Maybelle's Quilt

This is Maybelle, 11 year old daughter

of my lovely friend Bianca.

On the 31st October last year, Maybelle was diagnosed with

Acute Lymphoblastic Leukaemia

Bianca belongs to our Stitch and Bitch group,

even though she does not live here anymore,

she is still considered one of the girls.

So, one night in November, while stitching and bitching

we decided to make a quilt for Maybelle, together

First we met at Michelle's,

everyone bought along pinks and greens from their stash,

Louise bought her Drunkards Path template

and we started slicing and stitching

Next session was at Louise's house.

Here's Judy stitching away

And Louise, pressing seams

And here is Bianca and her 4 chickens,

I snaped this photo when I visited them up in Darwin last year.

While stitching away at this quilt,

we were busy chatting about Bianca's family and Maybelle's journey to date

Taking Shape

Another session, at Sandra's home this time,

pinning the quilt.

Next job was Michelle's, to make the binding

Then the quilt was passed on to me to machine quilt

Then I passed it back to Michelle and Sandra,

who took the quilt on a summer holiday to South Australia

with their families and started stitching on the binding,

then completed the binding back home.

Bron, who now lives in Melboune, sent up the label that she hand stitched,

Then I stitched it on...

And finally finished!

We were all very happy with the finished product

and each of us could easily have snaffled it for ourselves.

It was delivered to Maybelle a few weeks ago,

thanks to Granny Di the courier. 

I can not even begin to imagine what Maybelle and her family are going through,

the chemo, the hospital stays, the emotions, seperation from her friends and family.

But Maybelle is one Tough Cookie, very wise and mature for her young age.

Maybelle has a long road ahead,

but she is going to kick Leaukemia's Butt!

Bianca's cousin is participating in the 

Leukaemia Foundation

Worlds Graetest Shave

you can find Skye's page here 

 Bianca's friend and children are also participating in the

Leukaemia Foundation 

Worlds Greatest Shave

you can find Nita's page here

 Jacqueline.

Another Quilt Finished - Tick

Another finished quilt,

made from bit's and piece's from my stash

This one is for our Niece and Cousin, Jess

The quilt has been

picked up - put down - picked up - put down and picked up

for 18 months!

But is now all done and ready to hand over

(the colours are much nicer than in this shot)

Hope you're having a nice week

Jacqueline.

Day 19 - Judy's Quilt

Back in August, I decided to join in on a little quilt-a-long,

you can read about it here.

I also asked the girls at

Stitch and Bitch

 if they would like to join in too.

Judy, Michelle, Sandra and Louise have.

Here is Judy's quilt.

She has used Sugar and Spice Textiles,

Spotlight Christmas Basics,

And Flurry-Kate Spain of Moda, which was

purchase here

Judy set off at a cracking pace

And, here is the almost finished quilt.

And, I do believe she finished sewing on the binding tonight!

And here is the back shot.

Mine - well, I still have 3 blocks to sew together,

Sandra's is basted

Michelle has the top pieced

And not sure where Louise is up to.

Great job Judy!

See you tomorrow - 3 minutes to spare tonight - but I made it :)

Jacqueline.

Pin Wheels In The Park - stage 1

Kerri at So Dearly Loved and Andrea at Knitty Bitties

are having a little quilt - along,

So, I thought I might join in.

The quilt is "Pinwheels In The Park"

by Rachel Measham-Pywell at Four Wise Monkeys.

If you want to join in, the tutorial is here.

Kerri and Andrea have set a (not too strict) time-line

(great, because I like a good schedule)

Aug 1-7 ~ cut fabric

Aug 8-14 ~ sew blocks

Aug 15-21 sew up quilt top

Aug 22-31 ~ quilt and bind

I think I can manage that, I am going for a xmas theme,

I sliced up all my fabric last night - so far I'm on track :)

I have also asked the girls from

stitch and bitch if they would like to join in,

I've had a couple, so I will post their progress too.

Blogless Judy is already sewing her blocks!

My blocks will look like this - if all goes to plan.

Have a great weekend

Jacqueline :)

PS - this fabric has also been made into other triangles,

you will see them here soon.

Our Creative Space - Jess's Quilt

My creative space today involves quilting "Jess's Quilt"

It was started in August last year,

hopefully it will be finished by August next year!

A little bit of stipple to go - then ready for binding - finally!

