January Honey Pot Bee block 2

This year I'm joining Molli Sparkles for the Honey Pot Bee, a quilting bee with a difference. In this bee you get to make all of the blocks for yourself.

Each month there are two blocks selected by the 'Queens'. The two blocks for January were chosen by Molli and Angie (Gnome Angel). I finished the first block earlier this month, but have only just has a chance to have a go at block 2, Ellison Lane's Starflower block.

I decided to make a super-sized version of the block, using 10" squares of coloured fabric instead of 4" squares.

I also used one square of each colour (because I only wanted to make one block) and cut the squares into triangles before sewing into HSTs (being really careful not to stretch the bias edges). I trimmed each HST to 9.5" square. As you can see, there was hardly any fabric wastage!

My finished block ended up at 36" square. I'm hoping to turn it into a baby quilt or wall hanging.

I'm pretty pumped for the release of February's blocks tomorrow!

Kat

More pocket pages

Over the weekend I managed to get a few more pocket pages done, using the Kaisercraft January blog challenge as inspiration.

For my first pocket page I experimented with different sized pockets (rather than the usual 4x3 and 2x3). I picked the STITCHING, CONFETTI POCKET, PRINTED PAPERS ONLY and TYPED JOUNALING line from the bingo board  and made a layout about the cruise that we went on while staying on Hamilton Island last year.

I also took inspiration from the Jot Magazine January Mood Board.

In order to find the right mix of blue, raspberry, peach and grey, I did something I rarely do and used multiple collections in the same project. In this case I used papers from the Kaisercraft Sail Away and Finders Keepers collections.  For the stitching, I made a string art anchor, inspired by the blue anchor in the mood board image.

My second pocket page was from the same holiday, but a different event. For this one I've chosen the HANDWRITTEN JOURNALING, FAVOURITE PHOTO, PRINTED PAPERS ONLY and SPECIAL EVENT line from the bingo board and used papers from the Happy Snaps collection.

I included my favourite photo from the trip, which is the photo of my little many with his face painted. He rarely smiles for photos (and when he does, it doesn't look right) so I was really pleased to capture his natural smile.

I'm really starting to enjoy putting these pocket pages together and find that they are coming together faster and more easily. Hopefully with more practice I will get better still!

Kat

Sunday Stash - 29/01/2017

This week for Sunday Stash I'm sharing some sewing supplies that I picked up from a recent trip to Ikea. As is always the case with trips to Ikea, we went in for one thing (an outdoor umbrella) and came away with about 45 items, including these treasures.

I can't walk past the fabric section without having a little look. When I saw that the Nummer fabric was half price I had to buy all they had (which was unfortunately only 5 metres). I was devastated when the staff member who served me told me that this fabirc is discontinued, because this is my go-to quilt backing for quilts between 40 and 60 inches wide.

Also half price was this cool cat fabric. It's a heavier weight (like a canvas) so I picked up a metre to use as a new cover for my pressing board.

The last items in my pile of pretties are a couple more Drona storage boxes. They are only $5 each and fit perfectly in our cubicle shelves.

They are also quite capacious (13" x 15" x 13") so I use them for hiding storing recent fabric purchases before I get around to putting them in their proper homes. They also make good hide-and-seek places for 4-year-olds.

But the pièce de résistance of my Ikea haul was a Poang rocking chair. We've been on the hunt for a good maternity chair and this one is perfect. I't also serves as a great quilt holder.

I imagine I'll be spending a lot of time in this chair over the next year so I might have a go at making a pretty patchwork cover for it. If anyone has tried this before, please share your tips!

Kat

Modern HST sampler quilt

I've finished my Modern HST sampler quilt! Prepare for a photo overdose :)

This quilt was made using the blocks from the Modern HST sampler (hosted by Alyce of Blossom Heart Quilts) that I joined in last year.

Rather than add sashing, I simply sewed the blocks together and added a scrappy border of low-volume prints. The quilt finished at  54" wide so for the back I used the classic Ikea Nummer fabric.

