Let's take a scrappy trip, shall we?

 

 Hello peeps,

My Grandmother's quilt should not have been my first.  I had actually started another quilt before I made hers - this one I am going to show you now.  Back in late December of last year, I noticed on Instagram that a quilt-along was happening, called the Scrappy Trip Along. The blocks for the quilt looked so interesting, I was fascinated how they were made and I so desperately wanted to make a quilt of my own. I knew that I would soon be trying one of these blocks.  Of course, I loved making my first blocks, but I was not happy with using random fabrics.  Maybe the control freak in me did not like the randomness. I wanted more control.  I chose to have each block as a colour theme.  Six different fabrics of the same colour together in each block, kind of like a rainbow.  I do like rainbows!

By the end of January, I had 24 finished blocks.  All fabrics used had come from my stash. I was in love.  To be honest though, I had no idea where I was heading with this quilt.  I laid out all my blocks together, seen in the photo below, and I knew it needed to be bigger, a few more yellow and orange blocks too.

I took a break from my Rainbow quilt to make Grandma's.  I was itching to add more blocks, but I had the deadline of Grandmas 90th birthday party.  I had to finish that quilt before her party.

Finally by the end of May, I had 30 completed blocks.  As I was laying them out with much excitement, I believed I had finished all my blocks.  Once they were all together though, I knew immediately I had to make 5 more.  If this quilt was to be the one we snuggled under on our couch, it had to be longer.

So 5 more blocks were made.  I have yet to take a photo of all completed 35 blocks, it is getting more and more difficult to photograph as this quilt is so large and our living area very small.

If you want to make your own scrappy trip quilt, all the instructions are here.  It really is easy to do, the blocks come together quickly once you have all your fabric strips cut.  I used this photo as a reference guide how to iron my blocks before cutting (the photo in the instructions is not clear to me)

I have created a board on Pinterest with all this info together, you can see that here.  There is also a Flickr group with so many photos of gorgeous scrappy trip along blocks and completed quilts. Go check it out of you want some inspiration.

I am so eager to finish this quilt, but a secret project has been taking up my time, I'll share that as soon as I can.

Do you want to make a scrappy trip along quilt, or have you already made one?

Happy Creative Space day to you.

Cat xox

All stitched up with love.

Hello peeps,

I recently commissioned Sonia from Dandelyne to make our family portrait.  This is how we look, all stitched up.

It warms my heart looking at it, our little family frozen in time, made out of fabric and thread and stitched up with love by Sonia.

I supplied the fabric for our outfits, some of it sentimental.  The purple paisley fabric used in Abbey's dress is vintage.  I bought a remnant of this fabric at an opshop (charity shop) almost 20 years ago.  As a teenager, I made a mini skirt out of it.  Unfortunately, the skirt no longer fits, but I have kept it to re-purpose one day.  I love this fabric.  The fabric used in my dress is Liberty, I adore Liberty.  Enough said.

How cute are Zoe's pony tails?  Love them!  And the head band in Abbey's hair, perfect.

Sonia really captured us perfectly.  I have never met her, we do not know her.  She managed to make us perfect by looking at photos of us, how clever is that?

You can find the Dandelyn shop here and her facebook page here.  Do pop in and be amazed at what she can stitch up.

Thank you so much Sonia, you are one clever lady!

Happy day to you.

Cat xox

My (green and purple) Creative Space

Hi peeps,

This week is all about green and purple. These lovely green and purple fabrics are to be turned into (more) zippered pouches. Yes, I am still addicted to making zippered pouches.  The purple ones will have fancy straps on them too, if they work out as planned (in my head)  We will see.

I can't sew up just one zippered pouch anymore, it seems like such a waste of my time.  I always make them in batches now.  The negative side of this is, I often have many unfinished ones lying about, in various stages of completion.

These ones need to be finished soon, as they are to be gifts.  What are you making today?

Happy Creative Space day to you.

Cat.

Edit: See these completed here.

My (temperamental) Creative Space

Hi peeps,

Are you temperamental when it comes to your creating?  I am.  I have to be in the right mood.  I usually am in that right mood. But some days, well, I am not in the right mood.  Then there is the not finishing some (too many?) sewing projects.  The UFO's (un-finished objects) We all have some, right?

