Blue Mountain Daisy

Halfway there...

2012-02-19T09:46:00.001+11:00

Remember my Matilda quilt... the one that was bigger than my design wall....

Well, I went to see a sneak peak of it being quilted!! Check this out...

That sure is a big frame. It makes my 96 inch top look small.

I'm so lucky to have found Tanya Croft, a local long arm quilter. When I say local I mean she's only 5 minutes from me. I used to send my quilts to someone I never met. We'd talk over the phone but that was it. With Tanya when I took my first quilt to her she showed me lots of patterns and from that we chose a pattern. I also learnt we have similar ideas about what suits what so now I leave the quilting decisions to her. And boy oh boy, Tanya has out done herself this time with a beautiful floral curly whirly pattern that looks as though it was designed just for this quilt!

One thing that surprised me about seeing the my top on the frame was how tightly it gets wound on. I mean soooo tightly that it made me cross my fingers that my stitches hold. :)
It wont be too long before I get my quilt back and I'll take lots of glamour shots to share with you and I'm sure I'll be taking lots of the gorgeous quilting!

And just in case you didn't know, this quilt features fabrics called Matilda and Nuala by Sis Boom. If you like what you see then you should see Jennifer Paganelli's latest range Crazy Love! If you want a chance to win a fat quarter set race over to the Sis Boom blog and leave a comment. There's two packs to be won- one for you and one for me :) ... fingers crossed!

Happy Valentines Day!

2012-02-14T06:00:00.002+11:00

“How much do I love you? Count the stars in the sky. Measure the waters of the oceans with a teaspoon. Number the grains of sand on the sea shore. Impossible, you say. Yes and it is just as impossible for me to say how much I love you. My love for you is higher than the heavens, deeper than Hades, and broader than the earth. It has no limits, no bounds. Everything must have an ending except my love for you.”

Philip Glass, from Einstein on The Beach

Thanks to the lovely Mary of Molly Flanders for her tutorial for making fabulous scrappy letters.

And a very Happy Valentines day to you all!!

UnRuly Star

2012-02-08T06:50:00.000+11:00

A few weeks ago I had Tonya Ricucci's Liberated Amish challenge in the back of my mind as I cleaned out my scrap baskets. I made a pile of what I considered to be Amish colours, well.. the brighter Amish colours, I don't have many sombre darks in my stash. :)

I found this picture of a quilt and said " Oh my stars!!! I've found my inspiration!!".

And I liberated, wonkied, improvised and sewed my scraps together...

I made big stars and little stars...
And this is where I'm at now...
It's pretty busy for an Amish quilt, so I might have to ponder more about the Amish challenge and see if I can come up with another quilt. But as scrappy liberated star quilts go I'm really happy with it.

At the moment it's 50 x 60 inches. I'm not sure whether I'll add borders or just leave it as is. I don't want to go too much wider because I've got a wall space for it. Maybe a border along one side and the bottom? I did wonder about piecing the year along the bottom or the words "Happy Star".

Check out the wild and unruly fun over at UnRuly Quilting blog. Lots of clever quilters getting liberated and wonky and quite Unruly!! Or feel free to put aside your ruler and join in the fun!!

Buttons from Melody

2012-02-05T08:27:00.001+11:00

Back in September Melody from House on the Side of the Hill had a blogiversary giveaway. The grand prize would be a handmade gift every month for a year!! It didn't really occur to me that I might win, I left a comment because I'd been following Melody's blog since the early days of her blog. A few days later I checked in on her blog and guess who'd won, oh yes I had my lucky socks on that day for sure!!

Each month I receive the most wonderful presents that amaze me with their creativity and thoughtfulness. Just wait till you see what Melody has made me for my January present... but before I unveil it I thought I'd review what I've already been sent.

It began with September's gift featuring some fabulous fussy cut hexagon coasters..

And some very handy picnic wine glasses. There's always chocolate ladybugs in my parcels too. mmm sweeet!

Melody and I share a fondness for Donkeys so for October she stitched the prettiest donkey tea towel for me. I use it as my sewing machine cover. She also sent a teeny weeny tiny donkey. What a little cutie!!!
November's present was an apron featuring this fun hexagon flower. That's a piece of pie smiling in the centre - A happy pie!

December's treats had a theme of pins and needles... with a chirpy duck needle holder...
and what has become my very favourite pincushion. This is the pride of my sewing table. And doesn't it photograph well, a real pin-up girl... hee hee... I just had to stick that joke in there.. hee hee... okay back to the point.. giggle...
And so we come to January... I saw this on Melody's blog and crossed my fingers and toes that it might be for me... I must have had my lucky socks on again because it Was for me!!

Melody's Banksy Balloon Girl!!
The fine outline is the made with the most perfect hand stitches I've ever seen, and the collection of buttons are so wonderful. I love it's modern simplicity and the idea it conveys. When I worked in flower shops that had helium balloons, I would sometime wonder how many it would take to lift someone off the ground. Now I know it takes eight magic button balloons.

It was Melody's birthday last Friday (3rd Feb) so a super big "Happy Birthday to you, Melody!!!". I hope you had a smiley birthday cake and some happy balloons!!

Not Quite Resisting Temptation

2012-01-26T20:01:00.001+11:00

I'm really trying to get a few WIP's finished without being distracted but there's 2 quilt alongs going on at the moment that I'm finding hard to resist. One is the Building Houses from Scraps where the participants make a little house block from scraps every day for a year!

The other project I'm seeing pop up on everyone's blog is the Swoon along, hosted by Katy of I'm a Ginger Monkey. The super 24 inch pieced block looks so effective in any colour combo or fabric style so it's not surprising that the The Swoon Along Flickr group has over 650 members!!!

I was blog hopping a couple of days ago checking out house blocks and seeing lots of Swoon blocks and all of a sudden I had a light bulb moment - How about I combine the two!?!

Houses + Swoon =

It'll make a sweet doll quilt and Gbf has already asked if this one can hang on our wall. I guess he's used to me sending my doll quilts away. As for a name I'm thinking Little Houses on Swoon Street or Sunny Day in Swoon Town.

There's another quilt challenge I couldn't resist - Liberated Amish 2012. This one is hosted by Tonia Ricucci of Lazy Gal Quilting. We take inspiration from Amish quilts and make something wonky, playful, strictly no pointy points!! Oh yeah - this one's going to be fun!!

Bargains, Bicycles and Fortune Cookies

2012-01-23T17:50:00.001+11:00

but not a lot of sewing...

On Saturday I was out and about with Gbf, just strolling around our neighbourhood shops. We popped into the op shop/thrift store to have a poke around and look what we found...
A dinner set of very collectible Johnsons of Australia ceramics. The 5 dinner plates and 6 side plates have a variety different flower prints, 4 cups with saucers and 6 bowls. Would you believe me if I told you the price on all of these as a set was $8!??! But then what if I told you there was a half price sale on bric a brac. Yes, this whole set of fabulous tableware was only $4!!!! In fact I'd call it a Super bargain!!! Don't they look great with my fabulous tablecloth that Gbf's parents gave me for my birthday last year.

Here's a photo for Suz of Patchwork and Play. She posted some great bicycle photos taken at the Tour Downunder, and I was telling her about a holiday in India I had 5 years ago where I did a bit of bike riding. This photo of me was taken around Hampi in Southern India.

Here's a photo from the same trip that always makes me laugh! It was taken on New Years Day in 2007. When I'm in India I like to wear a Salwar Kameez. They are so comfortable to travel in and as a western girl I received a lot less attention dressed as a local, especially in smaller towns.

This is a close up of my favourite outfit. Those flowers are block printed over the entire top and the purple strip at the bottom are the matching pants, also hand printed. What an electric combo!! I always got lovely compliments when I wore this.
From India to China.... It just so happens it's Chinese New Year today! Kung Hei Fat Choi!!! Happy New Year!!! 2012 is the year of the Dragon. Usually I'd be able to go over to my magic fabric cupboard and pull out an appropriate fabric but I don't have a single fabric with dragons! I do however have fortune cookie fabric.

One of the little fortunes say " The best is yet to come". That sounds good to me. I wish you all a very happy Year of the Dragon and lots of wonderful things to come!!

and there will be more sewing in the next post... :)

L is for...

2012-01-17T21:17:00.001+11:00

Just for a moment imagine me doing a cheer leader dance... "Give me an L!!"

"Give me an O!!"

"Give me a Veeee""

" And give me an Eeeeee!!"

"What do we get? We get - LOVE!!!" Rar Raa RAA

I finished The Love Quilt top. I've enjoyed using the Essex Linen/Cotton blend in natural for the background. It's such a great neutral colour with wonderful texture.

I couldn't leave it unpieced though, I felt it needed a few highlights.

Just a few pieces of lighter fabric here and there. They almost look like pieces of paper floating or falling.
I've made the top about 95 x 85 inches. I would love to hand quilt it in colourful perle cotton but I've accepted that I just don't have time. I'll take it to my longarm quilter and she'll make it extra special with her wonderful quilting. The backing will be this colourful Fruitti Tutti quilt I posted for New Years. I figure that way it can be a two sided quilt. A perfect wedding gift for some lovely friends of mine.

I hope you've been doing some lovely sewing lately..

From Paper Clips to Safety Pins

2012-01-08T20:53:00.000+11:00

Don't you just love paper clips!! They're such a simple design and yet so handy.

I use them to hold my fabric in place when I'm tacking my hexagons, otherwise I sometimes end up with crooked seams, because I'm busy day dreaming or chatting away. It's especially handy for lining up fussy cut hexis. I learnt this tip from Melody on The House of The Side Of The Hill Blog. Her fussy hexagon flowers are amazing!

I know some of you'll will be thinking why dosen't she use a glue pen? Well, call me old fashioned but I enjoy basting hexis. It dosen't take long and it's satisfying to see a little pile that you've just sewn.
Sometimes I play little games with the paper clips while I sew. I usually just mix up all the colours without thinking. But other times I go for a more coordinated look.
My hexis are more a side project, great for filling in time, 10 minutes here, 10 minutes there, after dinner when I'm chatting to Gbf, or a quiet afternoon listening to quilty podcasts. All those times have added up over the past few months and the quilt idea in my head is starting to appear.
I haven't sewn down all of the the hexi rings yet. I keep swapping them around to see what combinations I like the best. They'll each have 2 rings, it'll look more interesting that way, more depth and colour play.
I've raided my Sis Boom collection for these. I'm pretty sure I've included a bit of fabric from 11 of Jennifer Paganelli's beautiful fabric ranges. It's only missing her latest - Girl's World Vibe and there'll be Crazy Love coming out in March but I'm sure some of those fabrics will find a place in this quilt.
It's wonderful when names for quilts come to you as you sew. So far I've come up with Sis Boom Blooms or Jennifer's Garden, but we'll see, it'll be a while before this quilt it finished.

I've also been quilting my Dancing In Your Head quilt. I happy to say I've finished! I just have to sew the binding on and it's a wrap! I'll post glamour shots of it when it's done.

I hope you're having as much fun with your projects as I've been having with mine!

