Another Friday Finish - Another Baby Quilt!!!

I think I'm just about done on the Baby Quilt front.....holy balls there's a few babes arriving this time of the year ;)

Fabric was chosen by Mumma for a much anticipated baby girl after two gorgeous strapping boys.

She wanted real girly in pink, mint and a touch of grey. I added a bit of white just to let the eye rest and not get too pukey lol.

Tasha Noel and Aneela  Hoey do Mint really well I think so from there it was simply a case of adding a few fillers and Voila pink and minty green baby quilt!

I'm getting slightly better as using my fabric...only 2 years old?!

These days I'm a sucker for machine quilting the bindings on because I simply do not have the time to sit and hand bind like I used to, plus i know on a baby quilt it will withstand multiple trips through the machine and dryer.

 FYI I attach the binding to the front and iron it out, flip the quilt over and iron the binding down.

I use binding clips to keep it all together and for the first time used some of my Roxannes Glue Baste glue to hold the mitred corners down and was thrilled with the perfect corner it made and held...big thumbs up for that technique from now on.

Sandra quilted it all over in a gorgeous panto of swirls and hearts and Fleur de Lis

 

And she did it in 24hrs as the baby was ahead of schedule!! Awesome quilty people!

I would love some more of this Posy print by Aneela!

The texture is just gorgeous

And I had a quilt holder at home to help....under duress.

Nice to have another finish done and moved on to a new home!

linking up with Amanda Jean....2 weeks in a row....what is going on!! 

And also the lovely Myra from Busy Hands Quilts for Finish or Not Friday....thankyou for the invitation to link Myra :)

Fabric Play - Musings At 5am

So yes my day began at 5am....no, noone else in the house was awake, just me.

In the attempt to try and go back to sleep I started mentally planning my Black & White quilt swap...which then lead to thinking about skills I needed to learn...which then lead to curves.....aaaand yes I am now wide awake searching Drunkards path quilts on Google!!!

According to Instagram these were purchased via Massdrop in August last year! High time they were used and curves are mastered I think!

 Excuse the superlight pic...afternoon sun :)

Always choose the fabric first....done!

Now there are quite a few tutorials, and initially I was looking at glue basting....but then I saw that the master piecer of ANY crazy tricky block had a tutorial that showcased a technique void of pins or glue!!

Red Pepper Quilts, one of my favourite blogs and a super nice lady (Rita let me use her Hummingbird block for a Bee at no extra charge ) has a great pic filled tute that shows you exactly how she does it.

So while you're supposed to be cooking dinner....run downstairs to the garage and sew a block LOLOLOL

I must be learning something....test on not so favourite fabric first!

It was relatively stress free, shorten the stitch, go slowly and voila!!

About 1/8" out at the finishing end....I might've stretched the large piece just a smidge

Next attempt....starch the background.......beginning and ends meet beautifully...YAY!

I pressed the seams to the darker fabric and there was no resistance or puckering regardless of the orientation of the curve...bonus!

And although both came up slightly smaller than the expected 7 1/2" unfinished block... I'm pretty happy with the result

The curved seams match beautifully ....so starching may be helpful but not a game changer, at least not at this size....the 3 1/2" template could be a whole different ball game?!

So the next step when I'm not supposed to be sewing something else???.....is to get some more Drunk blocks under my belt...drinking may or may not be recommended after a few...

I will let you know.......

Sunday Stash #27 - Mummy Went Cray Cray On a Fabric Binge

Yes it's true!

 I actually was fearful for the nutrition of my children and the meals they were going to have to digest if I continued my fabric fueled buying frenzy while away!

First of three stops! was to The Fabric Store, I'm in a bit of a let's make clothes for me and Little OWB phase so I was buying up large.....lets not talk anymore about it...sigh

There's two things I Attribute to this manic shopping frenzy

1. Uninterrupted trains of thought and total quiet within a 2 metre radius of one's person

2. Google Maps that responds to the search "Fabric Shop" and lists everything within a 20km radius

These lovelies are courtesy of Cushla's in Devonport. I didn't actually need anything but started playing around with fat quarters and then felt bad about leaving them behind.

 They're all Kaffe bar the 2nd Spools in Orange and 3rd Dials in Neutral from the top which are from Melody Miller's line Trinket and Kimberley Kight's line Rotary Club respectively.the bottom stripe is by Michael James for Free Spirit

These were in a dinky little shop that stocked a bit of everything, perfect for some easy Summer tops for me and not expensive....phew

Then this was waiting for me at home courtesy of Quilthome Angels and a True Colours sale they had....there's just no question, these are like basic must haves in my stash!

Everyone needs a little Tula,Heather and Anna Maria in their life.

Now please someone tell me how to work and be at least an average Mum and have enough hours in the day to sew LOLOLOL

Linking up with my Delicious Sparkly Boy and his 200th Stash!!

Friday Finishes - Psychedelic Legs & Bunnies

Friday again??

 This last part of the year is flicking  past me like a Kardashian hair piece!!

