Thank You Little Crafty Shop!

Back in November last year, i was stoked to win a $75 gift certificate for the Little Crafty Shop from Rita at Red Pepper Quilts. Waahoooo!!! New fabric?.....YES PLEASE!

I love reading Rita's blog (you can check it out here) and especially love seeing her new quilt creations. She has a real talent for selecting the most gorgeous colour and fabric combinations. Thank you so much for the opportunity to win the gift certificate Rita.

I'd never checked out the Little Crafty Shop before and i was delighted to be introduced. Lilian has done a great job with her website and has some awesome fabrics in store. Ooh, the dilemma, what to choose?? She stocks some of my favourites including Kaffe Fassett and the Lecien collections.

In the end, i opted for a bit of variety to fill some gaps in a quilt i'm planning to make this year like some Tula Pink Moon Shine in Static Dot, Dear Me and Doe Eyed.

I also picked fabric from the Lecien Floral Collection that i'm not sure what i'll make with just yet but i couldn't resist; Flower Sugar Spring.

And for beautiful organic cotton, low volumes i picked some Cloud9 Shape of Spring by Eloise Renouf: Petal Print in Twig and Sage.....almost good enough to eat!

A whopping thanks to Rita and especially Lilian for her generosity. Cheers girls, i am very thankful and will put these new fabrics to good use!

Linking up for Sunday Stash #107 with Molli Sparkles

Spring Picnic

It's winter here in Canberra. The nights are cold and it's difficult to get out of bed in the morning. I'm a summer-loving type girl and i'm already longing for the change of season. In preparation for some spring picnics in the mountains and weekends away camping, i'm planning on making a picnic quilt and i know just the inspiration.

p. 122 of Malka Dubrawsky's Fresh*Quilting; Fearless Color, Design & Inspiration

Last year i saw a beautiful picnic quilt made by Malka Dubrawsky (p. 122 of her book Fresh*Quilting; Fearless Color, Design & Inspiration), and i've been wanting to make something like it ever since. Using mostly shades of green in solids and prints, i found it so fresh and when i see it, it makes me want to seek out some blue skies and leafy trees to picnic under. I love it's simplicity and focus on colours.

So, here are some of the Kona Solids i've selected in a recent fabric purchase. I like the colours, they make me happy and i think they'll work well with some of the prints i already have in my stash. For now though, we still have a few more months of winter to enjoy which are perfect quilting conditions (also good for hot chocolates, movies, snuggling under favourite quilts, sipping tea, baking bikkies, reading and playing in the sunshine that typifies Canberra winters).

Cheers to a few winter months... the perfect preparation time for a spring picnic quilt.

It's also week 2 of the Plum and June 2014 New Quilt Bloggers Blog Hop, so if you'd like to see some more, new and inspirational quilting blogs, here is just a selection...

Jill @ Pie Lady Quilts

Chelsea @ Patch The Giraffe (http://patchthegiraffe. blogspot.com/)

Daisy @ Ants To Sugar

Rachael @ The Floral Suitcase 

Elizabeth @ And Pins

Jennifer @ Never Just Jennifer 

Alice @ Blossom Quilts

Megan @ Sew Stitching Cute

Stephanie @ Late Night Quilter

Kelsey @ Lovely And Enough

Linking up with Gemma for I Quilt Thursdays at Pretty Bobbins and Molli Sparkes for Sunday Stash

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

Rainbow by the meter

This week i had the pleasure of meeting Paula who owns the Arco Iris a Metro ('Rainbow by the meter' in English) patchwork shop on the south side of the Tejo River in Lisbon, Portugal. Quilting shops are quite rare in Portugal, so this was a real treat. It's a lovely shop with many delightful fabrics, and if you're ever in Lisbon, i encourage you to include a visit here.

Paula tells me that making bags is very popular here at the moment, so not as much interest here in making quilts as art or for putting on our beds.

Of course, i couldn't resist purchasing some beautiful fabrics including some Portuguese fabric which is 100% cotton that is called CHITAde ALCOBAÇA (typical from a city called Alcobaça).

For my Mum, I purchased some fabrics that reminded me of the colours of Portugal and one that has some Portuguese themes..... so pretty....

And for me, i couldn't resist some colourful blues, purples and greens....

Thanks Paula for showing me your beautiful shop. I do hope that one day, you will make it down under to Australia so i can take you to some of our local quilt shows, shops and hangouts.... i wish you many happy quilting hours!

Linking up with Milli Sparkles for Sunday Stash