The Unexpected Quilt

This past weekend I was invited to demonstrate some quilty techniques and projects at my local Spotlight, in celebration of their National Craft Month.

Although the crowd was small, I had a lovely relaxing time sewing, chatting, learning and sewing some more.

Among many things, I demonstrated how to cut, piece and join these three 9-Patch blocks:

– The Shoofly

– The Snowball

– The Friendship Star

Blog pic 1And it’s with the Friendship Star block that I found myself unexpectedly started a new quilt…

One of the projects I was asked to make was a quilt featuring the Friendship Star block as its focus.

Blog pic 2So I chose these colours: Navy and Cream Homespun paired with an awesome Cynthia Rowley Prism print.

The print fabric really helps the ‘star’ part of the block to pop out! I love it!

blog pic 3So I’m six blocks in from a potential 25 to be made.

I’m not sure when that will actually happen…

Uni started back this week and I’m already crushing under a new wave of assessments and deadlines.

This weekend is out as I’m taking a mini-break to our nation’s capital – Canberra – to get me some culture! (We’ll be visiting lots of art galleries and exhibitions!)

I’m so impatient to get this quilt going, as I know it’ll be a beauty once it’s finished!

Plus I’ve already promised it as a display piece for my lovely friends at Spotlight…

Hmm, I think I see some late nights looming in the future!

Happy Sewing Friends! xx

TUTORIAL | Four Patch Block

Good Morning!!

Here’s another little tutorial for all of you to peruse at…

Do you know of anyone who is just starting out in patchwork and would benefit from watching some quick information-filled video tutorials?

Well, by all means share this with them! I make these tutorials specifically with those people in mind!

See the playlist here to watch more of my quilty tutorials!

On to other things, it’s summing up to be a few busy days of sewing and quilting ahead as I’ve been invited to lead the sewing/patchwork/quilting demonstrations at my local Spotlight store on Saturday as part of their Sewing Fest/Craft Month celebrations!

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I’ll be demonstrating basic techniques such as how to quilt and bind a quilt along with how to construct a few selected 9-Patch Blocks designs.

It should be a fun day and I’m really looking forward to it!

Look out for a post some time early next week to see what I got up to that day!

Happy Sewing Friends! xx

‘Golden Trail’ Eye Candy!

My Golden Trail mini quilt is that next step closer to be completed.

All I need to do now is sew on the back: a hanging sleeve and label to be Show ready!

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Happy Sewing Friends! xx

 

Follow my blog with Bloglovin

Oh, something very exciting has happened!

I’ve just signed my blog up onto Bloglovin’!

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Bloglovin‘ is an awesome website where you can keep track of all of your favourite blogs you love to follow in one handy little place!

I’m currently having lots of fun trawling through the DIY & CRAFTS category and finding some awesome new blogs to read!

So much inspiration to be found!!

If you would like to follow me on Bloglovin’, click right here!

Happy Bloglovin’ Friends! xx

TUTORIAL | Scrappy Log Cabin Block

I love making blocks with my scrap fabrics.

There’s something about mixing un-coordinated fabrics together to make a block look coordinated that strangely appeals to me.

(I hope that makes sense?)

I think it’s also the thrill of pairing fabrics you’ve used in separate projects and fusing them together into one little patchwork square – ahh, the memories!

(It’s the simple pleasures, right?!)

In my opinion, the Log Cabin block has to be one of the best stash-busting blocks you can make.

It’s quick, easy, super simple and can be so visually affective you swoon at the sight of it everyday!

So here I present to you a little video tutorial of how I make a very free and easy Scrappy Log Cabin Block!

If you’ve watched this and have any questions, post a comment here or on my YouTube channel and I’ll be more than happy to answer them.

Do you have any other blocks you would like me to demonstrate? Pop your suggestions in a comment and I’ll take them on board!

Happy Sewing Friends! xx

I Don’t Just Make Quilts…

I’m also a happy ‘crafter’!

Out of the different crafty things I like to make, the most favourite thing I love to create is wooden jewellery!

There’s something about working with an ‘organic’ type of medium that solely captures me…

I love the simplicities of their texture and aesthetic, the complexities of their shape and size, their smell (is that a bit gross to admit??) as well as the sound that the wooden beads make when softly clashing together.

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Now this type of crafting isn’t rocket science!

To make, I simply use millinery elastic (or hat elastic) and a whole bunch of wooden beads.

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IMG_0629I then proceed to thread them on, tying a solid knot with the two ends once I’ve reached the desired length! (Think back to the days of when you would thread painted dry pasta onto string! Ahh, those were the days!!)

It’s a super simple method but one hundred percent effective!

The itch to make something new for myself came when I was innocently perusing the craft aisles in Spotlight and came across a huge bag of mixed wooden beads for $4! Bargain! And knowing I already had millinery elastic at home, I knew I was onto some cheap crafting fun when I got home!

So here’s what I’ve made! Just a few easy-to-wear bracelets and necklaces…

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Happy Crafting Friends!! xx

Excuse Me, My Quilt Nerd Is Showing!

QShow 1

I tell ya, there’s nothing like receiving Quilt Show entry forms in the mail to get you back into the swing of quilting again!

After a lull of about three weeks or so of near to no sewing or quilting, it was a wonderful feeling to get back on the machine.

