Travel organiser wallet

My little travel organiser wallet is finished so this is the first of my finishes for the 3rd quarter FAL hosted by Leanne at She Can Quilt. The tutorial from The Cottage Home really was brilliant and this portfolio could be adapted for a number of uses.

I used some of the Icon "Sydney" linen for the front...

  And some colourful Prints Charming fabrics for the inside pockets.

Our boarding passes and other travel info fitted in there perfectly - most importantly though were the tickets to the Manchester United vs A-League All Stars game in Sydney!! I lost count of the number of times my sons asked if I still had the tickets with me:)

So along with about 83,000 other fans we saw this much anticipated soccer match - it was a wonderful game and such a great atmosphere!

Linking to TGIFF hosted this week by Molli Sparkles.

and also to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory, 
Kirsten.

WIP Wednesday - July Bee Blocks

It is almost the end of July and I still need to finish off a few Bee blocks for the month...

The first ones are for Jess in the Aus Mod Bee. She has requested Basket weave braid stars using a tutorial from the ADD crafter using a great mix of Sweetwater prints.

 I have one block almost done so just need to make the second one before joining the pieces together.

And this is the Mosaic block which we are making for the Simply Solids Fallow group using the tutorial from Lee at Freshly Pieced. All of the HST's are made and I just need to sew these together too - we were asked to use "Summery" colours so I hope these are ok.

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Kirsten.

WIP Wednesday - Travel Organiser

We are off on a short holiday to Sydney soon - it might be one of our last trips as a family as our daughter is about to turn 18 and finish Year 12 at school. So we have quite a few things planned to do whilst we are away - a visit to Madame Tussauds is topping my list! We already have tickets for the plane and sporting events for me to keep track of, along with a few tourist brochures and maps so I thought that I would try and keep it all organsied by making a folder to hold them all.

I did a few searches online and found a fabulous tutorial over at The Cottage Home for a fabric portfolio that had numerous pockets which was just perfect for what I needed. I decided to use an Icon "Sydney" linen along with some black denim for the front of the pouch and a few of the vibrant Prints Charming fabrics for the inside

I have the pocket pieces cut out ready to be assembled so only have to make up the front piece now and stitch it all together before we leave...

Linking to WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced.

Kirsten.

Bag testing for Katy!

A few moths ago now, Katy @ The Littlest Thistle put out a call for pattern testers for her "Bag Along Bag" pattern and I put up my hand to volunteer.

I decided to use up some of my Denyse Schmidt "Aunt Edna" stash with some grey denim to make this large 15” x 11 1/2” x 5 1/2” bag.

 I used contrasting red piping and a red zip for the back pocket.

This is a fabulous bag to make as Katy's pattern includes quite a number of different techniques including:

• External zip pocket
• Internal zip pocket
• Bellows pocket
• Elasticated pockets
• Piping
• Twist and turn lock (I ended up using magnetic snaps as I could not find any twist locks)
• Adjustable strap
• Recessed zip opening
• Bag feet  

This bag could also be adapted for use as a camera bag or baby bag -  Annelieises daughter is using hers as a dance bag. I am planning to use mine when we go on holidays soon as I can use it for carry-on luggage on the flight.

 Katy has done a post about the bags that her other pattern testers have made also, so please pop over here and see their lovely versions..

Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory

Kirsten.

3rd Quarter Finish-A-Long List

I have quite a busy second half of the year so have decided to join in the fabulous Finish-A-Long  hosted by Leanne at She Can Quilt to try and keep on track of projects that need to be finished off.

1. First up is a Giant Star quilt have made using Sandi Henderson's pretty Secret Garden fabrics. I have the top done already and I am hoping to get it basted very soon.

 2.Sew the binding onto the Simply Solids X and + quilt then handstitch it down.  

3. Finish off the Scrappy Trip along quilt- I have sewn 20 blocks so only 10 more before they are done. 

4. We are in the middle of winter now so I really do need to finish off the scarf for Gem which she has been impatiently waiting for...

