Selling lemonade Summer fun

Here is my latest fabric design for a contest it is entitled Lemonade Summer Selling.

Bicycles, lions and space post 2

I started a quilt class at Stitchbird and over came my hesitation of cutting into my beautiful fabric stash.
I made four blocks in class and continued to cut the material and pin all the pieces ready to sew.

I created 30 blocks by the end of the week. Then organised their order.. Which I mucked up and had to re-do. I am sure the first layout was better too.  My fault I didn't take a photo! That should be the lesson from this post; Always take a photo of your quilt once you have organised the layout. I picked my pieces up in order, but managed to muck it up! After reorganising the layout I sewed them into their rows, time seemed to pass quickly. I finished the quilt top in two weeks!
Tuesday the 2nd I pinned the three layers of the quilt together (basted the quilt).

I then used a hera marker to mark where I was going to quilt, it is a great tool for marking where to sew. It never gets blunt and doesn't leave any marks on your fabric. So you don't have to worry that you may or may not be able to wash out any chalk/fabric marks. The hera marker creates crease lines in your fabric and yes it shows on the back too! although you do need to apply a bit of pressure.

 Next time I post I plan to have the quilt finalised...

My Hedgehog Fabric Collection

I have been creating hedgehog fabric! So exciting! Here is (most of) a page out of my sketch book. This is the most legible section.

Hope you like them :) Here is a small example of my designs

Bicycles, Lions and space - A new project

Just showing off the fabric I purchased for a new quilting project. I started making it this week.

 

 

Here is a better close up photo of the Cotton & Steel August Sarah Watts Monarch Cotton Navy fabric. I really didn't do it justice in the previous photo although the colours look faded here.. Argh it's really just to good to photograph..

Secret project until recently..

A secret project has been happening for just over a year now and I have just about finished the quilt top- hoping to finish it by next week. ( one row to go!). It has been a HUGE mission that I started in February 2014! When I attended a workshop entitled "Easiest Double Wedding Ring Quilt Ever!" taught by Kerry Glen at the Craft and quilt fair- Palmerston north.
-Instead of having solid curves I planned to sew different strips of fabric together

I was aiming to complete the quilt by November for my mothers wedding but I just didn't have enough time in the end, I blame my European holiday :) but to be honest, even without the distraction of a holiday I would have been really lucky to have a quilt top!

I didn't record down when I completed each step, however I will record down the stages and the dates that I do know.

1. I started organising, cutting and sewing my Moda fabric into rows of five (25 different fabric designs in total). Each fabric design was roughly cut into 2.7" strips.

2. I then started to cut out my curves.
On July the 27th- I completed cutting out all of the curves; 160 in total from the 5 sewn fabric sets.




3. I then purchased some plain grey cotton fabric to contrast with the floral prints and to make it more manly. Mums favourite colour is yellow so I purchased the yellow and orange fabric. I Started cutting out the grey, yellow and orange pieces.  I needed to cut 80 yellow and 80 orange triangles as well as 80 grey 9.5" squares.I even brought them into work and started to cut them up during lunch breaks.

4. On the 2nd of September I finished sewing the first row of the quilt, and on the 23rd I finished sewing the 2nd row.. This is where I continued to cut up my yellow, orange and grey pieces of fabric...
I knew that I was not going to make the wedding deadline so moved the due date to their first year anniversary -1st of November 2015.

5. I discovered that I did not have enough fabric so had to buy more...

6. Finally I brought more fabric in February (-for this quilt). Finished sewing the 3rd row and sewed the three rows together on the 28th of March 2015.

7. On the 2nd April 2015 I finished cutting all of the grey fabric pieces.

8. My mum and her husband dropped in to see me. Unfortunately the quilt was in my lounge so the secret was out :) at least they saw the top when it was close to completion.
In the future I don't think I will label my secret projects.. The label on the quilt "Mum and Dons wedding quilt" quickly gave the surprise away!

I will post a picture once the quilt front is finished :) Hopefully I will have it finished by next week...

Zucchini and Carrot Fritters

These fritters are really easy to make. I just grated zucchini and carrot whisked an egg, added the other ingredients and spooned the mixture straight into the pan. Lightly press the mixture, leave for 2 minutes flip, leave for 2 minutes then serve. Easy :)
Please note that I have cooked my fritters in a mini pan.

