catundra

Sometimes I find post secret sad, sometimes moving and sometimes a bit chilling.  Some, like this one, are very funny.  Ok, hands up, which one of you sent it in? : )

First of all a big thanks to linstar  and to all of you who expressed interest in the children's space at Swancon this year.

Unfortunately, however, due to my own growing commitments with 2011 and the amount of work we need to do between now and Swancon this year, I have come to the decision that I just don't have the time to give to this year's children's space in order to make it special.  I thought it best to pull out now in order to give someone else a chance at making it work.

I am sure that the 2010 committee would love to hear from anyone who can help make it successful this year and I am happy to discuss last year's space or plans and considerations for this year with them.

Today I :

• cut out the sashing for the wedding quilt I am making for a friend. 
• posted 3 ipod/camera etc cozies to their recipients (I will post photos in a couple of days so as not to ruin the surprise for them).
• posted my completed January block back.
• Made this gluten free, yoghurt, lemon and pistachio syrup cake for valeskah1 's birthday.  Thank you latest "Good Food" magazine for the recipe (although it wasn't GF or a 30cm cake in the magazine.)  Tomorrow I make the turkish delight cream to go with it.

It's complete and posted so lizzy_bbb should get it in a day or so...

( See the photo... )

My "California Dreamin" fat quarters arrived yesterday and they really are good for the soul.  The colours are amazing!  I never thought orange and pink would look so fresh and lovely together.

I had started a disappearing 9 patch quilt for one niece in a variety of pinks, greens and a bit of blue but was stuck on what to do for her twin.  I wanted to do something similar - complementary but different and was playing with purples.  Now I know  - a disappearing 9 patch in pink, orange and purple. : )

The "Far, far, away" fabric with the unicorns also arrived.  That is also lovely.  However since ordering the material I have read "Horn" and I cannot ever look at unicorns the same way again (although  I want some of it to appear on this quilt for my niece).  Thanks girliejones  for ensuring there are books in this world that break my brain. ; )

Just die already!

Hi again.  Thank you very much to those people who have said they would be interested in meeting up.  Much appreciated.  However, still no word from any of the 2010 committee, and their support and interest is kind of vital...
I will leave organising a time for now (although the Tuesday of that week is looking possible, should we have more interest) and post this to the parasol group and facebook group (again) in the hope of more interest.  Otherwise, as I said, I am busy with 2011 at this stage and so will probably let this slide for this year.  Any other takers welcome. : )

My current quilting projects have been stalled a bit thanks to Christmas postal delays - the fabric I need to press on is currently in transit from the USA.  However, being on holidays I have felt a need to craft and so, thanks to a tutorial from sew, mama sew! I have tried my hand at making  little pouches which can be used for keeping electronic gear safe.  They suggest an iPod or camera, it would work well for a GPS or other gadgets too as it is approx 5" x 7" in size.  I might use mine for my iPod when travelling or maybe my funky new camera.  The more masculine version is for A's uncle's GPS.  I suppose they could have other uses too...

Here they are:

And open to show the lining:

Gee I love my new camera!  However, I digress.  As I am at a bit of a loose end at the moment and to share some new year cheer and bring in 2010 with some warm fuzzies for my flist (and I suppose any lurkers here), I am offering to make a pouch for people who comment.*  If there aren't many comments I will probably make one for everyone, if there are lots then I will choose a selection a la craft blog competition. : )  Anyway, to help and inspire me, if you would like one leave me a comment.  Preference will be given to witty/grovelly/cool comments - and maybe suggestions as to how you would use it.  Also let me know if you have any particular fabric colours or styles you might like to see or definitely don't.  No promises but I will do my best!

* of course you could always make your own!

So...it is probably time to try and think about this one again.  I am very busy (and will only get busier) with Swancon 2011 this year but want to try and hold something togther for the children and families at Swancon this year for the benefit of all.  Not entirely sure what form this will take or who will step up to the plate to help make this work.  However, now is the time to get the ball rolling.

I therefore throw it out there that I would like an informal meeting of some sort with interested parties.  I suggest one day during the week of 18 Jan (until 22nd), for coffee or light lunch somewhere child friendly where we can gather and consider and plan.

My wish list:

• A show of hands of those interested (I know baby_elvis has expressed interest in participating amongst others).
• A date, time and place of general convenience for those interested.  King's park?, Leederville?  Tomato Lake?...
• Some word from the 2010 committee as to what sort of space/child friendly programming/professional creche facility might be provided this year that we can work around or towards.  The attendance of one of the members of the committee at this meeting would also be appreciated and helpful.

Thanks!

The lap quilt I have been working on in class is now done.  I finished handstitching the binding last night.

Voila:



and the back...



The psychadellic pink and green strip on the back was to correct a happy mistake (the backing wasn't quite wide enough).  I think it looks better for it.

Here is the December quilting bee block now that C & J have it in their possession!  I was pretty happy as I got to use techniques I learned in class on this one - in particular how to resize a pattern and how to make 1/2 square triangles which match squares.

As if I don't have enough to be getting on with I have just purchased some seriously nice retro 40s fabric from the "Hope Valley" collection and some neutral linen for sashing so I can make a durable bed throw for our bed.  I went for something less "pretty" to pander to A's tastes and also because Zoe dog likes to sleep on our bed sometimes, ok, often and so hopefully it will be a bit more forgiving. I handed over one of the baby quilts today and it was very well received.  : )  Now to move on to the wedding quilt  I am making for my friend.  Stay posted for photos.  Here is the colour range going into the wedding quilt...
( Photo below the cut in case she is lurking... )

Over the last few evenings I have put the finishing touches to the two baby quilts I was working on. Here they are:

This looks like a book I and my crafty friends might be interested in. Well, Christmas is coming up... : )

Here is the very loud "Sea Monkey" baby quilt top I started sewing on Saturday. It is for a friend's baby boy.



Note the demon hound in the corner.
These are the blocks that go in to it:



The banana material was in the bargain bin at Textile Traders - how cool is that? Much of the other material I chose based on the fact it looks like board shorts. : )

I have completed my first quilting project from beginning to end. Admittedly I have another two nearing completion but I chose the table runner to experiment on (ie small surface area to stuff up quilting on and not too much binding to get bored with handsewing :)). I will be giving it to my parents. It is a surprise, mainly because I had no idea how it would turn out and I didn't have to commit to giving them a disaster to proudly display as parents do.

Here is the finished runner from the front:

And a close up showing the back and binding...

Well, you can't really see the binding but I suppose that is a good thing! Apologies for the colour on the second photo, my camera is playing up and nearing the end of its faithful life :(.

Certainly these days anyway. Check out this book on Oh Fransson! Perfect for those of us with fabric stash...or those of us who just happen to have a yard or two of fabric lying around. Looks like there are some cute ideas in it.

I appear to have lost most of my editing tools in lj - no "insert lj username", no bold, underlined or "journal cut"...anyone else had this issue or know how to fix it?

Remember these patches?



Well they are now a quilt top!







The backing is also done and I just have to make the binding before my class on Dec 21st when we are quilting the lot! I am pretty pleased with the result and particularly like the gold border - the gamble paid off I reckon as it makes the poppies pop. :)

I have just had confirmation that willowgypsy has indeed received her block from me so here it is for general consumption.



To be honest, this is my kind of thing. I love scrappy, I love bright and I love the idea of breaking the rules a bit. : )