String-X Block

June is my month in the Sew Australia Bee. I've had the Henna Garden prints for a while, but I've been  patiently waiting for solids from the US and was so excited when they arrived that I wasted no time making my sample string-x block using this tutorial ....

..... and making up bundles for Bee members .... (just in time by the way!)

Pretty aren't they! I'm so excited to be paticipating in a bee and can't wait to see this quilt come together, as well as trying out new blocks and making blocks for some talented Aussie quilters :)

Winner!!

(I tried to post this a few hours ago but as I was copying and pasting the random number generator icon we had a blackout and I lost it ... so here we go again ..... lucky I wrote the winning number down) 

Wow, thanks to everyone who dropped by my blog over the last couple of days and especially to those who left a comment, a whole 286 of them!! When I asked my husband how many people he thought entered my giveaway he guessed "20" ... not even close ;)

I started replying to all of your comments but in the end I've run out of time, but I do appreciate each and every one of your lovely comments and it was nice to learn more about what fabrics, quilt blocks and crafts that you like!

This was my first time making a dresden plate and I loved the experience. It definately isn't as hard as it looks, in fact I have started making a dresden plate baby quilt and so far I think it looks great (I'll keep that for another post). I used this tutorial (with a few minor adjustments).

So I suppose you want to know who won the giveaway!!

Congratulations to commenter 129 Sarah from Kiwi Gets Crafty!

 Sarah said...

129

So pretty! I'm not a quilter, but at the moment I've been teaching myself to crochet :)
Thanks for the giveaway

May 24, 2011 1:55 PM

 

Please email me your postal address and I'll get the pillow cover in the mail to you ASAP!

Thanks once again to everyone, I wish I could have shared something with all of you!

Giveaway Day!!! CLOSED

Yay!! I love Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!!

Welcome to my blog, whether it's your first time here or you're a regular visitor!
Last year I didn't have a blog so I wasn't able to participate in giveaway day, so I'm so excited to be a part of it this year!!

'So what is the giveaway?' I hear you ask .......

 I am giving away this dresden plate pillow cover (pillow not included). It is 18" square and is made from Denyse Schmidt fabrics (mainly Flea Market Fancy) on a white solid background .....

I love how girly it is :)

The backing and binding is from DS Quilts new line Picnic & Fairgrounds .....

So if you're interested, all that you have to do is leave a comment. I'd love to know what your favourite quilt block is at the moment (if you're a quilter), or fabric line, or anything else that you'd like to share about yourself and your craft is fine too :)

Please ensure that I have a way to contact you if you win e.g. if your blog doesn't link to your email, please leave your email address in your comment. If I can't contact you I will pick another winner.

This giveaway is open to all (internationally) until Wednesday 25th of May 2011.

Good Luck!!!

Sneak Peak

Here's a sneak peak of what I am working on .....

..... and there could be something in it for you ..... more on Monday :)

I hope you have a wonderful weekend!!

There's a Square in There ... Squared

The last two Saturdays I've been able to do a bit of sewing, yay!

I've been using one of my sister Kate's patterns There's a Square in There and I have been wanting to make it for over 12 months. I made the blocks a couple of months ago but I wasn't sure whether I wanted to make a King size or 2 smaller quilts and after playing around with the blocks for a while I decided on making 2.

I never seem to be able to adhere to any pattern in it's entirety. The first quilt is very similar to the original, I just added an extra row to make it a little longer ..... 

The colours in the photos aren't quite right, but it gives you some idea of the prints/blocks. As I put the blocks up on my "design wall" for the second quilt I liked it without the sashing too, so I decided to make them a little different from each other. I also added the extra row with this one too ........

They both still need their borders before they are ready to be basted and quilted.

You may have noticed that I'm really loving green, blue and grey at the moment, but I also really enjoyed making these quilts. Katie you're a genius!!

Last Saturday (while I was sewing), my husband was out fishing with a friend and I was delighted when he came home with a few very large snapper. Normally we like to bake whole snapper in the oven/BBQ, but unfortunately there was no way it was going to fit. We'll be eating fish for a while!

Blogger's Quilt Festival

This is my first time participating in Amy's Blogger's Quilt Festival, so thanks for dropping by!!

I wanted to share with you my latest completed quilt (sorry if you've seen it before), Grace's Prints Charming Single Girl Quilt.

I made this quilt for my darling new niece Grace.

 

The rings are made with mainly Prints Charming fabrics and a few solids, the background is Moda Bella Solid in grey and I used Denyse Schmidt's "Single Girl" pattern. I pieced the back with more Prints Charming fabrics and a soft polkadot cotton voile. I love the look of the hand quilting on the pattern, but it is beyond my skill and patience at the moment, so I decided to straight line quilt it at approx 1.5 inches apart to keep it super soft.

I really love how it turned out, especially as it is only my third completed quilt (I have quite a few WIP's though :)

When I purchased this pattern I wasn't sure whether it might be beyond me, but I was glad to find that it wasn't really that difficult and I really enjoyed the whole process, especially the finished product!

So that's it for my entry! If you've stopped by for the first time, I'd love to have you back sometime :)

Don't forget to check out all the other quilt entries at Blogger's Quilt Festival!!

My Wonderful Mum!!

This is my Mum & Dad!

(Aren't they a good looking couple?!)

I thought since it is Mother's Day I would share a couple of things that I love about my Mum!!

She is friendly and caring to others that she might not even know. I remember when I was a teenager my Mum had just picked me up from my piano lesson and as we were driving home we saw this older woman staggering on the footpath. My Mum immediately pulled her car over to check that she was ok. It quickly became very evident that the woman was intoxicated (she'd been through a lot of hardships recently) so my Mum gave her a lift home to make sure she was safe and not at risk of getting hit by a car and that there was someone home that could look after her. She is always thoughtful of others and has a friendly smile for those she meets!

She is a fantastic Mum to all seven of us kids (and our husbands/wife and grandkids etc). She is always there for us. When we were growing up she seemed to have boundless energy and I am still amazed at the amount that she can accomplish in one day!! She is a wonderful example of the mother I hope to be like one day!!

She is a wonderful cook .... I miss her food!

She is a wonderful example to me of standing up and doing what is right! I can not think of a time when I was growing up that she did not encourage me to live my best life and do the right thing. She and Dad are now serving a mission for our Church and I am so proud of the fearless way that she has gone to a foreign country where she speaks very little of their language to serve and teach the people there. Thanks Mum for being so AMAZING!!!

To all the Mother's out there today ... HAPPY MOTHER'S DAY!!

In my opinion, there is nothing more important than your role of being a mother :)

Sew ... Australia

I've joined my first bee!! I'm a little nervous, but excited too :)

"Sew Australia" is a brand new bee that's just opened for sign-ups.

12 participants, 12 months, 2 blocks per month.

I've been asked to take the first month (June), so we'll be making String-X blocks using Sherri's fantastic tutorial and Sandi Henderson's Henna Garden fabrics and a bit of Kona Snow & Coal.

If you're Aussie and wanting to join a bee, then this might just be the one for you! It's filling up fast so don't hesitate too long.

I can't wait!!