Heather Ross bike swap anyone?

While I was in Adelaide Amelia and I visited Hettie's Patch. Lorraine stocks all of my patterns and I was so excited to see she'd just completed "There's a Square in There" with lovely bright fabric. I wish I had had my camera with me to snap some pics.  

Anyway, I was just blown away by her store. It was a treasure trove of little goodies. I could have stayed all day! And look what I found tucked away in a corner. Heather Ross' bikes - off the bolt.  I have wanted some of these bikes for a while now. They are my favourite!

And I coudn't go past these little mushrooms too. The fabric feels divine. So soft and silky. I'm hooked. I'd love to get some more in the range to make a quilt. If anyone wants to do a little swap of HR munki munki fabric let me know. I'm happy to swap a fat quarter or equivalent for a pyjama part :)

Sorry, mushroom fabric is gone. Thanks for the interest.

I found some more fabric to add to my owl quilt. I think the blue and brown will tie in nicely, and I'm going to try a splash of red owls and trees. The two squirrel fabrics are from Sprout Design and the owls are from Saffron Craig. Both brilliant Australian designers.

I can't wait to get started on this one.

Adelaide's Quilt

Thank you to everyone for your kind words of support. Becky and Travis are holding tight to their family and their faith. It will be a hard road ahead, but they are surrounded by love.

A few weeks ago I started on this quilt using Anna Maria Horner's gorgeous Folksy Flannels. Don't you hate it when hubby's right, but that white just looks so good (look here if you're not sure what I'm on about). I made this quilt for Narelle's baby, Adelaide. She's almost 6 months old, so I'm a bit late but you know what they say...

The flannel is so cosy and soft. I want to make one just for me to hibernate under for the winter.

Its such a simple pattern. I just got 10 inches of 5 different fabrics and cut each of them into 2 or 3 different widths (2" to 5" wide).  Then I sewed a 1" strip (all measurements are the cut width, not sewn width) of white flannel (I wasn't game to try straight cotton as suggested) to each strip, lay them out on the bed until I was happy with the design and then sewed them all together.

I then trimmed the selvedges off each side, and cut a 5" strip down one side of the quilt to put on the back. Front complete. Too easy.

For the back I took the strip from the front and added a 2" strip of white to either side. My favourite fabric is those little houses, so its nice to have so much of it on the back.

I wanted to hand quilt this one, but the flannel made it just so thick, so I machine quilted it in white along the white strips.  I used the little houses fabric for the binding because that's what I had on hand, but if I was doing it again I would use a less busy fabric. It measures about 38" x 46" (96cm x 116cm).

So fun and fast, and I love how it shows off the beautiful fabric. I'll definitely be making another one of these.

Chase's Blanket - Stitched with extra love

My cousin in law and quilting buddy Becky just gave birth to a beautiful little boy, Chase. He lived only 2 short days before passing away this morning. Words can't express the sorrow I feel.... I'm so sorry Becky and Trav.

Mum's beach quilt

I made this quilt for my mum about a year ago. It was from a kit that I found at Quiltaholics (I didn't design this one). I thought the muted blues and browns (sorry I can't remember the name of the fabric) would go well in my parent's house. They like the beach and I thought it was a very soothing quilt. I also made a very similar quilt for my mother-in-law, Cyndy, and backed it with a lovely soft flannel. Their house overlooks the beach, so it was perfect (I even made some matching cushions).

I hand quilted around the shells and squares in blue and brown. Hand quilting gives it a lovely soft drape.

I called into Quiltaholics last week when I was in Adelaide and saw that Cheryl had a fresh order of similar (but different) beach themed fabric that I think she's planning on making into kits. I can't wait to see what she puts together.

Amelia's "Stitched with Love" Blankets

My sister Amelia has well and truly got on the "Stitched with Love" bandwagon and has put together this beautiful array of little blankets/quilts for parents that lose their precious babies soon after birth. She has always been very thoughtful and generous, but she has just blown me away with how quickly she has responded to this need that is out there. She is an inspiration to me.

This design uses Amy Butler's Sexy Hexy quilt pattern. You can get this free pattern here.I just love the fabric's she's used. Its nice to have a quilt for a little boy too.

I really want to try out these whirlygiggle blocks (add that to the list). If you want to try it too, here's some instructions over at Crazy Mom Quilts
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So simple but effective. I like the way amelia added a scrappy border.

This one was done using my rail fence tutorial. A good design for beginners. I like the border that Amelia added.

You can't really see it properly, but the solid fabrics are all sparkly. Very pretty.

These little turtles are absolutely adorable. And I do love the pinwheel block. I've made a couple of quilts with it and really enjoyed it.

For some reason this photo wants to lie on its side?? Anyway, this is a lovely soft quilt made from left over flannels.

And this one is bright and cheery.

Well done Meelie. They look fantastic. I've also received quite a few from my friend Stephanie, who I think has caught the quilting bug! I was planning on posting some more tutorials on different designs, but I've been so busy lately. In the mean time if anyone has or would like to put together a tutorial for a 20" to 24" square quilt top, let me know and I'll link to your site. I know there's lots of patterns for dolly quilts, would they be the right size?

