Friday, July 29, 2011

Colourful Fridays...leaves.

A quick post this morning, massive week and today isn't much better. Snatched a few minutes to take some photos for Daisy Quilt's, Colourful friday challenge. today is leaves. A little bleak for good leaves around here, so this was the best that I could do...
The underside of a leaf ...think a young ivy.

More ivy...with some digital enhancing for fun!

Next in the search I found all this growth on what is probably a century old fruit tree. Hidden amongst the lichen are some leaf buds...which hopefully gets this in on a technicality. The lilies are sending out new leaves. And on the final note, we get to Archie and one of the cats...


And that is what i had better do, cheers, Tracey
...just found the typo in the above pic but haven't time to fix it!

Sunday, July 17, 2011

It's ugly but has personality....



I LOVE making quilts out of used items. The joy of seeing a heap of old shirts turn into a quilt can't really be described to someone who isn't a quilter. I love finding fabrics from Op shops and rehoming them into a useful item. Of course I also like making extra pretty quilts, with all the latest fabrics that match..but they generally disappear to some raffle donation or baby or niece.



The scrappy quilts tend to stay here, normally because a little bit of extra love has gone into the making. There is a new addition made for my boy's recent birthday. He is a big lover of quilts, always likes to be wrapped warm and cosy and takes a big interest in the construction. He liked the clothes string quilt I made his sister for her birthday last year, and I have been racking my brain to work out what to do for him. Most of his clothes were unispiring to me and were passed to his cousins and my friend's boys. I started collecting up his t-shirts and in June at retreat i got serious!





I cut the front from all the collected t-shirts, then pinned them to a pre-quilted foundation piece. To give stability i crazy (string) pieced parts of his cotton shirts in the corners, using some of his Dad's shirts as well, one he is holding him in as a baby, another he wears in a date photo with me. I found an old football jumper from his team...in it went....his last ribbon from the local show found a spot..and I transferred some favourite sport photos onto fabric as well. A few boy type strips went in for good measure. I did some basic trimming to get at least some of the blocks to the same width and it turned into kind of t-shirt eye-spy! It has a very warm flannel backing and I added a polar fleece cuddle border to the top. Like I said, it is ugly from a purely aesthetic view, but he doesn't think there is anything more beautiful, 'cos it has personality! We have to keep cuddling under it and he keeps explaining to me why his is better than his sister's!




Here is hers, just for the sake of equal parenting. i love hers, it managed to be pretty, but then it didn't have to have star wars and geelong t-shirts in it!


Hope your day is great!

Friday, July 15, 2011

Colourful fridays...(quilty) triangles









Another colourful Friday hosted by Daisy quilts. This week's theme is triangles. I haven't been outside much, far too wet here for wandering around in search of triangles (i might sink!)...so I stuck to inside. Sewing related triangles were the only ones I found. I'm sure when i follow the links to everyone else's photos in a minute i will see great ideas! These traingular chooks (chickens) have always been favourites of mine, therew should be table runners just of them...but whoever gets time for tablerunners for themselves?!
I have made hundreds of these little chooks for school and Church markets, these are the ones the kids wouldn't let do. Triangle beaks!


My daughter made this one...a little differently.

This is in my site heading picture, starting to fade I noticed when i took the photo. it is no wonder it lives on the kitchen couch and wraps at least one family member every day. Was made from my very early stash, 8 years ago, lots of triangles.


And another oldie. This hangs in my kitchen and is tiny. Made from a the small centre verse, a gift from a friend. I look at these traingles and shudder...but still love it. I think i only owned about 10 fabrics then! Do you have favourites like that?





So, step over and enjoy some more colourful Fridays at the linked blog above. Cheers, Tracey

Friday, July 01, 2011

Colourful fridays...red and green



Joining in with Daisy quilt's colourful Fridays today, it is almost too much for me..I can only choose one photo! So this Oriental poppy wins the job.

I love these poppies, have them in all colours around my garden in spring, I love seeing what new variations the bees have assisted in creating. They are my kind of flower, one that comes up itself ..and more of them come when you never tidied your garden after the last lot of flowers! Negligence in this instance, is golden. (Or red...or purple with single petals..or pink and fluffy!)

My boy has been sick with tonsils this week, back ay School today so i have one day to get his quilt finished for his birthday....can't stay, must run!