Narioka

Sale on Narioka clothes and quilts.

2012-03-05T10:25:00.005+11:00

Big end of Summer Sale in the Narioka Madeit Shop.

Items up to 40% off.

Some bargains under $10.

Free hair clip(s) (matching if possible) with every order.

Oasis Postage Stamp Quilt.

2012-03-05T08:21:00.005+11:00

My sewing this weekend was a quilting a quilt for a friend. She used a Moda Oasis Jelly Roll and the quilt is for her baby niece. I don't know how this range passed me by, its really pretty.

We had to do some searching to find some fabric still available in Australia to finish the border and pieced back. Being a little pushed for time we settled on a simple criss cross quilting pattern and lines lengthways around the borders.

The pattern is my from my free tutorial on the Moda Bake Shop.

Wild Rose Postage Stamp Quilt.

Instead of blending the colours from top to bottom, she blended them across on the angle which gives a nice effect too.

Not the best photo as the only dry place to photograph quilts at the moment is the clothesline in full sun which always gives a washed out look. The first photo shows the true colours better.

We now have a waterfront property.

2012-03-02T14:16:00.005+11:00

Now, as I said in my last post the boys are away. When the boys go away there are always dramas. Yes, the usual cow escaped on the first day, this always happens. They don't get out for weeks and as soon as hubby leaves they decide to appear in the garden or front lawn.

Drama over?

No, not this time.

It then decided to rain......3.5 inches in eight hours.

Thats real rain.

We have lived in this place for nine years and the while time its been a drought so it was a bit scary waiting to see where all that water would go. Mum and I were up at 11.30 in the dark with umbrella and shovel digging trenches to drain some of the water building up near near the house. Thankfully it was just garden that got inundated, the house was OK. Unfortunately one of our neighbours had to be sandbagged.

Our little farm is flood irrigated so all our paddocks are graded with a slight slope. At the bottom of every paddock there is a big puddle/lake where the water has accumulated. It will drain away in time but they are telling us now to expect another 3.5 inches this weekend. Eeek.

While out taking these photos I noticed all these little stars all over the ground. They are little powder puff fungus that have burst open with all the moisture. Quite pretty.

So wish us luck for this weekend.

Hoping we won't need a boat!

The cat needed a quilt.

2012-03-02T13:54:00.005+11:00

Mr Eight and and Dad went on school camp for three days this week so Grandma came to visit and we have been having quite a girly, quilty time of it.

As you can see the kitchen, dining, living room have been a flurry of fabric and activity. We didn't enen bother tidying up at night, no men home so we left it all out to play with the following day.

I made a label for this quilt that our quilt group is donating to the local primary school to raffle for their upcoming fete. It was a challenge quilt we did. It took us a few years but it came up really well. We had to work with purple, red and yellow and yes, it was a challenge. There's a photo of the whole quilt here.

I haven't got a lot of other work to show. We cut some squares up to make some more patchwork skirts and went through my stash and cut 2.5 inch squares and strips from all my small scraps for future scrappy quilts. That tidied up the stash a bit.

Grandma and Miss Muff decided the new kitten needed a quilt. Here it is in progress.

By the way, the kitten is a boy, no name decided yet.

Photo of kitten and its quilt to come.

Five minute cushion cover.

2012-02-28T12:54:00.009+11:00

At our pre-school they have rest time in the afternoon. Its more like story time but the kids are asked to bring in a blanket/quilt of some sort and a small pillow or cushion to lie down with. We made the quilt last year but I never got around to making the cushion. I bought an insert and yesterday decided I'd better get to and make it. Pre-school only started three weeks ago. Can't rush these things.

Miss four took and hour to choose the fabric (one of Aunty Corrie's scraps) she wanted and it took me all of about five minutes to make. Isn't it silly how we put things off then when we do them it only takes the shortest of time. I used a 14 inch insert and cut the top to 16 inches and two pieces 16 by 13 inches for the back so they lap over each other. Very lazy, no zips or ties. I think it will do the trick.

For every one that has been asking, yes we kept the kitten.

Its very cute and very well behaved.

He lives outside and is locked up at night in the outside laundry so he doesn't get up to no good with other cats and birds.

The blue wrens don't seem to be too phased by his presence which is good. Hopefully they can co-exist.

We haven't named it yet, we can't work out if its a boy or a girl. The vet visits town tomorrow so I'm taking it in for a quick, free consult.

Miss Four wants to call it Pepper or Sophie, but I'm not sure how Kate will feel about that.

Mr Eight calls it George and I call it Puss Cat.

Shadow is another suggestion being thrown around.

Any suggestions welcome.

Previous names of cats I have had are

Mousetrap, Puss, Fluffy, Fresno, Thomas and Rupert.

Three of those were also black fluffy cats.

Funny how that has worked out.

Finally, here's a photo of the huge storm that hit us last night. We had about an inch of rain in an hour, lots of thunder and lightning (I think the house jumped off the stumps at one stage). Theres a lot of water lying around today and one of our apricot tree lost a big branch but other than that all OK. It was pretty hairy at the time though.

I didn't realise I'd captured the birds flying away from the storm in the photo. I hope they found somewhere safe.

Paper bunting sign.

2012-02-27T14:23:00.002+11:00

Guess what?

I actually did something crafty.

A sign for the P & F notice board at school.

I just printed the letters on coloured cardboard, cut them into triangles and sewed them on to ready made binding. Pretty easy really but I still managed to stuff it up. I sewed all the flags on to the first section of bias tape on to realise at the end the bobbin had run out on the first flag. Grrr. Don't you hate that.

I should have checked the bobbin first.

I must remember to change my machine needle before I sew again too.

David Kleinert Photography Workshop.

2012-02-26T14:27:00.006+11:00

Our local Landcare group organised a photography workshop for today with local wildlife photographer David Kleinert. We spent half the morning on theory learning about what all those button and dials on your camera do. I knew they were there for a reason!

David has a great photo blog which is worth a look.

We then ventured off to a local bushland reserve to try out some of our new skills. I've picked up a few tips which I want to try out further.

Here's a few pics that I took this morning.

The photographers.

Practising my macro shots and getting background blurry.

Two butterflies having an intimate moment.

I tried and tried (I have the scratches on my legs to prove it) to get a good photo of a dragonfly but they are just too quick. This is the best one I got.

New branches.

Old branches.

Rusty boundary fence.

Country Show.

2012-02-26T14:10:00.002+11:00

Friday night was our local show. We don't always go but this year Mr Eight entered a lego exhibit and won third prize. It was fairly quickly put together before bed time one night, he has much grander plans for next year now we have seen the different categories. Mum needs to get her act together and enter some photographs and sewing items next year too.

Mr Eight holding a crocodile.

Miss Four not holding a crocodile.

Digging for dinosaur bones.

One of the exhibits in the craft pavilion.

These fruit/vegetable creations were very clever.

Vegie Garden Stick Art.

2012-02-22T10:59:00.008+11:00

It rained yesterday and I din't have to go anywhere today so I thought it might be a good opportunity to spend some time in the veggie patch.

I saved these fruit tree prunings last year to make some climbing frames for peas and beans. I should have really done it while they were bendy but I was still able to weave them into a little trellis of sorts.

Does that count as craft people?

I also resurrected a teepee frame I made ages ago that had fallen over in the garden.

Some weeding.

Some planting - lettuce, onions, broccoli, celery, snow peas and beetroot.

Already growing - tomatoes, rhubarb, capsicum.

and the patch is looking a lot better.

I feel good too.

Test cat.

2012-02-15T11:14:00.006+11:00

My poor children haven't really had a pet. We have cows and chooks but nothing you can really cuddle and play with in the garden. We have toyed with the idea of a cat or dog for ages. Mr Eight has a range of allergies which we thought might be an issue of we got a pet. I'm also not a fan of dog poo where kids play and have always thought cats might eat the blue wren families in our garden so we have never got around to adopting a pet.

Last night the husband took away a cow to sell and came back with a black kitten.

Valentines present apparently.

Its on trial. If allergy boy flares up it may have to go back to where it came from. Its a friendly, placid little thing. If he passes the test I think we will get an old bird aviary and shut him up at night and hopefully the wrens and him can co-exist.

Cat in cage....not birds.

I've wasted the better half of a day giving it two baths to get rid of fleas. Now its all de-bugged I can see some potential sewing time on the horizon. Miss Muff is obsessed with it. A piece of string with a scrap of wadding tied to the end, they will be busy together for ages!!!

February, how did that happen?

2012-02-11T16:00:00.005+11:00

Hello remember me? I pretty much decided it was fruitless blogging the first few weeks of a new school year. Gosh its been busy here. So busy, I haven't done any craft or taken hardly any photos.

Our big household development is that we now have a kinder girl in the house. She loved her first day and can't wait to go again. I was dreaming about my two days of potentially uninterrupted sewing time but them I got a job on one of the days. Silly me. Hopefully the other day I'll get some me time. At least there might be some money for necessary crafty purchases, even though I'm trying to use up what I've already got on the shelves this year.

While getting ready for kinder she asked me to do her in a twisty thing like the big school girls have. I finally worked out she wanted a plait. Eeeek, hard to do when after four years you haven't even managed to grow your hair to your shoulders! We had a bit of a play and this is the plait......she was happy, thats all that matters.

Craft cyclone.

2012-01-28T13:13:00.004+11:00

Mid week saw a reunion of crafty souls.

Abbe polished up the fine china and hosted this time.

