Finding joy in the everyday

Kathy's quilt Finally done . . . it has been a labour of love, a special gift for a dear friend.  I have enjoyed making it, but there have been times when I doubt my abilities and thought it wasn't good enough to give someone. Some people sew with such confidents, I am not one of them.  These are Kathy's favourite colours so I am sure she will like it regardless. 

I am a fan of mug rugs: they are quick to make, fun, use up scraps of fabric, inexpensive and you can be as creative as you like. There are so many wonderful mug-rugs about, it can be hard deciding what to make!! If you are not familiar with mug-rugs, just pop onto Pinterest and have a look — there are lots and lots to look at. I find that they make great gifts as you can customise them for the person you are making it for and its easy to post long distances.  The one below is for a young lady who has just turned 11. I made one for her mother, which she uses as a place mat. This one for Miss H has been enlarged (the original pattern was quite small) to make it more suitable as a place mat. I have been wanting to learn how to do "free-motion" quilting and thought it might be good to start on something small, such as this mug-rug !! I am not great at it—but with practice I think I will improve — slowly !! *****

All my previous quilts have been professionally quilted and I thought it was time to learn how to quilt - and what better way than on a baby quilt. Knowing that a baby was on its way in the family (how handy was that otherwise I might have had to hunt down a strange unknown baby!), I decided to make one and this is the result. The mum loves bright colours so this is one cheery quilt that should brighten any room :) Whilst I was using this quilt as a learning tool, I thought I would also learn how to appliqué as well and I have discovered that I love appliquéing and I am not too bad at it (trying to be modest!). So you are bound to see many more quilts containing appliqué!! It was so much fun doing all these animals - slow but rewarding!!  I am only a novice at quilting and have SO much more to learn - this is far from perfect and caused a lot of grief when I had to unpick my mistakes. The one thing I learnt was to have a clear plan before starting out and not c...

Finished and thrilled. Ready for it's new owner, to keep her warm and cosy over winter. There is nothing nicer than getting to the end of a large project and seeing how it all comes together.  The patchwork design is called " Movin' on up " by AmandaJean. Amanda Jean used a Modo pattern " Topsy Turvy Quilt " and turned it into her own design.   I did not quilt this - it has been done professionally by a lovely lady who owns an incredibly expensive quilting machine who can create the most amazing patterns (well, the computer does rather than humans!) that would be impossible for most to do at home - me anyway!! I really like the fabric I selected for the back, almost gold in colour and will be so bright and cheery on a winters day.  The back view of the quilt.  All wrapped and ready to give to its new owner.  Now for the next project, or two!! *****

DISAPPEARING NINE PATCH I made it, my first quilt is completed and given to its new owner, my sister-in-law. Never in my wildest dreams did I ever imagine I could do this, but I did!!! Set your mind on something and you can achieve almost anything.  This is how it all started back in winter. It has taken me sometime to do, I didn't rush and I did have moments (or weekends) of self doubt, but I went on regardless and made it to the end.  Laying out the front to measure up the borders and sashing. All the fabric used in the main design is Japanese, I just love Japanese fabric, the colours are so beautiful and rich. Sewing on the binding Having the computer and sewing table/machine nearby is very handy. When I needed to watch a youtube clip of how to bind around corners, I could watch the clip, turn my chair and follow the instructions.  I quite enjoy hand sewing, it is relaxing and peaceful. I did this with classical music playing in th...

Block one of my nine block sampler is complete - Ohio Star.  This one has been hand stitched and I am not the world's best hand sewer but nevertheless it has turned out quite well for a beginner.  Mid way through this I started to dislike the colours - until I placed the centre fabric then it all looked so much better.  I can already see one error that I need to fix. The remaining quilt will be machined sewed so it should become easier and quicker. This is such pretty fabric For those wanting to know what we have learnt in the quilting class: firstly we learnt to draft our own patterns (on large graph paper). From this we cut out the shapes to use to draw around on the fabric.  Once I have drawn around the shape, I use my 1/4 inch ruler to draw an outline. This is the line I cut.  Pencil lines on the fabric Building the pattern.  ****

Ladies, I am ready!!! I started my quilting course last night and it was great. First class was all about drafting our own patterns. In the course we learn how to make 9 different blocks (traditional) and these 9 blocks will become a 2 metre square (almost 2 yards) throw. I have gone for shades of purple. And to get me going, I have created my very own quilting folder which I will use for ideas, patterns/designs, projects, fabrics ordered etc.. There are so many great ideas hidden away in blogs, Pinterest and in library books, that I don't want to loose them - this way I can copying and placing them in my folder I have borrowed a heaps of books from the library, started a Pinterest folder on quilting  and one on favourite fabric , bought some quilting magazines from the news agency and a box to put my new fabric in.  I have most of the tools I need but I am sure I will gather more as time goes by. Last week I ordered fabric from Hawthorne Threads in the ...