Wonderful Surprises

2012-01-04T07:08:00.002+11:00

I'm very late in showing off some wonderful gifts I received from some lovely bloggy friends over Christmas and New Years. Before another minute passes here we go...

First up was Suzee from AppleHead Threads. She totally surprised me with this amazing package full of little presents. I unwrapped a special fold-up shopping bag. Though I prefer it unrolled so I can appreciate the pretty fabrics. Such beautiful purple roses. This has become my everyday bag.

Then I unwrapped not just one...
or two...
but 3 little purses!! Oh my golly, each one is so amazing. I love that they're all so different and each is full of character. Suzee said she couldn't decide which one to send so she sent me 3!! I'm so spoilt!! One I use for coins, one I use for my lip-gloss and one I use for my little cards.
Suzee of AppleHead Threads you sure know how to make someone's day!!

Next are these amazing gifts from Melody from the House on the Side of the Hill Blog.

A teeny tiny Angel beautifully beaded with little flowers. She'll be my lucky sewing Angel and keep me company as I sew and help make my stitches go where they should.
There was also this chirpy little ducky pin keep. How cute is the gorgeous yoyo detail on his wing. Melody has used such fun citrus colours, and her stitches are so perfect. But wait, that's not all...
A matching pincushion!! This now has the pride of place on my hand sewing table. Its cute, quirky and full of yoyo goodness. I love it so much!!!
It's wonderful which ever side you look at! Lots of pretty daisy details.
Thank you so much Melody!! Your wonderful gifts always amaze me and make me smile with delight!!

Last but not least was a Giveaway Day prize. I only won one prize but it was the best prize on offer without a doubt! This wonderful mini quilt is called Stars Over Paris and was made by Suz of PatchworknPlay. I'm used to seeing it as the header for her blog for the past year so it's quite surreal to see it here in real life. The hand quilting on it is soo precious and the fabrics are so wonderful. I do so love red/white polka dots!

I even love the back!!
So Suz, Thank you from the bottom of my heart for entrusting me to look after Stars Over Paris, I love this little quilt berry berry much!

Aren't I just the luckiest little daisy!!

Happy New Year!

2012-01-01T00:01:00.002+11:00

Wishing everyone a wonderful,bright, colourful, rosy, spotty, dotty, fruitful, fun and very cherry berry Happy New Year!!!

A Whole Lotta Love and All That Jazz.

2011-12-27T17:08:00.002+11:00

I hope everyone had a wonderful Christmas!! We had a wonderful day of eating delicious food and simply being happy. One of my favourite treats from Santa has been some quality time in my sewing room over the last couple of days.

I started playing with these half square triangles back in August. As usual I was side tracked by other projects and they were pushed to one side.

I pulled them out recently and started putting the little squares on my design wall. I stood back and looked and wondered how it would look if the blocks were mixed up a bit.... Hmmm.. A few cups of tea later and I decided I enjoyed them better with the triangles pointing in all directions. Somehow it suits the electricity of the fabrics and I like the secondary patterns that appear and then disappear as you focus on another group of triangles.
So I kept going with the concept and have ended up with a top 77 x 84inches. Its really hard to capture the colours. Hopefully I'll have more luck in natural light outside when it's finished. I'm planning to quilt this myself, using good old stitch in the ditch.
Gbf popped in to my sewing room to have a cup of tea with me and of course the conversation centered around my quilt top. We thought that if the quilt was music it had gone from being pop to modern jazz. Great minds think alike when we both thought it looked like Ornette Coleman's music. My favourite piece of music by him is called Dancing in your Head so that is what I'm calling this quilt.

One top finished and another started...

The seed was planted last week when Jennifer Paganelli of Sis Boom showed previews of her next range. Amazing rich colours, fabulous glamorous patterns. It's perfectly called Crazy Love!!! Immediately I thought of using the fabrics to make a LOVE quilt with crazy piecing. Inspired by a few LOVE quilts Here, Here and Here. The catch is Crazy Love isn't being released until March next year. Too impatient to wait I grabbed some fabrics and have come up with this.

To give you an idea of scale each letter is 26inches high. I'll finish it off with patchy cream and neutral fabrics and make it up to queen size. It'll make the perfect wedding quilt for some friends who are getting married this year. When Crazy Love is released I'll use it to make a similar quilt for myself , or who knows what idea I'll come up with by then.

If you're wondering if there is a song to go with this quilt? Yes! There's a beautiful song by Van Morrison called Crazy Love. My favourite line is "The heavens open every time she smiles". How romantic is that! :)

A Christmas Adventure

2011-12-19T17:13:00.002+11:00

The other day I was listening to some Christmas carols. My toes were tapping and I was singing in my most festive voice along to Silent Night when all of a sudden an announcement was made over the radio...

It was a news flash about how Santa had been seen beating his reindeer.
"That couldn't be the real Santa. He would never hit his beloved reindeer!" I exclaimed.

I jumped into my little Blue Mountain Daisy Mobile and off I went to the North Pole to investigate.

I drove through streets full of people Christmas shopping, a happy buzz of excitement.
I put my pedal down and raced to the North pole, I knew I had to get there in time to save Christmas!! Vrroommm!!
After a while I saw some snowmen and figured I must be getting close to Santa's Workshop. I stopped to ask directions, At first they gave me an icy stare and a cold shoulder but I asked ever so nicely and warmed their hearts a little. They said Santa's Workshop was just a bit further down the road.
In no time I was there and as I hopped out of my car a Green Santa came rushing over with a menacing look on his face.

" Ha" I said "Santa isn't really green! I knew it- You're an Impostor!!"

And before he could say anything I took a deep breath and said loudly in a big clear voice "Bah! Humbug! Bah! Humbug!"
And believe it or not it worked!! The nasty green Santa shrunk into a very surprised little puppy and then he scampered away.

The real Santa came out of hiding and we all danced a merry jig to celebrate!!
The reindeer were so happy that they gave me a ride around Santa's gardens.

I helped Santa's little helpers wrap presents for all the good little boys and girls.
And then we all had cups of delicious cocoa.

And enjoyed singing a few rounds of "Have Yourself a Merry little Christmas".

And we were all as happy as a pink poodle dressed for Christmas in reindeer horns.

The End.

No reindeer were harmed during the making of this story and No new fabric was purchased to make this post, it was all from my stash of many surprises. :)

Give Away Day Winner

2011-12-18T11:58:00.003+11:00

Before I announce the winner of my Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day prize I have to thank everyone so much for visiting and leaving such wonderful comments about your favourite crafting/sewing accessories.

Rulers. needles, super scissors, fabulous lights, Accuquilt cutters, computers/iPod, chocolate were all mentioned... 3 cheers for all those things!!

A lot of you said an unpicker or seam ripper. I totally agree!! I always say I feel as though I unpick more than I sew!! The catch is I could never seem to find one when I was in the middle of a sewing crisis so I went out and bought 5. They are now placed in strategic positions all over my sewing room.

Another popular favourite is the Rotary Cutter. I have to admit I've taken mine for granted. They've been around for all the time I've quilted so I guess I don't really know what it would be like to cut every single thing out with scissors. You all opened my eyes and I promise I'll be more appreciative of my Rotary Cutter in future.

Okay, this might be cheating because it's not specifically a sewing tool but My most favourite, favourite accessory at the moment is our robot vacuum cleaner!! We call him Walter because he vacuums from wall to wall. He happily cleans our floors twice a week while we're at work and for me it means precious Extra Sewing Time!!! He's such a Neato little guy!!
So finally... Who is the winner? It wasn't really me who chose, I left it up to Mr Random Number Selector , I could never choose out of all the wonderful comments, okay...Drum roll...

... It's Deb from Works in Progress. She's a crafty, quilting, thrifty blogger from New Zealand. I'm sure she'll have fun sewing Queen of the May blocks.

I couldn't resist whipping up a Christmassy Queen Of May. If you want to have a go at making some you'll find the templates on the Material Obsession website.

Thanks again to Sew Mama Sew for hosting Give Away Day!!

Time to go and sew now!!

Sew Mama Sew Give Away Day!

2011-12-13T04:56:00.002+11:00

Hip Hip Hooray!!! It's Sew Mama Sew Give Away Day!!!!

I came up with my Give Away gift idea when I received so many wonderful comments about my Very Merry Merry Go Round Quilt during the last Bloggers Quilt Festival. It's those wonderful Queen of The May blocks that make it so much fun! Imagine them on cushions, table runners or a feature on a skirt.

So to help you on your way to making some Queen of the May Blocks I'm giving away a set templates. These are made by Material Obsession and result in a 12 inch circle. I'll include some instructions and tips.
Your templates will always be safe and cosy in this little pouch I made for them.
And so you can see what you are making you'll receive a cute little doll quilt featuring a Queen of the May block.

So what do you have to do to win this fun give away?

1) Leave a comment and answer this easy question...

What is your favourite sewing/crafting accessory or equipment? Could it be an unpicker, a Go! Baby cutter, an heirloom thimble, a lucky crochet hook?

2) My super fabulous followers get to leave another comment!!

I'll ship world wide!!

Normally I enjoy replying to comments by email but past experience has taught me that Giveaway Day can get pretty busy!!! So I'll thank you all now for taking the time to visit my part of the blogosphere, I wish you all luck and hope everyone wins something!!

Happy Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!!!

This Giveaway is now closed. The biggest Thank You to everyone who entered and left such wonderful comments!!! The next Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day is in May, I already have some fun ideas brewing...

Hello Emu

2011-12-10T08:29:00.002+11:00

I promised to show photos of my Oi Emu! quilt when it was finished... Voila!!

A big thanks to Gbf for hanging it up for me. I think he knows I'd be dangerous if I was let loose with a drill! Or maybe he's seen my wonky lines and is worried about what angle the quilt would hang at. Lol!!

Some people have asked where I found the Emu panel. Well, There's a short answer and a long answer.... The short answer is a shop called Cloth.

The long answer...This gorgeous shop stopped me in my tracks when I first walked by a few years ago. It's located a few blocks from Sydney's Central train station. And on the way to a place I would work every second Wednesday. Being an early bird the shop was always closed as I went by but that didn't stop me from peeking through the windows at all the fabric goodness. Even their Closed sign was the coolest I'd ever seen...One day I decided I had to go in when the shop was...

OPEN!!

The nature of the business is screen printing "the old fashioned way". They enjoy working with linen, hemp and organic cottons. Awesome furnishing fabrics that make me want to redecorate my house!

If you look past the amazing rose curtain you can see an Emu print on canvas.

The clever Kathy Doughty of Material Obsession knows a good thing when she sees it and has been incorporating their fabrics in quilts, skirts and other crafty craftiness. Cloth have now released a range of quilting weight cottons called Working Cloth. Check out these fabulous big spots!!

Cloth have also produced bed linen in big bold contemporary designs. Julie Patterson's amazing Banksia flower designs are inspired by the banksias that grow in the Blue Mountains, no wonder I love those prints.

There's those wonderful banksias again!!

The shop front isn't huge but every corner is full of chic, cool, elegant inspiration.

Oh the sheer loveliness of it all!!

