The Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap

Hi everyone :)

This project has been under wraps for the looooongest time, but my swap partner has finally received the mini quilt I made her so I'm finally allowed to share :)

The swap was hosted by Kristi over at Schnitzel and Boo and there were some AMAZING mini Quilts created by all those involved so head over the the flickr group or on Instagram (the tags used were #schnitzelandboominiquiltswap and  #makeaquiltmakeafriend) to have a look.

Kristi paired me up with Kerrie for the swap.  Kerrie blogs over at Pretty Lady Baby and makes some beautiful quilts and bags.  When we were paired up I did a little stalking, and started following Kerrie on Instagram (http://instagram.com/theprettyladybaby), so I was lucky enough to see the progress she has made on her modern maple quilt and her cathedral window pillow case - wow!  

I did a little more stalking as I knew from the questionnaire Kerrie filled out for the swap that her Favourite fabric designer(s) and or line(s) was Anna Maria Horner and her quilting hero was her friend Diana Taylor - now being semi new to sewing, and having never made a quilt or even really looked at anything too quilt-y before, I needed to do some searching, I mean who were these wonderfully awesome ladies I had never heard of?

Anna Maria Horner - OMG how had I never heard of this designer before?  Her fabric designs are beautiful!  So glad I have found this wonderful designer now - but maybe my bank balance isn't :P

Having never made a quilt before, I was a little intimidated by Kerrie and her wonderful sewing abilities.  So, I decided to stick to my strengths, so that I could make this fellow crafty lady the best mini quilt I could manage.  Kerrie's favourite colour was listed as pink and her least favourite colour was listed as brown (Snap Kerrie! I hate brown too :P).  A a fellow pink lover, I know I had some amazing pinks in my stash...I decided on these:

I made sure to take Kerrie's likes,  "I like bright colours! I am a very happy, easily excitable person. My friends say Joy is my super power. I love really cool designs, appliqué and nifty designs", and dislikes, "I really can’t think of anything to don’t like…No sadness please", into account when I decided on a design for my mini quilt.

So I had a quick look around Pinterest and developed my inspiration board - your welcome to take a peek here :D

After a little more looking around Kerrie's blog, I found out that she likes hexies...and seeing as I'm a little hexie obsessed right now (hello!  I'm in a year long hexie block swap - blogged here) the design came together quite easily :)

The front

The back

This was my 3rd time ever using binding to finish an item off...now the 1st time was a complete disaster - see here - and I had read about Ros from Sew Delicious using a cheats method...so on the hunt I went!  I needed the binding to turn out better on this quilt :P

I found a great tutorial over at prudent baby :) 

And here are the results...

The binding

I'm so pleased with how this turned out :D

I sent the quilt off to Kerrie with a quilt pattern from an Australian designer: Clares Place

Kerrie received the quilt yesterday, and we have written a few messages to each other since...I'm so glad she likes her mini quilt!

Now, I'm just waiting to receive one from the secret partner who was making one for me :)

Emma

A late gift finally given!

Hi everyone

A very good fiend of mine had a birthday at the beginning of the month, but for one reason or another we didn't manage to catch up until this weekend! So, I have only just been able to give this gift, and therefore I can now show you all...

It's an A5 Journal cover...The recipient loved it!

She also said she would get a lot of use out of it at work (which is why I decided to make her this gift in the 1st place, as I suspected she would have lots of use for a notebook in the type of work she does), but I'm glad she thinks she will use it to, its nice to know she will see/use something I put so much time, effort and love into everyday :)

Oh, and I'm joining in here:

I hope to have a few of these available in my shop in the near future too :)
Emma

New Items In Store...

Hi everyone

I have been very busy working hard on adding items to my shop!

Here is a picture of my recently added items:

You my have noticed that I have moved my shop from Etsy to Madeit.

There are a number of reasons for this, but the main ones are these:
1. I felt like I was lost amongst some amazing stores on Etsy
2. Madeit is all about Australian handmade items
3. Madeit seems to have a few functions on the admin site of things which make using it easier for me :P

I have decided to keep my Etsy shop at this stage (although empty right now), for when I finish writing up the patterns I currently have in the works that will be available for purchase in the future - this will be known as my pattern shop. And my madeit shop will be for ready made and custom items.

If you are a customer from outside of Australia, you are still able to purchase from me through Madeit, so don't worry that you wont be able to purchase any of my lovely items :)

Another great feature of Madeit is that you don't need to set up an account to shop on Madeit, you can check out any item as a guest!

