The Birthday Boy

O.K..... Drum roll please...........................Here it is.......
A bottle/jar quilt, did you guess? I know some of you did (lol). I've always wanted to do this style of quilt but thought that it would be way too hard. Boy was I wrong, it was soooo easy. I added some little felt type yoyo's and buttons to give a bit more of a textured look.

Here it is all wrapped up and on its way to Wyatt's house this morning.....
Here's the birthday boy really giving it the once over before his cousin (my little princess) jumped in to help suss it out.....
and here's a bit of pressy sharing..... Ohhhhh, how sweet!!!
Happy Birthday Little Handsome Man.... I hope you are having a fantastic day.

Look @ what I Whipped Up

Last night I put the finishing touches on my nephews 1st birthday quilt. It's only a little one, probably big enough for a small cot. Here's a couple of sneak peaks.....

I can't reveal the whole quilt yet as it's as much a gift for his Mummy as it is for him. I hope this gets the creative side of every ones brains working, trying to figure out what design I've come up with. My nephews b'day is on Thursday so I'll do the big reveal then..... Promise.

This morning before work I managed to whip up this cute little bib. I put some plastic on the top layer of fabric to add a bit more durability.....

For the backing fabric I used a lemon gingham and then to fasten it up at the back I used a big chunky brass press stud......Next time I'll use bias tape around the edge of the fabric to finish it off instead of turning it inside out after stitching the inside seam as I found that really difficult with the thick plastic layer. What do you think?? Do you have any suggestions?

Oh, by the way...... I used my new machine 'Jan' (yes, that's right... she has a name now, Janome Jan) to whip both of these little beauties up. Oh so proud!!!!

Four Season Quilt Swap

Yesterday afternoon while DH watched the NRL footy semi-final I got a chance to finish my Four Season Doll Quilt for the Swap.I think it looks more like Summer than Autumn but what the heck!!!!! I used my new machine for this little project and let me tell you now..... It was like driving a BMW and comparing it to a Volvo (my old machine being the Volvo, sorry old girl). It was amazing!!!!!!

I even got a chance to use the machines embroidery function and did up my own little label. I've done a bit of picture editing to white/black out my name but other than that I think that it looks pretty professional!!! What do you think? Next time I'm going to try the blanket stitch on my machine to see how that turns out, I've heard that it's really good.

Oh well.... I'm now off to finish my nephews quilt..... Happy sewing everyone!!

What a Find!!!!

On Friday afternoon my sister and I decided to go down town to the local Op/Thrift shop for a bit of a look see. We were both surprised, once again, by all of the goodies that we found. I picked up this lot for 80 cents.....I then found these little embroidered pillow slips for 10 cents each. I thought that they'd be great incorporated into a child's quilt or garment.There was also this big swatch of fabric for 10 cents. It measures about 1.5m x 1m when folded out. I'm sure that it won't be hard to think of something to sew up with it. Does any one have any suggestions???

I've also picked up another apron for 10 cents to add to my collection although I don't think that this one is going to my apron stash, instead it's on its way to the fabric pile as I really love the strip of fabric in the middle. So unfortunately this poor little apron has sacrificed its life so that I can recycle about a 1/4 of a metre of fabric (sigh)......................

I just love books and when I came across these 2 beauties for 20 cents I couldn't resist.
Firstly, this book was purchased for my little princess and it's just adorable!!!! All of the pictures throughout this book are crafted out of fabric. It's all put together like a collage and then a photo is taken of it and that's a page in the book. You can't really tell but the front cover is crafted in this way also.

Then this book is for me of coarse.... Seen as though I'm new to the spinning scene this book looks like it'll come in very handy. It has heaps of tips for first timers and loads of pictures detailing, step by step, the process of spinning.

As you can see I've been very spoilt once again with all of these goodies. I hope that this inspires people to get out there and support there local Op/Thrift shop. I guess the old saying is right..... Someones trash is another persons treasure.

Have a great weekend.......

I finally got around to putting the press studs on those overalls I made back in this post. This picture really doesn't give them much justice but what the heck.... What do you think?They'll be a great gift for my little princess come Xmas time. I'd give them to her now, I love them that much, only they're a bit too big. They should definitely fit her in a couple of months. Team them up with a little white peter pan collared blouse with short puffy sleeves and some Mary-Jane's and hey presto.... a gorgeous little outfit. I guess that means I have 3 months to make her a blouse.

It's my nephews b'day next weekend so I decided to make him a little doll quilt to go with his present to add that homemade touch. I've already sewn half of the front of his little quilt but seen as though it's supposed to be a surprise and I know his mother is an avid reader of my blog I'm unable to show you my progress. I can however give you all a sneak peak at some of the fabrics that I've used......

You're probably thinking - 'OMG what is this crazy lady thinking with that horrible selection of colours', but let me tell you now..... This quilt is definitely original and it's sure to make my little handsome nephew smile when he sees it. It's a real eye catcher.

My beautiful sister's wedding over the weekend was AMAZING!!!! And as we speak she's in a plane flying to London for her honeymoon. It feels like only yesterday that I was doing the exact same thing, jet setting around the globe on my honeymoon, 2 years ago as of the 3rd of this month to be precise. Boy how time just fly's by.

My Latest Additions

This is just a quick post to give all of you curious ones out there a quick look at my new Janome sewing machine that I mentioned in my last post.....

Isn't she a beauty????? Can you see all of the stitches on the board at the top? Well that board flips and there's just as much on the reverse. I just love it. I have endless craft opportunities with this little gem.

Also..... As promised here are a some snap shots of my new Doll Quilt from the very talented Julia (her blog link is in my previous post).

The fabric is just divine, I love chocolate brown and dusty pinks, how did she know? The quilting is in a finger print design, now isn't that original?

My little baby sister is getting married in Griffith over the weekend. I can't believe it!!!! It still feels like she's only 13 not 23. We're leaving tomorrow morning and won't be home until Sunday night. So have a great weekend everyone and I'll catch you all on Monday.

Lost in Translation

A big hello goes out there to everyone in blog land. OMG!!!! It feels like I've been away for an eternity! My busy little world was turned upside down about a month ago by some unfortunate events, but I'm happy to report now that I'm finally getting back on track.

I have a bunch of things to share with everyone!!! For starters my little princess turned 1 on the 3rd of September. Here's the before and after pics of her b'day cake. It was supposed to be a Caterpillar..... Can you tell?

She's wearing the gorgeous little dress that Granny (my mum) made, especially for her 1st b'day party, too sweet!

I also became the proud owner of a brand new Janome Memory Craft 6600 at the start of this month. I can't tell you enough just how amazing this machine is!!!!! It quilts, embroideres, and so much more. It has so many buttons on it that I'm a bit scared to touch it. I'm slowly reading through the instruction book learning all about the different stitches as I go. My first project that I want to sew with my new Janome is the doll quilt for the four seasons quilt swap. I've cut it all out, all that's left to do is sew it up.

Speaking of this particular swap..... I received my doll quilt on Friday last week and have been meaning to come back to blog land to brag about it. It was made by the very talented Julia and I just LOVE IT!!!!!!!!! I'll post a pic of it later on this afternoon after I've taken a photo of it so you can see her work but if you want to see a pic of it before then just pop by her blog. She has about half a dozen pics of it posted here. The colours that she used are just amazing and her quilting was so original, I've never seen anything like it!!!!

I have loads more to tell you but I think that this post is getting a bit long winded. So until next time.......