Friday 28 September 2012

100th post

Wow
100th blog post today
I may have to bake cupcakes to celebrate......next page in hummingbird bakery book is....strawberry cheesecake cupcakes, I'll give them a go tomorrow.

Having a testing time trying to pick borders for the sample blocks I made with quilting gallery's quiltalong.
I made each block from different fabrics, with a solid in each, which seemed fun at the time, but its a challenge to  tie it all up so it doesn't look like a total dog's dinner.Mmm, maybe it it still a dog's dinner but with nice borders.........determined for it not to become an unfinished project lurking in the depths, going to complete it this weekend, well just the top.
In the end decided to sash with yellow, the new citrus from Kona which was JUST the yellow I was looking for.



Now got to choose the outer 6" border
As I am on a  trying not to spend on non essentials ( ha ha ), HAD to use something I already have.  As I cannot move for boxes of fabric, maybe not too unreasonable.
Thinking this retro-ish print will do?



Looking forwards to doing  my first challenge with London Modern Quilt Guild soon, I am fascinated  how a group of quilters inspiration and creativity varies when presented with the same fabrics...intriguing.

Wednesday 19 September 2012

bags of stress


I do find that the only way to forget the stress of the ED is to get into making as soon as dinner is done.
Things are really tough at work , so my making is accelerating. A lot.
 I'm into lined totes this week
Loved using Aneela Hooey's' walk in the woods' for bag number 1




Daughter wants it, but I want it MORE


Bag number 2  slightly improved with a contrast band and a starched pressed boxy bottom to avoid sagginess...until you actually use it that is, ha ha.




This one I lined with a tiny daisy print gingham I bought at FOQ


Also participated in my first swap, was really worried my secret partner had not got my package, but it finally arrived in Canada 2 weeks after posting, and luckily she likes the contents. Thanks Barb for the message, love your blog name Quilting Barbie!

Friday 14 September 2012

auditioning sampler quilt

It was fun making all my sampler blocks with different fabrics, but funnily enough its a real challenge  to bring the whole quilt together. 
Tried it with these green/gold triangles , but having laid it out, I think it would be better for them  all to be the green/yellow amy butler ( bottom right). 
The yellow sashing looks a bit yuck on photo, but looks better  in reality ( honest). Going to go the whole hog and trim sashing with ric rac. It will have a  mid green cornerstones added as well.


Not going to miss it on a dark night eh?

Sunday 9 September 2012

decoupage and cake stencils

Spent a leisurely morning on my sunny  balcony making these decoupage dishes 



Dear daughter quite fancies trying the technique too , so she is decoupaging her French folder dividers as we speak with lovely silver wrapping paper.

She also covered the whole kitchen in icing sugar dust to make buttercream for cupcakes
We tried some pretty stencils on sugarpaste, but BOY is sugarpaste difficult to manage in a hot kitchen. I had a feeling it was quite a technical thing to get right..and it is! Used the tip of smearing a little white veg fat to stop it sticking to board, but then when trying to lift the cut piece up, it started stretching out of shape, darn it.
anyway, its OK for a first try



We managed to gobble a couple down

Back to work tomorrow...........

modern scrappy swap

Received this lovely little bundle in the post yesterday


Thank you Cheraldine! You chose well for me
My daughter thought the pincushion was very sweet, she's got her eyes on it

Today I am mainly doing decoupage on my sunny balcony .......but its proving more tricky than I thought to get the finish really glossy

Back to the modge podge I go

Wednesday 5 September 2012

bali beauty and crafts

We have just returned after spending a wonderful 6 days in Bali
The journey from the UK was pretty horrible, whole thing took about 23 hours, but well worth it
We stayed at Bali Ecostay, on the slopes of Mount Batukaru and it was as if we had found paradise
http://baliecostay.com/
This the view from our balcony



Anyway, we had the opportunity to try some local crafts whilst we were there

We made offerings and decorations from young coconut fronds







We had a go at wood carving, this is my lotus.....felt exhausted after hammering away for 3 hours!I think I had confused wood carving with whittling in my mind........




we made simple bamboo baskets with the Grandpa



 I asked our driver to stop on the way back to the airport in the nearest town to buy some sarong, and we stopped in Tabanan and a WONDERFUL shop filled with stacks of brilliant fabrics...you know the feeling...so much and you cannot make a decision on what to buy. Our poor driver was also a bit embarassed as we were sorting through ladies stuff....

Here is what I bought





Back home now  adjusting to UK time zone, and I found that I had won some patterns from quilting gallery for this block, yeah!