Cot Quilt

I finished by cot quilt yesterday. I just quilted it very simply, in diagonal straight lines. And sewed on the binding snuggled up in front of the fire and a DVD.



This fabric (Birdie) is so cute. Lots of sweet flowers and birdies flitting arond in bright colours.

Two for the price of one

How's that for value? With the left over jelly roll strips I used for my many trips around the world baby quilt, I was able to make another generously sized cot quilt.



I finished piecing this one this morning and will start hand quilting this one later on today, similar to the previous one:



So it has been a productive morning, and it is only just now 10am.

Baby steps around the world?

Gee, my last post was a little blaah, wasn't it? I wanted to pop up a photo of the cot quilt I was making on the weekend but it was cold and dark and couldn't get a good photo and I also was feeling tired and washed out and couldn't think of any words.

Still feeling blaah today, and with daylight savings over, it is still darkish when I get home from work, but decided to try again with a photo now the quilt is finished. Still blurry and dull, but what the heck.



So I finished hand quilting this little cot quilt last night and I just love it. I think the block is called "Many Trips Around the World". It probably isn't the best block for pastels, without sharp contrast. I don't care. I still like it!



I hand quilted it in the direction of the pattern to try to emphasise the movement of the block. I don't know if that really worked, but I do like the look of hand quilting. Even my hand quilting. Which is a little uneven and tends to wander around off it's path.



The other good thing is these lovely fabrics which turned up in the mail. So pretty in pinks and stripes and gingham and polkadots.

A Fine Day?

It is looking like we might get the first rain-free day in over a week today. Fingers crossed, although it has been good weather for snuggling up to warm pups and doing some crafting in front of the heater.

I bought these pretty pastel fabrics from the local Big W, when I went to get some sewing cotton last week:

And made these Penny Pockets using Happy Zombie's pattern:

Not sure what I am going to do with them - I'd like to make a little hanger for the bathroom for odds and ends. I also made another set of the doileys I blogged about previously, this time in a very light mercerised cotton in blue:

The rain cleared enough yesterday morning to hit the local markets at North Rocks and Blacktown with my friend Lyle. My favourite purchase must be these old magazines from the 50s and 60s, and one from the 1972 because I liked the crochet patterns in it:

They are interesting to flick through. The recipes are quite appalling though. Were herbs not invented in the 50s and 60s? Feel really sorry for the Australians in that era for all the bland dinners! Will have to have a better read through and will share anything interesting.

Lyle also gave me some lovely patterns he bought for me last week:

I finished my panda quilt. I didn't do much quilting on it, just in the ditch around the panda and the borders and bound it in black. I gave it to Lyle as he loves pandas, and he has put it on his wall.

Weekend works

I managed to get a little bit of sewing done on the weekend for the first time in ages, despite having piles of housework and lawns to attend to.

First, I quilted the gorgeous little cot quilt top I won from Toni. I was a bit scared of ruining it, so I just quilted in the ditch around all the blocks and the borders. I was going to stipple in the large border but wasn't sure if I had enough pink thread to finish it so didn't. Since then, I actually found another reel of pink quilting thread hiding in the mess that is my sewing room so I could go back and do it. But I am thinking of quitting while I'm ahead. So that is one Christmas present finished ..... a zillion to go! Thanks Toni!

I also made a couple of pillow slips from some Amy Butler fabric. I originally bought this fabric with the intention of making a skirt or something. But after pondering it for a bit, I realised that I'm not really a bright colour person and I would probably never wear anything I made from this. Also, I always seem to be short on pillow slips. I don't know where they go. Maybe the same place socks go. Or maybe just at the back of my very disorderly linen cupboard! Whatever - the point is I could use some spare pillowslips so I made these from the fabric instead. And they actually kind of "go" with several of my sheet sets.

Then I started a little Christmas stitchery. It didn't photograph well:

And his eyes are a bit creepy!

And lastly, I started playing with a YoYo maker I bought ages ago but never got around to trying out. And you know what, it does make suffolk puffs or yoyos much easier to make! I am using a charm square pack from Moda's Harvest Home which are just the right size for my YoYo maker, so I have quite a few more to make. I'm not sure what I am going to do with them but I have a matching Jelly Roll, so that should widen the possibilities.

Lucky me - again!

I posted a few days ago about winning the gorgeous cot quilt top from Toni at The Red Boot Quilt Company, well, here it is:


My photo just does not do justice to this cute little quilt. The little nine patches are so tiny, the piecing so perfect .... I almost took a photo of the back of the quilt to show you how neat and precise the work is!

I can't wait to quilt this one. I just hope I do it justice. Thanks so much Toni!!!!!!

Now the reason I titled this post "Lucky me - again" is because Toni also gave me the opportunity to buy some of her gorgeous quilts. She knows I am an avid devotee of her talented work and I have been lucky enough to buy some of her quilts before. I received them today in the post and am going to show them off in separate posts ..... because they are beautiful enough to deserve a post each and also because it makes me look more like a conscientious blogger if I post three times today!

Another One Bites the Dust

Yay, finished another cot quilt. I might give this one to my sister who is due next month and expecting a girl. Not sure yet.

I love the backing fabric of this quilt, it is so cheerful and cute.

Finished!

Just finished sewing the binding on while watching the midday movie.

Cot Quilt

I finished quilting this little quilt but am not really happy with it. It is just too lumpy! I am sticking with cotton batting for now, I just really wanted to use an old stash of thick, stretchy wool batting up. Never again! I guess at least it will be warm.

Sunday Afternoon

I'm working on quilting a cot quilt today. I'm not much of a quilter, so am just doing straight lines. I hope it turns out ok - I find wool batting really difficult to work with, but am out of my preferred cotton batting, so I am just working with what I have. I guess I never stretch it properly when basting, as my wool quilts never look "flat" enough for me.

Sugar's leg seems to be a lot better today, so it must be responding to the anti-inflammatories which means thank goodness she hasn't broken the replacement ligament. She's still a bit sulky though and resting a lot. And still is demanding to be lifted up onto the bed as she can't jump up.

Keira's Quilt

I made this little cot quilt quickly with some pretty charm squares for my J's sister's fourth child Keira. It is unbound in this photo, unfortunately. Spice is assisting in the foreground.

Arabella's First Quilt

I made this quilt early last year for a friend's first baby, a gorgeous little girl named Arabella.

Shelley's First Quilt

I made this quilt 2 years ago for my partner's sister's third child, Shelley. It was quickly put together from pink scraps and then beautifully quilted by my talented friend Jo. I am hopeless at quilting and eschew anything but straight lines and stippling, so Jo made a lovely heart quilting design on this one, turning a pretty boring cot quilt into something really special.