EB DQS 2012

 Just a quick post to show you the little quilt I sent to Rachel for this year's doll quilt swap. Rachel said she liked grey and had a room with sunny yellow walls in which she'd like to hang her quilt, so I went to the quilt shop, rather stumped at what I could do with grey and yellow. She also didn't want anything whimsy, which is the kind of thing I have enjoyed doing in the past so I was really having quilter's block with this one! She liked modern quilts, or traditional with a modern twist. 

With some help from the shop owner, I picked out a pallette I was happy with after much deliberation (and lots of help from the shop owner's husband who managed to save the day after my son, who has ASD, decided to fling a whole jelly roll around the shop with glee - which I would have bought had he not picked such an ugly one - much to my embarrassment). I vowed never to take him into a quilt shop again, although that's a bit tricky considering I work full time so only have weekends to shop, and quilt shops are only open here on Saturday mornings, when hubby has golf and can't mind the kidlets. I had better plan better next time, to allow time for fabric to arrive from overseas (internet shopping is my very best friend!).

Anyway, once I had fabric, I got stuck on the design stage, so I scanned the internet for some paper pieced block ideas - going for the traditional look, with modern facric.  I enjoyed doing the piecing, even though it was time consuming and then went for a mixture of FMQ and straight line quilting.  The light grey border is quiltered in a loopy style to reflect the print, and I have just quilted in the ditch and echo quilted around the rest.  If you look closely enough, you will see the glint of silver thread in the echo stitching around the edge of the star.

Now my little man is turning 7 tomorrow, so I had better get back to madly embroidering some towels for his guests!

So much to blog about

Sorry it has been a little while since I blogged in here but I promise you I have been busy!

Okay, so all I have managed to sew in the past three weeks has been a pair of scratch mits, and two fitted nappies, and the only knitting I have done is still unfinished.

But here's the reason.

Our beautiful little girl Madelyn Anneliese joined our little family on the 19th December 2008. You can read all about it here, and there are also some more photos to be found on that blog for those who want to see. With Madelyn, Christmas and a couple of birthdays, it has been rather hectic here of late but it's about time I blogged some wonderful crafty gifts we received over the past month.

Firstly there was the EB Sewing group Secret Santa swap, where someone mysterious (they just put SS on the card and envelope!) sent me a very generous package with something each for me, Madelyn and Austin. I got a stunning little pin cushion and a cute little needle book (I am always losing needles in my pin cushions so this is perfect for me) as well as a yummy bag of Darrell Lee Christmas chocolates. Maddy got a cute and soft little bird with a bell in it and a hand embroidered bib. Austy was delighted to open his gifts - some biscuit cutters, stickers and Father Christmas stamps which he set to work with straight away!

Then, while in hospital, Madelyn and I had a visit from the talented Emma, who brought two beautiful quilts for Madelyn. The first one was made by the EB Quilters, where each person sent Emma a block or two with cream & burgandy as the theme (to match the nursery) and Emma pieced them all together and quilted them. The result is eye-catching and it has a beautiful richness about it. Madelyn loves it too - the contrast and colour have her staring at it all the time. In hospital I draped it over the head end of her crib when I wanted to have the light on at night, so she didn't get it shining in her eyes. I had the quilt with the blocks facing her for her to look at, then I noticed the sparkles in the beautiful backing fabric that I hadn't seen before. I had admired the pink flowers against the burgandy when Emma gave it to me but loved it even more when I saw the sparkles!

The second quilt is a work of art - Emma's own design, in a perfectly pieced quilt where all the points are crisp and sharp, and it has wonderful texture with free motion quilting on all of the white background. Emma knows my favourite colour is aqua/turquoise and designed the quilt to suit with a gorgeous range of fabrics. The subtle shade of pink is just perfect as it's not too pink at all, just adding a touch of prettiness to the quilt. This is such a special quilt, and pictures just can't do it justice.