Funny bunch of really inspiring girls.

Inspiring bunch of funny girls.

Not sure how to say that so its sounds right.

They all know what I mean.

We laughed, we crafted, we ate.

I only took a couple of photos. Quite sidetracked really.

Kate brought her basket of wool.

I think I want to buy some wool just so I can have a basket like this to look at.

I forgot to get a crochet lesson. Next time.

Pippwillow's felt creations, how sweet are they!

We are trying desperately to convert her to a quilter. I hope we didn't scare her off. Will wait and see.

Whack another border on if in doubt Peta.

Bianca, was swooning. These blocks are twice the size I thought they were going to be.

Her quilt is going to look amazing.

Fi whipped up two, yes two quilt tops for the day. Abbe bound a UFO and I started tracing blocks for a stitchery quilt. Honestly I couldn't concentrate on much else. It was a cyclone of craft and conversation.

Australia Day.

2012-01-28T12:32:00.006+11:00

Well, I'm not sure where last week went.

Having been away for quite a lot of the school holidays we had a week at home doing house and farm jobs.

We had Australia Day at home. Our town always has a free cooked breakfast and small ceremony with a guest speaker. Everyone sits outside in the shade of the gum trees to listen. Quite Australian.

Mr. Eight and a couple of his friends from school were asked to raise the flags during the ceremony.

Laura Anderson was our guest speaker, I'm feeling very inspired, she was great to listen to.

One of the joys of living in Australia - the snakes.

This brown snake was under my clothes line earlier in the week.

Haven't seen him since.

Like a good blogger I just happened to have my camera around my neck.

The Bliss Quilt - Obligatory photos.

2012-01-21T19:37:00.005+11:00

This quilt has been finished and in use for a week or so now. I finally got a few minutes tonight to sneak outside and take some photos. I ended up quilting a half inch in from the seams on the white half square triangles are and did a large stipple around the border. It nearly did me in. My shoulders were so sore, no quilting for a while for me. Its a HUGE quilt, it fits Ellie Mae's double bed and comes down past the top mattress. She loves it.

So, here it is, on the fence.....

the front.....

the back....

rolled up....

with the cows looking on wondering what on earth I'm doing as usual....

and on the motorbike!

Thats a new location I haven't tried before but hey, the bike was there, why not!

Clashes slightly with the single purple handle.

I'm running out of spots around the house to take original photos.

Our weekend by the sea side.

2012-01-18T16:38:00.007+11:00

We have had a long weekend spending time with family in Melbourne.

We ventured through some mazes on the Mornington Penninsula.

Mr Eight came home and with the help of Grandpa is going to try and grow his own hedge/maze now.

Here he is starting to propagate some cuttings.

We went to the beach twice, once at night to watch fireworks then back again the next evening to swim and build sand castles.

The kids love the beach, its quite a change from dry dusty paddocks.

While walking, Grandma found a giant stick insect.

Wouldn't you know it, our fruit always comes ripe the weeks we decide to go away.

Apricots anyone?

First go at quilting with a stitch regulator.

2012-01-18T16:21:00.006+11:00

We have just come back from a long weekend in Melbourne. Literally an hour before we left, one of the local ladies I quilt for, rang to say she had a wall hanging she wanted finished for a friend. I said she had an hour to get it to me, thinking it would be a good opportunity to try out Mum's new Bernina sewing machine. Its got a stitch regulator, something I've never used.

So after I added the border and basted the quilt (I didn't give her time to finish it) Mum gave me a lesson on the new machine . Well, its different I must say. You don't use your foot pedal at all, the speed of the needle is regulated by how fast you move the quilt under the needle. I wouldn't say it made the quilting any quicker but definitely improves regularity of stitch size and gives you more "thinking time" i.e. which direction you need to move fabric etc.

I did bumble bee loops with an occasional heart thrown in.

Its going to be funny going back to sewing on my regular machine.

I need to go and see what UFO is next on my hit list. I'm giving my shoulders a rest for a couple of weeks. One quilt a month is about my limit I've decided and I've already done two since New Years. Must blog the Bliss Quilt when I can pry it from its little owner.

My unconventional method of pin basting quilts, but it works.

2012-01-10T11:48:00.005+11:00

I thought I'd show you how I pin baste my quilts. I've tried laying them on the floor but its hard on the knees and back plus tricky with little people around. I'm not a fan of basting spray. I don't like breathing in things like that or spraying foreign substances on my quilts. I've tried taping the layers down but don't like that either. Its easy to pull the quilt skew wiff doing it that way.

So this is how I do it on our kitchen table.

Its always easier with two people but I can do this quite successfully by myself.

Firstly measure or roughly lay your three layers on top of each other on a bed or floor to make sure the wadding and backing are larger than the front!!!! Mark the top of all the layers so you don't bast one sideways by accident. You will also need to find the centre of the backing.

I then iron/press the backing gently so its flat and seams are sitting nicely. I then lay it face down, centred on the table. Yes, there is lots of overhang as this is a big quilt but thats fine.

Next, take your wadding and fold to in half and half again so that you know where the centre is. Place the centre of the wadding on the centre of the backing as per photo below.

Unfold the wadding carefully so its covering half the quilt backing. Gently smooth it flat. Double check you don't have it on a wonky angle. Start again if you do.

Unfold the wadding completely, carefully so as not to scrunch up the quilt backing and get wrinkles. Smooth the wadding with your hands making sure you can't feel any wrinkles underneath.

Now press your quilt top, making sure its wrinkle free and your seams are facing the way you want and pressed flat. Fold in half and half again like you did with the wadding.

Place the centre of the quilt top on the quilt centre.

Unfold half the quilt as below. Smoothing as you go. Careful not to distort the layers to much, you don't need them stretch to billeo just flat and unwrinkled.

Unfold the complete quilt top, smoothing again. If you do find you have a fold or a wrinkle in one of the layers just gently put your hand between the layers and ease it out. Once the top is flat and smooth check all the way around the edges to make sure your backing and wadding are longer than the quilt top. If you have pre-measured and centred all the layers you should be right.

Now you can start pinning. Pin the top section the size of the table then gently slide the whole quilt to each side and pin further and further out. As you slide the quilt to the side, smooth and check for wrinkles each time then pin. Continue until you have the whole top pinned then you are ready for quilting.

I've never had fold or wrinkles or stretched layers using this method plus its a lot more friendlier on your back.

I finished quilting this quilt at midnight last night and I'm hand sewing the binding today so hopefully some finished photos later. So excited to have my biggest UFO nearly done.

Photography practice.

2012-01-07T22:47:00.004+11:00

I love playing around with taking portraits. A friend let me in on the location of a dilapidated old church today which we visited this evening. We have family visiting for the weekend and every opportunity I get I love taking photos of my beautiful niece. She enjoys dressing up and photographs amazingly.

I'm trying to teach myself more about my photo program too and have had a little play with colours on this one. I'll post some more if she approves tomorrow.

Bliss quilt back.

2012-01-01T13:15:00.006+11:00

So having finished the front it was time to think about the back of my Bliss quilt. I had in mind it would be a pieced back from scraps and additional fabric I'd bought.

I made a narrow panel in the centre from the left over half square triangles, framed it in white and just kept adding fabric until it arrived at the right size. Nothing too scientific.

Did I mention this quilt is H U G E!!!

Note: 4 year old child in corner for size comparison.

It must be getting close to 40 degrees outside today so I think I'll stick inside and baste this quilt. Unfortunately I've run out of thread so I won't be quilting it this weekend.

Bliss, Half Square Triangles Quilt.

2011-12-31T20:31:00.004+11:00

My previous post on UFO's has worked, and got me motivated to tackle some unfinished projects.

I've decided to tackle the Bliss, half square triangle quilt first. Here are the original two posts on it from when I started it in November last year. I'm afraid I'm not going to attempt the flying geese like I suggested. Its going to be enormous, I think I'll try flying geese on a smaller quilt first.

I opened another pack of charm squares and made them up into half square triangles with white. I contemplated opening another pack to do more but it still wasn't going to be big enough to come down over the sides of a double bed mattress. I've added two borders instead to make it fit perfectly over the mattress.

A couple of quick shots in the last setting sun for 2011.

Tonight and tomorrow I want to make a pieced back and get it ready for quilting.

Feels good having something closer to finished.

While I'm here, happy New Year to all my blog readers.

Happy stitching in 2012.

xxx

UFO confession photos.

2011-12-31T11:55:00.007+11:00

Well its that time of year when you are supposed to make New Years resolutions. Every year, one of mine is to finish off some unfinished sewing projects. I'm hoping his post might guilt me into getting a few done. I thought I'd share my UFO pile.

I feel like I'm showing you through my undie drawer or participating in my own "Quilters Annoymous" meeting. Dare you to do the same. Make sure you put a link in my comments if you do.

So, in no particular order....

Pieced blocks I started making a few years ago. I was going to put these into a boyish quilt for the boy. I'm not sure what happened here. I either got bored or couldn't decide how big to make it. They look quite good now that I have laid them out and taken this photo.

'Girls Day Out Quilt'

I started hand stitching this one five years ago. Its beautiful. I've got it probably 80% quilted. I used to quilt a section every time I went to Mum's house so I could do it on her machine. I should really finish it now that she has upgraded her machine and I have inherited her old one. It very time consuming, as you can see the quilting is quite intricate. I'm doing designs in all the borders, stippling around the stitcheries, quilting in the ditch.....a little of everything.

