T.G.I.F.F. - Two For One

I shared with you on Wednesday my two  quickie quilts that were on track to be finished by today - and they are!  I just had to bind both of them this morning!  These delicious throw size quilts are for two brothers - nine and five.  And they are my first custom orders for quilts.  I am so utterly thrilled with the end results!

The first is made using Indian Summer by Art Gallery.  If you haven't used Art Gallery fabrics before - then you really need to do yourself a favour an invest in some!  It is the most luscious feeling fabric.  I mixed in some dark navy blue and fawn/brown homespun solids which I think give it a bit of a bang!  I used my trusty gold Aurifil to do lots of straight line quilting....

Which you can see the effect of here on the back!  I used the leftover strips from the fat quarters to piece the centre of the backing.

Gorgeous yes?

The second quilt is made with Urban Mod from Art Gallery again.  I've mixed in teal green and a grey/blue homespun with this one.  And the solid yellow is actually a mustard Art Gallery solid - the colours are a little different in the unusually bright sunshine here today!  Silver/grey Aurifil thread used in the quilting here...

Another strip pieced backing.

I really love the colours in this one, as they are so bright a yummy.

The pattern I used is just a basic Disappearing Nine Patch.  When researching them, most were using 5" squares, but because I wanted these to be relatively quick (well, they certainly were!) and I wanted to make the most out of the fat quarters that I had, I changed the squares to 9.5".  I literally have no scraps whatsoever from the fat quarters, which is a bit sad - but also fabulous because of no wastage!

So this afternoon, I sent a photo of them finished to the customer/friend and she is wrapt!

If you're looking for a super quick, super easy quilt to whip up in a couple of days - then these babies are perfect!  I see many more in my future!

I also finished off this gorgeous dress today - which will be in a Winter Wonderland showcase at

  You, Me & Three Designs next week!

I'm linking up with T.G.I.F.F. being hosted by Thirteen In '13 today - you can too!

W.I.P. Wednesday #21 - Pinwheeling

In the post cushion cover apocalypse, I have begun to see the light again!  I finished my 7th quilt for the year on the weekend, and was able to start a new project yesterday.  It's very, very satisfying to get the creative juices going again!

I mentioned a couple of weeks ago that I was joining in with Collaborate For A Cause this year.  Well, this is the beginning of my half of the collaboration.....

My first ever pinwheels!  I think it could be the start of another addiction.....

Aren't they cute!?

And the very cute polka dot backing.

I won't tell you what it actually is, or what the other half of the collaboration is until it's all finished!  Gotta build the suspense yes?

Oh, and please PLEASE tell me you can tell the difference in the photo quality of the top 3 pictures?!?!  I bought myself this new little big mother trucking camera, and am eagerly trying to learn how to use it properly!  I'm pretty sure my friend Molli Sparkles will be very pleased to know I am yet to use it on Auto!

I'm linking up with Freshly Pieced - you can too!

Sunday Stash #12 - The AQC Edition (Additions)

Good evening!  This is going to be as short and sweet as I can manage!  I've been trying to write this post all day but our internet has a technical problem in the line - so it keeps dropping in and out!

This past week has seen an influx of goodies welcomed in to my sewing room.  Well, only some of them can live in there, as there's no room left!

These are all the pretty fat quarters I picked up at The Australasian Quilt Convention.  I bought them from a total of six different vendors, making sure I spread my monetary love!  I got some beautiful prints from fabric lines I'd been coveting for some time but couldn't justify a whole overseas order.  There's some Comma and Type, and also a couple of gorgeous Art Gallery prints.  Had to grab some Toy Story for one of my favourite little boys who has a thing for Woody and Buzz.  I was quite happy with my picks.

I also got myself some quilting gloves.  Have to be better than the Coles gardening ones I've been using!  The Scissorman had a special on rotary blades, so stocked up on them too.  And I found those great little half hexagon templates thingies aswell!

I received this little bundle of goodness from GJ Creative.  I won a $50 voucher, so stocked up on a few things and bought Clover clips for the first time as well as a Clover marker.  Hoping they help me!

I also received this gorgeous pouch that I won from Adrienne at On The Windy Side.  She very kindly added a gorgeous little craft book and some charm squares.  Happy days!  For someone who never wins anything - I had a good run!

Then Friday........THIS came!  It's the hugest fabric order I have ever placed - 75 yards of cotton duck and twill.  This pile of yumminess will become 120 cushion covers over the next month!  Wish me luck!

And my first ever trade order with Sullivans.  Fabulous service and great prices.  Bias binding anyone?

Ok, that's it!  My house is officially a storage room for fabric.....

I'm linking up with Sunday Stash being hosted by Kate's Quilts this week!  Pop over and check it out!

Australasian Quilt Convention - Done. And a little old T.G.I.F.F.

 A couple of months ago, I googled "quilt shows".  Mr Google led me to a fabulous website HERE which gave me all the dates for craft and quilt shows in Australia this year.  I then added all the Melbourne dates to my calendar, in the hope that I would be able to get to them all!

The first cab off the rank was the Australasian Quilt Convention.  Of course, nothing goes completely to plan for me, so when Chloe decided that Tuesday night would be the perfect timing to get sick, I started panicking that I would not be able to go yesterday.  Thankfully, both my sister and husband came to the party and played tag team, so I could jump on a train in the morning and make my way to the city.  The train ride was entertaining as always - I felt like I had been transported back to 1992 with a variety of homeboys and ganstas (wannabes) riding my carriage (that sounds wrong).  We even had an impromptu dj performance - as you do.

