Lola Goes to Market

With the weekend looming, I needed to get Lola Ladybug finished; how else to sell the panels if I haven't made her myself. A little fiddly, but not actually difficult, I finally got her done. She's not perfect (don't look too close), but she's pretty cute!

Tomorrow I'll be at AQM (the wholesale market) checking out all the new and upcoming quilty goodness, then on Sunday I'm at Caulfield Racecourse for Mathilda's/Boutique Market. It's on from 9am till 1pm and I'll be there with as much fabric as I can carry. Details over in my right-hand sidebar.

I Love Fridays

Yesterday when I was at work, the weather was terrible. Today home is work, and the weather is beautiful! I've made the most of it by getting a bit of gardening done; the weeds really take over when you aren't home to keep an eye on them. The previous owners planted Ivy and it has been a constant battle over many years to get rid of as much as possible. I'm winning slowly but boy does it make me itch.

My lavender bloomed beautifully while I was away, and brings in the bees; great for all the fruit trees. Where would we be without bees?

 

My favourite tree is the cherry blossom; I wait all year for it to bloom, then usually the spring winds blow them all away. They're almost all gone and my front yard looks like its been snowing pink petals.

The puppies are loving the sunshine, but keeping the littlest Miss still for a photo is almost impossible.

Miss Bella is curious about the camera as always.

I did a sneaky trip to Spotlight this morning to check out Sarah Fielke's new range, Millefiori. I had to hunt around a bit but I found the prints I was looking for. Into the stash they go!

 And finally a little more progress on Star Blossoms; only four blocks to go!

 

A History of Me aka The Scrappy Tripalong

I finished off my Scrappy Tripalong this week with the lovely black and white striped binding and I'm chuffed with how it turned out. And so is Lola by the look of it.

  

I've named it A History of Me, as this quilt contains lots of little bits of fabric that I've been collecting since I first started quilting. Some are fat quarters I've picked up here and there. Others are left over from other projects.

There's a cute little Submarine print I picked up at The City Quilter in NYC. Amy Butler prints from an Amitie Kit I made a few years ago. Some Summer in the City prints from Urban Chics that I fell in love with. Leftover Central Park prints from my Swoon quilt. A Heather Bailey print from when my friend and I were bored at work and decided to go shopping instead.

Every square means something to me, so its A History of Me.

Quilt Basting: Scrappy Tripalong

Basting a quilt is probably my least favourite part of the process; I hate crawling around on the floor because it makes my knees hurt, and I usually have to clear the lounge room to make enough room to spread the quilt out.

But I snagged a little down time this afternoon and it was over and done with pretty quickly, aside from a little canine help. Millie and Jack have always known that quilts are off-limits, but Lola thinks they are great for rolling around on. Normally Bella is busy trying to scoot underneath but not today.

When I baste, I always start at the bottom, and roll the quilt as I go. That way I can reach my arm underneath to guide the pin, to make sure it catches the batting but not the carpet. Then when I'm done, its already folded!

Lola spends a lot of time trying to lick Millie's face...not sure she's too impressed.

Oh, and my bestie welcomed baby number 3 today, a healthy little boy.

Hello Friday

It's a gorgeous day here in Melbourne, far too nice to be stuck inside sewing. But before I head outside to potter around in the garden, I quickly finished off the Quince Jelly I started on Wednesday. It turned out beautifully! It's not quite as red as I would like, but its a fine line between developing the colour, and over-cooking it. Last time I made beautifully red quince jelly it needed to be microwaved every time you wanted to spread some on toast.

Miss Lola is settling in well, and Millie seems to be opening up more to her. They enjoy a game of rough and tumble around the lounge room at night. Millie looks so vicious, but her tail is wagging madly and she never actually hurts Lola.

I did catch Lola stealing clothes from my bedroom last night though...I'm not sure what she planned to do with them!

Market Sewing and a Little Lola

No quilt sewing around here at the moment; I really need to go buy some batting before that can happen. But I've got my market mojo happening, and have already whipped up a new batch of Cat in the Hat cushions for my next market. These are always super-popular.

I've also started on a whole batch of rattle cubes, as a customer bought all my stock last weekend (I'm starting to wonder if she is on selling them, as this isn't the first time). This time I've pulled out Summersville Spring for some nice bright cubes. (Terrible iPhone photo, sorry)

I'm also quite excited that I have the Riley Blake rep dropping by in less than two weeks. The new catalogue arrived today and there is so much gorgeous fabric!

And how can you say no to a snuggle with this cutie!

Introducing Miss Lola

It didn't take me long to add another member to the family; yesterday I adopted a gorgeous little puppy who has been named Lola. She's already five months old as she had struggled to find a home. She's a rather strange mix of Jack Russell, chihuahua and papillon. She has the most gorgeous eyes, black in the middle and blue around the edges.

Hopefully once she and Millie get to know each other a little better they will become besties; at the moment Lola is very excitable and Millie gives the occasional snarl to tell her to settle down. It's been a long time since we've had a puppy around here!