'Bliss' Quilt top that needs a few more rows to fit on Miss Muff's bed.

I'll make a pieced back too, not sure how to quilt this one yet

My hexi collection from Abbe's Hexi challenge. I make a few every now and then. I've almost got enough to start having a play with ideas. I think they will end up on a quilt. I did have thoughts of a table runner. Will wait and see what else comes into my head.

Quilt top that needs quilting and a matching pieced back made.

I'm not sure I love this any more. It may end up in my Madeit shop.

Need to hand sew Bianca's hexi's on my birthday sewing machine cover.

Aren't they pretty. You girls are nuts for making those miniature hexi's.

My niece's quilt. My niece and I are making this for her new bed in their new house. They moved in about a month ago so we had better get cracking and finish this one. She's done a really good job learning how to buttonhole and appliqueing the hearts on.

'The Ugly Monster'

This quilt was an attempt to use up a lot of my country colours. Its probably ten years old. The tulips are hand appliqued. I don't really like the background colour I put them on. I think it might end up quilted and thrown in the car as the car quilt. I don't love it.

A simple charm square quilt I made. Will either be a gift or popped in my Madeit shop when quilted.

OK. So there you go, my UFO confessions.

Blog yours and leave your link in my comments.

I know I'm not alone.

Christmas wrap.

2011-12-30T20:25:00.009+11:00

Historic Shirley Hotel, Junee, old Cobb & Co. station.

Oooo, eleven days since my last blog post. Doesn't time fly when you are having fun. We have just returned from a week in sydney. The days leading up to leaving were such a blur with a trip to Melbourne the prior weekend, school finishing so close to Christmas, packing and the two day drive to get there in time. Blogging kind of took a back seat.

So my 2011 Christmas holiday revelations are...

Sydney - is a long long long way away.

There is so much to see in Australia.

Bottle tree, Nerandera.

My kids travel well. There weren't many "are we there yets".

Paternal Grandfather's school.

My brother and wife have a huge house, we could move in and they wouldn't even notice we were there.

Having a Greek sister-in-law gives a different and yummy twist to Christmas dinner.

My kids must almost have every lego set ever created.

My husband and brother must nearly have every gadget Apple ever created.

Grown ups playing dominoes.

I like my own new "i" gadget.

It would be really nice to live closer to Grandparents, Aunts, Uncles and cousins.

My eight year old loves the surf and was diving under waves like he does it every day.

My four year old would love some little sisters.

The kids at Manly beach with their cousins.

If Retromummy (sister-in-law) ever goes missing I know where to look.

She will be stuck somewhere in/under/amongst her craft room. OMG.

My craft stash is nothing!!!

The husband lovingly embraced me when he saw Corrie's room.

The Christmas skirts for Retromummy's girls.

Random bits...

I can still read two novels in three days.

I always eat too much chocolate.

Afternoon naps are great.

After a whole day shopping I realise I am retail deprived

It's nice having someone to shop with.

I need to remember to carry my camera around.

I could never handle Sydney traffic and congestion.

I like having no neighbours.

We need to plant more trees on our farm.

I would like to live on a hill, even have a view of a hill.

I'm dying to get back into some sewing.

I hope everyone had a lovely Christmas.

Happy New Year too.

Cut offs.

2011-12-19T13:48:00.004+11:00

I seem to have lost the blogging mojo this week. I have been sewing but the whole photographing and blogging about it just hasn't happened. Party due to time restraints and partly because I don't want surprises to be ruined. So things might continue to be a little quiet around here and really who has time to read blogs at this time of year. I'd be talking to myself.

Some sewing I can show. I did the biannual clean out of kids wardrobes. Rather than sending last winter's pants to the op-shop I cut them off and trim them with binding for shorts for Summer. They still fit, its just that the legs were getting short. Quite cute.

Lastly, a random photo from last week.

This is the current quilt stack in the the little girl's room.

I have a new favourite.

2011-12-13T16:17:00.005+11:00

Every time I make one of these I like it more than the previous one.

This one is winging its way to Queensland.

I love mixing and, matching all the fabrics.

I think today might have to be the final day if you want to order a twirly patchwork skirt and receive it before Christmas.

Christmas sewing.

2011-12-12T18:39:00.008+11:00

I have a bit of time up my sleeves if anyone would like to order a twirly patchwork skirt for Christmas delivery. I think this red one is going to be our Christmas Day outfit. Firstly because of the colour scheme and secondly because she won't wear anything else at the moment!

I'm not sure wrapped silage bales make the best photo opportunity but we get points for creativity.

A quick project this week.

A "done in a day" red spotty bag for a friend.

Patchwork skirts in pinks and purples.

2011-12-11T14:45:00.007+11:00

I had a couple of last minute skirt orders after Miss Muff wore her patchwork skirt to a party the other day. The request....a size 4 and a size 7 in pinks and purples.

I hope these do the trick!

I'd like to add a few of these skirts to the shop when time permits.

They are a fantastic was of reducing my scrap pile.

Edit: I've added a custom order item to my Madeit Shop.

I love making these, it would be nice have some to do over the holidays.

I've said December orders won't be done till January but if you are quick you might get a surprise pre-Christmas delivery!

Fifteen Trees.

2011-12-10T21:30:00.006+11:00

At our last local LandCare meeting our group had been given tubes of trees from the Fifteen Trees program.

From the Fifteen Trees web page.

From just $49.50 per year Fifteen Trees will carbon offset your car by planting 15 trees to collect your car's carbon emissions.

The indigenous trees are planted by schools, environmental networks, landowners and Landcare throughout all states of Australia.

We chose to plant our tubes in the gaps in our tree lines.

The trees either side of where we are planting are 3 and half years old.

We had the odd one die of course so it will be nice to have the gaps all filled in.

Its been fairly warm but today we had quite a bit of rain so this evening we went out and planted our trees while the ground was soft. We pulled up a lot of old stakes to recycle and weeded around a few of the existing trees too.

Thankyou to whoever purchase the trees.

They have gone to a good home.

Aviary quilt

2011-12-08T12:44:00.008+11:00

This week I'm pretending I'm one of those awesome bloggers who seem to pop out a new quilt every few days so here's my second finish for the week!

Its a quilt I started about four years ago in the Moda's pretty Aviary range of fabrics. One of my favourites. This was one of my designs I made a test quilt out of for the Moda Bake Shop. Unfortunately I felt it didn't make the grade.

The main problem was the room for error when sewing narrow honeybun strips together. If your seam allowance is slightly out or you stretch as you sew at all this quilt could easily go pear shaped. I didn't want people to be disappointed if their version didn't work out right.

A pretty quilt for the collection all the same.

The Kindergarten Quilt.

2011-12-05T18:03:00.010+11:00

Today I finished Miss Muffet's quilt for kindergarten/pre-school next year. The children are asked to bring a blanket for rest/story time. A perfect opportunity to whip up a quilt if you ask me.

Its a pretty simple design, just six inch squares of favourite fabrics. Quite a few from Aunty Corrie's mystery fabric deliveries, a few from our visit to Ballarat Patchwork and some trusty favourites from the stash. In the centre of the quilt, I raw edge appliqued her name. I thought this might be a good idea seeing its going to be in a public place.

Miss Muff chose the binding herself. She couldn't decide on one colour so I said she could choose a several.

Her selection matched perfectly.

Quite innocently she was musing yesterday about the quilts all the other Mum's are making for her fellow pre-students. She was quite sad when I explained that not all mummies can make quilts.

When I get a chance, I'm thinking this could be the quilt to feature on my new blog header. I haven't changed it for twelve months. Its nice to have a fresh new project on there. Though I still do love my Hideaway quilt.

Neighbourly advice.

2011-12-05T11:25:00.007+11:00

One of my lovely neighbours dropped in the other day. I immediately though, oh no a cow has jumped a fence, a pipe has sprung a leak or she might just want a cup of sugar.

No, none of the above.

She wanted a shirring lesson!!!!

She's been making the most gorgeous clothes for her grand-daughters and wanted to do some shirred tops. She had had a try but it wouldn't work. Turned out she wasn't doing anything wrong, it was just the elastic she was using, (Guterman brand). Very disappointing as I won't use anything else but Gutterman for all my sewing. It seems their shirring elastic isn't very shirry, plus you don't get much on a roll for your money.

I put her on to the Big W brand I use and all was well. She popped in a few days later to show me one of her creations.

Ta da!!!!

I didn't get a close up but the bodice is all shirred and around the neck and sleeves.

Gorgeous.

What a lucky little girl.

Its made from another Pink Fig pattern, "The Mia Top".

I've made the pattern before but only did a single layer skirt.

There's a photo on my left sidebar is you scroll down.

Rockin girls.

2011-12-04T17:39:00.006+11:00

Apparently I rock!

Lauren, Jessi and Carrie you are too nice.

Thankyou for the write up on your blog. xx

I couldn't have made these two lovely projects without your beautiful fabric ranges. I think you both rock too!

Both of my tutorials are on the Moda Bake Shop if one takes your fancy.

Hexagon Flower Bag.

Made from "Flora" by Lauren and Jessi Jung for Moda.

Cabins in the Hills Quilt.

Made from "Hideaway" by Lauren and Jessi Jung for Moda.

Note: The Hideaway range was a little hard to get in Australia but I notice you can still buy it on-line at various shops.

Sometime I wish the other side of the world was a little closer so I could meet these girls and hang out at a few of the USA quilt markets and shows. Sigh...

The patchwork skirt - The one with the apples.

