Sweet Treat

Oh, these birds are one of my absolute favourite prints in my stash - I've used it before for a tote bag or two  - and it was exactly what I needed to go with the vibrant green of the pinwheels in this bassinet quilt.

I did a simple criss-cross line (inside an echo square) for the bird blocks, and did curvy echoes on the seams of the pinwheels for a petal effect.

The pinwheels were off-cuts from a Meadow Mist Designs mystery quilt-along that I am taking part in; with my new 'rule' being that I have to immediately use leftovers/off-cuts for baby quilts, this was fun to create.

Like my other donation baby quilts, I have used fabrics from my stash, 

including the yummy purple polka dot binding and the all-over tiny daisy print on the backing.

I finished these two in September.

Woodland Hugs and Kisses

This is a commission baby quilt for my cousin's nephew's new baby.

It measures 37" x 43".

I found a cute set of fat quarters at Spotlight that had all the colours that had been suggested, and I used them in the quick and easy Craftbuds pattern 'Citrus and Mint' along with another couple of stash fabrics, such as the grey solids.

The prints had a cute set of woodland creatures, trees and arrows.

I used a simple diagonal straight line and echo lines design for the quilting.

The flannel backing has foxes on it and I love the binding!

I'm on the hunt for photo locations (as they are a bit sparse around our house) - 

the driveway fence was quite good (with the help of some masking tape to attach the quilt).

Linking up with Kelly's Needle and Thread Thursday and also with 

Wendy's Peacock Party - kia ora everyone!

Birdcage Bag for Lucy

 

Found some time to whip up a quick tote bag last weekend - this gorgeous birdcage fat quarter was in my stash and I figured it would be perfect for the gift I was making!

One side only has the birdcage fabric, this side has strip of black and white fabrics.
I quilted this side with wavy horizontal lines.

The lining is a gorgeous blue floral tone-on-tone print.

 

I just LOVE these birds! I quilted loosely around the cages/swings,
following the 'chains' between each cage.

And here is the lovely young lady who I made it for - Lucy Collins-McKenzie has been my  University of Otago 3rd-year teacher trainee for the past three terms, regularly visiting on Mondays as well as long multi-week postings in Terms 1, 2 and 3 to put into practice her teaching skills.  She has totally proven herself to be a superb teacher and will be an asset to any school that gives her a job after graduation! It has been a privilege to mentor such a talented and enthusiastic young teacher.

(Disclaimer: our family connection, Lucy being Reece's girlfriend, does not cloud my judgement at all!) Team Kahu and I have LOVED having Lucy in our classroom (especially over the past four weeks when she has been on full control)  -we will miss her a lot and wish her all the best as she finds a job for next year!

I took photos as I went, to make a tutorial for my future reference (this is a nice, quick bag to put together) so watch this space!

Sharing my finish by linking up with: Lee's WIP Wed and Kelly's Needle and Thread Thursday as well as Crazy Mom's Finish It Up Friday!  All my favourites! Welcome everyone!

A+ quilt

It has been on my to-do list to make a Plus quilt...have finally had a go at it, 

using a mixture of blues and greens...

It is a lap quilt, measuring 60"x 60" - I loosely followed Jeni Baker's tutorial by using 4.5" squares (finishing size of 4") but instead of cutting five squares per plus I cut a middle strip of 12.5" x 4.5"

I used a chevron minky backing (with a strip of flannel as I was too lazy to try to match the chevrons in an effort to make the minky wide enough for the backing!)

I used a multi-stripe for the binding - it was another chance to try out machine sewing the binding on (as per Rita's tutorial at Red Pepper Quilts) - it is much faster than hand sewing!

And yes, it has been trying to snow for a couple of days...

we're not getting much here but it is making a mess all over Southland/Otago.

Here is the birthday boy who I made the quilt for; my friend's son Lachie turned 13 this month:

In this cold winter weather the birds are enjoying the free food we've got out for them - 

check out the korimako (bellbird)...

...and the tauhou (silvereye/waxeye)...

Big 'hi' to any visitors from Kelly's Needle and Thread Thursday linky party!
And also to those visiting via Amanda Jean's Finish It Friday!
or Sarah's Can I Get aWhoop Whoop? linky!

Quilt Delivery Weekend

This weekend I took the opportunity to head up to Central Otago to deliver some very important recent projects...we nearly lost "Fizzy for Lizzy" into Lake Dunstan at Cromwell (it was more than a trifle windy up at the look-out, thank goodness Kieran had hold of at least one corner of it like I told him to when he made like a Hobbit and hid behind the rock for the photo!)

Great to be able to spend a long-overdue evening with my lifelong friend Ali and to be able to wish Fairy Princess Elizabeth a happy 5th birthday...

 

Then on Sunday, Kieran and I enjoyed a drive over to the Ida Valley in the Maniototo district, to deliver two more birthday presents...

"String of Pearls Remixed" for my cousin Kaylee...

The land here is quite a bit drier than here in Southland! Everywhere I passed, farm paddocks were being irrigated, while back here in Southland we've had an overload of rain!

And "Birds on High" for her daughter Claudia, just turned four...(I had to include the blue sky as proof that the sun does still shine somewhere in NZ!)

Birds on High - for Claudia

A wall-hanging, 20"square, and one of my Littlest Thistle Finish Along 4th Quarter challenge projects:  made from various pink and green-toned fabrics bought on sale from Kitz'n'Thingz or Spotlight...with my cousin's little girl about to turn 4, I wanted to do something with applique and saw a similar design (as a pillow I think) on Pinterest...the birds are ironed on and then I stitched in black around them to give it a 'sketched' look...

I used a 16.5' square for the background, and each border has 16-22 strips of 1.5" x 4".
The birds range between 8-12 cm in height. 

I used an embroidery stitch on my machine to add a little detail to the border, which is quilted with various widths of straight lines, while the centre background is filled with swirls...

Here is 4 year old Claudia, my cousin's youngest child (and sister to three older brothers), with her wall-hanging...she's a real character! I really enjoyed my weekend in Central Otago to deliver this gift and another quilt gift for another gorgeous girl...

Linking up with: Amanda Jean's (Crazy Mom Quilts) Finish It Up Friday;
Shannon's Modern Tradition Quilts KISMIF party      and      Lorna's Sew Fresh Quilts Let's Bee Social

Our four-six weeks of Spring rain has battered the garden somewhat (I considered building an ark about two weeks ago as we'd had so much rain), and the paddocks everywhere are totally soaked, but the flowers are still blooming...rose 'Alison', such a gorgeous deep pink...

 With a close-up of 'Iceberg'...