Houston loot!!!!

It has taken me a while to get around to photographing my Houston haul but here it is in all it's glory!

Of course, I bought fabric. Der!!

I am extremely crap at recording the names of the fabrics as I go ... so there are some you will surely recognise and others you won't but they are all delicious, if slightly anonymous!

To my delight, there were a number of antique quilt dealers and I bought myself 3 quilt tops. 

Why only the tops and not finished quilts? 

Two reasons: 

1. This way, I get to quilt them myself and feel I have had some part in their restoration and 

2. They fitted more easily into my suitcase :P

This one was very cheap due to the less than perfect (to say the least) stitching and piecing. It is very buckled in places and completely torn in others but I loved the colors and the general feel of it so she became mine. My plan is to cut out the good bits and re-use them in a new quilt. Not sure exactly how yet but my little brain is tick ticking away ....

This one is a beautifully hand-stitched queen size Dresden Plate quilt top. I adore the original 1930's fabrics. Looking forward to quilting this one!!

There are 4 x 4 blocks in this one. 

And my absolute favourite was this red and white beauty. A perfectly hand-stitched Drunkards Path ... also queen sized. This one was dated C.1900 - 1920.

Would you have a look at those perfect little stitches!!!!!

And lastly I bought some books.

To be perfectly honest, only Victoria's book on the left was actually purchased in Houston. The 2 books on Hawaiian quilting were purchased in Hawaii the following week. (I know .... I am extraordinarily lucky!!)

So that's it. My Houston haul!!

Back soon with some actual crafting!!

Andi xxx

Winner!!!

Congratulations to Simone who said:

I look for modern quilts that are realistic to make. They can be large or even complicated quilts, but if there is an explanation that could be followed with great photos, a layout diagram for blocks, I get inspired & I am a sucker! The other thing I love is fabric colour & pattern size suggestions (small, medium or large scale prints). 

I have emailed you to send me your address so that the kind people at Chronicle Books can send you a copy of Little Bits Quilting Bee by Kathreen Ricketson.

Happy stitching!!
Andi x

Book review and GIVEAWAY!

You know Kathreen don't you? She's the WhipUp chic!!
And she's written a quilt book. Yay!!!

The first section of the book looks at communal quilting projects like quilt bees, friendship quilts, etc. Lots of great ideas here!

In the spirit of this communal project, Kathreen asked a number of bloggy quilty folks to be involved in creating the quilts for this book. My contribution was to sew the quilt top for this quilt ...

 

The second part of the book gives some quilting basics followed by the main section of the book with quilt projects using pre-cut fabrics. Everything from charm squares to jelly roles to fat quarters.

When I buy a quilty type book, I usually just peruse the pictures for inspiration rather than reading the 'how-to' bits ... so I really LOVE a book with fabulous photographs. And this book doesn't disappoint in the photography department ..

 

   

   

Like what you see? Well you might be lucky enough to win a copy of this book ... courtesy of  publisher Chronicle Books!
Just leave a comment on this post telling me what you look for in craft books! (No "pick me" comments please!)

Also, please make sure you include an email address and let me know where in the world you are.

I'll draw a winner this Friday 18th November.

This blog tour has been going for a week or so already but if you would like to visit any of the blogs on the rest of the tour, you can find the whole list with all the links over at this post.

Happy blog hopping!
Andi xx

Edit 18/11/11: The prize has been drawn and comments to this post are now closed!

Long overdue

I have been remiss in posting about some recent purchases, winnings and lovely gifts!!
Apologies to all for putting them in one big photo filled post.

Way back in February, I won this delicious pile of fabrics (stunningly folded) over at the lovely Malka's.

I haven't been able to even remove the ribbon yet, they look so very pretty!!

Some of you may be aware that I have been collecting Flea Market Fancy fabrics for this quilt (having been a bit late hopping on to that particular bandwagon).

So I found an EBAY listing of Jeanette's for an FMF charm pack which I quickly snapped up.
I was so delighted with my purchase that I asked her to whip up a couple more for me which she very kindly did!!

Yep!! That's the WHOLE collection!!!!