2011-12-03T19:45:00.003+11:00

I couldn't help myself.

I had to make another one of these skirts.

I'm on a mission to use up some of my stash so while rummaging I decided on an apple version this time.

Ingredients.....

Green apple fabric from Millrose Quilting and Gallery.

Gingham and blue apple fabric from Spotty last year.

White, a gifted fat quarter from my Mum.

and a mystery green, I don't know where that was from.

Had to finish with some twirling under our old apple tree!

mmmm, what colour one do we do next?

The patchwork skirt.

2011-12-01T12:57:00.007+11:00

I cut this skirt out a week ago and finally finished it at about midnight last night. I love it so much, for a moment I contemplated waking her up to try it on.

After bribing with a red zooper dooper icy pole she agreed to a photo shoot.

Unfortunately we weren't in the mood for taking any modelling direction whatsoever

She was much too busy twirling.....

....and hanging upside down from trees.

I'm sure Miranda, Elle and Claudia all went through that stage.

The pattern is from Pink Fig Patterns.

I'm keen to make a few more in different colour ways to use up some more scraps.

Mini me.

2011-11-30T14:56:00.005+11:00

If you are a regular reader of my blog you will remember we bought Miss Muffett a Mini Elna sewing machine for her 4th birthday. Its was all going beautifully, coffee table set up in corner of living area, her own sewing box of fabrics, some of Mummies sharp scissors, whirring away like there's no tomorrow giving Mummy lots of sewing time herself.

Today she informs me that she thinks she should have her machine in the sewing room. Which is fine but there's barely enough room in there for all my sewing paraphernalia let alone hers!

This afternoon we've had a re-shuffle and set her up at one of my tables.

I didn't want to bring the coffee table in so my solution.......put the foot pedal on a couple of plastic storage boxes, its working quite well.

I think its time the spare bed was moved out of the sewing room, don't you?

The visitors won't mind sleeping outside on the verandah will they!

B-FAb at AQM.

2011-11-28T12:42:00.010+11:00

Saturday I was lucky enough to get to the Australian Quilt Market in Melbourne. I took Mum, and had arranged to meet up with a few crafty cohorts. We had a lovely morning checking out whats new to the quilty world, caught up with a few clever crafty chicks and made contact with some of my suppliers. Here's a few goodies from the day. Not much in the way of fabric as what I wanted hadn't arrived from the USA yet.

I'm also about to be the proud owner of a GoBaby Fabric Cutter. Its a long story, but there was a deal, if you bought four you got a great deal........ so Ab convinced us we all needed one. Expect to see lots of shapely things popping up on our blogs soon.

Just before we parted company the crafty cohorts presented me with my surprise 40th birthday presi!!

A snazzy, sewing machine cover with hexi motifs made by B-FAb,

or "the wenches" as they call themselves. Not sure how that name originated but it has stuck.

(B-Bianca, F-Fi and Ab-Abbe).

I was quite overwhealmed girls!!!

Thankyou all again. xxx

I saw Ab sewing hexis on her blog the other day. I never thought it would be for me.

Love the fox.

As for the ridiculous size of these babies.

Fi - you are mad.

None of us are crazy enough to make them this small.

Australia Post still have B's hexis so I'll sew them on when they arrive.

So the sewing room is looking quite bright and cheery today.

I also got to thinking how I'm so glad I started blogging. I'd never have met these girls and otherwise. Funny how you can 'click' with people through the written word. We have got together a few times now and its like we have know each other for years. Love you girls. xx

40th birthday recovery.

2011-11-23T15:15:00.010+11:00

Things seems to be pretty much back to normal here. My birthday celebrations seemed to go on all week. We had family visiting, lunch with girl friends and a party Saturday night, I went to bed at 3.45am, last time I do that, too old for that sort of thing now. It was a coolish night and we had a great fire going outside, just one of those perfect nights. I was inundated with chocolate, contributions to my upcoming shopping spree at Ikea and two new handbags. I need a hot date to flaunt the red leather Alannah Hill one. Bit of a lucky girl I am.

Thankyou everyone who sent me birthday wishes.

40 isn't so bad. Life's pretty good.

Saturday night also saw Miss Muff's first dance concert, watching the little ones doing their routines was priceless.

Back to reality today. Husband informs me I'm irrigating all day. There goes any plans I had. So today I'm zooming around on our postie bike, flood irrigating the paddocks, doing odd jobs. I have managed a tiny spot of sewing, I've enlarged Miss Muffs kinder quilt top and started to baste it. So the day is not completely lost.

I've also just discovered the apricots on the tree behind the motor bike are ripe. mm mmm

My Moda Bake Shop Hexi tutorial.

2011-11-20T21:48:00.003+11:00

Looking for a cute bag to make?

My latest tutorial on the Moda Bake Shop.

Sneak peek.

2011-11-13T22:13:00.005+11:00

I seemed to get interupted every time I worked on this project but finally, today, it was finished. Tune into the Moda Bake Shop this week (20th November) for my latest tutorial. I can't believe I've done five now.

The kitchen - before, during and after.

2011-11-09T08:52:00.006+11:00

I'm calling the kitchen finished. Well 99% finished, are they ever done?

Theres a teensy tiny bit of painting to do and I need to have the window measured for a venetian blind and I'm tossing up what to do about a door into the butlers pantry.

We have come a long way when you look back.

Yes Corrie, there is a light at the end of the tunnel.

Our cabinet maker was Kookaburra Woodcraft if you are looking for a new kitchen, he's in Bendigo. I can completely recommend him. Great guy and the the only person that bothered to make the two hour round trip to actually give us a quote. I wasn't impressed with the big kitchen places at all.

So here we have BEFORE.......

Yes we have an old house. The kitchen part is 100 years old and had had a late 60's reno.

Gorgeous at the time I suppose.

(Good riddance to brown laminate cupboards, aqua gloss paint, one sink, ripped lino, no water pressure, and sadly, my ladder where my pots used to hang. Everyone wanted me to keep this. There was also a glass cabinet over the bench return that we all used to bang our head on. It was the first thing to go.)

DURING.......

This was the scary stage. No floor, plaster, light all in the middle of a mouse plague, surprisingly we never got one inside. The icky, dirty, noisy, dusty stage.

And AFTER...........

I still can't believe I have such a fabulous kitchen.

I'm still working on plans for the butlers pantry which is through the door at the end of the kitchen. I have the chest freezer and a buffet in there for now and all the stuff that I don't want cluttering my shiny new bench tops like the bread maker, bread flour containers etc.

Round and round the Mulberry bush.

2011-11-07T19:29:00.009+11:00

I'm not normally a food blogger but oh my goodness I had to show you what we have been devouring for dessert the last few nights. Pavlova (our eggs), whipped cream, strawberries and home grown mulberry puree.

We are addicted.

This may not be a good thing. I'm seeing some serious exercise ahead of me.

(Speaking of food blogging, I watched Julie and Julia last last.

What a great movie.)

Up until this year we have had a few mulberries, most of which the birds make off with.

This year, the tree is loaded so I've investigated some recipes and how we can preserve them for Summer. As far as recipes go we haven't got past mulberry puree and as for preserving I'm washing them and popping them in zip lock bags in the freezer.

Here are my fruit collectors shaking the tree to make the berries fall out.

I was picking them by hand before I discovered this was the way to do it.

Read - purple fingers.

Bundling up the haul.

Another bowl full.

And just to keep with the whole crafty blog thing.

Is anyone seeing the potential for some fabric dying???

The Red Door

2011-11-04T18:58:00.003+11:00

You may remember on one of my recent adventures I visited Millrose cottage.

If not let me jog your memory.

Its one of those 'take your breath away' kind of quilt shops.

Wish I lived closer.

Lucky Lizzie gets to play in there quite frequently and has just set up a blog for the shop.

Quilt's for NZ.

2011-11-03T09:45:00.006+11:00

I was on the phone to Mum the other night and she casually tells me she's in this months Australian Patchwork and Quilting. Well, not just her but her quilt group ladies. Quite a spread too. A few of the quilt groups in the Mornington Peninsula area got together and made quilts for the people of Christchurch after the New Zealand earthquakes. 561 donated heart blocks were made into 17 quilts to send. Aren't they lovely. Well done ladies, I'm sure they will bring comfort to their new owners.

PS. Thats Mum holding up the quilt.

OK, shops full I think.

2011-10-31T21:27:00.003+11:00

I faded last night, so just adding the final tops, dresses and skirts to the shop tonight.

Happy shopping.

Shop re-stock.

2011-10-30T19:20:00.004+11:00

I'm in the process tonight of adding new items to my Madeit Shop.

Check back later tonight for new stock and some specials on older items in store.

Be quick if you want the tulip top, its been my best seller to date.

I can do it myself.

2011-10-30T14:27:00.004+11:00

Mummy, I can dress myself.

(This is today's outfit, we are into layering.)

Mummy, can I do the dishes.

(Hand me the mop.)

Mummy, can I do sewing.

(Hide the stash!)

Mummy can I hang out the washing.

(Kind of cute don't you think?)

Note, removal of undies before photo taken.

I'm not as adventurous as some bloggers and their undies on clothesline shots.

Women Who Shine.

2011-10-29T14:56:00.007+11:00

I'm just home from a ladies brunch in Echuca for "Women who Shine". An interesting morning, recognising local women and generally celebrating life, being girls and having a bit of fun. There were 250 local ladies present and it was held at Radcliffe's in Echuca which was a perfect venue. I felt like I was walking into a wedding reception. I think the building was originally a mechanics workshop in the historic part of Echuca. This is the main function room, don't you love the vines and creepers growing inside.

