Creative Mischief Handmade

Ive been far too busy.... and Im starting to get withdrawals, so Im off to do some sewing tonight. Ive been volunteering my time working on the new Sands Queensland website. They have had it re-designed to fit in with a new national look, to go with a new logo and new colours. I have been transferring all the old data into the new site which at times has been quite arduous having to use the new interface but all the while it is me doing something for my girls. It was going to Sands support meetings, talking with other bereved parents, that made me feel not so alone after my twins died. It was a life-saver. I am giving my bit back to them by doing volunteer work since early 2009. Doing many things but for the last few years I have been looking after their website. It has never been a big job, just a little thing I'd update every month with upcoming events and maybe a notice or two. But transfering all the content over, reformatting it, adding in lots of picture...

Ive started a new project for my son, It is going to be a Quillow (A quilt that folds up into a pillow). Ive recently purchased some really cute cat fabric from an aptly named shop called Cat Fabrics  that has got these funky cats that are a little like sock monkeys dancing all over the fabric. When I showed my son, he smiled, pointed to the fabric and said "at, at, at" (his word for cat) so I know he likes it and the smaller print fabric has butterflies and hearts on it, so my girls approve of it too. I also love cats so it is just perfect and I'm adding a selection of blues and greens from my stash (WOW - I didn't need to buy more fabric!) plus two other smaller blue & green prints with some of the stripe fabric being put aside for the binding. I haven't finalised colour placement yet but the quilt will be a selection of squares and rectangles randomly all over the quilt. Havent made a decision about the back, but I have enough of t...

Ive added the blue sections to half the blocks on Dad Quilt #2. Im really happy with how this quilt is coming together and should have the top done this weekend. On track for completion by end  June.

Ive been busy again this week. Sewed a number of pieces together on Dad Quilt #2 and have the layout all sorted. I really need a bigger studio so I can have a permanent design wall, but for now I just hang up a large piece of felt and I can do my desgining. I love seeing a quilt come together, the balance of colours and all the fabrics layed out together. Once I get these parts sewn up I will add in the blue sections and the sashing strips. Ive also decided to teach myself how to crochet. I really enjoyed it while making the wig cap for Boy Dolls hair so I have been inspired to learn another craft! So far I've done this small sample. The light blue and green are in single crochet and the dark blue is a double crochet stitch.

Ive been working on my Dads Quilt #2 and finally decided on a design and have cut out all the fabrc. The quilt will be a lap quilt around 175cm square, just enough to snuggle up into on the couch. Ive been collecting the fabric for years, with the most recent purchase a few weeks ago. It is all stuff my dad likes. Coins, Travel, Cameras, Wine, Coffee, Jazz and some clocks because he always wants more time! Im really glad I have 2 different 'coin' fabrics as my dad has a fantastic coin collection and he travels the world collecting coins from every country. I love being at this stage, having all my fabric cut, ready to sew. One of my favourite parts of quilting is deciding how the pieces will go together to create a pleasing balance of colour. This type of 'scrap' quilt looks like the fabrics are just randomly scattered over the quilt, but I have a very systematic way that I put the pieces together so that no two of the same fabric are together and the balance is j...

I've had such a great time making clothes for Boy Doll. It has been really nice getting back into some pattern making. Even though Ive only made basic working blocks and then this T-shirt and Jeans, it has been a good refresher. Im so inspired to make a whole little wardrobe for this little guy, I hope my son appreciates it and actually plays with Boy Doll. It was very cute today when I bought Boy Doll out and showed my son and he gave him a big cuddle... I know he is cuddling everything at the moment but hopefully that means he likes Boy Doll. The T-shirt is made out of one of my sons old 0000 onesies. I un-picked it and cut the front and back out of the body of the onesie and cut the ends off the sleeves, which ment I didn't need to hem them - bonus! The jeans are made out of some denim coloured quilting fabric because my son still fits into all his jeans and pants (my skinny little man) and I dont have any I can cut up yet. Working small ment it did...

I thought I would upload my favourite sight in my workroom.... my wall of quilting fabric!  My quilting fabric storage wall Yes I have an obsession and it is quilting fabric! Yes I am a little OCD about storing all my fabric and have it in labelled boxes all sorted by colour or theme. I love just sitting in my room, looking at all my fabric, pulling the odd piece out and thinking about how I can cut it up to make a quilt. Getting out coordinating fabric and just seeing all the colours and patterns just makes me so happy. I will often do just that, then put it all back.... but when I am truely inspired I then turn to my computer and create a design on my Quilt Designing Software from Electric Quilt . I love this program as I can fiddle away, comming up with a perfect design. Then print out cutting directions and fabric requirements so I can get to the really fun part of sewing quicker. - - - - - - - - - - - - - - - I have been busy this week making up clothing ...