Friday 29 June 2012

School Holidays Oh what to Do 
a list of fun easy cost effective Ideas


Winter School Holidays started here last Friday
and with 3 kids home we had grand plans of 
heading out doors for the the 2 weeks...
well so far it has been raining and cold 
windy..just plain terrible weather here...
so we had to re-think the whole week...
so lots of indoor activities....and then it got me thinking
we are crafty I will hunt down differnt things that we 
can make that are not going to cost money or next to no money...
so on the first weekend the kids sat and realaxed and 
watch some TV....while I sat on the internet 
going through all my Pinterest Boards and seeing what 
I had there....and thought to myself this is good 
not going to cost any money well very little 
as i have most of the supplies ") this makes me a 
very Happy Crafty Chick indeed ") 
so I had some Ideas and started to share them on 
my Face Book page on the Monday Day 1
and thought i should share them here too
 

Now I'm not sure who origanlly come up with some 
of these ideas but I have found them on Pinterst or 
on the Net...I am not in anyway taking credit for the 
Ideas or photos that i have posted here in this post ") ....



these are some of the things that I have shared on my Face Book Page 
these school Holidays ") 



 Day 1 and 2
 
Balloon fabric covered bowl 


this project we did over 2 days as the papier mache had to dry before we put the fabric over ")  
a great way to get rid of some of those old newspapers and fabric scraps ")
 Kid friendly Project for the beginning of the winter school holidays ") happy crafting ") keep an eye for more



Day 3 

Fabric Cover Terracotta Pots  

Here is another great Kid friendly craft idea for the Kids these school Holidays ") Happy Crafting ") another great way to use up all those unwanted scraps of fabric... ") 




Day 4

Kids coloring and Hand Stitchery  

 Hi Everyone well here we are again and another rainy day....well i expect that the kiddies are starting to get Cabin fever by now...today I have some Free!!! Coloring Pics for the kids...100's to chose from...but these are not lost on the older kids either they can use these pages to make their own hand stitchery ") they just have to trace the outline of the pic onto some fabric either calico or homespun....they can just do a simple back stitch or running stitch for the beginners....and there you have it a free stitchery pattern for the Bigger kids....Happy Crafting ")




Day 5 
Twenty Minute Tote 


 Well it looks like the rain may have eased up a bit here today although it is still a bit too cold and wet for the little ones to go outside to day yet again "( anyway today I thought that some of you could pull out the sewing machine and maybe give sew a go with you little one on your lap....I have done this before with my youngest and she just loves we make simple things together...so to see the joy in your little ones face that they are using some so grown up I say give this ago...the Joy they get is worth it and you never know what passion you might spark in them ") anyway here is a link for a quick and easy bag that you can make together and they could use it for a Library bag ") happy Crafting ")


Will be posting more great Ideas that I find to keep those kids happy ") 
and I hope you have enjoyed them as much as we did
") 


Happy Quilting and Crafting ") 

Sunday 10 June 2012

Handy tips

Now i haven't made a post in a while...but while playing around 
on Pinterest today I came across this post 
and thought i would share it with you 

#17 really struck a cord with me sooo 
going to be on top of that one....
 make a lot of sense really..

and as i live in Australia 
I really don't have a problem with 
Squirrrels.....but might try it anyway
might be able to keep 
other pest away.... 

and #1 never thought of that one....
that would take no time at 
all to re-heat the pizza for the 
kids....that is when and if there is 




Happy Quilting :) 
Nicole

Sunday 13 May 2012

Scrappy TuTu!



now anyone that knows The Divine Miss N
know that she loves all things pretty
so the other day when i was surfing the 
net more to the point Pinterest :0) just a little addicted lol
 and she seen this pretty little Scrappy Tutu
she immediately started to hound me to make her one....
Now I'm not about to take any credit for this as it is not an 
original of mine...my source is  http://campclem.com


now you will need a few things 

1" wide elastic
Scissors
sewing machine
tape measure 
scrap fabric strips or a jelly roll 

1. measure you little one or in my case my 5yr old 
for the sizing of elastic 

2. then measure from the hip of your little one to their 
knee...this so you can work out how long your 
strips should be....The Divine Miss N measured 13" 
and then you times this number by 2
so my strips were 26" in length.

3. now to make the waist band simply 
take the 2 ends of the elastic and join them 
either by hand or machine sewing...I used my machine 
as it was quicker this way...

 

4. Now we take all our scrap fabric and either cut into strips 
approx 2" or 2.5" wide...now as i have a very impatient little 
girl...i took the easy way out and used up some of my 
left over jelly roll strips...so no cutting for me....YaY 


you then take your folded in half strips and you attach 
each strip to the elastic by way of a slip knot....
YaY no sewing...

you continue to do this until you have used all your 
strips...I used 46 in total...it works out to be 2 strips for 
every 1" of elastic..this way you will know just how many strips 
you will need ...It should look like this below :0)




Now you are done....
 



and i have one very happy little girl YaY 
now back to relaxing :0)


Happy Crafting 
Nicole :0)



Monday 7 May 2012



The Results are In 

Well it was show time here in Kingaroy...My girls and I put some craft items into the show....Miss S and I put quilts in and my eldest put in a knitted ruffle scarf and a stuffed toy...well it was good news all round...My eldest 13yrs got 2nd for her scarf and 3rd for the stuff toy...Miss S 7yrs got Junior Champion for her quilt...and I got 2nd for my quilt...it was Miss S's first show...she was just about ready to to burst with excitement...I am very proud of my girls and their efforts :0) Next year The Divine Miss N...will be putting something in for the first time :0) 

 Happy Quilting 
Nicole :0)

Thursday 3 May 2012

Road Trip!!!!

