Sunday Stash #6

I love this piece of fabric, can you spot the squirrel? It feels very Medieval England to me, I just had to have it when I saw it. The fabric is a very heavy linen, to die for texture. When I can bear to cut it, I'll make a wall hanging with it.

No sewing today, I've just enjoyed tidying up my sewing area, it's getting there, but I'll finish it tomorrow. A very pleasant afternoon/evening fussing with fabric, warmed by the first fire of Winter blazing away. I think perhaps the Tia Maria and milk helped mellow the mood too! Oh and DM put on a lovely cd collection. Barry White, Commodores, Wet Wet Wet, Smokey Robinson, Marvin Gaye, Beautiful South, Gladys Knight, INXS, Peter Frampton, Extreme, plus plus plus. I'll be sleeping well tonight.

cheerio for now
X Mandy

A couple of my bags

This is the prototype of a bag I'm naming 'Peardrop'. I named it after the shape of my favourite sweet as a child. It's a prototype because it doesn't look anything like a peardrop!!! I got so carried away with using as much of the fat 1/4's as possible, and thinking about the quilting, I forgot to taper the top. Ho hum, but all is not wasted. I now know the strap is the perfect length. I sits beautifully across my torso and snug on front of my hips. It's a really great size bag to wear walking. Thanks go to Julie, my partner from the International Women's Day Swap. The fabrics look great.

oOo

The second bag I've made without the aid of a pattern, I haven't a name for yet. I didn't set out to design another bag, I was half way through another 'Peardrop' for my eldest to give as a Birthday present. I wasn't real happy while making it, and decided it was because it wasn't the right bag for the Birthday Girl. So, this is what I came up with.


Just a little hand quilting on the front, to keep all the layers tidy. I machine quilted horizontal lines on the back, 2" apart. A self covered button and a hair elastic to close the bag and she was done. I think I will tweak it a little, I'm not sure about swapping the handle fabric about, it clashes with the symmetry part of my make-up.


Cheerio for now
Take care
Mandy

Sunday Stash #5

Just love these Amy Butler colours, I think I might make a bento box block with them, along with some of my other AB fabric. I love the look of this one.

And finally I have added to my small 1/8th of Wonderland.
I LOVE - LOVE - LOVE it

Adore the bee








Yummy Nouveau shapes









I have to tell you where I purchased these fabrics.

My first Etsy transaction was with Fresh Fabric Australia and I can't speak high enough about the service I was shown. Amber bent over backwards to make sure I was happy with my purchases. It was wonderful service and I will be purchasing from her regularly. Go and visit her, she has some very tempting new stock. Del Hi by Valorie Wells, and it's on SALE until 29th May. You'd better get over there before I snap up the best pieces!

9 Patch quilt-along

So........this is where I'm at.

22 finished 9 patches.

and I have no more mauve fabric!!!

Add Blue? Green? Both?

and what shades?
I'm two days ahead, I can ponder and rummage.
And perhaps give some time to my swaps.



SWAPS

• x3 12.5" hourglass blocks to send in June. The same block and gang as the Show & Tell. The following months will only be x2. August I'll only have one to send, but I'll receive x14. This is my 1st block swap and I'm kinda nervous about sending out to such experienced swappers. But, nothing ventured, nothing gained. And with that in mind............
  

• x1 25" x 25" (min) Kids Quilt to send in July. Oh boy, talk about being nervous about sending blocks, I've put my hand up for a quilt too. It's good, it's all good, you need challenges in life. It's a secret swap, which is soooo exciting. We each supplied our childrens age and gender and what kind of things they were into. I love having guidelines, it makes it a bit easier for a novice like me. I've bought the fabric, designed the quilt, and started cutting, I hope I bought enough!

I've also signed up for a swap with Maree from 'On My Verandah', it's a Paper Bag Swap, intriguing eh! Go over and check it out, it's also a secret swap, with a little bit (or a lot) of stitching. Partners won't be assigned until the end of the month. It's a little bit different to other swaps, which made it so very appealing to me.

Okay, it's like this - You fill a paper bag with:

1: 1 Fat 1/4 of Plain Fabric for a Stitchery..eg: Linen.Homespun.

2: 1 Fat 1/4 of Patterned Fabric.

3: 1 Skein of Embroidery Thread.

4: Ribbon or Ric Rac...any amount.

5: Buttons...any amount.

6: 1 Chocolate Bar...for Medicinal Purposes.

You can make what ever you want, but you have to use a bit of everything in the bag. The maker keeps what they don't use. I really like this swap, it will be so interesting you see what everyone makes.

Cheerio for now,
Mandy

Sunday Stash #4

So......this is part of my Kaffe Fassett fabric collection. Yup, there's more. But not quite as much as my Amy Butler collection! Mmmm, you see why this year HAS to be a year full of finishes.





I blame and LOVE my Mum for my collecting habit. Mum loved collecting Blue & White china, she loved it even more if she got it from a Car Boot Sale. Therefore our Kitchen was FULL of fantastic china. My Dad put shelves on every available kitchen wall to house jugs and teapots. They were mainly blue & white, but also Mason greens, Clarice Cliff oranges, and a lot of Torquay ware (of which I have a small collection of, as they hail from my birth part of the world). It was Mum's passion, it still is, and I Thank You Mum, for giving me the gift of appreciating colour and form and texture, and for passing on to me, the collecting bug.

Been Busy

And it's going to stay that way, oh happiness.

1st to show are: 2 "Melly & Me" "Meadow" bags for my good friend Jane.





2nd: two blocks that are on their way to Germany! A young lass (anyone under 30 is a young lass in my book!), on Flickr, asked for donations of 12" blocks. They will be made up into a quilt, and go around shows, taken by her local Quilt Shop. They were scraps from my stash, took no time to make, cost $4= to send, and were a lot of fun to make!!




3rd: The start of a 9 patch quilt, a quilt-along suggested by "Crazy Mom Quilts". We do a 9 patch a day, until we have 70! A lot of us can't stop at one a day though, I have done 6 tonight! I was playing catch up though. But it would have been oh so easy to just keep going. I'm using charm squares I've had for ages, I'm pairing them up and using the same fabric for the centres, I'm adding from the stash too. I'm not going to buy any fabric for this one!



4th: Spring Swap is posted, yay! I'm so glad it's on it's way to Abby. I so enjoyed being part of this Swap, I've joined a few more (opps, hee hee). I LOVED having to create within guidelines, and having a deadline! I hope she likes what I came up with. Here's a sneek peak.



I'm going to have to put a WIP list on my sidebar, I need to keep track of all my projects. I might do a 'projects in the pipeline' list to, I need reminding of what I want to do as well! Like the 'Ginger Spice' quilt, which I've already bought backing and background fabric for. There's going to be a lot of finishes this year.

cheerio for now,
Mandy

Sunday Stash #3 and Autum has arrived.

I'm so enjoying visiting my stash and reminding myself of what I actually have! And now that I have some sewing experience, I have fresh, or even a first idea of what I'm going to do with it.

I loved these butterflies, the Aqua of course, and the silhouetted flowers along the bottom. I immediately saw a bag, but am now wondering if a child's summer dress could be found in there. I'd probably need to brighten it up by adding some Aqua. Which, of course, shouldn't prove a problem for me!


and
Autumn, WOW

in our part of the world

takes my breath away

with it's stunning colours