If Cats Could Talk Quilt-Tutorial Uploaded

If Cats Could Talk Quilt

If Cats Could Talk Block

Back of quilt

I have completed the tutorial for the If Cats Could Talk Quilt.The quilt was made with designs from BFC Creations. The tutorial can be found HERE.

Moda Blueberry Crumb Cake/Paisley Parade Quilt

Moda Blueberry Crumb Cake/BFC Paisley Parade Quilt Row 1

Moda Blueberry Crumb Cake/BFC Paisley Parade Quilt Insert

I have finished quilting and binding the If Cats could Talk Quilt and it was my intention to write up the instructions for it but had some inspiration on what to do with these Moda Blueberry Cake strips. I purchased 3 of the Moda scrap bags from Hancocks and the majority of them was this line. The quilt combines the 10 minute quilt block technique with a machine embroidered insert.Once again I have used one of the designs from the BFC Creations Paisley Parade set. The photo shows the top row of the quilt with the top border added. The quilt will be made up of 9 squares which are 18.5 inches square when finished. I will be giving this quilt to my Mother for her 77th birthday at the end of next week so hopefully will have it finished by then. I will also do a tutorial for this quilt as well.

Another Milestone and If Cats Could Talk Quilt Top

If Cats Could Talk Quilt top

Yesterday was Australia Day and unfortunately we did not participate in any of  festivities. I spent the day doing some more cleaning and finishing this quilt top. The embroidered designs are The  If Cats Could Talk designs sets 4 and 5 from BFC Creations . I have had these designs for a while and once again my favoured black /white and red colour scheme dominated. I will get the quilt finished and then will upload a tutorial. I designed the interior of the quilt to be made with 2 1/2 inch or jelly roll strips.

The number of page loads on my blog also went over he 100 000 mark yesterday. This is something I did not foresee happening when I started this blog on a whim during a school vacation 7 months ago. It is most humbling and encourages me to keep coming up with projects and on line classes .

Braided Table Runner-Tutorial Uploaded

Paisley Parade -Moda Ruby Braided Table Runner

Paisley Parade -Moda Ruby Braided Table Runner 2

I have just completed the tutorial for the Moda Ruby/BFC Paisley Parade braided table runner. The tutorial can be downloaded from HERE.

New Table Runner

Moda Ruby/BFC Paisley Parade Table Runner

Yesterday I spent the day finishing off the layout for the If Cats Could Talk Quilt and also put together this table runner using the Moda Ruby/BFC Paisley Parade design. Hopefully will get it quilted and bound and then will write the tutorial for anyone wanting the instructions. This table runner design is a great way to showcase an embroidery design or a fussy cut piece of fabric. You can basically make any size table runner and I will go through some of those options on how to do this in the tutorial when I write it.

Heirloom Hankie -Bonnet Tutorial and Sneak Peek of New Quilt







Heirloom Hankie



Heirloom Hankie Bonnet

Hankie Bonnet Back

Heirloom Hankie Bonnet

The heirloom hankie-bonnet has been described many times but there are limited instructions on how to make the heirloom hankie from scratch. 

The Heirloom hankie bonnet would make a great gift to take to a baby shower. The hankie is a great gift for a bride. Include the poem with simple instructions on how to convert it to a baby bonnet. When her children get married the stitches can be easily removed for them to either carry as brides (if they are daughters) or as a gift for their bride (if they are sons) as the “something old”. You can download the tutorial from  here 

I am also working on a new quilt featuring the If Cats Could Talk collections  4 and 5 from BFC Creations. It is still definitely a WIP but I will post the tutorial when it is completed.

Black , White and Red Cat Quilt Work in  Progress

Heirloom Nightgown Class Update

Heirloom Nightgown -Back Yoke

Lesson 4 of the heirloom nightgown has just been sent out.This is a free online class. This nightgown is sleeveless and does not have any neckline buttons etc. The yoke is treated as a separate overlay.

