Giveaway

I have been having fun with a basket weave looking cotton fabric I bought from Spotlight. It is perfect for the making of tea towels. I have been using up some of my border prints and also pretty, colourful fabrics for the trims. Here is a photo of one of them, with a border prints of whales as the trim.

So I have decided to give one of these tea towels away. To be in the draw, all you have to do is leave a comment between now and 9th September and you will be in the draw for one of these tea towels.

Cheers.....Jewells

Photos of both quilt tops

Here is one of the 2 quilt tops that I made to try my hand at quilting on. I made it from scraps left over from another quilt. I like this one the best of the 2. I didn't have enough time to quilt this one yesterday... but I plan to practise a bit more before I attempt the quilting of it.


Here is the other quilt top I made. It is made of flannel material and made with a new gizmo I bought at a craft fair this year. The gizmo is called "a square in a square ruler"..it was fun to use.


Tomorrow I hope to trim the above quilt and add the binding, then photograph it and show you my attempt at quilting.... trust me, my quilting needs a LOT more practising... I won't leave my day job!

Until next posting... Cheers...Jewells

I'm Back!

At long last I am back on air and even though I haven't been near the computer, I have been sewing and knitting the past couple of weeks.

I have sewn 2 quilt tops out of left over fabric from other quilts I had made ages ago. The 2 quilt tops are for me to practice on tomorrow (hopefully) as I am going to a lady's place to play with her "old" long arm quilting machine. I want to know if I enjoy quilting. If I don't enjoy it, I won't go any further into looking at machines and will keep sending my quilts to a lady to quilt for me.

I have tried to download the two quilt tops, but I am not having any luck at the moment... will have to try again tomorrow to show you what they look like "before" I attempt to quilt them.

I am also knitting another double breasted cardigan for my 9 month old grandson. I say "another" as the first one I made for him was size 1-2 yrs, however when my daughter received it she said that it was too small for him. I knew he was a big boy, but didn't realise he was that big! so I decided to make the largest size in the pattern (7-8 yrs) and that way he can grow into it! By the looks of the back, it will be sitting in his cupboard for a few years!

Until next posting.. Cheers...Jewells

Off air for a couple of weeks

My computer needs updating and the computer "doctor" wants to keep it for a couple of weeks and add all sorts of things to it, so I will have to stop posting to my blog for all that time... just when I was getting a hang of it.

So until next blog posting....

Cheers........Jewells

My Bear Quilt

Here is another one of my quilts I came across over the weekend. This was a BOM from Country Pieces (Orange, NSW, Australia) and as I am a teddy bear lover, I decide to make this quilt into a doona cover. That way I will use the quilt.... one day!
I ended up adding the half square triangle row on the top and bottom so it would fit a queen sized doona.
This is a close up of one of the appliqued blocks.

To make it into a doona cover, I had the quilt top quilted the same way as if it was going to be a normal quilt, but instead of adding the binding, I bought a queen sized flat sheet and sewed the quilt and sheet together like a huge pillowcase, with the flap on the bottom with fancy snaps to keep the doona in and not gaping at the bottom.

I have made a few quilts into doona covers like this.

Until next posting...
Cheers...Jewells

Transport Quilt

I was rearranging my wardrobe last weekend and had a lovely time refreshing my memory on some of the quilts I have made and just folded up and put away. I have this habit of seeing a lovely pattern or panel, have to make the quilt and when it is finished, I have no idea what to do with it?

This is a "Transport Quilt" that I made a couple of years ago. It was a panel (still have 2 more panels of this in my stash)... there was no pattern to follow, but I saw a picture in a magazine and sort of used the same idea and came up with this lovely single bed sized quilt.

Since I had one big and small picture of the panel left over, I made this matching cushion to go with the quilt, with the "big" picture of the train on the other side of the cushion. I have been seriously thinking of hiring a hall for a day and display and try to sell a lot of my quilts that are just folded up in my wardrobe!

Until next posting...

Cheers.....Jewells

Knitting Dishcloths

I have been busy knitting dishcloths lately... they are fun and quick. I found this pattern on a blog I read, but had to change the spelling from the American version of "Mom" to the Australian version "Mum". I have put this aside to give to my Mum as part of her Christmas present.

This is the first type of knitted dishcloth I made and have been making for many years now, all done in 100% cotton that I get from USA or Canada. I can't find an Australian equivalent that is as soft and inexpensive as the overseas cotton, however I will be going to a woollen mill in a couple of weeks in Victoria, so I will see what they have there.

I have given many of these away as gifts, only to be told by many of recipitants that they are too pretty to use as a dishcloth!

Well that's all for today.

Cheers...Jewells

Tisket a Tasket

When I started my Tisket a Tasket block of the month, I knew I wasn't going to sew the applique idea, and as I don't like redwork, but love bluework, I decided to make my first block in blue. When February came along, I thought to myself "why not do each month in a different colour?", and this is what the first 6 months looks like.

Also, as this pattern is designed in USA, and I live in Australia, I have omitted the wording on the blocks.

Well that is my second posting AND I included a photo...whoo hoo, I'm getting a hang of this blogging!

Cheers...Julie

My first Blog...HELP!!

After many people telling me I need to start a blog, I have decided to try my hand at this, as I read many blogs and get inspiration off many.

I hope to come up with many inspirations for others out there.

This first blog is a test to see how to set this thing up... I am computer challenged, so it is all baby steps until I get the hang of this.