I don't even know if I've even had an October...although my credit card statement says  " oh yes you have Missy!" LOL

I escaped to Auckland for a work commitment and decided to extend it into a Mummy weekend.....shopping,resting,eating and using the bathroom facilities all by my self!!

The Fabric Store.....I went 3 times...I now have a loyalty card....sigh

I didn't take photos of all the deliciousness...I couldn't be too crazy, they were keeping a close eye on me what with all the stroking and sighing going on!!

But I bought alot of fabric and a little Liberty Fabric Knit for Little OWB....cause that makes it seem like you're really in there for practical reasons (rolls eyes!)

I followed the Best Tutorial Ever!! by Dana from Made Everyday, here's the link

I do have an overlocker (serger) but I used a little of both techniques and seriously you could easily just use a regular machine if you just read you manual (who does that until you have a screw up) and use the recommended stretchy stich or just a zig zag.

My mother made our clothes and all our ball dresses and one of my sisters wedding dresses so I'm used to handmade....looks like little OWB will be the same YAY

Although I think it's just the opportunity to pose and be the Star that she is LOL

In Quilty news I finished a WIP that has been lying around for two years!!!

Following on from last weeks post which was all about baby quilts and critters, I used the Bunny portion of the Fancy Forest pattern by Elizabeth Hartman to finish a teenage quilt top.This girl is turning 15 in January and is mad on Bunnies and used to love pink and black...here's hoping it's still the case LOL 

Phew you made it! See you on Sunday for my stash report....

Linking up with Amanda Jean and her gorgeous Pink Lemonade quilt and Fort Worth Fabric Studio for Fabric Frenzy Friday!!

And Behold Some Finishes - Baby Quilts!

Yes it's me again there is no need to adjust your screens!

I'm ever so slowly getting back into the blogging groove so let's start with a couple of finishes and a f*#k up just to keep it real LOL

The pattern is Fancy Forest by Elizabeth Hartman and as much as I love it I am never going to get around to making it....lets be real,...so I've been breaking the critters down into doable amounts and using them for baby quilts...high fives herself!

Little OWB doesn't nap in the afternoon anymore....so so sad for the Mumma...so quilting is restricted to nighttime or when she's happy to Netflix for an hour.

Hazel Hedgehog had an unwanted facelift due to night sewing when tired...DO NOT SEW TIRED

Fortunately the redo's ( is that a word ?) went alot more smoothly and in the the Mummas chosen colour scheme of yellow, grey and white, they turned out pretty snazzy

This quilt was for my new nephew and since Dad is an all round Kiwi Bloke (read,  fishes, builds stuff and likes to shoot stuff ) I put some deer on the back in a lovely soft flannel from my local Spotlight. Sandra from Wise Owl Quilting did a very cool all over spiky panto that looks great on a hedgehog quilt!

Aaaand since there's nothing worse than the new baby arriving after much anticipation and he actually does NOTHING of interest to a 3 year old...Big sister got a quilt too LOL

And since her theme is Owls look what Sandra did!! Owls and Mumma and Dadda birds with two babies...cuteness overload!

And the O's were also for Olivia not just Owl.....

This was the perfect amount of fabric for the background but oh my lordy lordy what a beeyatch it was to work with!! It's a DS Yard Goods fabric from when Denyse Schmidt was designing for Spotlight and although it has a lovely soft hand it has a VERY open weave and frayed like you wouldn't believe

But it quilted and washed up so purdy, so I forgive you terrible fabric

And a couple of closeups of the sparkly Hazel and the gorgeous quilting

Not quite the same size but both big enough to wrap a couple of cuties in!

Linking up with the girls from Quilt Story for Fabric Tuesday, cause it's been foreeeeever

Playing Catch Up - Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap

Hi Peeps!

This is a retro post brought to you by the Month of October in the Year 2015?!! holy balls that's a lifetime ago!

Anyway... I participated in the Schnitzel & Boo Mini Quilt Swap

I chose the Take Wing pattern by Lillyella .

OMG she is a genius in the paper piecing world, you've probably seen the ridiculously crazy gorgeous Epic Halloween Quilt which is being run as a QAL by Flying Parrot Quilts.

The Midnight Bite pattern is the block which captures my eye the most....already added to the WIP list....sigh

Anywhoo I digress...this is the back of Take Wing....shes a bulky girl and carries alot a little around the middle like most of us Mummas ;)

I chose a Robert Kaufman metallic spot for the background....just to give her a little sparkle to go along with her shimmery wings. 

I am a crap  novice FMQ at best and although I love trying new and time involved patterns for these minis, I get a little frustrated at the lack of my FMQ skill.

The back features a gorgeous Kaffe print that I've hoarded forever...was keeping just for this mini lololol

Here she is in all her Sparkliness...totally a word!....I was very sad to see her go

A couple of extras my go to Heather Bailey pincushion and cute skull fobs...everyone needs a bit of skullduggery in their life!

Mini Quilts swaps are a great way to try something new and small, maximum size is usually 24" but can be less. Plus you usually have heaps of time between sign ups and mailing deadlines......don't know why then I always leave mine until the last minute??

Catch ya later Lovelies x