Tonka on a Tuesday

My friend EJ came by to photograph some sewing work & fabrics for me & snapped this shot of one of our cats. It's such an amazing shot, very much like a portrait of a person (hmm). Her nickname is Tonka because she stomps along so loudly it's like Godzilla smashing all of the Tonka trucks. She doesn't usually look this cranky ~ she's just been moved off of the fabric!



I've had some really cool dreams about Tonks ~ in one she was riding in my bicycle basket, jumping in and out at whim even though I was riding pretty fast. In another she won the 'Best Cat in the Whole Wide World' title ~ says it all really.

Sunday Stash

Some Nest and Joel Dewberry from Pink Chalk Fabrics ...




and some Japanese prints, the bottom two are from Badskirt.


I'm slowly being won over by the world of cute Japanese fabric and couldn't resist all of the details in the piggy fabric - just perfect for little hexes.

Stitching up a hexie storm

I've finished my hexies and have packed them all up to go off in today's post. I really hope my partner likes them. I wasn't able to use my favourite colours (!) which were in my partner's dislikes so I raided my stash for any little scrap which might fit into their likes.


A few little extras snuck their way in.

The completed stack.


It's been a fun swap and I've really enjoyed the hand sewing. I sat out in the sun last week during my lunch breaks at work & whipped up a few of these, very relaxing.
I've ordered more pre-cut papers from Patchwork with Busyfingers and will be trying my hand at some other shapes when they arrive. I went all out & bought some acrylic templates as well to make fussy cutting easier.

Hexalicious!

I'm making these little babies for the Handsome Hexies Swap (Round 2).


They are soo much fun & completely addictive. This round we're making 25 hexies for our secret partner and it's going to be pretty hard to stay within the limit. I have a bunch of fabrics fancy cut and plan to make them all up & then choose the best 25 (or so). I'm also working on a hexie holder using some essex linen and echino.

You may see a little gnome poking his face out at the back there - I got a big generous swatch of this Spoonflower print when I bought a 500gm scrap bag from One Flew Over along with some matching lime Munki Munki, awesome Saffron Craig prints & little bits of Katie Jumps Rope (amongst lots of pieces). As I was basting my little gnome hexie (hoping my partner is a gnome lover, unlike me) I couldn't help noticing his terribly cute pink cheeks and his overall air of mischeviousness & next thing I know... I might, possibly, maybe like gnomes. Heather Ross gnomes, on a hexie. I don't think I'll ever go for a gnome in my garden but I think I can stop warning my swap parterns to "hold the gnomes"!

Rapunzel

Also for my DQS9 quilt. I've settled on a layout for my star and blocks thanks to all the lovely comments from my fellow swapees. I wanted to show all of my blocks but my laptop & I are not friends today so it's just this one. She's my fave though. I think the purple is a little strong for the overall fuchsia & orange colour of the quilt but I'm keeping her in anyway. Have to mix it up a little right? I think Rapunzel might just be my all time Heather Ross character favourite, just pipping Frederick the goldfish bowl fishing kitty at the post. It's not visible in this little scrap but at the bottom of Rapunzel's tower are teeny tiny hairpins.




I've also gotten this perle to do my hand quilting outlines. I had trouble finding the right colours in no. 8 so have gone with no. 5. It's pretty thick but I've bought some needle with suitably large eyes and am hoping for the best.

A scrappy star

for my Doll Quilt Swap quilt.



Still working on the rest of the layout.

Sunday stash, birthday edition.

Stack of loveliness.




Princesses.




Finally, this lovely selvedge.