Well, back to the sewing machine for me...
Emma

Obsessed - A Year Long Hexie Block Swap

Hi everyone,

Yes, I confess.  I am a little bit addicted to hexies...ok, thats a lie...I'm a lot addicted to hexies, alright I'll tell you all the truth - I'm just a little bit obsessed with hexies :)

Back in August I agreed to partake in a year long hexie block swap with some lovely crafty ladies I have met via Facebook, the Hexie Swap Group was created and it is full of some extremely talented ladies! Let me introduce you to them...

First we have Jacquie from Pebble lane Studio, she makes some amazingly awesome ladies items - think bags and coffee cuffs!  Have a browse through her Facebook page or shop and you will be able to see this for yourself.

Danielle from Paisley Avenue makes some adorable clothing for girls ;)

Check out her Facebook page to see all her lovely items.

Kristina from Harley Barley Designs makes AMAZING hobby horses and other children's items.

Have a look at her Facebook page to see more of her lovely items.

Melissa from Precious Little Poppets is a very talented doll maker! 

To see more of her lovely dolls, visit her Facebook page.

Kristy from Monkey Mai makes beautiful pincushions (two of which I'm lucky enough to own - see here and here), mug rugs and many other items - all of which you can view on her Facebook page.

Christy from Jallie-Bean Kids makes lovely children's clothing and toys.  Here hand applique is amazing and I always want to purchase one of her t-shirts for the little monster!  Have a look at her Facebook page for more.

Felicity from For Miniature People makes toys and softies for children.  Have a look at her lovely items via her Facebook page.

Merja from Little People Design has a blog or you can have a look over her Facebook page - there are lots of helpful ideas to get your little one to use their imagination and be more creative.

Danielle is from Ruby Sew Oh and makes some lovely girls items and christmas decorations, here is a link to her shop and Facebook page.

Sherrilee is from Charlie Barlee Studio and makes some absolutely amazing items...I have no words to say how amazing these are...so go check out her Facebook page!

And last (but certainly not least!) is Melisa from Melisa Jane.  Melisa makes some really gorgeous handbags, along with other clothing items...Have a look at her Facebook page too :)

Also...Sarah, Maureen and Tansy are participating - however they don't have social media links that I am able to share with you here.

So far we have finished round one of the swap...so only 13 more to go :P

Here is a little glimpse of the blocks that have been finished so far:

So pretty!

Emma

ASWC: Where we craft series

Hi everyone :)

Today I'm being featured over at And Sew We Craft in their "where we craft" series :)

Here is the link :)
Emma

Some secret projects revealed...

Hi everyone

In October I worked on quite a few projects that had to be kept under wraps and some still can't be revealed just yet!  

But...

Here are 2 projects that were kept on the down low:

A birthday present for my Mum

Yes she asked for a scarf and chose the main flower print fabric from my stash (a cord fabric purchased at spotlight ages ago), but I actually finished it on time!

I paired the chosen fabric with some buttercream yellow microfleece (purchased at Lincraft) and a very small amount of Calypso (by Maud Asbury for Blend).

Mum opened her present and has worn her scarf almost every day since!  Yes we are having some bad weather at the moment in Melbourne...but I think she would even have worn it in 30 degree weather as she loves it so much :P

A birthday present for another good friend

This friend has supported my handmade hobby business endeavour and made some purchases from me in the very early days - which made me extremely happy!

So, I wanted to make her something special that I hoped she would appreciate.

I had trouble deciding between the green and grey and a burnt orange fabric, as I know she quite likes orange :) I obviously ended up choosing the green and grey, which is a quilting cotton, however there was no name on the selvedge :(  If you know what it is - please feel free to let me know! 

I purchased it at the Craft and Quilt Fair earlier this year.   

I'm glad I went with the green and grey as I think the clutch* came up beautifully :) Especially with the purple surprise inside :D (a quilting cotton purchased at spotlight).

* This is the "fold over clutch" pattern by Michelle Patterns/Keyka Lou design - it is no longer available to purchase.

Hopefully I can reveal a few more secrets soon :)

Emma

October wrap up of finished projects

Hi everyone,

This post is a bit late...but here are the items I finished in the month of October:

A house for Michelle A.

Ok...so it looks like not a very productive month...but I finished some items that I can't show you just yet!  So it has been productive, but you will just have to wait a little longer before you can see all the finished items :)

Emma :)

WIP Wednesday

Today I'm joining in over here...

Here are all my Works In Progress (WIP) at the moment:

1. I am working on 1 playhouse (custom order) at the moment...here is a sneak peak:

2. A custom order hobby horse - this is going to be a christmas present!  I think the little boy getting this is going to be supper happy!

