Sewings version of the Willy Wonka Gold Bar

I've just popped a couple of giveaways up on my giveaway page for Go! Baby cutters, and was rather annoyed to see that one of them is limited to people with a US or Canadian shipping address.....which has led me to think about this post.....some of you may remember a while back when I had my little sook (you can read it here if you didn't see it back then) about the amount of followers needed to 'host' an Accuquilt GO! giveaway, then there is also the chance to win one on Accuquilts Friday comp's in Facebook, once again, I found out that being in Australia I wasn't eligible to win (don't think that's an Accuquilt stipulation, think it's something to do with FB regulations about giveaways....but if that's the case, how to other people manage to give stuff away worldwide).....and now it seems Accuquilt is kicking all us non USA/Canada residents in the butt again.....on Blog giveaways.......I definately think I sound like a spoilt brat, but stiff.....I needed to get it off my chest and move on again....like I did after my sook before about them!

Onto the Willy Wonka Gold Bar part of my subject title......it seems like I've spent way too much time chasing the sewists version of a Gold ticket, so thought I'd pick one of the characters out of the movie and being that my favourite colour is purple....I've picked out......insert loud fanfare......

Who would you be????? Veruca Salt? Violet Beauregarde? Augustus Gloop? Mike TeeVee? or Charlie??? And WHY????? I don't have a prize to giveaway, I just think it'd be fun to see which character my followers/readers assimilate themselves to as we all seek out our own elusive Golden Tickets in/for whatever!

In closing off, I just have to decide whether a) I'll ever own a GO! or Go! Baby, b) Accuquilt is another name for Willy Wonka & c)

What's on my design wall

Just thought I'd share a quick pic of what's on my design wall right now.......the starts of my first ever queen sized (or nearly!) patchwork Healing Heart quilt top. A huge thank you to Diana for the tip about how to make your own design wall using a few skirt hangers and a vinyl backed tablecloth! The quilt design is all my own, drew a rough sketch up on a scrap of paper, and have worked out sizes as I go.....using skills/techniques I've picked up along my crafting journey. I know it's a no brainer for all you 'seasoned' quilters, but for me, this is an achievement as I've only ever made a small cot quilt before, and I had help from Khristina for that!

This quilt is for Raelene who's off to Adelaide in a few weeks for some radiation treatment......she'll be gone for almost 8 weeks, so thought I'd make her a Healing Heart quilt to take with her......and thus far, it's all been made from my 'fabric collection' (Stash to most!)....I'm going to see how much I can make it from just what I have at hand......all comments welcomed. I'm thinking to help out with size....I'm going to put sashing inbetween each of the blocks....just trying to make my indecisive mind up as to whether I also put some squares at the junctions of the blocks....think they're called cornerstones???


Edited at 11.52pm (my local time) to add a second photo....this is where I'm up to as I head off to bed.....decided on the sashing etc to make it bigger than it was......am going to make another one without the sashing and cornerstones as I liked how that design looked too! I'm still not happy with the size of it, but it's a few inches bigger now and as I don't believe I've got any suitable fabric to add a thick border out of....guess this is as big as it's going to get! Went fossicking and found a pink & white (wish it was pink & cream, but white is close enough!) quilt cover that I'm going to use as the backing fabric......won't need to piece it or anything!

Does anyone happen to know where I put my quilting pins when I moved? I've tried to think if I've seen them since we moved, and I can't recall seeing them, or even what I packed them with....YIKES....will be hunting them down tomorrow for sure.....am itching to try out FMQ on a big scale!

Nighty night or good morning, depending on where you are in the world.

You should check this out

I know there's not a pic of it here, but I suggest you click HERE and go visit JanDee's blog and see the lovely applique quilt she made just over a year ago....it's absolutely stunning....how intricate is all that applique work she did? Melissa H (Ardea's Nest fame) will love the profile pic.....a couple of puppies not too dissimilar to her own!!! Thanks for stopping by my blog for a 2nd time JanDee....at least this time I could respond to you via email and if you hadn't, I would've missed out seeing such a fantastic quilt.....I look forward to seeing more posts on your blog now...*smiles*

Great quilt kit giveaway

Shawna is hosting a giveaway and online quilting book club.....great idea. Giveaway entrants, you have a chance to win a kit to make one of the quilts she's reviewing or a copy of the book. You even get a choice of three different kits, I've chosen Sunkissed, what will you choose?....lots of ways to enter...do all, do a few, or just do one, but whichever way you want to do it, entries close on April 24th USA time. Click on the photo of the book to head over and enter. Good luck (even though I'd really like to win).

