Last Minute Sewing!!!!

This Week has been a bit Hectic 

in the House...Miss 12yrs is off 

to her first state camp with her 

Girl Guide Troupe...Yippee Yippee 

After weeks and months of planing and fund raising 

we are finally to the part where we pack.

Miss 12yrs is a very independent and mature young girl.

And I like her to take charge and pack her own 

kit...They supplied us with a list...so off she went,

a couple hours later she emerges from 

her room with a list of extras that she needs...

you know the usual suspects, deo,toothpaste etc

and that was that...

well so I thought lol

On Tuesday the day that I was to leave for Brisbane airport

to drop her to off for her plane trip to Cairns

When 3 hrs out from packing the car 

Miss 12yrs informs me that she needs a hat!!!!

We just didn't have time to go out shopping again...I still had to get dinner 

done and kids into bed...Shopping at that time of the day,

Not a hope in Hell!!!!

So I said I will make you one...My inner Critic went into a tail spin

WHAT ARE YOU THINKING!!!! YOU DON'T HAVE TIME FOR THIS!!!!

 going through my head ...all the while 

I had a smile on my Face...Now here is a little secret....I haven't made a 

hat before, well at least not without help, a lot of help and I mean a lot,

so technically I didn't really make the hat, as this was 

 when I first starting sewing many years ago

and frankly I just couldn't tell you how I (or the teacher) did it...

So off we went and asked Google for a simple hat 

pattern....

Why a a simple pattern...

Well I don't sew garments nor do I do hats for that matter

I am a Quilter and Quilts is what I do...So simple it is for me 

when it comes to any form of Garment sewing... 

and the simpler the better.

BINGO!!! 

 not only did one pop up 

but Miss 12 loved it and quickly ran off to 

pick her fabric :) :) This is a good sign.

So what pattern did I use 

I used 

Reversable Sun Hat for women

By Jen of 

A Tie Dye DIVA Pattern 

How gorgeous is the fabric that Miss 12 picked for
her hat...Flowers is the outer and Anchors is the
lining :) 

so with my purchase now complete it was time to print it off 

and get cutting...

This the first time that I have ever used any of her patterns

and I am in no way affiliated with Jen the pattern designer...

What can I can say is, that I love how this pattern was written... 

and how easy the pattern was to follow,

She just loved it so much, that she got the
giggles and couldn't stop 

each step was clearly marked out with pictures ...

I also love that the pattern had 2 sizes 

Small/Med and 

L/XL

I cut out the Main Fabric and Lining, 

while Miss 12yrs helped by cutting out the interfacing 

and ironing and basic prep work, 

this cut my time down so I could get to sewing...as we had to pack the car and other chores to get done

sooner rather than later, as I had to get to sleep 

for the all nighter I was about to pull. As we live 3hrs 

away from the airport

Now this hat took me from start to finish 45 mins

with the help from Miss 12 

I would assume that it would take about 

an hour without help....

 I can and will recommend this pattern to anyone that is 

looking for a quick and easy Sun Hat pattern to make 

either for themselves for the Girl Guide in your 

life..

 I give this pattern a 5 out 5 pincushions 

(yep that is my new rating system

the pincushion rating) I got the idea from a 

group that I am in on Facebook,

and the pattern is now in with 

all my other patterns :) and will be used 

more often than not...
and I will be heading over to her Facebook page and shop to
see what else she has on offer :):) 

and as you can see from the pictures Miss 12 Loves her hat ") 

so woo hoo for me I made my girls day,

and a thank you to Jen from 

A Tie Dye DIVA

for making it so easy to please 

Miss 12 no easy feat indeed :) 

Till Next Time
Happy Quilting ") N

Holiday Sit'n'Sew Fun

Today was our Weekly Sit'nSew Class 

we run this class every Monday from 

9:30am to 12:30pm

and today we had the pleasure of Bec and Miss T

joining us for a mother daughter sewing morning 

a great way to spend some time together...

We are looking into doing this Next year as 

a permanent Holiday Class 

Miss T decided that she was going to make herself a

Plate bag for her up and coming Camp with her Girl Guide troop

The pattern we use was one that I found, when I Googled 

Easy Drawstring Bag and the first one that came up was 

Diary of a Quilter Tutorial....

This was super simple and great for the beginner sewer, 

and as it says in the opening paragraph great for teaching kids 

to sew...

once we had picked out fabrics 

it was time to start sewing up a storm. 

Miss T takes instruction well and was able to 

follow along with the step by step tutorial 

So thank you Diary of a Quilter for making it easy for me to 

help Miss T make her plate bag for Girl Guides...

Miss T also made herself a Bookmark (see above pic) using 

the leftovers from the bag...we had a 2 inch strip 

and took so scrap Foam from my bag making 

and as both sides of the foam are fusible. we were able to fused 

the fabric to either side of the foam, making it super 

easy and quick... then Miss T sewed 1/4 inch all the way around 

to secure the fabric to the foam.

Next using the pinking shears we pinked all the way round 

then added a little bling and a ribbon to the top just to  dress it up a little...

she was very pleased with herself....

Bec got a sneaky picture of me...A rare sight indeed ") 

The lovely Bec made a little sewing pouch today.

Bec has had, her sewing machine for the past 

11 yrs and it was still in the box...

