Have you seen my mojo?

My sewing mojo that is.  I seem to have lost it.

I'm waiting on fabric to continue with my Terrain project and that seems to have slowed me down.  I have so many other things I could be doing but the motivation just isn't there.  I haven't even started my Christmas sewing, so I wont be meeting my November Challenge.

I was even going to do another giveaway this week but completely forgot till this morning.  I guess I'll just save that for another time.  And from the last few giveaways I have so many new followers, and now I haven't given them anything to read.  So welcome new followers, I'm sure things will pick up soon.

Please stay tuned as there are some great things to come, just not this week probably.

Carolina has redeemed herself

32 Carolina Lily

After trimming her down a bit I could had the last pieces more accurately, although I've just realised that the top point of the petal is chopped off, but oh, well, there are worse things that can happen.

Guess I have to have another cutting session for my Civil War blocks now because I've sewn everything I had cut out already.

The Civil War in my sewing room

I've fallen very behind in my civil war blocks.  I blame Carolina... she started it!

I cut this block out and started to put it together, only to discover that I'd cut some pieces too big.  So I trimmed them down and continued sewing... to find out that only one of my pieces had been too big, so now one was too small.  She got thrown onto my sewing table in disgust, waiting for me to cut a new piece.

A little while ago, I decided to have another cutting session of my blocks.  Get them all cut out and then when I felt like sewing but didn't know what to do, I could put them together.  That was until I got to Ohio Star, and cut the pieces wrong.  Since I was using left over charm squares, I didn't have enough fabric to just cut new pieces.  Again my blocks were thrown to the corner of the table and left for another day.

Last night became that day....

33 Indiana Puzzle

The fabric selection for this one is just some fabrics which I ordered that week.  Obviously I hadn't done any sewing.  I could have done the curved seams a bit better, but I was being lazy.  I just matched up the starting point, matched up the end point and sort of pushed it into shape in between, no pins.  Didn't come out too badly I don't think.

34 Rosebud

Fabric selection for this week was mostly Block Lotto batik fabrics.

35 Star of the West

This week's fabrics are what I used to make the mini book bag, which was left overs from a few years ago where I had made a bag for my nephew to keep some of his matchbox cars in.

36 Kentucky Crossroads

I love this block.  The fabrics are ones I used for Clucky, and it's interesting the different feel you get when the fabrics are used in different ratios.  The red and yellow were very small parts of Clucky, but in this block they are the main fabrics.

37... I'll get back to you on this one

38 Ohio Star

This was the other fated block.  The fabric selection is left overs from my Scary Squares table topper, and I cut the pieces for the hourglass blocks to small.  At first I didn't know what to do, but then I decided to add borders to the blocks to make them the correct size.  My first thought had of course been to use black, but I like how the coloured borders came out better.  It does change the shape of the star somewhat but that's how new blocks are born!

And what of the fated 32 Carolina Lily?  After sewing on one of the last side pieces, I discovered that the block has warped a little and should have been trimmed down before adding that piece.  So it needs some unpicking, which I wasn't up to at 10:30 last night.

So that brings me up to about September somewhere, only about two and a half months behind....

Waistcoats and Spangles

Wedding month is officially over.  I was bridesmaid for my best friend a week and a half ago, and then had another wedding this weekend just gone, which had almost the same groomsmen as the first one!  I guess that's what happens in a close circle of friends.

The dress I had planned to wear this weekend was one I bought just after I had my baby and, whilst I did like it, was very much of an 'it will do' choice as it was the only thing available in my size and budget.  At the last minute I decided I wanted to buy a new dress.  The two friends of mine who were also going to the wedding both had new dresses.

So Saturday a week ago I went shopping, but was again faced with a limited selection in my size and price range.  In the end I found a dress at Myer, who happened to be having a 40% off sale.  It looked similar to this, but had a plain strap on the other shoulder and was in hot pink not red (I forgot to take a 'before' photo)

I wanted the dress to be 'spangly' because my friend was having a very sparkly dress, so I set to work adding beads and crystals.  I also took the flowers off the shoulder strap (but left the ruffle).  I added one of the flowers back to the other strap because it looked a little plain.

And this is how the top of my dressed ended up

It made the dress something special and I'm rather pleased with the results.  There is a combination of crystals, seed beads and sequins in there.

Hubby also decided that he wanted a waistcoat for the event, so a rush shopping trip on Monday night and every spare minute that I wasn't beading went into making this:

I think I need to make him more waistcoats now!  I was aiming for a satin brocade but we couldn't find any so we ended up with a quilting cotton.  Next time I'll have to back the fabric with something because it's a bit thin and shows the facing inside, but altogether not bad for a rush job that included fitting adjustments.

Now I can get back to my regular sewing and maybe try to do some of my Christmas tasks.....