To visit the home of Our Creative Space 

pop over here

Have a great Thursday

Jacqueline.

Mr. C's Quilt

While I was up in Darwin, one of Bianca's little's,

Mr. C turned 5.

A couple of nights before his big day,

Bianca say's, "I might make him a quilt"

I thought to myself,

"there is no way this is going to come together before Mr.C's birthday!"

She got the box of "good stuff" out and started slicing her most precious fabrics

into smaller bits of precious fabric.

She sewed and chatted,

sewed and chatted and sewed and chatted

and finished it.

It's backed with navy cord - I love it,

although, I did lobby to have the plain green removed,

but lost out - completed, I now like the green too. 

And here is Mr. C with his new quilt.

He loves it too.

Well done Bianca!

PS

Bianca could have taken some pics herself ...

if she could have found the charger for her wizbang camera :)

Be Good

Jacqueline.

Another Quilt Finished

I have finally completed Second Borns Quilt.

On each square, I free motioned stars,

then just machine quilted through the sashing.

I'm really happy with how it turned out,

Mitchell is too, which is the main thing.

The rocket ship pillow tutorial can be found at

Dont Look Now

Debbie - you may recognise the bed size table :)

Jacqueline 

Pin Cushion Swap

I decided to play along with Kate's pin cushion swap.

My pin cushion went in the mail on Monday.

This shot is the pin cushion's bottom

I also made this little needle case to pop in the parcel.

Can't wait to recieve my mystery parcel in the mail!

You can check out more of the pin cushions

in the swap over here

A big thanks to Kate over at

Foxs Lane

for organising the swap.

Kate's also has another insiring blog

Dayelsford Organics

Jacqueline :)

Stash Advice

A wise lady told me a few years ago,

Build your stash now,

Buy your books/patterns now,

While your little ones are young.

You won't have a lot of time to create while they are little

but, they don't cost you a lot while they are little.

When the littleun's become biggun's,

you will have more time on your hands

and they will cost you a lot more to maintain.

Wise advice I say!

Jacqueline :)

Holiday at the Bells Farm

The boys and I have just returned from a

mini holiday at our good friends, The Bell Family.

They live on a farm about 30km out of town,

it was so much fun.

The neighbours had a new baby born a while ago,

A baby donkey!

Not sure what a baby donkey is called,

I don't think it's called a foal.

How cute!

Everyone had a turn of leading mother donkey around

There was even a pony with a foal

Back at the Bell Farm, the little people spent a good hour

jumping on the silage rolls,

they were like giant lillypads.

My boys had such a great time,

we saw Angora Goats, kangaroos, emu's,

sheep, cows and calves, bulls, dogs, donkeys

and ponies, tractors and motor bikes,

the chooks were fed many times

and nests checked for eggs many times.

We went for a drive around the paddock to check

the cows and the calves.

Simone and I even had time for creating.

We sliced up her fabric for a quilt for one of

her daughters, set up our 2 machines

and pieced it together.

This was a great quick way get the quilt done

I would recommend it.

It still needs 3 borders sewn on,

Simone text last night to say she had done 1 1/2 borders

Well Done Simone.

She had better get cracking as she also has to do another

quilt for another daughter.

Thanks so much to the Bell family for having us stay!

We had a fantastic time!

Jacqueline :)

Annual Leave 3 Sleeps Away

I have now been a mum for about 7 1/2 years

So, by my calculations,

I have about 30 weeksof holidays owing to me :)

YIPPEE!

Sometimes, you just feel like this, so,

I have decided to take 4 days off from being a mum.

On Thursday I'm off to Ballarat to do a class at

Ballarat Patchwork with Kellie from Dont Look Now

I will stay in Ballarat the night,

have a look around Friday morning

then head back to Great Western for

A well deserved girls weekend.

I have been organising this weekend away

for some crafty friends

And it's finally, almost here

We are all off to

Allanvale

for a weekend, staying in the shearers quarters

There is about 14 girlies going, last count, including

This fitness fanatic, Jo

This chick visiting from Darwin, Bianca

And this busy lady, Bron

We can do whatever we wish

sew, cycle, tennis, swim, sleep, read, relax or nothing at all,

just sit on the verandah and sip.

When it's time to go home on Sunday

I should be refreshed and 

feel a little more like this

Jacqueline :)