The Last Piece

Hooray! It's a Little Things Blog Tour

To celebrate the US tour of Quilting: From Little Things I have asked some of my friends and favourite bloggers to play along on my blog tour. Starting today you can blog hop around and see what everyone has to say about the book! Quite a few have made a project out of the book too, so you can go see what they have all come up with, what fun! 

Here are all the dates for the tour and who will be where and when.

Monday 28th November: Fat Quarterly and Amy Ellis

Tuesday 29th November: Thomas Knauer

Wednesday 30th November: Camp Follower Bags and Ryan Walsh

Thursday 1st December: The Happy Zombie and Moda Lissa

Friday 2nd December: Mrs Schmenkman Quilts and True Up

Saturday 3rd December: Pink Chalk Fabrics and Pam Kitty Morning

Sunday 4th December: Sew Mama Sew and Pat Sloan

Thank you so much to everyone for joining in. I will post the winners of the St Ives fabric tomorrow, go see what Fat Quarterly and Amy Ellis have to say, and you can also go and check out another great post about the book from Kathie at Inspired by Antique Quilts. Happy Monday everyone.

A Christmas Origami Tutorial

I've been meaning to post this for a week now, which shows you how many things I've had to blog about! It's busy around here at the moment, and it's only going to get busier - the blog tour for the US version of Quilting: From Little Things starts on Monday so stay tuned for that and the wonderful bloggers who are going to play along.

Meantime, I thought maybe you would all like to learn how to make this:

I mean who wouldn't, right? My friend Peta showed everyone in my Wednesday night class how to do this a few weeks ago. You won't believe how easy it is, my 11 year old made this one for his teacher for Christmas.

You will need an old book or some old sheet music (or any paper suitable for origami), a piece of string or ribbon to hang it with, and a hot glue gun.

First, cut the book apart, this is easiest using using your rotary cutter. Cut the pages into squares. I used 3 1/2" squares, which resulted in a ball about 6" in diameter. 

Take a square and fold it in half on one diagonal. 

Fold an outside corner up to meet the top corner.

Repeat with the other side. 

Open the fold up along one side and press it open and flat. Fold the top of the corner back. 

Repeat with the other side.

Fold the sides in half to form a square again. 

Make 6!

Next, run some hot glue down the outside of one of the squares. Turn the other edge around to meet it and press gently, so you don't make a crease. This is one petal. Make 6.

When you have 6 petals, run the glue gun down the side of one petal, and stick another one to it, matching the creases and the bottom points. Make 3 pairs.

Run the glue gun down the side of one of the pairs and stick another one to it.

To complete the flower, run the glue gun down both side of the last pair of petals and press them into the other two pairs. Make sure that the points all meet at the bottom.

This is a completed flower. I made 12 flowers to fit into the ball. I should have taken pics of the flowers being stuck together but I didn't - however you will find that they fit together between the flowers like a puzzle, and as long as you match the points of the flowers up they will make a ball very easily.

Before you glue the last flower in, run some glue along the side from the middle out and add a piece of ribbon or string to hand thte ball from, then glue the last flower in. These are a little time consuming but totally worth it!

And THEN I thought, why wait for Christmas? These would look glorious all over the house, maybe filling a wooden bowl, or just one somewhere special..... enjoy

 

Oh Thank Cuteness! - a St Ives Giveaway

Post this an hour ago and just realised that whole first half - the important half of it-  is gone - Here we go again, it might make a bit more sense now!!

Generation Q Magazine are having a thank-along (hahaha) of cuteness this week, for people to post the cute things in their lives that they are thankful for. You can go link up and talk about what youre' thankful for too. I wanted to show you my cuteness.

First up I'm thankful for my cute boys. even though they are both nearly bigger than me, theyre still cute in my eyes. Charlie at 14 is just like he was at two - thoughtful, cuddly and so much wiser than his years. He's my musician, and my beautiful, wonderful best friend, who I hang out with, crack jokes with and listen to music with.

Oscar is 11 and he's my comedian. Oss is always making us laugh, both at him and with him. Hes my snugglebug, and my little creative artist, and my buddy who will just sit with me and cuddle any time I ask.

And then of course there's my furry baby. Because I work from home, Madam is always under my feet. She follows me around all day, making me laugh with her antics and nudging her nuse under my hand for a pat. I'm grateful for her quiet presence every day. 

Other things I'm thankful for are the cute things around my house, some of them gifts, some of them heirlooms, and some I've bought. I love to see them around the house as I'm working, and having the house looking lovely and filled withbeautiful thing gives me pleasure every time I look. It's the little things like this that give my working day a bit of sunshine!

