ANIMAL CIRCUS

A while ago I received a bundle of very good stuff from Ella Blue Fabrics by the glorious ms Jodie Carleton at RicRac. I always have a backlog of ideas stored away in the depths of my noodle and it just so happened I had the sprinkling of idea that exploded when I got my hands on some of her new fabric range Backyard Circus.

. . . quite yummy isn't it!

Well, after what seems like an age my quilt is at last finished! A happy parade of circus animals sandwiched between an lot of log cabin blocks!

The charge is of course led by the elephant who only emits sounds of love . . . and he is closely followed by a bemused lion and a pair of very clever circus poodles.

. . . closely followed by the dancing bear and the circus pony!

. . . lots of fab log cabins using all the colours from the fabric range & featuring the Pom pom dots on the outer borders

I experimented with adding some little rows of folded bunting across the applique block - it looks very sweet and adds a nice level of dimension . . . it wasn't the easiest thing to sew I must say, but the end result looks great . . . you could always applique it down if you don't want to be fiddling around with tiny bits of bias tape!

Animal circus will be available as a pattern at the end of September and as always it is compatible with a Brother Scan and Cut machine

Patterns are sold wholesale by Creative Abundance worldwide and will hopefully be stocked in lots of fancy shops.

the fabrics used are Backyard Circus by Jodie Carleton and Ella basics, all by by Ella Blue Fabrics 

happy stitching x x 

PHOTO DAY

Every now and then you realise that some things need to be left to the professionals and all your attempts to be brilliant are futile! . . . enter please the professional photographer . . . phew!

Last friday furniture was shifted, carpets lifted and our main living space was turned into a make shift studio to get those illusive fab photos that pick out all the detail in your quilts. 

Anyhoo . . . thought you might like a peek into what went on and I even managed to get a few photos of my everyday quilts x

We used the door off our back shed as a back drop to the quilts - thankfully Steve didn't bat an eye lid when I asked him if he could it remove the door off the shed and bring it inside . . . (and for those of you that know us - no the door is not still in the dining room and yes Steve has put it back on the shed thank you very much!)

Cushion shots needed a little propping up from behind - it was of course Mr Potato Head parading as spiderman that made it perfect!!

CROSSES QUILT

I made this earlier this year for a girl friend & I love it - green is my favourite colour! Good job I like her as it was very hard to part with!

KAFFE FASSETT COLOUR WASH QUILT

Made this years ago, still one of my favourites as it makes me happy . . . just love all those luminous colours. It lives every day on the back of my couch.

MODERN KALEIDESCOPE QUILT

I have made two of these this year and have loved the challenge of washing the colours from corner to corner. I am not very good with anything that is repetitive, which of course this is, so the detail in getting the wash correct saved me from the monotony!

STEVES QUILT

I made this for my husband a few years ago while on retreat. The coloured triangles are all Liberty fabrics and the grey is a Kaffe Fasset shot cotton. It was an interesting journey where I learnt about the perils of working with both types of fabrics. I also made the HST triangles using the large square method (two large squares RST, sew around the edges & then cut on the diagonal to yield four HST) . . . not the best method when using the shot cotton as it then puts the bias on the edges of the HST! . . . like I said, it was a learning journey!

. . . it was a long day but this is one of my favourite shots of the day - quirky!

x x Claire



many thanks to the brilliance of Bill Shaylor Photography . . . as usual x x x 

Vantastic!

I would desperately like a cool vintage caravan to do up and fill with crocheted and quilted loveliness & adorn it with metres of bunting. I waste endless hours on Pinterest trying to live my dream through other peoples awesomeness . . . but alas it seems that still having three kids at school any spare funds are sucked up by them on their exotic trips skiing, and exploring the world, which of course is totally amazing . . . (if you are them of course)

Anyhoo . . . 

I have put my dreams of inspiring vintage vans into a new quilt design called Vantastic! . . . 7 fancy vans appliqued amongst a few Priory Square fabric tents. It has turned out way more red then initially thought but I think it has come together with a cool retro vibe.

Van detail which someone so thoughtfully pointed out looks like eyes & pointy teeth!

Back end of a van with suitcase packed

News print trees appliqued behind the van to add depth & contrast

Tents & border detail. All the quilting was stitch in the ditch, all the vans were shadow quilted & lines detailing was added to the border. The quilting was done by the extraordinary quilter Julia Punler of Beachside Quilting in Perth - I love that she is always up for a challenge!

My favourite van & I just love the budgie fabric!

If you are keen to give this pattern ago the PDf is available in my Etsy shop or you can by a fab shiny proper copy from all good patchwork shops.

BUY VANTASTIC HERE

x x happy stitching

All my patterns are written with clear and precise instructions and the pattern templates are laid out so that they can be scanned into a brother scan and cut machine . . . which makes everything awesome!

BUY POPPIES VAN HERE

SHIP TO SHORE

This quilt started its life over a year ago . . . I know it might seam that I am super slack but it has been made and changed and made again in that time!

