Sleigh Bells Ring...Are You Listening?

This week I received a special parcel in the post from the fabulous Australian Homespun.  It contained their latest "Christmas In July" edition of the magazine.  And the thrill for me was that my quilt was on the cover.  Get out of town!!

 

Of all the quilts I have made, this one is among my most favourites.  It's simple and classic and I love every fabric in it.  This is the quilt that turned me on to red fabric. 

I originally blogged about this quilt here and you can read about it and see it hanging in it's unfinished state from my washing line - a far cry from the lovely styling in Homepun!

The magazine is on sale at newsagents now or you can download a copy through Zinio.  As well as my quilt, there is a lovely embroidery pattern by Aneela Hoey, a gorgeous bag by Monica Poole, a cute softie by Melly and Me and patterns from Natalie Bird and Anni Downs.

Thanks again to Catherine and the team at Homespun for their support. 

Where I Sew, or The Room That Ikea Built

Late last year we moved from our small  house (or snuggy as Scarlett called it) to a larger, less snuggy home.  One of the reasons behind our move, other than the fact that we could no longer move, was for the kids and I to have our own space.  Although it is not quite finished I thought I'd join in with "Where I Sew" month at Pink Chalk Studios and show you where the magic happens.

This post is going to be heavy on the photos and Ikea, if you're reading this, I will accept sponsorship.

This is my sewing area, with me on one side of the table and the kids on the other.  The table is a Vika Curry in birch and the filing cabinet which houses all of the kids' craft stuff is a Hemler.  My chair is an Ingolf and the kids have matching Ingolf junior chairs.

 

The shelves above the table are also from Ikea but I can't remember which ones they are.  The wee canvas of the Jessie Wheeler Wilcox painting was a present from my friend Robbie and the love-heart wreath from another friend, Kellie.

                            

 I love this alphabet poster - it was Cavallini and Co wrapping paper that I glued to a piece of cardboard and whacked in a frame from - you guessed it - Ikea!

 

This large Billy Bookshelf with glass doors houses my stash and all of my notions etc.  I recently changed over from large storage tubs to these smaller 5L containers from Kmart.  I find that the larger the tub, the more inclined I am to just shove everything in haphazardly.  My new system is much more organised (this week anyway!)

 

My Kmart containers seem to hold all I need, and I gussied them up by taping some scrapbooking paper to the inside to create a background for me to label them using a whiteboard marker.

                          

Ikea have also got us sorted when it comes to storing the kids' stuff too.  This Trofast unit stores everything from Barbies to blocks to play dough.  And because everything has its place it's really easy to tidy up.  

 

Another view of the Trofast with the pin board I blogged about here hanging above it.

 

This is the view from my sewing table.  I love me a TV show and I am so lucky to have a generous Mum who gave me the old TV from her longarm studio.  It has an inbuilt DVD player so I can crank out the shows I love while I am pushing endless HSTs through the sewing machine.   Underneath the telly is an Expedit unit housing mainly baby toys so that Ethan can get reach what he wants to play with . 

So there you have it.  I am just waiting on a new blind and to replace the light fitting and to paint the walls (at the moment they are a colour I fondly call 1988 grey -it's depressing)  And in the interest of full disclosure, lest anyone think I live a saintly, organised and tidy life.  This is what our play room looks like a good deal of the time....

 

 Mainly due to these two mess makers.

Although the be fair, on closer inspection I do see a quite a lot of fabric strewn around.

Don't forget to visit Pink Chalk Studios and have a nosy around lots of other creative spaces.

The Binding Tool - review

Last night I tried out my new "The Binding Tool" and I have to say that it is a winner!  Previously, when attaching the binding to my quilts I would struggle when mitring that last join in the binding.  This tool makes it a breeze.

I watched this video from the Missouri Star Quilt Company a couple of times before I went ahead and I have to say that I crossed my fingers and held my breath when I made the final cut in my binding- but it worked out perfectly. Oh, happy day!



I bought my ruler from the Fat Quarter Shop but if you're in Australia you can also buy them online from Punch with Judy. 

I would definitely recommend The Binding Tool - no more struggling for me!

Briar Rose

So, this is what I made with my Strawberry Fields goodness.  It is a quilt for an upcoming workshop and I have named it Briar Rose.  When I was putting it all together I was thinking Briar Patch and then that somehow morphed into Briar Rose, which is the name the good fairies give to Sleeping Beauty in the Disney film - there's a whole lot of Disney getting viewed in this house!

I really liked making this quilt - it came together so beautifully and it didn't hurt that the fabrics are so pretty! 

These are the wee chevrons I made with the leftover HSTs.  They are very small - just over 1" finished.  I was going to turn it into a cushion but I'm not really sure that it is big enough, so I will consider it a while longer.

 

I no longer have the option of just making it bigger because I donated the remaining HSTs to Scarlett and with a few dabs of glue stick she has whipped up the "quilt" you see below.  

I am off to bind another quilt now.  A few weeks ago I bought "The Binding Tool"  when Fat Quarter Shop had it as their product of the month or some such.  I think I'll have to watch the you tube video a couple of times first.  Wish me luck!

Bet your bottom dollar....

This was my weekend.....

Good times!

Strawberry Fields on a Sunday

This weekend I have been busy transforming my Strawberry Fields jelly roll into the quilt in the centre below.  (I have also been playing with pic monkey - can you tell?)  The quilt is for an upcoming workshop that Mum and I are holding in August.

I really don't like to waste fabric, especially when it is as lovely as this line so when I was left with hundreds of little triangles after trimming one of the blocks I decided to turn them into HST's.

 

I thought these wee HSTs would make a lovely cushion or two to go with the quilt.  Which design do you like best?  I am leaning towards the scrappy zig zags and the Conneticut block next to them.  What do you think?

Off to watch Friday night's Escape to the Country which is ready and waiting for me on the DVR (silent prayer that Alistair is hosting.....)

WIP - Strawberry Fields

Two things:  it sometimes takes me a long time to make a decision and I really don't like being told "no".  This darstedly duo of character flaws came together recently when I finally decided that I HAD to have Fig Tree and Co Strawberry Fields fabric for a particular project and,  that because it had been released about a year ago - I couldn't get it.  Glory be to Google.  After an extensive online search I found some, and the Postie delivered it to me on Saturday.  I know, Saturday!  Unheard of - after all, this isn't France - Australian posties don't DO Saturdays.  I'm not really sure what happened there.

Here it is in all its delicious glory.....

I have already cut it up and have started making these.....

While watching Being Erica......really she does have the best hair on TV - hands down.

In a fit of sewing hyper-activity (I blame Diet Coke),  I have also started working on these from a Petite Odile layer cake.....

 

And have been adding to my pile of these (although not as diligently as I had planned)....

And that my friends is all I've got.  As George would say....I'm out baby!  I'm out!