I thought today in my blog I would show you how I store my stash... so here it is.

I have two bedside tables stacked on top of one another and in each draw fabric is sorted by:

Draw number...

1. Favorite pieces of fabric - use in a special quilt

2. Spare fabric for projects I am currently working on

3. Greens, yellows, cream, pieces of fabric

4. Blue, purple, pink, orange pieces of fabric

5. Pink and green fabric given to me by Jamies mum from her own stash - very nice and special

6. My 1930's repro's.

I also have a plastic tub which i keep all my scrappy bits in to use when in my applique.

Last night was craft night at Mill's. I finished off my coasters for the Tea for 2 swap on IFQ... here they are...

Yesterday, as well as helping Freddy to realise his dream, I found a fantastic fabric store. I was reading the latest issue of my patchwork mag and a full page ad caught my eye. 3,000 bolts of fabric, with many only $9.95 a metre. Wow - had to check this out! Convinced Jamie to drive me there (we were at his parents house mowing the lawn so to drive from there back to our place is an hour, and from our place to this store is another 40mins). He did some googling and found a fish store near my fabric store so he was happy to come! The store is called craft depot and has an amazing amount of fabric, some very cheap!

It was handy having Jamie there, because i could just grab bolts and he would hold them for me (i did offer him a trolly but he insisted he was happy to hold the fabric). He helped somewhat with fabric selection... after i asked him his opinion on a few he declared loudly "I really dont care" and two ladies next to us turned to him and said "Dont ever say that! You already have brownie points just being here, dont spoil it" - It was classic. I happily collected fabrics for a new quilt,but was still missing something.... I told Jamie we needed to find a "loud orangy-brown", he said "why dont we just listen for it?" boomchik - very funny. He thought he was hilarious. After the quilt store we went to his fish store, it was nice but a little pricey, so he didnt get anything.

Here are the fabrics I acquired...

All of these were $9.95 per metre! Yay!

These will be used to make this quilt...

I also picked up these two bits of fabric - for $9.95 per metre to add to my stash. I got 1 metre of the pink because i loved it so much.

Yesterday i decided it was time to upgrade Freddies tank. Freddy is my fighting fish. He has been living in my kitchen for the past few months in a pathetic excuse for a tank...

I felt so bad that i have made him his "dream tank" and he is now happily living his dream in it!

Before....... poor Freddy! Bad choice of gravel and plastic plants.

And now.... Freddies own tropical oasis! He does seem a lot happier... and is still living in the kicthen, next to the microwave... Jamie said that if Freddy grows a second head we will know why.

I am searching for ideas for a 1930's feedsack quilt...

As mentioned in previous blogs, i want to make a quilt that is typical of that era. I thought i might have a look on the US eBay site and low and behold i found some great quilts for sale. I have saved the pics to add to my ideas collection. Here are my fav's so far...

In Third Place - Star Quilt #1

In Second Place - Bow Tie Quilt

And in First Place (my fav so far) - Star Quilt #2

I like this star quilt as it makes use of small pieces of feedsack fabric in a really effective way. Which do you like the best?

Also, while on the US eBay i found some pieces of feedsack fabric for sale (what is a browse on ebay without a purchase!?). Each piece is 10" by 9" and i picked them up for US$17 - cheap compared to what we pay in Aus. I can't wait for them to arrive! Yay!

Well tonight is craft night!

My ex-flatmate and I try and have one every week. But because of the Christmas break we havent had one for three weeks! It will be at her place tonight (my old house). We make an effort to take turns to make a nice dinner and dessert and sit together, me quilting and her knitting, and watch TV and chat.... its really nice.

Tonight i think she is doing a lamb stir-fry and poached peaches for dessert... I am excited! I have my quilt and bent needle (see previous posts) quilting hoop, stick-on thimble and glasses - I am ready to quilt!!!

She is an amazing knitter, cant wait to see what she is working on tonight.

Take care all, once again thanks to everyone who has been leaving comments on my blogs, its great to get feedback and messages for you all!

Sam x-o-x-o-x

Hi all,

I am feeling un-inspired after Christmas. I made quite a few christmas presents this year, which took up most of my time in the months leading up to Christmas. Now they have all been given out, I find myself a little 'lost' in the craft... I have 3 different quilts I could work on, but each has a little problem...

1. My hand quilting - It is the middle of summer here in Australia, so the thought of sitting under a quilt while hand quilting it isnt terribly appealing. Also, my only quilting needle (kindly given to me by 'piecemaker') is bent, and my LQS is closed until the 14th... I have tried buying one from the general craft/sewing chain store in Aus but they are terrible, break really easily and are cheaply made.

2. My machine-pieced nine-patch - Believe it or not (I am not totally well organised with my sewing supplies) I have run out of thread to use on my sewing machine, again I buy this from my LQS and its not open until the 14th.

3. I have a quilt waiting for applique backing fabric, and i need to buy it, again from the LQS....

Jamie (so sweet) suggested we head south for the weekend, and try a LQS near our parents homes (our parents live reasonably close to one another, Jamie and I met in High School). That store should be open and have the things i need.... Friday seems so far away    :-s   I read Nancy-Rose's blog and now I am full of daydreams about large quantities of fabric found for fantastic prices...

I am still hunting on the internet for ideas for my authentic 1930-1950 feedsacks... I want to make a 1930's quilt from a pattern that was typical of the era, does anyone have any ideas?

Sam x-o-x-o-x

Hi everyone! I hope your 2008 has been great so far!

Well Jamie returns this evening - I cant wait!

My job today is to decide what i am going to do with these two pieces of fabric...

