Willowberry Designs ~ Alpaca Softies

Last minute doings

Quilts

A flurry of activity over the last few weeks, finishing a few customer quilts...

Jen's flannel quilt ~ covered in mushy roses ~ the corner pic is the backing.. rosy chocolate flannel, delish

Jodie made this for her Dad, the plain aqua is chenille... makes for a cuddly quilt

Wendy M's quilt

Full of fun fat feathers, stars, loops and other nonsense...

and my fab friend Wendy K has been busy busy... making little backpacks for the little girls in her family... SEVEN of them!  And there are more on the cutting table for the little boys.  Have a go at Wendy's fab views from her back deck... You can see right down the valley from her barbeque pavillion (that's Shaz holding the end of the dowel rod, sorry Shaz, just had to show you off)

The pattern was in Handmade Vol 27 No. 2 if you're keen to make one

One last quilt to finish today then we start packing reducing the amount of stuff we've already packed

Moo arrives home from her holiday in Thailand this week, we leave for our big trip and on our return, the waterboy and his sweet country girl will head off on their trip to Thailand... And Blossie is planning her trip to Italy next year... So much doings for one little family :) 

ooops, how did that get in here?  tickets to faraway places...

Might not be back here until we're in those faraway places so I'll catch up in a few days

seeya

Cheryl xx

Thierry the Traveller...

(aka Theodorus Smarmypants)

Do you remember him from earlier this year?  Here's a little flashback...

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I can't remember if I introduced you to Theodorus Smarmypants in the flesh...

... he's such a smart alec... cop a load of the poncy look on his face!

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Yep, that's him... all ponced up and ready to travel, but he's had a bit of a name change for this journey.  For the next 6 weeks, Theodorus shall be known as 'Thierry'...  'Thierry the Traveller'.  He heard whispers about 'Flat Nat' over at Cinderberry Stitches and decided he wanted to go places too...

Well, what's a girl to do when faced with a demanding little french friend (who happens to be minus pants... hard to resist).  Time for some fun...

Create fabric from a sheet of wrapping paper - with a touch of France, of course :)

(how? - Scan your chosen printed paper.  Cut an A4 size piece of fine white fabric - Emma Louise Quilters Muslin from Sarah, delicious - and iron an A4 size piece of freezer paper to the back.  Print your image - high quality - full size and there you go... My project won't need laundering, therefore I haven't used any product to set the colour)  (ps... just in case you were wondering, A4 is standard document size)

Make Thierry comfy in his own little travel case - carry on size...

With an added tab ~ to attach his travel tickets (memories of places far away)

I wonder where he'll wander?  Dubai?  Nice?  Provence?  A day trip into Italy?  Paris?  London?  Dublin?  Galway?  Blarney Castle? and perhaps places in between...  He's taking his teeny little camera tucked into his teeny little pocket so there will be photos to share along the way

His flipside... in case of misadventures...

He flies out this week

Stay tuned, he's also taking his teeny little laptop and will hook into wifi.  He's clever... and look!  He matches my new camera pouch...

I think there will be fun happenings in the next six weeks :)

Seeya

Cheryl xx

'Noel' patterns

will go to...

Heleen, Kim, Shari, Chris, Mrs Pernickity Sewslack and Verna

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Check your inbox girls... it's on it's way

have fun :)

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Now if your name wasn't pulled from the pink bucket and you really need to make this little darling for your festive season, it's available for purchase as a pdf download.  Click the button below

In Aussie dollars ($4.00)

 

Your pattern will be emailed within 24hours of payment receipt at my end

thanks for all the lovely messages :)

Under the Sea

 Finishing instructions are now ready here.  Let me know if the gremlins have been playing... Nothing flash or too fancy.  A simple peeper and a border.  And a cute label (add your own name).  Enjoy :)

~ now don't look too close... there's still some hand quilting to do ~

A peeper of pink to match Josephine's bow and the underwater garden and Sebastian's rose for Lola and Nellie's frilly skirt and the bright kissy lips of Frances and Sorena's crown jewels and Truffle's pretty shell....

A border of wriggly water worms in their shadowy world

Fun!

and look at this!  Delores has been busy busy and finished hers.  Just gorgeous :)

We LOVE sharing your photos... if you have some send them along and we'll pop them in a new album... or you can add them to our Under the Sea flickr page

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Let's go for a dive and say hello to our friends

Josephine... the prettiest jelly in the sea...

