Schnitzel and Boo Mini Quilt Swap - My Mini Quilt arrived!

Hi everyone

A few weeks ago I received my mini quilt from the Schnitzel and Boo mini quilt swap!

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.

Andrea was my lovely partner and she made me the most awesome mini quilt ever!

Isn't it great?!

I had people coming over for dinner that night I received the mini quilt, so I used the quilt as a centrepiece on the table :)

Andrea was incredibly generous, she didn't just send me a mini quilt, she sent me a nice BIG parcel...

It included, a handmade coffee cuff/cosy

a quilters notebook

and some fabric

Thank you so much Andrea! 

It is awesome and you were very generous :)

Emma 

The kind hearted nature of others makes me smile :D

Hi everyone

In October I was having some issues making my first ever quilting project (you can see the finished product here), as I did not have a walking foot for my sewing machine.  I made a comment in a lovely community group on Facebook, asking which of my other feet would be best to use, and the lovely Moira from Craftypa & Craftyma came to my rescue!

Moria told me she had an extra walking foot that I was welcome to - see doesn't this kind hearted nature make you smile?!  I was overjoyed and just a little bit gobsmacked! So I decided to whip her up a little gift to say thank you :)

Here is the little zipper pouch (with inner pocket) and the walking foot I was so lucky to receive:

Just the other day Jodie from Ric Rac made me smile at her kind hearted nature...more about this at a later date - I love to keep you all wanting more :P

Emma

November wrap up of finished projects

Hi everyone,

Here are some pictures of what I made this month...

A horse for Geri

A birthday present for my best friend :)

(blogged here)

A birthday present for Mum!

(blogged here)

A birthday present for a friend.

(blogged here)

A Christmas t-shirt for Lauren and J

A Christmas t-shirt for Fiona and R

Matching Christmas t-shirts for The Little Monster 

and his best friend T

A new item for my Shop.

A finished house for Annie

A Santa sack for Ilsa and Leonid :)

A mini quilt for my partner form the Schnitzel and Boo mini quilt swap

I'm so pleased that Kerrie likes it!

 (blogged here)

A quilted car mat/roll/caddy for Erin and T

Another new item for my Shop - this item has since sold :D  

Yay!

A birthday present for my sister-in-law (pattern "ruffled apron" by See Kate Sew)

I also made a matching trivet/hot plate for her - but I forgot to photograph it OOPS!

Whew!  That was a SUPER busy month!  

And now its December...I had better keep my sewing groove on, its going to be another busy month :)

Emma

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