Feelin' Fruity

Spring is here!  The garden in our new house is showing it's hand and we've just tasted our first, ripe mangos for the season.

Mangos are not cheap this time of the year in Perth.  I measure most expenses in FQ's these days ... and the mangos I bought were about two FQ's worth ... but seeing the glee on the girl's faces when eating them was so worth it.

For now though (and until the mangos come down in price) we'll stick to strawberries and pineapples.

The new house calls for new soft furnishings in the girl's bedrooms ... and as they can't quite make up their minds on what quilts they would like, I started by making them some new cushions.

Miss 5 (note she's a whole hand old now!) wanted a strawberry cushion ...

and Miss 4 (who thinks she's five) requested a pineapple cushion ...

I used some low volume scraps to bulk out to the required size and straight line quilting approximately 1/2" apart.

They are fully lined with a zipper on the bottom for robustness ... I'm sure they'll be engaged in some pillow fighting at some point of their existence!

The cushions also have a pocket on the back, the perfect spot for a bedtime story book.

Our girls have a story every night at bedtime and they put the book they would like read to them in the pockets ... Although these days my Pre-Primary girl is starting to read to me ... how exciting is that?!

Miss 4 aka Happy Customer

We'll be onto War and Peace in no time ...

Sx

About:
The cushions finish at approx 18" square
Strawberry paper pieced pattern found here
Pineapple pattern found here

Linking up to TGIFF and Crazy Mom Quilts

The Farmer's Mistress

Ever heard of the Farmer's Mistress?

He was going to make an honest women out her and make her his Wife.

She was all things shiny and new ... and the Farmer could not take his hands off her.

But then, as with all new and shiny things ... she started to lose her appeal.  Got annoying in fact.  I have to cut how many pieces just to satisfy a 6" block?

ALL the pieces

Pffft ... time to flick this broad to the curb (rude!)

and fuss-pot cutting

She's still young and attractive ... if he got rid of her now then they would both have a chance of finding true love again ... (gosh this Farmer is so selfish!)

They made 24 six inch blocks together, all with their bare hands.  That's something they should be proud of, something to hold onto and remember, something to learn from ...

It wasn't all the hard graft of the hand sewing that soured the relationship.  Once prepared, each 6" block came together so quickly and the joy ... oh the joy .... of finishing each 6" block was real, but marred by the fact that all that wooing and preparation had to start all over again for 6 measly inches.

No, not this Farmer ... he just didn't have the stamina *cough*

Sx

WIP Wednesday

Possum Magic - Final Border on Riddle and Whimsy's Quilt

I recently had the pleasure of working on Jo's (Riddle and Whimsy) quilt for the second time.  One of our Possums has had to bow out due to bad health (sending soooo much love her way) so a few of us decided to step in and help with her rounds.

When I received Jo's quilt from Wendy (Wendy's Quilts and More) it looked like this:

More pictures of Wendy's border and process found here

Now, I'm not a huge fan of Improv ... there I said it ... but it does have my attention.  There are some Improv quilters out there that I really admire ... just don't ask me to do it, OK? I'll get all in a flap.

So imagine my OCD alarm bells ringing when I received this quilt.  It was all lop-sided in my head.  It's not you ... it's definitely me.  I had to make things "right" and finish this quilt off with a structured border.

A quick chat with Jo and it was decided ... let's continue the HST's all the way around the quilt.

Fabrics Selected

Happy Accident ... Fussy Cutting

Equilibrium is just one border of HST's away ... and ... little people's feet

There ... that's better!  I can sleep now ...

I forgot to measure the quilt before handing it to Jo, but it must be pushing 80" (almost) square.

... with only a slight twitch in my eye because I purposely made all the HST borders go in different directions - you can call that my nod to Improv.

Sx

Highlight - Lizzy House Down Under

"Dear Future Grandchildren,

Your Mothers, Great Grandma and I have had the most wonderful few days ever with Lizzy House!!  Who's Lizzy House you say?  Go and take a closer look at your quilts (that I'm yet to make you) ... her fabrics WILL have been sewn into them, I guarantee it!

Kings Park Happy Snap :)

We were very fortunate to have the truly lovely Lizzy House come ALL the way to Perth (seriously, no one comes here from the States ... you want me to travel how much further?  No way!  It took me about 20 hours on a plane just to reach the East Coast of your country ... you Aussies are crazy!).  I can't wait until that nanoo-nanoo transporter is invented.

I think that everyone that met Lizzy must have thanked her a bazillion times for making the extra journey to the West.

Hoping to inspire her next line of fabric (we like to aim high) we took Lizzy to explore Kings Park.  The botanical gardens contain some plant life that only exists in Western Australia and being Spring,  all of the wildflowers were in bloom.

Click here to go to Lizzy's IG account

Lizzy must have stopped after every two steps to take a picture of the flora on display.  We were so fortunate to see our park through her fresh eyes.

Of course she was here to share her Meadow quilt with us lucky ducks.

Your Great Grandma and I jumped at the chance to take the workshop.  I knew it was going to be a good day ... but, oh man, it was awesome.

The Meadow quilt has quite a few curved and circle pieces in it ... I was quietly packing my dacks about the curved piecing part (curved piecing and I are not besties) and your Great Grandma is only new to quilting.  Could we ever make this quilt?  Lizzy assured us we could, and you know what?

 After spending just one day with this inspiring lady ... we most certainly will.

Your Great Grandma and I have framed our Meadow Quilt test blocks ... and we'll pass them onto you one day.

Eep!

Please treasure them.  Don't let them gather dust in the attic.  They contain an abundance of positive energy.  It was a very special experience to learn this quilt from such an inspiring, sharing, giving lady ... with a sense of humour that's right up my alley ...

Taking my Quilt holding duties very seriously ...

Lizzy House and my Mum (your Great Grandma also called Lizzy) laughing at the quilt holders (ahem ...) antics :)

I hope you get to experience a day like this is your lifetime!

All my love,

Nan xxx"