The last thing I'm thankful for is my fabric range! I still can't believe I've been lucky enough to design two ranges of fabric AND that people actually buy them :) I'm so lucky to be able to do what I love doing, all day every day. So I'm thankful for the uber-cute St Ives (in stores next week!) and I'm also thankful for all of YOU - cute or not, heh heh - for the support you give me every day in my creating and stitching. You all rock.

And so, to thank you all, I'm having a giveaway of some St Ives fat quarters. I'm not sure how many yet, I'll decide on Monday! There will be more than one winner though. The giveaway will stay open until Monday, November 28, 9am Sydney time, which is Sunday night in the USA. All you need to do is leave me a comment ON THIS POST telling me what you're thankful for, and if you feel like it, blog, tweet or Facebook and tell your friends so I can be thankful for them too! International is fine, you MUST have an email address for me to contact or I will re-draw, sorry.

Happy Thanksgiving to everyone in the USA celebrating Turkey Day and may you all have a peaceful holiday. 

Free Christmas Quilt Block Pattern!

Oh the things I need to blog about are piling up around my feet. It must be that time of year! Again though before I can tell you anything, I'm playing in The Quilting Gallery's Christmas Block-along. There are 36 designers playing all together, and they have all designed 12" blocks for you to download, and they are FREE! My block is called Let It Snow (even though it won't snow here in Sydney for Christmas!) , and it looks like this:

Download Let it snow block

It's some easy and fun piecing to make these little snowflakes (you won't believe how easy) and they are a little addictive - I feel the need to make more!

Michele has some great deals going over at her site too, make sure and check them out, and all the blogs and websites of the awesome designers too! That ought to keep you busy for a while. Go on then, off you go....

NEWSFLASH!! Sarah at Quilt Fabric Delights has ST IVES IN STOCK!! Go, quick like rabbits!!

Pat Sloan Radio!

So so many things to blog about, but today I have to tell you all to listen in to Pat Sloan Radio at this link, and listen in while Pat and I have a chat tomorrow! The times are:

4pm - 5pm Eastern

3pm - 4pm Central

2pm - 3pm Mountain

1pm - 2pm Pacific

in the USA, and that's 8am Sydney time for any Aussies that want to listen in. Should be lots of fun, Pat is a great girl and we have some fun things to talk about! See you then :)

Little Bits Quilting Bee Blog Tour

When Kathreen of Whip Up contacted me last year and asked me to provide a review for the back of her book I was so incredibly flattered! Kathreen's books are just wonderful and Little Bits Quilting Bee (published by Chronicle books) is no exception. 

The best thing about doing something like that for an author is that you get to have a sneak peek of the book before anyone else has seen it! So I have been perusing this lovely book for a while now, I'm a lucky girl :)

In case you haven't stumbled over Kathreen before, she is not only the author of the wildy popular Whip Up blog, she is the author of the gorgeous Whip Up Mini Quilts, and she also has a fabulous kids magazine called Action Pack, full of projects and crafts and stuff for kids to do. 

Little Bits Quilting Bee is essentially a book about how to use those oh so tempting pre-cut fabric packs - the jelly rolls, charm squares, fat quarters and layer cakes in  full ranges that look so tempting and then sit on your shelf while you ponder what to do with them. It begins with a chapter about online quilting bees, guilds and groups, and talks about the community aspect of quilting. It encourages you to get involved with the quilting community - heavens knows its out there, so dive in! There's a great basics section for beginners too. 

The quilts in the book range from bed size to smaller projects and use a range of techniques. What I usually don't like about pre-cut books is that they all use the same size squares, rectangles and triangles - but Kathreen manages to avoid that and has produced a book full of original, interesting and diverse designs that don't look like pre-cuts at all. 

Others before me have written in depth reviews of the book so I thought I would have a little fun and ask Kathreen to answer five quickies. 

What is the one colour you buy the least fabric in?

I had to actually look through my stash to see what colour was missing - I think its yellow - I am not a yellow person.

What is your favourite sewing gadget or notion?

I love my rulers and rotary cutter - but perhaps spray applique glue might be my most favourite!

What is your favourite treat or chocolate bar? Do you keep a stash of them in your sewing area?

I am cutting down on treats - but I do love Green and Blacks dark chocolate. I don't keep a stash as my kids would be sure to sniff it out.

What is your favourite band of all time? Do you listen to music or watch TV when you sew?