5. As we are heading to Sydney soon, I thought that I would make a kind of Travel portfolio to hold all of our tickets, documents and maps etc.I found a brilliant tutorial here, and have all of the pieces cut out for the pockets but I still need to put it all together.

6. And I still need to make up another Triple Zip pouch. I have all of the pieces cut out of the Marmalade fabrics, and the interfacing fused on already. 

Ok so that is my "To-Do" list -  I can't believe I have 3 quilts in there:) Wish me luck !!!

Kirsten.

WIP Wednesday - Tripping Along

 I have made some progress on my Scrappy DS trip along quilt these school holidays - here are the first 16 blocks:

I started back in April with 180 strips of Denyse Schmidt fabrics - most of them are from the newer ranges (Picnic and Fairgrounds, Winding Roads, Daisy Mae, Sugar Creek, Aunt Edna, Richmond, Chicopee, Flea Market Fancy and Meadowlark) but some of my sweet quilty friends have been kind enough to send me some pieces from her earlier ranges (Hope Valley and Katie Jump Rope) so there is a real mix of DS fabrics in there. 

I have used the darker strips of fabric to run along the diagonal and it is working well so far.

And a few blocks later I am up to 20...only 10 to go now!

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Kirsten.

An Angel quilt

Recently, I volunteered to make an Angel quilt for one of the participants in the DS Quilts Doll quilt swap and as it has arrived at its destination, I can share some photos.

The mini was based on a tutorial from Dorrie, who is one of the other members of the DS mini quilt group. I quilted it in a cross hatch design, then bound it in a multi-coloured stripe.

 I also made a pouch to send using the Scrappy trip along tutorial to make the outside panel as I wanted to see how these blocks came together.

And lined it with a bright orange print from Aunt Edna.

I was worried about sending this from Australia but luckily this package did not take too long to arrive at its destination!

Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.

Kirsten.

Thursday at The Table - Pesto Pinwheels

And Happy 4th of July!  These little Pesto Pinwheels are tasty little appetizers that would be perfect to bring along to a family gathering or BBQ. They can be served warm or cool and are quick and easy to make too!

Ingredients:
Frozen Puff pastry sheets
Pesto: I used bought jars of Sundried tomato and Basil pesto but you could always make your own...
Parmesan cheese

1. Defrost the puff pastry and spread the pesto evenly across sheet of pastry, then sprinkle parmesan cheese over the top.

2. Cut the sheet in half so that you have 2 large rectangles, then  tightly roll each sheet lengthways into a scroll (see top right of above photo)

3. Cut the rolls into one inch/2.5 cm pieces and spread them out on a baking tray which has been sprayed with non-stick cooking spray (or you can line trays with baking paper).

 

4. Bake in a moderate oven 180 deg C / 350 F  for about 15 minutes, or until the pastry is nice and golden. Enjoy!!

Linking to Tuesday at the Table with Debbie at A Quilters Table.

Kirsten. 

WIP Wednesday

It is school holidays here, and so far the weather has just been rain, rain and even more rain! 

My sewing plan for this week is to finish off my X and + Simply Solids Bee quilt as I have done most of the quilting already. I have just done echo quilting along the sashing and through the "+", then also quilted once through the "X" . Still a bit unsure whether I like the quilting or not though...

I have the binding made already from some Timeless Treasures "Sketch" in Royal blue fabric that I bought from my LQS  - it is the only one they stock and I just love it as it is almost a solid but a little more textured looking.

 

Linking to WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.
Kirsten.

June Bee Blocks

After a bit of last minute sewing, I managed to get all of my bee blocks done and mailed before the end of the month! These are my "Stashbusting stars" made from the fabrics that Narioka in the AusMod Bee sent out.

 A Diamond Star block using the tutorial from A Quilter's Cache.

A Sawtooth Star variation block using the tutorial from Jeni at In Color Order for the HST January BOM.

And then I made a "Windmill star" block based on the tutorial from Amy at During Quiet Time.

And this was the block requested by Tessophia in the Simply Solids bee using a tutorial from here.


Linking to Fabric Tuesday at Quiltstory.

Kirsten.