In the foyer of the function centre ten 'hand makers' were invited to have stalls displaying and selling their wares. I was lucky enough to be invited.

Here's my little corner. Yes, its in front of the bar and no they weren't serving alcohol this morning. I was kept very busy all morning. Lots of dresses sold and some great feedback from my customers. Selling online is easy but its great to get out and talk to people about what they like to buy and get some feedback.

The theme of the day was shoes. All the decorations were pretty and a touch retro. The elaborately decorated shoes in the first photo were used as table centres and were auctioned off for charity at the end of the day.

During the brunch four local female artists came on to stage and completed a piece of artwork each. These were auctioned along with the shoes for charity.

Now for a rest. Too many late nights spent sewing last week!

Miss Muffet's sewing adventures.

2011-10-27T13:39:00.007+11:00

I've given my four year old co-pilot sewer a box of fabrics she can rummage through, cut up, sew, roll in, throw at her brother etc.

This morning she pulled out this pink piece and sewed a few lines up and down it then asked me to help her find a belt. We found a green checked piece, a strip off the side of a quilt which she decided was perfect. She took it away. There were a few whirs coming from her corner of the lounge room where she has her sewing machine set up. She then appeared next to me to help her put it on and take a photo.

So here it is, her first ever dress. Made completely by herself.

Personally I'd call it an apron. Its kind of lacking a back, but a mighty fine first effort don't you think?

Close up of belt fastened on to dress below.

Re-loved.

2011-10-26T15:25:00.006+11:00

Top made from "re-loved" fabric.

The other day I asked the question about what I should refer to the clothes I make from old fabrics.

Re-used, recycled, rehashed etc????

The two terms I hadn't come up with were up-cycled and re-fashioned, thankyou to my readers for those.

I think up-cycled for suits more for unused fabric and re-fashioned more to do with clothing that has been remade into something else.

THEN my Mum came up with

RE-LOVED!!!

Isn't that the best word. Someone obviously loved the fabric enough to buy it forty years ago, unfortunately never got to make it into anything and put it in her 'stash'. Then I come along to a garage sale/op shop, find it and fall in love with it all over again.

So re-loved it is.

I wonder if anyone will re-love the fabrics at the bottom of my stash in forty years time.

In case you are wondering.

PS. I'm very picky about my old fabrics. They must be unstained, not faded and not smell.

Aussie flowers.

2011-10-26T13:55:00.007+11:00

Banksia - these are about 20cm high.

I thought a few flower shots were about due seeing everything is bursting into bloom in the garden. The irises are nearly finished but the roses are all starting to look good. Here's a couple of the native flowering trees that are making a good show at the moment too.

Callistemon - is that right Mum?

Bottlebrush, flower above, tree below.

Fresh mulberries anyone???

We have loads of them!

And lastly a sunset from two nights ago.

Not a bad view each night from the lounge room.

Mummy we need photos of me in the new dresses.

2011-10-24T14:49:00.010+11:00

I have to pick my times to get my little model to work for me. She's just been into the sewing room and suggested we need to do some photos. I obliged before the moment passed.

We have the cute tilted head look down pat.

Do you like the green dress?

People are always looking for pretty things that aren't pink!

I have a few made in this fabric and they will be available at the "Women Who Shine" brunch at Radcliffes in Echuca this Saturday.

Retro, recycled, reclaimed, rehashed, rejigged......

2011-10-24T12:06:00.005+11:00

I'm looking for the word to describe new clothes made from old fabrics.

Can anyone help.

Here's one I prepared earlier.

Seersucker shirred top.

Cow popped!

2011-10-23T18:23:00.004+11:00

Apple top awaiting straps.

I've been madly shirring away this weekend. Night and day. I'm very happy with my productivity. I usually get a bit stressed leading up to a market, thinking I don't have enough stock, trying to get things finished, unexpected events occurring and slowing me down.

I don't think I can part with the apple top above.

Another fabric I wish I'd bought more of.

I made lots of straps today and will hopefully get a few sewn on tonight.

They look pretty all lined up waiting their turn.

Now on to the popping cow thing.

Our first calf for this year arrived this morning.

Here she is with Mum.

Both well.

Seeing stars....moons.

2011-10-23T10:44:00.000+11:00

This is my clever Mum's latest masterpiece in progress.

Its from the book "Strips and Curves" by Louisa Smith.

Its made from 27 different fabrics.

Filling the rack up again.

2011-10-22T15:31:00.005+11:00

I'm busy dress making. I sold quite a few at last week's market which means some late night sewing for next week's local hand made expo, plus several customers have already made custom Christmas orders. I love it but I have made a note to myself to sew more dresses over next Winter.

New dresses and tops waiting for straps.

Next week's hand made expo in Echuca should be fun. Ten local hand makers (including me!!) have been invited to attend a brunch for 250 women. Quite excited about that one.

I've also got a new Moda Bake Shop project due out shortly.

So, so sew, very busy.

Creating quilters.

2011-10-17T18:28:00.010+11:00

I'm doing my bit for the quilting industry. Teaching more people how to make quilts. I convinced a friend to have a try earlier this year, she going great guns. So much so I think I've created a monster, she's on about her tenth quilt for this year and showing no sign of slowing down. She then showed her Mum how to make them and has also taught her ten year old daughter. Speaking of which, here is her daughter's quilt which I quilted today. Pretty impressive for a first go I thought. Its all very straight and carefully made.

I hope she's happy with my quilting job. I cross hatched the centre part and stippled the borders with random hearts. Unfortunately I couldn't get a good photo of the actual quilting today.

Blog posts here are not exactly regular due to internet service issues.

I'm doing this post quickly before it drops out again.

Mini Elna and the mini sewer.

2011-10-12T14:04:00.003+11:00

This is so cute.

Very happy with our Mini Elna purchase.

Grandma coming today for five nights.

All the machines will be buzzing.

Wish list.

2011-10-09T21:49:00.008+11:00

About this time of year I start collecting a few book titles to add to my Christmas wish list. More often than not I end up buying them and giving them to hubby to give to the kids to wrap and give back to me. Do all Mum's do that?

I've made most of the Grand Revival designs and love how easy they are to follow so of course I want the book. If you are a grand revival fan, Tanya is offering a free bag pattern download for people who link to where her book is available. She has some other great free projects/tutorials on her blog too if you don't already follow her.

Sew What You Love available here and here.

And on Fishpond here for Australian readers. (Appears to have a different cover).

While I'm compiling my list, for my own reference, also found on Tanya's blog, this book.

Available here on Fishpond.

I don't think I can wait till Christmas.

Look at that giant hexagon quilt!!! Love.

Pretty, pretty, perfect.

2011-10-08T12:45:00.007+11:00

Hello.

I really want to have a big long whinge to someone about Telstra and our month long lack of phone and internet service but I don't want to turn my blog into a depressing place to come so I won't.

Is it wrong to like the whole "pretty, pretty, perfect" thing? There are a lot of mundane things I could post on here but I prefer quality not quantity I've decided when it comes to blogging.

I read a post the other day by someone who was criticised for creating an unrealistic image of life on her blog. I really don't see the problem. There is so much crappy stuff going on in the world if I can read a few beautiful blogs and escape into an unrealistic world for a while and feel good and inspired afterwards I think that is a good thing.

OK, thats my little bit said for today.

On to the pretty, pretty, perfect stuff.

Pattern Little Wallet by Valori Wells

More purses. I'm thinking teacher gifts?

What do you think? Everyone I've shown loves them.

Putting snaps on them later.

I'm also plugging away with yoyo hair clips for market.

I love looking at these in their basket. Its sort of sad when they sell.

Enjoy the last weekend of the holidays everyone.

Magnificent weather here today.

Market previews.

2011-09-30T13:38:00.006+10:00

I've been busy sewing for market. Instead of listing on Madeit in the lead up to market I'll pop some of my new items here on the blog. If you see something you MUST HAVE or want more information on any items, let me know in the comments or via e-mail and I'll can do a custom listing in the shop.

I want to keep my internet friends and customers in the loop. I thought this might be the best way rather than spending valuable sewing time listing everything only to find it sells first at market then having to remove all the listings.

Size 3-4 yellow and grey spot shirred dress.

$26 plus postage.

Size 3-4 butterfly catching shirred dress.

$26 plus postage.

Size 3-4 coral shirred dress.

$26 plus postage.

Mill Rose Cottage.

2011-09-25T18:02:00.000+10:00

On the way home today, Mum, Dad and I paid a visit to Mill Rose Cottage in Ballan.

Oh my goodness.

What a shop! It is just beautiful. Well laid out and lots of natural light.

Definitely worth a day trip if you are looking for somewhere to visit. There's an excellent area for classes too.

Lizzie was there to greet us when we arrived. She had told me ages ago she would be working today. Poor girl, having to work on a Sunday, just imagine having to drag yourself to work here!!!!! Sigh.

It was so nice to catch up face to face.

We sent Dad into the coffee shop next door while be browsed.

My purchases above.

Dad then came back and purchased himself a metre of blackberry fabric for the quilt Mum and I are making him. He may need to come fabric shopping with us more often.

I worked out what I was going to do with my red apple fabric on the way home. I knew it would work well with these spots. I've been wanting to make a little card wallet for ages. I'm very pleased with the result, I even managed to get the snap right first go. I have a feeling there will be more snaps on my creations in future.

