Xmas market stock

I have been very busy this last month, making items to sell at the markets. My hometown of Woodend had a Xmas festival last Saturday so I setup my stall in the street and sold my items. I did pretty well and had lots of positive feedback. This Sunday is the monthly Woodend market so it's busy busy busy this week to replenish the stock. 

Personalised Buntings

My sister started making these buntings and I thought what a great gift to give for Xmas! So I thought I would make them too and sell them at my market stall. So am selling them for $25 for up to six letters and then $3 extra each letter after that. I think they are so cute, would look fantastic above any child's bed.

I am also making Merry Xmas buntings $30 and denim Xmas stockings $18.50 to sell!

Udderly Addicted to Japanese Fabric

Tonight I spent time organising my stash seeing as its Springtime I seem to have the bug. So this week I have scrubbed my kitchen including the dreaded oven, I am working on the linen closet and tonight had the inspiration to make more room to display my Japanese fabric. I just adore Yoko Saito's designs and have said so before this so am always on the lookout for taupe Japanese fabric. This is not always easy, it seems not many quilting shops stock it. My local quilt store which sell their fabric really cheaply do have a small range and I always find excuses to visit and buy just a little bit more before they run out. I also visited a quilt shop in both Ballan and Ballarat here in Victoria and they have a good range. So anyway, tonight I folded and stacked my Japanese fabric and thought I would share and also show you my stack of Yoko Saito books!

With the fabric I had on two of these shelves I rolled these around the cardboard from the bolts you get at the quilt shop. I have slowly been collecting them from a couple of stores and thought it would look great to display my yardage fabric on these. The front of my sewing desk has just the right size recess to display them. Seems I need to keep shopping to fill the space!

Baxter the Badger

Wow two posts in a week, well i did say the week was still young and who know what else I could finish this week. Well whilst keeping warm today, watching many episodes of Greys Anatomy today, I finished making Baxter the Badger! This pattern is a Ric Rac pattern by Jodie Carleton and I just love him!  I might have to make him a mate though don't you think?

Retractable Tape Measure House

Its been a productive week this week as I have completed a UFO and created this cute retractable tape measure house. So it is a stuffed house with a retractable tape measure inside with the button to retract it being in between the two windows inside the house, clever dont you think! I originally found this on Pinterest as a product to buy and thought "I can make that" so I did. I just love houses and Japanese fabric so teamed them together Yoko Saito style (I so admire her work) and came up with this! I needleturn appliquéd the windows and the door, a technique I really find relaxing.

The UFO I completed was the hexagon glasses case shown above. I have already posted a photo of another one which I lovingly made for my mum for her birthday and loved it myself, so made another. Like many of my projects, I went hell for leather (isn't that such a strange saying, wonder where that originated?)  and then got bored and started another project (is there anything more exciting than starting a new project?).

Well the week is still young so who knows what I might drag out and finish, there are many to choose from I can tell you!

Tote Bag

My gorgeous sister is still with me visiting and we are being very industrious sewing ladies. We both bought this fabric and went halves and thought we would make a tote bag. There is something about tote bags, you can never have too many don't you agree?

Below is the tote my sister Inge made with the same fabric, looks great!

Messenger Bag

As promised I am now sharing my messenger bag I made with the leftover fabric post making the RENT wall hanging for our local theatre company to raffle. I am pretty pleased with this bag and hope whoever wins it in the raffle is too!

This messenger bag pattern I got from Pinterest (are you addicted to Pinterest too??) and would like to share this tutorial here. I think it is a great size and shape.

http://crazylittleprojects.com/2012/09/messenger-bag-tutorial.html

RENT Quilt/Wall Hanging

I just finished this quilt yesterday and am very happy with it. So this quilt (wall hanging actually) will be raffled for the local theatre company where my thespian husband and very very talented step daughter are currently rehearsing for the next production which, yes, you guessed it, is RENT.  For those who are not familiar, RENT is a broadway musical which ran for ten years on broadway. I recommend you see it, there is a movie version, the music is fantastic.

What I love about making a new quilt and actually strive to do, is learn a new technique with every new project. With this quilt I free motion quilted which is not a new technique but I echo quilted it which I had not done before. Wow its time consuming but I think, very effective. My sister is here at the moment and she and I took it in turns to echo quilt. My step daughter was the IT genius for this project, she reproduced the buildings out of words on the computer so we could then print it onto fabric. So hopefully this will raise a lot of money for the theatre company. I am now working on a RENT messenger bag to raffle also using the leftover fabric. I will post a photo when done.