Whoa!!! what a day I have had today...started the morning with coffee with Kelly and Ange for an hour of girl time...
then Ange and I were off on a road trip to Goomeri to drop in to the local patchwork 
shops and so I could Introduce myself.... 

and leave them some information on what services I offer.....it was a very positive day...
I picked up a couple quilts as well, from a customer on the way back...

it is all starting to fall into place...Feeling great about the decisions that I have made to go into business for myself YaY....only the beginning but he we all have to start some where don't we....
Now back to work tomorrow morning....to QUILT QUILT QUILT

                          
Happy Quilting 
Nicole :0)



Wednesday 2 May 2012

Local Kingaroy Show

Well it has been a busy week so far..putting all the finishing touches on all items 
for the Local Kingaroy Show...
Miss S has submitted a quilt  in the Junior section
Miss Dj has entered a Knitted ruffle scarf that she had made during the year 
and also a small stuffed felt owl...
and myself I have entered a Queen size Sampler Quilt ....

I am also very excited for one of my students 
she has entered a few items too.... I wish Miss B 
and her brothers 
good luck :0) 
and hope you all do well :0)

Judging is over the next couple of days
so it is a very anxious wait till the weekend
to see how we have all done :0)

I hope my girls do well :0) 
will post results next week 

Happy Quilting
Nicole :0)


Monday 30 April 2012

Shaggy Raggy Bag


Shaggy Raggy Bag
 

 I just love making this bag it is just so handy for day to day 
and fits a lot into it....
My eldest daughter has made this bag  for her sisters for Christmas....
so it is a nice and easy bag to make even for beginners......
as I have held this as beginners class...and they all loved it 
.Now I have used a Accuquilt Go! in this tutorial
but if don't have one DON'T let that 
stop you....you just have to make sure you sew 1" away from the edge of the fabric
so you have enough of a seam to clip with scissors :0) 

I hope you enjoy making this little bag :0)

Supplies
 50 cm's Patterned Fabric
 
 1m Calico
50cm's Wadding
scissors
Ruler
Rotary Cutter
Cutting Mat
Accuquilt GO!
Raggy Die for Accuquilt GO
! and Matt
  Sewing Machine
9" Fabric Square

Cutting Instructions Cut 4 x 9" squares of the patterned Fabric
Cut 12 x 9" squares of Calico (8 of which are for backing fabric)
cut 8 x 6 6/8" squares of wadding cut 2 x 2.5" Strips of calico Width of Fabric (WOF)

 
 So now we run all out 9" squares of fabric
through the Accuquilt GO!...I just love this
little machine it definitely  makes 
life a lot easier :0)

Accuquilt GO! Cutter Place your 4 patterned fabric squares onto you Accuquilt Raggy die cutter
then place the mat on top of fabric and run through the Accuquilt GO!
after you have ran it through then remove the
mat and you have your Raggy squares all clipped
for you...Now you can do up to 6 squares of fabric
but I only do 4 squares at a time using the Raggy die
repeat with all the calico squares until all completed
 
 Fabric squares after they have been ran through the Accuquilt Go!

Next we cut the corners out  
they should look like this after
you have cut out all the corners



 







 Next we sandwich 1 patterned square of fabric
with a piece of wadding and a square
of calico repeat with the remaining fabric




Now we need to get a water soluble marker
and mark a cross on the backing fabric
as in the image above 
don't worry as soon as water touches the marker it will disappear 

now sew along the your marked line from corner to 
corner using coordinating thread using the matching thread in the bobbin
as you are using top thread on the backing and the bobbin will be on the 
front of your bag you need to make sure it matches the front of your bag
in my case i used cream thread in both 
Now to the fun part...the bag layout...
I have chosen to lay mine out this way 


 then place the 2 suares together with the backsides 
facing each other



now sew from corner to corner along the right hand 
side....



continue to do this with all your Raggy squares

you should end up with 4 rectangles as shown



Next take 2 of the rectangles and we
sew them together again we have the 
backs touching and we sew from corner
to corner on the right hand side....
repeat for the with the 2 other 
rectangles  



we now have 2 panels a front and a back....
Now take these 2 panels and lay them 
with backs touching


 and sew down 
the 3 sides leaving the top open 


 next construct the handles for the bag
take your 2.5" strips and sew them down 
both sides to create a tube...turn tube in
the right way as shown in picture above


Now to attach the handles to the bag body
we attach them at the side seems 
*First roll the top of the bag like shown 
in picture above.....
Then sew along the top edge using a 1/4" seam 
at this stage you can use any decorative
stitch that you might like...
be careful when you get the where the handles 
are going to be attached as it is thick and you
need to go slow  
 

And there you have it....
One finished bag :0)
now you can throw this bag 
into the washing machine and 
all your fringing will curl a little
it is a great effect 

Happy Quilting :o)
Nicole