Ellen's Wedding

I've been in Adelaide for the last week and a half for my little sister's wedding (one of my 5 sisters). Ellen and Regan were married in a Latter-Day-Saint temple for time and eternity and the cute little girl is Ella - Regan's daughter. It was such a happy day. Ellen and Regan were beaming all day - they are just so in love. Ellen looked gorgeous in a simple but elegant dress and floor length veil. We had a wonderful reception at my parents house afterwards. Ellen and Regan sang to each other, cried through the speeches and sneaked kisses at every opportunity. To see an example of one such kiss take a peek here and you'll get what I mean.

I'm so glad we made it to the wedding. We almost didn't. When we arrived at Sydney airport struggling with children and baggage, we were informed we didn't have seats on the plane. The tickets we bought were for 4th Feb, not March. And to top it off, our tickets home were for 11th Feb!! After much running around between ticket counters and contemplating driving 16 hours, we bit the bullet and spent $1000 on new tickets(one way). We just had to laugh at the whole situation. It was kind of like being on the Amazing Race!

Ellen and Regan loved the quilt I made for them. It was "There's a Square in There". I thought about keeping it as its been such a successful pattern, but I had to give it to them. I created it for them, and I hope they feel of the love that went into it.

Fortunately they will be living in Sydney and so we'll get to hang out often.

This picture is of me showing my Aunty Gerry how I hand quilt. She does a lot of quilting and was instrumental in starting my love affair with fabric and quilting.

It was wonderful spending time with all of the family. I'm a lucky girl to have such a big, loving (loud) family.

I love you sis, and I know you and Regan will make an amazing team.

Baby boy mini blanky

I went to a baby shower last week and thought it would be nice to give something handmade (along with a couple of other little things). It didn't take long at all to sew up this little blanket.

It has towelling on the back so it can be used as a burp cloth or change mat. I also added some ribbon loops to the side so as he gets older it can be used as a mini blanket for him to snuggle in the car or pram.

I just made it pillow-case style (right sides together, sewing around the edge and leaving a gap to turn it right side out) and top-stitched around the edge. I didn't quilt it as I wanted to keep it as soft as possible. It measures approx 24" square.

This is the first time I have tried stripes and I like the way it turned out. I used left over "Max New" fabric and blue spots and stripes from Spotlight.

FMF giveaway winner!

Thanks to everyone who entered the giveaway. You had me drooling over all that chocolate. I never knew there were so many different brands. Wouldn't it be fun to travel the world visiting chocolate and quilting shops!!

Using random.org number generator the winner is no. 44 - Bec. Congratulations!
Bec said...
"Haighs caramel chews, I've carted them over 1000kms interstate from the Adelaide store in an esky full of ice in 40 deg heat just to get my fix! Thankfully there is now a store in Sydney - cheers"
March 8, 2010 9:33 AM

If you are Bec, please email me at kateeconklin(at)yahoo(dot)com(dot)au with your address so I can send you the fabric and pattern. I would love to see what you end up doing with this fabric, so be sure to email me a photo.

Flea Market Fancy Giveaway

It was my little sister's wedding today and everything about it was wonderful. I can't wait to show you some photos. She was stunning! I've been helping with some of the preparations so I haven't been on the computer much, but I've been meaning to have a giveaway with some flea market fancy fabric, so to celebrate this happy day, lets kick it off.

I'm giving away a charm pack of Denyse Schmidt's Flea Market Fancy fabrics. There 40 5 inch squares (2 each of 20 different fabrics). If you haven't heard of "Flea Market Fancy" check out this blog to see how much it is loved and how hard it is to find. I'm also including a paper copy of my pattern "Charm Bracelets" - just in case you need some inspiration for what to do with your charm pack.

This giveaway is open to everyone. I'll ship internationally, so go on don't be shy. All you need to do is leave a comment telling me your favourite chocolate. If you don't like chocolate (well its a bit strange but you can still be my friend) just leave a comment telling me your favourite snack food. Comment before midnight on Tuesday night (Sydney time) and I will pick a winner on Wednesday.

I'll start - my favourite is Haighs chocolate from Adelaide Australia (my home town) - plain buttons are the best (peppermint is yummy too).

Sock Monkeys

Thanks to everyone who commented on my last post (except for the last comment) I really do appreciate your opinions. Alright alright, Todd was right (and yes, I do hate it when that happens), I'll add the white. I have to admit, Todd does put up with my constant chatter about quilting and I do value his opinion (sometimes), so I'm pretty lucky I suppose. I must say, his interest in quilting has increased since I started selling patterns - funny that.

I had a go of making that sock monkey, and here's the reason I stick to quilting.

He's a bit lumpy and bumpy and his arms stick out like he's an aeroplane, but Sarah and I made him together, and we had fun dressing him up (maybe its a she).

Here's Sarah, all ready for church jumping on the bed with monkey.

He only took a couple of hours to make and he's very huggable. Although 2 minutes later he was lying on the floor face down with the rest of the toys.

I love that little red bottom.

And I adore that gorgeous little girl.