How lucky am I!!

Not only are we moving in a very short time to a new house where I get a room for craft, but we only have days left before all that happens and I have had an afternoon where I have been able to take time out and sew. Moving is not easy - in fact I HATE it. Well actually I hate the work but I love moving and doing different things. So everything is packed in boxes and my sewing desk is ready to be moved so the machine is on the kitchen table.

Aaron has taken the boys out for some shopping (boxes, boxes and more boxes) and then decided to have a swimming afternoon with them. How blessed am I. Yes I have been painting all the little marks on the walls where pictures have come down. And packing up some garage and shed stuff, but until they come home with those boxes I can sew. I just feel really lucky and blessed.

Anyway, while I have been having this quiet time I have come to a decision!! No I have not told my husband, but he reads my blog so he will find out. We are packed to move but I have decided it can stay packed as we are going to move to England. Uh Huh, yes we are! My perfect job came up today - In "The Lady" magazine in England. I have had many a job in my time through that magazine and have worked for some Lords and Ladies, all in preparation it seems for this perfect job, I am going to be the housekeeper for Kate, Will and baby George. Wont they be lucky to have me!!!!!

So on Tuesday if you see me at the distribution centre I currently work at, it will be a figment of your imagination. Once the family get my C.V I know they will bend over backwards to have me. So soon it will be the Royal wave from me..............until then.

I have to pack my stash

Well we move in two weeks. I am meant to be packing the house up. So that means I have to pack my stash. Now my stash is not quite the ordinary crafter's stash. It is piles and piles of clothing from the second hand store.

All the seams cut, just a few to go

The problem with packing it is that I get inspired and as I have packed all my current projects I just had to start another. My thought was that if it was started it would be far less bulky to pack. I decided to sew another "fluffy"quilt. Out came all the old pyjamas and the cutting began. I took off the buttons (very useful for other projects) and took off all tags(as I have yet another idea re what to do about them) and cut all seams off.

The tags and buttons - oooh another project to start!

So with Aaron away the boys and I were to have a quiet weekend. 1.30pm in the afternoon and I was on the sofa (yes for those who know me that means I am still in my nightie), Jakob in his dressing gown and only Eli dressed.

The rolls of material ready to go, with a bit of supervision from Morris.

Then we get a call "I am parked outside your house can I come in and look at it please?" Oh my stars. I had to confess to being in my nightie and asked for five minutes. They pottered off to an open home and we got 20 minutes. My goodness the boys have the routine of getting the house ready and then skedadaling really well. In 20 minutes I had a shower and got dressed, loaded the dishdrawer, sorted the garage, folded washing. The boys vacuumed, made beds, pulled curtains, opened window and then were off on their scooters.

Now I am ready to start cutting and sewing I think I may have seriously run out of time.!!
Linking to these places

I am a starter

Yes I confess, I start gazillions of projects and heaps of them do not get finished. That is why I end up with "orphan quilts". All those blocks started with the intent of trying something new, being enthused and then either not liking the result, finding it boring, or surprise surprise - finding a new cool project to do!! My starting and not finishing has gotten worse since going back to work fulltime. I want to do inspiring stuff only.

This is some of what I have started in the last two weeks.

 Started this project to use the scraps from the projects below.

 Started this and decided to make it into a cushion cover. I might?????? be able to finish smaller projects.

Could not decide whether the low volume above or this bright look was the best. So did both!!!

Yes I am getting on with this. But still don't know what to do with it. Any ideas?

And I helped Eli to start a project of his own.

Linking to these places

What I am working on

At the moment I am working on foundation piecing. I am loving it. Amazing sharp points, easy to do little pieces and looking bright. I saw it on a blog, which then referenced you to the pattern.

This has been designed by Janice at Better Off Thread - Linked here to her tutorial etc for this block.
I was going to do an entire circle but then I have the begining of so many quilts that have no ending somehow. So I thought that a cushion or pillow will be better. I am also trying to do smaller blocks because spring is here and there is soooo much to do outside. Trying to fit that all in with working fulltime and presto, not a lot of sewing gets done. But in the meantime I am just getting a thrill from doing the blocks.

Linking to these places.