I admit that over the past weeks, I’ve been giving more of my time to my YouTube channel than to my sewing machine. This is due to –

a) a lack of enthusiasm

b) the horrid Australian humidity that’s been hanging around

But once that burning desire to get stuck into some quilting rose up in me early this morning, I was truly back in my ‘happy place’!

So over the course of the day I got lickety-split into finishing my Sydney Quilt Show entry.

Before basting the mini-quilt up, I instagrammed a photo of the heart-racing intricacies that are on the back of the quilt-top.

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So divine! So intense! So lovely!

I absolutely love the way that the shapes fit and conform next to each other as well as the differing lines and textures the seams create! But at the same time you can differentiate the shapes that form the block… (Excuse me, my Quilt-Nerd is showing!) It’s these little things that capture my heart and passion for patchwork (and quilting!).

After today, I believe I can honestly say that I am hands-down, cross-my-heart in love with making mini-quilts! They’re easy, fast, non-fussy and oh-so cute!

I tried to capture just how small this little mini is when I was quilting by comparing it with the size of my hand…

Hand vs. Mini Quilt
Hand vs. Mini Quilt

This quilt is itty-bitty and I love it!

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I’ve decided that the quilt will be entered under the name Golden Trail – I think that works best.

It’s currently hanging up to my left ready for me to lovingly finish hand-stitching the binding and hanging sleeve!

QShow 3

Excitement is at its maximum tonight!!

Oh gosh.

I just love quilting!

Best hobby ever!

Oops! There’s my Quilt-Nerd showing again! 😀

Happy Sewing Friends! xx

Sewing Room Tour!

If you’re a regular reader of this darling little blog, you may have notice that I didn’t post up a weekly WIP update on Monday, as I have for the past month or so.

This is mainly because there is nothing to really update you with i.e.. nothing has changed since I last wrote about my WIPs. (My laziness/procrastinating ways are finally showing!)

However, this week I feel very proud to introduce to you a tour of my sewing room!

I love this space!

It’s where I feel the most comfortable.

Where I feel the safest.

The most inspired.

Freely creative.

And connected to the rest of the world.

In the video I show you where I sew/quilt (duh!) but also where I write, shoot, edit and publish my blogs and videos.

It may not be the best kind of sewing space as some others may have (look up ‘sewing studios’ on Pinterest and you’ll know what I’m talking about!) but I’m thankful for my mum giving up her little study space for me to have my very own little sewing space!

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I also made a second video with some other extra bits I couldn’t quite fit into the first Sewing Room Tour video.

If you want to check that out, click right here!

Happy Sewing Friends! xx

TUTORIAL | Square-in-a-Square Block

I’ve had this video tutorial in the planning for a while – ever since I filmed my Fast Forward Quilting video last year in early September, where the Square-in-a-Square Block features.

Small Plates Lap Quilt (2013)
Small Plates Lap Quilt (2013)

The Square-in-a-Square Block, in my opinion, has to be one of the most easiest, quickest and adaptive blocks available for all levels and types of quilters.

It can be made into any size, using a range of differing centre-square and sashing measurements and can be made into a block as traditional or as modern/quirky as you wish it to be!

Give it a go and see what you think!

Way back in 2006, when I first became interested in making quilts, I used the Square-in-a-Square Block to make my very first quilt!

My First Quilt! (2006)
My First Quilt! (2006)

So essentially, this block was the very first block I had ever constructed!

If you’re a beginner I hope this little tutorial, in some small way, can help you in your own patchwork/quilting journey!

Happy Sewing Friends! xx

 

 

WIP Weekly Update | #4

Procrastination.

It gets the best of us most of the time.

As for me, it’s pretty much all of the time.

The 12 Types of Procrastinators Comic by Angela Liao | Pinterest
The 12 Types of Procrastinators Comic by Angela Liao | Pinterest

Drawing your attention to the comic above, I can define my past week of quilting procrastination as the following –

The Cleaner | Sewing room must be tidy before any quilting can get done!

The Listmaker | I must do this, this and this before I can sit and quilt so I don’t feel guilty.

The Sidetracker| See last week’s WIP Weekly Update post – something about a Quilt Show entry that needed to be started but isn’t due for another five months!!

The Internet Researcher | It’s vital I keep up to date with the latest trends and must-haves in the quilting world…right? (Plus, cat videos are always crucial to watch, no matter what type of procrastinating you’re doing!)

The Snacker | Who doesn’t love a good snack when you’re purposely avoiding doing something?

The Watcher | I randomly started watching season nine of ER this week… Boy that show is good!!

The Perpetuator | Come 9 o’clock, I’m ready for bed! I tell myself: ‘Tomorrow will be the day I get stuck into it…hmm, maybe… I do still have four more eps of ER to watch before I finish the season.’

It’s a strange and amazing thing at what I’ll let myself do and tell myself to do just to put off doing some quilting.

Please don’t misunderstand: It’s not that I don’t like quilting a quilt; heck I love it to bits!

It’s just the initial getting started – the motivation, the time, the mindset, the energy and the heat (quilting a quilt in the middle of an Australian Summer bites!).

So that’s my excuse this week for not doing any work on my WIPs.

I’ll always be the first to admit that I easily succumb to procrastination’s sticky fingers. It’s a deep, deep flaw that resides in this little quilter…

I promise to do better over this coming week!

Happy Sewing Friends!! xx