HST Quilt - What do you think?

From your comments on my last post, this was the most popular layout... what do you think?

I would love to hear your thoughts before I go any further :)

To Plan, Or Not To Plan...

That is the question. Unfortunately for me, I am rather obsessed with being somewhat organised where I can be (you only need to check out my Tupperware collection to know that this issue runs rather deep). After my last post, it would appear that I am a little bit crazy planning Christmas gifts so far in advance... although I am not alone. Thankfully. (Hi Michelle!)

Anyway, I am OK with being a little crazy and what you are about to read will only affirm my craziness (or perhaps compulsion for being organised). Over the past few months I have been collecting these encyclopedias each week. They are released each weekend with The Herald (I don't buy The Herald though!).

When I picked up the first copy and realised that a total of 24 were being published, I knew exactly what to do with them... These books will be an advent calendar this Christmas. I plan to wrap each book in brown paper and number them 1 - 24. Every day the boys will be able to open one book together, and that night we will read about the mysteries and information it contains.

It's been quite fun collecting these books each week! And I am loving how they are stacking together. I think they'll look quite sweet on their book case.

In other news, I've begun my Single Girl mission. 3 quilts. 2 twin sized. 1 queen sized. All need to be completed for Christmas.

The 2 twin sized quilts will be for Oliver's bunk beds (which remain unbuilt in our garage!) out of Little Apples. I love this line. I plan to make pillow cases and a memo board too once the yardage is released.

The queen quilt is for my sister in law. She chose these prints last year for her quilt - very bright and cheerful. Much like her.

And... I've also managed to turn that pile of Strawberry Fields from this

...to this. This quilt is destined for my MIL for Christmas. Although I think I might find this one hard to part with.

Still trying to decide if this should be a windmill? Or if I should just lay out the squares randomly. I've always loved this quilt. Any thoughts? Please share!

The week in parcels...

Thankfully our airways seem to be returning to normal after many delays and cancellations thanks to volanic ash (all the way from Chile!)... as well as having a few work trips interrupted, my mail box had been very empty... until this week that is!

This delicious parcel arrived perfectly timed after my third 5am start (thanks Gus!) and getting up and down like a yo-yo throughout the night. It was such a delightful car trip into work as I opened and examined the beautiful goodies inside.

Georgia (the sweetest friend ever) sent me a just because present containing an awesome selection of delightful quilty goodness plus some lollies which were quickly consumed and couldn't be photographed. Among the goodness, including gorgeous patterns, needles and a sweet Kristen Doran print were these beauties...

A bundle of AMH's Little Folks in voile (so buttery and soft!)

The sweetest mug rug. Ever. In the world.

A Kona Cottons Solid Card - I had no idea how many colours there were! YUM!

Thank you so so much Georgia. You are an absolute gem. I love my parcel! Now to start collecting goodies to surprise you with. xx.

Next this parcel of Little Apples (jealous much?!) finally arrived (4 weeks after it was posted!)... This was part of a swap for the DS Australian/NZ prints only.

Yum! This will be a Single Girl quilt for Ollie (x2 - I've managed to also buy some extra layer cakes and a jelly roll at an online Moda Sample Spree too!) I think he will love the giant O's the pattern creates!

And lastly... my A Little Fabric A Little Chocolate swap from Lisa.

This was also filled with pure delicous quilty bits and some amazing handmade gifts from Lisa. Including 2 scarves for the boys which Oliver immediately began wearing! A pretty wee pincushion, gorgeous bookmark, aqua FQ's for a red and aqua quilt I plan to make (one day!) and the nicest fudge ever. Thank you so much Lisa! You're very talented! xx

And just when you thought that was the end of it... I also got a wee thank you gift from one of the sweet ladies I sent the DS Australian/NZ prints too - a charm pack of Little Apples but I didn't want to make you all too jealous. I am so grateful - thank you Amanda! These will definitely be put to good use in Ollie's quilts... and if I've enough... I may even make an extra for Gus :) But we all know I have way too many unfinished quilts for Gus at the moment as it is!

Thank you so much to all the ladies who posted these parcels to me! What a wonderful week of surprises... made even more special by one of my busiest weeks yet!

Right... I must be off to make a last minute gift for my nephew's 3rd birthday which we are celebrating today. In less than 2 hours. Eep. Why is that I always buy the materials well in advance but leave the actual making to the last minute?!

In an effort to get organised...

Strawberry Fields - destined to be a windmill quilt

Last Saturday marked the 6 month countdown to Christmas. Eeeek! Where has the year gone? Seriously! So... in an effort to get myself organised as part of my Make. Bake. Craft. Create year, I wrote myself a Christmas to make list... Yes. I am honestly that geeky.

Arcadia - destined to be a DNP sashed in white

It's a rather optimistic list and I have a feeling that I am definitely biting off more than I can chew. I need to average 2 - 3 projects a month in between working full time, being a Mum, a housewife, a wife and a person. Thankfully a month or so ago I made the decision to book a cleaner fortnightly on a Friday. It's lovely to come home to a clean home. Makes my heart happy!

