Bargain hunting, Swooning and FMQ

It's been a pretty busy fortnight here on the home front.. Mum and I took the kids up to see my grandparents for a week so we spent our time beating the heat down at the beach! And really, it was HOT. The first 3 days were hot, humid and crazy and the water was a welcome relief.. then came the thunderstorm which finally brought in the sea breeze for the next 3 days.. until it got hot and horrible again the day before we left! But overall it was a lovely holiday. Of course while I was "away"  Spotlight decided to have a VIP sale where you got a $10 voucher to spend for each day of the sale  so mum and I made sure that we managed to fit in a few visits to make sure we got our money's worth ;) I managed to come out of it with some fabric that has been catching my eye for months..... at the bargain clearance price of $4/m!

Even better, when I got home I managed to find a couple of the other fabrics in the same range at my local Spotlight store so I think I ended up with about 9 different fabrics in the range overall. I also managed to pick up a June Tailor 12.5" square ruler & some of her plastic shape templates (star, heart, circle, flower, leaf) at 50% off, some Christmas quilting fabric & panels cheap on clearance and some other random fabrics that I'd had my eye on. Now I just need to find the perfect project for my pretty yellow/grey "Sunny" fabric!

I've also joined in on Katy's Swoonalong, so at yesterday's craft morning playdate I cut pieces for my first block and today I completed it! These blocks will be for one side of the quilt that I've been planning to make as part of a marriage quilt for my husband and I. I purchased the fabrics back in October specifically for my quilt but with no real design idea in mind.. I had picked out a couple of star blocks that I'd been thinking over but once I saw that Swoon block it was just a case of deciding whether to use these fabrics or the fabrics I'd chosen for the other side of my quilt.

I've been working on my project for the Quilters with Modern Tools "GO! Ahead and Show a Little LOVE" AccuQuilt Blog Hop.. the blog hop will run from 13th - 18th February. The line up includes some of my favourite bloggers - I'm looking forward to seeing what everyone comes up with! And I hear rumors that there will be giveaways - yay!

Feb. 13 Marjorie from Marjorie Busby Quilts
Feb. 13 Ariane from Ariane's Crafts

Feb. 14 Connie from Quilting by the River
Feb. 14 Linda from Living 4 Quilting

Feb. 15 Lisa Marie from Scraps of Life
Feb. 15 Marilyn from North Hill Quilter

Feb. 16 Alicia from Heirloom Quilting
Feb. 16 Marjorie from Marjorie's Busy Corner

Feb. 17 Sharon from Craizee Corners
Feb. 17 Snoodles from Lily Pad Quilting

Feb. 18 Stacey from Driving Miss Stacey
Feb. 18 Tracey from The Peony Teacup (me!)
Feb. 18 Paulette from Sweet P Quilting and Creations

Do you want a sneak peek?

I decided to join Samelia's Mum's Name Game Swap at the last minute, so stay tuned for sneak peeks of the mini quilt I'll be making for my swap partner!

And last but not least, I finally got around to having a go at SewCalGal's 2012 FMQ challenge..  I read somewhere that felt made an excellent practice fabric, so I thought I'd give it a go before moving on to quilt sandwiches.. Here's my first attempt:

Front side

Back side

I boxed myself in a couple of times, and then my bobbin ran out and I decided that seemed like a good time to finish for the day. With a little more practice I think I  might even be able to turn out something that looks like leaves!

How excitement!

I got an email from Jess @ Scrap 'n Happy to say that I won her Scrappy n' Happy: Winners and Giveaway 3! competition! A $25 voucher to spend in Quiltjane's online store. The hardest part will be deciding what to buy from my long list of wants...

I'm thinking about a California Girls layer cake, but I wonder if I should get something I already have (like the American Banner Rose layer cake) so that I have some "spare" fabric for "just incase I need it" when I make MY quilt. But that seems so boring, you know? Who buys something they already have???

2012 Quilty To do List..

Blossom starts Kindergarten this year (3 weeks to go!) so I'll have 2 days/week ALL TO MYSELF! For the first time in nearly 6 years I'll have 2 full school days to do whatever I want without someone whinging, needing to be fed/changed/entertained etc. So of course I'd mentally pencilled in a whole lot of craft time! And if I'm going to be crafty, perhaps some structure would be nice?

So in honour of my new found freedom, I appear to have signed myself up to a million and one projects (ok, more like half a dozen!), including:

1. Finish Bean's Harry Potter Quilt - Needs to be completed by May 1.

2. Make baby quilt for my sister-in-law - Needs to be completed by the beginning of April.

3. Learn how to FMQ - I took the pledge to join SewCalGal's 2012 FMQ Challenge

http://sewcalgal.blogspot.com/p/free-motion-quilt-challenge.html

4. Joining MALT Designs' Disappearing 9 Patch Swap - The theme is "Spring Floral" and each participant makes 18x 9-patch blocks to make a total of 72 smaller blocks, keeping 8 and sending the remaining 64 to Michele @ MALT Designs. I finished all my 9 patches today, and then sliced and diced them and now all I need to do is post them! Goodness that was quick and easy!

