Taking Shirts Off His Back Quilt

Okay, I didn't actually take the shirts off my son's back, although I will admit to sneaking some from his dresser (in my defense the ones I took were worn out at collar and cuff).    Teasing aside, I'm happy to show the finish to the hexagon quilt made from his outgrown shirts and some thrifted ones.  Look at all that plaid! He loves it.  Every single block is plaid, the randomly pieced border is plaid,

 

 

even the binding is plaid!

 

 

The piecing of each block required matching of the plaids - because I wanted the hexies to look unpieced.  It made it a bit time consuming, I will admit, but I like the end result of that extra effort.  Then I stipple quilted the whole quilt - thought it would give a nice texture and be a speedy way to finish and then... there was the setback.

 

The best part about the break down of my second darning/free motion embroidery foot was finding out about this lovely upgrade....   This foot looks like it was built to last - no plastic bits to break and it has 2 springs and an adjustment screw along with another two feet I can interchange on it (one with an open toe and the other with a clear and wider base which will be great for applique).

 

 

Wow, what a difference that new foot made!  It works so much better than the other two that I wore out and it's not noisy (which is a plus because I like to listen to audio books or put on a movie when I sew).  I still need to experiment with the new foot - play with the spring adjustments to quilt on various thicknesses and try out the other two attachments.  Who knew that having to replace the darning foot would bring about such fun upgrades!

Back to the quilt... here it is on my son's bed along with the reading pillow, which was my first foray into hexie making ....

 

Curious as to what is under the plaid???

 

More plaid! lol

Raffle Winner...

A HUGE thank-you to everyone that participated in the raffle I held as a part of the Queensland Flood Appeal Auctions.  It has been wonderful being a part of such a generous appeal to raise money to fund relief efforts in the flood afflicted areas of Australia.  Toni and Carli did a wonderful job organizing our efforts and giving us a venue to channel our desire to help.  I know I am not alone in feeling grateful to have had the opportunity to do something that would help others in a concrete way.

Now for the winner of my raffle....  the winning entry belongs to ....  Narelle.  Congratulations and thank-you for your donation, Narelle!  I hope you enjoy the placemats.

Giveaway with a Bonus

Set your table with four quilted red patchwork placemats!  Each one is uniquely pieced, right down to the scrappy binding.   All four have been free hand machine quilted in a heart design. They're made from a variety of 100% cotton fabrics, which were prewashed before being sewn together - so no shrinking or fabric bleeding.

The bonus?   Along with your chance of winning, you will also help provide relief for those affected by the flooding in Australia.   For only a $5 AUS donation (go here  or here to donate online -  it's that easy!), you will have a chance to win my handmade gift.  To enter my giveaway,  please read the details and enter here.

Raffle for Premier's Disaster Relief Appeal

I decided that I would hold a raffle/giveaway as my contribution towards helping raise funds to help those affected by the flooding in Australia.  This means with a donation to the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal, you have the opportunity to win four of my scrappy quilted patchwork placemats.

How can you donate and enter to win the placemats?

•  This giveaway is open to everyone, no matter where in the world you live.

 To enter to win, you must donate $5 to the Premier's Flood Relief Appeal.  You will receive a receipt number for your donation - you need this number to enter this giveaway.  Along with leaving the receipt number in your comment on this post, please make sure I have your email to be able to contact you if you win.

•  Enter as many times as you want - but every entry must be accompanied by its own receipt number.  So, for example, that means you can donate $5 for one chance to win or donate $5, five times and have five chances to win - or however many increments of $5 you want to donate - just remember that each must have its own receipt number.
•  I will pay the postage to ship to you if you win.
•  Entries close  midnight Jan. 24th (MST) Wednesday Jan. 26th, 12pm 
• I will randomly draw the winner after the close on Wed. Jan. 26th. 

*For anyone that wants to enter, but doesn't have a blog or Google account, please email me (found on my profile page).  I will then be able to enter you.

Thanks in advance for your generous support!   Be sure to visit Toni's blog to see the master list for all the links to those donating.

Creative inspiration is as near as the local library...

and what could be nicer than a good book and a cup of tea on a cold wintry day?  Here's some of the titles I'm currently indulging in.

 How about a peek at one of the projects inside Dare To Be Square Quilting?....

 or a glimpse of my favourite design from Patchwork Comforters, Throws and Quilts?...    

All this inspiration has me bookmarking ideas to try and digging out fabrics to stitch them up!  Here's extra motivation to put all that inspiration to use....

Perhaps you know of the devastation from flooding in Queensland, Australia?  It's unbelievable and my heart goes out to all those affected.  I would like to help and found that Toni from Make it Perfect has organized an online auction with all of the money raised going directly to the Queensland Government Flood Relief Appeal.   We have the opportunity to support the auction by donating or by bidding (or both!).   All the details can be found on Make it Perfect,  with the master list of bloggers who will be participating (by running auctions from their blogs, selling products that they make or from their stores) posted on Monday January 17th.   The auctions will be open for one week (closing Jan. 24th).

Go to Make it Perfect for updates and information on how you can participate in the online auction.
  I want to participate by donating something handmade to be auctioned off to help raise relief funds.  I just need to determine what to donate and get the details up in another post!  I already know of at least one other blogger with her donation posted (besides Toni).  Visit Jodi to see what handmade goodness she will auction off to help raise money for the Flood Relief Appeal.

On my list

Happy 2011!

I'm back to blogland feeling refreshed after the holidays.  I hope you are too.  Now, like many of you, I've spent some time making various plans and lists of all I want to fill this year with.  Lots of plans and dreams have been written up, right along with my ever present 'to-do' lists.  I even updated my sewing and quilting WIPs list.  At the top of that list is the hexagon quilt made from plaid shirts I started this fall for my son.  Dedicating my afternoon to it, I got the basting completed and began quilting.  About 3 full bobbins worth of stipple quilting in, I broke a needle, only to discover that something more serious was wrong.

I discovered that I have managed to break my second free motion quilting foot for my machine.  Pictured below, is the original foot (on the left) that came with my Janome 7500.  I wore out the little metal pin at the top of that foot  back in 2007.  The replacement foot is shown on the right and somehow I've created a crack in the plastic shaft so that the foot shifts right into the needle's pathway (the reason behind the needle breaking), therefore bringing my free motion quilting plans to a full stop.   Argh.

Looks like this quilt will stay on my WIP list a  little longer!  Guess what is now on the top of my shopping list? ;o)