My new sewing project

Here it is at last, home again.

My queen sized, round robin friendship quilt top has found it's way back to me, having been worked on by other patchwork friends.  This one is music themed for my youngest son.  It needs it's batting and backing then quilting to finish, but I couldn't resist spreading it out on the bed to see how it looks.  The friendship quilts have been an ongoing project for the Tuesday Crafternooners for the past three months or so, and we have completed six beautiful quilts during that time!  Some are now already at the quilting stage, so exciting!

I am so happy with the way this turned out!

Also....

our family has been joined by this cute and cuddly little one...Whimsey is the name!

She was found on the shelf at my local pharmacy.

It has been so long since I have seen a golliwog anywhere.  

They have been a bit politically incorrect for a while, what a shame!

I love them!

Have a good day!

Bad Me!

It's awful!  I feel bad.  It has been so long since I have posted on my blog.........well, I guess life got in the way somewhat.

Meantime, I helped my youngest son buy a house, and we are currently renovating it.  Dennis and I took a South Pacific cruise on Royal Carribean 'Radiance of the Seas', and enjoyed every relaxing moment of it.

Lots and lots of sewing projects have been done, in a desperate attempt to reduce the fabric stash!

This cute European pillow cover for my bed

was made with my craft group.

 Holiday time on the Isle of Lifou

Magical!

 Two, yes two!  king-single size patchwork quilts with 6" squares from the vintage fabric swap 

organised by Mardi Winen, for my guest bedroom.

 Youngest grandchild, Jake, started big school in February.

Travelling into town on the bus with big sister.

 Patchwork quilt made for Jake's birthday in Feb............it had to have dinosaurs!!

 Four frilly dilly bags made for the four granddaughter's Christmas gifts.  

Pattern from the Janelle Wind Collection.

Two Christmas table runners made for Penny and Larns for Christmas.

I expect that was why this blog had been so neglected.  I will try to catch up......must try harder!

Done!

Here is the finished quilt, all 176 squares plus sashing and binding.  I love the rather eccentric randomness of the fabrics.  The backing is courtesy of the Salvos, two nice sheets plus a pillowcase for $6.00.  Bargain.

The idea was to reuse and recycle unwanted and old fabrics and turn them into something useful and lovely.

The only new items are the cotton wadding inside and the thread used to sew it all together.

Now to finish the second one to go on the other bed in the guest room.

Another UFO done!

You might remember I took part in a vintage fabric swap with Mardi Winen at The Love Supreme, last year and enthusiastically sewed my six inch squares into a quilt top.  I bought cotton batting for the inside of it then ran out of inspiration when my chosen backing did not fit.  Packed the whole lot away...........

Last week while rummaging at the Salvos, I found two lovely big Australian made Dri-Glo cotton sheets in a 70s style fabric with matching pillow cases for $6.00!

Woo hoo, the perfect backing fabric for my vintage quilt.........so, out it has come from hiding and it is all now put together, quilted, and today I got the binding in place.

With  a little help from this friend...........she just has to be involved in everything!  Sitting on the quilt while it is being stitched, never mind the pins!  Crazy cat!

Happy Day

Time flies!  My littlest grandchild turned five yesterday.  He is a happy and loving boy and delights in all things.  He is a joy to be around.

He loves the quilt and pillow I made for him and wrapped himself in it, rolled about on the floor and generally had a lot of fun.  I can see it being used to build cubby houses and curled up on to watch tv.  It gave me a thrill to see it so well received.

All the grandies now have a quilt made with love by Martha. 

'Simplify' is my word for 2013 so I am thinking of disposing of my fabric stash to help de-clutter my very overcrowded craft space.....can I do it?  Maybe I will do one more quilt..................my youngest son only has one that was made back in 1985 when he was a baby................should really update that!  I think there is enough fabric in the stash to make a random pattered quilt without buying a heap more stuff.  Will put it on the 'to-do' list!

This was made largely from the fabric stash with just a few extras purchased.  The dinosaurs were added as a special request from the recipient!  

Lots of bright colours and busy patterns for a very active little boy!

Warm winter crafts

 The random coloured granny square pile is growing, these will make cushions for the grandchildren to cosy up to while watching television.

Cleo cat (not) helping with the quilting!

The cooler weather sees me reaching for the crochet granny squares, and the quilting UFOs, of which there are a few lurking in the craft stash.  I love to cosy up to the fire with some crochet or stitching in winter.  It is the only time that I take on these crafts, because summer is just too hot for quilts and knitting.  The quilt is one I am working on for a grand daughters birthday, and it has been hanging around for a long time.......not too much further to go now.  A little more hand stitching, trim all the threads, etc, and it is done!

Sewing, scrapping and cards

This gorgeous photo of Mia was taken on our family picnic during the Christmas holidays. I couldn't wait to use it on a layout, this was the step-by-step page we did at Home and Scrapped last night. I turned the design sideways to suit the photo but I am happy with the way it turned out. Flowers are hand made by Heather Waldron. Beautiful, aren't they?




Red Earth had a challenge to make some cards from the bits lurking on the desk! I think I could have made heaps more as my desk is chaotic at the moment. A fun challenge to use up scraps!



Sorting through the fabrics to complete my vintage fabric swap patchwork, I came across these little 9-patch blocks. Instead of pushing them back in the cupboard, I sewed this little table runner...........nice to have them turned into something useful.

A thrifty find!

While browsing through my local charity shop yesterday, I found these brilliant purple retro daisy single bed sheets for a measly six dollars! Yay! They will make perfect backing fabric for my vintage squares quilts and save me heaps, another thrifty bargain. One is a little faded, but I don't think that is going to worry me at all. I am about a third of the way through quilt top number two, it will be similar, but not the same as the first.

I am loving this rediscovery of my sewing hobby which has been lying dormant for a couple of years. Scrap booking took over, because I love the instant results of a 12 x 12 inch page, where a quilt can take months, even years, to complete. So patchwork is back in vogue at Summerleigh, although scrapping will still be ongoing.

Watch this space.