WIP - Farmer's Wife Blocks

Three more six inch, hand pieced, blocks for your viewing pleasure ...

Farmer's Wife Block 9 - Box

It's been quite nice sitting on the couch ... cat snuggled in ...

Instagram @sewgiving

Pieces all cut ... some random TV series playing on the box.

Farmer's Wife Block 90 - Storm Signal

Yes, this is how winter should be ...

Farmer's Wife Block 94 - Tall Pine Tree

Small works in progress, but progress at least!

Serena x

Linking up with:
Work in Progress at Freshly Pieced
Let's Bee Social with the lovely Lorna of Sew Fresh Quilts

Purple Haze

Hello, my name is Serena of "Sew Giving ... Selfishly" and I don't like purple.  

AusBee June Bee Block #1

There, I've said it.  You may forward all hate mail to serena@sewgiving.com.au

The colour and I just don't get on.  

AusBee June Bee Block #2

It has magical powers and makes my machine sew any seam allowance other than 1/4".

On top of that it makes my printer not print to scale ... and in turn makes me produce a paper pieced star at 12" instead of 12.5".

Offending 12" paper pieced block

Of course it's the colours fault!  Who else's could it be? 

{tongue firmly planted in cheek}

I sent the 12" block to our Queen Bee this month, along with the others.  You never know, it may come in handy on the back .. ahem.

Serena xx

I'll be linking up with Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts

Possum Magic

Hello Possums,

Indecision is my forte ... my husband knows this well.  If he asks me to choose between two things I always say "both".  Trust me, it maybe a more expensive route - but it's definitely the quickest!

So how does one choose between a zillion fabulous designs and ideas out there to be the epicentre of what is sure to be an amazing quilt?

As time is not on my side I used Eeny-Meeny-Miny-Mo ... {rocket science does not live here}... but paper piecing does!  It just so happens that my PP mojo has decided to come home!  I didn't waste time asking it where it had been, or who it had been with - I just cleaned it up and set it to work.

Ah, yes, it's like it never left ...

Pattern used is this one - seriously, the pattern is pure genius.
Block size is 12" square
Fabrics used for Geese are scraps of AMH and background fabric is Timeless Treasures, Rain Basics, Mist colourway.

This block is off to Carla to work her 'magic' on the first border - exciting!!! 

I've added a tab at the top of my page to track our Possum Magic Quilts so you, and I, can watch them grow on their year long adventure.

Serena x

Linking up with:
Sew Cute Tuesday at Blossom Heart Quilts
WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced
Let's Bee Social at Sew Fresh Quilts

Sunday Stash - Kindness of Others

The additions to my stash this week come from the kindness of others ...

A little while ago I posted on Instagram (@sewgiving) that I had just bought the Gypsy Wife Pattern and that I was wanting to do mine in mostly Anna Maria Horner fabrics.  Molli Sparkles, personal fabric shopper extraordinaire, had kicked off my shopping with style - when - Jo from Riddle and Whimsy kindly offered me her scraps from her wonderful triangle quilt made from ... you guessed it ... AMH fabrics.  Um, yes please!! 

Scraps are ideal for the Gypsy Wife Quilt as (I'm told) some of the block pieces are quite small - eek!  What have I got myself into?!

There is such a lovely variety of fabrics in this pile of scraps!  I've taken rather dull photos of this pile of fabric.  I'm scared that if I take nice pictures then Jo might think twice and come knocking at my door to take them back!  Tehe ... 

Now look at these froggies!!!

Happy Froggie Fabric gifted from Gina

I've recently started playing with some blocks to create a Frog-tastic quilt for my youngest.  She's a little girl that loves frogs!  When seeing my adventures with frog fabrics, Gina from Party Of Eight Our Story, offered some froggie fabric from her own stash.  She has frog-u-lous taste, so of course I said "Yes please!"  When the package from Gina arrived, I wasn't disappointed!

Because, not only did she include the cheerful little froggie fabric, but also a wonderful taste of the fabric range Lotus Pond by Rae Hoekstra ... Gina thought it might work with the blocks I've already created and you know what?  She was right!  I've already chopped into this lot and one little 6" block is sewn up already!

My daughter laughed out loud at the sight of the frog blowing up the balloon!

Now I've come to know Gina, by reading her lovely blog, that when she sends a package there is a little treat in store for the receiver ... have a look at the divine little needle book she included!

That. Teapot. I. Die.

Jealous much??  Thank you Gina!! This little baby is going straight into my Farmer's Wife notions bag :)

So thank you VERY much ladies ... I'll leave you with this quote:

"Remember there is no such thing as a small act of kindness.  Every act creates a ripple with no logical end" - Scott Adams

Serena x

Linking up with:

Sunday Stash - kindly guest hosted by Nicholas at Quilts from the Attic ... see you over there :)

Something New, Something Borrowed ...

Hows 'bout my new banner? {something new}

It was all foggy this morning, so I was inspired by the calmness of the mist.  I tried to get a photo but the windows were all fogging up so I had to rub some condensation away to get a clear shot - light bulb moment!  A few grey hairs hours later using PicMonkey and there you have it!

So why the face lift?  Well this little quilty blogger is going to be part of the oh.so.wonderful New Quilt Blogger Blog Hop run by Beth from Plum and June.

{something borrowed}

The Blog Hop starts next week and will give you a chance to meet some fresh new faces in the quilting blogging world.  So pop on over to meet Beth from Plum and June and be sure to keep track of the up-and-coming events!  Ooooh it's going to be gooood!!

I've already had the wonderful opportunity of meeting my fellow newbies behind the scenes.  The Antipodeans of the group have decided to start a Round Robin - very improv - very cool!  We've called our little group Possum Magic.  You'll be seeing update of the quilts as they pass through my sewing machine, but in the meantime ...

