Bubbles!!!!!

So as you may have seen in our recent post, we are introducing HSTs into the YouPatch quilt design suite! Here is the first pixel quilt I've made that incorporates triangles:

The original image was a pic I took about a year ago of my daughter Ella blowing bubbles.

Rather than go with my usual bright solid fabrics, I wanted to incorporate a palette that was a little different so I asked my dear friend Louise (who usually goes for a softer palette than I do) to select the fabrics for me. Not only did she select something gorgeous and a little different, she went with textured fabrics.... all purchased from Amitie.

From L-R: Robert Kaufman dot in pink, Quartet Collection by Faye Burgos for Marcus Fabrics, Zenith by P&B Textiles, Robert Kaufman quilters linen in silver, Robert Kaufman quilters linen in platinum.

The festival of Ella

Our Ella is 6 and the last month in our family has been all about HER!!

First came the invitation to see the Prep children showing off their projects for this term.

That is (apparently) a dolphin!

Then came the school circus concert.

Yes, Jake was in the concert too but my 'Festival of Jake' post will be coming in a few weeks.

Then the dancing party for her friends .... My girl is so very shy and retiring  ;)

Of course a fabulous cake was baked. (Thanks Corrie for the inspiration).

 

 

 

Then came her actual birthday ... a Wednesday. I took treats into the school for all the children in her class and after school a small family dinner with a candle in some donuts. 

Ironically, no photos taken that day.

Followed, on the Friday night, by a BIG family dinner with, of course, another cake!

My shy girl!

 

And to top it all off, a ballet concert the next day.

 

Happy birthday my beautiful gingie girl. It is so amazing watching you grow up into a confident, happy and rather feisty girly person.

 

We love you.

xxxxxx

When quilts have babies

Often, when I'm making a quilt, I make a LOT of blocks and then arrange them to the design and size I like. This usually means left-over blocks to make little baby quilts with.

So when I made this quilt for Ella's next birthday ...

 

... there were enough blocks left over to make this cute little baby quilt ...

 

(It hasn't been gifted yet so I won't say who it might be for!)

I blogged about this quilt a while ago ...

 

But I haven't yet shown you the new baby ...

 

This one will be sent over to the Bumble Beans Quilt Basics charity organised by the wonderfully talented and generous Victoria.

Quilt Basics provides handmade quilty love to homeless families in the NYC area. It is a wonderful cause and I encourage you to get involved if you can.

I just love making babies  ;-)
Andi xx

Self portraits

I'm very excited about today's finish.

I've been working with the children in Ella's class to create a class quilt.  They are all about 5 or 6 years old and are in their first year of school. (In Victoria, we call it 'Prep').

Each child was given a white fabric square with a smaller square drawn on (so I would have some seam allowance) and a selection of fabric markers.

I worked with them in small groups and told them to draw a picture of themselves with some things they liked.

I am so thrilled with the result. I'm pretty sure they (and their teacher) will be too.

The back is a fun colourful fabric piece from IKEA.

I've finished it off with a label and tied it all up with a pretty ribbon ... ready to be given on Monday morning!

I hope you've done something satisfying today too.

Andi xx

Following in our parents footsteps

Ella following Mummy

And Jake following Daddy

Of course we are all more complex individuals than that would suggest.
But I do detect a bit of a pattern.

Do you see these patterns in your family?

Andi xx

My creative space

... is soft and cuddly

... and smells delicious

Recipe from here with loads of added seeds and grains.

And here's Ella's creative space after a day off from school yesterday

At least she included a little quilt!!

Hope your space is a creative one. More spaces here.

Andi xx

A new beginning

Andi xx

A place of her own (and some Patch Andi news)

I've always loved the feeling of snuggling up in a confined comfy space. A cubby house full of cushions or a tent filled with mattresses and bean bags.

My kids seem to like that same comfy 'womb-like' feeling. So this summer, my crafty goals have been to create a fun and snuggly place for each of them in their bedrooms.

For Ella, I designed a "bed tent" that gives her that snuggly feeling but doesn't diminish the sense of light and space in her rather small room.

So I used some pretty fabrics from the Dream On range, recycled the bunting from her room and added some sheer netting to create the tent surrounds.

So far, she loves it so much, it has already fallen down and I need to come up with a better way of securing it to the ceiling. I have a plan but just need to get to the hardware store to buy supplies.

Jake's space is still a WIP so I'll show you that when it's finished.

____________________________________________________________

And now for that Patch Andi news:

My husband (together with me) has made some decisions about his working life this year that mean I will have to ramp up my own earning somewhat. This probably means reducing my crafting and going back to my other career which pays better and still offers significant flexibility.

Nothing to worry about. We're OK. Just changing things up a bit this year which is good.

So, I'm still happy to accept quilt commissions but won't be actively seeking them out. I'll still be blogging and crafting, but perhaps a little less regularly.

I am hoping to do some crafty teaching this year to keep my creating mojo humming along. Stay tuned for more details.

Andi xx

A new generation

I was basting a quilt this morning and my littlest one asked if she could help.

I suggested she put in some pins for me.

She found it quite tricky. Her little fingers are not quite adept enough to do the job.

But I'm glad she wants to be involved.

I must admit, I've been having little fantasies of never having to baste a quilt again. My little helper can do it for me.
;-)

Hope you and your families are having a lovely Christmas day.

Andi xx

I have COMPLETELY sold out!!!

Happy birthday to my mermaid loving, super pink, 5 year old girl!!

Love, Mummy
xoxox

Feeling much better thanks!

Taking a couple of weeks to sort out my calendar, straighten up my house, spend some time with my family and get some serious stitching done has done no end of good for my mental health.

Thanks so much to everyone who got in touch to make sure I was OK. I really am! Totally and incredibly OK!!

In the past few weeks I have achieved a huge amount craft-wise. I probably have about 10 different posts to put together to show off my projects.

But I thought I'd start by showing off some crafting my kids have been doing ...

I'm a proud and happy mumma!

Back soon with some of my own crafting.

Have a great day.

Andi x

School holiday crafting

Tie-dyed t-shirts.
Thought the kids might enjoy getting involved ....

First, tie up your nice clean white t-shirts.
(The kids actually helped with this bit)

Dip half into the dye colour of choice

Give a bit of a stir every now and then

Once dyed, dip the other half in a second colour.

Admire the results

Untie those ties. (Not easy to do!!)

With a bit of help from Mum and Rosie

Soak in a salt bath

Hang on the line

Happy little people

Andi :-)