When we moved to this lovely new apartment in February, I found a great many UFO's.  I found so many more than I thought I had.  There are many that I started when we still lived in Australia.......we have been in Hong Kong now for 11 months....so, these UFO's have been hanging around for way, way too long.

 

This week, I am tackling some of these UFO's.  Very pretty UFO's.  I can't tell you what they are, as they are presents for friends and family.  I am embarrassed to say, one of these UFO's is almost 2 years old.  It really is about time I finished them.

When I get my sewjo back (as Cam calls it), I will be finishing these pretties off.  I have to finish them now I have told the interwebs, right?

Have a great Creative Space day.

Cat.

*The toddler foot is not part of these creations.  She was "helping"*

My (guitar and space invader) Creative Space

Hi peeps,

Last week, I was secret squirrel sewing.  I knew the Shropshire boys birthday was coming up, and I wanted to make him something. It was his turn for some home made goodness.  He has had a kindle for almost a year now, and it really needed a cover to protect it.  I was determined to make that cover.

So last week, in the one sitting, in between toddler demands for food and cuddles, I finally made the Shropshire boy a cover for his kindle.  I was so chuffed at how great it turned out, I was buzzing.  I was on a sewing high.  But I could not tell anyone or show any photos on Instagram, Facebook, Flickr, Twitter or this blog. It had to remain a secret for almost a week.  That was really hard.

I did show the kids, I had to show some one.  Abbey, at 6 years old, was gorgeous and told me it was good and that daddy would love it.  Gosh I love her.

Cam from CurlyPops has a fabulous tutorial How to make a Pouch for an Electronic Gadget that I used.  I have had this tutorial printed out for a long time, waiting for just the right moment.  I can make fabric zippered pouches with my eyes closed, but I have never made anything like this before.

Cam's tutorial is very easy to follow.  Since making the kindle cover, I have made some wet-bags with the same method (minus the quilting and the padding, and I added a velcro closure)  I will definitely be making more of these for our other electronic gadgets.  Thanks Cam for a great tute!

Have a great Creative Space day.  Or a Space Invader day.

Cat.

 

Somewhere, over the raspberry rainbow......

During the day, I sort through our possessions, I cull, I drop things off at the opp shop, I give things away to friends, family and strangers on freecycle, I sell things on ebay.  I move boxes into storage, I cook, I wipe sticky hands and faces, I wash clothes and dirty dishes, I garden,  I hoover.  I negotiate with a 21 month old.  I talk about Hong Kong with a 5 year old, I do the kinder run.  I hoover some more. I read books to two eager little girls, we sing along to Mary Poppins. I change our address (again and again)  I do more sorting.  More culling.  Gosh, we have so many too many possessions. I wonder when this will end.

Insurance claims are refused.  I cry and swear.  I move on.

We start to say goodbye to friends and family. I try to remember to breathe. I squeeze in a little sewing in the evenings, my sanity saver.

Now, I know it will end soon.  The date has been set, 3 weeks from now.  Tickets have been issued.  The packers and shippers have been booked.  Excitement is building. Abbey is crossing off each day on a calendar. I can almost see the light at the end of the tunnel. My Shropshire boy will soon be here to help with the last minute things.  He will take us to our new home.

This is really happening.  I am so excited and sad and happy and thrilled - all at the same time.

I won't be around much in blog land for a while. I will miss you all.  Soon, I will be back though, ready to share my new adventure with you, what ever that may be.

Love from Cat xox

Wordless Wednesday

More here.

The unexpected

My shop has been open for one day, and I made my first online sale! I did not expect a sale so soon, it was the most lovely of surprises.

I was dancing around the computer when I saw the email, I was so chuffed. Turns out, an old friend saw on facebook that I had just opened my madeit shop, and she needed a baby present. She chose the Jolly Jungle bib and burp cloth set.

How cute is this fabric? I love it.

Raspberry Rainbow is here!

Raspberry rainbow is here!

Today!

My shop is open.

More items to be added soon.

Shop opening soon. Very soon!

I can hardly contain my (nervous?) excitement.

My logo is here. I love it. I hope you do too.

I am almost ready to open my shop.

Maybe tomorrow........