Cushion Covers

I have made some lovely cushion covers this year. All for people who don't live at my house. Now, there's nothing wrong with that, but I had to explain that for you to understand my story.

I began today by spring cleaning. I'm not fond of housework and my house is looking sadly neglected. Later this week I have visitors arriving from Adelaide to spend ten days with us (Hooray!!!) so I thought I had better get my act into gear on the housework front and put the sewing on the back burner. I have one room almost done and to celebrate I thought I might sew a little. I made some half square triangles and then it occurred to me that I could turn them into cushion covers! I decided to lay one out on the couch next to Lily to play around with the layout. Once we were happy with it she asked who I would be sending this cushion cover to. She didn't believe me when I said it was for our couch. I had better make some more things for our house I think!

Sneek Peek

After finishing the pebbles quilt I realised that my sewing desk was trashed! I'm not sure how that happens, but it does. Flat surfaces at my house seem to have some kind of magnetic attraction. They gather things seemingly without effort. During the clearing up process I discovered the selveges from the jelly roll I raced with recently. I was chiding myself for not binning them sooner when I remembered that I had kept them because I thought they were so pretty. It seemed a shame to dispose of something so pretty so I kept them. I don't need much encouragemnet to be distracted from a clean up job so when I discovered the selveges today I stated to put them together. They are on their way to being a little something. I also discovered other scraps that I have plans for, so the tidying has definitely been put on hold while I do a little sewing.

This week. Gone in a flash, and a finish.

Pebbles, finished.

 October is slipping away! We have three birthdays this month in our family and all have happened which makes October feel done to me. Fortunately it's not November for another week because I have no where near completed my October goals. I'm happy with this finish though. I think I cut the backing and wadding for this baby in 2010, just didn't get it stretched! Pebbles is 41" by 58 1/2" and I'm going to put it in my etsy shop. I finished it up yesterday, but didn't blog it because I wanted to get it into the shop first. This morning I realised that probably wasn't going to happen today so figured I would blog it. (It doesn't really feel finished until I've blogged it!) So here it is!

And the back!

Quilting more pebbles.

The last time I stretched a quilt I stretched two. It was a great idea and this afternoon I decided to make the most of this and start quilting the second quilt. I have been practicing some more free motion pebbles. This quilt is one I put together from a kit years ago. I even have the binding waiting for it.

Merry Christmas!

It looks a little Christmassy, doesn't it? Today I went to Fig n Berry and Viv's Creations' Stitching Soiree. Today's theme was Christmas, and there was an overload of Christmas stitching to be done! Karen from Mrs Martin's Quilt Shop was there too to supply every fabric and ric rac want! It was a great day and I did get some fabric and ric rac.

the lineup 

Design Mess

my desk tonight

I was so happy to finish that quilt last night that I started a mental list about all the things I could do today, now that that quilt was out of the way, and then today I did none of the things on the mental list at all. I did drag fabrics out of the cupboard and spread them around on my desk. And books. And magazines. And now I have nothing to show for it! Well, it's not all that bad because I did go food shopping today which seemed essential once my sons listed everything we were out of as we sat together at the breakfast table. And I do now have an idea of what I am going to work on tomorrow. It involves fish. I'll tell you all about it tomorrow.

It's Finished! (She said with glee!)

My Bradley, right before holding it up

 I thought I was never going to be able to say that this quilt is finished. Hooray! So glad it's done because I was so done! Here it is, with it's Denyse Schmidt clearance special fabrics I bought from Spotlight.

Here you can see the quilting. Straight lines on the stripey fabric and pebbles in the border.

The squares were made by a bunch of teenagers as an activity at a birthday party. (Oh look! There's one my kid made!)  I am glad to be done. I did choose fabrics I really like thinking that it would be easier to finish if I liked the quilt. I think that worked! Phew! Now on to something else! (I have a list for October!)

The trick is.....

..... to remember just how busy life is with little children so that you can get so much more done when they are gone! Not sure how well I am doing on that score today, but I am trying. I think you should be able to rent a toddler for a week or so just so you can be super productive for the week after you return them. Fortunately we have Grandson.

Grandson, playing.

Yesterday morning Sophie and I waved goodbye to Grandson and Pa (my Bradley) and they flew off to Adelaide. We were all a little flat after that yesterday. We missed that four year old! A funny thing happened just as they were about to board the plane. Grandson insisted on holding his own boarding pass (he is becoming a seasoned traveller) and I hugged him goodbye right before he handed the boarding pass to the stewardess. She looked worried and asked him who he was travelling with and then as he answered realised that he was younger than he looks and looked even more worried! My Bradley quickly replied that he was with him and the relief on her face was lovely! (I don't think she fancied explaining that young children cannot fly alone!)