I would have loved to have purchased bolts of yummy Cloth...

but it was Mr Emu who called me over and talked me into buying him. I bought a little bundle of fabric off cuts to keep him company. Some of which also made their way into Oi Emu.

So that's the story of where I found the Emu. Isn't it wonderful that the fabrics we use have stories behind them.

Fun Bloggy Times

2011-12-06T18:23:00.001+11:00

Last Saturday I had a lovely visit from a blog friend, Terry of Terry's New Thread. I kicked myself afterwards because I forgot to take photos. I could have taken photos of Terry and her beautiful hand stitched patchwork she's working on, fussy cut hexagons and stars. But what I can share photos of is the beautiful sewing pouch she made me.

I just love the big blue Jane Sassaman sunflower on the front. I've told Gbf (the garden is his domain) I'd like a patch of sunflowers planted in front of my sewing room window. I wish I could have blue ones just like this!

Terry found lots of daisy fabrics in her scraps. Some pieces were only as big as the pieces used.

This handy wallet is perfect for my hexagons. I'll keep it well stocked in my handbag so I can pull it out whenever the moment is right. The scissor pocket is so precious, it looks like a little bunch of flowers. Thank you Terry!!

I was so honoured last week when I saw that Jo from Bearpaw blog was inspired to make a similar doll quilt to one I had made earlier in the year. I know she doesn't mind if I share the mosaic she made of them of them side by side. I'm loving all those spots and dots. Hey, does anyone know if there is a difference between a spot and a dot? I've always wondered... Anyway you can read more about Jo's quilt here on her blog.

I gave my little star quilt away in the last Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day, which just so happens to be coming up again on the 12/12. That's next Monday! Here's a sneak peek of my offering...

Have you got a giveaway planned for the big day? It's lots of fun!! Here's the link to find out more.

I've Been Sewing!!

2011-11-28T19:09:00.001+11:00

Don't you just love the feeling of finishing a quilt top. Those last few stitches in a seam are such a buzz. Well, I'm 3 times as happy because I've got 3 finished in the last couple of weeks, can you believe it?! First is the Oi Emu!! quilt. Sorry no photos today, I'll take some when it's hanging on our lounge room wall.

My 2nd finish is the Waltzing Matillda top!! At 96 inches square, it's bigger than my design wall! Yikes! Once I've sewn the backing I'll be taking it to a long arm quilter. It would be too much of a struggle on my domestic machine and I think a nice swirly all over pattern will look lovely.
Such pretty Matillda fabric, wonderful rich colours!!

Jumpin' Jack Flash is the name of my 3rd achievement. This top is 85inches square. A more manageable size for quilting myself. I'll have a go at some straight line quilting, nice and simple for a busy quilt.
The name of the quilt came to mind because the recipient is a Rolling Stones fan. I dug out my favourite Stones Cd's to listen to as I sewed. The title of the song Jumpin' Jack Flash just seemed to, well, jump out at me. I think it really suits the quilt.
I pulled out lots of fun and interesting fabrics just because I liked them and it seemed like the right time to use them. I realised when I was halfway through that the quilt is like a grown up I-Spy quilt.
How funny is this fabric of melting soap?
I love the circus lady riding a penny farthing bicycle on a tightrope.
The Cat in the Hat looks happy to be part of the quilt, or maybe he's thinking about drinking that carton of milk.

When I'm not revving away on my machine I've been sewing hexagons. It's so nice to drift off in a day dream only to find I've sewn another colourful little pile to add to my collection.

A parcel arrived from the lovely Melody and what should be inside but the wonderful apron I saw on her blog recently. It's almost surreal seeing it in real life and I feel so privileged realising it's for me.
Melody make the most wonderful hexagon flowers and a while ago she showed some with embroidered centers on her blog. I commented on how much I loved the happy little faces and Melody must have remembered. She is so thoughtful. How could anyone resist such a cute smiley pie and the surrounding hedgehogs are so adorable. Thank you Melody!!!
Okay, That's all for now. I've got some quilt backs and binding to prepare. There is something better than finishing a quilt top - and that's finishing a quilt!! or 3!!

Mug Love

2011-11-20T15:25:00.001+11:00

A little blue bird has flown into my home!

Designed by Jane Sassaman, this mug is a glossy version of Strawberry Serenade from her new range Early Birds.
I love all the little details of Jane's fabrics. I keep turning my mug around in rapture. She has a knack for bringing fantastic gardens to life in such wonderful vibrant colours.The little critters, fabulous dandy dandelions, curly tendrils, leaves full of character...
...and don't those strawberries look delicious!

I even love the inside of the cup, a beautiful rich azure.

But wait, there's more!! My friend Chris knows of my red and white polka dot fetish and surprised me with this pair of espresso cups and saucers.
Aren't they fabulous and fun!!

I bet all this talk about mugs and cups has made you feel like a cuppa. Well, can I suggest you go and make one, then come back, settle in and enjoy this video of Jane talking about her Early Birds range. Look out for the giant gingham, primroses and the border print... oohh lovely!!

Cheery Cheers!

Wordless Wednesday

2011-11-16T17:28:00.001+11:00

Gbf warmed my heart yesterday by saying these bright yellow flowers are Mother Nature's birthday cards to me.

Oi Emu!!!!

2011-11-11T11:11:00.005+11:00

...is the name of the quilt I've made in honour of Corduroy Day - 11/11

LeeAnn over at Nifty Quilts has been telling us about Corduroy Day for a while now. I was going to watch from the sidelines but decided last week that I had to participate in this auspicious year, the 11th. The catch is it left little time for searching out fabrics so I set myself the challenge of using whatever corduroy I could find in one op (thrift) shop.
10 minutes later I had 4 pairs of trousers - 1 brown, 2 shades of beige and 1 deep purple. Not my usual colours but nice and earthy.
When I got home I raided my cupboard and pulled out the screen printed Emu panel and some scraps by Cloth who are based in Sydney, and to add more Aussie talent I threw in some Prints Charming.

I was worried the Emu looked lonely so I found some friendly birds from a vintage curtain sample. It had a hole in it but nothing a linen patch couldn't cover up.

The quilt needed citrus yellow and rust linen give add a bit of zing. The colour of the dill flowers in my garden matches beautifully! Hmmm... I wonder if I was subconsciously influenced.

Two pairs of pants had Lycra through them, but I just ignored the stretch, and any thoughts of bias were thrown out the window too. I really don't mind a few puckers here and there in my liberated quilts.

It measures about 80 inches across with a drop of 45inches which is perfect for the spot on our lounge room wall it's destined for, though I must say that emu looks pretty comfortable sitting on the bench.
I just have to finish the binding first!

Pop over to Nifty Quilts blog where she'll be sharing links of Corduroy Day Quilts. I might be a little early as it's 11/11/11 in Australia before most other places.

Happy Corduroy Day!! Hip Hip Hooroy!!

Trick Or Treat

2011-10-31T18:01:00.000+11:00

For Halloweeen I thought we could have pumkin soup for dinner. But as I got the pieces of my lovely pumpkin soup set out I could hear a rattling sound ...

Rattle, Rattle... Was it in the big pumpkin? I took a deep breath and lifted the lid...
And a pumpkin witch flew out!!!! EEEKK!!!
But the rattling sound continued... rattle, rattle... was it coming from the butter dish? I took a deep breath and lifted the lid...
and found a Spooky Coffin!! But the rattling continued... Rattle Rattle... It seemed like the rattling was coming from it, so I took a deep breath and lifted the lid....
and there it was- a dancing skeleton rattling his bones and singing " Trick Or Treat, Trick or Treat, Give me yummy sweets to eat.."
I closed the lid, and decided we'd have pizza for dinner instead.

The fun little needle book and cute witchy card are from the lovely Barb from Fun with Barb blog. I was lucky to win them in a recent giveaway. Thank you Barb!! I'll be using it all year round, it's too cute for just Halloween.

Have a fabulous Halloooweeeeeennn everybody. Trick or Treat - I hope you have lots of yummy sweets to eat!!!

Merry Go Round Bloggers Quilt Festival 2011

2011-10-28T20:46:00.002+11:00

Three cheers for the Bloggers Quilt Festival!!

Today I'm showing off my Very Very Merry Merry Go Round Quilt. I made this quilt a few years ago so you may have seen it before but it's so bright and colourful I thought it would be a fun festival quilt.

It all started when I bought some Queen of May block templates around the same time I was given a heap of scraps. Without any plan I began sewing lots of these fun Queen of May circles. They come together surprisingly quick and easy. They make a great carry around project!

Soon I had a pile and had to decide what to do with them! At first I thought I'd sew up the rest of my bits of fabric to make up scrappy squares to alternate with the Queen blocks. I was amazed to find how far all those scraps went. I could have made a quilt with just those strips !! I played around with different ideas but in the end I decided to use the scrappy strings as sashing.

I was pretty new to quilting when I made this and quilted it on my old 1960's Bernina who I fondly call Betty. I then hand quilted in colourful perle 8 cotton around the circles and triangles.

This quilt was perfect for my sister-in-law because her birthday is in May and she is such a colourful person. I'm happy to report she loves it and uses it!!

I'm sending huge thank you to Amy at Amy's Creative Side for hosting such a great event. It's a highlight on my quilting calendar. I've got no plans for the weekend except to hop, skip and jump around to see as many quilts, and wonderful blogs as I can! Leave me a comment and I'll come and visit you!! Thank you for visiting!!

Cheerio,

Darling Donkeys and Happy Hexagons

2011-10-26T18:07:00.001+11:00

I received another parcel of gifts from the lovely Melody of House on the Side of The Hill blog. Melody has obviously noticed I love donkeys and has stitched this sweetie for me!! Isn't that the cutest donkey you've ever seen? I love her basket of colourful daisies and her little lady eyelashes.

It's meant to be a tea towel but it's too special for that so I'm going to use it as my sewing machine cover. Another cute little, teeny weeny ceramic donkey was also in the package. He'll stand on my window sill and enjoy the view of the garden. Melody also included a raffle ticket, so I might win a quilt too!! Thank you Melody, your stitches are beautiful, and your gifts so thoughtful!!

I can also thank Melody for inspiring me to start sewing hexagons again. She makes amazing fussy cut hexi flowers. Mary from Molly Flanders has also influenced my latest project with her amazing hexi quilt. Here's some peeks of what I've done so far...

I enjoy having a sewing project I can do in the lounge room so I can be where the action is. I can chatter away to Gbf if he's around, and it's all there set up, ready to go so I can sew a few hexis when I have a spare minute or two.

I know I probably shouldn't have started another quilt when I have so many half finished but how could I resist such pretty fabrics? They were calling out to me!!

Pizazz!!

2011-10-23T20:23:00.002+11:00

Gbf's parents came to visit recently and this is what they pulled out for show & tell.

It looks flat in the photos but its really a bowl made out of telephone wires!! They found it in a gift shop on their way to our house. Such wonderful colours and the electric spiral is so full of...Pizazz!!
The next day we all went to Ashcrofts Restaurant in Blackheath. We were sipping our wines when the bread came out... in a Telephone Wire bowl!!

What a coincidence!! The owners of the restaurant had found them on a trip to Africa about 5 years ago.
Our lunch was outstanding!! Each course better than the last, the service exceptional and the company was wonderful.