Still on the FMF front, the lovely Amy sent me this little collection of FMF scraps .... just because she thought it would make me smile.

And it DID Amy!!! Thank you so much for being a thoughtful and lovely bloggy friend!!

For that same quilt, I have decided to use some fabrics from Denyse Schmidt's other ranges. Specifically Katie Jump Rope and her newest offerings "Picnics and Fairgrounds" available at Joann's in the states (and soon to be released in Australia via Spotlight).

I snapped mine up at this lovely ETSY shop. (Thanks Rita for the heads up!!)
Unfortunately, when it arrived, one of the prints was missing but Amanda was so sweet about sending me the missing fabric (with a few shnippets of FMF in the parcel too).  :-)

Another recent purchase was this awesome book by the lovely Nikki.

Tanya is doing an awesome sew-along, stitching every single project in the book. Want to join her? Check it out here!!

Next purchase is a divine brooch from the fabulous Ms Curlypops herself!!

I have worn it on bags, jumpers, jackets and even in my hair (there is a hair clip bit on the back as well as the usual brooch pin). Thanks Cam. I LOVE it!!!!

"More?" I hear you ask!!! "Surely not!!!!"

Oh yes there is!!

The lovely Judy (bestest yarn wrapper in town) has been doing a bit of stash busting, pulled out this amazing Alexander Henry print and thought of me!!

Thank you so much Judy. I have challah covers being planned in my head as I type!!!

Also .... Jenny has given me a new product to try. (Still haven't yet but I have plans Jenny. I have plans!!!)

For those of you who are already Steam-A-Seam fans, you can get yours at Amitie!!!!

And last ... but certainly not least .... I won some more fabric!!
I'm a very lucky girl. I know!!!!

Leanne of Mount Vincent Quilts was a guest blogger over at Chasing Cottons (where Bec is doing the most wonderful Quilt Class 101. You should go and check it out!!!)

As part of the guest blog post, there was a giveaway of  a Fat 1/4 pack of the new range from Melly and Me called Where the Wind Blows. It is a lovely fabric range and I am looking forward to slicing into it!!!

Phew!!! What a long post full of so many wonderful links to wonderful people!!

Thank you again to everyone.

Andi xx

Quilting - From Little Things .... Check. It. Out.

Sarah Fielke is not only a seriously clever quilt maker, fabric designer and blogger .... she's a fab book writer type person too!!

She's half of the creative duo that brought us MO and MO2, but now she's a solo authoress with the mostess too.

The newest yummy book

I don't know about you but these days I don't actually buy quilting books for the patterns.
I buy them for the pictures ... the colourful inspiration that gets me out of my comfy chair and up to the sewing table.

For example:

I soooo want to crawl into Sarah's fabric stash and wallow in the colourful goodness.

But what took me by surprise about this book, is that I was actually REALLY interested in reading the patterns. The concept of the book is so very clever. 10 different quilting techniques, each illustrated with a dolly quilt pattern (in case you want to try it out before committing to a larger project) and a larger bed-sized pattern.

Great illustrations and well written patterns.
I really HAVE to make this quilt (LOVE the little 3D tabs in the border!!!) .....

So .... do yourself a favour and go check out this ACE new book!!

Want to find out more? There's a whole week of bloggy-touring to enjoy.

Details are:

• Monday, April 11:  Red Pepper Quilts   (Rita's giving away a copy of the book. Ends 12 noon (AEST) on Wednesday 13 April)
• Tuesday, April 12: Patch Andi - HERE!!!
• Wednesday, April 13: Rosalie Quinlan
• Thursday, April 14: Whip Up
• Friday, April 15: Fat Quarterly blog
• Saturday, April 16: Cinderberry Stitches
• Sunday, April 17: One Flew Over

Enjoy!

Andi xx

Inspiration - Where do you find yours?

As mentioned on a recent post, I've been book shopping.

From top to bottom:

Handmade Beginnings by Anna Maria Horner

The Gentle Art of Quilt Making by Jane Brocket

City Quilts by Cherri House

Simple Shapes Spectacular Quilts by Kaffe Fassett

I find I am using books like these ones more and more for general inspiration and less and less for the actual patterns they contain. For me it's all about the eye candy .... not just the quilts themselves but also the settings in which they are photographed. Beautiful textiles in gorgeous photographs make me feel good! They give me inspiration to sit down at the sewing machine and start playing with fabrics.