Round Tuit Giveaway

Jill over at Creating My Way to Success is having her weekly Round Tuit and a giveaway of my patterns!

Tuits are very hard to come by, especially the round ones. For years people have been saying, "I'll do it as soon as I get a round tuit". Well now you can have one of your very own, and all those jobs that have needed doing will finally get done!

Head over to Creating My Way to Success and link up your projects - old or new - just share your creativity or inspiration.

While you're at it follow the directions to enter the giveaway and you could win a copy of my latest pattern, plus a Lily & Will II charm pack to get your started on it, AND any other pattern from my Etsy store that you like.

There is also a discount code for there if you wish to buy anything from my shop between now and Christmas.  So head on over now and join in the fun.

I need a montage

[insert Eye of the Tiger or other motivational soundtrack here]

I'm adding spangles to a new dress for a wedding this weekend

I'm making a waistcoat for my husband for the same wedding

I'm making blocks for my next quilt pattern

Somewhere in the last week or two I received by October hexies for the Inchy Hexagon Flower Swap

(I need to work on my November hexies too)

My latest Monthly Solids stack arrived yesterday

I haven't even started my Christmas sewing for this month's challenge.

I was going to have another giveaway this week but somehow it's now Thursday and I haven't even thought about it!  You'll just have to wait till Monday when there will be a giveaway of my patterns over at Creating My Way to Success.

And since I haven't had as much time lately because of my friend's wedding last weekend.... here is a photo of me and my other half at the wedding.

The dust is beginning to settle

I had my friend's hen's party a few weeks ago, and this Friday was her wedding.  Being bridesmaid I had things to do and organise and make sure I was at places on time  Sometimes it felt like this wedding was more stress than my own!  But it's over now, my friend is happy, and I can get on with my life.

Which leads me to the fact that I'm a day overdue for announcing the winner of my giveaway.

I loved reading about all your favourite old TV shows.  It also showed me what a broad age/generation range I have in my followers.  I was reminded of some of my other favourites too such as The Smurfs, The Raggy Dolls, SuperTed (and Spotty!), and of course The Muppets.  I'm now interested to see Bagpuss which Jill listed as her favourite.  I googled it and it's a pink cat!  Quite a few of you liked The Brady Bunch, I Love Lucy and Bonanza!

But I know you're all just waiting to find out the winner, so.....

There is only 36 because someone commented twice and I only counted that as one entry.  It appears that Vesuviusmama, who loved Grizzly Adams, is the winner. Please email me (follow the link on my profile page) and let me know where to send your goodies, and just confirm if you are a follower or not (I can't see you in my list of followers).

Hoping for another giveaway this week, but all I seem to be posting at the moment is giveaways so I'll try for some real content too!

Also, I'm still waiting to hear from Anette J to claim her prize from last week.  Please send me an email.

Terrain Triangles

I'm busy making half square triangles ready for my next project.

These will eventually become pinwheels and then have more added to them.  I'm rather excited about how this is shaping up!

Sadly, however... I have to buy more fabric.... oh dear, what a shame!  Some of the solids I was going to use from my stash had already been cut into (and I'd forgotten) so I don't have enough of them.

Off to order more fabric.....

A new pattern and a giveaway

After Blogtoberfest, I feel like I'm never blogging at the moment.  I don't seem to be getting much sewing done either but I'm not sure what I'm doing instead!

I have managed to finish my latest pattern though.  My friend said the shapes reminded her of old fashioned TV screens, so I've called it 'TV Squares'.

It is a lap rug, 39" x 50", perfect for keeping your legs warm while reading a book or watching TV.  I used two charm packs, one a Bella Solids in Cream and the other Symphony by Sentimental Studios (both from Moda and both obtained by me back in May this year!).

When I first received the Symphony charm pack (it was a giveaway win) I wasn't sure what I was going to do with it.  It didn't really seem like my kind of fabric and the colours didn't appeal to me.  I decided to use it for this pattern because I wasn't sure how the pattern would turn out, and if it didn't work I hadn't wasted a fabric I loved.  The more I worked with this fabric though, the more I found such lovely colours and patterns.  It's such a shame I can't get more of it now!  The teal I chose for the sashings matches one of the colours in the prints and now I love teal!

Using the entire charm pack leaves 8 left over squares.  I used these to make a pieced backing.

When going out to purchase fabric for the sashing/borders, backing and binding, I was very uninspired and decided to get one fabric to do the whole lot.  It did make working out the quantity a lot easier!  I just bought 3 metres and went with it.  I'm so loving that teal colour I want to go back and buy more.  Not sure what the fabric is, it was just in the discount pile at my local fabric shop.

The pattern for this is now listed on my Etsy store.

And I did mention a giveaway??

