Oh my goodness I forgot to blog!

Hello!!

I'll keep this short as it's late and I really should be in bed! Lots of sewing going on in the Elefants house at the moment, thanks in part to the new arrival:



A couple of WIPs to show you today. (There are a few others too, but I'll just stick with two, in the interests of brevity, and hopefully to be able to provide more fodder for blogging over the next little while...)

I've had this little birdie in a tree lurking in my WIP pile for a very long time. It's from a pattern by the marvellous Kellie. I had already started the quilting but wasn't very happy with it so put it away. With the lure of a new machine, I thought I would try and finish it. And I have! And I LOVE swirly quilting on my new machine, it quilts like a dream. I'm so happy with how this one has turned out. So I hope you don't mind the plentiful photos...

The binding has been added since I took these pics, now in the process of hand-sewing it down.

I've also embarked on a Swoon quilt. I bought Camille's pattern approximately five minutes after she released it back in May and had my heart set on making it in French General fabrics (of which I have a rather large, ahem, stash). Two blocks done so far. These are fun to make but deceptively rather intensive! Lots of cutting and trimming. But beautiful! And big! 24 inches.


And one more birdie pic!


Linking up to Lee's WIP party today.

Birthday party

Not so much sewing happening here, I'm afraid. Young Finn has turned 5. Hard to believe. He's been through such a lot in his short life, starting with his surprise arrival 12 weeks early. Seems weird looking back on that now. And 5 seems like a pretty big milestone, in the scheme of things.

So what better way to celebrate than with a dinosaur party?




Cue one dinosaur cake.




A game or two of pin the tail on the dinosaur.





And just having fun.

A gorgeous day for my sweet, funny, sometimes puzzling and exasperating boy.

A hex on this year going too fast!

Despite my best intentions, I once again find myself realizing it has been rather a long time since I (a) did any 'real' sewing and (b) blogged about anything at all. Life just kind of gets in the way, and all I can do in the in between moments is daydream about the numerous projects that are either underway, or that I would like to start.

I really should start documenting them all. Isn't that what a blog is for, anyway?

So, for today's work in progress, I hereby show you my progress with the hexy project, aka paper-pieced hexies. I'm really enjoying these, although they are rather slow, but nonetheless quite fun to do in the evenings in front of the box. And I'm enjoying starting to think about the secondary shapes and patterns that you can make with them. Fun. This might take quite a while to finish, but that's quite ok with me!





So, a little disclosure here. And let's hope my husband is not reading this. Here are the main goals:

Ruby dutchmens puzzle quilt (blocks made, sashing and borders to go)
Sherbet pips quilt (sandwiched and ready to quilt)
French General framed boxes quilt - approx half blocks done
Finn's very overdue baby quilt. Ahem. Ok this should really be at the top of the list. He has just turned 5. How, I do not know.
Lilly Pilly (appliqué done, awaiting quilting)
Swoon quilt - one block done
In Spring quilt - barely started. Some shapes traced onto fusible.

Quilts I want to start - have the materials, just need some more hours in the day!
Whirligig from Sarah Fielke's book
Prints Charming rocket quilt
Sarahjane children at play quilt
Little apples quilt
Tula pink windmill quilt

I know. It's ridiculous! So, how many projects do you have on the go?

For more works in progress, head over to Lee's.

Finally - a finish!

This quilt, in the making since January, was finally gifted to its recipients today (my sister and BIL, as a housewarming present). Before the gifting I actually remembered to take some photos. So often I forget.
Some of my favourite prints are in this quilt. So I may just have to make myself another. The solid is a Robert Kaufman linen/cotton. Hand-quilted with Perle 8 thread in various reds and pinks.

I love the binding on this - alternating Amy Butler dots and Keiki (the name of the line escapes me at the moment).
Hope everyone is having a lovely weekend!

My creative space

I've been absent - again! But not idle! Ninety-six flying geese, now flying in formation like so:





Now for the sashing and borders...

Fabric is Ruby by Bonnie and Camille. More details to follow, including my flying geese tips!

I'm so in love with these, just want to keep staring at them! But that would not be very productive, would it? Instead I'll go and visit some more creative spaces on display here. And then some works in progress here.

Works in progress

I often have the feeling that I take on way more than I can ever hope to achieve - even given a few rare hours of sewing time, I think that I'm going to get done way more than actually ends up happening. Not sure what the solution is, but part of it is probably about being more organised and having things ready to leap into when the opportunity strikes, rather than having to start with the preparation - fabric selection, cutting etc.







Anyway, having said that, my few hours of sewing time did see some achievements today and I do feel like I'm making a small dent in my pile of commitments.

First up a couple of blocks for quilts being put together by Sarah Fielke for her friend Amy who recently lost her husband to cancer. Such a terrible thing and he was so young. It's wonderful to be able to share the gift of a quilt with a friend and Sarah has been able to pull together blocks from all around the world to turn into quilts for Amy and her daughter. Amy is a big Kaffe Fassett fan, so this is what was called for. I'm more than happy to spend a little time cutting into my Kaffe stash.







Next up - starting on a Dresden plate block for Kelly in the Sew Australia bee. Lots of fun making this - I don't know why I haven't done one before!






What are you working on this week? Do you also think you're going to get more done in a set time than actually ends up happening? Or is it just me?...


More works-in-progress over at Lee's

Small bloggers unite!

Here I am again, with nothing new to show but a hello to everyone visiting via Lynne's Small Blog Meet. I've known Lynne since I joined a bee - Fresh Modern Bee 2 - that she was setting up over a year ago. Lynne is an amazing, inspiring quilter - she hasn't been quilting for all that long, but has such an eye for design and colour, and is always coming up with the most amazing concepts that you've never seen hinted at anywhere before. She's truly original. And she's very funny too, as you would know if you've ever read any of the slightly off-topic threads in her Flickr group.

So thanks Lynne, for the inspiration and the encouragement. My little blog has been idling along, often neglected, but I'm almost at 50 followers so theoretically won't be eligible for the Small Blog Meet anymore :( But I will still enjoy visiting other new blogs and meeting more of you. Seeing so many new projects just inspires me to keep going and sewing! Hopefully there'll be something on my blog that will give you a little inspiration too. That would be lovely! Please let me know if there is!

Anyway, the picture you see above I say is not new, but I guess it is new because I haven't shown it here before. It is a quilt I made for my Mum's 60th birthday back in June. It bears the dubious distinction of being the quickest quilt I've ever done from start to finish. But that's a story for another time.