So today was the day that she finally got the big 

girl out and learned how to use it...it is a lovely machine 

and very simple to use...Bec played with her machine before she started 

sewing. This was so she could get use to how it worked and where everything is 

on the machine 

Bec had her fabric in hand and was ready to start her pouch...after some 

initial prep work we were sewing away the morning...

the pouch that she made is a variation on a accordion pouch....If you 

do a YouTube search several will pop up :)...I however will be doing a 

tutorial in the coming weeks of the one that I use and have tweaked 

so watch this space...

Now Miss Lynda came too (but was camera shy today)  and she was helping me with some binding Jobs that I have in the Que at the moment...I don't know what I would do 

without her....she keeps me moving some weeks when 

we are super busy....Thank you so much Lynda ")

I appreciate all that you do for me ")  

Till next time 

Happy Quilting ") N

National Sew A Jelly Roll Day...What Did you Do to Celebrate?

Yesterday was National Sew a Jelly Roll Day..

What did you do? 

A couple Friends and I went over Aliselou Designs 

in Nanango Qld

With Jelly Rolls in hand and Sewing machines in Tow 

we were off...we arrived at 1pm for 4 hours of sewing fun.

Then came the big decision

What are we going to make...

Well with a multitude of patterns to choose from, some of which I will list at the end of this post..

we got to searching and wondering what to do...then 

Coral and I decided to go with a MSQC pattern that was up loaded to YouTube on the 

24th of August call Windmill. you can find this Tutorial Here 

I purchased a lovely Jelly Roll  called "Summer Feast"

from Sylvia, the owner of Aliselou Designs, 

even though I went with my own Moda Jelly Roll...I just couldn't help myself, it was just so 

Pretty.. LOL

Coral had purchased a little earlier in the week..a gorgeous black,white and Red one.

Then we were off sewing up a storm...we started by sewing up our strip

sets of 2...the whole Jelly Roll...Nice and easy as you will see from the Tutorial...

Then it was time to add the 5.5 inch strip of background fabric.

Coral and her first of many windmills 

Lynda Decided on a gorgeous Blue and Cream Jelly Roll 

and was keeping it simple...not using a pattern and just making it up 

as she went....she decided to go the strip sets of 6, so she was sewing up a strip 

set storm....Then she cut all the strip sets into 12x12 inch Blocks added a sashing 

strip between the blocks and had one going vertical and one horizontal 

as you can see from a picture that I took. 

Lynda and her 1st row

Sylvia was also sewing up a storm too...

the colours that Sylvia was using were just divine 

and I can't wait to see what her quilt looks like when it is finished 

and don't worry you will get to see it...I will be taking some pictures 

once it is finished...I can tell you it is going to be beautiful. 

Lots of laughs, coffee and cake (Jelly Rolls from the Bakery) 

was consumed...Even thought there was only the 4 of us 

we had a blast and we hope to do it again sooner rather than 

later...And next time there will be more of us as I know there 

were a few others that wanted to come with us, but were otherwise 

booked. 

So next time you hear about the National Sew a Jelly Roll Day

Go to your stash and grab those Jelly Rolls that you have been collecting 

and head to your Local Patchwork and Quilting shop or Go on a road trip with friends to a Shop 

 that has a day planed and get sewing. I promise you won't regret it 

we had so much fun ") 

Below are some of the links that I shared yesterday on my Facebook Page 

with many more than listed there.

SCANDI JELLY ROLL & CHECK CUSHIONS

10 FREE JELLY ROLL QUILTS

JELLY ROLL FLOOR PILLOW

JELLY ROLL RACE

HOW TO MAKE A JELLY ROLL QUILT- 49 EASY PATTERNS

Till next time 

Happy Quilting ") N

We Now have a Facebook Sales Group

We have finally opened up our Group on Facebook.

This group is primarily for Shopping.

It is where we have some great specials and 

 try to have something different each week.

But like all things that are new, we are still trying to find our 

feet, but we are getting there.

So what did we call this Group, 

well we have shortened our name to 

DD's 

and the group is called, 

DD's Quilting Supplies 

Head over to the group and request to join, you can find us 

Here

Don't worry if you are not on Facebook we also have our Etsy store too, 

and you can find that Here it is Called,
DDs Bags and More 

We hope to be of service to you in the very near future. 

Happy Quilting & Crafting  ") N

Coming Soon!!!!

Here at Darvanalee Designs or DD's for short 

we are going to be starting a New Online Block of the Month 

We are Currently in the planning stages 

But we are just too excited to keep it 

to ourselves 

So watch this space and see what we 

have to offer for you...

but for now here is some general information that you might find very useful 

Our Online BOM is a great way to invest small amounts of time and work on a small portion of a Quilt ....A great online Class for beginners right up to advanced students 

Lots of my past students have said it is a great way to use up your stash and meet like minded people... Our goal is to make this as easy as possible for you and have a gorgeous quilt at the end of the program. 

In this online class you will be learning how to make a patchwork Block ...how to read different types of patterns and the language that is used in them... measure and cut effectively, different tools and trouble shoot and received tips and tricks for patchwork 

We aim for a different technique each month.

We are hoping to start in October but the date, 
has yet to be set.

Our First block with be nice and simple for you 
to sink your creative teeth into 

So we hope you can join in the fun for one month or many more 

See you all soon with the First Block :) 

HAPPY QUILTING ")