Fi's Birthday Quilt - done!

I keep forgetting to post the finished quilt! It looks a lot like the 'in progress' picture except that the quilting and binding was added - not that you can really see it in the photos.

My sewing machine was playing up while I was quilting. :( No matter how I adjusted the tension the red bobbin thread kept showing on the front of the quilt. So, I had lines of little red dots. I pulled the sewing machine apart and gave it a clean and found a little screw on the bobbin compartment when I took it out. I tightened it and woo hoo, the tension is balanced. Pity I had already finished the quilting. But the red dots were annoying me so I put in some variegated thread and embroidery quilted a wavy pattern over the lines and it looks purrfect. I was a lot happier.

I sewed for 16 hours straight on Friday to finish the quilt so that I could give it to Fi on Saturday. Hand stitching the binding takes soooo long. But it looks great. I was really happy with the label, apart from the fact that I had stitched it on sideways. But I printed another message and attached it the right way up so that it looks like I made the label to be that way.

I probably should have ironed it before giving it to Fi but I rather like the crinkly effect that quilts get after being washed. Ironing it would have made it to crisp and new looking. If I had more time I would have quilted it a bit more in each square - it is a little saggy because it was still a little damp when I took the picture.

The top of the purple border still annoys me. I wish I had more red so that I could have extended it up a little bit. But Fi really likes the quilt and already has it on their bed so that is all that matters. As always, Milly is in the background doing her quality check before the quilt is handed over to its new owner.

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In Progress: "Me Healies" Quilt

I had a very productive weekend - sewing wise anyway. This quilt is a birthday present for my friend Fi. On Saturday I went and stood in front of fabric for about an hour picking out the colours. The shop is pretty quiet so it was nice and relaxing just pottering around. I wanted to get a colour wash type of effect but not too blended. I was really happy with the final group of fabrics. I was even happier with my new floor standing OTT lamp too! I've been wanting to get one for so long. It is really hard to sew, at night, as the light in my room is terrible. The OTT bulbs mimic natural daylight so you can see true colour and more detail. As a bonus it came with a portable OTT desk light too - woo hoo! Anyway, here is the quilt so far. I'm debating whether to applique aqua blue & green spirals (or maybe red) over the top and stipple quilt it or leave the spirals off and stitch in the ditch and in the squares. Tonight I think I will fix one little bit of the border that doesn't look quite right. The bottom right where the purple ends needs to extend up a bit further. If I have enough of the red fabric I'll put a bit of red in between. It is too much of a jump between the purple & yellow/orange at the moment. Ugh, I'm not looking forward to the unpicking. This quilt is very different to any other quilt I've made so far. I'm usually not very bold in the colour department. I don't usually pick bold colours, usually my quilts are made from safe colour combinations and introverted, like me.

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Cat's Rest Stop

I was getting sick of finding cat hair on my cutting board. Pixie & Milly love sleeping on my desk when I'm working or sewing. I had a couple of baskets in my sewing room so I filled them with batting off cuts and put some leftover fleece over it. Pixie l-o-v-e-s her new bed the most. The baskets are placed so that the cats can see out the window and nap in the sun. Spoilt monsters.

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Quilt for Charlie

I made this quilt for my friend's baby, Charlie.
Charlie is having her first birthday tomorrow.
Of course Milly had to quality check it before I posted it.

Happy Birthday Charlie!

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Jen's Bag

Here's a full picture of the bag I made for Jen.

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Sneak Peak at Jen's Present

I am mailing Jenaveve's belated birthday present today. Sorry it is so late Jen! As compensation for the delay here is a sneak peak at part of the present. I will post full pics once the present has been received.
Bell

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Meme for 2007

1. Was 2007 a good year for you?
2007 was a good year. Nothing bad happened which is always good. It feels like I just coasted along with the flow with and nothing significant happening.

2. What was your favorite moment of the year?
Partying with Jen at Melbourne Casino.

3. What was your least favorite moment of the year?
All the time spent commuting to/from work.

4. What are your plans for 2008?
To organise working from home permanently so that we can move to Mudgee.

5. What countries did you visit?
We didn't go overseas this year.

6. What date in 2007 will remain etched in your memory?
Australia Day - my brother, sister-in-law and nieces came to stay with us and we had such a great time.

7. What was your biggest achievement of the year?
Learning an instrument. I completing a whole year of violin lessons and actually did lots of practice.

8. What was your biggest failure?
Not getting Christmas cards and a Christmas picture done.

9. Did you suffer any illness or injury?
A few weeks ago I was off work, sick for 3 days. I had a chest & ear infection which triggered Asthma. Other than a mean sunburn and some muscle knots I have been pretty healthy.

10. What was the best thing you bought?
Plane ticket to Melbourne to see Jen.

11. Whose behaviour made you appalled and depressed?
Just the usual horrible news stories throughout the year. And less severely, some people at work.

12. Where did most of your money go?
House & Land payments and we got ducted air-conditioning.

13. What did you get really, really, really excited about?
Sewing. I had been very unmotivated all year so I re-organised my sewing room, got some great looking books and have been sewing lots now.

14. What songs will always remind you of 2007?
Probably all of the songs from my Year 1 violin book!

15. Compared to this time last year are you:
a) Fatter or thinner? I'm not sure, either the same or slightly more plump
b) Happier or sadder? Probably neither - content
c) Richer or poorer? I think poorer.

16. What do you wish you'd done more of?
More holidays.

17. What do you wish you'd done less of?
Eating sugary foods.

18. How will you be spending Christmas?
We had a wonderful Christmas with my family in Colignan.

20. Did you fall in love in 2007?
Yes, I got two adorable kitties, Pixie & Milly.

22. What was your favourite TV show?
The New Adventures of Old Christine

23. Do you hate anyone now that you didn't hate this time last year?
I don't think I *hate* anyone - but there's a couple of people at work that would be pretty close.

