Another Finish

Another xmas gift finished (the last one). This is a table runner for my aunt. I have used one of the stitcheries from Annie Downs A Gardeners Journal Quilt and some scrap fabric from my stash. I just loved stitching this - it was very quick and easy. I am keen now to maybe make this quilt up - mmm stick it on the list lol.

I am now hoping to get some xmas decorations finished in time for xmas but have a very busy few days ahead of me. The kids break up from school next Wednesday so hopefully things will settle down after that.

How is everyone else going with their xmas stitching?

Chat soon

Kylie xxx

Our New Addition

Two weeks ago we brought home a new addition to our family. This little ball of white fluff is called Pixie and she is oh so cute!!!

These photos were taken a couple of days after we brought her home - I can't believe how much she has grown in two weeks. Just after we brought her home she got sick with a virus but after lots of cuddles and a trip to the vets she is now all better and running feral - even climbing the xmas tree lol.

Chat soon

Kylie xxx

Boy Its Hot!!!

Its another stinker here today. It is supposed to get over 40 degrees - yuk!!! I have been lucky enough to finish work early today so I am enjoying some quiet time in the air conditioning until it is time for the kids to get home. I will be taking them to the pool this afternoon to cool off before heading off to touch footy - think I may be doing that in the wrong order.

I have been doing my very best to get some chrissy stitching done. This is what I have achieved

Not sure if this is going to be a table runner or a cushion but it will be a xmas gift for my Aunt.

These are tissue packet covers - you know the soft travel packs that you can buy. I am planning to pop one of these in with everyones present so I will have to make quite a lot - have made 4 so far. They are really quick to make - takes about 10 minutes and uses very little fabric. A great way to use up all those scraps.

This was supposed to be a gift for someone but I am not entirely happy with the way it has turned out so will keep it for myself.

I also finally finished my sweet mums cushion. I am very happy with the way it has turned out - just love Sally Giblin designs - very quick and easy and I only needed to purchase a small amount of fabric for the back - the rest was leftovers from another cushion that I made so I am sticking to my fabric diet - well so far anyway.

Am off now to work on my Aunts gift and to have a cold drink. Hope everyone out there is surviving this hot weather.

Chat soon

Kylie xxxxx

Taking a Me Day

Today I decided to take a Me Day. I had the day off work, the kids were at school, washing done, Mt Ironing Everest up to date, housework fairly under control and hubby asleep because he is on night shift so I decided that today was going to be Me Day.

After pottering around for a while, catching up on blogs, replying to emails and delivering some lamingtons to the MIL it was time to hit the sewing machine. You will see from my previous post that I received the Fat Quarter Shop Mystery BOM for my birthday. I have been busting to start so today was the day.

The photos of the blocks are out of order but here is

Block 2

Block 1

These were sooo easy to put together, the pattern instructions were simple and easy to follow and the fabric is just gorgeous and plenty of it. I have signed up for BOMs before and been disappointed with the fabric provided but not with this one. I have so much fabric left over so far that I can definately making something else with it.

My mothers xmas pressie is also coming along nicely and I hope to have the stitching finished tonight.

Happy Stitching to All

Chat soon

Kylie xxxx

Busy Times

Does anybody else find this time of year just crazy? Since the kids have gone back to school things have been go go go. Term 4 is always busy with lots of after school sporting activities as well as the usual guitar lessons, work, TAFE and housework (YUK). I am finding that there are just not enough hours in the day to fit everything in.

I have been able to get a little stitching in though, but not as much as I would like. Most of it has been done this past weekend.

This is a cushion that I am making for my wonderful Mum for xmas. I have used fabrics from the Portabello Market moda range and the pattern is by Sally Giblin. I recently made another Sally Giblin cushion with this fabric and Mum admired the fabric and they are her favourite colours. I have actually been able to use left over fabrics from the other cushion so I have not broken my 'no fabric/no more new projects (except xmas gifts) until after xmas diet' (now that is another story altogether). The saying is 'Mother you will always hold a special place in my heart'.