3.  I have just started working on the 2nd of 14 blocks for a swap with some lovely crafty ladies I met on Facebook.  In 14 months time I will have 14 hexie diamond blocks to make a quilt, and I will have made various coloured blocks in my fellow swap partners colours :)

Here is my pile of prepared hexies (the job I did last night!) for round 2...I need to get a move on stitching them up!

4. I'm still working on my necessary clutch that I started in selfish sewing week (also here and here)...I was waiting on some parts, but they have arrived :)
And last weekend I bought the last few items (like glue and some fray stop) that I need to finish it, so hopefully I can find some time to work on this soon!

5. NO MOVEMENT HAS BEEN MADE ON THIS PROJECT!
The Little Monster's quiet book (for his birthday - you can see the finished pages here).

I didn't manage to finish all the pages I had planned to in time for his birthday...so I will be working on this project for the next little while.

I'm working on the Robot page at the moment: 

6. NO MOVEMENT HAS BEEN MADE ON THIS PROJECT!
My crochet scarf for the ASWC crochet along  has stalled :(  I haven't picked this project up in ages...I fear I may never finish this item (just like I never finished knitting that 1st scarf all those many years ago)...

What are you working on right now?
Emma

Sew Mama Sew's Handmade Holidays...

Hi everyone :)

Today I am a guest curator over at Sew Mama Sew's handmade holidays series :)

I hope you pop over and have a look at all the lovely items you could make for the babies and toddlers in your lives these holidays :D

Here is the direct link to the post I curated :)
I hope you like all the lovely thinks I found!
Emma

A peek at where I create

Hi everyone

I have been wanting to write a post about my sewing space for AGES!  But my space also hasn't been finished until now...so NOW I can show you all :)

I sew in a little corner of my living/dining room, and if you follow me on Instagram you will have been seeing some lovely pictures as I add to my little area that is well on its way to being finished.

Yes, I have been sewing for about 2.5 years, but I used to sew on my dining room table...there was always fabric and other notions everywhere!  Then earlier this year I purchased a 2nd hand Horn Sewing Cabinet from a seller on Gumtree - this was the start of my sewing corner.  I then commandeered 3 shelved in a cupboard (for my fabric and notions) in our dining area and started looking for some shelves that I liked enough to go on the wall in my sewing corner, but that also matched the other furnishings in our living and dining areas - I mean I have to look at this area everyday and when we have visitors they will also see them...so they had to be perfect.

About few months ago I saw this post and the hunt for my little house stated.  Every few weeks I found some time to visit the op shops in my area searching, and a month ago I finally found my house!

It cost me $8 and it is in perfect condition!  I wondered if I should paint my new little house, I was going to paint it white or black...but in the end I decided to leave it in its natural wood colour - mainly I came to this decision as I know I am pretty lazy when it comes to painting, so I knew that I would probably start the paint job but never actually finish it? :P

Then the search for shelves continued...and last weekend I bit the bullet and bought some, and then convinced hubby (it didn't take much convincing mind you - he is always very happy to get his tools out, I'm sure in another life he would have loved to have been a tradesman!). Anyway, I convinced hubby to put my selves and my little house on the wall...and I started decorating :)

Here is the progress:

And here are the finished shots of my space - I love it :)

All closed, clean and packed away :D

All out and ready to use

And what it really looks like most of the time :P

On the shelves....

The embroidery piece is one I made in february and it was blogged about here :)

The cute little colour lids and jars are from my local $2.80 store.

The little gold draws are some I've had since I was a child, the pear pincushion was made by Kristy (from Monkey Mai) and I received it as part of a swap (blogged here).  The jars next to the draws were a gift from our Engagement in 2009.

The little hoop artwork and pincushions that decorate the wall on the 1st shelf are from some swaps that I was a part of earlier this year (blogged here, and here). 

The "Best Friends" little hoop artwork was made by Jacara and was part of another swap I participated in earlier this year...but obviously forgot to blog about :P  

The little house is a little bare...but I have a few more threads to find and that should fill it up a little more :)  The "emma" letters are also something I have had forever, they were a gift from when I was born and used to decorate my childhood bedroom.

The last items on my shelves are some plastic Decor containers from my local Woolworth's.  I wanted to find some pretty boxes, but haven't found any I like, so I'll hopefully find the time to make some in the not to distant future - and these will do for now :)

They hold my scraps and other embellishments.

I hope you have enjoyed your little peek into my little creative space!
Emma