Drawstring Quilt Pattern and a Giveaway!

I'm so excited to be kicking off the New Year with something that's been in my head for a long time, and is now finally on paper - or at least, online!
With the generous help of my talented husband (who knows how to use computers), I have developed a pattern for my Drawstring Quilt! It's now available to buy in PDF format in my shop.
 

We've included colour photos for each step in a really clearly laid out format. I think even beginner sewers will find this easy to follow (but some experience and knowledge of your machine is required).

 

And that's not all! I've been cutting strips till there's no give left in my cutting mat and created some custom designer fabric rolls. In Australia, it's really hard to buy designer fabric at a reasonable price, unless you import it in large quantities, so I really wanted to share some of my fabric collection with everyone (and take some of the work out for you!).

I just love this turquoise, red and yellow together! And I think it's the perfect mix of cute, fun prints, modern funky designs, and solids and staples. I've also put together orange, green and aqua, and pink, coral and beige. I can't wait to show them to you! (but I'm picking Tully up in 10 minutes and I really wanted to get this written before the chaos descends again!)

So, I better get to the point! I have a Jelly Roll set aside, especially to give to you!

I have just fallen in love with these little dragonflies by Patti Young! So I used them as the base from which to build this colour palette.  There's 25 strips, 2.5" x 44".

        

One lucky winner will receive this fabric roll, plus the Drawstring Quilt Pattern as a PDF! You have three chances to enter:

• Leave a comment! (one entry) It can be about anything. Maybe the best thing you've ever made?
• Followers of my blog or on Facebook get an extra entry! Leave a comment saying you're a follower. (one entry)
• Share it! Blog, Facebook, Twitter, and come back and let me know. (one entry)

If you are a 'no-reply' commenter (you don't give google your email address) make sure I have a way of knowing who you are and contacting you. The Random Number Generator will pick a winner Friday evening after the kids are in bed, Sydney time. Good luck!

Improvised Piecing Reversible Wrap Skirt!

I had a lot of fun getting my scraps out last month and throwing them together, inspired by Jennifer from Ellison Lane Quilts and her improvised piecing tutorial last month. I could have kept going, I found it so fun and quick, the fabric growing before my eyes, but, I had a plan: to make a reversible wrap skirt for my sister in law for Christmas, and I thought that having big blocks of different patterns over the whole skirt might be too much.

And then the block just sat there, co-ordinating fabrics chosen, while I quickly got everyone else's ready. I think I was a little worried it wasn't going to turn out like I had envisaged and kept putting it off. (Do you have projects like that?) I missed the Christmas deadline, and today finally made the risky cuts into my fabric.

I used Make it Perfect's pattern, "The Versatile Wrap" for the pattern pieces (because I'm a bit of a chicken when it comes to doing these things from scratch!), made two skirt bases according to her instructions and then bound them together. Here's how:

I trimmed the improv block to the right length, then added some of Anna Maria Horner's Loulouthi to the side and cut it to the right shape.

Then I added the other skirt panels to it and made the second skirt.

I sewed the binding strips to the bottom of the first skirt, right sides facing.

Then sewed the other edge of the biding to the bottom of the second skirt.

I then did the same to the top, this time with extra long strips to make the ties aswell. I left a gap at both ends to bring the skirt the right way around and to let the ties through easily.

I then turned the skirt the right way around, folded and pressed the binding top and bottom. I pinned the skirt together at the top (basting probably would have worked even better but I was on the home stretch and Evie was due to wake soon!), checking the seams sat together on both sides, and top stitched the binding and ties, closing the holes up as I went.

And here it is! I love how different the sides are! I love the loud, clashing lines and prints of the first side, and the beautiful soft "Secret Garden" print for the reverse by Sandy Henderson. Pretty good for a nap-time's work, wouldn't you say? (Even if it is a bit late!) Happy Christmas Emily! I hope you like it!

the end of the story

We rushed outside today to greet Tim on his bike, excited that he'd been given an early mark. Until we saw his face. He'd been fired.
That good karma, that 'isn't God amazing' that started with helping a guy on the side of the road and landed Tim a job putting bikes together, ended with a day and a half of unexpected, ranting abuse.
So tonight we ordered pizza, sat out on the back deck in the cool and the quiet and just took it all in. And after pizza, I picked up some stray chalk and started to draw. Long curvy lines and sharp, erratic ones. Trying not to think about design but just to process my feelings. Tully came and joined in, blissfully unaware of the turmoil. And Evie came to destroy, as she does. My little monkey (or Tasmanian Devil, depends on the day, as to how I choose to see it). She systematically, and with great flair, rubbed her hands through my lines. I just watched, slightly amused and a little numb. And just as purposefully, she stood up, and took herself back inside. Her work here was done.
When I finally went to get up as well to come in for story time, I noticed this little hand print on my leg. And I did feel like it was a little message for me. Something about 'out of the destruction...'
It's still just a tiny seed of hope in my heart. I'm not ready to read anymore into it yet. Maybe just that this mess isn't the end of the story.

Hand-made Christmas Catch-up

I finally get to show you more of my Christmas sewing! We went to my brother and sister-in-law's home for a belated Christmas lunch on Saturday I proudly gave my first ever batch of home-made Christmas gifts. This is bright, lovely William with his new, reversible rocket shorts!

