. Quite a feat with crutches, but I am sure it must be good physiotherapy to get down and pin hexagon pieces in the gaps :-)



A friend bought a second-hand sofa and was so unhappy with the cushions that I offered to make her some new ones. We bought the fabric together and I made these seven for her. The biggest are approximately 28" square.


After they were made I thought I had better make us some new ones. I have made six and just have 4 to complete, but I am definitely all cushioned out for a while now!!! (Especially as I sewed my own cushions the wrong way up. They are stripy so perhaps there isn't really a right or a wrong way LOL)

I found some photos on the camera....
Here's a snap of the travellers leaving. I just didn't get a chance to get any photos with my quilts this year....



And Nichole and I have done a fun private fabric swap. I received these amazing surprise fabrics...


And these gorgeous spots. I love spots at the moment!



Nichole also included some quilting magazines and some lovely goats milk soap. I have sent her a selection of African fabrics, some magazines and some surprises! Thanks for swapping Nichole!

I was the lucky winner of 2 monthly challenges on one of my online groups and won vouchers for thespiderswebfabricshop. This is what I ordered, plus some black fabric for my African blocks:

I may have gone a bit spot crazy.... :-)

Not much to blog about...

When the little people in your life are not well then that's all that matters. Nothing could ever be more important than just getting you and them over the worst of it. 3 days of raging fever later, I'm tired, emotional and I just want to stop worrying...


...Get well soon little man!

More memories...(and hats too)

... of first bus trips...

Well the next day when DS1 came home, by himself on the bus, DH and I walked up to meet him. (His first time had involved DH driving with the bus to show the driver where we live.) It was a long walk with the crutches, but so worth it to see him get off the bus for my first time and to get a few photos of the event!

The bus driver probably thinks I am nuts LOL.


He raced us back because Grandma was visiting!



Here are the hats I made...
...6 have already found new homes!

Not quite Wordless Wednesday

My Lilies are all stitched together, it went remarkably quickly, but now I just need to get to a quilt shop to buy a few metres of pure white for the setting triangles. Not so easy when I'm still not driving and our LQS is several miles away! But where there's a will...


So I am stitching other stuff likes hats for summer... (picture next time when the sun is shining!)


My Big Boy got the school bus for the first time today!


He likes going on the bus, I guess it's an adventure and it helps us while I can't drive.

Why do the just grow up so darn fast!!!

Archie

My DSIL has a new fur-baby. His name is Archie and he is sooooo cute. He's nice and warm too and quite happy just to snooze next to you while you baste fabric over papers :-)



DSIL has him very colour co-ordinated in her living room too LOL


No, we won't be getting a pet, but it's very tempting!

Wordless Wednesday

New BOM from Carol Doak

Carol Doak has a new BOM!

You will need to join her yahoo group to access the files, but it looks great.

Here is one of the blocks from her previous Block Of the Months which I made in African Amafu fabrics...



I am not sure if I will have time to make the new BOM, but it looks really nice! And if you like Carol Doak's blocks (like I do) you will love it I'm sure!

How many?

Q. How many new projects can you start and never finish?


A. Too many!


Q. How many UFO's can you then dig up and start thinking about again thanks to reading quilting blogs?


A. Only one (this week!)


Q. How many fabric pieces can you get over papers while waiting at the hospital?


Only seven! :-(

But I can starting putting 20 kgs of weight on my leg so hopefully I am slowly on the mend :-)

Wordless Wednesday

In and around the house...

This is the vegie patch the day before we lost a courgette (zuchini) plant to a bird and a brocoli plant to a caterpillar...


Hold thumbs we don't have too many more casualties!

Not only is he being industrious in the garden, but DH also cleared out his closet and gave me a few shirts to 'craft' with. They sat in a pile for a few weeks (I am not as industrious as he is at the moment!).
Eventually, this shirt from our trip to Thailand...

...became these shorts for DS2

This Hawaiian shirt....

... became these slouchy summer trousers for DS1!

The boys love them and they are really quick to make. I think I spend longer hesitating than anything else. Part of it was that I wanted to get 2 pairs of shorts out of each shirt, but there really was no way!

I used to make shorts when I was at school. I know how easy they are, but somehow I couldn't get motivated until I helped out at school with the fashion show, a few weeks back. The parents helped the children make shirts out of recycled materials like old t-shirts etc. I noticed that most kids didn't have anything to wear on the bottom. There were these sample packs of fabrics donated to the school so I cut a pattern from a pair of shorts in the recycling pile. Then with the help of another Mum, who cut while I sewed we made 16 pairs of shorts in under 2 hours! Here are a few...

I have also made a few pairs of shorts out of old t-shirts, but as I don't have an overlocker, they are not as much fun to sew as shorts from shirts :-)

Back to 'real' sewing now LOL

Hearts and stars

Katie and I have met through blogging. I don't know her all that well, but when she had a little bundle of joy I just couldn't help making a little blue quilt using some orphan hearts from when I used to do the Blockbuddy Heart swap (these were made by Rochelle) and some blue star fabric. (I know Katie loves star fabric!)


I stitched in the ditch with Vicky's machine (which I am still gratefully borrowing - Thanks Vicky!!) And then I handquilted some stars in red thread on the plain squares...


I added my label and a Made in Great Britain label...


The quilt arrived this week along with 2 little bags I made for Katie's daughters and a coin purse that Katie 'bought' with fabric :-)

I 'borrowed' this photos off Katie's blog (hope you don't mind Katie!) because you just have to see how gorgeous her children are!!!

The littlest one with one of his big sisters on said quilt:


It has been lovely receiving from so many in the past, but I also enjoy being able to make something for others. Thank you for being part of my blogging world!

(My first) Wordless Wednesday

Slow & Steady wins the race

I am slowly getting all the blocks done for my Marti Mitchell Carolina Lily.

6 blocks are completely finished and 2 just need the stems and leaves sewn down. All the setting flower blocks are almost sewn together, the last 5 just need the white sewn down and their stems attached. Did I mention I found enough white to finish the last 5 small flowers! I was so happy to be so disorganised for once LOL.

Kandy has been helping me work out the fabric requirements and potential layouts in EQ6 (see this post - it's very cool!)

I was so pleased of her help as I changed the block sizes suggested in Marti's pattern.
(Because I have been sewing the blocks by hand I thought it would be more suitable to not make them as big as she suggests for the king size quilt and not as small as she suggests for the wallhanging...)

Here is one of the suggested layouts that I am pretty much going to go with...


I am scared and excited to tackle those vines, but first I have to sew all the blocks together (after I have finished them of course!)


On a commercial note ;-) I've made some more coin purses, but have not had a chance to photograph them properly so that I can list them in my Etsy shop...

Blue ones...

(Blue one on the bottom row in the middle is already sold)
(EDIT: Top left & Bottom right blue purses sold now too)

And some in yellow and orange...



I hope to list them sometime this week...