here's one I prepared earlier {glamping quilt}

This is a quilt that I finished last year (or was it the year before?), but have not yet shared.

I think the recent purchase of a family tent prompted me to think of this quilt. Because why camp when you can glamp?

Using a layer cake of Glamping by Mary Jane for Moda, this is a simple quilt pattern. I organized each of the 10" squares into pairs; larger scale prints were paired with a smaller scale print in a contrasting colour. And then I began chopping them up.

 I sliced up each pair with two vertical cuts and two horizontal cuts. 7 pairs ended up with a 4" square in the middle, another 7 pairs with a 4 3/4" square in the middle and the last 7 pairs with a 5 3/4" square. Then each pair played swapsies with its partner; I simply switched over the centre squares for each pair (e.g. red centre with mustard border, mustard centre with red border). I did try and keep those lovely images as whole as possible (who wants half a caravan when you can have a whole one?).

The blue border really is the same colour as the centre square of the previous photo. Truly.

 I sewed up the individual blocks, played around with the placement and then sew the blocks together for a completed top. Done! Well, not quite. It might have sat around for a while before it was quilted and bound. But we don't have to talk about that.

 I used a ticking type fabric on the back and some bright, striped binding after quilting it with large loops.

This is often how it looks when it is on the couch.

I think this is the ideal size for a lap quilt. Or a 'nap' quilt. I like small quilts (in my head a small quilt is a quilt that is not big enough to cover a single bed) to generously cover an adult body when they are sitting on the couch. This includes toes. And enough on the side that you feel well cocooned.

This is as close to a nice fence that I can get!

The weather here has been very warm as we head into summer, so while this quilt isn't being used for snuggling right now, those lovely bright colours look great draped over the arm of the couch!

cushions

 A few months ago Last year I made a cushion for a friend who was celebrating her birthday. Knowing that she liked bright colours I chose a variety of fabrics from my stash and started to improv piece them together log cabin style.

It just wasn't right. It was bright and happy, but it really didn't feel like it was right for my friend. I decided to start over with different fabrics. I added some sophistication to my fabric choices and was very pleased with the end result.

This was my friend! You may recognise the beautiful fabric on the dark purple background. I fell in love with it and used it again on this messenger bag.

I also love the fabric on the back of the cushion (and am patting myself on the back for inserting a covered zipper. I love these on cushions and always use Svetlana's fab tutorial).

The colour in these photos hasn't come up well; the zipper is hot pink - the same as the petals, leaves and stems on the fabric. Did I say how much I love this fabric?

Note to self: turn the ends of the tape label under next time!

I am getting better at remembering to put a label on hand made gifts; I sewed a simple one on using cotton tape. This looked great, but - I don't know what I was thinking - I didn't fold the ends under. It will probably fray and fall off after one wash. I have told my friend that I will happily be liable for any repairs in the near or distant future.

As to what became of my abandoned cushion cover? I backed it with some cherries ( I love cherry fabric!) and it now lives in our lounge room. Sometimes on the couch and most of the time on the floor with a four year old bottom on it.  I'm glad I abandoned my first cushion cover - it just wasn't right for the recipient and was also too big for a couch cushion (25" or 63cm), but is perfect as an imaginary sled, boat or bus for wombats.

teacher gift idea {tiered plates}

As the end of the school year draws closer we are busy preparing teacher gifts.

These tiered plate stands were inspired by one that was on the counter at one of our local opportunity shops.

Using a clear 'separator' (some kind of tiny glass!) meant that we could still see the pretty flowers in the centre of the plate on the bottom.

We gathered up all the pretty plates that we had and weren't using, as well as picking up a few more from some of the op shops that we I like to visit.

I always set myself a budget, so for this project I spent no more than 50 cents a plate.
 I was very fortunate and picked up some beautiful old plates. I also found some glassware to use to separate the plates.

We added our own little touch to this one with the addition of the little ceramic kitty. You can see the glue in this photo, but it dried clear!

We made two tier plate stands.

And three tiered plate stands.
 Oh look - more kitties!

Plates were separated by crystal vases and miniature bowls.

Some of the painted details on the small plates were just exquisite.

The one and only rule for making these is the type of glue that you use. We used a glue made by Weldbond that specifically states that it will bond to ceramic and glass.

Super glue just won't do the job with these.

We were rather pleased with our creations! Not pictured is a stand where we also glued a cup to the top. It had a hairline crack in it, so it was not able to be used for beverages but is now useful again!

My favourite stands are those where the plates graduate in size from largest to smallest.

Eli's teacher has already received a two tiered plate and loves it!

While I wouldn't recommend using these for food or putting them in the dishwasher, they would make lovely trinket holders on a dresser or mantel.