If you wish to be a part of this class you need to email me HERE and I will add you to my email database and send the remainder of the lessons to you as they are completed.

Update on yesterday's blog post

One of my blog readers alerted me to the fact that I had posted the incorrect file to google docs. The correct and complete Paisley Parade quilt instructions are there now if you need to re download them. Sorry about that.

We are currently cleaning out the kitchen cupboards. The oven and fridge can wait until tomorrow as I want to do some sewing this afternoon especially the heirloom nightgown  back yoke.

Paisley Parade Class Ended-Link to all the lessons

Paisley Parade Quilt

Our online Paisley Parade class has ended but I had not posted pictures all the blocks quilted. I thought that people might like to see them. I have zipped all of the lessons into one large file for those of you who may have missed lessons or do not have them at all etc. I am going to leave the link here for a few days but it will definitely be removed at the end of January.

Now that my sewing room is reorganised and lovely to work in I do not feel like making any more mess in it. I am going to be sending out the next lesson of the nightgown class over the weekend and I have a few ideas for some lovely table runners also using the Paisley Parade designs and the Ruby jelly roll. 

I have the lovely yellow corduroy that I found in my clean up sitting in the basket ready to go for the toddler overalls so that is also on the list



Paisley Parade Quilt Block 1



Paisley Parade Quilt Block 2

Paisley Parade Quilt Block 3

Paisley Parade Quilt Blocks 4 and 5

Paisley Parade Quilt Block 6

Paisley Parade Quilt Block 7

Paisley Parade Quilt Blocks 8 and 9

Paisley Parade Quilt Blocks 10 and 11

Paisley Parade Quilt Block 12

Back of Paisley Parade Quilt

Sewing Room Finished

Sewing Room



Sewing Room 1



Sewing Room 2

Sewing Room 3

Sewing Room 4

Sewing Room 5

Sewing Room 6

The remodel/refurbishment of my sewing room is now finished except for a few bits of trim etc. It has taken 2 weeks from start to finish.It may not grace the pages of an interior decorating magazine but I am very pleased with the results.This room was a former double garage and the original carpet installed by the former house owners over year s ago is still on the floor.  The room has been painted with one wall being dark wood panel before we started. The cupboards with the exception of the big bank of drawers have also been painted white. All of the open storage that you can see is made up of 2, 3 and 4 shelf bookcases.The large cutting area in the centre of the room has storage space underneath. We also installed two long energy efficient long fluorescent daylight lights with one of them being over the cutting table.

I can now focus on getting back to our online nightgown course.



Update on Fairy Penguin Counting

For those who may be interested here is a link to the news item that went to air last night. The penguin count was apparently 500 fewer than previously, however, there were still many penguins coming ashore as we were leaving at 11.00 pm and were most likely not counted.

Time to get back to the sewing room painting. We can see the end in sight.

My Blog Featured in Magazine Article

My blog has been featured on the Internet chit chat page in the latest issue of Innovative Machine Embroidery and Textile Art. This is an Australian magazine.

The sewing makeover is going well and is on track to be finished this week. Seems to have taken forever but I am very happy with what we have done so far. Need to go shopping for some new light fittings and then have the electrician install them.

Magical Day-A Wedding -Fairy Penguin Counting

It is a little before 7.00 am Sunday morning here in Tasmania where I live. Yesterday was a truly magical day. We attended the wedding ceremony of on of my teaching colleagues in the afternoon. The ceremony was in a bush park setting. There was not a cloud in the sky and the air was filled with the rich scent of eucalyptus leaves. When you looked int the clearing there were hundreds of dragonflies in the air but they did not impact the ceremony in any way. The bride looked beautiful.