I actually don't listen to music while sewing - as the sewing machine noise competes and it gets too loud - however while designing and writing I do like listen to music - mostly its just the radio (Triple J) going in the background - but I do like the Indie band Little Red - and my fave band of all time might be the Eurythmics.

If you could only work with one designer's fabric for the rest of your quilting career, which would it be?

Oh goodness - that is way too limiting - I can't answer it - I dont' think I could do it! - I guess it would be Kona solids...  there are some luscious colours available in solids now ... or maybe Lecian fabrics because they always have a good range of dots and stripes and small florals with a retro feel. But my fave fabric designers right now are Anna Maria Horner because of her vibrant and rich colours, Ink and Spindle because of their natural tones and eco fabrics, and Echino because they are gorgeous and whimsical.

You can follow along with what's left of the tour and check out what everyone else has had to say below. US readers will also find that several of the blogs are giving away a copy of the book!

Monday, November 7 – The Long Thread 

Tuesday, November 8 – Craft Nectar & Comfort Stitching 

Wednesday, November 9 – luvinthemommyhood & Elsie Marley 

Thursday, November 10 – True Up 

Friday, November 11 – House on Hill Road & Craftypod 

Monday, November 14 – Handmade by Alissa & Hello My Name Is Heather

Tuesday, November 15 – West Coast Crafty & Foxy Art Studio

Wednesday, November 16 – PatchAndi & The Last Piece

Thursday, November 17 – In Color Order & Pink Chalk Studio

Friday, November 18 – Kristin La Flamme & Camp Follower Bags & Quilts

Monday, November 21 – Quilt Dad & JCasa *handmade

Tuesday, November 22 – Pat Sloan & Pleasant Home

 

Brandon Wants YOU...

For the Quilt Army. The fabric sensation that's gripping the nation.

Well Katy thought it was funny. Tea is best not snorted out the nose dear. 

Some other favourite things from Market.

Cloud 9's incredible peacocks. I was sorry to discover that they won't be this large despite my dreams of amaaaazing backings. They will be this size, but still very lovely.

The organics were certainly doing the rounds this Market. I have to be honest and say that I didn't think people would pay the price for organic fabric - however it just goes to show you that good design is something quilters will pay for, despite the price. The other Cloud 9 line I am itching for is this:

OMG I am such a freak for fabric with little animals on it, and this is just to die for. Ed Emberley's books are so beautiful and the fabric is going to be spectacular!!

You can see the whole range here but I'm warning you, you have to wait until February for this and you may not be able to stand it. And plus, there's elephants. 

Wandering past Quakertown Quilts and this caught my eye:

Wowzers! I love a good applique and THAT, my friends, is a good applique. There's a pattern available but I couldn't find it on their website. 

You may have been hearing all the fuss about Parson Gray.

From the ads and pics I had seen of David Butler's new range (yes, he is Amy's husband), I wasn't too excited by this, but in the flesh - oooh la la. I will be needing the full range of this and I don't say that very often. I don't kow that I would want to make a whole quilt out of it - even for my boys it's a little comber for me - but this is the kind of fabric that will go with everything and be a fantastic blender and/or background. Yumyum. 

OK that's my last post of Market product - I still want to post about what I got at Spree and about all the quilts, AND I have a giveaway for Quilt Market bits and bobs and some new books, but tomorrow I am on the Whip Up blog tour so pop back in and say hi for that! Happy Tuesday peeps. xx

 

To Market, to Market

To buy a fat quarter. Or fifty. I haven't even MENTIONED Sample Spree yet because I just haven't had the strength to get all my purchases out and photograph them - but rest assured that post is coming! Today is a smattering of things on the floor that caught my eye. By no means everything that caught my eye though, or we would be here forever!

Now I'm not much of a Moda fabric girl - most of their fabrics as a little too dull in colour for my taste. Recently though they have brought out a couple of stunners, (the Momo ranges being some!), and this Market they managed to have the two ranges which were my favourites.

I have loved Malka Dubrawsky's quilts for ages now and I regularly check in at her blog to see what she's been up to. I was thrilled to learn she was doing a range for Moda - however I was interested to see how they managed to convey her vibrancy of colour and wonderful hand dyes into commercial fabric. 

(I pinched this pic from Malka's blog because my pic of it is horrid). I love it. The range is bright and funky and everything I was hoping for. It was one of my Spree purchases that I can't wait to break into. I didn't get to meet Malka which I was sorry for, so I hope she reads this instead and sees how awesome I think her fabric is. I feel a quilt for my new book coming on with this lot.

