Snail Trail rediscovered

Having a little clear out of my craft cupboard the other day and I discovered this little piece. The block is called ‘snail trail’ and I made it a few years ago just because it was a design that really appealed to me. I still love the way the pattern jumps out and plays tricks on the eye.  It was made mainly from left over oriental fabric I had left over from a lantern quilt that I made.

It’s only a small piece and I could never quite decide what to do with it. It could be a small wall hanging or I suppose I could make some more blocks and borders to make it into a lap quilt…hmm any suggestions?

Woollen Recycle – Update no.2

Remember all that time ago when I visited the local op shop and came home with some bargain woollens.  I made a few things which you can see here:  Recycle Update  and as you can see above I have found a new purpose for the remainder of the felted wool.

At the time I brought it home, I put it on the hottest wash possible to create felted wool that I would be able to cut and sew like fabric.  That gave me the idea to try it for teeny tiny dolls clothes (added to the fact my knitting and crochet skills just aren’t that crash hot).  I really wish I could be like others I see who can just churn those little items out while they’re waiting for the kettle to boil…unfortunately I’m not one of them. So I have sewn a couple of little jackets which I then embroidered:

Tiny purple jacket

brown felted doll’s jacket

The ‘models’ keeping warm

I would love to hear of any other felting adventures.  I aim to make some slippers at some point when I can find a suitable pattern (I did try making my own but it was fairly disasterous)! I just think they would be so lovely and warm…I should point out we are still enduring the cold snap in Melbourne, probably not relevant to those in the Northern hemisphere at the moment basking in the sunshine (enjoy it while you can) 🙂

Naruto update

Progress!

Its moving rather slowly (a bit too slow for my son’s liking) but I thought I would share where I am up to on the Naruto quilt. As I have been making it up as I go along, I haven’t quite decided how much bigger to make it but I think it will need another couple of borders so I will try and get enthused again so hopefully ready in time for his birthday in March (hmmm i guess that’s not too far away is it?)

The ups and downs of learning something new

First things first. I have two lovely ladies to thank for nominating my blog for the One Lovely Blog and the Very Inspiring Blog Awards as you can see here:

The first thank you goes to Lori at The Inbox Jaunt Who has been inspiring me greatly recently with her fabulous free-motion quilting. I was consoling myself with the fact that she probably used a specialist sewing machine of some sort but when she told me she only used an ordinary sewing machine, my admiration went up by several notches and I decided to give it a try myself.

The results are at the bottom of this post and needless to say – I have a very long way to go to approach anything like Lori’s level! Oh well practice makes perfect, as they say. Do have a look at Lori’s work though – it is truly inspirational.

My second thank you goes to Julie or Garden Girl at Crazy Wonderful Life. I find Julie has a very honest way of writing and I first got to visit her blog when she wrote about a disasterous sewing class – where everything went wrong – cheered me up no end!! Go take a little look and see some of the lovely things she has been making.

Now for the other bit (I have covered 1. and 2. I think)

The Rules

1. Thank the person who nominated you.
2. Add The One Lovely Blog Award / The Very Inspiring Blogger Award to your post.
3. Share 7 things about yourself.
4. Pass the award on to 10 nominees.
5. Include this set of rules.
6. Inform your nominees by posting a comment on their blogs.

Seven things about me:

1. I make a mean Moussaka
2. My star sign is Sagitarius
3. I was born in the Chinese year of the Ox
4. I did a foundation course in art therapy
5. I lost contact with my best childhood friend when I was 10 and found her 37 years later!
6. I have always wanted to visit South America
7. I love chocolate in any form!

Here are my nominees for the award:

A Conversation with Moo
Deep in the Heart of Textiles
Green and Clean My Life
Dizzy Izzy Blog
Knit Nell
Projects by Mtetar
Living Simply Free
Nice Piece of Work
Pillows a la Mode
Neros Post and Patch

As mentioned at the beginning of the post here is my show and tell – please don’t judge me harshly!! As I said earlier I was so inspired by Lori at the Inbox Jaunt I just had to have a try at free motion quilting so these were my first attempts:

I know the only way is up from here so I’ll keep you posted on how I get on!

More love!

Spring has sprung in Chelt Park

Lots of lovely flowers and birds on display at the moment.  Great to see blue skies again!

Pizza Oven continued

Its really starting to look something now – especially with the pergola taking shape. Nothing by half-measures my husband!

Rodg and his Pizza oven.

Yes he does like to have a project – and Steve looks so happy to be helping!

Hello world!

Here it is, my first ever blog! Hopefully I will get the hang of it (fingers crossed)!