Spring wedding.

2011-09-25T15:46:00.005+10:00

I've had a weekend away to attend my cousin's wedding. The kids and Dad stayed home to look after the calves. The wedding was held at Boyd Baker House at Bacchus Marsh, a heritage listed, 60's built and decorated property. Fascinating spot. The bride and groom are both into design so it was quite fitting.

The bride wore a calf length strapless lace covered dress with a satin ribbon around the waist and a faux fur shrug. She did her own hair too, clever girl. She looked really sweet, they make a cute couple.

The house is in bushland and the ceremony was held in amongst the trees, we had drinks and nibbles outside then moved inside for the dinner which was various BBQ meats, including kangaroo and some fancy salads followed by a very yummy plate of mixed mini desserts.

Since I was here last.....

2011-09-23T19:38:00.005+10:00

I've.....

Had the soil tests done.

Fed the calves.

Had the fertiliser spread all over the farm.

Been to the doctor, nothing serious don't worry.

Fed the calves.

Taken the girl child to dance class.

Taken boy child to hair dresser.

Fed the calves

Did a few hours as checkout chick at the supermarket.

Fed the calves.

Spent a day irrigating paddocks while hubby was at work.

Nearly fell off motor bike when hare jumped out of long grass at me!

Fed the calves.

Restocked my binding collection, photo to come.

Sorted out the bank accounts.

Paid bills.

Fed calves.

Made slices for the school production.

Fed the calves.

Made sure boy child and hubby were prepared for school production.

Went to both the matinee and evening performances.

Took lots of photos.

Was totally embarrassed by husband's dork and cross dressing costumes.

Cuddled my friend's new baby.

Fed the calves.

Worked this morning at my medical receptionist job.

Spent hours on the phone to Telstra re:lack of phone service and internet.

Fed the calves.

Packed for tomorrow's wedding and night away.

Still need to.

Buy a new bra.

Charge up camera battery for wedding.

Make sure theres enough food here while I'm away.

Do a couple of loads of washing.

MAYBE THEN I CAN GET SOME SEWING DONE!!!!

PS. Mum and I visiting the Mill Rose Cottage Ballan on Sunday on the way home.

PPS. Intermittent internet driving me crazy, no photos, its taking about 4 hours to load one. Grrrr.

Fairy party day.

2011-09-19T15:54:00.004+10:00

Some practise twirling in our Tinkerbell fairy dress while we waited for the party guests to arrive.

The cake.

Chocolate ripple cake with pink fairy sprinkles and mini bunting on top.

Bunting idea courtesy of Pinterest.

Man there's some cute stuff on there, wish I'd looked earlier.

We had a lovely day. The kids were happy to play in the garden mostly while us Mums caught up. The fairies talked to the calves, let the chooks out, had a treasure hunt and party food and took home a noodle box with sweets and home made coconut ice.

Mini Elna and a birthday girl.

2011-09-18T14:23:00.006+10:00

Our Miss Three turned Four this week.

All she has been wanting for her birthday is a sewing machine. We dabbled with a $30 toy one last Christmas but it went for all of five minutes before breaking and was promptly returned. Last week when we walked past a sewing machine shop she spied this, a mini real life, Elna sewing machine. It 6V, doesn't go that fast, it does eight different stitches and the sales man said he didn't think it would have enough oomph to go through a finger. I was sold but I had to get it in the car without the birthday girl noticing!!! She was in tears when we left the shop because we didn't buy one. On the way back to the car I gave the sales man the signal and he popped the box in the boot when I was strapping Miss Muff in her seat.

Today is the first chance we have had to have a good sew with the new machine. Mr Eight is pretty keen on learning about it too. I thought they were just sewing straight lines but after half an hour, metres of thread, an extra strip of scrap fabric they finished their first masterpiece.

A headband.

There were even fittings and adjustments made.

So proud.

Isn't it lovely!

Happy birthday baby girl. xox

Garden fairy party preparations in progress.

New labels.

2011-09-15T17:10:00.005+10:00

My new labels arrived today.

I can thoroughly recommend World Wide Label if you are looking for some for yourself.

Excellent and efficient service.

The labels are quite simple but exactly what I wanted.

I might get more adventurous with colour etc. next order especially now I know they are good to deal with.

Thanks Beccasauras and Curlypops for the tip.

Fabric flying.

2011-09-14T13:12:00.004+10:00

I've got fabric fabric flying everywhere today. I've cut 25 more dresses and tops from some recent fabric purchases and even delved into some of my stash of favourites and decided I could part with a few. How much stuff can a girl keep!

Here's a few samples, the ever popular red and white spots, some navy and darker prints for older girls, a pretty red christmasy stripe and some really cute owls. I've also cut a few from rescued vintage prints which I think are going to look really sweet and a bit old fashioned.

I've also started to have a play with a bundle of fabric from Moda for my next Bake Shop project. Sorry no pics, thats always a big reveal, hopefully in about a month or so.

Three hour quilt top.

2011-09-13T10:03:00.005+10:00

As I said in my last post I finished a quilt top in a night. Things were a bit slow on TV.

The quilt is for our soon to be kinder girl. The kids are all asked to bring a blanket/quilt for rest time. A perfect opportunity for a new quilt don't you think? Not that I need an excuse to make a new one!

I've raw edge appliqued her name in the centre block and just joined up squares of her favourite fabrics. Its very bright and girly. I think I may need to add another row along the bottom so its a bit more of a useful size but other than that its ready to quilt........well add to the quilting pile if you know what I mean.

The kinder quilt.

2011-09-10T23:03:00.004+10:00

Miss Muffet and I have been selecting fabrics and putting them in a special box. They have been saved to make a quilt for her to take to kinder next year. I don't know why, but today, I decided to start making it. A million other things I could be doing but hey, not as much fun.

It was always going to be a simple quilt, it will be on the floor and in a public place so I didn't want to put hours and hours of work into it. In the centre of the quilt I have had a play with raw edge applique around her name. I think it will work OK. Its 11pm and I've finished the whole top! Photos tomorrow in better light.

Night night.

A winner.

2011-09-06T22:28:00.003+10:00

I just remembered I was drawing my giveaway tonight. I got busy packing for a crafty girly couple of days away and almost forgot.

So thanks to Random.org the winner is "One for a wish". A blogger I don't know but she is sewing up some Sherbert Pips so is obviously got good quilty tastes.

Please let me know which clothing item from my store you would like and send me your mailing details and a little parcel will be heading your way.

Stay tuned for another Spring giveaway.

Maree's order.

2011-09-06T08:33:00.005+10:00

I had to show you these outfits. Maree sent me some fabrics from her online store to make up into dresses for her little grand-daughter. The fabrics are from the "Where the Wind Blows" range by Melanie Hurlston aka Melly and Me.

It was fun receiving a mystery parcel to sew up.

Even better, instead of paying me Maree just sent me extra fabric so you will see some of these in the store shortly.....well the ones my little princess decides not to keep.

I'm always up for a bit of bartering.

Thankyou Maree.

Look forward to a photo of your little one.

PS. The butterfly fabric ended up being a top, slight issue with a new roll of shirring elastic that refused to shirr. Grrr.

Spring giveaway reminder.

2011-09-05T12:23:00.003+10:00

Don't forget to enter the first of my Spring giveaways.

Yes there are more to come.

Mornington Peninsula Patchworkers Quilt Show.

2011-09-03T13:09:00.014+10:00

This weekend the Mornington Peninsula Quilters are having their bi-annual quilt show. Its a good one if you can get to it. Today and tomorrow at Toorak College Mt Eliza, 10am to 5pm. Also available are refreshments, trading tables and demonstrations. You can't miss the car cover/quilt sign out the front!

We went to the show this morning, here's a few pics of my favourite quilts.
They are a talented group of ladies, all 200 of them.

Mum's log cabin with hand appliqued flowers around border.

Challenge block, basket challenge.

Simple idea for those that like to look at the backs.
Paper wrapped around the edge and pinned on.

The wrap on straps.

2011-09-02T10:00:00.004+10:00

I've enlightened a few people on the versatility of the straps on my tops and dresses but I don't think I've ever put it on my blog. I sew straps front and back and more often than not tie them over the shoulder as in the above photo. I centre them slightly at the back to try and avoid them slipping off the shoulder but sometimes they are best tied crossed over at the back, see below.

Alternativly you can try the halter heck look, just cut off the back straps and tie the front ones around the neck. This way the strap ends will be at the the back where they can't be easily untied or chewed!

Last of all, when your little miss grows out of her dress or top just cut the straps off completely, take up the hem if needed and voila you have a skirt for next season. Can you get better than that!

This dress and more available in my Madeit shop.

Don't forget my giveaway.

The prize is an item of clothing from my shop.

Leave a comment on the previous post to enter.

Spring Giveaway No.1

2011-09-01T08:16:00.008+10:00

Spring is my busiest time for little dress/top/skirt orders.

I've decided to have a giveaway to celebrate the first day of Spring here in Australia.

The winner can choose any clothing item from my Madit shop.

Don't look in there just yet.....its empty.

edit. some loaded more coming.

That's todays job to start filling it up again. So don't worry there will be plenty to choose from when I draw the winner.

No hoops to jump through, just leave a comment on this post.

Competition is open to all my followers.

International entries welcome.

I'll draw a winner next week.....when I get the shop full.

Production line.

