Happy 2011!

I've been notably absent from these parts in recent times. The last few weeks of the year were a little hectic - starting a new job and having visitors staying for Christmas does not a relaxing December make! On top of that I somehow got a terrible cold which knocked me over for a while (but all the while still having to work etc). Anyway, all of a sudden it's January. And 2011. Amazing. But don't get me started!
December was a shocking month, in weather terms. It rained and rained and rained. Then it rained some more. After seven years of drought, this came as a bit of a shock. Unfortunately we had planned a little mini-holiday to the beach at this time. Here's a shot of the boys enjoying the beach, in between rain periods. Luckily we were staying in a fabulous house which had lots of space for everyone to spread out in - the rain didn't really matter and we all had a lovely time.
Needless to say, my sewing ambitions for December were unfulfilled. I managed to complete my package for Modern Swappers - will have to post on that later. And I finished my blocks for the 3x6 mini-bee, and Amanda's blocks for FMB2. As well as a little doll quilt for the MiniQT swap which was heaps of fun.
And now onto 2011! I couldn't possibly let the first week of January pass without starting another project now, could I? In recent weeks I think my husband has started to realise the enormity of my obsession and exactly how many projects I have on the go. Top of his list that must be finished, come hell and highwater, is Finn's baby quilt. He's 4. I know.

Anyway, in the interests of short posting I will leave that here for now and return soon with a post about my swaps received and sent, and also about my quilty plans for 2011. Plus some pics of fabric purchases. Only little ones. I promise.

Unfinished objects

IMG_4843
Originally uploaded by Petitselefants

This is my offering for the current round of Modern Swappers. It's been under construction for approximately 100 years, but given that the due date for posting is looming dangerously near, I put my foot the floor (quite literally) and got it finished. Now all that's left to do is to hand-stitch the binding down (so yes, it has advanced a little further than what you see in the photo!)

Can I just say at this juncture, my least favourite part of making a quilt, has got to be making the binding, and of that part, my least favourite part is making a mitred join for the two ends. Arrrggghhh. If anyone has some killer tips on how to get it just right without tangling yourself up in knots, I will think of a reward for you!!

That aside, I did really enjoy making this, the circle of geese block was fun - will definitely make some more of these! Love the half square triangles block, and the hexagons were also fun to make. And I love these colours. So, I really hope my partner likes the finished product!

It has been very quiet on the blogging front recently. Work has been so busy that there's been little time for sewing and as a result, even less time for blogging. And now I can't believe it's about 5 minutes until Christmas. And I am so not ready for that!

Now, on to my next unfinished object....

How are your unfinished objects going? Any that you MUST get finished before Christmas?

My first festival quilt

This is the first time I've joined in the fun of the Blogger's Quilt Festival! My quilt is the one I made for Craig for his birthday this year. It's made up mainly of one of my favourite fabric lines, Simple Abundance by Bonnie and Camille. Craig had already taken a liking to the large floral print (I know! Got to love a man who appreciates fabric) which I had used in another quilt for a friend. So I knew I had to make one for him that included this fabric. It's a very simple pattern which I designed myself, and the neutral strips are Carolina Chambray - a beautifully soft fabric, I wish I could find some more of this!

I'm so proud of this quilt, and it's now on our bed!

For more beautiful quilts - the thumbnails altogether look spectacular! - head to Amy's! Thanks for hosting, Amy!

There is progress in the world...

My world, at least, if not the world at large. But let's not go there. The two pillow tops for my boys are complete (apart from, in the case of the monster one, a teensy-weensy bit of hand embroidery of details - procrastinate, procrastinate). And the fabric and zippers for the backs are purchased. I'm going to do invisible zips. In the vain hope that this will prevent (or at least discourage?) little hands from prying. Am I kidding myself? Probably.


It was a funny experience with these projects, quilting-wise. With the beep-beep one, I decided to go with the swirly quilting, because, well, I've had a bit of practice recently. The whole time I was doing this, I kept thinking, it's not working, it's not working, it looks terrible. But weirdly, it doesn't. In fact, it looks pretty damn good, even if I do say so myself! But for some reason I can't put my finger on, I just didn't feel comfortable with it, not in the way I did with Willow. Anyway, it's done, and it looks good, so let's just move on, shall we?


With the monster one, I thought I'd try something a bit different, given that the three panels seem to lend themselves to something a bit different! So, a little stippling in the yellow section, and in the main top section, some pebbly quilting. My first time trying this and I have to say I'm really happy with it. This went so fast - particularly in comparison to the swirly quilting, which takes f.o.r.e.v.e.r. And it has a slightly, errrr, organic feel to it. If you look closely you'd see what I mean - kinda messy, but it works! I love the texture to it, and I think it really suits the monsters.

I'd love to know - what kind of free-motion quilting backgrounds do you like to do (or if you're not into the doing, do you have any favourites you like to see?)

Speaking of the doing, I've had a few people contact me asking for tips on the swirly quilting. I'm planning to put together a little tutorial on this in the near future - stay tuned!

Tip-toeing through the tulips

Spring has sprung! On the weekend we took a little drive out of town to the Tulip Top Gardens - a private garden on several acres and boy was it impressive. Beautiful trees, lots of blossom, and more tulips than you could poke a stick at.

The kids seemed to like it too (though maybe that was just the sausage sizzle and chocolate cake). Finn is totally into the over-exaggerated smile at the moment - every time the camera comes out it's a big cheesy grin and nearly-closed eyes. Funnily enough though, when we ventured a portrait session with a professional photographer on Saturday, he wasn't having a bar of it - I'll be amazed when we get the pictures back if there are any where you can't just see him disappearing into the background or off to the side....




No sewing pictures to share with you today. I'm working on a plan for my Modern Swap partner, trying something I've been wanting to try for ages and so far it's coming together quite nicely!

Busy bees

Can you believe it's October? I can't. Does that really mean it's nearly Christmas, and the end of 2010? Yes it does. Eeek. Anyway, the good news is that October is my month in the Fresh Modern Bee 2. These girls are a hugely talented bunch and I feel completely inadequate amongst them. So I agonised for ages over what to set as the month's project. I decided not to do something prescriptive because I think people like to have the flexibility to show a bit of their own creativity. So I asked for squares, square-in-squares, rectangles, grouped, single, whatever - but preferably no wonkiness.

My fabrics are mainly from my precious stash of Wonderland, but also some Tweet Tweet, Hunky Dory, Sweet and a little bit of Flora and Fauna and Joel Dewberry Stamen. Plus Kona Ash to pull it all together. The top photo shows a few of the sample blocks I did (because I kept doubting myself and was scared that the fabrics wouldn't go together).



Lynne was the first to show her wares - and as noted by one of the other bee members, she set the bar very high! What an amazing block!

Next up is Alison with these beauties - I love the fussy cut Wonderland tree, and the little rectangular strips. This is going to be so cool - I can't wait to see what the others come up with!!

My creative space

More works in progress - some long-promised pillows/cushions for my two little boys. These are based on patterns by Kellie of Don't Look Now - she has whole quilt patterns for the cars and the monsters which I would love to tackle at some point in the future! Hopefully before my boys get too big...

Kirsty's on holidays this week, so no other creative spaces to share - but you know as well as I do there are creative folk galore all over the web - so go exploring.