Swap catchup

I have mastered the trick of hand-sewing hexagons while lying flat on my back with my legs in the air.

So I have been getting busy as well as getting better and have caught up on some overdue swaps.

These flowers will be posted today to my April, May and June swap partners.

 Here are some lovely flowers I received from Sandy and Robynne recently. Thanks!

 And these came all the way from Marie in Denmark. Great prints!

What day is it?

I just got back from another mini-trip away. I didn't go far this time ... just to my local hospital. 

Last time you heard from me I was full of excitement before heading off to Stitch It Together Canberra. After a lovely champagne get-together at the absolutely gorgeous Shop Handmade at Canberra on Friday afternoon, and a Saturday full of meeting a crowd of of crafty S.I.T. bloggers (and making secret mental notes of all their projects to try for myself), I got a dose of food poisoning.

I won't bore you with the details. To cut a long story short, the food poisoning brought on a recurrence of another illness which I just couldn't shake it so I took myself off to hospital this week for some heavy-duty extra-strength antibiotics.

I can't tell you how glad I am to be back home in my own little nest. I don't even know what day it is!

I need a few more days to get back to normal I think, and I'm going to start by browsing all the blogs I've been missing. I can't wait to read about your trips to Sydney for the Quilt and Craft Show.

Chookyblue I'm starting with your blog. Love your photos and love your links to all the other bloggers. I'm sure to find something inspiring to put a spring back in my step.

Away

I'm away for a few days. (No prizes for guessing where!)

I'll be back Monday 11 June. See you then.

A teensy weensy bit jealous

I'm looking forward to my mini-trip next weekend, just an easy drive down to Canberra (bumper to bumper with all the Sydney ski-bunnies heading off to the snow). My fondest childhood memories are from when I vacationed at my Nan and Pop's, just on the other side of the park from where I'll be staying.


But I have to admit I'm a teensy weensy bit jealous of these bloggers and their amazing trips overseas. (I shouldn't be jealous - they have scrimped and saved to make these dream trips come true - good on them!) I hope they don't mind me showing you some of their photos.

Aussie mum "You had me at Bonjour", now living in France, is currently exploring the idyllic Backroads of Provence ...

 

after having visited the prettiest city ever ... Lyon.

 

Frugal Queen from the UK is glamping it up in France on a shoestring budget and Badskirt from Sydney has been on a fabric-buying expedition to Tokyo.

But without a doubt, the trip that I am most jealous of is Brisbane designer Kimono Reincarnate's trip to Japan. Thank you Melanie for the most A-M-A-Z-I-N-G photos of fabulous flea markets ...

 

rural vistas and wonderful places ...

extraordinary art in ordinary places ...

inspiring personal expression ...

and of course crafty ideas, crafty gifts and crafty supplies. Shibori fabric - drool. Chiyogami paper - drool.

 I can't wait to see what pops up in the KR shop after this trip!

No time to S.I.T. still

Sew It Together 2012 is only a week and a bit away so there's no time to S.I.T. still.

Our amazing organiser, Sheridan, has kindly allowed me to have a little market stall to showcase my products, so I have been die-cutting like crazy. There are stacks of packs of fabric hexagons all over the place, and I'm working on some other ideas too. (Sshh, top secret for now.)

I have to admit I'm not just looking forward to the workshops and stitching sessions - I'm looking forward to the loot as well. There will be prizes and goody bags and too-tempting market stalls. Can you imagine what it's going to be like with sponsors like Saffron Craig, The Red Thread, Suzy Hausfrau and others (including me!) - way way better than the Cadbury easter showbag.

We'll also be swapping stuff with other SITters. I was too late to join in on the Name Badge Swap so I made one for myself from half-inch hexies.

Which reminds me ... check out an amazing work-in-progress on Grit's blog. The neatest half-inch hexies you'll ever see.

I've just finished making my 5 items for the Sample Swap. I don't want to spoil the surprise so you don't get to see inside the boxes, sorry!

At the S.I.T. weekend, my main project will be my Rose Star Quilt Version 2.  I started the Rose Star earlier this year but the fabrics turned out to be too bold and strong for my taste. So I have restarted it in a different fabric range.

I couldn't wait to get started so here's the block I made last weekend.

I'm using the Flora range by Lauren and Jessie Jung for Moda and I already know that I am going to love love love it. I'm planning to use a very sunny yellow for the background and a strawberry red for the centres, but I'll wait until I've done a few more blocks before deciding.

It's going to be such a cheery quilt and a cheery weekend. Only 10 sleeps to go ... starting now! Nighty-night.

Finished. Finally!

Perfectionism is responsible for too many abandoned projects hiding in my cupboard. My goal with this one was to have a go and get it done. I did the best that I could each step of the way and just kept moving forward instead of unpicking and restitching. It's just a matter of practice, isn't it.

Sidetracked again

I was determined to finish my Terrain quilt before doing anything else (I've finished the quilting and just need to put on the borders and back) but I got side-tracked ...

I've got a bit of a stockpile of because I've been meaning to make more stock for my little shop. So today I got started by die-cutting some Hexagon Multi Packs in the fresh-as-spring Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille.

Vintage Modern by Bonnie and Camille

And here's the warm-and-sunny Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket.

Salt Air by Cosmo Cricket

I was going to die-cut lots more of Moda's new releases - including Oh Deer by Moma and Tradewinds by Lily Ashbury - but I thought I'd just have to see what Vintage Modern might look like as a hexie quilt.


I tried this new layout with Vintage Modern on a green background ....

And I did a buttercup-yellow version to. Which do you prefer?

Here's the same layout in Salt Air ...

The Hexagon Multi Packs have 42 hexagon flowers in each pack and this layout uses 41. I'll also die-cut some charm packs in the larger size.

I'll list them in my shop tomorrow but for now it's back to finishing my Terrain quilt.