just too cute (and easy!)

it is little M's (a close friend's daughter) 3rd birthday on monday and she is getting a puppy, so i decided to make a bed for the new family member.

(my newest quilt inspector just had to make sure that the bed was suitable!)

idea came from here, i just added a cute appliqué and used an old pillow to fill it - less chance of the puppy getting little bits of stuffing to chew on and spread all over the house!   all the makings came from my stash and it only took me an hour to make at, and i think it is pretty cute!

sadness

yesterday i had to have my little 14 year old companion (and quilting assistant) put to sleep.  she has been on heart medication for a few months and had been her usual happy and bright self, but she suddenly deteriorated and it was time.  her loyalty, companionship and friendship will be missed

 

naming

Dawn over at "as sweet as cinammon" is asking the question, how did your blog name come to be?

it took me quite a while to decide what to call my blog, i didn't want it to be an obvious name but it needed to suit me and how i quilt/sew

after much internal debating i settled on the name "sunday's quilts" because i am a sunday quilter.

what's a sunday quilter you ask?  i work 6 days a week, and often come home exhausted.  sunday is my only guaranteed day off, so any crafting/quilting that i want to do is (mostly) done on a sunday

had to add a photo of my crazy cat!

it's all in the details

a couple of days ago i found the most exquisite little bird's nest on my front lawn, i am guessing that it was blown out of a nearby tree, thankfully i couldn't see any eggs or baby birds nearby.  whoever made this nest was very dedicated, it has been lined with cat fur (from my cat!!) and decorated with seed heads...

Happy Saint Patrick's Day

this is a bit late but my internet wasn't cooperating this morning.

weekend progress...
- i got my christmas wall-hanging almost finished (i just need to hand stitch the binding to the back of the quilt)
- i have chosen a pattern and some fabric for my swap table runner

and a random cute animal photo...

QAYG blocks

 i have had a few health issues during the past month (thankfully they are all resolved now) so my blogging has been very slack, and i have done very little sewing.

i have made a few quilt-as-you-go (QAYG) blocks for a challenge that a friend gave to me late last year

this first block is a technique that i have wanted to try for a while.  2 fabrics were cut into 9" squares, then starched.  i then used my rotary cutter to free-hand cut curved lines in each square (first square i cute left to right, second block was cut right to left) the squares are then woven together and fused onto some light-weight fusible interfacing.  i added the wadding and backing and used a zig-zag stitch to sew over the cut edges, final step was to trim the block to 8.5"...

next block is fairly simple (but still pretty cute!!) i fussy cut the flowers from my fabric, added some 3/4" stems and some free-hand leaves....

a variation on the traditional Chinese coin block

crazy patch block made with some of the random size scraps that i had left from the first 3 blocks...

and my final block.  i had plenty of the blue floral and a couple of scraps of green, so i played around and came up with this graphic block...

today i am working on a Christmas wall-hanging UFO and i will hopefully get a start on a table-runner for a swap that i am participating in.

"Miss Prudence" and my new resident

here is a couple of photos of my latest softie, i still need to make her clothes but i couldn't resist posting some nudie photos!!  the pattern is - "Miss Prudence" from Australian Homespun Vol.11 no.8

  

and her cute little tail....

for a few weeks now i have been hearing noises in my wall (and i was pretty sure that it was a possum), i finally managed to convince my Dad to remove a weatherboard from the house... here is what we found at the bottom of the wall cavity

 

yep, that's a brush-tail possum.  i have set a trap and hope to catch it soon.  it is a sad fact that possums cannot be relocated (they are very territorial), so this one will be going on a one way trip to the vet - it makes me sad that this is my only option and this is not something that i am happy about doing but this possum has already caused damage to my house and i am worried that it will nibble on a wire up in the roof (which could possibly cause a fire).

let me be clear that i am not anti-possum... i also have a resident possum in a disused chimney at my place (the fireplace was removed and the chimney was plastered over a long time ago).  my chimney-possum hasn't caused any damage (other than eating some of the garden) and cannot access the house (just the chimney) which means that he and i have lived in harmony for many years - i am actually quite fond of him

it's a tough life

A few random thoughts

my little girl is recovering well from her surgery, she is actually ahead of expectations - but i think she was sick of the camera by the time i took this photo!

i felt the need for a bit of retail therapy the other day.  aren't these shoes just toooo cute?? it is spring here and i think these are the perfect shoes to express my joy that winter is finally over (and they were less than AU$50, bargain!), i think i may need to go back and get a black pair too!

this little stack of fabrics and pattern came home with me from Ballarat Patchwork.  i am looking forward to making my "mini mice" quilt; designed by Trish Harper (no blog or website) it is just too cute for words!

an indulgent weekend

i got home Monday afternoon from my annual quilting retreat at a wonderful facility at Halls Gap - we have en-suite rooms, a wonderful sewing space, central heating and it is fully catered... i always return home feeling relaxed and very spoilt!

