Single Girl

Well, I've joined the Single Girl Support Group (for family/friends that have not heard of this support group, it's to help out with a quilt called the "Single Girl" ... yes hubby and I are still very much together and still in love :)

I'm loving blues and greens at the moment, so these are the colours I think I'm going to go for with my single girl quilt. Not all of these fabrics might make the final cut (I may have a couple darker blue fabrics still on their way through to me in the post :) and I may not go with this order of fabrics .... but what do you think of the prints or colours? Are there any that are glaring at you, just asking to please be removed?

I am thinking of going with a light grey for the background. Pictured is Moda Bella solid in Gray. The other option I'm thinking of is one of Kaffe Fassett's Shot Cottons ..... any ideas on which one might go well? Unfortunately I don't live near any quilting shops and I will probably have to buy it online so any help would be much appreciated :)

Amazing Effort!

Well by now I'm sure you've heard of the mammoth effort all of those people that contributed to the Queensland Flood Appeal Auctions. The final figure was $99,089!!

My sister Kate and I were so amazed at the time and effort that Toni and Carli put into the appeal and wanted to say thank you for doing all of the organisation and coordination, so we thought we'd make up a couple of cushion covers in Saffron Craig's yet to be released line of "Magical Lands" (you can read more about the fabric here).

Kate and I always love any opportunity to get together to quilt and we had a fun couple of days together!!! Now that they've received the cushions, we can now finally share.

So here they are hanging out together ...

This is the one we made  based on Kate's "There's a Square in There" pattern, but we adjusted the blocks so they are smaller to fit the cushion cover. This one is 20"....

Here is a close up of Kate's amazing hand quilting ......

 and the back ....

And with this cushion we thought we'd use the "Magical Lands" print as the focal print of this cushion ... isn't it gorgeous! This cushion kind of reminds me a little of Kate's "Sierra's Forest" pattern. This cushion is 18" (approx 18.5" with the binding) .......

and here is some of my hand quilting  ..... don't look too closely :)

 The back is a green "Gingko Blossom" ......

 And one last shot of them hangin' out in a tree (as cushions do haha :)

Ok one more .... this is one of the roos that lives in my local park where I took these photos ......

P.S. HAPPY BIRTHDAY ELLE BELLE!!! I hope you are having a wonderful day :)

Perfectionism ... Good or Bad?

(Warning: in this post you may find out a little more about my personality than you wish to know, I promise there will be some quilting content though :)

Bad I think ......

I am a perfectionist in many ways. Apparently  "perfectionism is an extreme of conscientiousness (that doesn't sound too bad) and can provoke increasing neuroticism (umm not so good) as the perfectionist's expectations are not met".

According to Wikipedia there is a " ... distinction between perfectionism and striving for excellence.The difference is in the meaning given to mistakes. Those who strive, however intently, for excellence can simply take mistakes (imperfections) as inducements to further learning and work. Perfectionists take mistakes as signs of personal defects that make them less acceptable. Anxiety over potential failure is the reason perfectionism is felt as a burden."

......Yep, definately bad.........

For me this means that I want to do something perfectly (or pretty close to perfect) or I don't want to do it at all. Here are some examples:

• My house is hardly ever spotless, but in order for me to feel comfortable with visitors entering it I want it to be perfect
• I love solo sports (e.g. walking, swimming). The reason that I don't like playing team sports is that I'm conscious that I don't want to let the team down by not being very good at it.
• I have a number of quilt tops sitting around waiting to be quilted and the reason I haven't yet quilted them is that I want to free motion quilt (FMQ) them and as I have no experience they will not be perfect. Usually I love the quilt tops so much that I don't want to ruin them with my quilting. However we all know that a quilt top on it's own is pretty useless functionally, so what is the point of having them just hanging around??
• Generally the expectations that I set for myself are much higher then I set for others, meaning that I don't expect others to be perfect, but I do expect it of myself. E.g. it is perfectly acceptable for someone else to have uneven stitch lengths when they quilt because it still looks great and they are doing the best they can, or for someone else to make a mistake whilst playing basketball because we are playing just for fun after all, or for someone else's house to be untidy when I come to visit .... but for me it's not quite good enough.

See where I'm going ... whilst it may be seen as good in some ways (always trying to be my best etc), it definately has it's down sides and I know it's holding me back.

To become perfect (if that can actually be attained in anything) you need to start somewhere right? You need to start as a novice and practice, practice, practice.

