AJ's Antics

I've been working on this for days....on and off.....around life and it's busyness. I've ditched the inside of the all the white squares and very close around each of the shapes, and then stippled in the rest of the white background. I had huge issues with the top thread that kept breaking, turns out that there was a little tiny piece of plastic sticking up on the moulded thread spool that the thread kept getting caught on and not unwinding from the spool, pulling the thread to tight and then snapping it. I fixed it by filing down the plastic to stop it catching but the thread still kept breaking. A quick call into Spotlight yesterday saw a brand new spool of thread and I was off and quilting again. I also grabbed some dark grey thread while I was there and have started quilting lines 1/2 inch apart along the sashings. I'm loving the look so far. Aden thinks it is a good place to drive his cars along too! As much work as I have done on this quilt in the pa...

I'm a big late in wishing you a 'Happy Australia Day' but things got kinda busy around here going back to work/school last week. We are already in week 2 and I'm totally under the pump! Here is my sweet little Aussie Kid...who now hates having his photo taken :( He got his first 'tatoo' on Australia Day from the kind man at Officeworks.....he kept walking around with his arm held out and was quite upset when it got wet in the shower. I really hope this is the only kind of tattoo Aden will ever get...I'm not a big fan of them...but I guess one day he will get to make his own decision in life....I'm just not ready for that yet! Happy Australia Day everyone...hope you had a great day (despite the rain around here!) And Congratulations to Geoffrey Rush for being named Australian of the year. Did you know he is a Queenslander and was born just an hour up the road from us!

As January draws to a close I've started thinking about gathering all those finished projects into one post to help me keep track of who finishes what. I thought I would be in for a long night of picture saving and link gathering when the brilliant Becky sugessted a Linky tool! Of course! Why didn't I think of that! So while I struggle to finish my WIP for this month (I think I re-threaded my machine over 100 times yesterday!) you girls go ahead and help me out by linking up to your blog posts please. I'll add a link in the side bar so that as I add more blog postes you can still find it....hopefully. I've left this linky open til the 5th (6th??) of February. Ps Milly I've done yours as a test....seems to be working! Thanks everyone for joining in it has been great to see you all motivated!

I was super frustrated at my quilting today....lots of thread breakages and re-threading of top and bottom threads.....gggrrrrrrrrr!! So I made these from the leftover backing fabrics and cut out a second pair to be gifted with the quilt! Looking at a couple of millipedes we found in the garden....named Milli and Pede. Trying to hide from the camera! They are a little bright and bold but will be perfect at Daycare! He has been wearing them all afternoon and saying ' I like these Mummy' so I guess that is a win!

How lucky was I to have all my nieces and nephew and son playing together last Sunday! Ok 3 was easy (sort of) lets see all 5.... Leaha - 9 months Annaleisa - 3 years 10 months Aden - 2 years 6 months Milla - 5 months Bailey - 1 year 9 months Oh well Thanks for trying Mum! They did all play together nicely though and I loved seeing them all at once! PS. All 5 of them have blue eyes how special is that!

I think this is the oldest WIP in my list...and the one I need finished first! The blocks have been sitting complet for a very long time and I even trimmed them ready to sash....that took a very short amount of time yesterday and then I sandwiached it and have moved onto the quilting. So far I have just ditched inside the white on each block...now I need to decide how to quilt the white around each things....hummm suggestions?? I'll do a post on the last day of each month with links to all the other finished WIP's for that month....only 8 days left to finish something in January!

I've changed my mind a few times but I think I like this one... The 12 inch blocks I was originally making will make this quilt too big so I've scaled them down to 9 inch blocks. So 54 x 63 + I will most likey add a border.  The stars will be the Liberated Pieced Maverick Stars from this post still, with a 9-patch block in mixed prints for the alternative blocks. I made these up last night for the bottom purple corner. I wasn't going to have purple originally but need it to be a bit bigger, then when I had a 5 x 6 block design. A touch of purple in a boys quilt won't hurt will it? The pieces work out to be 3.5 inches (for a 9 inch block) And DON"T do what I did and chop all 5 into triangles!! I then had to make another one to keep WHOLE for the centre SQUARE!! My block works out a smidgen under the 9.5 inch (unfinished) that I was hoping for....but then so is the 9-patch I made so I can live with it and just use very scant seam allowences when I jo...

I'm first up with the first block for this years sewing bee with the EB quilters and I have picked a maverick star block....not just any old maverick star but a 'Pieced Liberated Maverick Star'....otherwise know as wonky! I'm not very good at wonky blocks so I thought I'd give them a try...and then make the other do them for me! I've penciled in a plan of the quilt and I'm hoping with a rainbow of scraps (minus pink and purple as I'm hoping this will be quilted and finished by December for a certain little boys birthday) and some white tone-on-tone stars for the background, it will all work out perfectly. Using Andie Johnson's tutorial  I have made a 12.5" (un-finished) block. Here are my instructions.... Piece some tone-on-tone scraps together until they are big enough for a 4.5" square The tutorial will help with the seam allowance and trimming if you've never make 'scraps' into a block before Square them off to 4....

Lisa had a giveaway on her blog recently and I won these beautiful FQ's from the Kate Spain Terrain range! Thanks Lisa! Now I know I am supossed to be stash busting and WIPing but I think some more of this range will need to be found...after all a few FQ's is not enough for a cuddle quilt is it!

Sadly none of it is mine though! Car I'm loving how quickly you ladies have taken to my WIP challenge...there are already a number of entries for finished projects in January! Do you want me to keep a tally of the tickets on the side of my blog?? Abbe Leah And Abbe has sent in these lovely bits to add to the prize at the end of the year

This is what these Christmas PJ's look like on 3 little bodies!! I miss my Milla and Bailey!