You saw this sneak peek last week. It was a "Sidewalk Satchel" for my mum, from a pattern by Anna Maria Horner. I ended up chickening out and asking her to choose the fabric because our taste is sometimes different. She chose well, don't you think?

I was very brave with my sister-in-law Ashleigh, because I knew she likes green and aqua and I had this old 'Garden Party" fabric by Anna Maria. It's out of print, and one of my very favourites, but I know from experience I love it even more made into something, and I made a commitment last year not to hide (hoard) beautiful fabrics on my shelf forever, but to bring them out for everyone to enjoy.

And finally, sweet little Ellianna, who loved her apron, but HATED having her photo taken!

It was such a lovely day, catching up after so long, because none of us live near each other. And it's so nice to be home again, this time for a while. It feels like a routine is starting to settle, the ideas and motivation starting to flow, and with Evie now in daycare one day a week, I even have a whole, uninterrupted Crafty Tuesday every week!
How about you? How is your year starting to take shape?

An Adventure

Last weekend, on the 6 hour drive home from a dear friend's birthday party, with the kids finally sleeping soundly in the back seat, we were hailed over in the middle of no-where to help a man whose car had broken down.
Tim pulled over before we really thought about it. Normally, you wizz past thinking, "Oh! Maybe we should have stopped! I hope someone else does!"
This time I said, "Maybe we shouldn't be stopping. We need to get as far as we can with the kids asleep."
Tim got out of the car to see what help was needed. They chatted for a while, the man used Tim's phone and then Tim got back in the car and we left.
He had a flat tyre, he couldn't get it off and he didn't have any reception on his phone. He just wanted to call roadside assistance. We headed off, back on our way, a little relieved that it didn't take too long and glad Tim's phone worked.
The man owned the local bike shop in Newcastle, where we live. He told Tim to come in sometime and hire a bike for free as a thank you gift, the perfect thank you gift for Tim, who dreams of having turns of bikes we could never afford.
He went in to take him up on his offer on Friday, giving me time to pack to go away again. An hour later, I was sent this photo and a message:
"I've been offered a job!"
The manager and Tim got talking while Tim was strapping the kids in, asking questions about various bikes.
"Don't put too much time into looking into it for me," he said, "I don't have any money. Unless of course you want to give me a job!"
The man interviewed him there and then and gave him a few days a week putting bikes together!
My heart is full and a little wary. Glad for things starting to settle into place for the year, afraid of things falling through again. Certainty and routine is so resting. And maybe they are just around the corner.

Little Aprons

These three little aprons were my favourite Christmas presents to make these holidays. It could have been because they were just a pile of squares and rectangles cleverly manipulated into something beautiful.

Or it could have been the process of choosing colours with my wonderfully creative mother in law. I wish I had a photo to show you of every piece of fabric I own put in colourful piles all over my studio floor! If we hadn't held back, I think we would have made 20!
Or it could have been staying up late into the night getting them all done together before the girls arrived. I love sewing in company!

Or it could have been because these precious little girls didn't take them off all Christmas Day and refused to wipe their hands on them. (That's what they're for, I assured them!)

Or how when they came to my house the next day, the first job was to put them back on to make these butterfly crayons.

I loved playing with pictures and spots and gingham, letting them be a little funky, a little 'country kitchen' and, I think, very pretty!
 

I can't wait to give this little one to my two year old niece on Saturday! An apron for a two year old! I can't think of anything cuter!

These aprons are fully lined and easily made reversible. I think a few will be popping up in the shop over the coming months, and custom orders are always welcome! The pattern is by Tenderfeet Stitches.

In the Summertime.

 

I have had such a wonderful holiday. I have hardly been near a computer or sewing machine till today. (I thought I'd give you a sneak peek above, more later!) We've had the most perfect weather, fun visitors, yummiest food, beautiful gifts. I've been so encouraged by your response to my Christmas Poem and had to read over it again a few times to remind myself of the real Christmas treasures whenever discouragement threatened to ruin my rest. To those who have asked, please feel free to share it. If it's online, please link back to the original post. Thank you!

Tim's dad brought down his old trampoline that Tim was given by his grandparents at the same age. We set it up Christmas morning as one of Tully's gifts. He has not stopped jumping since, without a thought or care for it's age or lack of shine.

 

We got out in the garden, moved the chook pen, pulled out weeds, enjoyed the sunshine. We mulched the space where the chickens were, ready for a huge new vege garden. And our fruit trees have fruit for the first time! This is the longest I've lived in the one house (2 years) since I left home 13 years ago and it's so settling to enjoy a garden grow.

And, after six months of dreading being outside because of Evie's obsession yet lack of skill with these stairs, she has finally conquered them! This little spotty girl has spent the days going up and down and up and down, stopping to eat the gravel, and coming back up again. So with the kids playing happily on the trampoline and riding their bikes on the driveway and climbing stairs, my best friend Candy, up for the holidays, and I have spent our days sitting on the back deck in the shade, drinking coffee and playing games. I love these summer days, when the breeze is still cool, before January brings its stifling heat. But I am so, SO ready to be back here with you. And I can't wait to show you some of the things I have in mind. Happy New Year! May it bring peace, creativity and the treasures that matter. xx