So I've finally taken the plunge and commenced my free motion quilting journey to perfection (haha). I knew I wouldn't be happy to just sit down and jump into a big project so I practiced a little on a mini quilt sandwich and then I grabbed my "Bumble Bubs" quilt top and drew "bee-like" swirls all over it (in rows to make it easier), made sure the thread tension was correct, donned my quilting gloves and just went for it. It felt liberating!

The first row was quite imperfect, but I thought I'd leave it until the end and if it still bugged me then that I would unpick it and I continued quilting, each row was a little neater than the last and even though I still need a lot of practice to feel confident at it, I feel really happy that I've stared my FMQ journey.

You may be wondering whether I unpicked that first row in the end ...... I did  (doh!), old habits die hard! I think I'll have to leave group sports and a spotless house to work on another day .....................

Here's to the pursuit of "striving for excellence" not "perfectionism"!

(I love that stripey binding)

P.S. I made this quilt for a friend of my husband and his wife's new baby Amelia (no she is not named after me, but I like it none the less) who came into the world early yesterday morning. I gave the quilt and softie to her parents this evening and they love it and I suppose that's all that matters!

Sunset

This is the view from the front of my home this evening ....

I LOVE beautiful sunsets, they always help me to look forward to tomorrow :)

I hope you all have a wonderful week!

Little Menagerie "Bumble Bubs" Quilt Top

Since the day I went to my first Quilt & Craft Fair a couple of years ago and picked up my first softie pattern from Melly & Me I have been a real fan. So when Melly brought out her book Kaleidoscope in 2009 I was really excited. I have some books on my bookshelf that are beautiful and inspiring but I have never sewn anything from, but this book was different for me.

I have made Bubbles the Unicorn, the Fairytale Toadstool Bag and a couple of Drake the Dragons and I've been waiting for the right fabric to make this cutie, Bumble Bubs .....

Melly has a new range of fabric out called Little Menagerie and if you know of or have made any of her softies you will recognise Phoebe, Magoo and friends. I knew when I got my hands on some that this is what I wanted to make my Bumble Bubs out of .....

 

And here's a close-up of one of the bees. The poor thing looks like it has chicken pox .....

It was so simple and fun to make!

Now for the quilting. I really want to free motion quilt it, but I need a little (okay a lot) more practice before I do. My husband's friends' baby is due within the next 2 weeks, so I better get a move on!

Happy Australia Day and a Giveaway Winner!!

Today is Australia Day.

I love Australia!! I love everything about it .... the land, the lifestyle, the culture, the people, the generosity of spirit, the freedom ... I love it all!

Perhaps Dorothea Mackellar said it best -

My Country

The love of field and coppice,
Of green and shaded lanes.
Of ordered woods and gardens
Is running in your veins,
Strong love of grey-blue distance
Brown streams and soft dim skies
I know but cannot share it,
My love is otherwise.

I love a sunburnt country,
A land of sweeping plains,
Of ragged mountain ranges,
Of droughts and flooding rains.
I love her far horizons,
I love her jewel-sea,
Her beauty and her terror -
The wide brown land for me!

A stark white ring-barked forest
All tragic to the moon,
The sapphire-misted mountains,
The hot gold hush of noon.
Green tangle of the brushes,
Where lithe lianas coil,
And orchids deck the tree-tops
And ferns the warm dark soil.

Core of my heart, my country!
Her pitiless blue sky,
When sick at heart, around us,
We see the cattle die -
But then the grey clouds gather,
And we can bless again
The drumming of an army,
The steady, soaking rain.

Core of my heart, my country!
Land of the Rainbow Gold,
For flood and fire and famine,
She pays us back threefold -
Over the thirsty paddocks,
Watch, after many days,
The filmy veil of greenness
That thickens as we gaze.

An opal-hearted country,
A wilful, lavish land -
All you who have not loved her,
You will not understand -
Though earth holds many splendours,
Wherever I may die,
I know to what brown country
My homing thoughts will fly.

                                                                                              Dorothea Mackellar


So Happy Australia Day to all you Aussie's out there wherever you may be! I hope you have a wonderful day and get to enjoy a pavlova or lamington and some fireworks tonight :)
For those that are doing it tough with "flood and fire and famine" etc
I hope you are "paid .. back threefold" and that things get easier for you soon!

...............................................................................................................................

Now on to our giveaway.... It was amazing to hear and see all of the wonderful contributions to the Queensland Flood Appeal Auctions ... really heartwarming :) 

Thanks to everyone that entered the giveaway too, I wish I had more Pip's to share.

