Be still my beating heart...Part Three!

This is a sneak peak (thanks to Gina at Quilters Buzz) of the new range of delicious fabrics from Denyse Schmidt (who is the author of one of my new inspirational quilting books) - divine. These I MUST have...

And how cute is the name of the range - Flea Market Fancy? Love it!

So few hours, so much to do.

Have been busy collecting the final fabrics needed for ANOTHER new quilt (why do we do this to ourselves!?) which will be thirty cordinating chocolate and pink stars on 18"x18" squares...I bought the pattern ages ago from Patchwork Passion on the day it arrived in (I love it THAT much) and have been slowly adding to the fabrics for the past months. The inspiration to get started on the stars has been pretty simple - I have been unable to find a pattern which I think does justice to my newly acquired and rather extensive collection of Amy Butler's (and I'm not looking forward to cutting them!) and I wanted to make a series of fabric canvas' for CeeJaes room and decided to go with the stars. Fortunately Jewels was here to help me! The three canvas' are now complete and, while not fantastic, are, after all, my first attempt and something reasonably cool for his walls - which currently having NOTHING on them!


Have also begun the process of choosing a series of vintage inspired fabrics for a coordinating cot quilt, nappy stacker and nappy bag which will be a present for BabyGee (my neice/nephew who will be here in July) - so cute! BabyGee's Mother is a big Kate Fitzpatrick fan so I purchased a piece from the American Vintage range yesterday and will even brave the crowds and head along to the closing down of the Manukau Rd store sale on Monday...they're moving their base of operations to Cambridge, so either way, I win!

Update me, damn you!

And what the hell is the point in having a blog if you aren't even going to write in it?

Busy bee this week with work and Mummy stuff and all that jazz (the truth is, I have NO idea). I can't believe it's been a week since my wee expedition to the 'Tron, sans Baby and Monkey, for an overnight with my bestest friend and quilting buddy, Jewels...a kindred spirit who I have been friends with since our wayward Uni days. We began our day with the Quilting Show on the Living Channel, which I can proudly say I had never watched (until last Friday, of course) - excuse me, but 1970 called and want's it's TV show back! How archaic were those two women? And the quilts? Can you spell HID-E-OUS!? Nevertheless, I am assured that there are rare gems, but alas, as I am one of the few people who cares very little for Sky TV, it shall never be seen again.

Jewels and I then reviewed the latest Australian Patchwork & Quilting, which I don't usually bother with, but the latest issue is pretty damn inspiring, and I'm now bidding furiously on TradeMe (ah, my beloved TradeMe) for a back issue (Vol 12 Number 10) containing a Material Obsession pattern which I would like to do my Amy Butler's in...when I have a spare minute. My brilliant friend then helped me finish the pattern for the QUILT THAT SHALL NOT BE NAMED (Harry Potter anyone?) then we were off to the Warehouse (where everyone kets a bargain) in Te Rapa Straight - truly a marvellous beast - and out to the 'Bridge for lunch and a visit to the ever delectable Kate Fitzpatrick for oilcloth (which won't be in until Febuary) to cover the sewing table recently purchased off TradeMe - $8 even! I win! Last but not least the requisite trip to the Sewing Centre at 5X Roads for a few little fabric gems before heading back to Jewel's house for a quiet but fantastic dinner and a WHOLE NIGHTS SLEEP IN MY OWN BED ALL BY MYSELF...ahhhhhhhhhhhh, bliss. The simple pleasures. Thanks to Jewels and the Monkey for the mini-break away from my life - I needed it, and couldn't have done it without either of you.

The heart quilt is slowly heading in the right direction - the binding is finally on (just needs to be handstitched to the backing) and I have now decided to hand quilt around the hearts (they look so cute all puffy and yummy like that!) and add hearts in between for increased stability and to hide my crappy machine quilting...if I could undo the damn thing and redo it I would, but I guess this is/was my first quilt and I am assured by friends that you can't tell how awful my sewing was!

At least my sewing improved DRAMTICALLY for the beloved heirloom quilt I gave to my sister for Christmas last year.

This quilt is GORGEOUS, a slightly modified pattern (I added a border) by Rosalie Quinlan called "Rebekah Amy's Quilt" in pretty Moda and Robyn Pandolph florals and checks and stripes...very much like my sister in the gorgeous-ness of it all and (hopefully) perfect for her. There were tears on Chrsitmas Day when I gave it to her, that's for sure. (Just to clarify, in my crazy-mixed-up-wonderful-family, we draw a family member's name out of a hat and MAKE that person a present from the whole family - how cool are we!?)

Be still my beating heart...Part Two!

This delicious selection of "Chocolate Mint" Amy Butler fabrics arrived yesterday...they are truly yummy and I look forward to adding them to my growing collection of Amy Butler's for use someday in something beautiful - if only I know what!