{Something Bl .. oh, Green!}

... please pop over and say hello to my fellow Possums:

Alice of Blossom Quilts and Crafts
Carla of Granny Maud's Girl
Jane of Where Jane Creates
Jo of Riddle and Whimsy
Rebecca of One Wee Bird
Sharon of Motherdragon's Musings
Wendy of Wendy's Quilts and More

I'm really looking forward to seeing what quilts this Round Robin produces!

Now, that's enough techy stuff for one day ... time to go and fire up my sewing machine!

Serena x

Echo Beach - Luxe In Bloom

When I first saw the fabric range Luxe In Bloom, the song "Echo Beach" by Martha and the Muffins popped in my head and stayed in residence until I finished sewing this quilt (or should I call it a blanket? - more on that later).

You know the lyrics right?  Here's a link to the song so you can tap your feet whilst reading the rest of this post.

"On a silent summer evening
The sky's alive with light"

"Building in the distance
Surrealistic sight"

'On Echo Beach 
Waves make the only sound'

'On Echo Beach
There's not a soul around"

I decided on using this plus block tutorial to make the quilt top.  I sashed the blocks with 1" (finished size) strips of Luxe in Bloom and Hanky Linen in birch. 

The echo is reflected in the alternating plus signs of Hanky Linen and Luxe In Bloom.  I must have re-arranged these blocks a zillion times before settling on this layout.  Not sure why I struggled with the layout?  I loved each and every individual block,  but when I put them all together it looked a little "Surrealistic" to me.

To add to the Luxe-ness (sorry) of the quilt I added a Minky blanket backing.  It was a little difficult wrangling with this super stretchy fabric but the result is oh.so.worth.it and I'll definitely be doing it again.

I found this tutorial very helpful when sewing with minky.  I chose this method, as opposed to the traditional method of basting the layers together because I didn't want to bind this quilt.  I wanted the Minky to go right to the edge for extra snuggle factor.  I did investigate binding with the Minky ... but ... have you ever tried it?  I think I vacuumed up half a "mink" experimenting on that.  This stuff falls to pieces.  

There is a lot of fabulous texture happening in the quilt between the silkiness of the Art Gallery Fabrics, the rawness of the Hanky Linen and the super soft Minky back.  

My question to you is ... can I still call this object a quilt if 

- it's top is pieced
- it's not sandwiched in the traditional way and 
- it doesn't have binding?  

Or is there another word for what I have created? ... Blan-quilt? ... Quilt-et?  I suppose if I'm questioning it in the first place then I mustn't think it's a quilt, but I love it all the same!

UPDATE: Here is the link to my Q2 Finish Along List

Quilt Stats
Name:  Echo Beach
Size: 34" x 46"
Materials: Art Gallery Fabrics "Luxe in Bloom" and Hanky Linen "Birch" provided by Craft Project
Backed with Minky.

Serena x

Linking up with:
TGIFF at kindly hosted by Ms Midge today
Finish It Up Friday at Crazy Mom Quilts
Sew Cute Tuesday guest hosted by Ros from Sew Delicious

Sunday Stash - Perth Craft & Quilt Fair 2014

There is always plenty to see at the Perth Craft and Quilt fair ... just not always what I want to see (Art Gallery, Aurifil ... to name but a few)  But I'm not going to harp on about it.  Perth is the most isolated city in the world so I realise that it's expensive for dealers to travel with all their wares to little ol' Perth.

When I had almost given up hope I saw Fifi's Fabricology stall (clouds parting and angels singing) I almost forgot all words in the English language! I pointed dumbly at fabric and paid with that plastic card thingy that my husband lets me have and walked away in shear and utter shock. 

Purchase from Fifi's Fabricology at Perth's Craft and Quilt Fair 2014

I wish I had actually said "hello!"  .. or grovelled to my knees and kissed their feet (embarrassing for both parties).  So I'm going to say it right here and now on my blog "Dear Fifi's Fabricology, Thank you very much for coming all the way to Perth from the Gold Coast!  You are most welcome in our city any time!  Oh and sorry about the weather, I'm not sure what's happening?  It NEVER rains in Perth.  We'll see if we can do better next year - oh, that's if you're coming back next year?" {thinks she should have kissed their feet}.

So, what else did I purchase ... not a lot really!  I did get some lovely new skinny-mini-flower pins ... no more using crowbars for this little quilter!

Did you happen to notice the divine pin cushion they are ... erm ... stabbing?  That little gem was a (very much appreciated) gift from a friend, who purchased it at Liberty.In.London (feeling very spoilt!).  

Soon I'll be able to repay the favour though ... as Liberty.Have.Landed.In.Perth!!!  Aren't we the cosmopolitan city we always thought knew we were?!

Keep your eyes peeled for the big website launch (coming soon to a computer screen near you!).  In the meantime you can follow @the_strawberry_thief on IG to keep track of all things Liberty!

QuiltWest put on a show of quilts.  The Best in Show quilt and creator also made it on the telly!!  It took Melodie Symes 10 years to create this quilt ... no wonder she named it "Perseverance 2". 

Wowser! (Claps loudly in congratulations)

Whilst I admit that the fabrics and colours are not my cup of tea, I can only begin to imagine the work that has gone into this beauty and humbly applaud it's maker.

Now, did someone say tea?  I'm off for a cuppa and a perusal of the Finalists in the Blogger's Quilt Festival.  Boy oh boy, I'm in for a treat!

Serena x

Linking up with Molli Sparkles Sunday Stash kindly hosted by Quirky Hannah