Anyway, I hope I haven't caused you too much panic with my Christmas countdown. Do you write lists to? And is anyone else already planning Christmas presents? Please assure me that I am normal (ish).

So with July already upon us, I've already sliced two Layer Cakes (above) ... just need to find the motivation to sew. Perhaps tonight! Happy sewing everyone!

Bliss in Patches

When I was little my mother called me Mary. As in Mary Mary quite contrary. Decision making has always been something I've struggled with. I am an indecisive person. Most of the time.

I'd originally planned to make up my Bliss jelly roll in this pattern by Camille...

But I had a change of heart after I'd cut my fabric and became very disinterested in sewing this quilt together. It might have had something to do with sewing 1.25" squares onto 2.5" squares which I found quite fiddly.

Anyway a week or two ago I picked up the squares and decided I best do something with them. I've always loved this quilt of Georgia's, so I decided a 9 patch was the way to go with all my precut 2.5" squares.

The start of a nice little collection of 9 patch blocks. This pink is very sweet.

All my blocks together. I need to buy another jelly roll for the sashing. So please just imagine this sashed in white if you can. My dilema comes next though... I have a bunch of bliss squares left over... I was considering making an outer border in the squares? What do you think? Otherwise I could border it in the middle print below? Or both? What do you think?

My backing is flannel. It's so soft and glorious. I will definitely enjoy snuggling under this quilt top (if I keep it - I might put this one in the Christmas gift pile. See what I mean about indecisive!). The binding will be the top green print. The green isn't my favourite colours in this quilt but when I went to order yardage a while ago, all the pinks, reds and aquas had been snapped up. For good reason too! They're quite delicious.

And just to end this rather lengthy post - here's a couple of photos of Gus the other day with his new puppy hanging out with me

Teenager already. Doesn't like too many photos being taken.

A Little Plug For My Kiwi Quilting Buddies

I love handmade goodness. I especially love giving handmade goodness. Catherine recently made these gorgeous knitting rolls and I quickly snapped them up for the knitters in my life... (apologies for the poor photo quality - I've been using my phone)

If you haven't already, I'd suggest checking out Catherine's blog... she's one clever Kiwi! Thanks Catherine!

I also purchased these sweet masks from my friend Viv. Aren't they sweet? I've popped them in the cupboard for a rainy day when the boys need something new to keep them quiet and happy!

Viv also kindly sent some little fishies for the boys. They're magnetic and I just need to make up a couple of wee fishing rods so we can go fishing. Thanks Viv! You can check out Viv's blog and shop here.

Earlier this year I gave away a bunch of works in progress that I knew I just would never get to. I sent Sarah a wee unfinished quilt top that had lost it's way and some more Odyssea and I was so excited to see the finished quilt top. You can read all about it here. Thanks Sarah for making such a beautiful quilt to gift to someone special affected by the Christchurch Earthquakes!

There are lots of other clever quilting Kiwi's... I'm building up my little list to the right there! If you're a Kiwi and you're not there yet, just give me a nudge and I'll add you! I know I'm missing a few and I'd love to have you there too!

It's another wet weekend here. I plan to finish up my Bliss quilt top - hopefully I'll have enough white left! Eep! I'm itching to start something new... namely this quilt in this

 Tomorrow we're hoping to take the boys out to the steam engine. I hope it's not raining!!

Have a wonderful weekend!

Recess Lunch Money Complete!

A month or so ago I went to my friend Jenny's baby shower. She's expecting a wee man (9 days overdue today!) and what better way to welcome a new baby than with a quilt. I used a charm pack of Recess and some jelly roll strips in white...

Apologies for the particularly glarey photo. My camera thinks it's so smart and the flash is always permanently on... I still haven't figured out how to switch it off.

The backing is a cream version of the monkey flannel fabric I used for this quilt's backing. The binding is the navy marble(like) fabric. My LAQ replicated the monkeys on the back with a gorgeous all over funky monkey pattern. It came together nicely. This quilt was made completely out of stash fabrics which was fabulous!

I literally left it to the last minute to finish this quilt :) I finished sewing the binding down with only a couple of hours to spare... in fact, I had to hang this quilt on my friends clothes line while we ate lunch to finish drying so that I could gift wrap it for the party that afternoon. Thankfully the weather was absolutely perfect. Not today though. It's rather wet. And cold.

I'm spending the day with my littlest man who is home with a nasty cough and strep throat. He's quite enjoying the attention and icecream at the moment! And in between playing Nurse, I've managed to get a little bit of sewing done. Pure Bliss. More on that tomorrow. Right now I need to go turn a pumpkin into pumpkin soup.

Here's hoping that little baby arrives soon! I've also picked up the sweetest little bear - so sweet and so soft. Jellycat make lovely toys to snuggle. Gus can still be found smooching Bashful Bunny (not quite this big mind you).

Happy sewing!

L