Na-Na-Na-Na-Na ....

BATMAN!!

I've been having a little fun with a project after taking myself a little too seriously.  Do you ever do that?

I was stressing over a WIP that I started in ... July 2013 ... it was hanging over my head.  The project was a black and white Houndstooth quilt.  One day someone said, quite innocently, that the pattern reminded them of bats.

Now I can't un-see it.  So I decided to embrace the bat!

Time to drop my shoulders and have some fun ...

Original collage source can be found here

See that batman quilt in the middle of the collage above?  That's my quilt!  It wasn't in the original collage ... I just had a bit of fun imagining the type of little boy's nursery room this quilt could live in ... I (badly) overlayed my quilt in the pic (#cheeky).

You see, this little guy is headed off to a children's charity.  I won't ever get to see it in it's new surroundings so I'm having a little play here.

One more?  OK, if I must ...

Orginal collage source can be found here

All in the name of fun ... that's what this is all about right?  Sewing, creating, fun!

I think I like it best in the monochrome collage above ...

Monochrome nurseries are coming back in ... and this little exercise has flooded my brain with black & white nursery quilt ideas ...

 ... and to think that this little project had me so stuck for so long!

I think I'll go easier on myself next time ... you know, when things don't work out as planned.

Sx

Hello Kitty!

Hello Kitty is in da house!  Well she's been with us for quite some time ... but a certain nearly 7 year old has been reluctant to let her out into the wild.

And. if I'm honest, I've been a bit stumped on where to photograph her ... then I remembered reading about this sculpture made from sea containers - cue a sunny day and BAM!  One Hello Kitty quilt in the wild ...

These rainbow painted sea-containers were the perfect backdrop for Miss Kitty ...

... as were hubby's hairy legs - I could have cropped them out, but I think they look funny!

This quilt was both tedious and exciting to make.

Tedious because it's a pixel quilt made from a lot of 1 1/4" cut (3/4" finished) squares.

Exciting because watching it come to life piece by piece  - like a giant fabric jigsaw puzzle -  is really fun!

My daughter wanted this quilt to be a "Hello Kitty Disco Quilt" - gulp - so I machine quilted it with Aurifil Brillo to add the sparkly disco element ... she loves it ... and you'll notice by the white fluff on this next close up shot that Master Monty (our very white fluffy cat) loves it too!

I only used the Brillo as the top thread (I used a pink Aurifil in the bobbin) it worked beautifully in the machine and I encourage you to give it a try.

So here are some quilt stats:

Size: 75" x 62"

I used this cross stitch template to create the pattern.  Again, I cut the squares at 1 1/4"

Straight line quilting in a grid pattern using sparkly Aurifil Brillo colour #517

Quilt In the Wild Location

Fremantle Rainbow Art Installation by Marcus Canning #freorainbow on Instagram

Located at Beach Reserve (adjacent to Canning Highway) in Fremantle ... overlooking the Swan River and Fremantle Port.

You can read more about the artwork here

Pink everything

Linked to Finish It Up Friday
MidWeekMakers#66
Lets Bee Social #172

Frogtastic Quilt

A long, long time ago there was a sweet little toddler that asked her mummy for a "froggie" quilt.

In her eyes froggies were the fairest of them all.

Flash forward several years (the toddler is now in full time school - cough) her mummy ... finally ... finished that quilt.

You see, the mummy wanted to have a play with this one ... put this and that in it ... cut the fabric this way and that way ... and work out just how to incorporate ALL the colours and ALL the frog fabric that the toddler wished for.

Can you spot the froggies?

Handsome Prince

Then, how to quilt it?

Pond ripples were the answer ... echo quilting rippling out from each of the 3D pinwheel blocks ... aka ... lily pads.

Once the binding was complete ... they all lived happily ever after because (lucky for mum) she still thinks fogs are awesome.

The End.

Photos were taken in Kings Park Botanical Gardens, Perth, Western Australia.