To celebrate the release of this new pattern, I'm giving away a copy of this pattern (emailed in PDF format) and a City Weekend charm pack to get your started.  I know it's a bit of an old fabric design, I've had it sitting in my stash not getting used so someone else might as well get some use out of it!

To be in the draw for this giveaway, please leave a comment below telling me what your favourite retro (released more than 10 years ago) TV show is!


GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED

I think one of my all time favourites has to be Astro Boy (the 80's version).  I remember crying at some episodes when I was a kid (some of them are really sad!).  I have the boxed set on DVD and suddenly have the urge to watch them all again, after searching for below picture.

You don't have to be a follower of my blog to enter but if you are the winning comment and you are also a follower you might find something else in your parcel.

The giveaway will end at 9pm (AEDT) Saturday 12th November at which time I will close comments and randomly select a winner.  For those of you around the world, this is more likely Saturday morning your time, so don't miss out.  I will announce the winner here on Saturday night (my time) so make sure to check back and see if you've won.

My First Giveaway Winner

Well, time has come to draw a winner.  Are you as excited as me?

Thank you for all your lovely comments, I loved reading about what colours you like and how you use them in your life.  I've also got a bit of inspiration for upcoming projects ;)  I tried to respond to all of them, but there were just a few too many, so sorry to those who didn't get a reply.

With our thanks to Mr Random:

By my calculations, that makes the winner Anette J who said:

"Blue - absolutely blue - but i also likes green and purple. Clear strong colours - thats me ;-)"

Anette, if you'd like to email me (follow the link on my profile page) and let me know where to send your goodies, I'll get them in the mail ASAP.

Thanks again for your comments, and look out for another giveaway coming soon.  I haven't done much crafting this week to share with you, but hopefully I'll catch up over the weekend.

Happy Blogaversary to Me (and a giveaway)

Today marks 2 years since my very first blog post.  From rather humble beginnings, I have come a long way.  It's been great to document all the things I make because sometimes I feel like I don't achieve much, but looking back I can see how many things I create!

I have made lots of bloggy friends and joined in quite a few swaps.  Thank you to everyone who has traveled this journey with me.  Hopefully there is lots more ahead!

To celebrate this occasion I'm having  giveaway.  I have a bundle of 50 fabric hexagons (each one a different colour) and 50 papers to get you going making hexagons.

To be in the draw for this giveaway, please leave a comment below telling me what your favourite colour is and where you use it in your life.

GIVEAWAY NOW CLOSED

My favourite colour is pink and I've had it EVERYWHERE in my life.  I've got a  pink sheet set for the bed (although it doesn't get used much since I married), pink shoes, I've had every type of pink clothing (skirt, dress, top, underwear etc), I even contemplated pink carpet for my sewing room when we were building our house.  My favourite of all would have to be my pink hair though.  I don't have it any more but I loved it and often dream of doing it again.

Me with pink hair from 6 or 7 years ago

The giveaway will end at 9pm (AEDT) Friday 4th November at which time I will close comments and randomly select a winner.  For those of you around the world, this is more likely Friday morning your time, so don't miss out.  I will announce the winner here on Friday night (my time) so make sure to check back and see if you've won.

Challenge Yourself - November

So October's challenge was to organise a give-away for November.  Stay tuned for that soon ;)

For November's Challenge I want to get my Christmas sewing done.

I haven't given much thought to Christmas yet,  but I want to make a Mollie-Jayne doll for my bub, I have an idea for my husband, we all need Christmas stockings made and I want to make a Santa sack for bub too.

I want to establish a "Santa" tradition which doesn't leave my child(ren) thinking that Santa has a bottomless wallet and a limitless credit card.  We've agreed that all the big presents will come from Mum and Dad, and Santa will leave smaller treats in the sack.  Since smaller presents in the sack wont need to be individually wrapped this also removes the problem my brother has of the older children recognising the wrapping paper  and pointing out that Santa has the same paper as Mum and Dad used last year.  I know my little one is a bit too little to understand all this just yet, but it's good to get these things in place and then stick with it.

So Christmas spirit here I come!  I've always believed that Christmas stuff shouldn't start till December, I'm really not into stores that have decorations up now!  But crafting has to start before then because it takes time to make stuff.  I guess I can't keep pretending that Christmas is months away!

Are you challenging yourself this month?  Are you willing to publicly set a goal?  

It doesn't really matter if you reach it or not because getting half way is better than never starting to begin with.

Link up below if you want join in.

**I was going to find a lovely photo of some Christmas from my past, perhaps my childhood, but I was not able to locate one today.  I'm rather saddened by this fact, although I'm sure that there are some in existence somewhere.  Instead this is a photo of some Christmas fabric from my stash which I believe I bought last year.