So here are some pretty pictures from my day.....

 A wet and cold walk through Carlton Gardens to get to the Exhibition Building.  A beautiful part of Melbourne.

The line to get tickets.  Lucky I bought online the night before!

The beautiful Exhibition Buildings!

There was a beautiful display of "Quilts from Korea".  This was my favourite of the bunch.  It is called "The Beautiful" by Eun-Ryoung Choi.  She says "I intended to express many Korean traditional beautiful patterns and beauties in this quilt".  I think she succeeded!

A close up of amazing stitching.  I'm pretty sure there's hand stitching there?

Another display was the AQC Challenge: Free.  I love this one!  It's called "Free Beach" by Elaine Surmfels.  It is hand dyed background with various threads, silk and beads.  She has used thread painting, free motion raw edge appliqué, free motion quilting and beading.  "My quilt was aimed at stimulating those emotions within us.  To make people smile, feelings of being liberated, uninhibited and carefree".

The detail in this quilt is amazing.  The texture brings it to life.

The third display were all quilts by teachers.  This one is "Last Night's Left Overs" by Deborah Louie.  The colours and the fractured dresdens struck me!

Isn't it just beautiful?

This quilted portrait of quilter Margaret Rolfe drew me in.  It is quite large in size, and the colours are mesmerising.  It is called "The Quiltmaker" by Jenny Bowker.  She used traditional machine piecing, raw edged applique, free motion quilting, hand dyeing, paint applied on a quilted surface!  Amazing.

The best part about all of these quilts was when you got up close and personal with them.  The detail is very impressive.

And my favourite from the day - "Maynard" by David M Taylor.  One of the most gorgeous, unusual quilts I've seen.  It looks like a painting from afar.

And up close.  The first picture I took was inadvertently of the dog's bum!  I thought it a little inappropriate, so took another.  Millions of stitches making up for texture and shading.  Again, amazing.

This gorgeous quilt grabbed me as I rounded a corner!  It is from the "Best of the Best" display - all the quilts from around Australia, which have been awarded at quilts shows.  This particular quilt is called "In Love with Dahlia" by Sandra Aston.  It is machine pieced and quilted on a domestic machine.  This gives me much hope for the future!

Just look at those feathers!

A great part of the day was finding quilts that were made by some ladies I "know".  Well, I know of them through the Quilt Club Australia Facebook group!  This beauty is by Jill Radcliffe.  "Wheels to the West".  Hand appliqued and machine pieced.  I especially love the little triangles around the borders - they remind me of bunting!

This close up shows you just how beautifully pieced it is.  In awe.

And another of the ladies from QCA - Sheila Oaten - is the creator of this piece of magic!  "Kaffe and Kim and Me" is a beautiful version of Kim McLean's Flower Garden.  All hand needle turn applique.  Amaze-balls!

Big, beautiful Kaffe flowers!

I also sat and listened to a seminar about thread.  And needles.  I learnt quite a bit!

AND I met another lovely lady from QCA!  Norma!  Hope your hand heels quickly!

All in all, I spent around five hours there.  Five hours!  I wandered around aimlessly for about one of those hours, spent half an hour in line to get some lunch and the rest of the time pawed beautiful fabric, bought some quilting tools and generally just lapped it all up!  This lovely photo is of the most daunting escalator in Melbourne.  Parliament station gives me the heeby-jeebies!  So long and steep!

And when I got home, I unpacked my bags and found all this lovely loot!  I will show it all to you properly in my Sunday Stash post.  I'm quite pleased with my purchases.

And in breaking news - I started AND finished something today!  I told you last week that I had been invited to take part in a paper piecing bee - well, here's my first block!  Gemma is the Queen this month and her theme is Party.  You can find her inspiration board HERE.

Birthday candles for Gemma!  I used Kristy's pattern, which you can find HERE.  She is quite the clever gal!

Phew!  What a post!  I'm linking up with T.G.I.F.F. being hosted by Sew At Home Mummy!

T.G.I.F.F #6 - Chloe's Good Fortune Quilt

I set myself a goal of finishing Chloe's Good Fortune quilt Thursday - and by 11am it was done and dusted!  Admittedly, it only had the binding left to do, but I was so happy to have it finished.  Not half as happy as the little girl waiting outside my sewing room door!

Here it is - the biggest quilt I have made to date!

It had only just poured with rain, so I had to be careful at which angles I took the photos!  This is obviously in full sun, but I love that you can see the FMQ detail.  For those interested, I followed Samelia's Mum's tutorial HERE.  It was VERY easy to follow!  I used a layer cake of Kate Spain's Good Fortune, and white Homespun for the top, and a lighter shade of grey Homespun for the back.

And in the shadows.  I'm SOOOOO happy with how straight it all looks!  Well, from this far away anyway!

The bright purple binding works beautifully.  So thank you to everyone who gave me their opinion a while back!

I can't get enough of all the different colours in this range.

And my very happy little four year old, who promptly wrapped herself up in her quilt and told me it was the most beautiful quilt ever!  A little bit after taking this photo, I brought out some fabrics to photograph that I'd just received in the mail.  Chloe quipped "they won't be as beautiful as mine Mummy".  Bless.

I'm linking up with T.G.I.F.F. over at
Sewing by Moonlight today!