Here's dessert -Vanilla Bean Custard with Spun Toffee. Sprinkled with rose petals! Yum!!

One of the most memorable desserts I've ever had!! It turned out to be a day full of pizazz!!

A few people have asked how we ate our desserts... We weren't quite sure to begin with and started by nibbling at the sugar shards. As we gained confidence we broke the toffee down into the custard and gobbled it up. :)

Sis Boom to the Rescue

2011-10-20T06:50:00.004+11:00

Now that the springy weather is warming up we're spending more time on our outdoor deck, enjoying the view. I cant help but notice that cream wooden beam really could use a lick of paint. Ugh , sooo drab!

I don't mind painting but I would rather be sewing!!

So that's what I did!!

It couldn't have been simpler. All I used was a couple of packets of bias binding and a selection of my favourite Sis Boom fabrics.

I used pinky shears to trim the edges, some easy straight line sewing and in an hour I was done!! It was such a fun, super quick sewing fix!!

It's beautiful seeing the sun shine through the fabrics, making them glow. The breeze makes them dance a merry jig. I've decided to call them Happy Flags , because they make me happy.
Now I find myself looking more at the bunting than the view. :)

Why Blue Mountain Daisy?

2011-10-13T17:02:00.001+11:00

Recently Dawn of As Sweet as Cinnamon asked bloggers to write a post about how they chose the name of their blog. I'm a bit late to the party but I've enjoyed reading about other names so I thought I'd join in too. Better late than never!
I have to honest and admit I really didn't think much about the name of my blog. In fact I didn't really think much about starting a blog. I just wanted to be able to leave comments on other people blogs but somehow I pressed all the right buttons and ended up as a blogger! So the name was an on the spot decision. I already had Rachaeldaisy as my Flickr and Etsy name so I thought something similar would be good. Daisy was the name of my beloved little dog.
Isn't she just so cute!! Don't ask me what breed she was. I would always joke and say an Irish Mouse Hound or a Bed Terrier. She was just the sweetest ever little dog that ever existed!!

So I tried Daisy Quilts, A Daisy a Day, in fact I tried a few different combos but soon discovered blogs including the name Daisy are quite popular! So I tried combining it with where I live, The Blue Mountains, Australia and came up with the winning name!
I'm so happy I ended up with Blue Mountain Daisy, It's fun, flowery and friendly and that's what I want my little piece of blogland to be about. I couldn't imagine being called anything else now. I have joked with Gbf that he could start a blog called Blue Mountain Days but he didn't seem very keen about the idea.

About 6 months after I started my blog I came across a vintage collectors card on eBay. (Ignore the cigarette part, I do not endorse smoking at all) Number 38 is Blue Mountain Daisy!! Of course I had to buy it!

It's like seeing my name in print from another time!
If you want to join in the name game or read some other posts about names pop over to Dawn's post at As Sweet as Cinnamon. Thanks Dawn for hosting a such a great linky party!

Raindrops...

2011-10-07T19:36:00.001+11:00

keep falling...
It's been raining...

and showers are forecasted for the coming week!

But don't you agree that one of the fun things about being a quilter or craftster...

is the rain means indoor games with our fabrics and crafty bits!!

Or wrapping yourself in a cosy quilt and reading books about faraway places, or planning the next quilt ;-)

The fun thing about it raining here in the Blue Mountains...

is that it makes our gardens so lovely and green!

Come rain, hail or shine I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

Thank You Melody

2011-10-05T18:04:00.001+11:00

Look what I found in my letter box!!! I've named him Ralph!!

Ralph came wrapped up in this beautiful lettuce green parcel with a happy flower card.
He came with lots of friends and these beautiful fussy cut hexagon coasters. Ralph is 3rd from the left. He asked me to tell you that there's a great tutorial for these coasters over at the House On The Side Of the Hill blog.
Also filling the parcel were these fabulous picnic glasses. I didn't have any practical travel glasses so these are a very welcome addition to Daisyland!! There's Ralph and his friends with their hearts of gold.

There was also a raffle ticket that might win me this amazing quilt made by the Kilmore Quilters.

If I won I know how I'd celebrate - a happy picnic with my new glasses and beautiful coasters.

I was so lucky to be the winner of a recent giveaway by Melody from the House on the Side Of The Hill blog. My amazing prize is gift each month for a year!! I nearly fell off my chair when I saw I'd won. Thank you Melody, I love this lovely parcel of goodies!! You sure know how to make some one's day!!

And thanks little Ralph and his friends for being so sweet!

Diamonds

2011-10-03T11:27:00.002+11:00

diamonds...

I don't mean rhinestones...

but diamonds...

are a girls best...

...best friend!!

I finished my Seven Sisters block for the Springwood Community Quilt Show's 2012 raffle quilt! Pop over the Show's blog to hear the happy stories about last year's winners.

Little Lucy at Large

2011-09-27T19:57:00.002+10:00

Lucy's next adventure is overseas and we realised we had to apply for a passport. You know how these things take time, so Lucy has been filling her days hanging out with Lulu and Minkey. Here she is sharing her beautiful quilt made by Shay of Quilting in my Pyjamas with her friends. They love telling Lucy stories and of course she's all ears!!

Her passport was soon ready. Apparently celebrity rabbits are allowed to have special colourful passports
It's officially stamped and dated...

Lucy and I checked she had all she needed for her journey. A sturdy backpack, a shawl and beanie for cool days, a magic carrot that no matter how much she nibbles on it it'll grow back in a flash. A very handy travel snack.

I packed some books for her to read on the flight.

Just one more thing before leaving ... She helped me sing a jolly round of Happy Birthday... :)
Bye Lucy, Have fun on your wild and woolly adventures!!
Lucy is off to stay with Linda at Natural Suburbia blog. Pop over and have a look at her patterns for knitted flowers and vegetables and critters. Lucy is going to feel right at home!! You can follow Lucy's travels on her blog Lucy's World Trip.

Playing Favourites

2011-09-18T08:16:00.001+10:00

I love fancy dress parties! One of the best themes I've ever come across was Wear the thing in your wardrobe that you love but never wear.

Two of my favourite bloggers Suz of PatchworknPlay and Mary of Molly Flanders are co-hosting of a linky party with a similar theme. To show off our very favourite fabrics. The ones we're almost too scared to cut into or we only use in little pieces to ration out the magic. It's nice to get them out and shake their little booties in a fabric dance of appreciation.

Everyone that knows me knows that I LOVE Nuala by Sis Boom, especially in the red/aqua colourway. I had a mere half a meter and used it in a hexagon quilt, the scraps were used in a happy scrappy quilt... and only then did I realise it was out of print and I couldn't get any more! Arrghh!!

It explains why I'm so crazy in love with the newly released Matilda from Sis Boom's West Indies range.
Some might say obsession, but I say it's passion that has lead me to my present project of a whole quilt of Matilda with some Nuala in different colours. It's just waiting for borders now.

As for my other fabrics, I have a cupboard full of favourites!! I know they've all got their place at the right time, in the right project. But here's a few to make you smile...

Liberty's of London is so popular. These next two are my little Liberty's collection. So pretty and yet a bit disturbing... houses on fire... factory pollution...
Playing I Spy with this fabric reveals motorbikes, planes, machine guns, lacy knickers..

The next fabric is by Heather Ross. Her portrayal of people at swimming pools is just so sweet and fun.
I love anything by Suzuko Koseki. I haven't put this fat quarter away in my cupboard yet, I like having it around to look at.

One more to show you. I'm not sure what this fabric is called but it's by Joel Dewbury from his Deer Valley range. I like to think of the little flower as a blue daisy. The red is so scrumptious.
Are you curious about what I wore to that themed party? Well, here I am, 20 years and 20 kilos ago..

If you want to join in the Fabric Favourite fun pop over to Suz's or Mary's blogs

Here's Lucy

2011-09-13T20:05:00.001+10:00

It's my pleasure to introduce the lovely Lucy. She comes from a family in Far North Queensland, Australia. A few months ago she told her mum, Jenni, she wanted to see the world and off she went. I heard a little knock on my door last week and there she was with her little bag, her lucky carrot and her beautiful quilt.

Lucy came with me to work on the train to Sydney. We chatted about her travels so far. She hasn't made it overseas yet but she's seen more of Australia than I have! Brisbane, The Sunshine Coast, Melbourne, Adelaide, Perth... and now Sydney!! The view of the Harbour Bridge greeted us at Circular Quay Station where we got off.

A hop, skip and a jump and we arrived at the flower shop in time for a busy day at work.

Lucy helped me set up the shop. I like her taste in flowers, her favourites were these red Banksia Coccinea.
She also liked the forest of Cymbidium Orchids!
This native Gymea Lily is a like a giant triffid compared to little Lucy.

She may be small but she has a big heart!!

She made some friends...

But also had fun entertaining herself

We didn't forget the Opera House!!

The next day I got to show off where I live. The beautiful Blue Mountains! From city shop flowers to wild, free range bush flowers.

That's not a rabbit hole Lucy!
Breath taking scenery from Govett's Leap near Blackheath. This view amazes me every time!
And a beautiful clear, sunny, spring day!!
Besides sight seeing Lucy and I have had a fun time, talking about quilts, eating cupcakes, reading peoples blogs. It's been lovely spending time getting to know Lucy but I know she has places to go and people to meet. She's excited about her next bit of travel where she finally gets to leave Australia and head for strange far away lands...

You can keep up with her adventures on her blog Lucy's World Trip.

A little side note, Lucy's visit was perfect timing to share my last week of working at the flower shop. I've been a florist for 20 years and it's about time I had a change!! My hands, back and feet are already thanking me. And no more commuting for 4 hours a day!! Woohoo!! I haven't left the botanical world behind as I'll be working in a wholesale nursery. It was my first day today, and once I get through the learning part it'll be a fun job!! And with a bit of luck I may even have more time to sew...

A Kangaroo On A Pogo Stick

2011-09-06T18:43:00.001+10:00

is how I describe my tendency to jump from project to project.

I've been filling in quiet moments with some hand quilting.
And working on my Seven Sisters block for the Springwood Community Quilt Show raffle quilt.
But when this parcel of Matilda from Sis Boom's West Indies range arrived I had to drop everything!! I've been so busting for this fabric!! It's just so pretty and those colours are so Me!!
I added some fat quarters of Nuala from the Girlfriends range for a bit more colour variety.

And came up with an Amish influenced quilt, using fabrics inspired by the vibrancy of the West Indies. It sounds like a wild combination but I think it works. So far it's 54 inches. The plan is to add some borders, or more blocks to take it up to queen size. I also want to make pillow cases in all the colours to match. Oh Matilda how I love thee!!

While I was taking a sewing break in the sunshine a Crimson Rosella stopped to say hello!!
I had to laugh. Do you think he was trying to get into my quilt?

I wonder which of my zillion projects I'll play with next...

Guaranteed to brighten your day!!