8 Point Star Quilt in Batik - English Paper Piecing

My sister Inge finally started sewing her batik 8 point star pieces together after much nagging from one younger sister, don't know who that could be! Inge and I both agree batik fabric is never used to its full advantage, it is glorious fabric but most of the projects I see with batiks I must say disappoint. Inge loved batiks before I did, when I went over to stay with her and we worked together to choose the fabrics for this project (actually she had bought them all, I only helped matching the two fabrics for the stars and then the squares) I actually fell in love with batiks then.

I think this 8 point star quilt will be gorgeous, do you?

I have lovely batik fat quarter bundles and jelly rolls for sale in my ebay store

www.stores.ebay.com.au/Udderly-Addicted-To-Quilting

EPP - 8 point star quilt progress

So my 8 point star quilt is coming along nicely, for those who haven't read my previous post about this project, this is all english paper pieced so many many hours of hand sewing. I have two major EPP projects on the go at the moment, the other being my houses from scraps quilt but I needed a change so have been working on this project the last few weeks. The weather at the moment here in Victoria is freezing so very conducive to lounging on the couch in front of my wood fire with hand sewing on my lap.

My lovely sister is making the same quilt from batik fabrics, cant wait until she does enough to photograph and I shall share with you all. My sister and I have become so close in the last couple of years because of quilting. We motivate, teach and help each other immensely and I do treasure our time together.    

Metal Purse Clasp Bag

Today while listening to my daughter and step daughter singing together, my daughter playing cello and just a general pj day inside the house with the fire on, I made this purse clasp bag. I had been searching on the internet for a suitable pattern for this style clasp but could not find one I liked so after drawing up a few designs and trying the one I liked most out with cheap calico, I made my first real one today. Its a gorgeous evening size bag measuring 26cm x 21 cm (bag only).

I am currently writing up the pattern and will sell clasp purse frame and pattern together from my ebay store soon, so if you are interested click on the ebay store link here on my blog or go to www.stores.ebay.com.au/Udderly-Addicted-To-Quilting

Hexagon Glasses Case

I made this glasses case for my dear mum for her birthday, it was a labour of love. I love hexagons and saw a bag by Yoko Saito with hexagons needle-turn appliquéd onto a background fabric so adapted that for this project. Mum loved it and says she will treasure it for the rest of her days which I am hoping will be a longtime.

I am currently making a mobile phone case which is virtually the same as this and thought I would attempt my first tutorial. So stay tuned and I shall post the tutorial in the next week or so.

English Basket Quilt Project

There is nothing more exciting than starting a new project, I think thats why I have so many UFOs! I bought this pattern from the most gorgeous quilt shop in Castlemaine, Threadbears. The owner Corliss designed and made this pattern and quilt as shown above. So I am thinking this will take quite a while to do, will keep you updated.

Bag

Last weekend our quilting group spent two lovely days together sewing, shopping, eating and laughing.  I found this gorgeous fabric in the top photo in a quilting shop at Maldon, a gorgeous town not far from my quilting retreat in Clydesdale. I wanted to make a bag that could fit my ipad and hand sewing case I take with me everywhere and also my other handbag essentials and this bag fits the bill.

Yoko Saito Sewing Basket Case

I have spent the last couple of weeks working on my first Yoko Saito project. I first discovered Yoko Saito's work in the fantastic magazine Quiltmania. I have since bought five of her books and am in love with everything in them. I want to do so many things in there! 

For this, the Englsh Sewing Basket Case I learned three new techniques. As I am fairly new to quilting I am eager to learn, learn, learn! So I had never hand pieced a project the traditional way, I have done many english paper piecing projects but not traditional hand piecing. The next technique I learnt was hand quilting and I enjoyed doing that. Finally I tried my hand (pardon the pun) at needleturn applique and loved doing that! 

I think the satisfaction of doing this all by hand however time consuming is so worth it, I am so proud of the finished product. Cant wait to start my next Yoko Saito gem.

Our Quilting Group

These are my fabulous quilting friends, we formed our quilting group (Udderly Gorgeous Gals or UGGS) early last year. Every three months we spend the weekend together sewing, eating and laughing, its something I absolutely treasure. We inspire each other, taking it in turns presenting a tutorial the to gals. We now stay at my holiday house/quilting retreat which is near Daylesford and Castlemaine, Victoria. Consider forming a quilting group, you will learn so much from each other and form friendships for life!

Quilting Frame

This is the quilting frame my dear Dad and hubby made, I bought the instructions from a guy in USA and my hubby used his tremendous welding skills to make the frame and Dad used his excellent woodworking skills to make the carriage and such. The total cost of the frame was less than $300 so a bargain in my books. It works like a charm!

The photo below it is the first completed quilt I did on this frame, my gorgeous sister Inge pictured with me pieced it for our niece Georgia's Xmas present.  