5. Participate in the Valentine's Day Accuquilt Blog Hop - more about this soon ;) I have all my fabrics picked out, I just need to get Flo the GO! cranking..

6. Joined the Craftsy BOM - 12 months of quilty goodness led by Amy from Stitchery Dickory Dock. Here are my 2 January Blocks (I'm using "Delighted" by The Quilted Fish for Riley Blake)

Wonky Pound Block

Asterisk Block

7. And tonight I've managed to also sign myself up to participate in I'm a Ginger Monkey's "Swoon-along" where we all make Swoon blocks from Camille Roskelley's Thimble Blossoms pattern. I plan to use my "Tulips in Bloom" fabric that I purchased to make a quilt for myself and my husband - what better to snuggle under than something swoony?

http://www.flickr.com/groups/1904864@N22/

8. Make "Good Fortune" (Kate Spain for Moda fabrics) mug rugs for my girlfriends.. I make some D9P blocks out of my GF charm pack today..

Not to mention the other things that are floating much further down my "To Do" list!

It certainly looks like it will be a quilty year..

Tutorial: Split Drunkard's Path Star

A while ago I mentioned that I was going to write up a tutorial for the Split Drunkard's Path star block, but I must confess that Christmas and the end of the school year distracted me.. but now all that's over, it's a new year and the perfect time to get back on the wagon!

Split Drunkard's Path block

Step 1. Choose up to 8 coordinating fabrics - 2 for the "background" and 6 for the star. I cut my Drunkard's Path blocks using my Accuquilt GO! cutter and my 3.5" Drunkard's Path die. If you were using this block on its own for a quilt it would look amazing done with the 7" DP die. You will have left over DP pieces which you can use for other stars, or put aside for another project.

Step 2. Cut a total of 16 DP blocks, consisting of:

- 8 x "Background Fabric #1" (Outer curve pieces)

- 8 x "Background Fabric #2" (Inner curve piece)

- 4 x "Star Point Fabric #1" (Outer curve pieces)

- 4 x "Star Point Fabric #2" (Inner curve pieces)

- 2 x "Star Centre Fabric #1" (Outer curve pieces)

- 2 x "Star Centre Fabric #2" (Outer curve pieces)

- 2 x "Star Centre Fabric #3" (Inner curve pieces)

- 2 x "Star Centre Fabric #4" (Inner curve pieces)

Step 3: Pair the DP block pieces, alternating the "Star Centre Fabrics" (eg #1 + #3, #1 + #4, #2 + #3 and #2 + #4). Sew using your preferred piecing method. I pinned the blocks for the first 2 stars, and am now using a Curvemaster foot to piece the blocks for subsequent blocks.. seriously, much more consistent on the seams, with no pinning!

Step 4: Pair up 4 of the "Background" blocks with 4 of the "Star Point" blocks, and the 4 "Star Centre" blocks, matching the inner pieces. 

Step 5: Pin and mark a line diagonally through the centre of the block.

Step 6: Sew 1/4" on either side of the line. (as shown above with grey stitching + white stitching)

Step 7: Using rotary cutter cut along the pencilled line so that you have 2x blocks. Press open.

Step 8: Lay out your blocks to form a star shape. The 4x corner "Background" blocks will be larger than the other blocks as they haven't been cut up, but don't panic.. we'll trim them up!

Step 9: Sew the pairs of "Star Points" and the "Star Centres" together, making sure to match the curves. Attach one set of "Star Points" at the top and the bottom of the "Star Centres" to make a column. Press seams.

Step 10: Trim your 4 "Background" blocks to match your other blocks. I trimmed the outer curve pieces and left the inner curves at full size, but you could trim it evenly all the way around if you prefer.

Step 11: Sew the "Background" blocks to the remaining "Star Point" blocks so that you end up with 3 "columns" of blocks (as shown above). Press seams and then sew columns together making sure to match seams. Press again, and you're done! (Square up blocks as required)

My first Split Drunkard's Path Star complete!

And a second one so you can see it in a different colour

Effective, yes?

Blogger's Choice Fat Quarter Bundle Competition

The lovely Laura from Quokka Quilts (another Perth girl, just like me!) is having a competition on her blog where you put together your "own" fat quarter bundle using fabrics from the Fat Quarter Shop and then make up a pretty mosaic, blog about it and go into the draw to win your fabrics! And not just the fat quarter bundle, oh no! But a HALF YARD of each of your fabrics! Woohoo! Talk about excitement.. the whole of the blogging world seems to be posting fat quarter bundles (or atleast, they are on my feed..)

