Saturday, August 29, 2009

Giveaway

I have been having fun with a basket weave looking cotton fabric I bought from Spotlight. It is perfect for the making of tea towels. I have been using up some of my border prints and also pretty, colourful fabrics for the trims. Here is a photo of one of them, with a border prints of whales as the trim.

So I have decided to give one of these tea towels away. To be in the draw, all you have to do is leave a comment between now and 9th September and you will be in the draw for one of these tea towels.

Cheers.....Jewells

Friday, August 28, 2009

Photos of both quilt tops

Here is one of the 2 quilt tops that I made to try my hand at quilting on. I made it from scraps left over from another quilt. I like this one the best of the 2. I didn't have enough time to quilt this one yesterday... but I plan to practise a bit more before I attempt the quilting of it.


Here is the other quilt top I made. It is made of flannel material and made with a new gizmo I bought at a craft fair this year. The gizmo is called "a square in a square ruler"..it was fun to use.


Tomorrow I hope to trim the above quilt and add the binding, then photograph it and show you my attempt at quilting.... trust me, my quilting needs a LOT more practising... I won't leave my day job!

Until next posting... Cheers...Jewells




Wednesday, August 26, 2009

I'm Back!

At long last I am back on air and even though I haven't been near the computer, I have been sewing and knitting the past couple of weeks.

I have sewn 2 quilt tops out of left over fabric from other quilts I had made ages ago. The 2 quilt tops are for me to practice on tomorrow (hopefully) as I am going to a lady's place to play with her "old" long arm quilting machine. I want to know if I enjoy quilting. If I don't enjoy it, I won't go any further into looking at machines and will keep sending my quilts to a lady to quilt for me.

I have tried to download the two quilt tops, but I am not having any luck at the moment... will have to try again tomorrow to show you what they look like "before" I attempt to quilt them.


I am also knitting another double breasted cardigan for my 9 month old grandson. I say "another" as the first one I made for him was size 1-2 yrs, however when my daughter received it she said that it was too small for him. I knew he was a big boy, but didn't realise he was that big! so I decided to make the largest size in the pattern (7-8 yrs) and that way he can grow into it! By the looks of the back, it will be sitting in his cupboard for a few years!

Until next posting.. Cheers...Jewells

Saturday, August 8, 2009

Off air for a couple of weeks

My computer needs updating and the computer "doctor" wants to keep it for a couple of weeks and add all sorts of things to it, so I will have to stop posting to my blog for all that time... just when I was getting a hang of it.

So until next blog posting....

Cheers........Jewells

Friday, August 7, 2009

My Bear Quilt

Here is another one of my quilts I came across over the weekend. This was a BOM from Country Pieces (Orange, NSW, Australia) and as I am a teddy bear lover, I decide to make this quilt into a doona cover. That way I will use the quilt.... one day!
I ended up adding the half square triangle row on the top and bottom so it would fit a queen sized doona.
This is a close up of one of the appliqued blocks.

To make it into a doona cover, I had the quilt top quilted the same way as if it was going to be a normal quilt, but instead of adding the binding, I bought a queen sized flat sheet and sewed the quilt and sheet together like a huge pillowcase, with the flap on the bottom with fancy snaps to keep the doona in and not gaping at the bottom.

I have made a few quilts into doona covers like this.

Until next posting...
Cheers...Jewells

Thursday, August 6, 2009

Transport Quilt

I was rearranging my wardrobe last weekend and had a lovely time refreshing my memory on some of the quilts I have made and just folded up and put away. I have this habit of seeing a lovely pattern or panel, have to make the quilt and when it is finished, I have no idea what to do with it?

This is a "Transport Quilt" that I made a couple of years ago. It was a panel (still have 2 more panels of this in my stash)... there was no pattern to follow, but I saw a picture in a magazine and sort of used the same idea and came up with this lovely single bed sized quilt.

Since I had one big and small picture of the panel left over, I made this matching cushion to go with the quilt, with the "big" picture of the train on the other side of the cushion. I have been seriously thinking of hiring a hall for a day and display and try to sell a lot of my quilts that are just folded up in my wardrobe!
Until next posting...
Cheers.....Jewells

Wednesday, August 5, 2009

Knitting Dishcloths

I have been busy knitting dishcloths lately... they are fun and quick. I found this pattern on a blog I read, but had to change the spelling from the American version of "Mom" to the Australian version "Mum". I have put this aside to give to my Mum as part of her Christmas present.






This is the first type of knitted dishcloth I made and have been making for many years now, all done in 100% cotton that I get from USA or Canada. I can't find an Australian equivalent that is as soft and inexpensive as the overseas cotton, however I will be going to a woollen mill in a couple of weeks in Victoria, so I will see what they have there.


I have given many of these away as gifts, only to be told by many of recipitants that they are too pretty to use as a dishcloth!


Well that's all for today.


Cheers...Jewells





Tuesday, August 4, 2009

Tisket a Tasket

When I started my Tisket a Tasket block of the month, I knew I wasn't going to sew the applique idea, and as I don't like redwork, but love bluework, I decided to make my first block in blue. When February came along, I thought to myself "why not do each month in a different colour?", and this is what the first 6 months looks like.


Also, as this pattern is designed in USA, and I live in Australia, I have omitted the wording on the blocks.

Well that is my second posting AND I included a photo...whoo hoo, I'm getting a hang of this blogging!

Cheers...Julie

Monday, August 3, 2009

My first Blog...HELP!!

After many people telling me I need to start a blog, I have decided to try my hand at this, as I read many blogs and get inspiration off many.

I hope to come up with many inspirations for others out there.

This first blog is a test to see how to set this thing up... I am computer challenged, so it is all baby steps until I get the hang of this.