Quilt Fabric Delights

Gone Fishing

This year both Vanessa and Rachel had male teachers for the first time, which proved a challenge for a homemade present.  The girls came up with the perfect idea.  One loved to fish and one loved to surf, so could I make a softie for each of them with this in mind.

I already had Under the Sea (thanks Marie) so we added an embroidered sign saying gone fishing and hung it from a piece of bamboo for a fishing rod.  Rachel made some shortbread and put that in a package with bait written on it.

 

For Vanessa's teacher we made Magoo the Surfie, complete with surfboard.  I am nothing if not consistent and finished this at 10.00 pm last night.  If you have been reading my blog for a while, you will see that this was deja vu of last year as I had to snap this photograph this morning before we left for school.

 

Both patterns are by Melly & Me, Surfboard by Vanessa & I.

They're growing up

Today is the last day of school for the year here in South Australia, and indeed Vanessa's last day of primary school.  Feeling a little bit mixed about that, in many ways it does not seem as if she has been there that long.  She had her gradation during the week.  It was a lovely evening and we where very proud of her.  I made her dress and finished it just in time the night before (for those who want to know the fabric is from Patti Young's Flora & Fauna. 

I wish I could show you the pic of her with her friends after the formal (scary for them) part finished, but I don't know how the other girls' parents would feel about, but I think Vanessa's smile says it all.

So there it is, she is all finished Primary School.

And today my baby turned double figures - 10! Happy Birthday Rachel

Seems like only yesterday they both looked liked this.

Customer Creations

I had intentions of showing you some quick gift ideas this week.  And I have made projects for Monday and Tuesday, but forgot to charge the camera battery so cannot show you just yet.  Needless to say I am yet to make today's gift idea, so it will definitely be a quick project.  I will be back tomorrow with these. 

In the meantime I have some lovely projects made by customers of Quilt Fabric Delights to show you.

Helen Y emailed me in a photograph of her completed Audrey Bag using Amy Butler's Love fabrics.

 

Doesn't it look fantastic?  Actually this would pass as a quick gift idea.  It is not a difficult bag to make and would be great if you are thinking about making your first bag.

Kate over at Two Little Banshees has been playing with some of the Grandmother's Flower Garden laminate.  Head on over to see her great tutorial for a handbag pouch.  This would be the perfect project to make if you have a zipper phobia.  Kate's instructions show just how easy it is to put in a zipper.

This too would make a wonderful quick gift.  Thank you Kate and Helen for letting me keep my promise of showing quick last minute gift ideas,  even if they were not my own projects.

I'm off to plug in the battery camera and take some photographs so I can show you some more quick gift ideas.

Grandmother's Flower Garden Laminated Fabric Projects

Projects in Grandmother's Flower Garden laminated fabrics are starting to pop up over blogland.

Melissa has used some to make a cute little lunch bag.

Leanne has used the yellow houses to make a tablecloth.  It couldn't be easier than that.

Rosalie has created a pattern called Laura's Secret with them.  This pattern includes an A4 and A5 journal cover, a pencil roll and a pencil case.  These projects would make great gifts.

 

I have ideas, now if someone could just send me some time I might make them for real instead of just in my imagination.

Multi-Tasker Tote

Today's inspirational bag design is Anna Maria Horner's Mutli-Tasker Tote.

I love this bag! 

When I first cut out the pattern pieces there just did not seem enough pieces for the finished bag, but it goes together in such a different way to any other bag I have made in the past.  Unlike Feathered Friends in the previous post I did read the instructions, which are well written and easy to follow and I look forward to making another of Anna Maria's patterns.

This bag is earmarked as a gift and I am not saying for who on the off chance they do read this post, but I will be making more.  Although it is a large bag it is really comfortable and I can see it being useful for so many uses.

The fabrics I have used are from Whimsy by Pillow & Maxfield.  So clean and fresh.  If you would like a kit for this bag, just let me know what fabrics you would like and I can put them together for you.

I used the medium woven fusible interfacing to interface this bag along with peltex to reinforce the base.

Feathered Friends

Today's bag is Feathered Friends by Melly & Me.  If you came along to Inspired Stitches 2009 you will already have this pattern.  Have you finished yours?  If you have I'd love to see a photograph of the finished bag and I am sure Melly would love to see it too.  If you haven't - what are you waiting for?  It will make a wonderful gift for someone.

 

I did the embroidery for this while teaching some of the children in Vanessa's class to embroidery.  It was a great project to show them what they could potentially do once they had mastered embroidery.  For me it a a lesson in making sure I read the instructions.  I ended up doing the embroidery for the pocket twice since I didn't read the instructions properly and cut out the pocket along the line rather than using the template to mark the stitching line.  Just as well I love doing back stitch.

Once again we have kits available for this bag.  You could make it up as a gift (or for yourself) or the kit itself would make a great gift in itself.

Inspired Stitchers don't forget to send in your photographs.

I See Stars

I See Stars is such a fun pattern from Natalie Ross In Stitches.  I now have a wonderful stunt sewer to help me out with sample making and Kim did a wonderful job of putting together the kit we sent her.  

and a close up of the fun stitchery

I See Stars is a large tote bag ideal for shopping, for your taking your craft in or even to take to the beach.

We have put together some new bag kits for you choose from too - you can find them here.

I hope you are feeling inspired to make a new bag.  I'll be back again tomorrow with another.