So here is my bundle.. my inspiration was Lily Ashbury's Summer House line, I just love that fabric :) The pinks and greens are colours that I've wanted to have in my lounge room for quite some time now, so if I won my FQ bundle I would love to use it to make some cushions, throw rug/quilts etc. It makes me think of Spring time :)

I used the following fabrics:

1. Summer House Pink Lemonade Rosemarie Yardage SKU# 11442-14 
2. Daisy Dance Pink Tiny Flower Buds Yardage SKU# 7534-22
3. Sweet Shoppe Pink Petals and Vines Yardage SKU# 3650-26 

4. Heart Garden Medium Pink Swirling Swirls Yardage SKU# 11908-98

5. Me and My Sister Favorites Green Swirls Yardage SKU# 22045-38 
6. Sugar Hill Cotton Green Scattered Roses Yardage SKU# PWTW049-GREEN 
7. Babysaurus Green Geo Diamond Yardage SKU# 106101-06-3
8. Annie's Farm Stand Green Mini Rose Yardage SKU# 10062-Green
9. Summer House Bright Blue Rosemarie Yardage SKU# 11442-18 
10. Folk Heart Blue Teardrop Floral Yardage SKU# 30393-70 
11. Pam Kitty Morning Blue Buttons Yardage SKU# LH11011-BLUE 
12. Stitch Organic Blue Stitchin' Swirls Yardage SKU# 11900-4 
13. Kona Cotton Candy Pink Yardage SKU# K001-1062
14. Bella Solids Amelia Blue Yardage SKU# 9900-167 
15. Bella Solids Summer House Lime Yardage SKU# 9900-173 

Catching up..

Goodness me! I've just realised that it's been a month since I last posted about something crafty on here! It's not for lack of crafting, let me tell you! Infact, it's probably exactly why I haven't managed to post.. aside from the fact that it's "that time of year" and things have been super busy with end of year concerts and parties as well as half a dozen birthdays, I've been spending quite a bit of time focussing on the actual crafting which has left significantly less time for the blogging. I've been lagging behind badly on my blog reading, too - falling asleep on the sofa has become my new normal.

So here's some of the stuff that I've been doing this last month...

Crochet "wine glass cover" #3 - about 3 rows to go.

My first completed "Split Drunkard's Path Star" (will blog tutorial)

2 stars plus the tumbler medallion.. Harry Potter Quilt still in progress

Quilt for Blossom's Kindy teacher, who is retiring.
Each child in the class decorated a square, and I put it all together.

Back of the teacher quilt.

Christmas table runner, complete!

I just love the backing fabric.. might even pretend it's reversible ;)

I also broke my fabric ban.. it all started so innocently.. with a voucher for $40 off at Spotlight when you spent $100... and I needed more fabric/batting for the quilt for Blossom's teacher, so it totally didn't count towards the fabric ban.. and my husband decided that I should make some "Minecraft Creepers" for Bean & Blossom (like these) so I had to buy fabric for those (because I seriously need ANOTHER project that has to be finished in time for Christmas!) and my SIL decided that she wanted a jungle themed quilt for her nursery instead of Peter Rabbit, and I found a gorgeously perfect panel..

And most people would leave it there. But not me... once the flood gates were open, it was on. It didn't help that there were a whole pile of Black Friday sales being tweeted left, right and centre... The first thing I indulged in was a 21 FQ set of Riley Blake's Delighted from The Intrepid Thread, which reminded me how much I love fabric designed by The Quilted Fish so I went hunting for some more Sweet Divinity to go with the fabric that I bought a couple of months ago (which will be turned into a quilt and accessories for Blossom's new room when we finally move)... and I found what I was looking for at two separate etsy stores.. A total of 10 yards, made up of 10x Sweet Divinity fabrics, 9x Sugar & Spice fabrics and the "Quite Contrary" Green Stripe by My Mind's Eye. Yes, way more fabric than I will need to make Blossom a quilt, given that I already have 5 yards of Sweet Divinity (5x fabrics).

My Christmas present to myself

And then I went back to Spotlight and bought myself a walking foot, some coordinating fabric for my SIL's baby quilt, some more fabric for the teacher quilt (because my backing fabric was an inch short and I decided just to buy another piece than mess around) and then decided that I was all binged out.

Lily Pad Quilting: Accuquilt GO! Baby Giveaway

Lily Pad Quilting is having a giveaway for an Accuquilt GO! Baby fabric cutter, 3 dies and a layer cake of "Chemistry" by Cosmo Cricket!