2011-08-30T13:59:00.004+10:00

I have had the most productive sewing day I've had for ages. Orders are coming thick and fast along with invitations to hand made markets and expos. I thought I'd better get cracking and make some stock.

I tweeted this morning that I'd cut out 30 dresses. It sounds impressive but they don't really look like much yet. Here they are on the production line ie. bed in sewing room. There's actually about 40 here.

Left to right.

Pile one- cut out dresses, seams and hems done.

Pile two - Maree's seven dresses she ordered.

Pile three - shirred dresses waiting to be matched to bindings.

On Saturday we also caught up with Bianca and her four kids. Its nice to have her within driving distance but I must say the girl is a bad influence in the fabric department so we will see how that goes.

On our way home we took the kids up Mitiamo Rock.

Here's a photo from the top looking out to where we live.

A tree growing up through the rocks.

This paddock of canola and old dead gum trees caught my eye on the way home too.

Kitchen finishing touches.

2011-08-25T11:47:00.006+10:00

A few people have asked for final kitchen pictures. We are NEARLY there. The tiling was done two weeks ago but I need the electrician to put in three power points and some spotlights, the plumber to re-connect the gas and I have to get the paint brush out again on the timber fiddly bits.

Lets just say its "blog finished". Like when you make a quilt top but its not actually a completed quilt yet, "blog finished".

Flower picking dress.

2011-08-24T14:20:00.004+10:00

The trouble with making little dresses and then getting Miss Muffett to model them is that we then have trouble giving them away.

I think this one might be a keeper.

Max's big adventure.

2011-08-22T08:28:00.010+10:00

What's cuter than a seven week old puppy?

Max.

A tuckered out seven week old puppy asleep on a three year old's lap!

A friend of ours has brought his new puppy Max and 9 month old Ruby out to the farm for a play yesterday.

Now the kids want a puppy.

He's extremely cute.

In other news, I haven't been on the computer much over the last few days. I did manage to photograph more clothes for my Madeit shop, hopefully I'll get them loaded tonight. The beautiful weather has been keeping me outside, gardening, tidying up and doing a spot of painting. I've got a local market coming up soon and I decided to paint my tressle table white. I thought that might look OK in case its breezy and I don't want to bother with a blow away table cloth.

It's also book week this week.

Costumes for both the teacher and the student almost done.

Not to miss out, Little Miss is going as a fairy for the parade.

Ruby and Miss Muff heading back to the house.

Lego birthday card.

2011-08-19T21:48:00.007+10:00

My brother's email birthday card.

Happy Birthday Andrew.

From all of us. xxx

Also, the first rainbow photo in my previous post made it on to "Mike's Pic's" in the weather report on the channel ten news last night. We were pretty excited with our 5 seconds of fame, even if they did spell our surname wrong.

Chasing Rainbow(s).

2011-08-17T17:22:00.009+10:00

The kids were excited to see this in the back paddock tonight.

Running down the track to find the pot of gold!

I think rainbows are rather special.

Sewing with Grandma.

2011-08-17T15:12:00.003+10:00

Grandma arrived by bus last night. Its rained all night and all day so we stayed inside and sewed today. Grandma and Miss Muff made a new ironing board cover for the little ironing board I bought the other day.

While they were hard at work I've was madly trying to finish off dress orders. Especially a big order for a new store that is selling my outfits on consignment which is exciting.

Plenty of new items to be added to the Madeit Shop depending on photographic conditions tomorrow.

Green and silver.

2011-08-08T15:48:00.005+10:00

So, for my next trick I'm going to convert this shiny, stretchy, kermit the frog green stuff into fourteen Tinkerbel fairy tops.

I'm thinking a shirred boob tube type thing with a halter neck.

Wish me luck.

For everyone following the kitchen reno, you are excused if you have lost interest,

today we had the silver kick boards installed.

A little swish if I do say so myself.

Garage sale finds.

2011-08-07T22:04:00.005+10:00

One of our neighbours advertised a garage sale this week and on the list were sewing items, so I was there bright and early. I came away with a $5 box of 30 or so sewing patterns. They are mainly children's sizes and there are lots of little girl's dress patterns so I was pretty happy with that. There were also some new zips and other useful odd and ends in the bottom of the box.

I also snapped up this little ironing board for $5 for Miss Muff. We just need to paint it and make a nice little cover for it. She spied a toy iron the other day which I bought for her so this will go nicely. All she wants now is her own sewing machine so she can be like Mummy. The brain washing continues, I'll make a quilter out of her yet, you watch!

Exploring Bendigo.

2011-08-06T20:33:00.008+10:00

Mr Eight went on a school excursion this week to Bendigo and has nagged us all week to go back to the Discovery Centre. Having nothing on today we thought why not! Its an interactive science centre in the old rail buildings at the Bendigo station.

He was most taken with the planetarium and the vertical slide. The planetarium was quite good, quite geared at children, Miss Muff had to hold my hand all the way through the session as the planets loomed above on the domed roof while we lay on the floor.

The vertical slide was rather scary looking. Mr eight tells me he went on it three times the other day but today he almost chickened out. You can see the side view of the slide above. Its quite high and very vertical!!! Funny that.

Yes, thats Mr Eight, my baby boy, dangling at the top of the slide.

You let go on the count of three.

You fall for a bit then sort of skim the slide and skid through to the end on your back.

I didn't have a go. The sign said if you had a sore back it wasn't advisable. That was good enough for me! Miss Three was terribly upset that you had to be five or over to go on it. She kept telling us she wasn't afraid of heights.

There were lots of other interesting displays and some fun optical illusions, mirrors etc.

Look how skinny I am after my recent weight loss program

After the Discovery Centre we did some shopping then headed over to Rosalind park for a play and to climb the Poppet Head lookout. Discovered I suffer from slight vertigo.

It was a beautiful sunny day for a stroll around. Not many flowers out yet. Just some daffodils and jonquils but they have it all prepared for Spring, must go back for another visit. Its really nice to have such lovely places to visit not far from home. I hope everyone else had a lovely Saturday.

The floors down.

2011-08-06T20:13:00.004+10:00

Well, yesterday was another step closer to having a completed kitchen. The vinyl was laid. I'm so happy with it. I love the feel and the colour. Super colour for a farm house I've decided. The kids have already dropped crumbs and walked in dirt and its not overly obvious. Don't get me wrong, I keep it pretty clean but its nice that its a little disguised until I have time to whip out the vacuum cleaner. Its a lot quieter and seems warmer than our previous old floors.

For those that were interested the vinyl is "Expona" brand in Medium Oak.

It still looks a bit scruffy around the edges because the skirting boards and kick boards aren't on yet. Tiling is next then I have to get my paintbrush out then and do the fiddly bits.

The Butler's Pantry looking a little better than it used to. Do you think he'll approve, the butler that is, I'm still accepting applications if you know of one that will work for love not money!

Renovation progress.

2011-08-03T20:12:00.010+10:00

Yes, we are still going.

I'm ready for it to be finished!

I feel like I'm living in one of those TV renovation shows.

Dining room "before".

Curtains tied up with cooking twine..... thats all I could find.....nearly resorted to hay bale twine.

Butler's pantry "before".

We are up to the floor stage. We are having timber look (medium oak) vinyl strip flooring laid in the dining area, kitchen and "butler's pantry". We are coving polished boards in the dining area, the boards in the other rooms were not in good enough condition to polish and we didn't want to lay new boards, so we have gone with the vinyl. I'm not a fan of floor tiles in such a big area plus whatever you drop breaks! In the display homes we went through last weekend they all seemed to be using this flooring. Its easy to clean and very hard wearing...just what I need. It should be a little warmer than polished boards too.

They laid the masonite today.

The actual vinyl goes down on Friday.

In the mean time it all looks like this.....

Brrrrrr, whirrrrr, shirrrr

2011-08-01T16:11:00.003+10:00

Brrrrrrr......

for the cold frosty mornings.

The cows look like they are standing in snow first thing in the morning.

Whirrrr.....

for the sewing machine, busy shirring dresses for orders and Spring in the shop.

I've also made seven of the fairy skirts for the dance class. I've handed them in, in an attempt to reduce "stuff" in my sewing room. There was barely room for Mum to sleep in there this weekend. Not that she cares, she a quilter. Who wouldn't want to roll around in pretty fabric all night?

Behind the scenes.

2011-07-27T11:39:00.003+10:00

So while the Narioka sweat shop is in full swing this morning the small one is busy "sewing" too.

Here she is with dolly, all the scraps, scissors, tape measure and sticky tape making clothes. Apparently I used to do the same when my Mum was sewing except that I use to use pins and stick them into teddy to hold the fabric in place. Teddy has the scars to prove it!

Big frost here this morning so the spot in front of the fire is the place to be!

Tinkerbel skirts started.

2011-07-27T10:42:00.004+10:00

I should be shirring little dresses but instead this morning I've cut up some of the green fabrics purchased yesterday, into strips, to make 15 Tinkerbel fairy skirts for the little one's dance concert. These are the strips draped over a chair in the sun, I'm very happy with how they look all together.

Quite floaty, sparkly and fairy like.

Spotlighting.

2011-07-26T15:51:00.007+10:00

Fabric Spotlighting not the other spotlighting but you already knew that didn't you.

These fabrics were on the bargain table so I got a little of each for some one off dresses for the shop. They aren't all colours I would normally use but I do get requests for brights and large prints so I thought I'd have a play with some.

Also on the list today was fabric to make seven Tinkerbell skirts for the junior dance class. So two bags of tule and shiny and sparkly stuff later I think I have enough.

