Sunday, April 27, 2008

A little giveaway and a finish!

To mark 300 posts on this humble little blog, I am launching my very first giveaway! Leave a comment by Thursday night and Romily will help me draw the winner of a mystery prize :)

We've been busy since I posted last - 10 whole days ago. And I've been tired too. We've also been moving furniture - our computers and all the junk that goes with them from the top floor to the bottom floor, built a new chest of drawers for Rom (well, assembled would be more accurate) and moved the old chest of drawers, which doubles as a baby change table, up from our bottom floor to the top. All this physical work has tired me out! I guess that's allowed at 25 weeks pregnant!
I have also managed to squeeze in a little bit of quilting time, finally finishing 'Spring Breeze' - my little quilt for the Four Seasons Quilt Swap - it'll be on its way to the US tomorrow. I am quite happy with how it turned out - although I am not sure I would have done such a complex quilt (for a beginner) if I'd realised how complex it actually was when I started:
  1. First time I've used organza/gauze over the fabric and under the quilting (centre panel)
  2. First time I've tried quilt as you go (and it was a bit rough)
  3. First time I've tried perspective
  4. First time I've tried a pieced border (not perfect, but hey!)
Click for a close-up of the effect the organza gives - quite effective! Learnt this trick at the Beth & Trevor Reid workshop I did recently...and the free motion quilting techniques!

Probably too many firsts for a 19 1/2" square quilt! Anyhoo, it's done now and I hope my swap recipient likes it - she asked for 'brights no pastels' and her favourite colours are lime, turquoise and purple. I'm thinking this meets those 'criteria'!
Click for a close-up of the quilting on the reverse side

I also finished off a dress I made for Romily, although my little model was being less than cooperative today, so that photo will have to wait. Meanwhile, you can see from this sequence of photos that Romily has taken to playing dress ups with her own clothes. There are four t-shirts and two pairs of track pants on in these shots. Goodness knows how she gets them on, but she is a determined little minx :)
I had some more wonderful mail during the week. The notecards I ordered from Doodlebug Gail arrived in super-speedy time from Canada - they are gorgeous! And one is on its way to the US! Talk about round-the-world mail :)

And the very, very generous Sarah over at Quilt Fabric Delights sent me a huge satchel of fabric she had left over from making clothes for her gorgeous girls. She refused to take any money for it - she said she'd be satisfied seeing it put to good use. I will make sure that happens!
We've also managed to do a bit of baking, with Romily loving helping me make these muffins. My goodness they are good! Jammed full of peach, coconut, white choc bits and brown choc bits. Yummo!Romily and I are continuing our crazy scrambled eggs tradition on Sunday mornings - experimenting with food colouring to make all different whacky coloured eggs. While they may look revolting (except to mad-keen Dr Seuss fans), they taste exactly the same! We still haven't worked out how to make blue eggs - the yellow in the egg yolk turns all of our combinations green! We tried for purple last week, only to end up with brown...hmmm, I definitely tried NOT to look that particular day :) So if you have any tips on how to make yellow into blue, please leave a comment!
Early yesterday morning (6.30am) we braved the cold and a pea-souper fog - our first for the year - to head down by the lake for the annual Canberra balloon festival. It was very cold and after an hour Rom was asking to go home...the balloons can't take off in fog, so it would have been a very long wait to see them take off. Fortunately we had hot drinks and some yummy muffins with us for breakfast - they helped, but it was still freezing!We also managed to squeeze in a visit to the biennial Queanbeyan Quilters show last weekend. I only took a few photos as I wasn't too impressed with the quilts I saw and my camera battery died anyway! But I'll save those photos for the next post...I think I've rambled on for long enough!

21 comments:

A Spoonful Of Sugar said...

Love your Spring Breeze Mini Quilt - I have never seen organza used that way before - it looks really effective! I must say your eggs look really interesting :-)

Tracey @ozcountryquiltingmum said...

The quilt is perfect...so is the cutie and the green eggs!
-and don't overdo it! Tracey

Sue Cahill said...

I love the quilt too, so cheerful and bright. Your little girl is adorable and seems full of spirit which is a great thing. Congrats on 300!

Joyce said...

You've been a busy girl! My daughter used to dress up in her clothes all the time. She'd never stay in the warm sensible clothes I dressed her in every morning. Now she's nearing 40 and still loves to dress up. I'm not sure I could eat those eggs early in the morning.

Anonymous said...

love your quilt!!
Supermom
www.quiltsoflove.blogspot.com

Emma said...

Great quilt! I'd never have guessed there were so many firsts! I'll have to remember that organza idea. Is it hard to keep it in place while you quilt?

I love the balloon photo. We never went in all the 6 years we were in Canberra!

Chookyblue...... said...

congrats on your 300 posts........lovely quilts and yes I am with Romily and would have wanted to go home out of the cold............

Belinda said...

Congrats on your 300 posts........and I love the spring quilt. It really does conjure up thoughts of spring.

And doesnt Rom have such personality. Sooo cute. They are so much fun at this age.....although I think I have been saying that about my kids for the last ten years LOL

Little Munchkins said...

Hmm, not sure my kids will eat the green eggs LOL. They are quite fussy and aren't very keen on trying new things, esp DS. But I think it is great that Romily will try new things. Definitely makes it much easier.

I am thinking of baking some muffins today too. Will post pics too if I do :)

Clare said...

Little minx. Butter wouldn't melt in some of those photos. What on earth are you doing moving furniture? Don't overdo it.

Alex used to dress up like that - all her favourite clothes at the same time as she said she couldn't make her mind up what to wear!

Take care of yourself - more of the green eggs and muffins and less of the furniture moving.

AJ said...

oh good choice on the quilt topic....very spring!!

Gabrielle said...

Hi Lily, wow, that little quilt is wonderful - and congratulations on so many firsts! Just think how much you've learned in one go. I love the organza effect too. Congrats also on reaching 300 posts - looking forward to many more.
It is funny but we were also at the balloons at the same time same day. If it wasn't for the incredible fog we might have spotted you there! Thomas seemed to think it was a pretty good adventure getting up so early and seeing all the 'bloons' - I don't think he realised they are meant to take off.

ikkinlala said...

I love the colours in that quilt - I hope the recipient does too!

Would you be willing to share your muffin recipe?

dutchcomfort said...

Congratulations, 300 posts!
Love to see your naughty little girl!

Unknown said...

Sorry Lily - you can't hide behins that 'I'm a newbie' mask any longer - your Spring quilt shows how far you've travelled and to me it shouts 'Quilter' not 'Beginner' - that's it you can't dismiss your efforts any longer - you should be very proud of yourself - it's lovely and I for one would have been very happy to be on the receiving end :o)

Helen said...

Happy 300th post Lily! I love how that end sheet hangs over the edge, makes it really pop out. Lovley job!

Duyvken said...

that quilt looks fantastic Lily, I am sure the recipient will love it!

Sandy's Quilter's Block said...

Love your quilt. It has great perspective. The muffins look yummy, too. Despite the fog, it looks like you had great fun seeing the balloons anchored to the ground. Great photos, Lily.

Unknown said...

Lily,
I love the quilt it turned out beautiful!!!!You have come a long way in the past year....I can't wait to see Romily's new out fit.....I love green eggs and ham.....Just to let you know I am hanging in there and the chemo seems to be going well.
Luv Ya Tina

Lucy said...

I love your mini quilt. The laundry is waving in the wind :-)

PossumGirl said...

Well done on your spring quilt-it's very individual-I love that. Ps would you share your muffin recipe with us they look yummy.
PPs I agree with Clare, no more moving furniture!!!