Willowberry Designs ~ Alpaca Softies

Busy times... but good times :)

July is always a busy month in our house

Tax time… blah…

Waterboy’s birthday!  That’s next weekend so we’ll see the little family again :)

Had a lovely day out with them last Saturday ~ went for an early morning drive to the bayside suburb of Redcliffe near Brissie.  Such a gorgeous day and so warm down there by the ocean.  They bought a new car and I got to ride shotgun with Country Princess on the way home.  Nice!

We stopped at a great country pub for lunch on the way.  Nice again!  Before we knew it we were home to the cold, dreary Toowoomba weather…  I long for sunshine and warmth

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Doings from my room ~ not much this week, a couple of customer quilts and a bit of preparation for another project

I love this quilt… such happy colours…  a mini meander, a flowing leaf and some ditch quilting.  Judy’s going to finish it with some raw edge applique

Yummy quilt…

  

Gen’s quilt ~ all finished with the binding machined on ready for her to hand sew

  

You’ll find more of my quilty doings on facebook here

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Moo has started her big holiday in the US ~ we said our teary goodbyes on Friday morning.  Blossie flies over in three weeks time to meet her in LA, she’s so excited!  A week in California and finishing it off with a week in Hawaii... lucky girls!

Here they are at the departure gate ~ gorgeous things.  I’m the Mum, a bias opinion comes with the territory :)

I had a message from Moo yesterday in Las Vegas, it read

‘Hi Ma!  I put my ‘big girl pants’ on and ventured out for dinner on my own. Tacos and Tequilas. And yes, I’m having a marguerita’

She’s set up a blog to record her travels, you’ll find it here

This is Manda’s travel wallet…(and her glitter toenails, and her ‘whiteberry’)… the script on the front reads

‘Two roads diverged in a wood and I took the one less travelled by, And that has made all the difference’

That’s our girl to a ‘T’

Have fun Moo! Lots of piccies for us!

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I’ve had a few emails about the sweet little crocheted keeper I use to hide my tape measure

  

I don’t crochet, I bought this one from an Aussie patchwork store but I’m not sure if they have them now.  My very clever crocheting friend ~ Debbie ~ borrowed mine and made one for herself, just by looking at it.  I’m in awe…

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Big week this week… Blossie is moving out of her unit and back home for a bit.  We’re looking forward to having our littlest gosling home again, even if it’s only for a short while.  Tuesday is moving day!

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I’ve pinched a couple of photos from Sarah’s blog to show you what the Christmas in July girls are being treated to..

Gorgeous stuff!

Seeya

Cheryl xx

Workroom Sampler–Part 1

Turn all of your gorgeous little stitcheries into finished ‘mini quilts’… these will become your pockets

How to…

Trim them to size and make a mini quilt sandwich – backing down first, then a piece of batting/pellon with the finished stitchery on top

Baste around the edges then add your binding.  I used a single fold binding, machined to the back first

then double folded to front with a machine topstitch to finish

Make a few pockets then check with a furry supervisor.  Do you think that’s enough Ratty?

He said ‘Have you seen the stuff you want to try and store in this thing????’

Righteo… I’ll make a few more…

‘how about a round one to complement the pincushion…?’

‘what are you going to store in a round one?’

‘I don’t know… that’s irrelevant… it looks nice’

  

When you think you have enough, or you are just tired of binding teeny little quilts, pop them aside and have a cuppa.  We’ll finish it another day :)

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I finally finished the top stitching on my calico tape measure.  Why make a tape measure?

Because…

I started it about 24 years ago.  Well probably more like six months ago…  All it needed was a bit of topstitching and a couple of buttons

  

In it’s little house………Cute!

  

Seeya!

Cheryl xx

Granny Squares

Yes, they are very addictive…

I started with a 2 1/2” sample pack (thanks Perri!)

Followed my nose a bit…

and added some borders…

Yum…

Maybe a whole French General granny square quilt will be happening in the willowberry house

I can feel it in my bones…

seeya

Cheryl xx

My Doings

Quickly, tick a few things off the list….

After project 1

  

(which also fits my stand mixer… bonus!)

I made Project 2 for ‘Christmas in July’

  

and project 3 – with a ‘non christmassy’ alternative

  

Today I’m working on another quick little project ~ great for a last minute gift idea!

Sarah has also just announced an extra surprise… you can read about it here!

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I made Rachael’s little tree, so sweet and quick to do, using fabrics leftover from my projects

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‘It’s a little bit French’ swap… the gifties are almost all on their way to their destinations and some have already arrived!  I’m going to flit around the blogs – over there on the right – later today to see what’s been happening

I know Shaz has received her parcel and she’s been so spoiled!  Beautiful hand made gifts are so special aren’t they ..

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One last thing…

My quilty doings are now found on my quilty facebook page, I’d love it if you popped over and had a look… ‘Like’ it if you like :)

Hillingdon Creative Quilting on Facebook

Seeya!

Cheryl xx

Project number one, of three

Day FIVE of Christmas in July… that means there are already several projects in the bag for the girls who’ve signed up

(it’s not too late, there’s heaps more to come and you’ll have access to ALL of the projects)

Today was the day for my first project and it features this English paper pieced panel…

To find out more, go to Sarah’s QFD Creative site here – just scroll through to find the posts about Christmas in July

Seeya

Cheryl xx

June giveaway winner…

It’s July!  and that means ‘It’s a little bit French’ is just about finished.  I have one more job to do this month because we’ll be putting together the delicious wall hanging/storage sampler for the sewing room.  I’m really looking forward to that…

The winner of the June (and final) giveaway  ~ the lovely drawstring bag full of surprises ~ is…

Mhairi!

Check your emails Mhairi, there’s one from me :)

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I have one more job to do to complete the ‘little bit french’ journey.  This month I’ll be putting together the beautiful wallhanging/storage sampler for my workroom ~ all stitched on a linen look cotton from the Rouenneries range by French General.  Let’s take a step back in time…

January ~ a storage pocket

February ~ a pincushion

March ~ a pocket for my rotary cutter

   

April ~ a divided pocket for small stuff

 

May ~ another storage pocket

And June ~ I made a drawstring storage bag but I also have several other stitched ‘pocket’ pieces to add

How yum is that wallhanging going to be!

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We also gave away a whole bunch of gorgeous stuff

January – a bunch of embroidery threads to complete the projects

February – The French Inspired Home book by Kaari Meng

Two sets!  A needle book and scissor fob

J’adore… stitchery, fabrics and french themed pin back button

A thimble pip, scissor fob, buttons and french themed fabrics

One of my handmade drawstring bags… full of lovely surprises

It’s been a busy six months!

Seeya in a few days… I’m off to finish my swap gift for my new ‘french’ friend :)

Cheryl xx