Building Houses From Scraps - English Paper Piecing

This another english paper piecing project I am working on, it was actually inspired by another blogger Jeanneke from The Netherlands, link is here. Those houses were much smaller than these are and are foundation pieced I believe rather than english paper pieced. My sister Inge and I came across this blog one very late night when she was visiting with me and we thought what a fantastic project for our quilting group to do. So we bought the pattern from Jeanneke and tweaked it to the size we thought manageable for EPP and started to sew. On our next quilting weekend we put it to the girls as an idea for a fundraising project and they all agreed to take on the challenge. So the aim is for each of us ten ladies to make 12 houses, one a month was seen as achievable and then sew it all together and make a divine quilt to raffle to raise money for our Day Oncology Unit where three of us work as chemo nurses.

So i started and I literally can't stop. I completed my 12 in a very short period and have now sewn 55 more to date, with five more to sew to complete my own wall hanging for my sewing room. For some in the group it has been a challenge, some have pooled their strengths and are working on it together and others have also become addicted which I do so love! Inge, my dear sister is just as obsessed as myself and she too is making her own.

So I will post the completed project when its done and keep you updated.

English Paper Piecing - 8 Point Star Quilt

As I mentioned in a previous post I have become quite addicted to english paper piecing and have many projects on the go at the moment. My 8 point star quilt is coming along nicely, I just love the colours in this quilt, its very me. So many people cant understand my obsession, they think I am quite crazy really. I however feel sad that they havent experienced that calm, in the zone, sedate feeling you get when you dig into your bag and take out your little EPP kit and commence sewing. I actually embrace waiting rooms, train rides, being a passenger in the car etc as these are perfect opportunities to progress on my so called crazy projects! Does anyone get what I am saying?

Xmas Stockings all in a row

On our quilting groups second quilting weekend my sister and I decided to do a tutorial each for the girls. It was a fun afternoon, my sister Inge taught us all to make these gorgeous xmas stockings out of op shop acquired denim jeans from this tutorial here. So from the one pair of jeans we each made one Xmas stocking and an apron as shown in a previous blog post.

Denim aprons

These kids aprons are up-cycled from op shop jeans, you get two aprons from one pair of jeans. I found the tutorial on the web hereand thought what a fantastic idea. Since then I went a bit crazy collecting denim jeans and now have so many. I have made a denim rag quilt too as you can see below, I love it as its got a fair bit of weight in it. So i plan on making many more aprons to sell at the local market.

Hexies - English Paper Piecing

My addiction with english paper piecing began with hexies, i have sewn so many flowers together but this is the only thing I have made with them. I can't seem to find the right combination to put them all together so they are tucked in one of my drawers waiting for the day when I will find the right way to sew them together. I have since hand pieced houses, eight point stars but will save those photos for another post.

Inge's Quilt

This quilt was my first applique experience, a labour of love for my sister who was celebrating a milestone birthday. She chose the pattern and we both chose the fabric. She loved it as do I, was a very heavy quilt to quilt on the machine as we found the backing from an op shop, a very heavy fabric which were curtains fom Ikea. There is a mistake in the quilt which my sister is so eager to find but cannot, a bit of fun. She has it in her motor home and says it is a perfect weight for travelling up north of Australia as it has cotton batting.

With the leftover scraps my sister Inge  made two of these cushion covers, they look fabulous Inge!

Anime Quilt

This quilt I made for my daughters friend who was turning 18. She loves everything Asian, especially anime so i printed some of her favourite anime characters on fabric and chose oriental fabric for the rest of the wall hanging. This was also my first quilt that I free motion quilted so I loved that I learnt a new technique. I was pleased with the end result as was she.

50th wedding anniversary photo quilt

This wall hanging I made for my parents 50th wedding anniversary and they loved it. The middle section of the quilt are photos of their wedding and their children and the outer edge are the children as adults, their grandchildren and great grandchildren. The celtic looking corner design was a challenge, bias applique and hand sewn on, lots of work but well worth it i think. I wish i had quilted it more, I was relatively new to quilting when I made this and have learnt a lot since then. I may re quilt it I think, it will hang better if i do.

Photo Memory Quilt

This quilt was my first project in quilting, after being inspired by the movie Stepmom starring Susan Sarandon and Julia Roberts, I vowed to myself to learn quilting and make my children a photo memory quilt for their 21st birthday. So 18 months ago I joined a UFO class at a quilting shop in Gisborne and started. My teacher Lorraine was fantastic, formerly a textiles teacher at a secondary school, she was patient and encouraging. I was hooked on quilting from that moment on. My son loved the quilt and l have gone on to make many projects which I will gradually share with you.