For the quilting I chose a simple all-over free-motion quilting design similar to a square stipple.

I bound the quilt with a black and white stripe, inspired by the awesome quilts by Rita of Red Pepper Quilts.

My very cooperative quilt-holding husband helped me take photos of it in the city in front of a building with a lot of half-square triangles.

 It was a bit of a challenge because it was windy and we kept getting photo-bombed by people and trams, but we got there in the end!

I'm linking up with the 2017 quarter 1 finish-a-long as this was top of my list of proposed finishes for this quarter!

Kat

January D-lish Scraps challenge

Yesterday I had a productive scrapbooking day and managed to make a few pages for a album about our holiday to Hamilton Island late last year. One of the pages I made was for the D-lish Scraps January Inspiration Board challenge.

When playing along with the D-lish Scraps challenges I usually try to incorporate the sketch too, but for this month I decided to focus on the fresh colours. I also wanted to play with my newest papercraft tool - a WRMK fringe and score board.  I started by making a fringed background using some patterned papers that matched the colours, inspired by the painted corrugated iron wall in the challenge graphic.

I also had some D-lish Scraps dip-dyed tags that were a perfect match for the colours in the Inpsiration Board that I wanted to use, so I let those guide the design of the rest of the layout. Here's what I came up with:

The frame was made using a cut file from the cut shoppe which I thought worked well with the trio of tags. I also found some peach flamingo die cuts in my stash, and added some flair and enamel dots in the colours.

I love these colours together and think I'll use them as inspiration for another project. I also think I'm going to need another 10 packets of these awesome tags!

Kat

January Kaisercraft blog challenge

Last year I set out to start documenting our everyday family adventures using pocket pages. Unfortunately I failed miserably and only managed a double page spread for January and a couple of random pocket pages made for challenges. I'm hoping to catch up on my 2016 album before we get too far into 2017 so I was delighted when I saw that the Kaisercraft January Blog challenge was about making pocket pages.

For this challenge I made a double page spread about my brother's wedding in September last year, using a patterned papers, stickers and collectibles from the Something Blue collection and some coordinating Captured Moments cards.

Here's a closer look at the left hand side:

And the right hand side:

I actually chose two sets of four from the bingo board because I couldn't make up my mind:

QUOTE, DOUBLE SPREAD, A SPECIAL EVENT, BLACK + WHITE PHOTOS ONLY
STITCHING, CONFETTI POCKET, PATTERNED PAPERS ONLY, TYPED JOURNALING

For the quote criteria, I used Captured Moments cards with quotes and added a quote from the Something Blue sticker sheet. I thought this was was perfect given the message on their cake:

I also 'quoted' the bride and groom by typing up their vows (for the 'typed journaling' criteria) and printing them on patterned paper (for the 'patterned paper only' criteria).

For the 'stitching' and 'confetti pocket' criteria I made 4 mini confetti pockets using 3x4 journalling cards (cut from a 12 x 12 sheet), circles punched from patterned paper, plastic sheeting from a page protector and my sewing machine.

I am going to try and get another one done by the end of the month as I have a nice collection of Kaisercraft Captured Moments cards just waiting to be used and a whole lot of other months to catch up on!

Kat

Flora supply case

For the past couple of weeks I have been joining in the Flora Supply Case sew along hosted by Jennie of Clover and Violet. This pattern has been on my list of things to make for a while, but I had been putting if off out of zipper-phobia. However, my love of sew alongs is stronger than my fear of zippers so I jumped in and gave it a go.  I finished my Flora Supply Case this morning and I just love it.

I used a mini charm pack of Bonnie and Camille's Daysail for the exterior and some coordinating FQs for the inside. 

I plan to use it to store on-the-go EPP projects. I made the medium sized version and the little pockets are just perfect

The zipper installation was a bit tricky but very doable. I'm planning to make a couple more once I've stocked up on some more long zippers and a bias tape maker do-dad.