The lucky winner is comment # 5

True Random Number

Generator

Min:

Max:

Result: 5

Powered by RANDOM.ORG

Congratulations Lexie from Periwinkle Girl! Please send me an email with your mailing address and I'll get the charm pack out to you ASAP.

WOW ... Thank You!

I have really been blown away with all the wonderful people who have made bids on my cushions. So thank you all! I have never made anything for anyone except family and close friends and I must admit when I first started making the cushions I wasn't sure if they were anyone else's style and I feared they might not be bid upon.

Today I had a busy day at work and during my late lunch break I thought I'd check on the auction items and was rendered speechless (tears actually) when I saw a couple of bids from my little sister Ellen. My immediate thought was "I would have made them for her for free", but how wonderful that she was willing to donate to a cause where there is such a great need.

So congratulations Ellen!! You have won both cushions at $100 a piece. I am so happy that they are going to the same home, they didn't want to be separated. Please email me your receipt and address (yes I should remember it, but I don't) and I will get them off to you ASAP.

For those that didn't win the auctions (I wish I had more cushions to send to you but unfortunately I don't), you can still enter my Sherbet Pips giveaway!! It will be drawn at 1200 on Wednesday.

I have been thinking about doing a tutorial on how I make my cushion covers. If you are interested let me know and I'll see what I can do.

Only 9 hours to go ......

There's 9 hours to go for the Queensland Flood Relief Appeal Auctions!

Bidding on auction items finish at 9 pm. Raffles continue until midday Wednesday. So you still have time to get involved. You can find the auction master list here .......

..... and my auction items here and here.

There is still time to enter my Sherbet Pips giveaway here too. I'll keep it open until 12 midday on Wednesday 26th January 2011.

Thanks to everyone who has given their support to the Qld flood appeal! The devastation in some communities has been immense and the rebuilding effort is going to take a very long time and they need our support in which ever small way we can give it!!

Giveaway!!! - CLOSED

Well with all the generosity going on around blogland .... so many fantastic auction/raffle items and so many amazing and generous bids on those aforementioned items ... I really wanted to say thank you to all that have gotten involved in the Qld Flood Appeal Auctions by having a giveaway!!

If you haven't gotten involved yet it is not too late. Auctions and raffles (most raffles are now open until Wed 26th of January) are open until midnight on Monday 24th January 2011.

Click here for more details on the auctions.

So what am I giving away?? ......................

It's a much sought after charm pack of Aneela Hoey's adorable "Sherbet Pips"!!

To enter all you have to do is tell me which item you have bid on, or that you are holding an auction/raffle yourself, or that you are participating in "Quilts For Queensland". You don't necessarily have to bid on my auctions, but if you did it would make my day ;)  (my auctions are now closed).

This giveaway is open until 12 midday ACST (Australian Central Standard Time) on AUSTRALIA DAY, Wednesday the 26th of January 2011.

The winner will be picked by the trusty random number generator.
Make sure that you can be contacted by email, either through your blog (make sure your status is not set to no-reply blogger) or leave your email address in your comment.

A special THANK YOU to Toni & Carli for getting this all started!!

Queensland Flood Appeal Auction # 2 CLOSED

Introducing .....

Henna Garden Crazy 9-Patch Cushion Cover

Once again, this 18 inch cushion cover (approx. 19 inches including the binding) is made from Sandi Henderson's "Henna Garden" prints from her Farmers Market, Meadowsweet and Meadowsweet 2 ranges.

I have quilted in straight lines which gives it such great texture.

The sashing and backing is made from a linen/cotton quilting fabric and the binding/envelope opening is bound in "Henna Garden" in leaf.
It is machine bound to ensure durability.

Please note: The auction is for the cushion cover only, the cost of sending it through the post with cushion insert is prohibitive.

How this auction works:
1.  Bidding will start at $20 (Australian).
2.  You can place a bid by leaving a comment on this blog post with your bid amount and email address.  Please make sure that your bid is higher than the previous bidder.  
3.  Your bid must be in whole dollar increments.
4.  This auction is open to everyone. Postage is FREE for all.
5.  The auction begins NOW and will END at midnight 9pm on Monday 24th January 2011.
6.  At the close of the auction, I will contact the winner (please make sure your bid comment includes your email address).  The winner will pay the winning amount directly into the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal and send me proof of payment via email.  Once proof of payment has been received, I will post your cushion cover to you.
7.  Thank you for participating and happy bidding!

As I said with the last auction ... you don't have to buy both of my auction items,

but they sure do look mighty cute together!!

Thank you so much for your support of such a worthy cause!!



& don't forget to go here to see many more auctions!