Butterflies and Bees Cot Quilt

My Mum has sewn so many things for our family. As a little girl, i can remember Mum making me some terrific dress up outfits and clothes for my teddy. Although she mostly made necessities; things like our clothes and their repairs and hand-me-down modifications from my brother and sisters clothes and school uniforms.

When i learnt to do my first patchwork pillow as a Brownie (young girl guide or scout), she encouraged me and loaned me the sewing gear i needed (i think she may have also helped me finish it when my enthusiasm wained!).

Recently, when my little boy (aka the hurricane) was due to be born, she made him this terrific Butterflies and Bees Cot quilt. We love it terribly and as i write, the hurricane is fast asleep underneath it. He loves pointing out the butterflies and bees that Mum has appliqued onto it but i love the blue and green colours (of course!) and the xanthorhoea grass tree spikes that remind me of our home in the Blue Mountains, Australia.

So this post goes out to my Mum.... cheers for making such a fun and gorgeous cot quilt for our boy Mum! We love you very, very much!

You can check out more of Mum's quilts on Mums Gallery page.

Linking up with AmandaJean for Finish it up Friday

Kimono silk challenge

It's been over a decade since i first saw the most gorgeous piece of kimono silk i've ever seen. It was one of those situations where i knew i must buy it, and work out what to do with it later (bet i'm not the only one to have hand one of those moments!). It was special too, because it reminded me on my Nana and the colours that she liked.

At the time, there wasn't much kimono silk being used in quilting, and i ignorantly thought id be able to get my hands on similar coloured and patterned silks. In the last 10 years, I've certainly found some stash additions of pretty silks and certainly some to co-ordinate a quilt with, but nothing quite so pretty to me.

So far, this is what I've been able to get my hands on. While i wish i had some more turquoises and pretty pastel blues, i'm thinking it's time i should plan and commence my 'kimono silk challenge'......And it certainly will be a challenge for me because;

1. I've never sewed using silks before and know they can be slippery and hard to work with.
2. Some of the pieces are so precious, i don't want to ruin them.
3. I'm not really that into some of the more typical Japanese style quilts, but do want to make something in keeping with the kimono silks and where they've come from.
4. I'm unsure of what type of backing and wadding to use....for example should i use a cotton backing to try to stabilise the quilt a bit more or something softer to keep the quilt all soft and silky?

If you have any tips from your experience working with silks or similar, or ideas to share, please let me know and i'd sure love to hear from you.

I recently saw an inspirational quilt by Cassandra Ellis called 'Because You Love The Fabric Quilt' (p.62 of her book 'Quilt Love') and i like it so much i think i'll attempt something along those lines for my own silk quilt.

It's kinda improv piecing and i believe it will let me keep the silks fairly intact (i don't want to go cutting them up too much!), especially the piece that started this silk journey which i reckon i'll try keep cutting to a minimum with!

Please, if you have any tips or can point me in the direction of some tutorials, please let me know, i'd sure love to hear from you!

Linking up with Lorna for Lets Bee Social, Gemma for I Quilt: Thursday at Pretty Bobbins and Molli Sparkles for Sunday Stash

Marta's quilt fabics

I've been wanting to make a quilt for my sister and brother in law, Marta and Orlando, for a while now. Marta is coming to visit us later this year in September, so my thoughts have turned to making her a quilt. That gives me around 3-4 months to make and quilt this gift, so not a whole stack of time, but hopefully enough.

I saw a beautiful quilt by Ann D. Hansen called 'x-tra ordinary' (p.28 of her book 'make it Modern Quilts') and fell in love with it straight away. I reckon it looks pretty fancy but achievable in the time frame i have....

x-tra ordinary 2; p.32 make it Modern Quilts by Ann D. Hansen

So while my husband was recently in the U.S. i asked him to pick me up some Amy Butler Soul Blossoms fabrics from Hawthawn Threads. I haven't used any fabrics from this range before but wasn't disappointed when they arrived home with my husband yesterday. The colours are so pretty and together with some coordinating solids and a bit of Jennifer Paganelli, Beauty Queen, should suit the x-tra ordinary pattern well.

Now my next quilt making adventure can begin.....now i just need my 'little hurricane' to sleep well so i can get some sewing time in....

Linking up with Molli Sparkles for Sunday Stash

happy birthday dad!

Well, after a looooong haul back to Australia, we are finally home and over jetlag. It took 9 days (or should I say nights!) for our toddler (aka the hurricane) to switch to local EST. We are missing our Portuguese family already but it's good to be back in the Great South Land again.

Since coming home, sewing progress has been delayed, but with my Dads 75th birthday to celebrate last weekend, I couldn't resist setting aside my next quilting project to make him some 'happy birthday' bunting to celebrate the occasion.

I used a template to cut out two triangles from each fabric. I drew the letters by hand onto some stiff interfacing, then ironed it onto some coordinating fabric. I simply cut around each letter before sewing them onto the coordinating triangle with some simple machine stitching. I then sewed each triangle, wrong sides together before turning them the right way.  I used some homemade binding to string them all together allowing enough on each end to be able to tie the bunting into hanging position.

HAPPY BIRTHDAY DAD!

Linking up with Lorna for Lets Bee Social, Gemma for I Quilt: Thursday at Pretty Bobbins and AmandaJean for Finish it up Friday