In the evening we joined approximately 100 other people in counting the fairy population at Lillico Beach which is nearby. WHAT AN EXPERIENCE! We were asked to arrive by 7.45. We checked in ,were given our instructions and had red cellophane placed over our torches. We set off in 4 groups to walk along the shingle beach. This proved a bit challenging at times. People were stationed every 20 metres. Once we had our spot we had to sit without talking or moving until 11.00 when the count was over. I positioned myself with my fleecey cushion on a large piece of driftwood. At 10.00 the little penguins started to come back home  to feed their chicks from their day of fishing at sea. We used our torches to count the ones in the sector to our left. I had 16 in my sector over the counting interval whilst my husband 20 metres to my left had over 40. At one stage one little penguin came and sat right behind me less than 12 inches away after he had negotiated the rocky shingle beach and the steep little bank we were on. Another walked 3 inches in front of my feet. It truly was a magical experience. At 11.00 we packed our things, joined the other bobbing red lights coming along the beach and walked back to hand in our counting cards.We were home in bed by 11.45pm

Heirloom Heart Sachet Tutorial Uploaded

Heirloom Heart Sachet

I have uploaded the heirloom heart sachet for you to download. It is a comprehensive tutorial with plenty of step by step photographs. You can download the tutorial from here.

An Apology and Sewing Room Reorganization

 I promised to have the rest of the front yoke instructions to those doing the online nightgown class and the instructions for our Paisley Parade quilt but we are still doing a massive reorganisation of my sewing room. We are not doing any permanent building but rather using storage cubes (bookcases in fact) from the local discount store.

I have a lot of antique /vintage sewing paraphernalia so also need to display that. The wall behind this section was dark wood panelling and we are painting over that. You can still see some of the panelling in the top left hand corner of the photo. It is a case of moving things to another place to paint etc the section we want to do. A bit like rearranging the deck chairs as the saying goes. I am still to place some things in their permanent new home.

 We are about  1/4 of the way done in the room so as you can see I have been otherwise engaged.

Free Internet Quilt and Project Pattern Index

Thought I might take a few minutes out from my big sewing room makeover to post some links to free quilt pattern and project resources. This list is by no means exhaustive and I will be updating it as I find new links.

A E Nathan Fabrics

Andover Fabrics

Anthology Fabrics 

Avlyn Fabrics

 Benartex

Blank Quilting

Camelot Cottons

Classic Cottons

Clothworks

Cranston Village

Fabri-Quilt

Fabric Freedom

Free Spirit

Henry Glass

Hoffman Fabrics

In The Beginning

Kona Bay

Lakehouse Dry Goods

Lecien

 Marcus Brothers

Maywood Fabrics

Michael Miller

 Moda Fabrics

Moda Bake Shop

P & B Textiles

Quilting Treasures

Red Rooster Fabrics 

(also look at the retired patterns page)

Riley Blake Fabrics

RJR Fabrics

Robert Kaufman Fabrics

Springs Creative

South Seas Imports

Timeless Treasures

Willowberry Lane

Wilmington Prints

Windham Fabrics

Free Internet Video Resource Round Up

I love looking at video lessons on the internet and I am sure that many of you do to. I  thought it was about time I shared some of the new ones I have come across.

Sewing With Nancy on PBS

The latest video in the Sewing With Nancy series has some fantastic idea for quick fleecy accessories. You can view the videos from this link

Free BOM Video lessons from Craftsy

Craftsy is offering a free video BOM series. Just go to their site and sign up, the series comes up as zero cost. The link to their sign up page is here

Missouri Star Quilt Co

Missouri Star has a new tutorial on making spider web quilts. You can view it below.

Heirloom Heart Sachet

Heirloom Heart Sachet

I have spent the first day of 2012 designing and making this heirloom heart sachet. The sachet consists of two separate sections that are fastened together with ribbon threaded through the beading lace. It is part of the free online nightgown class that I am currently running. It also uses the pinless shape lace shaping technique. If you wish to be a part of this class you can email me here. We are currently up to lesson 2 covering our pattern preparation and the basic requirements for heirloom successful sewing.