I'm linking up with the 2017 quarter 1 finish-a-long as this project was on my list of proposed finishes for this quarter.

Kat

January Off the Rails Scrapbooking challenge

Today I'm enjoying day off work for the Australia Day Public Holiday. I thought I'd make the most of the extra crafting time by playing along with some Aussie scrappy challenges. First up is the January Off the Rails Scrapbooking challenge:

For this challenge I made a monochromatic layout based on the teals. I used papers from the Kaisercraft (a great Aussie brand) Ubud Dreams collection and scrapped some photos from our trip to Ubud a few years ago.

The design of the layout was based on the first January Stuck!? Sketches challenge.

I substituted the vertical strips of paper in the sketch with some handmade paper paddles and used a Kaisercraft stencil and some texture paste to add a bit more interest to the background.

I'm hoping a can get a few more done today before heading back to work tomorrow.

Kat

Tula Pink City Sampler Quilt

I've finished my Tula Pink City Sampler quilt!!!

This quilt was made using the 100 6" quilt blocks made during last year's 100 days 100 blocks sew along.  I used all Tula Pink prints from her Acacia, Elizabeth, Eden, Moonshine, Foxfield, True Colors and Slow & Steady collections. I'm still surprised that I managed to sew and post a block a day for 100 days without messing up!

It's the biggest quilt I have made to date and I quilted it on my tiny machine so I went for a simple all-over stipple. For the backing I used Tula Pink's Free Fall wide backing in Sky.  I love how well it coordinates with the different collections (for example, there are olive greens in Acacia, Moonshine, Elizabeth and Slow & Steady).

My little man offered to perform the User Acceptance Testing and gave it a big thumbs up.

It's also my first finish for 2017 and one of my 2017 finish-a-long quarter 1 goals. I can tell it will be a family favourite for a long time to come.

Kat

Sunday Stash 22/01/2017

This week's Sunday Stash share is a lovely pile of quilty inspiration books that I ordered from Connecting Threads in their current book sale.

I picked up copies of Emma Jansen's By the Bundle, Jacqui Gering's Walk and Amy Gibson's The Quilt Block Cookbook. I also had to throw in some fabric to qualify for free shipping (a crying shame. I know), but I'll save those purchases for another week :)

The first book off the 'to be read' pile will be Amy Gibson's The Quilt Block Cookbook. I'm a bit late to the party but I'm planning to join in the Cookbook Quilt Along.

Let's hope that my quilt block cooking skills are better than my food cooking skills and I end up making something tasty without setting the kitchen on fire!

Kat

Scrapbooking Top 50 Aus January Challenge

The mid-month reveal is now up on in Scrapbooking Top 50 Aus blog. We are kicking off the new year with a quote challenge!

We would love to see you use this quote on your layout, cards, pocket pages, off the page projects, or what ever you choose to make! For my Design Team example I made a pocket page to finish off my 2016 album.

I used the Simple Stories 'I Am' collection for this page because features lots of fabulous phrases which are prefect for this quote. It also includes lots of gold foil elements (which are really hard to photograph).

Swing by the Scrapbooking Top 50 Aus blog for more details and Design Team examples. There's still plenty of time to join in.

Kat

Anna's Craft Cupboard January colour challenge

Today I had a day of annual leave and was lucky to be able to spend most of the day getting my craft on.

One of the projects I worked on today was a double page Project Life spread about my brother's wedding last year. For this page, I played along with the Anna's Craft Cupboard January colour challenge, because I thought the event worked well with the garden party image.

Inspired by the colour palette, I used papers and embellishments from the On Trend 2 collection by My Minds Eye which features lots of pink, aqua, dark navy, white and fold foil.

I used papers with floral designs and polka dots to match the images in the challenge graphic. I also added some extra confetti and some tassels to match the image on the left.

My favourite is the dark navy paper with the gold floral design embossed in it. So pretty!

I've recently discovered that some prints from this collection are now available in patchwork fabric. I think some of these might make their way into my shopping cart in my next fabric order :)

Kat