A little excitement

One of the things I thought about when choosing a name for my business was what quilt fabric meant to me.  It is more than just something to quilt with, especially as I started this journey and continue it as a sewer or is that sewist rather than describing myself as a quilter.  I love the colours, textures, how each fabric range is so different and what I imagine I can make out of each piece that comes through my hands.  These days there is a lot of imagining and not so much of the making.  

I know that I am not the only one who feels this way.  On Thursday I had a phone call from a lovely lady in Canberra who sounded just like I did years ago when I discovered the joys of quilt fabric.  Her comment was that she had been looking for fabric online and was so thrilled that she had stumbled on our website (and other sites selling quilt fabric).  She didn't know that all these wonderful fabrics existed.  Fun to have a new convert to the world of quilt fabric.  To me that it what is all about, it doesn't matter what you make with the fabrics, but it is the delight you feel in the making or even just the fondling of the fabrics.  I say there is nothing wrong in collecting fabrics.

To me quilt fabric delights.  

So with that in mind I decided it was time to spend some time doing what I love - making clothes.  Here is my finished skirt (I even put the button on Jodie, no safety pin!).  The top I also made.  It really is a buzz to wear something you have made yourself.

The fabric is from Bari J's Full Bloom and the pattern is Burda 7947 (without gathers over the hip/thigh area - I definitely do not need any extra there!)

I have two more cut out, one in Love and another in a beautiful lightweight linen mix.  So here's to some more late night sewing stints.

Oh and the excitement, other than making the time to sew, well some of the projects I have been working on for the last few months are coming to fruition and I can't wait to share then with you.  You are going to love them but I will have to keep you in the dark just a little longer while I dot the i's and cross the t's.  2010 is going to be fun and you will be able to join me in the journey.

Gawler Textiles & Arts Weekend

Last Saturday and Sunday saw us up at the crack of dawn packing the car and trailer and heading north to Gawler.  It was a wonderful weekend and we were looked after so well by committee members of the Gawler Quilting Circle.  It is not often that we are waited on with tea, coffee and cake while we are at Quilt Fairs.  Not only that we were surrounded by beautiful quilts.

Don't mind the silly look on my face, but this photograph has the best view of the two amazing quilts that hung on the stage behind us.  I think the one on the right was the winner of the Viewer's Choice, it certainly attracted a lot of attention.   The quilt on the left was made by Helen Campbell and the quilting was amazing.  She had two other quilts on display equally beautiful.  My favourite being the one at the end of our tables.  The quilting was stunning.

We shared the shop area with Jen and Terry from Patchwork by Sea (their tables are to the right of the picture) and had fun chatting with them in the quiet moments.

I also spied Kathryn's finished Welcome Friends basket.  Kathryn started this at Inspired Stitches and I remember admiring her choice of threads then.  It looks beautiful finished.  Needless to say, we sold a few kits and patterns for this project.

 Jen headed out Sunday to visit some of the other exhibitions - she said the quilts and the garden on display at Hilltop were just beautiful.  Keep this exhibition in mind in 2012.

Yesterday we had out first bus group visit.  I usually say no to bus groups, because our house is only small.  Be we spread out amongst various rooms and it worked.  The ladies got to see some of Janelle Wind's beautiful work up close as Janelle kindly said I could keep her samples until after they had been.  So if you have a quilty group who would like to visit, let me know.  Especially the lady from Kapunda (?) who I saw at Beating Around the Bush.  We can do it but perhaps not a full bus of 40 at a time :)

I have a lovely new project of Helen Stubbings of Hugs N Kisses to get started on, so that when Helen has the pattern ready I will have the stitcheries ready.  Helen has been working on a new quilt along the lines of Nice People Nice Things, this time the packaging is such a lot of fun and I am sure you will love it.   We will be offering the quilt in a few different colour ways and fabric ranges.  If you are interested please send me an email to register you interest.

So I am off to relax with a cup of tea and start stitching.

Beating Around the Bush Mini Market

Last week Country Bumpkin held their Embroidery Convention - Beating Around the Bush and as part of that on the Wednesday they had a mini-market day.  We were thrilled to be invited along as one of the vendors. Although it was a small market it was a lot of fun, with time to chat to customers old and new.  It was a bit of a challenge to fit everything in such a small space, but we did it, thanks to my three helpers, Garry, Vanessa and Rachel (Jodie we missed you but watch out Vanessa is eying off your job!). 

Garry is usually the packhorse, Mr Fix It and general hand and then when the customers appear he leaves us to it.  This time he helped out and look he's smiling - he actually enjoyed it.

If you look closely you will see some of the new samples I have been making or have had made by the lovely Kim from Victoria and borrowed from Janelle Wind and Nicole Malellieu.  Thank you ladies, although it is going to be very difficult to part with them when I have to return them.

Now I have a few days to get ready for the next market day.  Just a reminder that we will be at the Gawler Textiles and Arts Weekend.  I haven't been before and it sounds like lots of fun with quilting, art, textile arts, cloth dolls, embroidery and craft work on exhibition at various venues around Gawler.  We will be at the Gawler Sports and Community Centre on Nixon Terrace between 10.00 am and 4.00 pm on both Saturday the 17th and Sunday the 18th of October.  As you can see from our display, although we bring as much as we can, there is a limit, so if there is something in particular you would like us to bring along, just let me know.