A couple of weeks ago I had a birthday and turned ????. My Mum and Dad gave me a subscription to the Fat Quarter Shop 2009 Mystery BOM and also purchased the backing fabric and finishing kit - now aren't I a lucky girl. The first photo is of backing fabric and finishing kit and the photo below that are blocks 1 - 5 (I am a bit behind as it started back in May). The fabrics are Glace by Moda and are just gorgeous. I have been busting to get started but as yet have not had a chance. I have decided not to count this in my no new projects diet as it was a gift and I just can't wait until after xmas to start it - can you blame me.

This is a table runner that I have made as a xmas gift for my SIL. I have used the free Gail Pan pattern from her blog and I have to say that I just loved stitching this design. It was very easy and quick and the little bird is oh so cute. I have used a red and cream spot from the Crazy 8 xmas range which I think looks fantastic. My SIL loves red and has lots of red accessories in her kitchen and dining room.

Now you might be wondering about the 'no fabric/no more new projects (except xmas gifts) until after xmas diet'. I have decided to join Bec's fabric diet and add an extra bit to it with the no more projects. Since starting my blog and reading everyone elses wonderful blogs my fabric and project addiction has reached a whole new level and has become totally out of control. I have so many projects on the go and have purchased so much fabric that I have become overwhelmed by it all and was almost too frightened to go into the sewing nook. I lost my mojo and did not know where to start. After some lovely advice and emails from Bec I have pledged not to buy any more fabric or start any new projects until after xmas - boring I know but it must be done to save my sanity (and the bank balance lol).

Does anyone else feel like this at times or does it not bother you? I would love to hear your comments.

Well must be going - lots to do, dinner to cook, homework to do etc etc etc.

Chat Soon

Kylie xxxx

Happy Halloween

Just wanted to drop a quick post about a fantastic giveaway over here. Brenda is giving away 27 fat quarters of the most gorgeous prim fabric - that's right you heard me 27 FAT QUARTERS. So drop on over and say hi to Brenda and enter this fab giveaway while you are there.

Chat soon

Kylie xxxx

Sydney

Last weekend we travelled to Sydney for three nights. Our DS has been to Sydney a few times but only to the cricket and our DD has not been at all so it was quite an experience for them and very hectic.

We went to the Sydney Aquarium. This was DD favourite and she loved all the sharks and stingrays.

Went to the top of Centerpoint Tower. The weather was not great but we were still able to see a fair bit.

Went to Taronga Zoo. The seal show was just great - the seals are just sooo cute.

And we went to Luna Park. This was DS favourite. We did not go on all the rides as some of the faster rides are a bit out of our comfort zones but we did do the ferris wheel (what an amazing view), the tango train (my arms are still sore from holding on soooo tight), Coney Island and DD went on some of the small rides as she was not big enough for the others.
The kids loved sideshow alley and the atmosphere was fantastic.

Eating fairy floss on a stick at Luna Park.

We did all of this in two days and we very exhausted when we finally got home. We did have a great weekend but I have to say that I have had about my five yearly dose of Sydney. I really am just a country girl at heart. When we got home the kids could not believe how quiet it was - aah give me the country any day.

Chat soon - Kylie xxx

It's Been a While

It has been a while since my last post. These school holidays have been very busy and I have not gotten as much sewing done as I would have liked. We have been to Sydney for a mad few days of sight seeing (see my next post), have been busy with the kids, cleaning house and working.

This is what I have managed to get done

I have sewn together the first block for my A Christmas Story quilt. I am doing blanket stitch for the applique and have finished the partridge in a pear tree block and have just started the singing angels.

Have stitched the teacups for a teacup bag which Caron, Raelee and I are making as a group project.

This fabric I ordered from the Fat Quarter Shop when they were having their sale. It is from the Crazy 8 range by moda.

On our way home from Sydney my wonderful husband made a slight detour to the Craft Depot at Pennant Hills. What a fantastic shop and what a huge range of fabric. I was quite tired after our busy couple of days and found it very hard to get my head around what fabric I needed for what but I did see these and loved them.

Hopefully when the kids go back to school things will slow down a bit (ha in my dreams!!) but I will keep on plodding along.

