Thursday, July 31, 2014

Some more pics to share

I found some more pics to share with you....My bestie happens to also like the colour purple and owls.....and caused a scene just recently when I made myself an owl pillow (must take pics of mine lol) so as a surprise, I made her this one.





I couldn't resist taking a close up of her hooties eye detail...as I think it looks sooooo cute, right?


Next up, is some pics of a pouch I made for my besties' sister, Angela for her birthday...I designed it as I went...what do you think of it???








On the plus side, Angela, who can be just a little bit fussy at times (if you make/give her something and she says "nice" be assured that she's not keen on it lol) loved it...PHEW....she also got the box of Peanut M&M's under the pouch coz she loves M&M's and collect their memorabilia...in fact, I helped Terri with an M&M wallhanging for Ange's birthday.  Will grab a pic off Terri so you can see what a great job she did of it.


I am still going through pics so there maybe more posts on the horizon.

Oh, and while I still have your attention, Aussie Hero Quilts could really do with some more Aussie Hero Friends....if you would like to assist them, please either email Jan-Maree by clicking here, or head on over to the Aussie Hero blog and find out how to get involved.  Please note, all the AHQ links are to different posts on the blog *smiles*

Thursday, July 17, 2014

Healing Heart quilt finished

Following on from yesterdays post, here are the pics of the completed Healing Heart Quilt for my friend Pat at Lake Bonney Quilting group.  She was presented with the quilt yesterday, and was overwhelmed to put it mildly.

As you may all know, healing heart blocks are made by several people and then joined together, either by the recipient, or, as in the case of this quilt, by one of the quilters (OMG, did I just clasify myself as a quilter? lol) who made a block.

 As I mentioned yesterday (at least I think I did), I put the blocks together using QAYG....no fancy quilting, I just quilted around the hearts on the blocks.
 Above, is the label for the quilt, which I put on the front (which is kind of my trademark if you've seen the Aussie Hero Quilts I've made) as we were one block short to make an even amount, and I didn't want to relegate 3 peoples' blocks to the back of the quilt!  Talking of the back of the quilt, there's a bit of a story attached to that.....I cut up the red check patterned fabric into squares to use as backing, and ended up being a couple short......grrrrrrrrrrrr so what was a gal to do, but go find another fabric in her stash to mix with it......I think the red blender fabric works well with it, and as you can see in the pic below, makes a great secondary quilt should Pat ever want the hearty hugs closer to her.
Now, I'm all for finding techniques on the net and trying them out, and the binding on Pats' quilt was one of those times.....I tried and tried to see how THIS technique would work out in my mind, and then just decided I would have to try it....so cut, sew, attach, 7-8 hours of hand stitching the binding down and voila.....two sided binding technique......check  It's amazing how it turned out, even if I do say so myself....no sections where the dividing seam wasn't on the edge of the quilt and I highly recommend the tutorial to anyone who is looking for a binding that's a little bit different.  If you want to try it out yourself, click the above link to the tutorial.
So, there you have it.....another quilt made and gifted to someone in need.  I think those types of quilts are the best, coz you get the warm fuzzies when you see the delight on the recipients' face, or get a note/email saying how receiving the quilt made them feel.  I love that feeling.

Wednesday, July 16, 2014

*Waves* Remember me?

Wow, has it really been 'that' long since I did a post?  According to the date stamp on my last post, yes, yes it has.

I have been sewing, and crocheting, but I don't have pics of everything to share with you just yet, as I have to either take photos, or find that safe place that I saved them in!

I do have a couple of pics to share with you, both are of WIP's, but the quilt is now finished, and perhaps I shouldn't be sharing a pic of it just yet, as the recipient hasn't received it, but by the time I publish this post, she will have, so I think I'm safe lol

First up, is a crochet blanket I'm making....using whatever balls of pink, blue, white or purple yarn I had lying around in my stash spots (we all have those right?)

I took the photo with it sitting on top of my queen sized bed, so you have an idea of the size of it.....I still have a few more rows to add to it before I call it done....oh and I need to sew in all those pesky ends, which is my least favourite part of crocheting, which is why I tend to leave them to the last lol

This pattern is called Drop in the pond, and is a free pattern on Ravelry, which you can grab for yourself by clicking HERE

Next up, is a Healing Heart quilt I suggested that my quilting group do for one of the members who has had some health woes.  I got everyone to make 12 & 1/2" heart blocks, in THEIR favourite colour...and of the 19 blocks, there wasn't two the same, and I think they look great in their multi coloured splendidness, don't you?

I ended up putting them together using the Quilt as you Go Method.  I didn't quite have enough of the backing fabric to make the back out of one print, so I did half and half, and made it a checkerboard pattern.  I'll show you pics of the finished quilt after we present the quilt to the recipient at quilting (today - as I'm postponing publishing this post until after she'll have received the quilt, because I have my blogger account linked with my Facebook account, and she's one of my FB friends....don't want her reading about her own surprise early now do I? lol)

When I joined the QAYG blocks, I used two different colour sashings, so when it came time to decide what I'd do for binding, I remembered seeing a two sided binding method, which worked perfectly on this quilt, and I highly recommend it to you for a different take on two colour binding......just make sure you cut/sew it using the measurements that you'll find HERE

I promise to show you the pics of the finished quilt, as I'm pretty proud of how it turned out, and I also promise to get back into more regular posting.....I spend so much time on the internet, I should have the most up to date blog out there, but sadly I've been slack.....well, it is my middle nickname after all lol

Oh, I also need to post some pics of the trip to Melbourne I just took with my gorgeous daughter, and her two little princesses.....I think my feet didn't know what hit them, but I survived and for a whirlwind trip, it was a blast.