Purchased from the Fat Quarter Shop, they arrived without issue and I'm thrilled - I'm looking forward to my next purchase already! Ceejae was so funny - he received a parcel from my cousin and her family in Ireland (two Thomas the Tank Engine puzzles - he is into ANYTHING to do with Thomas and trains in general) and, once the puzzles had been dutifully opened, inspected and assembled) he set about helping me open my parcel. He was delighted with the "fab-wic" and, once he had torn open the wrapping, he proceeded to enjoy a selection of Amy Butler sandwiches. So cute!

Be still my beating heart...

The new love of my life (in the fabric sense of the expression!) is this little collection from Jennifer Paganelli of Sis Boom who appears very influenced by Amy Butler in her Girlfriends fabric range - just stunning!

This bundle of 40 (yes that's FORTY) fat quarters retails for $USD99.99 at the Fat Quarter Shop and is definately on my wish list! Incidently my trusted currency converter tells me that $USD99.99 is at this moment $NZD144.34 which isn't too bad - I recently purchased a bundle of 8 fat quarters (oh please arrive tomorrow little ones) from the Fat Quarter Shop which, even with the $USD9.00 international postage, worked out cheaper than buying them at my local quilt supplier store...so lets do the math!

40 FQ @ $NZD7.00 each = $280.00
40 FQ @ $USD109.00 (incl. $9 postage) = $NZD157.85

USA AOK!

Happy Anniversary!

Yesterday was our fifth wedding anniversary - and we enjoyed a fantastic day which began when my Christmas present from Amazon arrived at 7.30am...perfect! The only trouble with these delicious new tomes is that both books are filled to the brim with wonderful inspiring ideas - where will I find the time? I have a few other projects on the go at the moment but will ensure that I make time to get to a few of my new favourites in due course.

We then offloaded CeeJae for a morning with his delightful aunt and headed into the City for breakfast in an quaint french cafe in K'Road (where the food and service were amazing - we will be back!) and a quick visit to Illicit to choose a design for the Code Monkey's anniversary present - a tattoo! We have been talking about getting him one for AGES and the celebration of five years married seems the most appropriate time to scar my man for life...

The afternoon concluded with a quick trip to Spotlight for the plain fabrics that will be the basis of my Mystery Quilt (previously mentioned) and then fish and chips and cold champagne in the Park with family and friends which was fabulous - very relaxing and CeeJae destroyed himself chasing his cousins and friends and jumping on them while playing "soccer"! Home to bed for CeeJae and the Monkey and I watched a little ANTM (although thanks to my impatience and the UPN website I already knew that the winner was Naima) and then "Sin City (4 stars on the ElleMae Rating Scale - very violent but beautifully played out) before bed...

On the ANTM thing, I have decided that I will NEVER watch another series - how many FRIGGIN CRAP MODELS does America really need!!!?? And, as with all reality TV crap, the subsequent show's never live up to the first one...and without Elyse that show is NOTHING (How sad is this #1? We loved Elyse so much that, should our second child finally eventuate AND be a girl, she'll be named after Elyse...). Besides - I love Project Runway this week anyway! Go Heidi!

Happy Birth-day Britta!

As many craft aficionados will appreciate, I sat up late last night to finish a present for one of my closest friends who's second daughter, Britta, was born on Christmas Eve...an Amy Butler Nappy Bag for my friend and the cutest set of "Britta kitties" for her new baby. The exterior of the bag is completed in an upholstery fabric (of all things!) which matched the changing mat I gave my friend for her birthday, with the inside of the bag (cute polkadots) and the inside of the pocket (coordinating floral) in fabrics from Spotlight, and the cell phone pocket and inside pocket in Amy Butler's Midnight Awning Stripe.

I'm thrilled with the bag and the kittens are adorable - but I think it's time to take a break from nappy bags as this is my third and there are undoubtedly more to come! Projects for this month include finishing my first quilt (started in 2001 and only needs to be bound - how sad is that?), collecting the supplies for my Amy Butler Weekender Travel Bag, which I am doing in AB's Chelsea Rose and the Melon Awning Stripe and getting started on my Mystery Quilt (which is a present for someone who will probably read this blog and thus can NEVER BE DISCUSSED AGAIN!)...

Introductions...

My name is ElleMae and I am a 30-something health professional and mother living and working in Auckland, New Zealand. I have been married to the Code Monkey for FIVE whole years as of this Friday (we agreed to stay married for 50 years so only 45 to go!) and we have a stunningly gorgeous two-year-old son called CeeJae. I have been meaning to start this blog for AGES as a place to store and discuss all kinds of stuff, particularly relating to the numerous creative projects I'm always undertaking - to the detriment of my PhD! - as I'm a needleworker who's recently discovered the joy of quilting, especially using Amy Butler fabrics and bag patterns.