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So much to tell you – Part 1

February 1, 2011 By corrie 46 Comments

Well sometimes my life seems like a soapie episode with some drama, something funny, someone needing me and too much crammed into one day. And the past 36 hours have been taking it to the extreme. In a perfect world, the biggest drama I should have faced yesterday was which lovely country road ruffled singlet was I going to wear to the kindergarten picnic. It was a boiling hot day and I settled on the navy one, a nice choice.

Elodie had a touch of a fever and was grizzly when she woke up so I gave her some panadol and she fell asleep. I was watching her breathing and thought it was going a bit fast but I thought maybe it was the heat so I let her sleep and decided to watch her closely and take her to the dr if she didn’t improve. She seemed happy and was smiling after her nap so off we went to the picnic for 45 minutes. Retro daddy dropped us off and we had a great time. Normally dropping me off at a park with total strangers would terrify me but everyone was super friendly and I was having a nice time. Someone offered to cuddle elodie and I noticed she was shaking and very cold to touch but had a really hot head, she had shallow breathing and I knew this wasn’t going well.

I had no panadol on me and raced to my mobile to call retro daddy to come straight away and take us to the hospital. I had been through this with finn last year. Good on retro daddy who was there in five minutes and we raced to the hospital. We were seen straight away and her temperature was a crazy 39.7 and heart rate racing. I felt terrible. Why hadn’t I just taken her to the dr first thing, why did I give her panadol and hope she would be ok and then I couldn’t help but think of poor keira who I grabbed from the picnic and didn’t even say bye to any of the lovely ladies I’d been talking too.

Her fever went down straight away with the panadol and hasn’t gone up since. Thank goodness. But they were worried about the cause of the fever as there was no virus. With her heart condition (a tiny hole in heart causing a murmur) they needed to check she didn’t have a bacterial infection which could get complicated. I wish I had been warned of this but I’ve always been told her heart was nothing to worry about. This is where it all started getting scary. I’m just used to getting some panadol, observations and being sent home. Instead they needed to draw blood and do more tests. The dr and nurse kept telling me this was going to be really traumatic and I needed to be brave. Ok, I’m thinking, well I cope with immunisations ok so we’ll be fine. Then they started saying because she’s so chubby and a baby it’s going to be really hard to find a vein. Ohhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhh, the penny drops…………….it’s really hard to find a vein so they’re going to have to keep trying.

And so they put some numbing gel on her little wrists and feet and we waited. I cuddled her so close I’m suprised she didn’t burst open. So by now it’s 5pm and they try, in goes the needle and out, try again, try again and try again. Try another spot and then another one. Take a rest and wait for head Dr to try. Trying again and again and nothing. Time to call in the paeditrician from home and half an hour she comes in looking very attractive in her tracksuit pants made into shorts, running shoes half on and an old t-shirt! She got down to business and told me off for letting her have a fever and not bringing her in immediately (as if I already wasn’t beating myself up about it). She was no nonsense lady, put the arm grip thingo on till elodie’s arm was turning bright red and she was absolutely screaming and she started trying and eventully got blood. But I will never forget the absolute agony Elodie went through, the back arching and blood curdling scream for a good few minutes, just absolute pain and I was so near to tears but kissing her and blowing air on her face and trying to be brave. They needed 2 sets of blood so we had to go through it all over again. Canula went in and then she tells me the bad news……………..

Right we’re going to transfer her to another hospital and admit her for at least 2 days. I look at her with the most serious face ever and tell her my eldest daughter starts school tomorrow. Sorry she says quickly – she needs to go in and be on antibiotics and observed till we get all the results in. So Elodie had an ambulance ride, antibiotics, is still a bit grizzly and cranky but has no fever, no pain and her heart rate has settled down. She has a UTI and we just need a clear ultrasound and blood tests and we’ll be all coming home tomorrow. She’ll also be on anti biotics for the next 3 months to prevent this happening again. Moral of the story – just because you’ve had 4 babies does not make you an expert when it comes to fevers. I’m going back to the erring on the side of caution now! I’m also in total admiration of the dr’s and nurses who were so amazing to us. The facilities may be really old and the staff overworked but we received the best level of care and the sweet dr in emergency kept getting me coffee’s as I wouldn’t leave elodie to even go to the bathroom.

