WIP Wednesday: Norway quilt

My love of craft began many years ago when visiting my grandmas during the school holidays as they were always doing sewing, knitting and crocheting.

When my Grandma Joan passed away a few years ago at 91 years of age, I was given much of her crafting stash, including this pretty bundle of solids which I am now making into a quilt - actually both of my Grandmas were named Joan so this will be made in memory of the two of them. 

For this special quilt, I am using the Norway pattern by Thimbleblossoms as I happen to have 9 solids in this bundle.

I recently made a mini Norway quilt to try out this pattern and it was quite easy to do - I did have a wee bit of trouble with the borders in the mini but luckily they aren't needed in the full quilt design :)

I am using this Denyse Schmidt Piccadilly fabric for the backing and I think both of my Grandmas would approve of the pretty floral print. I also have some pink shot cotton for the binding, along with a creamy solid and a chocolatey brown for the accent colour.

 I have already made the first block which only took a couple of hours to sew.

And I have all of the rest of the fabrics cut out and ready to sew whenever I can get a little bit of sewing time...

Linking with WIP Wednesday @ Freshly Pieced.

Kirsten.

Winter Mug Rug swap - part 2

A little while ago I showed one side of the Foxy mug rug I made for the #wintermugrugswap and now that my partner has received it, I can show the other side.

As her name started with "L", I used the pattern from the Spell It With Moda letters and some pretty Bonnie and Camille fabrics top make a patchwork letter.

My secret partner has been away on a wonderful holiday to Scotland so this little package was waiting for her when she got home.

Hoping it is cheering her up when she has a cuppa on these cold wintry days...

Kirsten.

Happy mail

So if you have been reading my blog, you would have noticed that I participate in quite a few swaps:) And whilst I may have covered what I sent, I have been a bit remiss in showing what I received in return - most of these photos are from IG as that is where the majority of the swaps have been organised lately.

(very cute Pooh Bear Australia Post packaging from Alison @quiltalicious)

Firstly this was the IG mini oz swap that I received from Gina @ Happy Go Lizzie. She made a lovely clam quilt with fabrics in my favourite colours of blues and greens, along with a cute elephant patchwork pouch filled with goodies. 

As part of the Q2 Finish-along link up with Adrianne @ On The Windy Side, I won a fabulous box of Aurifil threads which I still need to try out!

Next up was the Kitten Mini quilt swap which was sent to me by Sammie @teacups and barbells. I loved the cats in converse shoes fabric that she used - so cute!! And Simba had fun playing with the little furry mice she sent too.

Another swap that I love and which has been ongoing for a while is the X-factor pillow swap. The theme this time was Drunkard's Path blocks and I was very fortunate to receive Adriannes @On The Windy Side stunning Blood Moon pillow which she made using some lovely Umbrella Prints fabrics who are one of my favourite designers!.

The theme for the next round in the Xfactor swap was to use Liberty fabrics - I received this gorgeous pillow from Leila @needleanddime. The fabrics she has used are just beautiful and I love the LV background and teal binding too.

For the #wintermugrugswap, Rebecca @ becasaurus made a beautiful Tula Pink mug rug which arrived the week of Queen Elizabeths birthday long weekend so it was quite appropriate that she had used some of the new Tula Elizabeth fabric for this. I really loved the shape of this mug rug and also enjoyed the chocolate she sent:)

Then there was the Outlander craft swap  - I received a beautiful applique thistle mini from Kylie @ A little Red Dress, along with a deer brooch and pouch filled with all things "Outlander". 

And I was very surprised to receive another parcel from Kylie @A Little Red Dress for the Lizzy House swap mini quilt swap. She made an amazing hexagon mini quilt using some of the Lizzy House fabrics in my favourite colours of blues and greens, along with a cute hexie fabric basket and needle holder.

And I was fortunate to win a giveaway on Cath @ wombatquilts blog which was a lovely bundle of green and LV fabrics.

Last but not least was this fab parcel for the #cottonandsteelMQS which was a lovely surprise as I had made for Alison @quiltalicious in a swap earlier this year so it was great to have her as a partner in this swap:). She made a beautiful mini using my favourite C&S viewfinders and arrows, along with a basket which I am going to use to keep my C&S stash. 

Anyway, after all of this happy mail, I am probably going to have a bit of a break from swaps for a while so I can work on some things for family and friends for some upcoming birthdays and Christmas:)
Kirsten.

Q3 goals for the 2105 Finish-along.