Frances... he secretly admires Josephine from afar, blowing kisses in the breeze

Sam and Sally... the king and queen of jive... Sally puts rollers in her hair EVERY night!

Wilma and Wayney... in the warm waters of Keppel Bay... Mumsy love

Sebastian loves Lola :)  and Lola loves Sebastian...

Sorena... the princess, so elegant... and way too posh for romance

Octavius... busy busy Octavius... there's a lot of job satisfaction in running a speed clean service

Harry... he has a standing appointment every week

Sharlene... cruises around smiling through false teeth just to make life interesting

Especially for Stanley, Russ and Phil...

and then there's Truffle... pretty Truffle who wears pearls and frolicks in the currents off the East coast... she's a bit hooked on exterior design... just love what she's done with her shell... it's a mushy bit frou frou...

Do you have a favourite?  It's a close finish for me... a tie between Sorena and Truffle :)

Seeya Sunday for the 'Noel' pattern draw (if your name's not in the pink bucket, go back one post and leave a message)

Cheryl xx

ps ~ I know there are literally thousands of you out there who have appreciated these fun little stitcheries... the downloads every month tell no lies :)  We would really love to know what you think.  And we'd love some ideas for our 2011 fun...

'Noel' pattern giveaway

I think we might just have enough time to squeeze this one in before we start our vacation next week :)

It's cute... a very simple little hanging for your front door or wherever you wish!

Featuring a hint of colour shading just for fun...

The winners will receive an email with the pattern attached... a pdf photo tutorial... so there's no waiting for the 'smailman' :)

If you'd like to be in the pink bucket, leave a message and we'll draw it on Sunday night my time

thanks for playing...

Cheryl xx

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Ps.... 'Under the Sea' is finished, I'm working on the instructions today and will have it ready later on... in pdf format.  Just need to add a label... busy fingers... looking forward to 6 weeks of busy feet... 7 sleeps...

White Christmas patterns

will go to...

Mary on Lake Pulaski

Chrissie Poole

and

Gabi

Girls, I'll send an email for your snail mail addresses.  Thanks for joining in the fun :)

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We've had a BUSY BUSY last few weeks... a couple of unplanned trips to Brissie and lots of other doings to prepare for our holiday (10 sleeps till we leave our door!)

I've finished this gorgeous thing for Quilt Fabric Delights 'It's Charming'...

 

I really enjoyed making this one :)  The fabrics are soooo pretty and feminine.  If you haven't checked out Sarah's newest club, go here to have a read

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Just a quick post today, I'm in the middle of quilting Blackbird Pie for Shaz... will show more when it's done

I'm also busy writing up a pattern for another new christmas design,

'Noel ~ all year round'

Do you think we have time for another pattern giveaway?  Yep, me too!!  I'll be back tomorrow with the details :)

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I was tidying my photo files and came across this one... Just had to share, it's from the princess's trip to Sydney a couple of years ago...

Do these stripes make my butt look big? 

have a fab day,

Cheryl xx

Quilting... and knitting...

here's the evidence...

Another of our dear little Marj's quilts ~ for her great granddaughter Bethany

puffy feathers,loops and wanderings...

Maureen's lovely handwork

Five delightful garden scenes set amidst rose coloured prints

and Lorna's very soft and pretty quilt for her granddaughter... this one is going all the way to Canada

It looks so lovely on my bed... almost didn't want to give it back :)

ribbony roses...

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Raining raining raining today... lovely rain running down little valleys and into the dams in our area...

Perfect weather for this

I don't knit as a rule... well not since I knitted myself a HUGE white, pale pink and pale grey marle jumper in 1989.  The one and only thing I've ever knitted in my life.  Until now...  

Funny little man needs a scarf for our holiday - pretty sure it's going to be a tad cold in Ireland in November :) - so I'm knitting.  And enjoying it... rather therapeutic isn't it?  Nothing flash, just simple knitting... on knitting needles borrowed from Mum

'Mum, do you have some knitting needles I can borrow?'

'Of course!  What size?'  then the mother raised an eyebrow  'What for?'

hmmmm puzzled...  they come in sizes?

