Tula Pink Sew Along

I can't wait to check this out.  I love Tula Pinks fabrics, should be good fun :)

Zakka Style

Inspired by the Zakka Blog Hop I decided to give the Happy Garland Message board a try and I'm pretty Happy with how it turned out.

 I made it for Wyllow my friend's little girl who's 3rd birthday is on Wednesday.  I hope she likes it.

Other than this I'm still busily cutting and sewing for my Aunt's table runners, hopefully I'll remember to take a few pictures to keep you up to date.

Till next time :)

Better Late Than Never

I just realised that I never posted a finished picture of my fat quarter purse I made earlier this year. 

Made using Art Gallery Fabrics

I was so happy with the way it turned out I made my Mum one for mothers day

Made using Tula Pink Fabric from her Prince Charming Collection

I love the way this looks.

I hope you're having a fun day and looking forward to the weekend.

Till next time :)

Work in Progress

Hi again,

We're finally back from our holidays down south and it was just bliss to get away for a while.  And I even got an amazing new piece of jewellery, an engagement ring!!! Yep Mr N popped the question and I'm still so happy, I can't stop looking down at my left hand.

Since we've got home I've jumped straight into an order my Aunt put in a while ago.

To start with I'm working on a table runner for their Kitchen table and I'll be making a matching runners for their Chinese sideboard and Dining Table as well as a other pieces for their lounge room and bedroom. How exciting.

I'm making the table runners using the postage stamp style of small squares and using this tutorial from Red Pepper Quilts.

The measurements for the kitchen table runner are 75 inches by 30 inches which is huge so lots of cutting.  I'm halfway through cutting up the fabric and have just finished sewing the strips I've cut into blocks. 

I guess it's time to get sewing again :)

Here's some photos so far.

lots of strips all neatly cut (only half of what I need for the kitchen table)

sewn into two's

Ready to sew into fours

Blocks of fours now it's time to start cutting more strips

See you soon with an update

Time flies...

Wow it's been ages since I last caught up here. And so much has happened and then not much as well ;).
Alot of energy was spent finalising our dispute with a certain Insurance company who is defending the contractors that damaged our home and that was very emotionally draining so it is such a relief to have handed it all over the the ombudsman and see what happens from here (it's only been 17months since cyclone Yasi)
Once all that was over with I was able to finally get back to my sewing and I have done quite a bit.
 I finished my jawbreaker pillow and I just love it, I get to cuddle up to it everynight watching the tele.
 

As well as that I've completed 6 blocks for a sample quilt I'm making for my Nana for Christmas and a whole bunch of bibs and burp cloths that are for sale.

Here's a few examples of my bibs and I do burp cloths to co-ordinte with the bibs as well.  If you're interested in any or if you would like some in a different fabric/colour let me know and we can see what we can come up with.

I hope your enjoying your weekend where ever you are :)

It's Voting Time

In my last post I showed you a picture of my toaster cosy I entered for the Stumbles and Stitches contest "feather Your Nest".  Well now it's voting time. Please click on this link and vote for me number 32.  This is my forst time I've entered a comp like this and it would be such a buzz to make it through to the next round.  There are 73!! entries and only 10 will make it through so I really need some help.
Thanks so much if you decide to help me out.

front view

side view

 

 

 

 

inside out

cosy new home :)

Have a great day :)

XOXXO

Busy Little Blogger

Well I've ticked a few things off the list this week.

Finish entry for Feather Your Nest competition on stumbles and stitches - Check
Finish piecing triangles for Jawbreaker Pillow Pattern from Jaybird quilts - Check
Start self portraits for Now You Workshops by shutter sisters - Check.

Wow that's huge for me, so much done and now I'm starting on my order for bibs and table runners, it feels good :)

For the Feather your Nest Comp I made a toaster cosy and I love it.  It turned out just like I imagined it.  I made it completely from scratch did my own measurements and pattern as well as fabric choices.  My favourite colours for accessories for the Kitchen are yellow and red so I used up fabric scraps I had in red orange and yellow to match the kitchen and made three vertical strips.  The base colour is Kona bone and I used up more fabric scraps for the binding and piping.

  I love the way it turned out and it looks fab sitting on the counter in my kitchen.

 I thought I'd share a progress shot of my jawbreaker pillow front, I still have to add the borders and then put it all together.