2011-08-31T19:18:00.001+10:00

My day was instantly brightened when I found these wonderful postcards in my mail box.
A few weeks ago Kelly from Pinkadot Quilts did a post about these amazing post cards she makes. Of course I was besotted, who wouldn't be!! Then surprise, surprise a fun parcel arrived wrapped in a magazine page envelope. I wont show the front because it has our addresses but it's a big daisy with some ladybirds on it. In the writing on the back it describes the lady bugs as "Polka Dot Critters". How cute is that! Here's a photo of the back of the envelope.

You can imagine my excitement when I found this postcard of a sunny sunflower inside. I love the shading and pink blush on the petals, the stem fabric is perfect and the black polka dot centre is so much fun.

Such a gorgeous flower deserved a photo shoot in the garden.. The colours match these Birds of Paradise flowers!!
And looks lovely with a big daffodil, the herald of Spring.
It didn't travel alone. Kelly sure knows how to spoil a girl with lovely things!! The daisy envelope also included this beautiful strawberry post card.

Look at those polka dots, and cute leaves and stems, that gorgeous quilting on the yummy aqua back ground. Isn't it just wonderful!!
If you feel inspired to make a postcard or two Kelly has written a tutorial for her techniques.

Thank you Kelly for brightening our day!!

I'm so Lucky!!

2011-08-28T05:28:00.002+10:00

Look at what arrived in my mail box last week...

The world's most beautiful cushion!!! Made specially for me by Melissa P of 100 Billion Stars blog!! She was lucky to get a sneak preview of Sis Boom's latest range West Indies and as soon as she saw the blue toile fabric, Matillda in Brandy, she knew it had my name on it. It is reminiscent of an out of print fabric called Nuala that I Love!! And so I was privileged enough to receive this amazing gift!!

Isn't it fun the way the birds are fussy cut so they're both admiring the perfectly cross stitched R. As I was taking this photo I kept hoping a bird would land in the tree and look like the fabric.

And the back is scrumptious too!! Also from the West Indies range, Chandler in blue. This fabric is just asking to be a border or even a whole cloth quilt. I like the idea of quilting by following the flowing blue pattern.
But wait there's more... A beautiful mug rug!! made of all West Indies fabric. A sampler of yumminess!! I look at it and think "I need that one, and that one and .. oh, I really need all of them!".
Beautiful spiral hand stitching that looks like rays of sunshine. There's something really special about hand stitching, as though thought has been put into every stitch.

The next thing I pulled from the envelope made me laugh! Melissa very kindly made me some piping. There's an irresistible Ruffle Cushion pattern in Jennifer Paganelli's Girls World book that can also be made as a pin cushion. I was keen to make it but I was a bit nervous about making the piping. I mentioned it to Melissa and she made some for me!! Isn't that just the nicest thing ever!! I have no excuses now! :-)

A mixed bunch of yo yos!! Melissa is so good at using yo yos in her projects to add a bit of fun.

Isn't it wonderful when you see fabrics colours reflected in nature!
Gbf said I should post a You Tube video of me dancing around the lounge room with my new cushion. I thought I'd better not because then you'd all think I really Was mad.
I'm just over the moon about my beautiful presents.
Thank you Melissa!!!

Ps West Indies is now in the shops. Quilthome and Sew Mama Sew have the full range.

2011-08-21T18:15:00.002+10:00

Star Bright

Sis Boom

So Beautiful

Sew Busy

Sewing Bench

Stitched Blossoms

Spring Breeze

Sunbeam

Sunday Bliss

See ya, Bye!!

Fun Times at Quilt Camp

2011-08-16T20:23:00.001+10:00

Follow the quilted path...

Past all the flowers...

"Welcome to Quilt Camp!!" says Thomasina the donkey.

It didn't take Mandy and I long to get our room set up. A couple of colourful quilts...

...some appropriate reading material and the room was a cosy home for the next two nights.

Silly me was so busy sewing, chatting, laughing, concentrating, drinking cups of tea and looking at others amazing work that I forgot to take photos of anyone. To get the idea you can visit Chris's blog, or pop over to these past posts, here and here.

It was a teaching camp which entailed classes on Saturday. In the morning we had a lesson with the lovely Ann who has a zillion sewing tips and tricks and in the afternoon we were treated to Chris's wonderful talent.

These are the blocks we made. Chris's Supernova Leftovers. As the name suggests, it's a great block for using up scraps and leftovers. I plan to make a quilt of these in different colour combinations using all my beautiful colourful Sis Boom fabrics.

Here's Ann's Machine Applique Flowers, also made with Jennifer Paganelli's fabrics. I really love how this one turned out.
I'm thinking a few fun borders on this one to make a colourful wall hanging. Such gorgeous fabrics!!
Saturday evening was full of fun and games.We had a fat quarter swap with a twist. If it was your turn you could go and take someone else's fat quarter if you liked it better. It's hard to explain but it was fun and caused quite a few laughs! Show and tell was full of amazing work.

Here's the pin cushion I picked in the swap. I love the vintage button and the fabric is gold and oriental making it look as though it's from far away lands! It came with a little fabric rubbish collector, very handy for a messy girl like me. My pins feel very glamorous in their new pincushion.

Sunday was heads down and sew, sew, sew. Making the most of the last few hours to finish our blocks or other projects. As always the time flew by and soon it was over. It all feels a bit like a dream now except I have 2 colourful blocks and fun memories as proof of another fun camp. I've already put next years dates on the calendar! A huge Thanks to Chris and Ann for organising a fabulous camp!!

News Flash for Sydney Quilters - There's a Modern Quilt Guild starting up soon - check out the blog for more information.

Pincushion Indecision

2011-08-09T18:47:00.001+10:00

I'm off to sewing camp this weekend and we're having a secret pin cushion swap so I've been making pin cushions! It would be easier if I knew who I was making it for but it could be anyone of a group with very diverse tastes.

I started with this idea centered around a cute little pig. I thought fun fabrics, not too bright but not too dull, a few sewing themed fabrics.

Some fun Lakehouse Drygoods fabric on the back.
But then I wondered if it was good enough, or quirky enough. So I made one using selvages.
With some fun Suzuko Koseki fabric on the back.
But then I worried that one was too simple.

My next attempt went a little crazy when I added the pom poms! The button in the middle is actually fabric, not a real button.

This one is much tamer in colour choice but it was a bit puckery around the edges and not good enough to give to the amazing sewers that will be at camp.

So I ended up deciding to use the first pincushion I made. After all it does say "Happy Stitches" along the edge, who could argue with that! Though I will say if the recipient of my pin cushion is a reader of my blog and they want to swap pin cushions with any of the others I've made I wont mind.
Oh and the first photo of the PINS pincushion.. that was another one of my attempts. The bright letters used on linen was inspired by this cushion made by the wonderfully clever Mary of Molly Flanders. So why didn't I pick that one? I wasn't sure if the recipient would have the same sense of humour as me...

Which one would you have picked?

Sticky Moments

2011-08-08T06:15:00.001+10:00

Look what I've got!!
Saffron Craig's Removable Wall Stickers!!
They're just like fabric with a protective coating and they peel on and off the wall so easily.

So easily in fact I couldn't resist peeling them on and off a few things...

Don't they look fun floating around my ducks. "Watch out ducks, there's colourful bubbles ahead!".

Then I moved them to the glass doors that open to our deck...

The glass made me think they would be a great way to spruce up a vase...

Imagine some branches hung with circles of Saffron's fabric to match the stickers. It would make a fun birthday tree.
I went off to my sewing room. I missed my stickers, so I peeled them off the vase and put them on my sewing machine and cover. Dressed to impress!!
But when Gbf realised the stickers had disappeared to my sewing room he said they should be on view where people can see them. How sweet is it that he likes them too!! So we put them up in our entrance where everyone who visits will see them.

It's lucky they're removable!! Who knows where they'll end up next.

Ahhh fabric, you can sew it, wear it, hang it and now you can stick it on your walls- what a cool thing to be addicted to!

I just noticed Saffron is having a Fat Quarter sale! And a special free postage in Australia for a little while, I'm not really sure how long so I'm just being vague about that.

Cheerio

A Handful of Gum Leaves

2011-08-04T06:33:00.001+10:00

A sunny day, a walk in my garden and a handful of gum leaves inspired these photos...

It should always end with a smile.

Cheerio

A few things to share..

2011-08-02T20:24:00.002+10:00

A few posts ago I said that I'd get a circle finished to show you. Well, it's not quite finished, I just have to sew the center hexagon down. This is my first almost finished circle from Chris Jurd's Lots of Dots quilt pattern.
I really love doing these trickier blocks but there's a reason I shouldn't attempt them after a long work day. Wanting my points to match up I carefully pinned, over pinned in fact, just to make sure it would all line up perfectly. I carefully stitched, opened it up and ...
Hmph, I stormed off in a huff that night!

I've been working extra long hours and I'm finding it best to stick with easy repetitive projects, cutting, sewing, trimming. Easy tasks to pick up when I have 5 minutes here and there, or I'm too tired to think. Hence my half square triangle quilt using Erin McMorris's Summersalt range. I just love these fabrics, such fun happy prints. I've used 5 different brands of hot pink solids so the pink wouldn't look too flat. These blocks aren't sewn together yet. I just put them onto the design wall to share with you.

This next photo is for Regan of Floating on a Quilted Cloud. A zucchini cake with yummy lemon icing baked especially for you!! I was a bit worried that it would go rotten in the post so I ate it. No need to thank me, that's what friends are for. I munched away on it while I read your wonderful post about the Maine State Quilt show.

Here's a fabric Pom Pom I made a few years ago. I was inspired to get it out and dust it off after seeing some pretty pom poms over at Leila's blog Where the Orchids Grow.

And this is for Melissa of 100 Billion Stars who liked the fact I chose a fabric because it had donkeys on it.
In fact I have a bit of a thing for donkeys. This is a vintage tea towel that hangs in my sewing room.
Isn't she the sweetest donkey you ever did see? Can you guess her name? Yes, it's Daisy. Not the Daisy I'm named after, Daisy was my beautiful little dog of years ago. That was Daisy Dog, this is Daisy Donkey. We sound like characters in a book don't we.

...And so Rachaeldaisy and her trusty sidekick Daisy Donkey went off into the sunset sewing room to trim a mountain of HSTs. And a happy time was had by all.

Cheerio

A little bit of flowery fun

2011-07-31T21:23:00.003+10:00

Meet Statler and Waldorf.

Banksias are Australian native flowers and baueri are the biggest of the species, with flowers that can be as big as 30 x 20cm or 12 x 8 inches!
Baueri are different to most Banksias because their texture is soft rather than coarse and spiky.
This is why they're also known as Woolly Banksias, Possom Banksias or even Teddy Bear Banksias.

So with all those cute names to choose from are you wondering why I've called mine Statler and Waldorf?
Because something about the two stems I have reminds me of Statler and Waldorf from The Muppets!!!

Scooting Stars at the Summer Fair

2011-07-27T21:02:00.002+10:00

It's winter here in Australia but one way to enjoy some Summery sun is joining in the Gen X Quilters Summer Fair Quilt Show.

Scooting Stars is the quilt I made last Summer. I'd managed to get my hands on some pre-released Sherbet Pips charm squares and a layer cake. I found the colours as sweet as sorbet and cooling to work with on hot summer days.