I am a member of IFQ (International Friendship Quilters) If any of you are looking to get involved in another website, i would seriously recommend this one. You can find it at:

http://web.archive.org/web/20080117112644/http://www.friendshipquilters.com/

I really enjoy it as i am not part of any local sewing group (because of time and also no local ones) so this is my only 'group' i sew and swap with.

You can sign up to a number of different 'events'. You then make a block or in my case, coasters and swap them with the person you are partnered with. I have made many friends through this website - it is so great!

So I am part of a tea swap, where you make a 5" block and send it to your partner, they do the same. Then it is you job to embelish it however you want, then finish it off with batting and binding, and post it back to them (they do the same with yours) and you can sign up and do this as many times as you like, and eventually you end up with a set of coasters from quilting friends all over the world.

The website is run very very well, i would recommend it!

So..... I think the cream one i may do some embroidery like i did on those Xmas stars with beads also. The cat one i am not sure yet..... any ideas?

Best wishes, Sam x-o-x-o-x

p.s Let me know what you think of the website  :-)

Here are some pictures of the quilt i made for my Nan for Christmas...

You may recognise the pattern.... it is the same as the one i made my Mum a couple of years ago (pictured in a previous blog in the photo of me, jamie and my brother).

I have changed the colours to pink to suit her taste and new house (they recently moved here from the UK).

I hand quilted it - echo quilted the applique and quilted a 1/4 inch in from the pieced boarder.

And a close-up of some of the hand quilting...

Sitting at home, it is 6:30pm Sunday night..... and I don't know what to sew! I have a few projects on the go... I could do some hand quilting on my quilt (but its so hot at the moment).... i could continue pieceing my blue 9 patch quilt......... i could begin my butterfly quilt.......... or start another pattern......

I think my problem is that pre-christmas i was fine, because i had things to make as presents so it was easy to decide what to sew..... but now......

 The reason i am not camping with Jamie is because someone needs to feed his fish (seeing our house sitter fell through at very last minute, couldnt organise anyone else)

Here are his little gems.

I have come back from paying our phone bill down at the local post office, and there was a small parcel waiting for me to collect. It was the parcel from Cheryl! The butterfly quilt pattern and a bag full of pre-cut butterflies all made up of the most amazing assortment of fabrics. It was posted weeks ago but was opened by Australian Customs.... perhaps they like quilting too?

This has made my week!!! It made paying the phone bill such a fun experience! A BIG Thank You to Cheryl! You are too kind!  :-)

Well Jamie really did impress me this Christmas! He gave me three feedsacks! You know the ones from the 1930's? Well he found a shop which inports them from America, i am so happy! I love the 1930's look but have only ever been able to afford reproduction fabric. I am busy looking for a traditional 1930's pattern to use them in. I am going to buy a few more (when i can afford to) and save them and wait to find the perfect pattern to use them in. I would like to make it as historically correct as possible...  :-)

 Myself, Jamie, and my brother at Christmas lunch. The wallhanging in the background is one i made mum for Mothers day a few years ago.

My parents are on their way in to stay the night....... so I have been busy cleaning my flat   ;-)

Meanwhile my birds have been busy playing with their Xmas toys!

Sam x-o-x

I hope everyone had a happy Christmas Day and are enjoying the festive holiday. Today is the day after Christmas, its called Boxing Day in Australia, is it called that in other countries too? We had an unusually cold Christmas Day here which was nice for a change! I finished the Ruddy and Me mini quilt for my Grandma (Mardi) on Xmas Eve, here is a pic of the finished product.

Everyone who saw this commented "But where are Ruddy's eyes?!?"..... He does have eyes   :-(   I just used the wrong coloured thread to stitch them   :-(  Poor Ruddy!

I ended up not adding a hanging sleave so Mardi can use it as a mat (i dont think she would hang it on the wall). She really liked it when i gave it to her, which was nice :-)

I will post again this afternoon with the finished pic of my Nans wall hanging... We are having that side of the family Christmas tomorrow, so it will be finished in time. x-o-x-o-x

Seems that not many people are blogging at the moment, probably because its almost Christmas! Yay! Here are a few pics from today. Spent a lovely day with Jamie and his parents, Jamie and his Dad went fishing on Sydney Harbour, and much to Jamies delight he caught the biggest fish - it is called a flat head. I think it is very ugly but he is assuring me that it will taste nice.... i hate eating fish with bones....

 And a close up......eeewww!!!

See why it gets the name "flat head"? hehehe

Here is a pic of me sewing my Christmas star.... I am loving them, but think i need to give my quilt some attention... tomorrow.

I hope you are all have a lovely Christmas eve! x-o-x-o-x

I have not been bloging for the past week because i have been sick! I nanny two children during the week and one was home from school last week because he was sick with a nasty virus.... which he passed on to me! So I spent all last week on the couch sleeping and watching T.V. I am now a little behind on where I had hoped to be with relation to my home made Xmas presents......

I think i jinxed myself by writing a "To Do List" in my last blog..... I had big plans and got sick so it never ended up happening.

I have been making felt stars as gifts for my friends to hang on their Xmas trees. The credit for these should be entirely given to my ex-flatmate (mentioned before in blogs) who came up with the pattern! She is SO clever!!!!!!  :-)

The blue star

And the purple star

And another star...

Tomorrow I will be finishing a few more presents, along with the final applique on the wall hanging for my Nan. Our family Xmas was ment to be tomorrow but lucky (for me) it has been moved to the 27th, so lots of time to finish the wallhanging!

I hope everyone is well leading up to Christmas and spending time with friends and family! x-o-x-o-x