We are now into the second half of the year which is when many of my family's birthdays occur so I have a few projects in mind for them.

1. Pandamonium pillow for nieces 21st - she loves pandas so I think this will be perfect for her!

 2. Noodlehead Trail tote - after making the large size last year, I also wanted to make the Trail tote in the smaller size as well, so I am going to use some Cotton &Steel to do a patchwork panel and to use up one of the extra mini foxes I made recently.

3. Chunky Ripple afghan -  this time I am using a much bulkier yarn and using a size 10 hook so it will be the perfect project to do on winters evenings.

4. Hobo bag -  I have some lovely printed denim with some great orange features that I have cut out to make a Bonnie Bucket bag using the design by Swoon patterns.

5. Norway quilt : when my Grandma passed away a few years ago, I was given her sewing supplies which included a FQ bundle of pinks and maroons - I am going use them to make a Norway quilt using the Thimbleblossoms pattern and have all of the cutting done already! 

6. Bird block- I recently tested this block for Juliet @ Tartan Kiwi and this will be used for a special birthday project.

7. Geometric sewing machine pattern by Kristy @Quiet Play using True Colours for the rainbow effect. 

8. Terra Australis "Hashtag" quilt - this is a Craftsy pattern by Camille Roskelly and I am going to use a mix of TA1 and TA2.

9. Della wallet clutch - I have chosen some Cloud 9 Koi and Tsuru fabrics to use for this project.

10. Giraffe block- a paper pieced block that might get made into a pillow before it gets lost in my fabric stash!!

Linking up with Adrianne @ On The Windy Side .

Kirsten.

Poolside Tote

When we caught up with family at the beach earlier this year, my sister in law commented that she liked my Noodlehead Poolside tote, which I had brought along all our gear for the day in.

So I decided to make her one for her birthday!

Her favourite colour is blue so I chose a lovely printed drill from Lisette to make the Poolside tote.

 I also found some water resistant canvas to use for the lining which matched quite well.  

I omitted the facing on the lining this time (because I ran out of fabric) but I think it still turned out ok.

 I added in a little tab on the side of the lining to hang things like keys or sunscreen from.

Before I sent it to her, I took the Poolside tote to our Memorial Baths for some photos.

The Memorial Baths were built in 1926 to commemorate those who served in World War One. 

The design of this building was based upon the Menin gates at Ypres, Belgium and is now where memorial ceremonies such as the Anzac Day Rembrances are held.

The Baths are where our children had their swimming lessons many years ago, and more recently their school swimming carnivals - the above photo of my 3 (who are now teenagers!) was taken when the Baths were reopened after renovations in September 2005.

I think my sister-in-law will get a lot of use from this bag, either at the pool, the beach or when they go camping.

And I even found a pretty card to match:)

When I sent the bag to her a few weeks ago it was perfect timing as they were about to head off on a family holiday to the Whitsunday Islands in QLD so I asked if they could please send a photo of the bag in use - so here it is on beautiful Whitehaven Beach with my photobombing brother in the background:)

Linking up with Diane @From Blank Pages for a Week of Finishes!

Also linking up with Fabric Tuesday @ Quiltstory. 

And with the Super Online Sewing Match Community Match @ Sew Mama Sew. Kirsten.

Quarter 2 FAL finishes!

It is now the beginning of July which means another quarter has gone by and I did manage to get the majority of my projects finished from my Q2 list of the 2015 Finish-along!

 1.  Bruce: this project is first on my list as I didn't get around to it last quarter...or it seems this one either:(

2. Sublime quilt - "Mis-Direction" quilt pattern test for Jess @ Elven Garden Quilts: done!

3. Outlander Craft swap: done!

 4. Tessa basket using the pattern by Green Letter Day: done!

5. Wildwood fabric tote: done!

6. Lizzy House MQS: done!

7. DUACAL: Down Under Cosy Crochet along - done!

8. Table runner using some Terra Australis fabrics: done!

9. Cotton and Steel MQS: done!

10.  I would like to use some lovely rayon for this pattern from Anna Maria Horner - no progress but maybe this will be done in time for summer...

So a total score of 8/10 or this quarter which isn't too bad as I also did sew a few other things that weren't on my Q2 list. 

Tibouchina pillow, Slipper and Hour basket, Foxy mug rug, 

Fantastic Mr Fox pillow, Giraffe pp, Norway mini quilt. 

Now to think about the projects for the next quarter...

Kirsten.