The Lemonade Quilt

A friend of mine was diagnosed recently with bowel cancer - she is only in her 20s so this came as quite a shock - especially for her! Fortunately she is smart as a whip and was straight onto it - so was her doctor. She had surgery just about straight away and is now recovering, with the wonderful news that the cancer hadn't spread. Talk about a close call.

The cancer has come on top of a very hard seven years for her and I just could not believe so much bad stuff could happen to one person, who just happens to be one of the loveliest, smartest women I know. She is taking it all in her stride (although I am sure she has her moments - don't we all?), albeit metaphorically at the present, as she is still a little sore from the surgery. I couldn't do anything material to support her (she's in Brisbane, I am in Canberra), except, to make a quilt! (A little fabric pun in there for all you stashaholics!)

I recently bought this ace book by Alissa Haight Carlton, and was inspired by the cover quilt to make a lovely lemony quilt for my friend.

I used up some yellows from my stash and paired them with some Kona Snow to create a monochromatic modern minimalist quilt (how's that for alliteration?). Instead of repeating the darkest yellow for the binding, I thought it would be better framed in a battleship grey and found the perfect shade at my LQS, Addicted to Fabric. I quilted it with double wavy lines and it's backed in a bright sunny spotty fabric I bought at Spotlight.

While I really wanted to call it the Gin and Tonic quilt, I thought she might want to share it with her gorgeous kids, so, instead called it The Lemonade Quilt (because when life gives you lemons...reach for the gin and tonic...er, make some lemonade).

The quilt is now living on my friend's bed and I hope it makes her happy.

More Ottobre pants

I made Tristan some more pants based on the Ottobre 'Aqua shorts' pattern I blogged about in Robopants. Elastic-waisted? Check. Lot of pockets? Check. Easy peasy? Check, check, check!

These ones are made from some red babywale corduroy I bought a couple of years ago - yes, I am making a concerted effort to use up some of my copious stash!

 Tristan loves them and I do too. I love seeing little fellas in brights.

Sew It Together 2012 - Canberra

I had a great day and night yesterday with the delightful crafty ladies who came to Canberra for Sew It Together. Organised by Sheridan (Chaletgirl), with a bevy of helpers - Cass (Snailblazer), Gillian (Silly Gilly), Donna (Creative Controller) and Cath (Bungalow Babble), who transported all the goody bags and associated delights from Sydney to Canberra - the event brings together crafty bloggers from around Australia for one weekend a year.

It was great to leave the family responsibilities behind for just one day and indulge in some swapping of crafty gifts, a spot of sewing, fabric petting and even a dash of buying. There were workshops for those who wanted to learn some new skills as well as prizes throughout the day - I was lucky enough to be one of the prize winners and I scored a Polly Pratt dress. So gorgeous!!

I also got to meet and catch up with some bloggers I've been chatting with on the Internet for about the past five years, including Karen, Leah and Becky, as well as meet some other lovely ladies, including heaps of Canberra crafters - loads of new blogs to explore!

Here are just a few of them:
Karen - And So I Sew
Bec - Beckyetal
Leah - Pugglelogic
Kelli - Not Quite Crafty
Michelle - Happenstance
Wendy - hARTylittlepeaces
Renae - Suzyhausfrau
Bronwyn - Whippet Good
Caroline and Maryanne - Sew Together
Alex - Mooncat

Here are some photos from the day - sorry for the crappy blurry images. Damned smart phones!

 

 

 

And so many others - and let me tell you, nothing gets a room full of fabulous crafters going crazier than a sample swap. Organised by the indomitable Cass, the swap involves groups of six, who each make five samples of their work and then, in a crazy dance, swaps are snapped up, the spoils are revealed and much oohing and ahhhing over the craft goodness ensues.

I made some mini art quilts, inspired by a similar design from Silly Boodilly, and I hope the girls liked them as much as I enjoyed making them. I received two covered notebooks, some ace zipped bags, a bunch of magnets, pendants and hair clips and some quilted pot holders/coaster. It was nice to come home with so much handmade love.

Here are some photos I nicked from Cass:

 

We had a lot of fun at the dinner at Tongue and Groove too, pigging out on shared yummy things, a glass or two of wine and nearly exploding from eating the dessert (which should be called 'death by giant chocolate cookie' or 'death by giant peanut cookie with icecream and caramel drizzle').

A little bit of stitching followed dinner, although I was so full from my dinner I really needed a nap! After another hour or so of really bad crafting (on my part), I decided to call it quits and say goodnight to my new crafty friends.

What a great day and night! I hope to join the gang for Sew It Together in 2013, although I think Sheridan deserves a well earned break before starting to think about next year's craftapalooza :)