My other favourite range at Market was from one of my favourite people at Market - the lovely Miss Lucie Summers. Summersville is just so cute.

I know my pics aren't the best but trust me, you want some of this range. Summersville is delish.

Moving on down the aisles and I ran into Diamond Textiles. I haven't come across them before but as I was wandering past admising their lovely linen-look fabrics I happened to spy this:

I just love the coloured squares on the white linen. The squares are around 4". Thought I had better have some of that, so I ordered a bolt. 

I'm also not usually a fan of batiks and hand dyes, but here's another of my favourite things from Market - Marcia Derse's new range for Troy. I had to order a few of these too... I wonder if you can guess which ones? Applique backgrounds, here I come....

Yummo. 

Not long after that I wandered into one of those stands where you want to buy everything. The colours and shapes are so delicious, but what the heck do you do with it when you get home?

This stand not only had the lovely felt balls but the cutest little projects too!

There were others but the pics weren't great. 

The Kokka stand was as usual full of things I would have liked to grab and run away with. Not least of these was Melody Miller's new fabric range, Ruby Star Shining.

Now I've hung out a bit with Melody and her friend Allison, and I can tell you right now she is just as cute as her fabric is. What a sweetie.

Ok I think that's it for today, there's only so many pics I can cram in one post! Market posts to continue over the next few days, a giveaway of Market goodies is coming, AND I'm on Kathreen Ricketson's blog tour for her new book.... y'all come back now!

 

 

Quilt Market is the Shiz

Woohoo! OK so it's a whole week after Market and I'm only just getting to this post. Wow what a crazy, crazy couple of days that was. I've been to Market a LOAD of times but having your own booth and doing all the other stuff as well is some serious madness. Such fun!

OK I'm going to tell you all about the boring stuff about me first and then tomorrow I can show you all the pretty stuff, like fabric and quilts!

Schoolhouse! This year to my absolute relief I totally rocked my Schoolhouse. Words that made sense came out of my mouth and everything. It was incredible :) heehee

The Lecien schoolhouse I of course shared with my Lecien sistahs. You can see all the awesome new fabrics Lecien has coming out at their website, but here's a few badly taken pics (oh the husband...) from the schoolhouse for you!

Here's Rosie's lovely quilt from her new line, Folk Heart. (That's me being the Wheel of Fortune girl modelling everything with Nireko!)

And here's Nat's quilt made from Woodland.

And here's my free pattern from St Ives, Made In Cherry. You can get the pattern from the Lecien website. Bear in mind this is only the Cherry colourway of St Ives, there's also:

Watermelon

Blue Vanilla, and

Purple Polar Shiver. Gosh it's hard to get the colours right in pics, the purples don't actually look like this at all, they actually look better in the flip book here. 

And here's Erica's quilt looking beautiful! The pattern for this one is in Quilting: From Little Things. 

Once Market actually started the following day, there was a whole load of running around to various things, like book signings:

At United Notions, and at Brewers:

Look at all those peeps!!

And at Krause.

There were a few special peeps who came along to have a book signed too, which was just lovely :)

The tickets for all three signings were gone in a matter of minutes. I can't tell you how much that means to me! Everyone who came along and got their book signed (and all the peeps who missed out - sorry about that!), thank you SO much for you support and all the lovely things you said to me!

Do I look exhausted? :)

Oh well off to the next job - going on the telly for QNN.TV!!

YAY!! This was so much fun. For someone who is very shy in person (amusing though I may seem on Twitter!) and nervous at public speaking and hates having her picture taken - I totally love doing TV. I loved making the Quilter's Companion video and I loved every second of doing this interview with Dana. I don't know when it airs but I will let you know.

The absolutely 100% best thing about Market for me is seeing all my peeps. I can't tell you how much I look forward to hanging out with this pack of nutters all year.

Tacha, me, Lu, Katy and Aneela. And I have to tell you that having my gorgeous Amy stay with me was the total and utter highlight of my trip. Amy and I have hatched out some awesome plans for revamping Dollies Online for 2012, stay tuned! Here she is drinking margaritas in Guadalajara with Quiltdad. 

Of course I don't have any other pictures of people (too distracted taking pictures of fabric and drinking beer) but it was so totally awesome to see my friends Kim and Cara and Jackie and Jacqueline and Thomas and Deborah and Rashida and Kathy and Tia and Melody and Tula and Pam and Pokey and Anna and Brandon and just everyone! YAY! Bring on next Market I say. 

Pics of pretties tomorrow. Watch this space.