In Stitches of Williamstown

A Kaleidoscope of ideas

Just received a bumper order of Kaleidoscope books by Melly and Me.  The smell of the fresh print is great!  Books are available to order now from my website.  (At a great introductory price :-) )

The book looks terrific (now that I have had a good browse) and there are some terrific ideas in here

• 4 bags (one for mum, a messenger style bag and 2 great kids backpacks as featured on the cover)
• 2 quilts (one for bub and one great quilt which would be great in Man fabrics!)

• and of course 6 softie patterns for boys and girls alike!

Melly has thought carefully through this book and there are creative ideas to suit all ages and sexes!  Well done Melly.

Kaleidoscope

Melly and Me have brought out a book called Kaleidoscope - based on the popularity of their patterns the book is sure to be a real hit and would make a fantastic gift for a crafty friend.  If you can't bear to give it away you will find lots of inspiration in the pages of projects to make - and perhaps these would be better to give after all :).  You can buy it now at a special introductory price from my website.

Have you seen the most gorgeous new BOM?

I love robins - I think it's the christmas card my mum kept from when I was at primary school.  A fat brown robin with a big red breast made out of felt stuck onto card. 

Now this quilt is a different skill level entirely from primary school - but I can't get it quite out of my head.  Simple stitchery and applique can yield the most amazing results when applied to a stunning design, so it's easily within our reach.  Cinderberry Stitches Natalie has done an absolutely amazing job. 

The complete pattern set is available to order now from my website for a special price this month!

Come on lets all shake our "Tail Feathers"!

 

Have you seen it yet?

I just redesigned my website (I say "just" but it has taken a good 3 months of effort!) and I'm so excited about it.  I must say I'm really happy with the result - I'm sure you'll like it too.

Go and take a look at www.institches.com.au which has plenty of fabric, patterns and ideas to inspire, create, enjoy!

Meet Magoo

Lynn did such a great job with Magoo - one of Melly and Me's creations.  He's irresistable!

Patterns and kits available... until stocks run out.  I'll put these on my website. Come and meet him in person at the craft and quilt fair in July at Jeff's shed from 23-26 July.

Here it is! My finishing kit for Bluebird of Hope quilt for Quilt Aid 2009

Have you ever tried to photograph a quilt -for something that isn't alive it sure does move about and have a mind of it's own!

 

Quilt Aid 2009 - Bluebird of Hope - Summer Angel

Designed by Lynette Anderson O'Rourke of Lynette Anderson Designs

I love the interaction of birds with the angel in this block, well done Lynette. 

 

Comments and tips

• I used more applique than Lynette's original design, I love how stitchey and applique can be so interchangable that you can interpret it how you like.  I think I was tracing all the vlisofix shapes and got a bit carried away with the strawberries and the birds - but once in place I kind of liked it so I went with the flow.
• I decided not to include the birdhouse - don't know why - but as a consequence I got the placement slightly wrong on the block as I positioned the angel right in the centre of the block - i probably should have positioned her slightly left of centre as the watermelon is more on the right - perhaps a lesson to myself to find the true centre rather than assuming that you know! 
• This then led to a variety of consequences which I'll tell you about so you know what you can do if you ever end up in the same muddle as me!
• I cut the block centre smaller and closer to her left hand to regain the balance
• I then added extra width to the pieced border to help get the block back big enough again

• I decided that I would use feature quilting in the border, rather than the embroidery

• Lesson learned?  Sometimes midnight stitching doesn't result in the best choices begin made!  To be honest I think I should just have followed Lynette's design and then it wouldn't have gone wrong for me!  Her design has great balance of stitchery and applique and looks great.  But on a positive note what I have done makes me know that my quilt's the only one with a block quite like that!

Hi Girls! Fabric giveaway ... for a soupy comment

Masterchef is drawing to a close - and so is our fabulous fabric giveaway!

I'm still looking for fantastic soup ideas - Leave me a comment with your favourite soup suggestion (and recipe if you want to share with all) by 15th July and go into the running to get a whole mix of fabrics*.

If you leave a comment with your favourite soup I'll pick my favourite sounding soup as a winner* to get 3kg parcel post pack of fabric (mightn't hold 3kg haven't tried it but I will stuff it full of fabric for you!).  At random I'll also do a draw to get a 500g parcel post pack*.   Would love the recipes!

*sorry overseas ladies this is in Australia only.  I'll do some pattern giveaways that include you next time.

If you're the winner I'll contact you for details of the soup (and your address etc).

I've already been trying some of the soups out ... but there's still time for more inspiration!

Go on girls - you know you want to....

Its easy to leave a comment - just click on the word comment below and follow the instructions.

Yay! It's Friday - that means...

• a glass of wine
• sitting by the fire (almost on top of it!)
• muddy knees after auskick
• time to bake
• dinner with friends
• Bjorn again with the girls including my 8 y.o.
• walks in the cool air with the kids on scooters racing into the distance on the bike path
• Plotting my sewing for the weekend
• a sense of calm before the week begins

What a lot to be thankful for!

Quilt Aid 2009 - Bluebird of hope - Bluebirds and Berries

Designed by Anni Downs of Hatched and Patched

I loved the pieced background to this block and the birds are so cute!  Well done Annie it's a stunner..

Comments and tips

• I loved, loved, loved the applique plans for the different fabrics which made this very easy to put together
• I did hand blanket stitch applique for this block - I really love this effect. (I used a mixture through the quilt of hand and machine applique)  An applibond needle really helped stitching through the three layers of fabric for the birds tummy but lucky there wasn't a big area to sew like this.
• Definately approach the stems first they are so delicate they won't last long unless they are appliqued first.
• I used stem stitch for the writing - if I did it again I'd do backstitch as per pattern. It's hard to be neat with the stem stitch around the curves - it got better as I progressed!