I am sew mad

Things have been quiet on the blogging front, as I have been busy finishing a yet-to-be revealed quilt (I only have two followers so it's no surprise who it might be for!).

I've also been busy whipping up lots of little projects in the last few days. The girls asked for a frog each using the Purl Frog pattern that I made a few posts back. No, these two below aren't mating - the perfectionist in me placed the the pink one on top to hide the two extra sets of eyes that Mia drew on her blue one with texta.



I made three skirts using the free SUPER SUPER EASY Lazy Days skirt pattern by Oliver & S. I modified it by making binding for the bottom instead of using ribbon as per the pattern, plus I added pockets. Firstly I made one for a friend's daughter's upcoming third birthday. And of course then my girls each wanted one!







I have managed to survive thus far without a pin cushion, but I have been wanting one for months. So I made the Very Easy Pin Cushion using another free pattern from the Purl Bee. I used some fabric given to me by my dear friend from The Woolly Tree, just waiting for the right project. I've stuck all my pins in it now and I love it!

Amy Butler Frenchy Bag

After owning Amy Butler's pattern for her Frenchy Bag for six months, I finally made it today! I attended a workshop at Sewco with a lovely woman called Stephanie.

I used the two fabrics that I'm MOST in love with in the whole wide world at the moment. Do you sometimes love fabric so much you want to eat it? Okaaaaay, maybe not, but that is how I feel about Amy Butler's Nouveau Trees in Green. I also used a Liberty print that I've had for years which has been too precious to use until now.



I used homespun for the lining. I love the pockets too.



Can you tell how much I LOVE this bag?!!!



Stephanie will be doing another class on Sunday 11 April, this time making Amy Butler's Birdie Sling bag.

Raspberry lime splice quilt

I made this quilt for my dear friend Anna, to celebrate her birthday, blessingway and the upcoming birth of her baby. She is having her baby at home very soon, and I am honoured that she has asked me to support her at the birth (along with a team of other women including the indescribably amazing midwife I had for Mia's birth at home).

Six months ago I spotted Fiona Hammond's pattern for “Raspberry Lime Splice Quilt” in Down Under Quilts magazine (Issue 128, Jan 2009). I immediately wanted to make it for Anna, with it's curvaceous curves reminding me of a pregnant woman. Unfortunately it's not one of the issues they have available online, so if you want to make it you'll have to order a back copy or get the issue from the library.

I made it in less than 2 weeks, in time for her blessingway.

As I mentioned in my previous post I used these fat quarters, mostly by Kaffe Fassett and Amy Butler, from the half price sale at Patches at Indooroopilly.

The finished quilt, with borders and binding on!



If you go to Fiona Hammond's blog you can see this same design in other colourways.

I gave the quilt to Anna before her blessingway, and we used it in the middle of the circle:



Blessings and love to Anna for her birth!

Frogs, fairies and fabulous fabric!

I made this cute frog on Friday for my friend Anna's son Louis for his first birthday (I started one hour before the party started!). I used this free pattern from The Purl Bee. They have an amazing array of free patterns for sewing and more.





I finished Mia's fairy quilt today for her 2nd birthday this coming Thursday.





Mia at Michelle's place saying "I lub these" about these gorgeous Amy Butler "Love" fat quarters that Sarah bought me from Patches at Indoorpilly's half price fat quarter sale. I lub them too!



I just had to check out their sale myself and bought these yummy goodies. Hmm, wonder whose baby will get a quilt containing these.....



...and these (I bought the white Moda Jelly roll from Patches too).....?





Looking forward to some lovely sewing time over the next few weeks making quilts for two precious friends who will be greeting their babies soon. I'll be infusing the quilts with love, strength and support with every stitch.

Christmas crafting craziness!

Well, Christmas Day has passed and I managed to make almost all the projects I'd planned (I'll make a Christmas fairy wall hanging for us and stockings for girls next year!).

Fairy wall hangings for friends & family. I used the Christmas Fairy panels by Michael Miller. I also made Christmas cards out of this fabric.





Moopy Bunny, inspired by my friend Anna's crafting and using a pattern in the book More Softies. I used all fabrics out of my stash. It was for my 6 month old cousin Charlotte.



Babushka dolls for Mia, using the gorgeous Kristen Doran Matryoshka Doll fabric panel.



And a little bag to keep them in:



Bag for Lily. I used the pattern Mermaid's Memory Bag in Homespun magazine, created by their 2008 Young Designer of the Year Emily James. She made it in blues and greys but I knew only pinks would cut it for Lily! The handle can become a necklace and is made out of glass beads, buttons and plastic beads.





I was determined to make a quilt for Paul, even though I only started a week before Christmas! Several months ago I had spied a great design by Linda Roberts in Down Under Quilts magazine. She had been inspired by an optical illusion on the website www.coolopticalillusions.com. Her project featured what reminded me of a football (soccer ball) and used purple and yellow (Paul's West End Partisan's team's colours!). I just had to make it. I machined sewed on the binding for the first time (thanks Sar!) and I am really happy with it. As much as i enjoy the serenity of hand sewing the binding on, I have a feeling I'll be machining from now on! Paul loves it.



And lastly, I was also determined to whip up these two table runners on Christmas Eve, one for us and one for our neighbours. I used precut charm squares in the range Crazy Eight by Sandy Gervais for Moda.





I feel a bit lost now without a project/quilt on the go! However I am already starting to think about a quilt for Mia's birthday next month. She's the only member of our family now who doesn't have a quilt! I'm going to make her one using Michael Miller's Flower Fairy Blossom Fairy panels and the large Apple Blossom Fairy panel. These two fairies sitting on a branch remind me of my girls! There are also new special babies arriving earthside early next year, so I won't be idle for long!

Aqua Azzuri is all mine!

I am the very very lucky winner of the stunning quilt called "Aqua Azzuri", which was raffled by the Endometriosis Association of Qld. The quilt was made by Judi Cogliati and I just LOVE it!!!

Judi came round yesterday and gave us the quilt. She did a stunning job.



I've put the quilt on my Grandma's bed which is downstairs in our guest room where I sew. It will inspire me!



I just love this fabric:



The girls love it too!



I was really amazed and touched to win this quilt. I am so passionate about women's health and quilting!

I'll be taking part in their challenge to create blocks for their next raffle quilts.

Jo's quilt

After much hard work by many people, I finally finished Jo's quilt! I delivered it to her today and saw gorgeous little Otto.

It seems like a long time ago that I was collecting some of the finished blocks at the Maternity Coalition Xmas pizza party at Bruce & Erika's:


These were the washed fabrics for the sashing and binding, which Jo picked out:



Thanks to everyone who gifted some lovely scraps for the posts:



Drum roll please....the front of the finished quilt!:



The back, with all your messages on printable fabric:



I won't upload pics of them all, but these are some of the blocks set in the quilt. Jo's square:



The square Jo made for Hugo:



The square Jo made for Isobel:



Anna's square:



Heather's square:



Alex's square:



Megan's square:



Julie's square:



Corinne's square:



Suz's square:



The quilt label:



Little Otto was asleep when we arrived today. However I got these lovely photos of Jo and Simon with the quilt:





It was an absolute pleasure to coordinate this quilt for Jo, to honour her as a dear friend and fellow activist. I also loved sharing my newfound love of quilting with you all!