My take on a Bowling Bag (from a recycled dress!) .

Above in all it's glory, is my take on a Bowling Bag. To explain about the recycled dress comment in the post title, in April 1991, my then M-I-L (RIP Margaret) made me a dress for my new job that I was about to start (Telstra, although it was Telecom Australia when I started). Then a couple of days ago, I found the dress in a box (still unpacking from the move!) and the fabric is soooo not something I'd wear nowadays (don't know what my 'taste/trend' was back then by the way!) so, with it being cotton fabric, I of course envisaged a bag being made out of it.....I washed the dress yesterday, and un-sewed it (rippit rippit) and VOILA a bowling bag was born.

Above you can see a close up of how I attached the handles/straps (depends on which you prefer to call them!) They shouldn't EVER come off....they're also sewn into the seam just below the "X" too, so very sturdy.
It's kind of not that visible in the pics, but the tabs at the ends of the zips are triangular....coz I just had to be different! The above pic shows the end/side of the bag. On one end I put a pocket. On the next bowling bag I make, I'm going to shoot for the stars and put pockets all around! Think I'll make tabs or flaps over the pockets on the front/back though, as I've noticed the inside pockets gape a bit and that's not such a good look when it's on the outside of the bag...on the inside, I can close the zip and hide them....or I could sew press studs on them I guess...hmmmm I might just make that design alteration now I've said it...lol

So, as you can see from the above pic, if you look close enough, there's pins still in there....that's because I was too excited about showing the bag off, that I haven't q-u-i-t-e finished it yet...hee hee hee. Once I've finished this post though, I'll go do the hand stitching on the inside and plan what accessories I'll be making myself to go with it, out of the rest of the ex-dress. Any suggestions????

More things I've been making

I may not have been posting on here, but I have been sewing.....and above is a little collage of some of the 'goodies' I've been making.

The free motion quilting isn't quite my first attempt, but it's probably my best attempt thus far!

The applique circles video tutorial can be found here. Mine don't quite line up, but my sewing machine is having 'issues' with thick seams and goes wonky when it hits thick bits....I shall be making more of these....once I've found my ultra thin interfacing....and I've sorted out the 'issue' my other machine has.....it keeps sewing after you've taken your foot off the pedal.....and it's a sealed unit, so I can't take it apart to clean it or see if a wire has come loose...so think it's going to need a wee holiday at the repair shop...or a new foot pedal.

The freeform crazy patch was me playing around with scraps....I just found a piece that looked like it would fit in the gap and sewed it on.....no stress, no worries, just mix 'n' match bits and attached them to a 9" square of batting. Not sure what I'll do with it yet....potholder perhaps.....suggestions????

The zippy pouch was the last of a scrap of fabric I had and Raelene mentioned she liked, and as she's going away soon for 7 weeks, I thought I'd make her a wee make up bag to take with her. I put an elephant charm on the zip puller as a reminder of her Mum who is now roaming with elephants in heaven.

My latest attempt at Paper Piecing

Well I think I'm finally getting the hang of Paper Piecing.....YAY. The above block is called Mosaic Quilt and can be found here under free blocks and then select Blocks for quilts I. I had heaps of fun doing this one. I traced the block onto thin sew in interfacing.....only boo boo I made was to trim the outside to 1/4" but I should have made the borders a bit wider, such as 1/2" to allow for attaching sashing or joining to another block....OOOPS! Oh well, at least I got the hang of the centre bit. I know the purple polka dot looks like I missed a little on the bottom right corner, but trust me, I didn't, it's the edge of the next row of spots!

My latest Hooty

As some of you would remember, I moved in December to a new home....I still have stuff to unpack, and the day before yesterday, I located some stretchy fabric and was in two minds whether it was staying or going, well some of it is definately staying now....in the form of Harriet the Hooty, seen in the above photo.....she's about 10-12" across and I designed her using both characteristics from several other owls I've seen about the place, and some I added myself. It's a bit hard to tell in the pic, but she has a stuffed beak to give it a bit of dimension. The reason the top half of her looks a bit fluffy is because it was a stretch towelling sort of fabric....worked in well with the other fabrics though......When I make more of these, I think I'll make them in 100% cotton....far easier to work with than stretch fabric!

What do you think of her? C'mon you know you love her, even if she's pink!

It's not too late to create.