Linking up with Let's Be Social #171

Needle & Thread Thursday
Mid Week Makers #66

Bernina Baby Quilt - Pay It Forward

My third and final Pay It Forward gift arrived safe and sound ... and exhale ... I was sweating on this one as I paid Mr. Postman for tracking but Mr. Postman forgot to track the parcel ... and so it made it to it's new home on a wing and a prayer!

This was a very fun sew ... fun because of the back story as to why I made the item ... and fun because I've never sewn anything like this before.

I was making for Kate from the blog Smiles From Kate and I was a little stumped as to what to make her ... I stalked for almost a year, swapping and changing what I wanted to make then BINGO!  The blog post I had been waiting for ... she was "expecting" ... yes!!!  I set to making a baby quilt immediately.

Then ... this blog post appeared ... erm ... her "Baby to be" was a Bernina!!  Oh my goodness, I laughed and laughed ... and thought "well, I'll make her baby Bernina a quilt instead!"  One machine cover coming right up!

My Janome only rolled his eyes a little at having to sew the word "Bernina" ... *cough* ... but point blank refused to wear the thing.  Fair enough buddy.

Thankfully Kate sent me picture of her Baby wearing it's new quilt.

Unfortunately her Baby turned out to be quite a big baby and so my measurements were a bit off - eep!  But being the lovely lady that she is, she's going to use the quilt as wall hanging to brighten up her new sewing space ... phew!

Sx

Here's some construction pics

Basting helpers

Quilting complete

Binding chosen

Machine stitched on

Then hand sewn down to the back

Added a touch of where this was made ... Perth, Western Australia

Every baby needs to know their alphabet ... plus quilting texture yumminess!

A Box Full of Liberty - Pay It Forward

Thank goodness ... I just heard that my 2nd Pay-It-Forward gift has arrived safe and sound ... phew!  It's always a relief when something you've handmade, especially for someone else, arrives just as it should ... praise the postal Gods!

I was making for a lovely lady called Dittany, I admire her handwork greatly.  She takes little snippets of Liberty and magically creates a pot of gold!  She's also quite the nimble knitter ... and I freaked out a little when Nanny London pulled her name out of the hat.  I don't put my sewing in her class, but I hoped that she would appreciate the gesture :)

So what did I make?

A Circle box mostly made from Liberty ... the exception is the large floral print on the top, which is a print from Anna Maria Horna's Mod Corsage range ..

Beautiful, isn't it?

There are many Liberty prints just as deserving to feature here ... but I just couldn't find one that was saying "use me!" "pick me! "I'll be fabulous!" ... so I chose a print close to my heart instead.  Dittany is a Liberty lover ... but I hope that this print speaks to her too ... and well it just plays so nicely with the Liberty friends I paired it with ...

So that was it, gift made ... but who is their right mind sends an empty box (even if they did make it themselves) to the other side of the world?  Not me ...

I decided to fill it with this ...

Mini Liberty bunting ... to decorate her sewing space ...

Gold sparkly bias tape for the win!

For some reason, every time I see this print all I can hear in my head is Olivia Newton-John singing "Let's get Physical ..."

All packed up and ready to go!

Now ... there's just the small issue of waiting for my 3rd and final Pay-It_Forward gift to arrive safely ... let the nail biting and prayers to the mail Gods continue!

Sx

The Circle Box pattern can be found here I made the large size in the pattern.
There is no pattern for the mini bunting ... I made it up as I went along

... and if you do go over and buy that Circle Box pattern for yourself ... make sure you get some Wonder clips (if you don't already own some) while you're there ... they come in pretty handy ...

Back to School - Library Bag

My youngest has just started full time school ... as a "big kid" in the "big school" she is now trusted to borrow books from the school's library.

As I made her older sister a Library Bag at the same age, I offered to make one for my youngest too ...  Without blinking an eye she rattled off her requirements:

Butterflies
Lots of colour
It must have my name on it Mum
and Frogs!  I definitely need frogs.

OK ...

I think I ticked all the boxes!

Sx

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Today was the first day of school ... I hope they are having a good day ... I may or may not be watching the clock because I can't wait to see how their day was ... and I may or may not be missing them ... like a lot (gulp)