'Oh, you know...' (trying to pass myself off as a knitting connoisseur) 'something to match this'  (the apprentice holds up a ball of charcoal wool)

'Oh you'll need a size 8 then'

'Yes, of course... exactly what I would have said... size 8'  :)

thanks mum...

seeya

Cheryl xx

Sometimes you just have to...

When I spotted this over at Allie's, I couldn't resist.  It's the sweetest little design

A gentle smudge of soft colour

Cosmo threads + fave embroidery needle = sheer delight

Simple stitches that allow your mind to roam and start cooking up all manner of nonsense...

I added the tiny pink buds

The stitching takes on a more rustic appeal on linen, don't you think?  We loves this :)

I'm going to add a limewashed frame and hang it where it greets visitors

Thanks Allie, just delicious...

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This is where we disappeared to last week... another short stay in Brissie with Moo... plus a stroll around 'her' lake.  Luv ya guts Moo xxx

seeya

Cheryl xx

ps.. giveaway pattern on the last post... go check it out!

Under the Sea... let's start putting it together

Have you finished stitching all of your little sea creatures?  We spent two hours this morning searching for Truffles the turtle...  I'm sure she was packed safely with her little friends just a few weeks ago but when we opened their box this morning she was nowhere to be seen!  She had truffled off to places unknown....

We called out... 'Truffles... Truffles...', we looked in the freezer, under the floor boards and inside mirrors... then I noticed a few stray threads poking their noses out from under a pile of papers in the office.  Sure enough, Truffle had gone on her own little adventure and got stuck in a very tight spot.  Dramas over, time to get cracking

If you wish to store your own copy of these instructions, copy and paste into a word document and save to your computer for easy reference.  Please consider the environment before printing - photos can be reduced in size to save paper

The finishing ~ part 1

I am making this mini story quilt as simple as possible in order to keep the focus on the stitched blocks.  If you choose to finish yours the same as mine you'll need about 8" or 20cm of fabric for your sashings and first border which are 1" finished.  (outer border will be added in The finishing ~ part 2)

Press all of your finished blocks and trim back to measure 5 1/2" wide x 7 1/2" high

Place your blocks in a 9 patch pattern... try them in different positions until your eyes are happy with the layout.  This is how they appeared in the BOM order... busy little blocks full of busy little creatures going about their busy little lives...

but my eyes needed to see pretty Sorena in the top left corner...

and a couple of other changes... can you tell I'm right handed?  Most of the gang are looking to the right!  Which is why I decided to draw Truffle heading off to the left :)

Happy with the layout?  Ok, let's move along...

Audition a few fabrics for the role of the sashings and first border... we like this one

Fresh soft green with random tiny splobs of coloured bubbles... we don't want the sashing to overpower the blocks :)

Cut five strips 1 1/2" wide x width of fabric

Cross cut these strips to yield ~

6 x 1 1/2" x 7 1/2" pieces (vertical sashings)

2 x 1 1/2" x 17 1/2" pieces (horizontal sashings)

2 x 1 1/2" x 23 1/2" pieces (first border - sides)

2 x 1 1/2" x 19 1/2" pieces (first border - top and bottom)

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Sew a 7 1/2" piece between the blocks and press towards the sashing (which really isn't as lime as it looks in these photos...)

 Sew a 17 1/2" piece between the rows and press towards the sashing

Are you keeping up?

Add the 23 1/2" side borders, press towards the borders

Add the top and bottom borders, press towards the borders

The finishing ~ part 2 will include adding the outer borders and corner stones, quilting, binding and finishing our mini story quilt... I just need to find the right fabric :)

In the meantime, let your imagination run a little and invent some nonsense for each block... have fun

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Now, I promised it would be worth the wait... because...

delicious detail...

We have a new pattern - 'White Christmas'... a festive table set - and, of course, a giveaway... :)

Leave your details on this post and I'll draw the winners next week from the pink bucket... who knows, there might even be a surprise!

seeya

Cheryl xx

It's Charming

and just a bit exciting....

go here to check it out

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a snippet of my project... romantic mushiness...

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I'm working on part 1 of the finishing steps for Under the Sea... will you come back later today?  It will be worth it, promise....

Theresa, I found the Alpacas waiting for me in my inbox... still cuddling them... thanks... :)

Cheryl xx