Chat soon

Kyliexxxx

What a Great Day

Yesterday my two friends Caron and Raelee and I headed up to Nundle for the Cottage on the Hill Airing of the Quilts. It was such a great sight to see all the quilts hanging along a fence along the drive way up to the shop. All cars had to park at the front gate and then we walked up the long drive admiring all the fantastic quilts on display. Unfortunately in my rush to get out the door I forgot to take my camera but the quilts were amazing and very inspiring. After lacking motivation for the last couple of weeks I am now once again full of inspiration. After looking at all the quilts were had a lovely morning tea and then headed into the shop. I have been after Anni Downs A Christmas Story for a while now so I brought the book and some fat quarters to start the quilt. When it was finally time to leave I could not believe that we had been there for 3 hours - the time went very quickly. We then headed back into Nundle and had a delicious lunch at the Goldmine and then had a look around Odgers and McClellands. Now that is a fantastic shop and I did some christmas shopping for my SIN. We had such a great day and a very big thank you for Kerry for making us feel so welcome and for all your help with our purchases.

I am now going to have some lunch and then head to my sewing room to make a start on my Christmas Quilt.

Hope you are all having a great weekend and are getting lots of sewing done.

Who is watching the grandfinal this afternoon???

Chat soon

Kyliexxxx

I have been slack .....

Well I have been very slack over the last week and have not done any stitching so I have nothing to show in that department. After a full on weekend of quilting a couple of weeks ago I think I was ready for a little break. So what have I been doing instead you ask? Well I have been reading this ....

..... and have enjoyed every moment of it. This book contains books 3 - 6 in the series. I recently finished the first three which were fantastic and could not wait to get into these ones. Now that I have finished these I am very keen to purchase some more. I am going to hold off though because when I read a book nothing else seems to get done. So I think it is time to put down the books and pick up the stitching again. I am feeling very inspired to complete a quilt using some traditional quilt blocks like in these books. Does anyone have any suggestions? I am very tempted to purchase one of the Elm Creek Quilt Books which has quilting patterns in it, especially the Sylvias Bridal Quilt book. Does anyone own any of these books???

I have a very busy week ahead - TAFE exams, school concerts, work, my sons school cricket match and all the other lovely chores that us wonderful mothers have to attend to. I probably will not get a chance to post again until the school holidays start.

I hope everyone has a great week.

Chat soon

Kylie xxx

A Finish ... Some Progress ... and maybe a start

Just a quick post to show what I have been up to. I have finally finished my Project Caddy by Rosalie Quinlan and I am really loving it. The big base allows me to see everything that I have in there and I am not loosing things down the bottom like in my other sewing bag.

Have made a start on the second block of my Nice People Nice Things Quilt. I am doing this a little different to the original as I want to have the sayings and the pictures on the front of the quilt and there were some that didn't really appeal to me so I have picked out my favourites. I purchased a Jelly Roll and a Honey Bun in the moda range of fabrics 'Object of Desire' and just bordering the stitcheries with these. I purchased the pattern whilst on our North QLD holiday last year and thought that Object of Desire was nice and bright and tropical. I always like to buy some fabric and/or pattern when we go on holiays as a momentum of what a great time we had. Sometimes though it does take me a while to get around to making them.

This was one of those times when I went to the local quilting shop for some thread and came out with fabric (sometimes I even come out with an entire quilt so I try not to make a habit of going in there). Am having some friends around tonight for some stitching so I might just have to make a start on this one.

Hope you have all had a great week.

Cheers

Kylie xxxx

What a Great Weekend .... and a finish

I do apologise that it has taken me a few days to do this post. It took me two days to get everything back in order after I was away. My darling dh took the kids and the dogs camping for the weekend so of course I had a mountain of washing and ironing to do and could someone please tell me how the house can possibly become messy when no one is home!!!!

Well here I am with my quilt - not quite finished as I decided that it really needed borders (the pattern does to include borders) so I have been in contact today with the lovely Kerry and have ordered some border fabric so the finished product will be a little while coming.

Also check out this gorgeous quilt made by my 'drinking partner' Yvonne. I just love it love it love it. It is made from the Jitterbug range of fabric. It is so bright and cheery and I am soooo jealous lol.

A great weekend was had by all. We ate way too much, drank too much, laughed until our tummies ached and sewed and sewed and sewed. It was very sad when the weekend came to an end.

I also have a finish. I started this quilt last September on our quilting weekend and thought I had better try and get it finished for show and tell. I quilted it myself and had it all done for the weekend except for the binding handstitched down which I have done over the last couple of nights in front of the telly. It is made from the moda range of fabric "A Little Romance" and it looks very at home on dds bed.

