Pop Star Parade

Today I'm linking up to the mmmquilts' Pop Star Parade. 

This is  a result of a quiltalong Sandra (of mmmquilts) held during April-May, showcasing a lovely new design of hers. Of course, joining in was a bit of a squirrel moment for me, but I must say it was an enjoyable sew and I have a flimsy I am very happy with.

Sandra gave us a whole month to quilt and bind the quilt - and some fabulous quilting inspiration. Even that wasn't quite long enough for me!! 

Therefore I present my quilt top —

I made the small/baby size version (40" square) and chose the fabrics accordingly. Cute Gail Pan prints with bees. I have a recipient in mind 👶

The background fabric is some I bought last year for Sandra's 'Follow Your Own Path' QAL. I never did start that quilt so I'm pleased to have used it for this year's QAL.

This was a very straight forward sew, easily a pattern you could make in a weekend. You can access the pattern in her Etsy shop.

Thank you Sandra for such an effective and fun pattern! Please visit her blog (*link here*) to see the other fabulous quilts that have been made.

I thought you might be tickled by the below egg carton. The ‹nearly› 4 year olds have been having fun with a Cold Glue Gun lately and love making all sorts of creations.

I was recently presented with this beauty which I was told was for my eggs (the kids know their eggs always come from Ganma's) —

So now when I give eggs to ED, I have to use the decorated carton, which of course takes up far too much room in her fridge!

It's a murky cool day today and it's time to go and get another load of firewood in!

'til next time,

happy stitches,

Really...?!

I have no idea where the last month has gone and had no intention of taking a bloggy/social media break!!!

But here I am back again, ready to share my May finishes and achievements- yes there are some!!

The biggest finish of the month is shown here, being given the cat seal of approval by Nigel —

This started off as leftover blocks from Xavier's quilt. I added to the three Buggy Barn blocks intending to get it to my great-nephew last winter. Life got in the way (big time!) but I have now finished it for this winter! 
I had put it away with not too much needing doing on it - the quilting had been started so last week I got busy and finished that.
The farmyard shots of it were a bit glarey — 

...so I had to take a floor shot as well —

The quilting was fairly simple; straight lines in places, simple meandering in others, with a bit of wishbone and this and that thrown in elsewhere.

The border just got piano-key style quilting. It's so dark and busy, I decided that was all that was needed.

In my desperation I even roped in the MOML as a quilt handler...hehe check out the gumboots camouflaged against the shed!

Another quilt finish on a completely different scale is one I have called 'Lily's first quilt'.

I had two children here one day and they decided sewing would be a fun idea. We went through a range of ideas until 'we' decided a quilt for their dolls would be perfect.

Very random sized scraps of winceyette were sewn together —

And quilted —

George was the pin remover, pedal pusher and scissor snipper.

We just did a  simple zigzag around the outside edge —

George started one too but we didn't get that finished - that will be for another day.

I've also made Odie another pair of pants. This child literally grows before your very eyes and just when YD thinks she has his wardrobe sorted, he has another spurt! 

I used the Scout pattern by Twig+Tale. Although I have an overlocker, it's buried under unfinished quilts so I used the stretch stitch on my Bernina which worked well.

A modelled pic —

The final make for the month was a beanie I knitted for my sister. I made myself one a couple of years ago and always wanted to make one for her too. I finally got some yarn with possum fur in it (Outlaw Yarn; 45%Polwarth, 45% Alpaca and 10% possum) which I had been on the look out for. The possum is extra light and cosy and gives it a lovely feel.

The pattern is Everglade by Woolly Wormhead. The design on it has good texture without being too complicated to knit.

With the one I made myself back in 2020.

So, productivity-wise, not a bad month for me :-) 

It feels nice to be writing/blogging/documenting again!

'til next time,

happy stitches,

Tidying up April

Well here we are into another month and once again I have fallen behind on my reporting.

In my last post I was busy working on blocks for my Bear baby quilt. I've made it this far —

— and I feel like I am on the homeward straight now.

I have, however,  just realised that I need another fabric to use in the border. As my bears and paws blocks are basically just 'odds and sods' fat quarters this may slow me down. Hopefully not too much!

Also slowing me down a little is that I had a DrEAMi moment this past week. Suddenly my overflowing scrap bins started screaming at me. 

Drop Everything and Make It!!!

So I've started another scrap quilt project.

This one uses 2" squares. I hope these will chew more scraps up than my Omigosh blocks which only use 1" squares/strips. 

Anyway I'm making 36-patch blocks, using neutral coloured Moda solids as the alternative patches. I have a lot of these as well - trimmings from bigger stitchery blocks, etc, etc.

AND while I am at it, I'm trying really hard to cut up my scraps using Bonnie Hunter's scrap management ideas. I've always shied away from doing this ("What if I want fabric cut in other sizes!!") but feel ready to do this now. 

This DrEAMi moment has caused me to slow down on my bear blocks but it is extremely satisfying, and just a little bit addictive. I'm hoping that as I settle into this (long-term) sewing-of-my-scraps, it will become my leader-ender project.

Thank you to Sandra of mmm quilts for helping us celebrate these moments of madness when we just have to start something new.

Another wee distraction over the weekend was to sew a pillowcase for young Odie. 

There's a delightful story behind this. When I saw the fabric I just had to buy some for our tractor loving small boy Odie. It was still draped over a chair after I had showed it off to the MOML.

Nek minnit (apologies to the non kiwis) -okay- next minute, young George is visiting and asking if it was for him and can I please make something for him out of it. "Of course" I say, mentally adding another metre of it to my shopping list.

Next day, Odie is visiting, and that fabric is still waiting to be put away. He grabs it and spends quite some time carting it around the house while saying "Gandad tractor","tractor" and so on!

So I made him a pillowcase (he is using the ones I made his sisters long ago) —

I used the Burrito method but added an inside flap. I'm going to change how I do these as, no matter how much I fiddled, there was still a raw edge inside the pillowcase that needed neatening, and sewing down.  I love the burrito method but adding the flap just complicates it! Next time I want one like this I will give myself some time to play to work it out better. 

It's fair to say the pillowcase was a huge success. There was great excitement last night when he received it and he carried it around the house until bedtime exclaiming "Tractor! Tractor!" This morning he was still playing with it —

#whyImakethings

This pillowcase was my one and only finish for April.

I had a brilliant walk this morning, up the hills across the road —

You'd be forgiven for thinking we had another flood event happening! I am enjoying the misty starts to our autumn days.

I walked over 4 kms up these hills so am feeling pretty pleased with myself.

But the day has now turned a bit cooler and wet so I'm going to spend the afternoon sewing sashing and sorting scraps. Fun fun fun.

'til next time,

Happy stitches,