There is also some shopping to do when Isabelle visits us with some wonderful wares from her shop "Old Rosemont Quilts" in Wartook.   we spend lots of time sewing, chatting and relaxing.  i came home with a few finished projects and i started work on a project that i have wanted to do for a while now - will post photos later as the weather has been too dull and dreary to get nice photos.  hmmmm i really needed that break

last week was tough... one of my dogs (13yr old female Maltese) tore a cruciate ligament in one of her back legs last week.  she had surgery yesterday to repair it and finally came home late tonight.  i missed her and am very glad to have her home again  she is doing fine but there is a lot of physio/rehab to do during the next few weeks.  fingers crossed that it all goes well

Maree and i are getting to know each other and i am looking forward to a fun F.R.I.E.N.D.S swap

Craft and Quilt Fair - Melbourne

Here are a couple of photos of the treasures that came home with me from the Craft and Quilt Fair last Sunday...

Again, my photos aren't that great.  No plans for the Bali Pops as yet but I am sure that I will find something fun to do with them!  The variegated threads are a bit of a weakness of mine, I just have to buy them and I love using them for quilting.

I also bought a gorgeous pattern and Monica Poole's new book "Quilt as You Go" (they are coming in the mail as they were all sold out) from Margaret's Fabrics

Oh and my quilting mojo seems to have returned - I have finished the quilting on my "Summer Lemonade" quilt, I just need to trim it to size and bind it. 

The cat is currently checking the quality of my workmanship

They decided to share!

This photo was taken the evening before i finished binding my newest quilt:

freshly washed and just just out of the dryer (i had to remove all of that cat fur somehow!)

And it is going to live right here, on the rocking chair in my sewing room:
EDITED - i just went on a search and confirmed that this was a mystery quilt posted at fabricaholicsanonymous in August 2009 and was created by Ann M. Smith

The cats approve

Experimentation

This was a quilt inspired by a simple convergence quilt I saw online, my version didn't quite work out at planned but I think I still like it... it is a bit plain and I may feel the urge to jazz it up a bit before I quilt it, but in the mean time it can go in the "to be quilted" pile while I consider my optionsOh, and here is my crazy cat (again!) this highchair is folded up in my laundry room ready to go out to the shed (I'm not using it at the moment).

Over the back of the highchair is a Saint Patrick's Day wall quilt that needs to be packed up until next year (isn't the backing fabric beautiful?)

It's a tough life

It's hard work being a supervisor...

Waifs and Strays

Hmmm, lately I have been attracting "stray" animals.

Late Saturday night (11.10pm to be exact) I was happily vegging out in front of the TV when there was a knock at my door (thoughts of "who the heck would be at my door at this time of the night?" ran through my head), I went to investigate and found 2 teenage girls on my doorstep with a kitten (yes, I thought this was a little odd!) they explained that they were headed down the street for a night out and that the kitten had been following them and they were worried that it would follow them all the way down the street. Soft touch that I am, I agreed to look after the kitten.

Well, I couldn't just put her outside after the girls had left (I was worried that something would happen to her). She was a little sweetie and very friendly and house-trained, so I knew that someone would be missing her.

Sunday morning I went door knocking and found her home quite quickly. Needless to say, her young owner was VERY happy to see her! Here she is (and no, she doesn't have a tail, just a little fluffy stump)


3.51am Tuesday (yes, VERY early in the morning) I was woken by a very excited dog, some clattering and the light in my lounge room coming on.

Don't worry, it wasn't a burglar BUT it was a POSSUM. And one of my dogs REALLY wanted to "play" with said possum (don't worry the possum didn't get hurt, but it did loose some fur).

This is what was left behind after my Dad caught the possum and took it out to the golf course that is across the road from my house...


Yes, I called in the cavalry (my Dad) to catch the possum - I'm just not brave enough!

Oh, and you are wondering how the possum turned on the light? My light switches are on the door frames and the possum had climbed up one of the door frames to escape the dog, and as he was sliding down (walls just don't have much grip!) he flicked on the light. It was a "funniest home videos" moment but I just wasn't fast enough with the camera!