It was originally a commission by a client who had a new grandson on the way so it was designed especially for her - (because she's special, of course!). It then got made by the special clients special friend (she, of course, is special too!)

It then became a race to see who finished theirs first . . . I quite clearly I wasn't in the running!

I cant quite remember who did finish theirs first, i'm sure it was a tie but they were both very gorgeous & incredibly special, of course!

I made my version, then I changed it & this finally is the result . . . which I am very happy with! It is a good cot size but would also make a fabulous wall hanging in any little boys bedroom. I do have a few other bits planned to go with it but, surprise surprise, they are taking their time!

I am totally in love with the quilting done by Julia Punlar of Beachside Quilting. She custom quilted it for me & considering I was being super fussy & wanting random wave patterns in the ocean & bubbles in the deep sea I think she did an amazing job.

The pattern is all nicely laid out for the Brother Scan N Cut machine but if you don't have one of those it is all equally laid out nicely for the traditional applique method.

The pattern is being launched at the trade fair this weekend by Creative Abundance (wholesale sales) so hopefully it will be in all fabulous quilt shops very soon. If you don't want a shiny paper copy then the download version can be found in my Etsy shop.

Happy stitching!

A 'Rocking Community' & the Perils of Pintrest

Every Thursday morning this year myself & a team of about 10 women, plus or take a few,  have been getting crafted up ready for our school fete. Now it has to be said that this is my third school fete which happens every four years (& I am still going to be at the school for one more, I know - madness!) This fete is a big deal - the fete is bigger then Ben Hurr and raises a colossal amount of money for the school. 

There has been three of us leading it with the intention that we only had to come up with ideas every three weeks - the reality was a little different but in a good way. Last time we did this we only had craft magazines & Martha Stewart for inspiration this time there was Pintrest . . . . 

Oh my word!!

Many many a late night was spent trawling through the land of wonder that is Pinterest & our list of things to make grew and grew and grew! We almost could not be contained and the choices of clever ideas & inspiration was at times overwhelming. But eventually we couldn't squeeze anymore hours into a day & we simply ran out of time . . . never ever of ideas.

We had ladies sewing at home for us, drowning in miles of tuile, grandmas knitting, cousins, aunts, family glueing, stitching, spraying - dads fighting with eyelets, we bashed the hell out of kitchen bench tops wrestling with press studs and in the final weeks our very patient families put up with the house drowning in boxes & eating take away from the lounge room floor every night. I think the best quote of the final weeks was "I don't cook, I craft!"

. . . we made good use of street directories turning them into coasters & pictures

 

. . . there are a lots of families with dogs at our school - the dogs even have their own 'parking' area so there were fancy dog collars & bags for poo bags to clip onto dog leads!

. . . grandma craft even got a look in - don't diss them as my mother-in-law made them & they were awesome and yes, we did sell virtually all of them!

. . . christmas decs & cards, always a winner

. . . I loved these, they're 'hot bunnies' that you pop in the microwave to keep cold hands & toes warm

. . . our fab school principal knitted these!

. . . lots of stuff for babies

. . . superhero capes & masks, fairy skirts, Princess Anna & Princess Elsa capes

. . . my scrap bucket got invaded & turned into earings & hairclips

. . . Jo spent most of the year leading the team in making owl & dog cushions

. . . I even learnt how to make dream catchers!

In amongst all this chaos as you know, I launched my pattern sales across the universe & they all need tweaking, re-doing & new designs finishing. There was one very amazing lady who held it all together in the last few months & quietly sat at her sewing machine endlessly creating the most amazing things. She was a true champ & an inspiration & I love her for it.

Without getting too soppy, the thing to treasure the most from this year has been the friendship from everyone at our weekly meetings. There is nothing quite like a good old natter & a laugh while bonding over mountains of felt & sequins. I will miss my Thursday morning get togethers, my brain wont miss having to come up with what to make every week, but I will definately miss the fabulous crafty mums & Jane doing the coffee run

Big massive thanks to all those amazing ladies who came every week & the team in the organising commitee - you know who you are & you totally 100% ROCK!

x x Claire

Just so you know - it wasn't just the craft stall that was totally awesome - the jam ladies produced over 1100 jars of jam, the cake stall as well as receiving miles of home baked goodies also made their own beautifully wrapped christmas cakes, date cakes & jars of layered cookie mixture. The book stall had over 10000 donated books - 10,000 books people!!! Ladies who were running the second hand clothing stall, toy stall & bric-a-brac literally gave up ALL the space in their homes to house it all before the fete. The cup cake team baked & decorated over 600 cupcakes the day before. The food stalls were all awesome. There were bouncy castles & baby animals (which is my exhausted state described as bouncy animals & baby castles . . . slightly confused my kids!!) & even the teachers took the time to put on tea & coffee as well as being good sports & sitting up in the dunk tank - which was really funny to watch!