I used a simple layout, not wanting to waste my precious Pips. The layer cake and charms squares did the work and I just added some rectangles and made some wonky stars to give the quilt some focal points.

Due to it's queenly size, I had it long arm quilted. I wanted sweeping loops to represent the path of a dog chasing a ball around, or a child scooting here and there. Quilter Tanya Croft took it a step further and suggested butterflies as well. I am so happy with the end result, it really adds another layer of joy to the quilt.

The scooting print was the reason I just had to have this range! Gbf is an avid scooter. He's always zipping everywhere. I was so impressed that someone thought to design a fabric of scooting people - Thanks Aneela!!

And who could resist these sweet happy dogs!

And how clever are these spots! Aneela thought outside the square and came up with a dot that is a square!

I added a few fabrics from my stash because I wanted a bigger quilt, and also for variety. The red stripes are a Sis Boom classic, I used the pink stripe too. I'm not sure who designed the swirly flower fabric, it's been in my stash for ages!

The pink flowery fabric is a vintage fabric I found on Etsy and liked it because it has donkeys on it.

The backing is Ribbons and Bows fabric by Martha Negley. Simple solid red binding really give the edges definition.
I am so pleased with the way this quilt turned out. It's definitely one of my favourites! Even looking at it now brings back that summery feeling.
A big thanks to AnneMarie at Gen x Quilters for organising the Summer Fair. Click on the linky tent and it will magically take you to the fair so you can see more quilts...

Cheerio

While The Cat's Away...

2011-07-26T07:16:00.002+10:00

Once a month I attend a Saturday class held by Chris Jurd, the quilter extraordinaire, but this month she was called away. Happily that didn't stop us classy ladies getting together for some sewing fun times.

So what did the mice get up to ...

Sue worked on her Oriental Beauty blocks. She's making enough for 3 quilts and has a huge pile of gorgeous pointy blocks. When Sue gets set up she sews she's like a Grand Prix racer flying through her projects! Every now and then she'd hold up one with extra pretty fabrics or another that particularly popped.
Lorraine was working on her Lots Of Dots circles for a little while until she went ...
and helped Alice pin baste 3 quilts!
After the basting was finished Alice enjoyed the sun and sunny chatter.
There wasn't a lot of Show and Tell this month but here's Alice's Friendship Circle. I think she's using it to make a big table topper.
And then we come to Janice, thinking hard about the placement of her blocks for a baby quilt.
Once she'd decided on the layout, she clicked into gear and whipped this little quilt up in no time!
The hand embroidered teddy bear blocks were very cute and we all agreed the alphabet border fabric was fabulous!!
So what did I do? besides chatting ... I sewed little piles... of foundation piecing pieces. I still have to trim them and sew them together to create circles but still, they're there ready to go. I'll do my best to get at least one circle sewn together this week.
We missed Pam and Bronwyn who had other obligations but we'll see them at Sewing Camp in August for more fun times and serious sewing. :-)

A special thanks goes out to Gbf who made us a very tasty Zucchini cake. It was full of nuts, currants (which he used instead of sultanas) and lots of yummy things which he then topped with a lemon icing. Oops, I forgot to take a photo but here's the link to the recipe. It comes highly recommended!

I'm beginning to think I should start another blog called " MasterChef Gbf " all about the dishes he cooks. For example this is what he cooked on Saturday night...

Trout stuffed full of leek and prosciutto, wrapped in prosciutto, cooked on a bed of Spanish onions in apple cider. It was delicious!

I'd say all in all I had a pretty fabulous Saturday!!!

Cheerio

3 Cheers for Cadel Evans!!

2011-07-24T09:29:00.001+10:00

For the first time ever in the history of the Tour de France there will be an Aussie standing on the podium in first place!!

WoooHoooo!!! Way to go Cadel Evans!! You're the man!! Chapeau!!

The term used to describe Cadel Evans' ride in the final time trial was "He's riding like a Man-Machine." In fact he's ridden all 3 weeks of the tour like that. Focused, steady and in peak fitness. He deserves every bit of the yellow jersey he'll be wearing..

...as they ride into Paris today!

Vive Le Tour!!

PS I know the Tour is held in Summer but here in OZ it's the middle of winter, and the stages are in the middle of the night, so for us getting cosy in quilts is part of our tour experience. For the full story of the Tour De France quilt pop over here...

The Bag Mandy made me...

2011-07-21T19:11:00.002+10:00

I mention it occasionally, so you might already know that my most very favourite fabric of all time is Jennifer Paganelli's Nuala in red/aqua. I love the electric colours and the timeless pattern. Seeing it just makes me happy! I only ever got my hands on half a yard of it but every little piece of it has been put to good use. In fact I love this fabric so much that Gbf has nicknamed me the Nuala Koala.

I mentioned my love of it to Mandy of Mand-a-lin blog, a fellow Sis Boom fabric lover, and the next time I saw her she'd whipped up this gorgeous bag for me!!

OOOhhhh!!!! SooOOOOOOoo Beautifulll!!!
She put the fabric's name from the selvedge, that's Mandy for you, so clever and thoughtful.

So I know I mentioned that I loved Nuala, but what I hadn't told Mandy was how much I love red/white polka dots. It's not something I tell many people. I'm a bit obsessed with them and I wouldn't want anyone to think I'm a bit dotty. Hee hee :-) I've got a whole shelf dedicated to them. So to have a bag with red and white polka dots, even in the lining is sooo me!
Here's just a few of my dotty spotty collection. I've got a quilt planned for them, with pillows to match, maybe a skirt or 2...
Thank you Mandy, You made me the world's coolest bag!!!
Super exciting news , My wish that Nuala would be reprinted has almost been granted. I found a sneak peek of Jennifer's new designs on her website in the side bar on her blog. West Indies is another one of her beautiful ranges of glorious rich colours and beautiful patterns. I'm excited that it includes a fabric called Matilda that is reminiscent of Nuala! I'm not sure when it's being released, but I know I'll be stocking up this time.

You can't have too much of a good thing!

Cheerio

The Cat In the Quilt

2011-07-20T18:36:00.002+10:00

Hello, Here I am!! I'm back!!

I've been such a busy worker bee lately that I haven't had much time to sew but I did add something to my Cattywampus quilt. There were a few comments about the quilt that inspired me...

Kat said "This is brilliant! So many things to look at and admire. I could get lost in it for an hour lol...
And what about doggadogsberry ... just continuing with the animal theme :)"

Robyn said "Great quilt! Another thing to add to my bucket list. I can't think of any names like Cattywampus but I think you should have one with a dog mention in it too and some dogs as I can't see any in the cattywampus :)."

These comments brought to my attention the feline aspects of the quilt's name. And although it's a bit of an I spy of random things and has elephants, horses, birds I realised Cattywampus really needed a Cat !

Then Mary said " Love the quilt and Cattywumpus is perfect! It is very Willy Wonkish sounding.....or Doctor Suess-ish! The stitching is fun! It is a great, bright, cheerful quilt!"

Ah ha , I thought - Dr Seuss!!! Perfect, I've got some Cat in the Hat fabric in my stash!!

Soon after , Karen said "Fabulous quilt!!! Love the name. How many times do you stop and find particular fabrics? Kinda like a 'Where's Wally' puzzle."

Where's Wally?! - Light bulb moment!! I'll make a little patch with the cat in the hat that can be moved around the quilt so it becomes a game of hide and seek.

And that's what I did.

A little rectangle of fabric stiffened with iron on interfacing, a pin attached to the back and there you go - a mischievous Cat in The Hat that moves around.

So now Gbf and I have fun playing hide and seek with the Cat in The Quilt.

Sometimes it's the little things in life that make us smile!

Thank You Suzee!!

2011-07-07T20:08:00.002+10:00

RRRRRrrrrrrRRRRRrrrrrRRRRRRRRRrrrr

...is the sound of the postman's motorbike as he takes off after delivering a parcel at my house.

Suzee of AppleHead Threads surprised me with a parcel of fun things. There's so much of her bubbly character in these gifts and yet they're all so Me! She really nailed my taste! I love the keyring!! Big wonderful keyrings are a must in my books. The "big" helps me find them in my over crowded bag and the "wonderful" makes me smile every time I use my keys.

The next item is not just a pretty face but a great idea as well...
It's a Tea Wallet!! I do like to carry tea bags but I usually have them scrunched up in an old paper bag, so Suzee you've given me a little style makeover! I love the little blue daisy fabric!
The fun continues with these awesome vintage fabric swatches.
Love those bright colours! I can assure you these fabrics feel right at home in my stash!
Thank you Suzee for the most wonderful, thoughtful gifts, they really made my day!!

News Flash - My friend Melissa P is having a fabric Giveaway of some of Dena Designs latest range Taza. Cool blues and sophisticated yellows- go and check it out at her blog- 1oo Billion Stars.

Another News Flash- I'm going to be having a little blog break. Due to staff shortages my day job is extra busy with super long hours and I'm exhausted. I'll pop up now and then to leave comments but please don't be offended, or think I don't like you if you don't hear from me. It should all settle down in a few weeks and then I'll be back with lots of fun things to share. Bigger and brighter and more Blue Mountain Daisy than ever! Nah.. I'll just be my usual self...

Cheerio

Cattywampus Quilt

2011-07-01T21:43:00.003+10:00

I showed a glimpse of my latest quilt a few weeks ago, but then other things came up, as they do, so I'm only just getting around to showing you properly.

It started when I noticed my scrap bin was overflowing. I had a vague thought that I would make crazy scrappy place mats for our outdoor table so I started sewing rough rectangle shapes. They got put aside to make way for other projects. One day Melissa P of 100 Billion Stars did this post about her amazing picnic blanket in which she mentioned the word Cattywampus.

I never heard the word Cattywampus before so of course I had to ask...

Melissa P explained that it means cockeyed, messed up, out of whack, screwy.

Great name for a quilt, I thought to myself, and a lightbulb went off in my head as I remembered the scrappy blocks I'd been playing with.

At first I thought I'd just sew them all together but it looked too hotchpotchy. It needed depth and places for your eyes to rest. I considered cutting the blocks into regular squares and putting sashing in between but that felt too predictable for such a cattywampus quilt.

A few cups of tea later I decided on irregular, partial sashing with solids. The orange I'd recently bought because I liked the colour, the dark green solid was from GBF's mum ( thanks Joan!), and some other greens and aquas were left over from my Magical Lands Quilt.

I quilted Cattywampus myself. It's been a while since I've done any machine quilting so I started off with a walking foot, stitching in the stitch, cruising around squares, but then changed to FMQ, and had fun doing zig zags, curly whirls, wiggly squigglys and some echo quilting.

Scrappy binding framed Cattywampus and it ended up being 70 inches square. Gbf put up a hanger in our entrance hallway where it hangs as a warning to anyone who enters there's a crazy colourful quilter inside.

Would anyone like to suggest a word for my next quilt? :)

Craft and Quilt Show - Part 3

2011-06-29T18:50:00.003+10:00

Here we are at Part 3 of my visit to the Craft and Quilt Fair!! My fabric purchases!!

