New babies...

Look what I bought! One of my new babies is an overlocker!!!! I've been wanting one for years. I recently "spotted" Spotlight offering VIP members half price Toyota overlockers! Whoo hoo. I snapped one up. It has been surprisingly so easy to use.

Look what I made with it! The top photo is a wrap skirt I finished yesterday. It is "the versatile wrap" pattern by Toni Coward of Make it Perfect. I love it. It is so comfortable and she is right - I don't want to take it off.

Now to my next baby. Anyone who is very observant may notice in the photo of me a little baby bump. That's right - we're having our third baby. Despite the large age gap of 11 and 9 years we are all so excited and cannot wait to greet the new addition to the family due on Mother's Day!

Another Dear Jane block...

Here is a simple Dear Jane block I did last night - A6 Uncle Homer. That is my twelfth block. I've just realised I started the quilt Aug 30th 2008 almost 12 months ago. That amounts to one block per month. I need to pick up my pace!!!

Dear Jane Block - B7

Here is B7 of a Dear Jane Block which has been needleturned. That means I have done 11 blocks (including 1x triangle). I have altered the colour combination as I only had a small amount of the brown fabric to use. I apologise for the pencil marks - hopefully they will come out with time.

Dear Jane Block...

I've joined a Dear Jane Quilt group which meets monthly. It has certainly motivated me to do some blocks. Here is A7 (Dad's Plaids) block I started and finished today.

My Thimble Collection...

There's been a bit of talk about thimble collections on Cathy's and Hanne's blogs so I thought I would share my Brambly Hedge Royal Doulton thimble collection "Four Seasons" (and also books and 16cm plates in the background). I had to hunt for them on UK ebay in order to collect them. I am currently waiting on the Winter plate to arrive in the post to complete my "Four Seasons" plate collection. There is something irresistible about Brambly Hedge!

Some Dear Jane Blocks...

I have finally finished two Dear Jane quilt blocks after the first meeting of DJ lovers a week and a half ago. The applique block (D8 Dee Dee's Delight) is one I had to make twice because I forgot to leave a 1/4 inch seam allowance on the first block. The second block is C12 Family Reunion. I have finally settled on a colour scheme for my DJ quilt too. I'm going to do an "around the world" colour scheme in dusty pink, burgundy/red, brown tones, lemon and cream.

Fun, fun, fun...

Well I'm back! Life (work and trips away) has got in the way of recent blogging. The last two weeks I've had the pleasure of visiting at least 6x quilt shops. Joy, oh joy! The photo shows two of my buys. I know I don't need to start another quilt but I just cannot resist starting the house quilt in the Blackbird Designs book. It is devine and mostly used needleturn applique which I have recently begun to love! I think I will be able to start sewing the first block soon. The fabric bundle I bought is by Moda and will be perfect for a quilt pattern I found (yes another quilt) in a Homespun magazine.

I am "Wrapped!"

I had a lovely day at Deloraine with some girlfriends last Wednesday. It wasn't hard to convince them that we had to check out the shop Fresh Fabric. Their fabric range was modern and "fresh". The photo shows you what I purchased - a make it perfect sewing pattern for a wrap skirt. Pictured is the fabric I have chosen. Now that the Wintry weather has hit Tassie I'll have a few months to make my new skirt and model it in Spring.

My Kittens Have Faces...

I have now sewn the kitten faces onto Block One of A Kittens Tale. The kittens look finished now. The suffolk puffs are the only items left to finish this block but I will have to wait until it is quilted before I sew them on.

Pop over to Rosycrafts and check out her cute Girly Doll Giveaway. Entries close April 24th.

A Kittens Tale...

I've almost finished the first block of A Kittens Tale by Lynette Anderson Designs. All that is left to do are the faces (I'll stitch them tonight while watching TV) and add the suffolk puffs which need to be added last after the quilting has been done. It's very cute! I think the special someone I am making the quilt for will love it!

Happy Belated Easter to All!!!

Autumn Knitting...

With the cooler weather on the way I'm in the mood for knitting. What better way to start than by knitting myself some fingerless gloves! I've really wanted a pair for a long time. I knitted them using Patons Zhivago Yarn . The pattern is from Patons Book 1277. The gloves are very comfortable and soft.

Now I have finished the gloves I want to knit some socks. I bought one skein of Noro sock yarn at The Yarnbarn and two skeins of Moda Vera Noir at Spotlight. I have never knitted with double pointed needles but I'm sure it can't be too hard. At least I won't have to sew the socks up at the end.

Cats; don't use just love them?

