Sorry girls

When Kate suggested we meet for coffee "at my kitchen table" this morning, I actually thought she meant we would have a coffee at her place ... not at the cafe called "My Kitchen Table". Oops!!

Seing as I don't like to arrive at someone's home empty handed, I stopped in at a divine local middle-eastern bakery and picked up these treats for us to share.

Sorry girls. I couldn't bring them into a cafe so I guess my kids will be having a rather gourmet afternoon tea.
(Minus the 'rosewater, raspberry and white chocolate' one that I have already eaten).

Despite the mix up, it was so very nice to catch up with you Kate, Rita and Christie.
I feel so lucky to live in a city with so many lovely and talented crafty bloggers that I can actually meet up with in the 'real world'.

Andi x

Super cushion!!!!!

What to do when your son's favourite Superman comic book falls apart?

Take some of the fallen pages .... scan 'em ...... print 'em ..... stitch 'em .... and voila ....

Instant bed-time reading!!

Andi x

A very special quilt

A while back, I gave you a peek at a commission I was working on using printed text.

Well, I couldn't show you much more than that, as the piece was destined to be used as a chuppah at a wedding and I didn't think it was right to show you the quilt before it was seen by the wedding party and guests.

That time has passed now, so I can reveal all.

The idea behind this chuppah was to create a communal piece with input from many of the wedding guests.
Guests were asked to send in a message for the bride and groom. I then formatted the messages in a variety of fonts and printed them onto printable fabric sheets.
As well as messages, a selection of black and white wedding photos of the couple's parents and grandparents were included.

These sheets needed to be soaked to set the image.

 

Once they were dry, they could be pieced together.

I was nervous about pin basting this quilt as the printable fabric is very tightly woven and the pins really do leave little holes in the fabric. So I compromised and spray basted the central part of the quilt and pinned the regular white cotton of the border.

Then I quilted and quilted and quilted. Straight line quilting in the central part and stippling in the border.

You can really see the quilting with the light behind the chuppah.

Around the border of the quilt are appliqued words in hebrew that roughly translate as:
Song of joy and gladness, song of bride and groom.

Bound in black satin:

 

Finished and folded:

And here it is in use.

Mazal tov Len and Davina.
Thank you for allowing me to play a part in your special day.

Andi x

I have COMPLETELY sold out!!!

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

Love, Mummy
xoxox

My creative space.

... is full of possibilities.

Thanks so much Suzanne for a fabulous and very generous giveaway!

Andi x

PS More creative spaces to be admired here.

A very happy un-birthday ...

 .... to you my delicious Jake.

Your birthday is is in the middle of summer when everyone is away on holidays so we had your birthday party VERY (almost 2 months) early this year.

You had a fun bowling party with good friends and all I had to do was make a cake!!!

Take a $5 mud cake from the supermarket and cover it with blue butter icing and some chocolate coins.

Make a chocolate dome in a greased bowl to put over the top.

Decorate with lollies using a bit more melted chocolate.

Sing the birthday song, blow out some candles and give the birthday boy a nice clean hammer.

 

And you have a pinata cake!!! (And a happy chocolate eating boy!!)

 

And here you are opening your presents at home.

 

I love you my Jakey Boy and wish you such happiness every day of the year .... even on your actual birthday!!

Love, Mummy xoxox

Stitching, stitching, stitching!!

A couple of commissions finished this week.

A small quilt for a baby boy called Nathan.
It was a commission from his adult sister who wanted soft blues as the primary colour, and to have Nathan's name appliqued in both English and Hebrew.

The second commission was another custom cushion donation to a local school's annual fundraiser.

With a very professional looking zipper opening thanks to this wonderful tutorial!

Wishing you all a happy and fun weekend!

Andi x

My creative space (AKA the fancy shmancy binding quilt)

After my basting efforts earlier this week, I've been a busy little bee, and finished quilting and binding .... the Beehive quilt.

Thank you so much to everyone in the Bee for your gorgeous blocks. They've come together rather well, I think!!

Quilted in wavy lines.

With a thrifted sheet on the back. (I couldn't believe my luck when I found it. The colour is PERFECT!!)

Fabrics are mostly from my scrap bin and the stashes of my 12 fellow Beehivers. Truly a communal project!!

And the fancy shmancy binding? I followed Trisha's excellent tutorial on how to bind a quilt so that it looks like it has piping (but doesn't really).

Such a clever idea with a very effective end result!

I'll be trying that one again for sure!!

You can find more creative spaces over at the lovely Kirsty's.

Have a stitchin' day.

Andi x

Spoilt rotten

What a glorious day Melbourne put on today ...

A sky worthy of Ferris Bueller's Day Off.
"Bueller ..... Bueller ...."

And how did I spend it? Hanging out with this awesome crafty chick.

I have long admired Cathy's beautiful work and have been lucky enough to meet up with her on a few occasions. Today, I drove out to her home right near the beach and spent the day crafting, chatting and sharing a bit of show and tell.


Cathy helped me baste a quilt using clamps instead of tape which worked a treat. (Note to self: Must pop down to the hardware store this week).

She even made me a gorgeous lunch.

Check it out!!!

And I even got to see all of these beauties (and more) in the flesh ...

Images used with permission

You can find more of Cathy's gorgeous creations on her blog and her flickr stream.
Enjoy ... but be careful not to damage your keyboard with all the drooling  ;-)

And on my way out, I stopped to photograph some flowers in her stunning garden

 

So pretty!!!!

Thank you again Cathy for a gorgeous day.

Next time, my place!

Andi x

I can't believe she was going to throw them out.

Just because of a few little rips ...

Andi x

My creative space.

A while back a friend GAVE me some coveted Flea Market Fancy fabrics .... just because.


These acts of generosity deserve a little something in return.

Thanks Clair for being just very lovely!!

More creative spaces over at Koo's.

Andi x