Preparation time - 10 minutes
Cooking time - 20 minutes
Makes - 7 burger bun sized fritters

What you need:
3 Zucchini's
2 Carrots
Pinch Salt
1/4 Cup All Purpose Flour
1 teaspoon Crushed Garlic
1/4 Red Capsicum finely chopped
1/5 Cup Parmesan
1 Whisked Egg
1 teaspoon Coconut Oil- or Olive Oil

Instructions:
Place grated Zucchini and Carrot into a container add a pinch of salt and mix together.
Add the Flour Garlic, Red Capsicum, Parmesan and Egg and combine.
You can season with salt and pepper to taste, if you like.
Heat Coconut Oil to a pan over medium to hot heat. Place mixture for each fritter into the pan and flatten with a spatula. Cook the fritter for a couple of minutes or until golden brown.
Flip the fritter over and cook the other side.

Eat them all up :) You could eat them as is, make a vegetarian burger or serve them with a side salad!

DIY Recipe Clipboard

We all know how quickly our recipe collections can get out of control! especially if you have family members or friends who are keen to share their recipes. So why not make a simple clipboard to keep those recipes organised! It's more fun to look at and it has a big clip which really does become useful when reading a recipe!

What I used to create my recipe clipboard: (All items were purchased at Warehouse Stationery)
Grace Taylor Happy Days Scrapbook kit
Rosie's Studio Sticker Book of Fonts
Rosie's Studio Easy Cardmaking Pad
A Black Pen
My X-ACTO knife (craft knife)
Cutting Mat
Paint brush (or foam brush)
AND... My favourite craft item at the moment Mod Podge (matte)(I love, love, love this stuff)

Step 1:
Choose the paper that you would like to use to cover your clipboard. 
Use the guide I have made to cut out a space for the clip on the clipboard. (click the word 'guide' to view it)

- Use the clip to hold the cut out paper into place and flip the clipboard over. On a Cutting Mat, run your X-ACTO (or craft knife) down the edge of the clipboard to cut off the excess paper.

Step 2:
Choose the paper that you want to use for the recipe pocket and cut along the 12 inch paper to make a 14cm strip.
-Keep the off cuts to cover the bottom of the clipboard
-so when the pocket is opened you will still see pretty paper (if you are as fussy as me)

Step 3:
Use a paint brush or foam brush to apply the Mod Podge to the clipboard (not the paper!). Placing the main paper sheet down around the clip is the hardest step- after this it's a home run! Do not fully stick the main paper on! we are going to be sneaky and stick about a third of the sheet down then curve the paper and use the clip to keep it out of the way. (It sounds so complex writing this down I hope you are still with me?) Use your hands to gently smooth the paper down.
--Mod Podge works as a glue and looks white when you apply it but trust me it dries clear.--

Step 4:
We are now going to apply the left over scrap paper (so it's still pretty when you open the pocket)
Don't bother cutting the paper down to size, we want to leave extra paper at the bottom so we can fold it up for the pocket.

Simply stick the paper to the clipboard using Mod Podge and leave the extra paper at the bottom. Don't bother waiting for it to dry, (I didn't as I am an impatient crafter...) use the bottom of the clipboard and fold the paper on the edge back up to the clipboard to form the bottom of the pocket. Turn the clipboard over and use the edge of the board to trim off the extra paper on the sides.


Step 5:
Mod Podge the (now paper covered) clipboard thinly (Do not Mod Podge the pocket flap). We are doing a layer now so that the inside of the pocket is protected and nice and smooth.

Step 6:
Wait for it to dry it should only take 5 minutes.
Place the paper that you cut out earlier for your pocket (pocket front), into place (without Mod Podging it!) and dent the paper along both sides of the clipboard. The dented sides will become the side flaps to adhere the pocket onto.

Step 7:
Mod Podge the pocket flap which is attached to the clipboard and stick to the bottom of your pocket front. Then apply Mod Podge to the side flaps of the pocket front and fold it into place, apply pressure to the sides.

Step 8:
Decorate the front of the pocket.
I used stickers from the Happy Days Scrapbook Kit and lettering from Rosie's Sticker Book of fonts.

Step 9:
Mod Podge the pocket (Make sure you don't stick the pocket closed!) you can apply more mod Podge to the clipboard if you wish :)
Once it has dried you can start placing recipe cutouts into the pocket.

The Cardmaking Pad is a really quick and easy way to make recipe cards.
If you have a long recipe you can leave the card open or you can stick the card closed and place the recipe on the back (like a postcard). It's really up to you.

Laminating these would be a great idea so they last longer. Of course you could always use Mod Podge instead :)

These are so easy to make and would make great gifts. Just change the design around to make any sort of clipboard. 
I Hope you enjoyed this tutorial, and I would love to see any creations made with the same process.