Tonight I am home to catch up on the home jobs, take keira to her second day of school and keep the show on the road at home. I miss elodie so much tonight and keep thinking I hear her little cries around the house – I hate being away from my babies no matter how little or big they are and especially when they’re not well.

Filed Under: hospital

where did my weekend go?

January 30, 2011 By corrie 42 Comments

Well I’d been hoping to share with you the lovely quilts and blocks that have been ariving on my doorstep but the weekend has gotten away from me. And I owe some of you lovely ladies a little thank you email for the quilts and blocks that keep arriving each day………….it’s coming I promise. I am just squeezing 20 million things into each day and right now am madly cleaning out my sewing room to make room for my mum to move in this week. It is an embarrassment to sewing rooms around the world as it is in such a bad way. My mum even said she hopes there isn’t fabric all over the bed when she arrives!

I know some of you have been waiting for an update. She has good and bad days and today was a bad day. Last week the dr’s found 4 new tumours on her MRI, this is such devastating news but of course we had to expect this. She will have the gamma knife tomorrow and then whole brain radiation every day for the 2 following weeks. I’ve stopped looking up survival rates now or looking up the treatments and just take each day we have as a blessing and make sure that she is surrounded by love each day she is with us.

Seeing someone normally so intelligent and articulate not themself takes some getting used to. She was getting very agitated with the nurse making her bed today. Wait for it, his name was……………….Elvis! I tilted my head to read his name on his security pass and then just had to ask him all about it. It was a good distraction for everyone in the room and from my mum getting cranky that he was only putting 2 blankets on the bed instead of 4 (the air-con is f-r-e-e-z-i-n-g!). Even as I added 2 more blankets for her she was getting annoyed that I wasn’t tucking them in right. At these times you need to be so patient, keep a sense of humour and stay calm, she doesn’t mean to be that way. And then she told me she didn’t want to come to my house if she was going to be a disruption, this just about broke my little heart. I insisted there was nowhere else I’d rather see her than here with us.

And of course she loves seeing her littlest grand-daughter Elodie who comes with me everyday. Can you believe she is cutting her first 2 teeth right now…I can’t! My little baby is growing up and meanwhile my big baby starts school in 2 more sleeps………..lots of photos coming of that big day!

Filed Under: cancer, melanoma, my beautiful mum

we have some hope

January 27, 2011 By corrie 80 Comments

Knowing that my mum was going to be moved from the public hospital, my Dad told me not to buy flowers yet. Then he said as soon as you buy the flowers I’m sure she’ll be moved. Sure enough, I ordered an arrangement to be made up (just as my mum would like it from our favourite florist) and I was walking to pick it up and my Dad texted me to tell me that they were moving her that afternoon. Ta da, he was right. So now she is in the hilton of hospitals at Macquarie University Hospital….it’s like going from an old hostel to a fancy hotel. She has a big comfy room and it is certainly much easier and a nicer experience for everyone. As much as I loved showing elodie off to the other ladies in the room at RNS… I’m glad we’re out of there.

It’s been a long week of waiting for neurosurgeons to assess my mum and they are still going. Today we will find out what the plan of action is……she is on a lot of steroids and from what I’ve read you don’t want to be on them for too long but they are doing their job of reducing swelling, keeping her comfortable and in much better spirits. The decision will be either to operate (I really don’t like this option, it scares me) or do the gamma knife again. It will be the 3rd gamma knife treatment for her and gives us more time without having the recovery and risks of a traditional operation. It is a new treatment in Australia and has a team of leading doctors involved.

She has some sweet moments, the nurse was going to shower her yesterday and left her in the bathroom and said I’ll be back in 2 minutes with everything…my mum called out very seriously making the nurse come back in…….’how long will you be? 2 minutes? ok!’ It made me smile (and the nurse, in a sweet way). She smiles a lot, raises her eyebrows, says yes and no and yesterday was telling my dad things she needed from home and would smile saying I can see it, I can see it…but finding the words for the shampoo and conditioner were just not coming. I really try hard to keep to yes and no answers and telling her things. It makes conversation easier.