Before I share my fabric goodies I just want to share 1 more quilt. It was one of my very favourites! Jemima's Purple Patch by Pamela Westmacott.

Made for her granddaughter who loves purple and "those spikey things Granny sews". How cute is that!! Not only are the pattern and fabric choices wonderful but I really love the quilting Pam has done. And check out the skinny yellow border! No wonder this won 1st prize for Small/Wall Quilt in the amateur division. Congratulations Pam!!

Okay fabric time!! It's nice timing too because it was this time last week that Mandy and I were heading home on the train looking at what we'd bought. Here I am doing the same but with all of you!!

This is where you see what broad taste I have when it comes to fabric. If I'm not shopping for a particular colour or pattern my buying is influenced by unusual things that I may not find again. Also by the wonderful bargains that some of the stalls had.

These fun vegetable fat quarters are, I think, by Hoodie for Blank Quilting. Neither of who I've heard of. Apparently this is a new range so no doubt you'll start seeing them everywhere. I was wondering what to make for dinner the other night. I wandered into my sewing room, saw these and thought " Of course- Ratatouille !". And delicious it was too!!

Mandy and I found some Prints Charming packs at the Kelani Fabrics stand. They're all one off packs. After searching through every bag I settled on this combination. I love that they're different fabrics, denim, linen, drill, corduroy. The plan is to make a skirt...

This little collection of goodies was from the bits and pieces basket at Kelani. It was like a lucky dip of fabric yuminess.

You can see why I bought this pretty panel fabric.

From French reproduction to Japanese theatre novelty, topped with a retro charity pincushion.
The flip side of my pincushion and pretty Japanese novelty fabrics in lavenders and blues.
The next 2 fat quarters surprised even me. The logical part of my brain says these are murky green and really dark and not the sort of bright fun fabric I usually go for. But something made me buy them. They're a little bit quirky and I like the painted/ printing look of them. Who knows... they'll be the perfect thing for something, some day.
Here's some gorgeous brights!! Reproduction lovelies!! I'm particularly enamoured with the yellow fabric. it makes me want to sew a purple and yellow quilt...
...Using some of these big bold purple dots from Saffron Craig's latest range Imaginary Flowers. The pink dandelions are from one of older ranges. I've always loved them, such a perfect shade of pink and dandelions take me back to childhood summers, blowing the little seeds into the wind.
Last but not least, are these gorgeous bits and pieces given to me by Terry. Bits of fabric are just the most wonderful gift to give a quilter!! She gave me bicycles because she noticed I collect bicycle fabric and of course I can never have too many daisies! Thank you Terry, I was so touched by your thoughtful package!!

I better get busy with my sewing so I can start using some of these before the next show!!

Cheerio.

The Craft and Quilt Fair - Part 2

2011-06-26T20:34:00.004+10:00

This is the second post about my fabulous day at Sydney's Craft and Quilt Fair,

Here we go, the part you've been waiting for- The Quilts... This is just a small sample of what was on show, the ones that caught my eye. Enjoy!

Corporate Chaos by Robyn Shipton used shirts, ties and pants to create this quilt !!
I love that she left the pockets and buttons intact.

Desert Flower Revisited by Verna Horwood, based on a quilt from 1936.
This is such a pretty way to use hexagons.

Mirage by Margaret Mc Donald features Jane Sassaman's fabrics.
and enhanced with amazing quilting by Susan Campbell.

I kept coming back to this quilt. Not my usual colours but Ashbourne Mill by Katrina Hadjimichael was just stunning.

I've shown this quilt on my blog before when I saw it at the Hunter's Hill Quilt Show. It was wonderful to see it again, I think it's just incredible! Shot Waves by Kathie De Palo.

Isn't it electric!!

More diamonds. I love the way the stripes keep your eyes moving. You could get lost in this quilt for quite a while! Marquee Diamonds is by Kathy Doughty of Material Obsession.
Cosy, perfect hand stitching.
Kathy's other quilt Soul Searching jumped out at me too. I love the way it shimmers.
Lovely colour play with lots of fabric, yum!!

While we're on a Material Obsession theme, here are two quilts hanging at their stand. Both so different, Both fabulous. Wonderful use of colour!!

I love the name of the next quilt Googly Eyes by Catherine Butterworth.
Awesome fabrics!!Look at that amazing border and fussy cut star!!

Freedom by Helen Godden won prizes in the Art Quilt and Best Use of Colour categories
Incredible details.

Morocco Magic by Wendy Scott was mind boggling. There's 880 pieces making up this design.
This quilt makes me want to make log cabins! Ladies Love Poppies by Diane Tramontana.

Red, Green Again by Shirley Gibson. The longer you look at this quilt the more you see.
Last but not least, Indigo Daisies by Lynn Hewitt. You can't tell from the photo but this quilt was huge!! Love the hexagon flowers, and of course I like blue daisies!

Jemima's Purple Patch by Pamela Westmacott was one of my very favourites!!
It so deserved the Wall/Small Quilt award it won. Beautiful design and gorgeous fabric choices! Super crisp foundation piecing and that thin yellow border!! Stunning!!

Inspired? Impressed? I know I was.

Cheerio.

The Craft and Quilt Fair - Part 1

2011-06-25T19:40:00.001+10:00

I get pretty excited about Sydney's Craft and Quilt Fair. Not just because its full of eye candy everywhere you look but because it's also the anniversary of my journey into quilting. 3 years ago as a spur of the moment thing to do, GBF and I went to have a look at some quilts. I came away with a rotary cutter and a mat, and that was that!!

To honour my 3rd anniversary and because I have so many photos, I'm going I'd divide my pictures into 3 posts - People, Quilts and Fabrics.

I'm starting with people because that was the highlight of the show for me this year. I caught up with friends and met blogland buddies for the first time.
My friend Mandy saved a seat for me on the train as she lives further up the Mountains from me. We chatted all the way into town and before we knew it we were in Sydney. We fueled up on coffee and chai and got to the the show before it started. We had a fun time patchwork bag spotting in the crowd.

My lovely blog friend Terry found me straight away because of my BMDaisy jacket. She'd seen the post about the jacket and in a flash whipped up a design incorporating her initials TNT. I love that enthusiasm!! It was so so wonderful to meet a bloggy friend in real life. Now she's a real friend that I chat to in my bloggy life.

We started the day with Saffron Craig's talk. Here she is with her husband Patrick. They managed to fit a lot of information into half an hour. Their designing history, the design process, different ranges, how to use one directional fabrics, ideas and methods for making quilts.

I loved seeing quilts Saffron had made and her fabulous fabrics. It really makes it so much more personal hearing a designer talk about their fabrics. The fabrics gain a personality that makes them more special to use. I caught up with Saffron and Patrick at their stall later and have to say they are the nicest, down to Earth, lovely people!!

Next stop was the awards. My friend Chris Jurd won 1st prize in the New Traditions From Old Favourites category. It's not a great photo of her receiving the award. Chris is the blurry one in the photo, She's a fast mover! or maybe I was too busy trying to cheer, clap and take a photo at the same time!! I'm so excited for her.

This is the prize winning Lots of Dots quilt. As the name suggests Chris only used spotty dotty fabrics to create all those wonderful circles. It really is an amazing quilt!!

We did a screen printing class with Louise Snook. She was a natural teacher, with a zillion great tips to share with us and a bucket load of patience when the ink started flying.

Here I am trying to come up with a design idea. That was before I started playing with the ink and ended up with it all over the table, my hands and even spots on my face. I managed to get a little bit on the fabric.

Big smiles from Mandy and Lynne!! ( note Lynne's fabulous dress made from Patty Young's Flora and Fauna range). I think these two have found their calling, they took to printing like a ducks to water!! or should I say ink to fabric... I think I'll stick to fabric hunting...
It was an absolute treat to catch up with Linda from Quilts in the Barn. I've followed her blog pretty much from when she started it. Linda always has wonderful quilting trips to share. Amazing quilts made by her, her numerous friends and from her trips. On top of all of that she somehow she finds the time to organise one of Australia's best annual quilt shows -Quilts in the Barn, with all proceeds going to breast cancer research. This year US reproduction fabric designer and quilter Jo Morton is coming out as the feature quilter of the show. Linda happened to have this year's raffle quilt with her. Comprised of signature blocks from all over the world made with Jo's fabrics. Mine is in the photo, the dark red one with the fussy cut circles.

My only regret is that I didn't have more time to spend with everyone. We stayed to the very end and practically had to be kicked out. The day was a whirlwind and flew by way too fast!!! Next year I'll go for more than one day! At least Mandy and I had the train trip home to look at all our beautiful fabrics and purchases.

One last photo of Myself, Mandy and Lynne.

Stayed tuned for the next post of some of my favourite quilts of the show.

Are you going to the Show?

2011-06-19T18:42:00.006+10:00

You may think this is a dresden plate...

but I prefer to think of it as a Blue Mountain Daisy.

My official Blue Mountain Daisy jacket!

Okay, Are you thinking I'm totally mad now? Gbf couldn't stop laughing when I showed him! But there's a method to my madness.

It's the Sydney Craft and Quilt Fair this week. Oooohh I'm excited! It's the quilty event of the year for us Sydneysiders. When I was there last year, ambling around, I couldn't help but wonder if I was passing any of my blogland friends without knowing. I'll be there on Wednesday with Mandy of Mand-a-lin, and I'll be wearing my jacket. If you see it, feel free to come and say hello to us! It would be so nice to meet you in person.

I'm looking forward to seeing the 450 quilts made by members of the Quilters Guild of NSW. The Material Obsession stand will be there with all it's enthusiastic colour and inspiring quilts. The Prints Charming girls always have something fun. Fabric designer Saffron Craig is hosting a workshop at 9.30am on Wednesday so that's were we'll be starting. And there's always lots of other fun things to catch our eyes and fuel our imaginations. It's going to be a fun day!!!

I'll take lots of photos to share with you later in the week.

Cheerio

I'm linking up to Marg's Pyjama Sunday because I did indeed do some of this in my PJs this morning.

Pop over to my friend Terry's blog to see the amazing jacket she has made. I think we're starting a new trend.

It's a Miracle!!

2011-06-18T09:23:00.001+10:00

The postie must think it's my birthday because last night I got home and found another parcel in my letter box!!

I opened it. Lo and behold it was the missing doll quilt!!!! Can you believe it? I'm still shaking my head in disbelief. The day after my Angel Quilt flies into my life my DQS 10 doll quilt appears. All I can say is the world works in mysterious ways!

Erin from Erin Learns to Quilt has made me the loveliest quilt of two girls playing with fabric. To me it sums up one of the best things about sewing - the friends we make.

Pretty flowers as a welcome for my pretty doll quilt...

Thank you so much Erin, it's such a beautiful quilt!! I love it and will treasure it! It'll hang in my sewing room and make me smile.

Cheerio

A Parcel Tied With A Pink Bow...

2011-06-16T22:05:00.003+10:00

...was waiting for me when I got home from work today. ( it was in a bubble post pac envelope but that doesn't sound as nice). I had no idea what it could be... I didn't recognise the sender... I waited a few minutes before I opened it. A beautifully wrapped present should be appreciated, once unwrapped there's no going back...and it's fun to savour the anticipation.