So yesterday I did very little (despite grand plans the night before) and today I am getting into housework. That quilt is calling for me this afternoon. I did do a little more quilting on it over the weekend, until I broke the needle. That's kind of a sign, isn't it? Once the needle breaks I give it away. I am halfway through quilting the border with pebbles, so there's not much more to go.

Off to the salt mines! (I am speaking metaphorically here, I really mean to the laundry.)

Costumes

 Yesterday was devoted to helping my guys finish off their costumes for the pop culture convention this weekend. They all wanted to make their own costumes, well, possibly Asher (11) didn't want to but he definitely wanted a costume so he didn't mention not wanting to make it. Lily finished hers in the holidays because she knew once she was back at school it would be all homework and mock exams. I have no photos of her because she slept over at a friend's house so they could get there early and together. They are all going as "Adventure Time" characters.

Maxim sewed his ninja trousers and t-shirt. He kind of ran out of steam when it came to his vest, but since it was a padded vest I figured a quilter would know how to do that best, so I sewed that for him. Sophie sewed his cloak. He made his mask and arm guards from paper mache. He also made his shoes from old thongs and fabric.

Sophie had all sort of different ideas for her costume. but ended up making a Wampa hat. (I know! I had no clue. Apparently a Wampa is the creature that tries to eat Luke Skywalker in "The empire Strikes Back" - I think. Total guess here. Should I admit now that I have never watched any of these movies?)

Asher made shoes like Maxim did, but didn't feel they were comfortable enough for a whole day so wore his joggers instead. We bought him a wig, which Sophie trimmed for him. Sophie knitted him orange leg warmers. (There is no limit to my kids' dedication to getting the costume right! If you utter the phrases "It's just a costume" or "Does it really matter, it's just an animation?" you tend to get voted off the Island really quickly.) I made his trousers and t-shirt so he would look just like Rock Lee. We bought the fabric from Lincraft while they were having their 40% off dress fabric sale because after all, it's just a costume! The only green we could get for the t-shirt was a gorgeous knit. All the time I was sewing the t-shirt I kept thinking that I should be making something good with it! However, I really shouldn't have had such thoughts, because the first time Asher put it on he was full of praise for the fabric and how lovely it felt.

So here is the photo gallery.

Ninja wrapping Rock Lee's hands. (Essential apparently)

He's a black ops ninja. From Naruto maybe? (I'm so full of information!)

A cat ninja, obviously.

Without the mask and don't you love his quilted vest?

My Princess Bubblegum last week

Rock Lee

A close up of the wig. Not sure how long that will stay on for, he finds it itchy!

Essential ninja equipment, handknitted leg warmers

Wampa hat. She's just a bit keen on Star Wars.

Phew! All that work just for one day of fun! I think I prefer making quilts, but I think you all knew that. So, now that it's just me and grandson here I'm going to attempt to do some more quilting on that quilt.

Quilting

I am doing some more quilting on this quilt. You can see my previous post about quilting this quilt here, where I marvel at how long it is taking me to quilt it. Yup. Still working on it! But I'm feeling closer to finishing it now. I used the walking foot to quilt the straight lines in the sashings. Amanda commented that quilting always takes a long time when you are using a walking foot. I think she's right and so I took her advice to heart when deciding on how to quilt the borders, free motion all the way!

I decided to quilt "pebbles" which are something I learnt about in one of my Craftsy classes, Quilting Negative Spaces with Angela Walters. I'm not very good at them yet, but I'm practicing! I actually felt quite confident though, watching Angela quilt on the Craftsy video must be helpful cause I thought I could do it!

I have to admit here that I still have some of the straight line quilting to do. What can I say? I was sick of it and thought I would break it up with some free motion! I have done a third of the free motion quilting and have to get back to the straight line quilting. I guess that's why I thought it might be a good idea to write a blog post. Anything to avoid it! I'd better get back to it though because I need to finish it.  (Maybe it will be finished by the weekend?)

Winning post!

Coquette by Chez Moi

 Well, it is a jelly roll race quilt top, and it is finished - so winning post seemed appropriate. The photo was taken on the pavers out the back of our place while grandson played totem tennis with my Asher (11) and Maxim (18) was cutting out more wood for a wooden sword he is crafting at the moment. I finished the quilt top this morning and have spent some of this afternoon quilting a quilt that I am thoroughly sick of working on, but it needs finishing. I guess so that I can cross it off my list for October. (See Sarah, I am working on UFO's! As well as entirely new quilts of course.) Tomorrow I think I will be required to do "costume duty" as my kids are dressing up this weekend. They are all meant to be making their own costumes, but Asher has fallen at the final hurdle (keeping that winning post metaphor happening people!) and needs his mum to help him make his Rock Lee costume be a reality. Back to the quilting!

Draped over the tent that is amusing grandson.

I knew I would be busy, but...

