Wise old Owl

Remember this Quilt ? I started it back here.

Have I ever told you how much I love my long arm machine Quilter?!? I use Kim Bradley & she is fantastic!!

I love going to her place & checking out whats going on in the world of quilting - I learn so much. 

On the particular morning I went over to Kim's with this quilt top - I was rather hazy.

 It was the end of a long school holidays, I had work piled high & sleep was much needed.

I also wasn't entirely convinced that this was one of my greatest quilt tops, It seemed a bit plain and I was concerned that your average long arm quilting was going to make it naff.

I expressed my concern to Kim - she always has an answer!

On the machine behind me was a quilt being done with a new long arm pattern......Owls!

 I love Owls!

Its the sweetest pattern ever & it gave the plain simple quilt top the perfect lift that it desperately needed.

Very happy indeed

The backing is an IKEA text print - love it and very reasonably priced.

The centre fabric is from CLOTH

and the rest is a mix of Lotta Jansdotter's Echo range, Sweetwater, Denyse Schmidt & My text fabric on spoonflower.

Its really light and fresh in its colours & design. I seem to be doing a lot of pinks & yellows together.

 In other happenings - below we have some sneaks at other work I'm in the midst of

I'm really enjoying working with the new range from Lotta Jansdotter "Bella" - Due in store in August 2012. 

Miss 5 is home sick "Helping"

and I'm testing out a template I have designed with some of my spoonflower fabrics!

all Systems go in our house!

I'm also enjoying the cold but sunny Sydney weather.

Xx Siobhan

Lone Star Finale

Finally we have the Lone Star Quilt from start to finish!

If you would like to see the original blog posts & instructions on how to make the Lone Star have a peak here

This quilt was long arm quilted by Kim Bradley in a figure eight pattern, I talk a bit about that pattern choice here.

The blue spot fabric I used was very sheer, I didn't want to be able to see through to the other side & I also didn't want my messy seams to show. 

After talking it over with Kate (who works with Kim) I requested if at all possible pretty please could they use a double layer of wool wadding to help over come the see through issue......

I'm glad I wasn't there when it was being done, I'm sure my name was being hexed!

Miracle of Miracle (not really a miracle as Kim & Kate are very clever) the quilt is perfect and has a double layer of wool wadding, making it the heaviest quilt I have ever held!

& not see through, as you can see from the back

Its also really lovely and plump with the double layer of wadding

This quilt is a big Double bed size or even a queen size 

I'm happy with the spots! I was meticulous enough with my cutting to have them all running in the same direction but I wasn't that bothered about the joining up, I like that they are off set a little - it gives the quilt a bit of movement. 

Be wary if you do use a patterned fabric as your base for the lone star, you will need to think about direction of prints and how you will cut/ sew it

If your still after the diamond template to make this Lone Star have a look here

Any Questions? don't hesitate to ask :)

If you have made a lone star quilt put it into the lone star Flickr group

or if you have your own Lone Star Tutorial - Link it in the comments

Xx Siobhan

another quilt in the pile & a quick plug :)

Another Quilt from the pile

This one was also made a while ago & its been seen a few times on the blog

I wanted an adults king bed size quilt - something modern and monochromatic & again in big thick strips similar to the yellow & grey quilt in my last post.

I used a few different greys and a text print with a sparse white background.

I designed and printed all of these fabrics specifically for this quilt and thankfully it worked out just how I wanted.

I've since used these fabrics in lots of quilting projects - especially the greys.

The grey ties lots of fabrics together nicely - especially when I have used lots of colour in a project

Once I had pieced the quilt together I struggled with how to quilt it, I didn't want swirls or flowers in this one. I wanted to keep it simple. After much talk with many people I decided a hand writing type loopy pattern going straight across would suit.

Thankfully I know a wonderful machine quilter with a clever husband - Kim drew up the scribble loops for me & Dave scanned it in & turned it into a pattern.

When I saw it I was so excited, perfect!

Quilt long arm machine quilted by Kim Bradley creations - quilting in a loopy scribble pattern

very grown up & fresh

& a huge three meters wide!

on the back of the Quilt I injected a bit of colour for fun & used a grey honeycomb for the binding

My Fabrics available on Spoonflower to buy.

This is my recent story on cushions in a local Sydney Magazine Northside, you will find instructions on how to make a cushion with an envelope opening :)


*ignore step number 6 in the article to turn inside out - if you did you would have your nice fabric on the inside!
Not sure how that step got added in! anyway, hopefully people work it out :)

photo instructions as seen in Northside Magazine 15th November 2011



next blog post I'll have some more pictures/ info for the starry night quilt , I have worked out how to embed a PDF! so you will have diagrams & sizes etc if you want to give it a go


Enjoy your day

Xx Siobhan

Heat = Slow

Well I hope you all had a fantastic Christmas  - Ours was the usual busy mayhem, but much enjoyed and the kids more than happy. I think I enjoy Easter more, is that very Bah Hum Bug of me?. With School finishing and having our summer break, then shopping and preparing for christmas food and the usual kaos - Im very happy to sit down on the 27th December and Relax, possibly read a book? and add to that 30c + weather. Ok I'll stop my complaining :)

Above is a Beautiful bunch of Christmas Bush that my Lovely Father gave to me on Christmas Day, The other half of the bunch was put on my Mothers Grave, she passed away 2 years ago - she loved christmas and always made sure we had some christmas bush in the house - Its a nice reminder that Christmas should be a bit more about our Family and friends, My special quiet time on the 27th Dec is a nice time to reflect relax and enjoy my Family. 

On a quilting note the Fantastic Kim Bradley has finished machine quilting my two quilts and I picked them up today - Im hoping to take them with me on our family holiday up the NSW Central Coast to finish off the binding. Must say I am very Happy with Katie's Quilt. I think its fresh and colourful with just a little quirky-ness with the tea cups.

Today is a scorcher at 32c so far and I'm sure as the day goes it will get hotter and tomorrow is predicted at 40c ! Thankfully we have a pool and a big shady tree, so thats me and the kids sorted.

Thats it for me - This Year anyway.

 New Years Eve for me will entail a walk down to our local park with the kids at 9pm to watch some Sydney Harbour fireworks and later a Small beverage with the husband at midnight to toast our year that has been and our year to come.


Love and Best wishes to you all and thanks to everyone who helped and supported me this year (you know who you are)

Xx