I loved this pattern as soon as I saw it and I grabbed all the same fabrics used in the cover photo.  It's not perfect but considering I'm just a newbie to the quilting world I'm really happy with how it's looking so far.

I can't wait to get the borders done and finish it all off.













Lastly for today I thought I'd share a few of the photos from my Now You Workshop on self Portraits so far.  The outline for this week is for the little details, getting used to photographing small pieces of ourselves so we can work up to being happy with the complete package.  It's surprising how much easier it feels to me to just grab small bits of yourself rather than a complete photo of your face.  Fingers crossed by the end of the course I won't care either way and I'll have some photos I love and can cherish.

We live less than a block from the beach and we go down there every afternoon.  It's such a great way to recharge and let your stresses just blow way in the breeze.  So I'm sure that the beach is going to pop up a bit in my selfies (as they're called;)).

I hope you got something checked off your list this week too!

Natski

XOXO

Happy Happy Joy Joy

Today is a landmark day for me, I just received my first commission, WOOHOO!!  I'm very excited.  I have set up a facebook page to help get the word out and I got a call this morning for my first order.  I should say it's from my lovely Aunt in New Zealand, I am super excited to create something beautiful for her home and very grateful to her for wanting me to do it.

So for the next while I will be working on bibs and table runners for my order, I'll be doing the runners in postage stamp patchwork and the bibs simply in single gorgeous fabrics.  I'm over the moon and I hope my Aunt will love what I create for her.

My gorgeous Orchid flowering (sorry I don't know it's name)

I did a few hours yesterday at our local Meals on Wheels kitchen, it's so much fun.  It's the first time in 3 years I've been able to "do work".  I tried it for 4 hours last month but it was a little too much for me yet so now I'm sticking with 2 hours every 3 weeks. 

It's so brilliant to be able to make those kind of statements when this time last year I was struggling to "do" anything.  My rehab specialist from Active Health Clinic has changed my life, he gave it back to me and it's such an amazing feeling.  To go from being ruled by an illness and uncertainty to knowing I can say yes to invites without having to add the disclaimer of "depending on how I'm doing" is liberating and a ray of sunshine.  The only way is UP baby!

I hope you're having a happy sunshiny day too!

XXOO

Now You, Now Me

I forgot to mention in my last post that I've signed up for the Now You Workshop which is, in Kristin and Meredith"s own words

"Now You is a 6 week introductory e-course that will turn your camera lens inward as we explore the everyday beauty of self portraits. Let us take back the control of how we see ourselves!"    nowyouworkshops

It starts on Monday and I'm really looking forward to it.

http://nowyouworkshops.wordpress.com/

Talk soon,

Natski

XXOXOXO

Feather Your Nest WIP

I'm really happy with the way my "Toaster Cosy" is coming together for the Stumbles and Stitches Feather  your Nest competition.  Just need to add some embroidery to the front to finish the centre piece off, then I can assemble everything.  I can't wait to get it all finished, I'm going to use some "upcycled" sheet for the lining and do piping around the seams.  I'm very excited to see it all coming together. 

Toaster cosy middle section

More Soon,

Natski
XOXOXOXO

A whole Lotta Love

Used with permission from Red Pepper Quilts

I have to share my love for all things Lotta Jansdotter, I only discovered Lotta because of Rita at Red Peppers Quilts post on her WIP and I fell in love immediately.


 I can't say what it is exactly, but this fabric line just resonates with me the colours the natural lines and the calmness of it. 


Immediately I started searching for Lotta's Echo fabric line at the online fabric stores I knew of and found out very quickly that this is a fabric line that is very popular and I had come very late to the party (I've only been reading blogs since January this year).





Lucky me I found the whole collection, I did have to order it through 3 different fabric stores though.

Contemporary Cloth still has a large selection as does Old Country Store Fabrics and The Fabricologist.


A kind of panic takes hold of me when I think about not getting the entire collection, it's very strange, all I can say is it must be love.  Then imagine how fast my heart was racing when I saw the update from Hawthornethreads about Lotta's new line Bella coming out in August.  I raced to Lotta's ledger and found what I was looking for .

jansdotter.com

Another beautiful fabric line full of gorgeous colours and designs which will blend so well with Echo.  I'm already waiting for this to become available!!

If you want to see more of Lotta's echo line and the amazing things that are being made with it, check out Lotta Love for Lotta Jansdotter Designs

I hope your day is just Bella!!

Natski

XXOO