Crazy West Indies Love!

Soooooooooo, I went and bought those 2 Jennifer Paganelli West Indies fat quarter bundles. They had been sitting in my etsy faves for a while, and then they became reduced, and my resolve.......completely evaporated.

I have not regretted it for an instant....I just adore those vibrant blues and purples together, with that meager dash of red and green. Those bundles made it to the cutting mat in super duper record time!

I wanted to keep it simple, I wanted to show off those fabulous birds and I wanted to play with the contrast of the blue and purple. Mostly though, I admit, I wanted to make a quick quilt!

How can you ever go wrong with half square triangles?

I had some inspirational help added to my quilt plan scribblings.

Layout idea #1.

Layout idea #2.

But you know what, yes I loved them but......errrrrrr too contrived, too obvious, sooooooooo....... I played around and I played around and I finally settled for, and really love, for who knows what reason, this!!




It's wild, it's crazy, and I really, really love how my eye travels all the way around the quilt. It shouldn't work really!

For those eagle eyes out there, yes I am going to use the Joel Dewberry green woodgrain. It will be a border, as wide as I can make with the quantity I have. I plan to make it stretch further by putting west indies and woodgrain hst's in each corner. My main hst's are large, like 9.5" large!

Thanks for popping by,
cheerio for now
x Mandy

want a Christmas giggle?

here's a little Mandalin Christmas fun!

might take a min to download

x Mandy

getting back to blogging!

Pics of latest sewing to hopefully start the flow.......

Nook Stock

3x6 Bee

Hexagon quilt progressing

Market stock

opps, forgot to say cheerio

cheerio for now!
x Mandy

New Market in the Mountains

This Market looks just the place to hang out at on the 1st Saturday of every month! I know I'm going to be there. Check out the FB page here, there is also a list of stallholders and pics of their work. The fun (officially) starts at 10am and goes on until 3pm, what a sensible time to start a market, breakfast first and then a visit to the market, totally perfect! And enough time if your driving up from Sydney.

I'm very seriously thinking of applying for a stall for November, I haven't enough stock for Oct plus I'm doing the Falls ArtFest at the end of October. So, unless it all sells at the ArtFest (ha!) I'll should have enough stock........so, so tempting.

Let me know if you decide to go, yes you!

cheerio for now

x Mandy

Spring has sprung!

Spring in my garden ~2011, a photo by mandalin18 on Flickr.

Even little bits of colour can lift the spirits out of the winter doldrums! There's blossom and bee's, blue skies and bluebells about to erupt into bloom! Yay for spring, I love you!

Be back soon,
x Mandy

Recent Swap

Scrappy Mug Rug Swap (mostly), a photo by mandalin18 on Flickr.

Scrappy Mug Rug Swap, the Haiku round!

I received my adorable mug rug today, boy did it put a smile on my face! 'Kinda Obsessed', lol, you could say that, you'd be right if you did. And my DH would wholeheartedly agree, hee hee. Jan pegged me fair and square, I love, love, love it!

It's so much having little quilts other people have made for me, around me. The crosses quilt came from Leah, the gal pals from Dolores and now the obsessed lass from Jan. I just love swaps!

I hope my little free wheeling hexagon mug rug doesn't take too long to arrive at my partners.

cheerio for now!
x Mandy

DQS11 ~finished

DQS11 ~finished, a photo by mandalin18 on Flickr.

and posted!

I'm so pleased with how this one finished up, the neighbourhood cat has given it his seal of approval too! phew!

I enjoyed every process making this mini, from the fabric to the paper piecing to the quilting. And I smiled when I handed it over to the post lady. Hopefully it'll make a quick journey, as I have to come clean and say I'm late!!! I've always flown close to the wind in sending my quilties, but this time, well, I missed the first few tides.

cheerio for now,
thanks for visiting.

I really enjoy reading your comments, but don't seem to have enough time these days to reply. Perhaps it's because I'm sewing more, how ironic!

xox Mandy

DQS11 ~top finished

DQS11 ~top, a photo by mandalin18 on Flickr.

yeeeeeeeharrrrrrrrrr

It's finished, well the top anyway! I've put my heart and soul into this little pretty. I love it immensely. Hard to give away? No! I loved making it for this particular person, and I will be thrilled when she finally receives it.

The top finished at 17.5", and it now looks like a mini medallion to me, rather than an intricate 12" block, yay! Some simple quilting tomorrow, probably a fair bit, but nothing grand. Except maybe in the border before the 1/2" squares. Dunno, not sure about the binding either. I have an urge to use a hunter green, I've not enough of the pink, which would have worked beautifully.

I'm having to post to my blog from Flickr as I can't access blogger!! *sigh*

Cheerio for now,
x Mandy

DQS11

DQS11, a photo by mandalin18 on Flickr.

racing to the finish line!

x Mandy

DQS11 ~ a start!

Well, goodness me, knock me over with a feather, I've started! I'm usually a slow coach with mini's, completing just before the deadline. But I'm fired up about this one, I'm loving the process of finishing a border and then turning my creativity on to the next one.

So, here's the medallion middle and first border....measuring 5"

And the second hst one....just a tad over 8" now

I'd planned to put a flying geese border next, but am now thinking of a plain strip one. A large majority of medallion quilts that I found on google, have these strip borders between the pieced ones. More thought needed, ho hum....I do have a Dolly mini quilt to finish for a good friend in Virginia!!

Cheerio for now then,
xx Mandy

DQS11 ~ we're off and running......

How do you like these designs? Pretty complex? Tiny?

Yeah, all of the above, but their not mine! My 7 year old chap drew these as I was playing around with graph paper for my 'true mini' quilt. He even drew them tiny as I told him we were making mini mini's. I LOVE YOU mister. What a clever creative chap you are, and I will make one of these and sent to my partner, along with the one I really want to make.