While we're on the topic of quilts, here is the monkey quilt I finished for Madelyn while in hospital. I spent the last week or two of my pregnancy putting the last quarter of it together, adding the borders (the two thin white borders are peek-a-boo borders) and quilting it. Then I got it ready to hand stitch the binding down in hospital, while being monitored for induction and then through that first night while we were waiting for labour to start. It doesn't have a name yet as I was waiting for Andrew to buy the new printer he promised ages ago when our inks ran out, and now we have the printer I'm all out of printable fabric for the label. So as soon as I'm brave enough to tackle a quilt shop trip with a 3yr old and 3w old in tow, I will come up with a name and do the label. And yep... the backing's on upside-down... woops. I was very tired in those last few days! Oh well.

And last but not least, I received this little dress for Madelyn from the wonderful Novy, who has more than spoilt us over the past 12m with not one but two aprons for our little boy, and now this pretty little dress for our little girl. I love using dresses on warmer days as they are so easy for nappy changes (and I get to show off the cloth nappies!) as well as being a bit of a novelty after having a boy first. Andrew loves them too I think, and was as impressed by Novy's sewing as I was.

Doll quilt recieved and 3rd birthday gifts

Yesterday morning, before the Christmas pageant Austy and I did our grand opening of the EB Doll Quilt Swap parcel that finally got here unscathed, after a few mishaps with the post and confusion over our address. It was well worth the wait - the photos tell the story!

How cute is this little robot, designed and made by Lily in my favourite colours - pale aqua and rich deep brown? Austy was besotted and so happy that his "baby" now had his own quilt (Benji Bear claimed the one AJ made him last year) that he ran and grabbed him and proceeded to read him stories on his new quilt. Aaaawww...

And today was no less busy. After finishing James' birthday gift at 2am this morning, we woke at 8am to get ready for two birthday parties - Austy's best friend and Emma's gorgeous boy James, and Austy's equally favourite 3 yr old, his cousin Elizabeth both had their big day today. I had decided that I wanted to make James a personalised cushion a few weeks ago, but amidst all the nappy making, curtain making and Masters thesis writing (I submitted my completed draft on Friday which just needs a final tweek after I hear from the faculty advisor), I just didn't get it started until Thursday. All I managed on Thursday night was the embroidery, which was causing me grief as my machine was having a bad day, and catching the bobbin thread in knots in one area so the threads kept breaking. It took 2hrs to do just the embroidery, stop start all the way so it was quite frustrating. Friday was a dedicated curtain making day as I was work and Austy free, so I didn't get to start the actual cushion piecing until Saturday night - and we didn't get Austy to bed until 9pm so it was a late start. I enjoyed the quilting process though - such a nice size to spin through the machine - I love it! Here's the result:

It was cute watching James open it, he just wrapped his arms around it and gave it a cuddle! The frogs go with his bedroom theme, just as Austy's cushion is designed to suit his room theme.

Then it was onto party number 2 where we gifted the birthday girl with this little number, a ruffled skirt I made up as I went along. Unfortunately the rushed photo doesn't show up the fabrics clearly - the top tier is a Michael Miller aqua swirl, then the next is a Michael Miller daisy fabric followed by a Timeless Treasures print in the perfect shade of green to match the daisies that I had left over from a quilt border. The binding and waistband is a Michael Miller chocolate swirl (same as the aqua) and the ties are stitched to elastic, and made from a fabric strip that came wrapped around one of my Z&S Fabrics orders through the year.

Austy tried it on for me during the making process and wouldn't take it off - he loved twirling in it!! Even though at that stage it had no elastic and needed to be held up. I think I might have to make him a skirt for the dress-ups box... although his Dad would be less than amused!!! I was in trouble for taking this photo:

Unfortunately the excitement and sunshine was too much for our boy today as no sooner had we come home and bathed him, he was sick all over the rug... We are hoping it's not gastro, but he actually ate quite healthily today considering he was at two parties, he didn't even eat birthday cake and was much happier eating fairy bread and watermelon over sausages so I don't think it was anything he ate. Hoping a good night's sleep fixes him.

Apron mail

My apron swap parcel is on it's way. I am a few days late but, late is better than never. I hope my partner enjoys the summery citrus flavour! Unfortunately I don't get much chance to see the sunduring the weekdays at the moment so these horrid flash photos will have to do. Hopefully my partner will snap some pics outside in the sunshine for me.