Number 21

Yes this is charity quilt number 21. Off to Hope Homes in the package. A real kids quilt. The centre Winnie the Pooh and the alphabet are a panel. The rest was some matching strips which I have added. But it all looks like it is one panel. I made this when I was on my quilting retreat recently. Started it, cut it, patched it together, sandwiched it, quilted it (some straight line quilting, some stipple and some outlining) and then bound it. All in about 4 hours. Yippeee!!! Was so intent on getting it finished that I forgot to take process photos.

Linking to these places.

Wow a Christmas present completed already

 Way back here my Mother in Law decided to try making a quilt. It was gorgeous but when she finished I think that was it!! So I was the receiver of scraps. I have been pondering for ages about what to do. In the end I made two cushion covers to go on the spare bed with the quilt she made.

I do hope that she likes them! I am trying to branch out and do different quilting. So am quite pleased with the result on these. It is so much easier to practice FMQ on small pieces! Will have to do more.

The centre of each block

Two cushions ready for Christmas

Linking to these places

Bright colours on my sewing machine.

I have been pottering around trying to tidyup my sewing area. Sitting on my table was a box of scraps and bits that Tiina sent me when I became her 80th follower. So I thought that I would use them on something that reminded me of her. She makes the most amazing zip purses and bags out of scraps. So I started with her fabrics and added more of my own.  

I now have two sides ready to quilt. Tiina makes use of much smaller pieces, so my one is not going to be as elegant as hers. She also has been making a few quilts that I had never seen patterns for before. I love them. 

In amongst the bits I also found a pile of gingham strips ready to be made into binding, and finally made them up. Do go and check out Tiina's blog as it translates ok into english and she does lovely quilting.

In amongst all of this I have been busy mowing the lawn, pruning the roses and putting out the sawdust we have as a mulch. So much to do and so little time!!!

I link to these places.

19 quilts ready to go

Finally we are organising sending all the quilts off to Hope Homes International for the orphans beds. There are 19 quilts completely finished, which has taken about four years!!

I pulled all the quilts out of all the little hidey holes around the house and am busy labeling who made them, who donated material etc. They are all going to get displayed at church on Sunday so I am hoping the everyone will be impressed and maybe be inspired to send a bit more to this place.

So many people have donated so much for this to occur. A huge thanks to Hazel who is clearing out her house for earthquake repairs and called me to pick up all this wonderful material, books etc.

I am still praying and hoping to get a few more or have some donated as there are currently 23 kids in the orphanage and another 5 living with the directors of the orphanage. But it will happen over time.

I link to these places and crazy mum quilts.

Low Volume quilt - for charity

Yay another quilt completed. My attempt at low volume quilting is not as low as some. But compared to my normal choice of heaps of colour, this is muted! Finally getting to try one of the style of quilts from a blogger I follow - Crazy mum quilts

I have been following Amy's quilting adventures on how to free motion quilt. This is challenging me but I am also finding that new patterns and ideas are not as hard as they look. So this months challenge was grid quilting.

I drew all the lines on the quilt with taylors chalk at 60o angles.

It took me a wee while to work out how to continuously quilt the pattern, so I used a rough piece of paper to practice in pen before getting the quilt near the machine. I think next time I would do the pattern smaller. I love it though.

Super happy that this is another quilt for Hope Homes International.

Linking to these places

Quilt top and binding done

On Thursday i sewed together all the strips that I had blogged about doing. But when I did the quilt just was not quite big enough. So last night I put a cute little pop of colour border (only 1/2" finished) and then a bigger border on.

Being inspired and not yet too sleepy to turn the sewing machine off, I got stuck in and made the binding too. One of the bloggers I follow is Crazy mum quilts and she had a quilt very similar to this in her book.

Yay for a finish - linked to these places.

Today I finished coating the bathroom shelves, so they will be able to get put in and the bathroom will be done. Phew......

ps - this is another quilt for the Orphanage - Hope Homes International

What I am working on.. a low volume quilt

Well having come home from Rarotonga I felt the need to get behind the sewing machine. The only thing was my concentration was not too good.

So I pulled out some of my scraps that I had cut about 6 months ago. I had tried to tidy up my fabric haul so I went through my scraps and cut 6.5 inch strips or 4.5inch squares. It dealt with the scraps really well. At the time I was channeling low volume quilting.

So this is my attempt at a very simple low volume quilt. All the strips are sewn and now just need a few hours to get it all together (without the help of Morris!!!).


I link to these places.

