A Dumpling Challenge ! Plus Update

What was I thinking!!! I have challenged the zipper purse queen to a zippy challenge. I discovered that Sandra from Suddenly Sandra has been wanting to make a dumpling purse for a while now. I too have been eying off the tutorial and doing dry runs in my sleep. I figured I just had to make the leap like I did with my Nanna's Farm quilt so the challenge is on.

We will be using the dumpling pattern from Michelle Patterns. It is a free PDF download pattern and a good tutorial.

Everyone is welcome to join in. We plan to make them this weekend but I am thinking a week may be a good idea. This challenge will be fairly low key since I know nothing about linkies. Perhaps this is a good time to learn and maybe there can be more zippy challenges in the future.

Update: On Friday 7th Dec I will do a post with a name linky so you can share a post about your dumpling.

WIP Wednesday - Nanna's Farm

Applique is my favourite thing. I have been drawing pictures a lot lately and letting my catnip quilt languish on the floor in the spare room. I don't understand what is holding me back. But instead of trying to work it out I have pulled out Nanna's Farm and made a leap of progress from tracing elements onto fusible webbing to actually cutting material.

I have been putting it off because I didn't have enough fat quarters from the fabric list but yesterday I pulled out the four pieces of beige fabric I had (the pattern calls for 15 different ones) and cut out the 11 squares for the first column arranging them so it looked like that's how it is meant to be.
All the quilt blocks are so pretty and I love the way the design was inspired by Patchwork Pumpkin's nanna's dairy farm.

This is how it looked yesterday. I sewed the squares together and added the bias stem. I ironed on the flowers ready to take to quilting group.

I used invisifil and blind hem stitch to sew on the stem.

This is how it looks today. All the flowers are stitched on with narrow satin stitch and the yellow centres have been ironed on.

It must have been weighing heavily on me that I hadn't made a start on this quilt because I feel much better now and feel energised ready to tackle the catnip quilt as well.

Here is a shop photo of the finished quilt.

And a few close ups.

I am sure no one will mind me giving Patchwork Pumpkin a plug. They are having a great sale in December - buy a pattern get 3 fat quarters free. I will be having a look for sure.

I am hoping to have lots more progress to show next week.

I am linking up with WIP Wednesday over at Freshly Pieced. 

I have also discovered WOW on Esther's blog and have linked up there.

A new skill. A new purse.

I bought one sew on coin purse frame at the Brisbane craft show and now I feel all sorts of patterns and applique designs bubbling up. My husband wants to make leather purses but I still like fabric. My first purse is made from Japanese cotton.

 I drew up the pattern and to make it special I appliqued a little kimono girl on the front.

One thing that I have found difficult is getting the purse to look perfectly symmetrical. Careful markings on the fabric should fix this so I can sew it perfectly.

Feel free to download the drawing image. I used felt for the face, hair and hands.
(I downloaded it to my desktop then opened my word processor and dragged it onto the page. It came out small size. Printing from 'preview' made it bigger).

Link it up Friday

Link a Finish Friday

Can I get a Whoop Whoop

Cockatoos and Christmas

Edit 2014 - Still planning :D

I have been busy designing some Australian summer Christmas decorations. I love the designing part but I don't really enjoy the sample making. At least I will have several cockatoos to hang on my Christmas tree as I refine the design. I am planning to try and sell them as PDF patterns on Etsy.

The sulphur crested cockatoo is a common sight around my place in the summer. There are tall tree all around my property and a flock of about 25 fly past regularly and take some time to perch and screech in the trees looking for food. They are quite a large majestic bird with a touch of the jester about them. Christmas in Australia is summer time and lots of birds are around.

I was having my breakfast tea when I spotted this one out my back door. He seems to have found a feast of seed pods in the grass.

Another of my favourites in the spangled drongo. It is a glossy speckled black bird with a deep notch in its tail. It is a migrant and turns up here in summer after spending winter up around Cairns. Several of them sit in the tree above our swimming pool and take turns diving and swooping in the water. They have an odd call a bit like a turkey gobble but not quite. It is maybe not the best choice for Christmas but certainly a good replacement for the crow or blackbird.

I think maybe a kingfisher or blue wren or a fig bird are next on my list for Christmas birds. Let me know if you have a favourite that turns up at your place in the summer. If you live in another country let me know if you have a favourite Australian animal or bird. I want to make a bit of a collection of designs for a variety of projects. But for now I have to get a couple of Christmas things finished to put in my shop before Christmas comes and goes.