She loves to see my little ones and smile at them. I think it’s important to take them in with me so they can just be around eventhough it involves bags of chips and a trip to the vending machine to keep them entertained. The rice crackers and milk I packed weren’t going to cut it in the visitors lounge and I was on my hands and knees picking up the chip crumbs from the new carpet in there as we left.

We still pray, we cross fingers and we know she is in the best place to receive the most advanced treatment that she can. We feel blessed for this. Everytime I leave her I say ‘bye, I’ll be back tomorrow and I love you’. Yesterday she kept holding on to my hand as I went to leave so I just stood there holding hers. I hate leaving her. I will never forget my Dad telling me at the start of the week to treat each goodbye as if it was the last as she could go downhill very quickly. It broke my heart and was so hard to hear……at least now we are all feeling a little more positive and hopeful. It’s a better place to be……………..for now. And that is the update. Thank you for your sweet messages and concerns. Knowing that you have been through this or your own challenges or that you care has been so comforting. And I sing my little church songs around the house to keep me praying as I go.

Filed Under: cancer, gamme knife, melanoma, my beautiful mum

50 pairs of Zogg’s goggles up for grabs

January 25, 2011 By corrie 20 Comments

Sponsored by Nuffnang

So this year my big goal is to get fit. So I joined the gym and one of the main attractions was the lovely big pool. Yes, I have a pool at home but trying to get into the water when you have 4 little children in your care…….well it just doesn’t happen. I am always looking after them and if daddy is home then the little people go in one at a time with him. I do love to swim but am not a good swimmer. Truth be told I can’t even dive into a pool. But who did I marry? Oh only the captain of the school swimming team. Yep, you read it here. We are quite the match up. But the beauty of swimming is that you don’t have to be good at it, I love doing lap after lap and when I was pregnant with keira swam several times a week until I went overdue with her. I wish I could say the same for the rest of my pregnancies.

So when the very nice people at Zoggs sent me some new goggles and some fins to try out I got pretty excited. I’m going to look quite the part at the gym…………until I actually get into the water! And these aren’t your average goggles, 4 Flexpoint Predator Flex goggles are super flexible and super comfortable goggles. They flex in 4 points – on the nose, at each side and around your face to give you a comfortable and flexible fit. I have to say these are comfy. So many times you’ll put goggles on only to feel like they are sucking your eyes out – you know what I mean, right? Then you walk around for the next hour with big red marks around your eyes. Not with these babies. Comfortable and bendy.

They also have mirrored lenses for swimming in all conditions, they don’t fog up (oh thank you! nothing worse than stopping to de-fog your goggles) and they have curved lenses giving you 180 degree vision and a really easy to adjust strap! Again, nothing worse than getting in the pool, thinking your goggles are comfy only to stop – take them off – adjust them- put them back on and get swimming again. The comfy silicone strap can be adjusted while you still have them on. Basically, these goggles give you the latest in technology whether you’re swimming for fun, fitness or competition.

And as if these top of the line goggles weren’t enough we were also sent fins – official name ‘Four Stroke Positive Drive Fins’. These went straight to retro daddy. And in fact most of the features about these fins went right over my head – supination, positive drive, Ellipsoidal shape……. so I asked retro daddy how they were and he loved them. Shorter than a flipper it’s like wearing a sock with a fin attached. In fact they don’t look anything like what I normally see in the pool.

Your foot is fully enclosed so that you get a better kick and a very comfortable swim. Apparently it means that the energy you put into your kick isn’t wasted by water getting into the fin – it all goes to give you a better ‘drive’. Apparently. And if you’re serious about your swimming then these fins are designed to improve your swim with all 4 kicking styles (don’t laugh – I had to double check with retro daddy what the 4 kicking styles were). It means whatever stroke you’re doing (freestyle, breast stroke, butterfly or backstroke), the design works with you with that stroke. And retro daddy tells me that wearing fins means that you can swim for longer because your arms aren’t doing all the hard work. That has to be a bonus, mind you notice how I had no clue that fins did this! He’s been quite the helper with this review.

So keep an eye for these latest products from Zoggs. They might sound all high tech but even if you’re a bad swimmer like yours truly, it’s nice to have comfy and practical swimming gear. And best of all……..Zoggs is an Australian company. But wait, there’s more! There are 50 pairs to give away over at nuffnang……just go here to enter.