I was just perusing the Craft Forum I'm a member of, and after reading my post below, I'm sure some of you may just be feeling like me at the moment...no, not in the fat, bimbo, blobby way, but guilty....whilst I left a few stray healing heart blocks for Khristina to use on the C-R-A-F-T group quilts (she has a heart bank...awww ain't that sweet?) I didn't really do anything for all those gorgeous quilts they made and took up there and personally delivered....so when I saw Evie's post in the forum, and a subsequent link to her blog for the hearts, I thought I'd post about it here, so if you were wanting to do something for the people of Christchurch, you could...and how much more simpler could it get.....if you're not really skilled enough to make your own, or you're just not craft minded....then you can always send Evie some fabric, and she has ready and willing heart makers waiting to make some up on your behalf.....her mailing address is on the blog, and her target is 400,000 hanging hearts.....let's see if by word of mouth, we can help her over achieve that goal. If you want to join in, you can click on the photo above and it will take you to the Hearts for Christchurch blog. Happy hearting.

Internet C-R-A-F-T group in the news!

I'm sure that no matter where you live in this large world of ours, you would've heard about the flooding that happened in Queensland a few weeks ago. Well Khristina (on the left in the pic above) rallied the troups, so to speak, and quilts and soft toys were made by members of her Yahoo C-R-A-F-T group.....in fact 16 quilts, and 70 or 80 Huggles (what Lucky calls her softies of love) were bundled up and hauled up to Queensland last week by Khristina.

If you click on the photo above, you can read the story that was in the newspaper up there.

Well done to everyone involved in the process. Isn't it wonderful how a bunch of women, headed by our illustrious 'boss lady', from across the globe, can make a change to someone's life who has had trauma in it....such as losing all their possessions due to the floods.

More Birthday Pressies, a OWOH win & a siggy block

This past week, we had Marion (affectionately now known as Mazzie or Maz) and Grant (affectionately also known as Mr Handsome) come to stay with us for a few days....they arrived on my Birthday....what better gift could this spoilt brat ask for? I couldn't, but I did, however, receive some lovely goodies that they bought with them, which you can see as you scroll through this post.

Here's a group pic of the latest group of pressies I got, coz don't forget, I still have my birthday money fabric from the girls in the C-R-A-F-T group (link in my sidebar, you might need to scroll down a wee bit to find it though!) which is making it's way to me from USA as I type...hopefully it arrives this week sometime, so that I can show you all....I got HEAPS!

How cool is the owl mirror frame? The owls' front can only be seen if you look into the mirror. I've never seen anything like this, and Tarryn managed to find it somewhere in South Australia for me.....I'm astounded by how she managed to find it in sleep ol' South Australia! Thanks heaps Taz xxx

A close up of the set of three Hooties I got from James (a friend I've met through Maz and Grant).

Crystals (Amethyst which is my birthstone, rose quartz and a piece of clear quartz) from one of Maz's friends (and now mine), Karen, who's family is in Christchurch, N.Z. but thankfully are all safe and accounted for after the horrific earthquake they suffered on my Birthday.

Below is a close up of the matching fabrics....oilcloth and normal, that my friend Sandy (no blog yet, but I'll get her started on one soon) sent for me to see what I could come up with using it....kind of a birthday challenge present so to speak!

So yes, you could say I'm a spoilt brat, but you love me...you know you do...and if I tell you often enough that you do, you might even start to believe me...lol

You may remember just recently, I participated in Lisa Swifka's OWOH blog hop, well not only did I host one of the 'stopovers', I even went and visited about 100 or so of the other participating blogs....I even managed to win 3 of the door prizes....one I gifted to someone else (she knows who she is!), one is still on it's way to me, and the other, I got on Friday.

As you can see, I did take some pics of it, but if you'd like to see more, pop on over to Renata's blog and you can see it being modelled....woo hoo, she got her hubby to be her model for the camera.
This is the front of the bag.....gorgeous fabric and a cute bag to showcase it hey?

This is the back of the bag, or I guess it could be the front, but I think of it as the back, so that's what it'll be!
And lastly, I got a siggy block from Cat in N.Z. How cool are these things? I have no idea why I haven't seen any of these before or why I only have one, but if you are in Australia or New Zealand, Cat and I would be keen to do a Siggy Block swap.....seens as though her collection so far, is predominantly from the United States and she'd love to get some from here (my homeland) or New Zealand (her homeland) and now that I know how to make them, I wouldn't mind being part of an Anzac Siggy block swap too.

