Amy Butler Little Splashes : :

After a VERY loooong hot summer its finally getting cooler (well the nights are anyway!). So now I'm moving into winter sewing as the winters in Gippsland can be very long and cold!

About a year ago (or possibly more, whose counting right?) I ordered 3 different types of laminated fabric and the Amy Butler sewing pattern Little Splashes.

I let the girls each choose which fabric they wanted, Little Miss E choose a zoology fabric by Robert Kaufman in whales, and Little Miss I chose a cute strawberry laminate.

Block Corners : :

So...I finally caught up with the Happy Quilting quilt-a-long. I was soo far behind! There has been so much happening here lately, some good, some bad.
Good news is our house is sealed up! We pulled down all the internal walls that needed to come out (we are renovating) and then had to lay the floor. Its been a trying couple of weeks with birds coming in and out of the house, but its finally all closed off!!

I have finished this weeks assignment (just in time too!) ...so here are my block corners for my quilt!

 

I cant wait till its all sewn together! I haven't used the BSR on my new Bernina 440QE yet, and I really plan on putting it to the test on this quilt! (By the end of quilting a queen quilt, one would hope I would have the hang of it!)

I have lots to put up here and now I have found my charger to my camera, I can finally take some photos of the things I have been making!

Jessica

Something Is Coming...

Something BIG!! Something HUGE!!!!

I'm opening an ONLINE STORE!! Yippie!
I am still in the process of organising myself, but I have my first order of patterns here ready for me to list, and another order on the way. (yes I will be selling sewing patterns)

The name of my store is.....

Yes its completely irrelevant to what I'm actually selling, but I love it!
My lovely maybe-almost-sister-in-law is going to draw up some cute graphics for me so I can really get things looking nice (think tea drinking foxes!).

I'm planning on stocking a large range of quality patterns, including men's, women's, and of course children's patterns. Eventually down the line I may also look at sourcing notions and sewing tools that I love to use as well!

My store isn't up yet as I'm still getting everything in order, but it will be soon! When it is, I will be sure to let you know and add a button to the side of my blog for easy access!

I'm SO SO SO excited! I have been wanting to do this for AGES now, and I cant believe its nearly up and running!

Jessica

Sorry for the lack of posting of late! There has been so much going on that I haven't had hardly any time!!

Star Light Star Bright Half Square Triangles : :

The next assignment we have been given in the Happy Quilting Quilt-a-Long, is the half square triangles.  Nearly there!! YAY!!

I cant wait for the next assignment! My favourite part about quilting is putting the blocks together. I changed the layout ever so-slightly that Melissa gave us. I really hope it turns out well!

Something that I have never done before I started following Melissa's blog, is trim my half square triangles. As you can see above, most of them have been trimmed, but some haven't (I will remedy that before I sew them into the blocks!). Since the first time I trimmed them with her last quilt-a-long I have always trimmed them!

I'm always surprised that no matter how carefully I cut, and how precise I try to be with my 1/4 inch seam, they are nowhere near perfect!! Trimming not only makes them the perfect size, but gets rid of those annoying dog ears, that get in the way when sewing the blocks together!

If you want tips on how to trim your half-square triangles, Melissa has a fantastic tutorial over on her blog.

Jessica

Flying in Formation : :

After all the renovating work we have done this last week, (we have removed 3 walls, painted the exterior, and put some of the new timber floor down) I decided that I wanted to play with some fabric I've been dying to use for about 6 months now!

Its an organic cotton called Tsuru, and I really love the oriental feel it has! Ive been hoarding it for long enough now! Its time to bring it out so I can use it!
I chose a BEAUTIFUL linen for the background! Its really really nice and I think it lends itself to the oriental, natural feel I'm going for.

I was going to be really boring and just copy a quilt design that I saw recently, which IS nice, but I decided to go out on a limb and take my first stab at designing my own.

I wanted to keep the design simple, and not overly crowded.
After trying out a few different designs on paper, I have decided on this one :

Or something like this one anyway! I really enjoyed making all those flying geese last week, and I still want to make more.

I'm going to call my quilt 'Flying in Formation'. (Is it weird to name a quilt before its even made?)

If it turns out any good perhaps I'll even write the pattern up and share it here on my blog.

Jessica