A brief public service announcement too. It appears Spotlight Shepparton no longer has bathroom facilities available to the public.

A girlfriend and I travelled an hour to the store today with two three year olds who of course wanted to go to the loo as soon as we got in the shop only to find a closed sign on the door. The shop assistant told me I would have to drive down the road to Bunnings/BBQ's Galore etc to find the closest ones. I must have shot her a pretty good "look" as I said "have you had children?" because she reluctantly led me in to the staff toilets to use. Apparently they have vandalism issues. Hard to believe Spotlight customers would vandalise an in-store toilet but there you go.

Big little girls.

2011-07-20T14:56:00.006+10:00

Size 4-5 shirred dress.

Up until now I've mainly concentrated on toddler wear in my Madeit shop and markets. I'm constantly getting requests for pretty clothes for the 4-5-6 year old age bracket. People often make the comment that store bought clothes are too "sexy" or have advertising plastered all over them. Watch the store this Spring for simple and pretty dresses and skirts in these sizes.

Spinning.

2011-07-18T15:44:00.007+10:00

I can't believe where blogging has taken me.

I've made new friends, and yes I class them as real friends. Does it really matter how you met? These people think like I do, like the same things I do and "get" me. When you live on the outskirts of a town of 400 people finding cool crafty people to hang out with is difficult. I love my on-line crafty friend chats and occasional rendezvous. Having said that I still love where we live so blogging etc. gives me the best of both.

I also love that through blogging I've been able to learn about online selling, set up a little shop, and make a little pocket money. Once again living in a small country town, job opportunities are limited. It really doesn't matter where you live any more, if you have an internet connection, you can do almost anything. There is so much information just at your fingertips.

I've been able to satisfy my inner shop keeper by setting up a Madeit Shop. I'm starting to get some really interesting leads to other ventures since opening the shop. In fact three in the last few weeks alone. Its sort of exciting and scary all at the same time.

I'm spinning around in circles in my sewing room wondering where to start!

Who would have thought all this was going on in my house, down country road, surrounded by paddocks and cows.

Kitchen by morning light.

2011-07-18T15:29:00.002+10:00

I said I'd do some daylight pictures of the kitchen but even these aren't the best but they do show up a lot less yellow than in my last post. We have decided against the stainless splashback and are going to tile it instead in a very exciting creamy white tile. A girlfriend visited yesterday and said it all looked very Scandinavian which funnily enough was the look I've secretly been going for.

I can't wait until the electrician has been and I can light the place up. The plumber came today so I have running water in the kitchen for the first time in a month. Much warmer than doing dishes in outside laundry in this weather.

Back to some crafty things next post. Lots of exciting things happening in that area.

Delivery day.

2011-07-15T18:59:00.006+10:00

We have a kitchen people!!!

Not quite fully operational but looking a lot better than it has for the last month.

Can't stay long, I'm busy finding homes for everything.

Better photos tomorrow in the day light. It all looks very yellow. Its really quite white.

It feels very special. there's still a few things to do but significant progress today.

Painting, painting, painting.

2011-07-13T19:51:00.005+10:00

Well, it seems the majority of sewers prefers their cut not ripped (shaken not stirred!). Thanks for all your replies, its been interesting to get your opinions.

Do you like the above photo of the sign Mum saw on her travels.

On to the kitchen, its all happening.

After an anxious wait this morning our plasterer turned up and finished his part of the kitchen reno. He left us with racing stripes.

We have spent the rest of the day painting. We had to complete the painting today as the kitchen is supposedly coming tomorrow!!!!!! I can't wait. There will still be electrical and plumbing to do which will mean we can't use the appliances but at least I can put some things away. I work on a Friday and I've told hubby he is not allowed to put things away without me. We all know what would happen there don't we.

So here's our blank canvas.

"Butlers pantry" through door, painted as well.

Shower, feet up and Offspring coming up.

Ripping vs cutting?

2011-07-12T19:54:00.005+10:00

Mum and Dad have just returned from some touring. Poor Dad, he's not allowed to go past a fabric shop. Their trips and stopovers are pretty much mapped out according to which towns have quilting shops. Anyway, today Mum was horrified when she purchased some fabric and the assistant/shop owner ripped the fabric she wanted to buy. After the first rip she said she preferred her fabric cut...so the lady allowed an extra 1 cm and continued to rip the next piece. She's decided not to return to that particular shop.

I've had a bit of a read on the subject and I realise ripping goes accurately along the grain but you do lose a portion along the rip where its all skewed. Some shops state on their web sites that they allow for this.

I prefer my fabric rotary cut too.

How about you?

New to the stash.

2011-07-11T17:00:00.004+10:00

In amongst all the kitchen chaos there was a small fabric delivery.

A bolt of green floral for some spring designs for the shop (and a giveaway item).

A bolt of Moda's Punctuation fabric which I'm hoping to add to my slowly growing collection of suitable 'boy' fabrics, and a bolt of versatile green stripe, I've been looking at it for ages and finally decided to get some. I'm going to experiment with some clothing, failing that I think it would make gorgeous quilt backing or bag linings.

Kitchen update.

2011-07-11T15:43:00.004+10:00

The whole kitchen renovation took a break over the weekend. There was a steady stream of visitors, six house guests etc for the wedding and not a baked cookie or meal to be had.

This morning the plasterers arrived to plug up all the holes and gaps, sorry, I don't know the technical term for that. There was a hold up on getting the cornice but its arrived today so its about to go up and then they have to sand/smooth everything off tomorrow. That gives us Wednesday to do the painting and at this stage the kitchen itself should arrive Thursday, fingers crossed.

Walking outside to do dishes in this weather is wearing thin. I'm washing them in the laundry, which is part of the house, but it comes directly off the back verandah which means braving the cold. Only a couple of more days I keep telling myself. In the meantime I've decided to throw some things in the clothes dryer each time I do the dishes for momentary warmth.

Family weekend.

2011-07-10T16:07:00.004+10:00

This weekend we have had a family wedding. Its been a weekend of cousins for the kids. Having all the cousins together is a rare occurrence. I don't think we have all been together, even for Christmas for quite some time. Friday the first visitors arrived, Retromummy and Co. There was a fleeting shopping trip to the Bendigo Woolen Mills. I bought so much stuff, well, thats what Corrie is telling Retrodaddy. I don't think he was convinced.

We came back to Echuca braved the cold and had a wander around the historic area, lolly shop etc. Followed by another brief diversion by the mummies to a fabric shop. So with the shopping out of the way the weekend proceeded. Saturday morning we attending the wedding.

Wasn't the cake magnificent.

Don't ask me how, but we managed to get a photo of all the cousins together. We only had one stray, hence Retrodaddy's inclusion in the photo. The girls all adored their "big girl" cousin and the boys all loved having some mates to play with.

On the fashion front. I totally chickened out on the zip insertion and leaving it so late I would have been doing it under pressure so while walking around Echuca I spied this little layered green ruffle dress....perfect!!! Cardigan courtesy of Grandma. I bought more wool on Friday for her to make another one.

It also had excellent twirlability.

I was very happy with my frock too. Don't worry I had a cardy and trench coat on as well most of the day.

And, you know how Corrie goes on and on on her blog about how cute Elodie is......she's right.

She's the cutest, quietest, smiliest, cuddliest baby out. I managed a few cuddles.

Narioka

Sale on Narioka clothes and quilts.

Oasis Postage Stamp Quilt.

We now have a waterfront property.

The cat needed a quilt.

Five minute cushion cover.

Paper bunting sign.

David Kleinert Photography Workshop.

Country Show.

Vegie Garden Stick Art.

Test cat.

February, how did that happen?

Craft cyclone.

Australia Day.

The Bliss Quilt - Obligatory photos.

Our weekend by the sea side.

First go at quilting with a stitch regulator.

My unconventional method of pin basting quilts, but it works.

Photography practice.

Bliss quilt back.

Bliss, Half Square Triangles Quilt.

UFO confession photos.

Christmas wrap.

Cut offs.

I have a new favourite.

Christmas sewing.

Patchwork skirts in pinks and purples.

Fifteen Trees.

Aviary quilt

The Kindergarten Quilt.

Neighbourly advice.

Rockin girls.

The patchwork skirt - The one with the apples.

The patchwork skirt.

Mini me.

B-FAb at AQM.

40th birthday recovery.

My Moda Bake Shop Hexi tutorial.

Sneak peek.

The kitchen - before, during and after.

Round and round the Mulberry bush.

The Red Door

Quilt's for NZ.

OK, shops full I think.

Shop re-stock.

I can do it myself.

Women Who Shine.

Miss Muffet's sewing adventures.

Re-loved.

Aussie flowers.

Mummy we need photos of me in the new dresses.

Retro, recycled, reclaimed, rehashed, rejigged......

Cow popped!

Seeing stars....moons.

Filling the rack up again.

Creating quilters.

Mini Elna and the mini sewer.

Sponsored post stance.

Wish list.

Pretty, pretty, perfect.

Market previews.

Mill Rose Cottage.

Spring wedding.

Since I was here last.....

Fairy party day.

Mini Elna and a birthday girl.

New labels.

Fabric flying.

Three hour quilt top.

The kinder quilt.

A winner.

Maree's order.

Spring giveaway reminder.

Mornington Peninsula Patchworkers Quilt Show.

The wrap on straps.

Spring Giveaway No.1

Production line.

Kitchen finishing touches.

Flower picking dress.

Max's big adventure.