The Cat in the Hat is Back.....

I love The Cat in the Hat and have been loving all the fabric that has been coming out in the last couple of years.  I got my first Dr Seuss book from Father Christmas, and it is still going strong, having been read hundreds of times to my 3 girls as well. 

Sally was 16 last Friday so I was excited to have an excuse to make up one of the raggy kits that we put together at The Quilters Corner..... please note, the fact that my daughter is named after one of the main characters is purely coincidental....maybe....  The quilt is so bright and fun and makes you desperate for a cold night to snuggle underneath! 

I also dug this photo out for amusement... my sister Suzanne and I went as "thing 1 & thing 2" to my eldest sister Jane's 40th a few years back.  The theme was 'naughty 40', and lets face it, who could be naughtier than "thing 1 & thing 2"?  We had a lot of fun and people got us mixed up all night!

have a great week,
Michelle xx

Nearly there......

While the rain may be falling steady outside in Brisbane, the sun is definitely shining in my sewing room! The end is in sight for my very own designed applique quilt.  All 9 blocks are done, and put together and now I have just the border to go.  I sketched quite a few border options on the weekend and let the girls have the deciding vote, now I just have to try and get the colour balance right.... mmm.  I'm really hoping it comes together, as I'm desperate to finish it. All too often, something doesn't quite work out how I picture it in my head, and I therefore put it aside until the next burst of inspiration.  Fingers crossed for quilt harmony

Have a great week,
squeezes, Michelle x

My binding Jar....

I must confess to being a little bit of a 'hoarder', but then I don't think there are many of us 'fabricholics' that aren't, (please don't contradict me here as I need to believe that this is the case).  Consequently I find it quite hard to throw things out... well, you never know when it might come in handy! 
Excess bindings are one of those things that I look at and hate to throw away.  Those lovely big moccona coffee jars are also another.  So voila! the two have become best of friends and I have a little bit of extra eye candy in my sewing room! 
Of course, it is not just visual stimulation I'm after, the idea is that one day, when I finally get around to making that perfect scrap quilt, the contents of said jar will be joined together and used to perfectly finish this perfect quilt!  Don't you love a happy ending? (I crack myself up!)

have a great week,
Michelle

Bargello.. tick!

After matching, pinning and sewing just 'a couple' of intersections, my Bargello top is finished! We had our first class on Saturday morning and it went very well, if nothing else, everyone learnt how important careful ironing is to a quilt of this nature (helps keep it nice a straight with no kinks or waves).  Not quite sure how I will quilt this one..... mmmm, a couple of options here....

squeezes,
Michelle x

Hexie Snowflakes......

ok... this post is a little late, but I did warn you that I had a 'little' catching up to do. 
Each Christmas I try to think of a little something that I can make for friends.  Since I had been teaching a 'hexie' class I was immediately inspired (and extremely thankful) by the lovely Nova's creation over at her blog, 'A cuppa and a catchup.  Her snowflakes were just perfect, and I changed them to my all time love, the trusty ol', can't possibly go wrong,  'red and white' colour theme.  I had also just bought some gorgeous red and white cotton twine (fancy that!) so it was all just too perfect for words. 
Most of them unfortunately didn't get delivered on time, but they were appreciated none the less. 

Many thanks Nova, if you were in reach, I would have smooched you for sure!

Michelle xx

Bargello Strips

I am teaching a Bargello class in February and this is my sample,  (please ignore my Aunt Millies being used as a table cloth underneath). I made my MIL a Bargello table runner for Christmas and found it a lot of fun and very addictive.  Maybe because my curiosity has now been satisfied, this seems to be a much longer progress.... or maybe because this is a about 15 times bigger?!  There are 20 strips in each 'set' and I need to make 4 full sets and 2 partial sets.  I've finished 12 strips so far, and then, the fun really begins.  You then get to cut and slice, and make magic.  I shall you my progress as I go along.

As with all things quilting, there are always handy tips to make life easier and bargello is no exception. I'll let you know these when I've got a full list for you.

Hope you had a happy Australia Day,
Michelle xx

p.s. quite proud of myself... I looked at my strips sitting there about 10 minutes ago and thought, "I should blog about that.. I'll do it tomorrow", but then decided to strike while the iron is hot!  Feels quite good to be organised I have to say.. might give it real bash this year!

one . word. BACKUP!!!!

Oh my gosh.. not a great start to the new year (shame really because the REAL start to the new year was fantastic!).  The new(ish) computers hard drive died, crashed, kaputt! And NOTHING could be retrieved.  Yes, we do have an external hard drive, but we hadn't backed up since last March, so everything since then has gone... photos.... patterns... everything.  Its definitely not the end of the world, people have to deal with far worse in life (and I'm actually the type of person that once something has happened... its done.. so I'm quite calm).  But please let this act as a reminder for you to back up your data. 
So enter friendly Dell computer man (thankfully said computer was still under warranty)... whom I'm sure got the most exuberant welcome he has had in a long time (I made him love his job today).  He painlessly replaced my hard drive, and made me a very happy woman.  Hubby kind of had mixed emotions, as it meant his job once he got home was to reinstall and resetup (is that a word?) as he much as he could. 
So, now that I'm back in the cyber world it is time to pull my finger out and get on with it.  I had a wonderful break (although not too many photos to share.. but lets move on), and am feeling very enthused. Lots of exciting things planned and lots to share, but I'll trickle them out over the next couple of weeks..

Happy stitching,
Michelle xx