Well dinner is almost ready and the troops are starving so until next time.

Cheers

Kylie xxxxx

Just One More Sleep ....

Tomorrow afternoon at 5.00pm I will be picking up my friend Caron and heading off on a quilting weekend with 18 other women. We won't need to go too far though because our destination is only 10 minutes from town (just close enough to make a dash for more supplies - sewing and otherwise). Twice a year our group head out to Middlebrook Station for a weekend of sewing, eating, drinking and lots of laughter (and not necessarily in that order). I have some fabric which I purchased from Kerry in blues, browns and pinks (a lot of the fabric is the same as in chookyblues champagne quilt). I will be using a different pattern which is very simple so it should come together very quickly. I am also taking out some stitching and other WIPS to have a play with as well as some yummy slices and alcoholic beverages. I will be back after the weekend with some pics of what I have (or have not) managed to get done.

Until then
Cheers
Kylie xxxx

But Wait there's more .....

Boy I think I've worked it out!!!

Here is a full photo shot of the quilt at the top of my blog. It is only the quilt top which is waiting patiently on my quilt stand to be quilted and I also do not have any backing at this stage. I made this quilt entirely from my stash (well except for buying a couple more cream background fabrics) and of course now I don't have anything big enough in my stash to back it. I think another trip to Nundle might be in order for this one. Kerry always has a good selection of country fabrics to choose from.

This quilt top is for my darling boy for his bed. It is made from a moda range of fabric called Trail Adventures which is a great boy fabric with lots of deer and bush designs on it. I have made a quilt for my dh out of the same fabric but a different design which he uses in his swag - I will post a photo of that quilt another time. Of course this another top waiting to be quilted and once again I need to buy backing fabric.

This is my Hemming House quilt. I bought these charm packs when I was on holidays at South West Rocks at the beginning of the year. If there is a patchwork shop handy when we go on holidays I always like to buy fabric to make a quilt as a reminder of what a great time we had. I just love this range of fabrics. I just made the design up myself. The inner green border fabric was given to me by my girlfriend from her scraps and the other border was actually bought to make an apron for my mother-in-law (she got a quilt instead). This is another quilt waiting patiently to be quilted - I seem to have a lot of those don't I.

Well it is very late and my brain is now fried from working out all this blog stuff so I am off to bed. Sleep tight everyone and happy dreams.

Kylie xxxx

More Photos

Well I think I have finally worked out this whole photo thing.

This cushion was given to me as a kit by my gorgeous mum for my birthday last year. It is a Sally Giblin Design which I just love.

Oops now I can't work out how to get more photos onto this post. I will work this out so please be patient.

Back soon

Kylie

Hello Blogland

After lots of encouragement from Bec I have finally started my own blog. Thank you Bec for all your lovely emails.






A bit about myself - I have been quilting for about seven years now. I started when my babygirl was only one year old. I made my first major quilt on a quilting weekend at Nundle with Kerry and have not looked back. Since then I have made stacks of quilts, wallhangings, cushions and bags. I have named this blog after my little business that I ran a few years ago where I designed and sold small patchwork pieces, mainly cushions and wallhangings, through ebay, markets and also to some shops wholesale. I did give this away after a while as it became too much as I also worked part-time and with two small kids it really began to take over my life and left little time to sew for myself. I am really really good at starting projects but sometimes not all that great at finishing. I have been reading a lot of blogs and have found that there are a lot of you just like me out there and you know what, I don't feel guilty anymore - bring on more projects I say lol.







Why did I decide to start my own blog? Well I have been reading lots and lots of fabulous blogs over the last few months and have been really inspired by you all out there and have loved looking at all your wonderful projects, getting some fantastic ideas and I decided that maybe if I have got so much out of your blogs then maybe someone might just get something out of mine. So I have decided to start this little blog to share with you all what I am up to and also to keep me inspired and keep me stitching along. I am also looking forward to becoming involved in some of the fabulous swaps that are happening at the moment and simply sharing my craft with likeminded people.

The photo at the header of this blog is a quilt top that I have finally finished by Anni Downs which was published in a Homespun Magazine about two years ago and that is how long it has taken me to get it finished. When I have finally worked out how to upload photos properly I will show you some more things that I have made.

Until then

Cheers
Kylie