Here goes - my first doll quilt

DQS 10 - the first attempt
Originally uploaded by Petitselefants

I have agonised over this one quite a bit. You see, I always thought I would do a tree for the DQS, but it seems this is a pretty popular idea and I didn't think I wanted to do be seen as derivative. But then I realised, even though there are quite a few trees appearing in the swap, they are all quite different. And, moreover, everyone seems to love trees, I'm sure I can't go too far wrong with this.

I'm very happy with the colour palette I've chosen, which is a little outside my comfort zone (I would normally have gone with one tone, rather than so many). So - mainly pastels, but then a few reds and oranges to add some contrast, and I like it! The fabrics are almost all Amy Butler (Love) and Kaffe Fassett, plus some Valori Wells.

So far so good! Check out the growing pool of doll quilts over at Flickr.

Blissful, and a clever girl

One of my very favourite designers is Camille Roskelley. She makes the most beautiful quilts, has a beautiful family and look at that, a polka-dot armchair! I have her first book which is packed full of said beautiful quilts and I can see myself making pretty much every one of them over the next few years. Oh, and she also designs fabric for Moda - how clever! Bliss is the current line, I have a growing stash of it. I also love her previous line Simple Abundance, which featured in this quilt.

Anyway, she is running a giveaway on her blog at the moment. I would love to win, mainly because I cannot get enough Bliss in my life, and perhaps you would too. Head over there and leave a comment which specifies what your dream is.

DQS10 - Let the fun begin!

DQS10 Inspiration Gallery
Originally uploaded by Petitselefants

I have been dying to be part of the Doll Quilt Swap on Flickr almost as long as I've known it existed. I love the fact that like-minded quilters will make beautiful little pieces for each other, it gives you the chance to stretch your creativity but just focus it all entirely into one small piece - so the results are more often than out totally amazing. There have been so many beautiful little quilts pop up in the DQS photostream, it's mind-boggling what people can come up with and translate to a tiny quilt.

Anyway, I'm thrilled to have been picked to participate in this round. We haven't been allocated partners yet, but I've already been thinking about what I might make. I've put together this gallery - with the purpose of pulling together some beautiful pieces that I'd love to emulate and also show my partner the kinds of things I like.

If you haven't checked out the DQS Flickr stream - go and have a browse! There's also a blog. One of my extremely clever Flickr friends Lynne has got a post there at the moment. If I could come anywhere near her fantabulous quilt she made in the last round I will be hyper-ventiliating.


And now to a spot of sewing. This month it's Krista's turn - she sent some beautiful natural linen and a selection of yellow prints, all completely lovely. Funny that I have never thought of yellow as being a very interesting colour to work with, but I really enjoyed working with these. I think I might need to start collecting a few yellow pieces. Hmmmm. The theme for Krista's month is circles and I obliged by drawing different size circles onto stitch-and-wash, and appliqueing them to the linen. I hope she likes them!

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!