Curiosity soon got the better of me and I ripped into the tissue paper... and out came a Doll Quilt!!! Woo hoo!! or should I say Angel Quilt, which is a Doll Quilt Swap term for a quilt that is made for you if the quilt you're supposed to receive has gone missing. In my case the amazing Carol Turznik aka as Mamacjt sent me this little beauty.
What a happy, colourful, sweet, cheery, fun quilt! It's a quilt of eternal Spring! Love that cute little bird with curly tail feathers and the swirly, twirly quilting is so perfect. I love this little quilt!!

Carol very generously included lots of fabulous fabrics as extra goodies. A swag of cotton yumminess!!
Thank you so much Carol!!! You're an angel!!

PS. My heart goes out to my secret partner who has made me a beautiful doll quilt that seems to have gone missing. I still hope it turns up one day or is returned to it's sender. I hate the idea of it being lost and lonely somewhere. Fingers crossed that it shows up soon!

Cheerio

Raindrops keep falling...

2011-06-15T18:47:00.003+10:00

Why is it that when you want to go outside to take photos of a newly finished quilt, the weather turns? I kept hoping for even a few minutes of clear skies but alas it's been grey and wet all day...

I really can't complain, the garden has it's own beauty at this time of year. My shoes got soaked but I had a fun frolic around our yard. Everything was glistening with rain drops. Colours really popped against the grey skies and the verdant greens.

Beautiful, full, luscious camelias are like winter peonies

A few fallen petals look like hearts in the grass. A pretty spot for rain to land.

Some trees are almost more beautiful without their leaves. The crooked branches and furry buds of our magnolia have so much character...

while it's leaves are a rich brown background to some happy green dandelions.

Oranges! We have 3 mysterious citris trees in our yard. This is our first winter here so it's been fun seeing what sort of fruit they would bare. We were hoping for a variety - lime, grapefruit, lemonade, cumquat... but now we think they're all oranges. But that's okay, we like oranges. In fact it's one of my favourite colours...

as you can see in my new quilt!!

The weather forecast is for sun on the weekend, I'll take lots of quilty photos then!

Cheerio

The Glenbrook Cocktail Quilters Show

2011-06-12T19:06:00.007+10:00

It was a grey, rainy winters day here in the Blue Mountains, perfect for going to The Glenbrook Quilters Show with my friend Chris.

We didn't find any cocktails but there were lots of stunning quilts. Here's just a few...

Along side quilts made by members of the group were antique quilts from their private collections.

I love the sashing stripes and the mix of fabrics used in this Carpenter's Wheel quilt.

This 1,000 Pyramids quilt dates to the 1860's .

Here's one for the Liberty fans. Simply named The Liberty Quilt it was made by Jann Power using a pattern from the Quilter's Barn.

This starburst quilt made with colourful reproduction fabrics was such a joy to look at. Ohio Star Medallion was made by Sharon Duffy using a Judy Rothermel pattern.

Beautifully machine quilted by Kaye Brown. The simple circles on the star blocks is something I never would have thought of.

This wall hanging by Heather Friedel had us mesmerised. We were able to talk to Heather about her work and French Twist sounds like it was an exercise in precision and patience!

Just one more photo... not a quilt but two very cute vintage dolls!!

Cheerio

Lucky Me!!

2011-06-10T20:43:00.001+10:00

Isn't this a beautiful image.

It greets you in the opening pages of Jennifer Paganelli's wonderful new book Girl's World.

This book is Super Beautiful with a capital S and B!! as in Sis Boom!! It's jam packed pages with fabulous projects from sweet dresses to ruffled pillows. The stunning photos are eye candy of Jennifer's sumptuous fabrics which, if you're a fan like me, is food for the soul.

I was lucky enough to win this wonderful prize from the The Naughty Secretary Club. Jennifer Perkin's blog is fabulously colourful and full of zany creative fun! Just check out her necklace with little garden gnomes- too cute!!
But wait! That's not all..

The Giveaway fairies have been looking after me because I also won an awesome prize during Sew Mama Sew's Giveaway day.

The lovely Eileen from Bluebirdluxe blog took such care with the wrapping...
She even used Blue Daisy fabric! I love the button detail!
So what did I win from Eileen? Well besides a lovely new blog buddy who has a wonderful crafty blog and a ton of contagious enthusiasm, I won a Rotating Cutting Mat and A Creative Grids Ruler for cutting 60 degree triangles out of 2.5 inch strips. Woohoo!! Jelly Rolls- watch out!!
Of course I had to play with them straight away! And then it occurred to me that Eileen had so thoughtfully included two fabric strips for me to use! She's one step ahead!! These little triangles were cut out in no time, super easy, breezy. I can see fun times are going to be had with this little ruler.
Another Huge Thank you to Jennifer from The Naughty Secretary Club.

And A big round of applause for Eileen from Bluebirdluxe.

Cheerio

My Summersault Adventure

2011-06-04T20:17:00.001+10:00

Remember a while ago I went on an adventure to Magical Lands? I was curious about how it happened so I did some investigating and it seems I've discovered how to travel to other places! If I i switch my sewing machine to stitch 263 , think of a place I'd like to go, use my pedal and hey presto off I go!

It's winter now here in Australia and I was longing for some summery sun, so I decided it was a perfect excuse to go on a journey to Summersault gardens in search of the infamous Pixie Stick Posies.

So I switched my stitch, pressed the pedal and the sound of twinkling chimes sounded in my ears...

The next thing I knew I was enjoying the glorious sight of Pinwheel flowers planted in neat rows. I walked through them as their pretty petals bobbed gently in the wind and their dotty centers lit up like colourful lights.

Further along the path I came to another garden bed of large blossoms. Something about those big happy flowers made me want to do Cartwheels. WeEEEeEeeee , Round and round and round I went... WeeEEeeee

Whoa, that made me dizzy so I had a little sit down in a field of flowers literally bursting with blooms. As I sat I swear I could hear the flowers pop as their little buds opened. Pop! Pop!

After a little rest I was off on my way again, and soon found myself amongst a jungle of colour, so perfect for playing Hide and Seek. "Hello...Can you see me?"

Hee Hee... that was fun! I wondered where those Pixie Stick Posies were... I did my best not to get distracted as I followed the path up the hill and down again and around a corner and soon enough there They were!!! - The Pixie Stick Posies!!! Stripey stems and goblet shaped flowers, they were a sight to behold!

A spring sunshower appeared so I picked a Pixie Stick posie and used it as an umbrella. The little patch of raindrops soon blew over in a merry way.

I had so much fun that before I knew it the day had turned to night. I was worried Gbf would be wondering where I was so it was time to say goodbye to the Pixie Stick Posies and rush home...

I couldn't resist some more cartwheels...

and through the Popflower garden.

One last hide and seek.

and just as I started to feel some rain drops again..

I heard a twinkly chime sound,

and all of a sudden I was back home in time for dinner!

Gbf loved hearing all about my fun day!

I wonder where I'll go on my next adventure?

PS The biggest Thank You to Melissa P from 100 Million Stars for introducing me to Erin McMorris's latest range Summersault. As you can see the colours are vibrant, the patterns are fun and the feel is summer in a sunny garden. Just wonderful!!

So...What do you do at Quilt Camp?

2011-06-01T06:15:00.001+10:00

Golly!! I feel like I've been absent from blogland for ages but maybe that's because I've been away... at a wonderful Quilt retreat (and then some busy days at work)! I've found that some people are really curious when I mention I've been to a Quilt Camp so I thought I'd answer the popular questions.

So what do you do at Quilt Camp?

The short version- Sew! Laugh , eat , sew, laugh, sew, sleep.

The long version- The camp started on Friday afternoon and as soon as we unloaded our things and plugged in our machines we were off working on our projects. Wine and nibbles started appearing around 5pm but the hum of the machines didn't stop until it was time for dinner. Fueled up on delicious Chicken stroganoff and chocolate cake it was back to our work stations to sew until midnight!

Saturday was a full day of sewing. And chatting. And Laughing. And helping each other with sewing decisions.

A highlight of the weekend was Show and Tell time where everyone was encourage to show a quilt or a quilt top. The standard of work and variety of styles in that one room was just amazing.

After sharing our quilts we did a bit more sewing... until midnight again! I'm really not used to such late nights! I should add my little group were never the last to leave, there was another table who didn't seem to sleep.

Sunday arrived and we sewed some more and before we knew it was time to pack up. As I drove off in my little car the thought that crossed my mind was " Time flies when youre having fun!!". The 3 day retreat had certainly flown by in a flash!!

What kind of people go to quilting camp? It was a big group of about 50. All ages, though I'm probably one of the younger ones. The organisers of the camp, Chris and Ann both teach throughout the Blue Mountains area and the retreat is mostly made up of their students. It's a fun way to spend more time with class buddies and great way to meet others who love quilting too!

Q Do you sleep in tents? Nooo!! It's all very civillised!! The retreat is held at a conference center, set in bushy surrounds at the foot of the Blue Mountains. It feels as though it's miles from anywhere but conveniently for me it's only half an hour from home. We sleep in little cottages, 2 to a room , though my friends and I managed to organise a room for 3 so we could all bunk in together. Very comfy beds and ensuite bathrooms. The big sunlit sewing room is in a separate building nearby. We have all our meals prepared for us. Breakfast and dinner is served in a big dining room and we have lunch outside under the autumn trees.

Q Did I get lots of good sewing done? I think I've realised I'm not a fast sewer. Some people really powered through and got several projects finished. I wisely chose a simple pattern because I knew I'd be distracted by the chatter around me. I started from scratch with some fat quarters from Denyse Schmidt's Greenfield Hill range and some bits and pieces from my stash. I seemed to spend most of my time cutting fabric and squaring up blocks, but I did have something to show for all my work in the end.

The squares aren't sewn together yet but I've made enough 8 inch blocks for a queen size bed. I thought that was pretty good for a weekends work. The colours I've used in this quilt are less bright that my usual but I really like the combination overall. The photo is just a few of the blocks to give you an idea. I need my design wall and several cups of tea to ponder the final layout.

Is it all really a lie and was I really up to something else? Lol!!! What else is there?! Anyone who knows me knows how obsessed I am about quilting! If I'm not at home sewing, then I'm at a quilt show or sewing class. Plus where would I be going with a car full of fabric projects, sewing machine and ironing board!?

I'd like to add: Besides getting to sew all weekend, laughing with friends , meeting new people, being inspired by amazing fabrics and projects, being in a lovely bush setting there was yet Another reason quilt camp was such a treat..

Lots of lovely ladies had brought scrumptious slices, marvellous muffins, brilliant brownies and a cacophony of cakes... Enough vitamin Ch and sugary goodness to keep us going for the weekend. This photo is just a small selection of the delectable goodies... yummm!!

I'm already planning what slice I'll take to the next camp, Yes! I've already booked in for the August camp! Can't wait! Yay!!

A huge thanks to Chris and Ann for organising such a fun Quilt retreat!! Check out Chris's blog, Patchwork Fundamentals for more beautiful show and tell quilts.

Cheerio