My own design - airline cabin bag

Well that is what I meant it to be. But it is HUGE. I followed all the airline guidelines for cabin bags and finished it measures correctly, but what airline will let me use it I don't know. I do have more left over furnishing materials to make a smaller one (what a surprise - more material - me!!!).

One side

But I am thrilled with this and the finish. I get frustrated with box type bags when you undo the zip it is sometimes hard to pack or retrieve items. So I made this with a square bottom but sides that open completely. Then, once the bag is packed, using the clips and D rings - hey voila - it turns into a square shape that is easy to take.

The other side

I straight line quilted this and bound inside seams with bias binding as french seaming them was just too bulky. The straps and the clips are all from belts bought at second hand shops but the most expensive things were the zip and bag feet which are brand new.

Inside

So we are off to Rarotonga but this is just too big so am not taking it. Hmmm. Number two will be happening pretty soon I think.

All clipped and ready for travel

I link to these places though some will be in a couple of weeks when we come back from holiday.

smart bag feet.

18 down 7 to go!

Yes I now have 18 quilts for the orphans. Only 7 more to go and all the kids at Hope Homes International will have a quilt. Slowly getting there.

So I made this ages ago but have finally quilted it all. I posted about the making of it here.

As there were a lot of different styles of blocks I decided to quilt in an overall flower and loop pattern as anything that was rigid lines or diagonals would clash with various blocks. I used a quilting pattern that Crazy Mum Quilts had put on her blog one time. I am pleased with the result.

The back of the quilt is in a 1970's flannel that was donated and the binding in a black and white spot. Also donated.

Happy to be finished. 

I link up to these places and finish it up friday with Crazy Mum Quilts.

It took a while but I have loved doing it.

Well after the last quilt for charity where crafting was a grind, I started this as something that I had wanted to do for a long long time. It is a paper pieced pattern that I got off the internet.

I finished the piecing last weekend

then sandwiched it together and started quilting. I completed a little bit every night.

Finally finishing the quilting today. I am really thrilled with the pattern. I tried using loops around the edge for the first time and quilted a lot more closely than I normally do.

Trying to take a photo of it finished and on the bed when a slightly hyped up boy (typical of a Friday after school) jumps in the photo. It had been book week this week at school which ended in a character parade. Eli went as Goldilocks (he has a wig he bought two years ago that is attached to a hat and plaited as two pigtails) and won the prize for the best costume in his class. It takes a confident boy to carry that off!!!!

Instead of using a zip closing in the back I used domes so that it is easy on and off and easy to wash.

I link to these places.

How frugal are you?

I am so frugal and find it such a waste to miss out on discounts or free things that it means my purse is stuffed full of loyalty cards. Why would I pay full price for gas bottles if a loyalty card means I get a discount every second time. I love coffee, why would I not want my sixth one to be free. Ditto for material!

 Which gives the dilemma as to what to do with them all. Well my smart new purse was made with the intent to banish these cards elsewhere. Last week at my stitching group with Jane I finally finished the hand patched stretched hexagons. Today I sewed them into a mini wallet with a plastic insert. No more fishing through all the cards to find what I want. Now I just need to flip the clear plastic pages and I can spot the card I need quickly.

It does look a bit like a Mum and child wallet. But hey. When I finally finish my messenger bag it will all look snazzy. I love these Asian taupe materials.

I link to these places and Crazy Mum Quilts. and

A most reluctant finish

Well this quilt has finally been finished! It has been a quilt I would call SIGH if I named quilts. I have sighed the whole time making it. The patchwork I blogged about back here. It is donated cut blocks which I only had to add a few more in. Donated flannelette backing which is original from the 70's.

But how I struggled with this quilt. I had to push myself to sew it, push myself to sandwich it and the quilting of it was procrastinated about for ages and ages. I feel that this is the worst quilting I have done in a long time. There are material puckers, it is only straight lines, it looks like the first quilt I have ever made. But no matter what I did to try and fix it, it just wasn't working. So I closed my eyes (figuratively) and just got on with it.

The flannelette back

I know why it was such an issue;

1. I like to start things and not necessarily finish them as I want to get onto the next idea.
2. I found this utterly boring, not my style of patchwork and quilting at all
3. I was unhappy with my finish on it.

But the good thing is that it is now another finished quilt for the Orphans at Hope Homes International, so I spent all my time sewing talking to myself ("any child will be thrilled with this, they will not look at how well it is completed, they will appreciate that someone has done something for them) etc etc

Linking to these places. and