..... I didn't realise that I wouldn't do any sewing for two whole days. So as today began to come to an end I figured I might just do a little night sewing. For those of you with young children, or who work fulltime, or both, you probably indulge in a little night sewing quite frequently. I don't often do it. I tend to make more mistakes at the end of the day so I mostly leave sewing for daylight hours. This evening I decided that the jelly roll I bought last week on a whim needed to be made up into a jelly roll race quilt. I know I had a plan for this jelly roll when I bought it (of course I did. Do I look like someone who would just buy fabric for no particular reason? Don't answer all those who know me!) but tonight that plan escapes me and I am partway through the race. (I use that term loosely here. I have never raced.) Partway through, but now it is late and my bed is calling. (Do you think most typical jelly roll racers take a nap/sleep break?) Goodnight all. I guess I will resume the race tomorrow.

May blocks for do. Good Stitches

dark photos - I live in Melbourne and today is back to winter!

I had visions of a completely solid zig zaggy quilt when I chose this block for my turn as quilter back in May, but I just couldn't get the tops and bottoms of the rows to meet, so I have made a stripey zig zag quilt instead. The stripe of fabric is not a solid, but a spot, which is pretty hard to see here. The top is finished and I just have the back to piece. I have some blocks to put on the back too. I just love a pieced back!

I'm not sure when I will get the back done and then get the quilt stretched and quilted, but it is on my "to-do" list for October. Our grandson arrived with my Bradley from Adelaide yesterday and our house is now rocking to the strains of a four year old! He's one of those start-the-day-at-5:30am kind of kids, (I know they exist, but none of my kids were like that. They were all much more civilised.) which I'm sure will be quite a challenge for us. Tune in next time to see us sleep deprived and loving it! (What's not to love about four year olds?)

One costume, finished.

 Here is my Princess Bubblegum. In her dress that she made all by herself. It is two dress patterns smooshed together, and she even did that herself. She's a sewer now people! Her dress is pink and purple, which is reading here as blue.

We bought a wig off of eBay to go with her outfit. It is deliciously pink and her curls bounce as she walks. Princess Bubblegum has bubblegum hair, so the only bit of the wig that is true-to-life (It's a cartoon people! Technically none of it is true-to-life!!!) is the length. Her friends are all into "Adventure Time" and have all been making Adventure Time costumes these holidays, so it has been a fun activity for them all. (At various times there has been Finn the Human, Jake the Dog, the Ice King, Lumpy Space Princess, Marcelline, the Fire Princess, and Fiona the Human at my house and other houses around the district.) It has been such an excellent holiday activity! They have been so absorbed and have learnt so much, mostly from each other. Right now, my sons are busy tracing patterns and sewing too. This sewing/costume lark seems to be catching!

It's been a long day...

..... and as the sun sinks slowly into the sunset..... I'm so glad that today is almost over! My Bradley set off to Adelaide today. It took him much longer than he thought, in fact, he's not there yet despite leaving nearly 14 hours ago. Tunnels were closed, it was national roadworks day, and then his car died.  Hmm... the washing machine, the car... what's that saying about threes?

Care do. Good Stitches October

On to better things! I have been working on do. Good Stitches stuff today. The block above is the block for October. It's from a tutorial by Don't Call Me Betsy, which you can check out here. I have also been working on putting the quilt top together from my first turn as quilter. I really wanted to get the top finished today, but just didn't get that far. Maybe tomorrow!

My October...

I always have plans, they just don't always pan out the way I plan!  This month I plan to blog more, but not in a blogtober way. I joined in last year and received an invitation to join in again this year, but I think I'm going to be very busy this month and not able to step up to the awesome challenge of blogging every day. Already it's the second of October! I planned to blog yesterday, but had a challenging day where my washing machine died. It was three weeks out of it's extended warranty. We did have it for six years, which may not sound very long, but is excellent for white goods at my house. For the first three years of it's life it washed clothes for nine people and now it washes clothes for seven, so it's done pretty well I think. I went to the shop thinking I would just quickly buy another machine, but you wouldn't believe the choices available! It took us ages to decide just which machine we would buy. My Bradley took the trailer and we were able to bring it home with us. It's hard to be without a washing machine at my house!

the new machine in operation

 So today, in between getting the new machine going, I am putting together the quilt for my turn as quilter for Care at do. Good Stitches. I love the scrappiness of it! It is a bit of a challenge, but I am getting there! These blocks are from May, so I just need to get a wriggle on, get the quilt finished, and get it donated! I was also the quilter for September so I am planning to put together that quilt this month too. See, I have goals for this month!

zigzags for Care at do. Good Stitches

Later this week our grandson is coming for a visit so we will be busy, busy with him! (Don't you just love four year olds!) Then there is the getting ready for Christmas thing. I will be sewing gifts and dekkies and possibly some may even end up in my etsy shop so you can have a piece of my lovely handmade Christmas if you like. Stay tuned for more developments!