But I find that the actual patterns are so (often) self-evident or rehashed from previous books, that I tend not to actually use them. I guess there's not a lot new about patchworking. There's only so many ways one can sew squares, rectangles and triangles.

In addition to these sorts of books, I have begun looking to general design and pattern books for inspiration. Books about interiors. Books about architectural style. Books full of lovely photographs to inspire the imagination.

Where do you look for your creative inspiration?

Andi :-)

Oops-a-daisy GIVEAWAY!!!

I mentioned recently (while declaring my love for the land of blog) that there might be a bit of a giveaway coming up at Patch Andi ... Well today is the day!!

A while back, I purchased some divine Little Folks voiles from Corie at Banberry Place.
I suspect that Corie was having a minor 'moment' when she sent me a yard of this fabric (which I already had in my stash):

Instead of this fabric (that I had ordered):

In fact, she was so keen to add to my pink fabric stash, that she sent it to me ... twice!

Oops-a-daisy!!

So I now have 2 yards surplus pink fabric for which Corie has kindly agreed to sponsor a giveaway!!!

Hooray for Banberry Place!!!

And hooray for Kathreen, author of Whip Up-Mini Quilts who has also generously donated a copy of her book to give away too!!

A signed copy!!

Kate has written a great review of the book over here for your reading pleasure.

So, I will offer 2 prizes:

1. A copy of Kathreen's book plus 1 yard of the pink voile (Sorry, Australian residents only. The overseas postage is a killer.)
2. 1 yard of the voile (All entries welcome)

To enter, simply leave a comment on this post.
No hoops to jump through.
One chance per person.
Please make sure you let me know where you are in the world and how I can contact you.

I will draw a winner Monday morning (Melbourne time).

Thanks again to Corie and Kathreen.


Andi :-)

Book crazy ... and a fabric win!!

I've been a bit obsessed with book buying of late.
In addition to these books already blogged, I have purchased this heavenly stack of bedside reading:


They are:

'Color Your Cloth' by the amazing Malka Dubrawsky. So far, I am loving this book. Full of amazing eye candy and seemingly (because I haven't tried them yet) very easy to follow instructions.


'Handmade Home' by the one and only Soule Mama. Great inspiration for thrifting, creating and living a life inspired by all the best things about past crafty generations.


'Intuitive Color and Design' by Jean Wells. This is a wonderful book about letting go of what you thought you 'ought to do' with quilting and discovering new ways to create great works of art.

Kaffe's new book 'Quilt Romance'. I wasn't going to buy this at first but was convinced by Rita's review that it was a worthwhile purchase. And she was right ... as usual.


And lastly, but by no means leastly, 'The Well Dressed Home' by Annette Tatum. This lovely book talks to the fashionista in all of us and helps put together an interior design aesthetic based on our personal fashion sense. I am so definitely a 'bohemian'.


And to top off an excellent week, I won a 'Kelani Creative Customer' competition.
Here's what I bought with my winnings ....

I decided to buy some small pieces of a few fabrics that caught my eye.
From L-R:

• Alexander Henry Senor Burrito Bright
• Sandi Henderson Apple Dot in Spring
• Wildwood Wallflower Grey and
  
• Alexander Henry Birdsong

Not for anything in particular. Just adding to the ever increasing stash!!! Thanks so much Kelani Girls!!!

Happy stitching.

Andi :-)

Aquisitions

I received some new books via Amazon the other day.

Both very inspirational with lots of techniques that "I'd like to try one day".
If "one day" ever comes ...




and ...




Also, my sister has been clearing out her bookshelves and pulled aside some stuff she thought I might like.
I didn't want to take anything because my house is already so cluttered.
But then I saw what she had in mind ...





To the above photo I say .... "As if!!!"









The carpetting in the image above is hysterical, I think!!



and my favourite one ..... (I was a '72 baby)


Score!!!

Do any of these make you squeal with delight?
I'd love to know!!

Andi :-)