When you all find out my partner you, will see how absolutely perfect this is.......

These are the fabrics I'm going to use, I haven't quite finalised the design. It is going to be a mini medallion quilt and I want to put as many borders as I possibly can, but still keep it small. I have to work it out accurately to keep within the swap guidelines. I relish this challenge!

Okay, I'm off back to the sewing machine.
Be back soon!
x Mandy

adjustment.........and distraction

I'll not talk too much, I won't dwell, the picture above says enough. It's been a tough adjustment to make. Owner of two dogs, owner of one and then none, all within 12 weeks. I miss many, many things.

This chap came visiting the morning after Ruby passed away. He was a very welcome distraction. He pops in two or three times a day now for a cuddle, a play and to sit on our outside table in the sun. He brings us laughter and smiles and contentment.


I'll be back soon with some sewing, I did managed to do a little over the School Hols.

Cheerio,

x Mandy

blue........

blue........, a photo by mandalin18 on Flickr.

email & Sydney Craft & Quilt SHow

I'm having email troubles with my rivendell addy. So sorry if I haven't replied to an email you've sent, I'm not ignoring you!!! Hope to get it fixed soon, but I am nowhere close to being tech proficient. *sigh*

here comes the fun bit!

I took a trip to Sydney for the annual Sydney Craft & Quilt Show on the 22nd June. What a day! It was a fabulous, busy, wild and too short! Leaving home at 6am, I met up with my lovely bloggy friend Rachael on the train. And we got to Sydney at 8:15am, just enough time to grab a coffee and chai from Gloria Jeans on our walk to Darling Harbour. Here is Rachael & me, I'm the shorter poddgy one!

At our 1st stop at Saffron Craig's Show & Tell talk, we met up with Lynne for the 1st time. I've *known* Lynne through the Flickr group Old Red Barn Co. for some time and it was fantastic to meet up with and spend the day with her.

Isn't Lynne's dress fantastic! Of course she's a very clever lady and made it herself! I love Patty Young's Flora & Fauna range, and it looked stunning as a dress. Rachael and I have tentative plans to make an A line skirt out of a Prints Charming scrap pack we both bought. They were all different and we had fun choosing. There are denim's, cords, twill and cotton fabrics, a fun project in waiting! There was/is a sew along on somewhere, I just have to get myself organised, ha!!!

The purple fling is still very much on!

As is the black, white, grey and red one!

The black and white are for my Scrap Vomit quilt. The Home Dec weight Heath was an exciting find, it will go fabulously with the Alexander Henry Black & White Home Dec Owls I have.

The highlight event of the day for me was the Screen Printing Workshop we did with Louise Snook. What an incredibly lovely lady she is. Man, I have wanted to have a go at this for the longest time. I felt totally in my element and loved. every. second!! I came home with a kit of course. Screen, linen, lino, cutter and 3 inks. No squeegee though! But, I popped into my local framing and art supplies shop, Jakeman's, and wonder of wonder there was the exact one I wanted. Below is the kit minus the squeegee, AND, the tea towel I made at the show! A Kokeshi Doll of course, drawn and cut out by little ole me. Oh what fun I am going to have soon, I just can't wait....

After reliving all that excitement I have to go have a cuppa!

Cheerio for now, I'll be back towards the end of the week with a little sewing post.

x Mandy

A plethora of 2 1/2" squares

It's all I've been doing this week! It all started with this block. Made at a sewing morning with the lovely Rachaeldaisy. It's the start of my Scrap Vomit Quilt, which will be going on my bed!! yeehar!

It's now progressed to this!

Rachael and I also did a scrap swap (I owe you Rachael) and the majority of the two completely scrappy blocks are fabrics Rachael gave me. I put a Reindeer and a Flamingo in the centre of those blocks to remind me this lovely lass gave them to me.

I've also started my 3x6 Bee blocks for the second quarter. I thought I'd better get going as I'm probably going to be a caretaker of a hive in the 3rd quarter. I'm pretty excited about that!



Well, there you go, that's my sewing week!

Cheerio for now.

x Mandy

my secret obsession

Kerry has a linky going on over on her blog which is quite fun. I thought I'd join in as I DO have a mini secret obsession! I saw one of these quite a while back on I'm a ginger monkey's blog, long, long time ago. I thought it was pretty darn cute, Oh how I searched, but to no avail. THEN.....a couple of months ago I saw a mini one, there was only two to choose from, but I got both!!! Now every time I go near this shop I have to go in and check there aren't any in there I haven't got already. Ummmm, my collection has risen to 7.

My secret obsession is Mini Lalaloopsy dolls......

Crumbs Sugar Cookie

Spot Splatter Splash

Peanut Big Top

Dot Starlight

Jewel Sparkles

Bea Spells-a-Lot

Mittens Fluff 'n' Stuff

I'm building up to purchasing an original sized one, still haven't decided which yet though, but as soon as I do, I'll let you know Mum!!! hee hee

Thanks for visiting

x Mandy

Goodie Bag Swap ~done & dusted!

So, I found I had a problem. My flying geese were not going to fit on the bag that I wanted to make! Did I have a sneaking suspicion before, ummm it had crossed my mind that perhaps I should buy the pattern before I delved into making the geese! But, ah well, I'm very pleased how it all ended up.

A pouch,

to go with...


the bag!

The bag pattern in the 'Jane Market Bag', it's a fabulously easy shopping tote to make, and perfect for grocery shopping. I'll be making quite a few kazillion for pressies I'm sure. The pattern can be found here, it's a downloadable pdf.

Cheerio!

x Mandy