24. What was/were the best books you read?
Labyrinth by Kate Mosse. Also, Lean Mean Thirteen by Janet Evonovich. The Stephanie Plum series just cracks me up.
My favourite sewing book of the year is Bend-The-Rules Sewing by Amy Karol.
Another favourite book is Trinny & Susannah - The Body Shape Bible.

25. What was your greatest musical discovery?
Seether - One Cold Night

26. What did you want and get?
A cat - and I got two!

27. What did you want and not get?
To win the lotto so that I didn't have to work. And if I didn't win the Lotto to find a job I liked - or start my own business.

28. What was your favourite film this year?
Hot Fuzz

29. What did you do on your birthday and how old were you?
Hmmm, I can't remember what I did on my birthday. I probably went shopping and then had a yummy dinner followed by birthday cake. I turned 31 this year.

30. What one thing would have made your year more satisfying?
Enjoying work.

31. How would you describe your personal fashion concept in 2007?
Trying to look more feminine and also trying to steer away from baggy jeans.

32. What kept you sane?
Jeff, Pixie, Milly & Jen – plus my medication

33. Which celebrity did you fancy the most?
None

34. Which political issue stirred you the most?
None – I don’t get very excited about politics

35. Who did you miss?
Jen, Sam, Kat, Sarah & my family

36. Did you treat somebody badly in 2007?
Probably – but it wouldn’t have been too bad. I think I got cranky at a couple of people at work when they didn’t deserve it. But it wasn’t a hit-and-run or back stabbing or anything like that. I’m pretty nice & easy going I think.

37. Did somebody treat you badly in 2007?
Yes – but I try not to dwell on it

38. Tell us a valuable life lesson you learned this year?
When someone says not to worry about something and that it is all under control - it usually means that they haven’t done anything about it at all.

39. What would you like to have in 2008 that you didn't have in 2007?
More fun, less commuting, more time to sew, a pergola/patio and if I’m lucky a second hand long-arm quilting machine.

40. How many one night stands?
Zippy

41. Quote a song lyric that sums up your year...
Geez, that’s a hard one. Probably the following lines from some of my favourite songs:

“It seems like every day’s the same”

“I’m sympathetic, never letting on I feel the way I do”

“The pressure is building I want to break away
Motivation is lacking the point starts to fade
I look to the bottom still empty still the same
I'm waiting for something to show me the way
To the path that I should take”

Best wished for a happy & healthy 2008. May all your dreams come true - or at least one of them!
Bell

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Silly Kitties

Phew - I'm on a roll today - lots of new posts!
I was working from home yesterday and the kitties were trying to get as close as they could. Lazy buggers slept all day, waking only to have a fight over the best spot in the sun, and then falling back asleep. Needless to say I now have cat hair in my keyboard and all over my cutting table/temporary desk.
Defining their 'personal space' & Pixie having sweet dreams:

Pixie being her usual cute self:

Sweet Dreams

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Snail Farm

For something different, here are some pictures of the first snail pen. My hubby is doing a test run to see if it will work as a business. Aside from the slimey-ness they are kinda cute. We have lots of babies now too.

Baby snail getting a ride:

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Christmas Shopping ...

Errr, I haven't got round to wrapping all the presents yet but I got some lovely new clothes:

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Oh Christmas Tree, Oh Christmas Tree ...

Jeff is very particular about the Christmas tree and it's decorations. It has to have red bows, candy canes and plain lights. No tinsel allowed. I have been getting a Christmas bauble each year with our names & the year on it. Although this year I didn't want to stand inline waiting for our names to be glittered on so I used gold paint to do it myself. I also have a couple of ornaments, a really cute mouse and a silver 'B' my friend Sarah sent me. I also got an angel this year. She has real feather wings. Here's the tree:


And some ornaments:

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'Tis the season to be ... gardening??

After being sick for a week and a half I was a bundle of energy last weekend and tidied up the backyard. It was 34 degrees and sweat was dripping off me. (Yes, I had plenty of water Jenaveve) I pruned the trees, weeded the garden beds, cut down a tree and loaded all the offcuts into the trailer. By the time I filled up the trailer it was taller than me! Which reminds me. I need to take it all to the dump tomorrow. My muscles were so sore this week though.
Here is the result ...

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Xmas Card Holders

I finally finished my first Christmas card holder. It was all pretty simple except I had only ever put binding on quilts. Getting the mitering even on the points was a bit tricky. Once I worked out how to do it though it was pretty easy, just fiddly. The binding and hand stitching the binding down is the most time consuming part of this project.

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cute buttons and things

I went to spotlight last week and couldn't resist these cat themed buttons. They would look great on a bag - not all on the same bag though :)

This first button says 'Queen of the Jungle' underneath the kitty. It's a bit blurry because my camera wouldn't zoom in properly on the small button.


I love the colours and designs of these buttons:


I saw this felt for 50c and thought that it would be great for applique.
The hanger is for a christmas card holder I'm making. I just noticed that the wire hanger cat shape looks a bit weird. I wonder what the bump under the cat's face is supposed to be? It's chin? Stump from a missing leg?

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Ooooh, Pleated Beauty is complete!

I finished sewing the bag together last night. I was like a kid at Christmas when I finally got to turn the bag inside out to see what it finally looked like. I'm really happy with the way it turned out. The pattern & instructions for the Pleated bag were from Amy Karol's Bend-The-Rules Sewing book.



No show without punch of course. Milly had to climb in and investigate.

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