As you can see from the pics finding time to work on my Faery Kisses quilt by Helen of Hugs & Kisses isn't the only battle I have. My Himalayan Persian, Lily, just loved rolling on the quilt itself then fell asleep on my batting (bottom photo) after she had had a play.

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My quilt is taking up quite a bit of my time as I tack batting to my embroidered shapes so that when I quilt it I get the trapunto effect. It sure is taking a while to do this but I hope the effect will be worth it!

Ciao... Jan x

Baby Jane Blocks...

I've finished 2 more Baby Jane blocks for my Dear Jane quilt. Pictured is H1 Peek-a-boo and K12 Doris' Dilemma. I am very happy with the colours. Now I have to work out how to photograph and paste them cutting out the background. They were fun to do and surprisingly not too hard with the foundation piecing tutorial from that quilt.

My Little Owl...

I made this little softie owl for my daughter. The tutorial to make it is at Moonstitches. It is only a baby measuring 6 cm tall. It was so much fun to bring it to life! My daughter loves it. I will have to make more...

Another block embroidered...

I finished embroidering block 4 from my Leanne's House quilt. I have embroidered 5 blocks so far. Only 4x left! I'm absolutely loving this quilt - it's so relaxing to embroider in front of the TV in the evenings.

Dear Baby Jane and Roses...

I started a Dear Baby Jane quilt late last year and have just finished my 6th block. This block is called Bachelor's Buttons (B1). It was my first effort at reverse applique. It sewed together much better than I thought it would.

Living away from my garden for 12 months is hard so it was great to be among the roses again with a visit to Woolmer's Estate to see the National Rose Garden. I couldn't find a name for the David Austin rose pictured so any help with this would be appreciated. David Austin roses are my favourite roses!

A new project

I've joined a BOM called A Kitten's Tale by Lynette Anderson Designs. I will make it for a special someone in my life who adores cats and dogs and give to to her as a birthday present. I have thought I might embroider the names of all of her current and previous cats and dogs on an outer border to make it personal to her. I can't say who just on the off chance someone shows her my blog! It's a really sweet design. The fabrics are pictured behind and will really suit her decor.

Quilt in progress...

Here are the first 3 blocks of a quaint Leanne's House quilt. I began it as a block of the month with a friend. We cut and sewed the blocks together which made decisions about fabric choice so much easier. So far, I have embroidered 6 of the 9 blocks. It has been lots of fun. The embroidery is so transportable. I love how feminine Leanne has made this quilt. By the way, I did my first needleturn applique on this quilt which I have really enjoyed. Baltimore quilt here I come...

And no, we don't have a huge garden; our house overlooks a golf course. It provides a wonderful vista!

Look what I made with my son...

My 8 year old son and I had fun making a Miss Buttons . He chose the fabric and trimmings and did all of the cutting out. I did the sewing. He was very sweet and said I could have her!

I want to say a big thank you to everyone who welcomed me into Blog Land. It was very touching. You really are a friendly bunch of people!

A quilted kite...

I made this quilted kite as a gift for a close friend's new baby boy. It was a bit tricky to photograph as the hanging shots didn't work out. I was delighted to find a pattern for "something a bit different" in Australian Homespun magazine (No. 67 Vol. 9 No. 12). There is dowel attached to the back so it can be hung in a bedroom. I sewed a label on the backing fabric with the baby's full name, birth date and weight. I am not usually one to sew with bright colours so it was good to go out of my comfort zone. I hope baby Joshua enjoys looking at it!

What my flowers turned into...

I planted this patio apple tree growing in my front garden for 4 years. Last year I didn't prune it despite the DVD instructions that came with the purchase (naughty, naughty). I figured as I bought the tree for the spring blossom rather than the fruit it didn't matter how much fruit it produced. In January we moved cities for 12 months. I am returning monthly to my garden to maintain it. Imagine my surprise when I found it dripping in apples last week! The tenants hadn't even picked one of them either!

I've arrived...

After dreaming about this for months I've finally done it. Now I can share my craft and gardening journey with friends.
Let me share my latest quilting project. This is the Fairy Kisses quilt by hugs and kisses I have been doing since 2003. I know I'm a bit slow but life got in the way for a while! Well I've been working solidly on the stitchery over the last 18 months and finally have put the quilt top together. Now it's ready for batting and basting...

I have received mixed opinions in regards to the quilting of it. I would love to hand quilt it all but that may take a very long time. I haven't had any experience with mixing quilting styles and don't know how it would look especially on the backing fabric. Any opinions in regards to this would be greatly appreciated!

Ciao! Jan x