If you need instructions, I'm sure you could beg Cat for them...I did, and along with my siggy block from her, I got the instructions on how to make them....not that it's rocket science or anything, but I do like to know the 'proper' way of making something, before I butcher it and make it my own way...hee hee hee

Just so you know though, we haven't 'officially' started up the Anzac Siggy Block swap yet, we're still just throwing the idea backwards and forwards over the ditch right now! If you think you'd be interested in joining in on it, please email me or email Cat and let us know.

3 Parcels I got today & a Purlbee froggy & Happy Birthday me!

A couple of years ago, well 43 to be precise, I was born into this crazy crafty world....one day I'll try and grow up, but until then, I'm afraid you'll just have to tolerate this dag and her warped sense of humour. I was born at 2.20 a.m. on February 22nd, 1968.

Today, well actually yesterday now, (due to the fact that our internet is soooooooo slow, I started uploading this post and all the pics on 21st February, but it's now 22nd February!) after being an info session/meeting for the Housing Co-op we are a part of (well almost, we've submitted our applications to become members, and are currently on 'probation'..lol) we came home to find Barry, our postal parcel man, had left not one, not two, but three parcels at the front door (between the two doors, so unless someone walked up there, you wouldn't know they were there!) and guess what? They were all for me.....YAY, I do love to get parcels!

I opened them in no specific order, and was in too much of a rush of excitement to do my usual slowly slowly photograph of each stage of the parcel unwrapping, sorry. First cab off the rank, was my Generosity Project gift from Marilyn.



Above are pics of the fantastic notebook, selvedge cover for it, and a PURPLE pen, which you can't really see as I quickly put it into it's holder once I unwrapped it! Didn't Marilyn do a lovely job of it? Thanks heaps Marilyn.

Whilst on the subject of the Generosity Project, I still have 2 spots left to fill on mine, and only 3 months to find people to fill them......please click Here, if you'd like to read about it, and perhaps sign up for it.

I got a freezer bag full of embroidery threads from my friend Mardi after I spoke with her on the phone a couple of weeks ago, and mentioned that I now have my Mums' embroidery machine....but no embroidery threads were with it :o( Knowing it was my birthday soon, she sent me a little 'care package' of embroidery threads.

Would you just take a look at this variety of great colours....especially seens as though she even put some purple ones in just for me! She mentioned that she didn't have alot of purples to share, but having said that, she still shared some of what she had....awwww wasn't that sweet of her?

A close up of the netting stuff Mardi also sent...you put it over the reels of thread to stop them from unravelling and getting knotted up.

Thanks heaps Mardi xxx

Recently, I signed up for a Mug Rug Swap, hosted by Quilting Gallery dot com, and here's a pic of everything I received from my swap partner, Barbara, from Nyack, NY, all wrapped up...there were mug rugs, buttons, stickers, an owl cosmetic mirror holder kit, felt owl stickies & fabric...I don't think I forgot anything.....ooops if I did!

Front of the hooty mug rug.

Back of the hooty mug rug.


Front of the purple crazy patchwork mug rug.

Back of the purple mug rug.

Regular readers of my blog will know, I have issues with getting good pics...one day I'll work it all out, but until then, pics like the one above, will have to do.....in it you should be able to see the 'hooty hoard' I received along with my 2 mug rugs....bear in mind, the mug rugs were the only required items, the rest was a massive bonus on my behalf.


A close up of the "Hooty" fabric that Barbara sent me, as 'extras' in the Mug Rug Swap. How cute is that???? I love the one on the right, as I don't have any of it in my wee hooty stash of fabrics, but the middle one and the one on the left....I have not seen before and I just love it.....might have to have a look around and see if I can find more of it, and if I can find it in any other colours, AND if there were any other fabrics in the collection.....AND then, and it's a really big AND, sell my kidneys, the dog and the cat and get me enough to make a huge quilt! Don't want much do I? lol

Thank you to Barbara for sending me such sweet goodies, and also to Michelle from QuiltingGallery.com for organising the swap.

I'm not quite sure how long ago it was that I originally came across Purlbee's 'Purl Frog' tutorial, but just recently, a friend from Khristina's Yahoo group, C-R-A-F-T (link in my sidebar), bought it back to my attention! I decided it was time for me to make one, as I've just found out my niece loves frogs (hopefully she doesn't read my blog, as it's meant to be a surprise for her!) Anyhoo, I made her one, and when a friend came and stayed for a couple of days last week, she fell in love with Kaylenes' frog, so I made Sue her own one...hence the one pictured above, which was made from a vintage sheet I had near to me at the time! This pattern is VERY quick and easy to make....takes less than half an hour!