Filed Under: everything else

no words

January 24, 2011 By corrie 101 Comments

This one is for my christian friends and I’m sorry for my non christian friends and readers to be getting all religious on you. Yes, you are at retro mummy and I don’t normally throw my religion on you here. But all I have to hold on to right now is my deep faith. I found this song through a quilting blogger last year and it is so comforting. It fills my heart and takes away a bit of the pain in there right now. Later today (tuesday) we will hear what the dr’s have decided but my Dad’s face says it all right now while my sweet mum doesn’t know what is going on.

‘Till he returns or calls me home, here in the power of Christ I’ll stand’

I have a sponsored post coming up and will be back later in the week. Thank you from the bottom of my heart for your sweet caring words. I’ve known that this time would come but I’m not ready.

Filed Under: catholic

giveaway winner

January 24, 2011 By corrie 88 Comments

Firstly, thank you for your sweet words and emails. I’ve cried reading them all. Everytime I sit to read them, I cry. They were just so sweet and heartfelt. They would make my mum cry too. I’m itching to get to the hospital and see my mum tonight and as soon as retro daddy is in the door I’m out of here! She had her mri early this morning and the dr’s are just deciding the course of action. I wish this wasn’t happening to us. My dad has been at her side since very early this morning and I know he won’t have left her to even grab something to eat or drink. I know him well so am taking a few things in tonight.

and since we could all do with a laugh, I thought you might like to know the sort of garbage that makes it’s way into my inbox every now and then. I’ve now decided there is a new rule for my giveaways…..if you email me something like the following then I won’t include you in my giveaways. OK? But I know you lovely people wouldn’t. I mean I’m not running the national lottery around here, just a mum and very small business owner sharing the love. She’s obviously not a regular as I never (ever) draw my giveaways on time but I do draw them and I do always post out the prizes!!! Thankfully, THANKFULLY, I can laugh this off………as in what kind of a person writes this stuff. I sent a polite email back (yes, surprisingly I was polite) explaining my weekend and she wrote back to tell me she had removed her entry in the giveaway. Phew, one less thing for me to do. There was no dear/hi/how are you Corrie just this charmer……..

“… and I’ll draw a winner on the 20th January!”

It’s a lie! Corrie, you’re kidding again? Did God allow Catholics (Catholic and proud of it!) lie? 700 people are waiting, and you – hairdresser, hairstyle. And so every time.

Luke 15:10 “… and he who is unrighteous in a very little thing is unrighteous also in much”

Respect …

So, moving on (yes please, can we move on from this!!) the winner of January’s giveaway is…………….drumroll……………….

True Random Number Generator
Min: 1

Max: 706

Result:
127
Powered by RANDOM.ORG

And 127 is Leah-in-the-Kia said… I would lOVE that! my girls would LOVE it too! January 6, 2011 4:32 PM Well done Leah and thank you everyone for entering! Next giveaway coming in a week or so…………….

Filed Under: giveaway

behind the smiles

January 23, 2011 By corrie 206 Comments

My Dad took these photos for me this morning. I look so happy but as he was taking them I kept watching my mum behind him. She was having a bad day and not really with us, through no fault of her own. I haven’t been able to share the last year of my mum’s cancer journey, it wasn’t really my story to tell, eventhough it’s been breaking my heart every single day. A few times last year my priest has spoken in his sermons about the cross we all carry around with us in life. Reminding us that everyone, and I mean everyone, has a burden – their own cross to bear. And so true when someone in your family has a serious illness….the person with the illness, their carer, the loved ones. It has been our cross to bear last year….the constant worry, the emotions, the what ifs…….

My beautiful mum has melanoma and while I was pregnant with Elodie her Dr’s found it had spread to her lungs, while waiting to start a new drug trial for her lungs they found it on her brain. She has received several treatments and chemo throughout the year. What I admire most about her, that she has never once complained. You would never know her pain, her burden. You ask her and she just tells you she’s a bit tired. But she wasn’t recovering as well as expected after her last treatment before Christmas. She is there with you in the room but she’s not herself.

And so this morning we went to my sister’s house to take these photos and I knew my mum wasn’t having a good day. We talked quietly about how we could look after her at each of our houses while my Dad is at work……..she rolled her eyes that we were talking about her. Yep, you can’t fool my mum. She thinks she is perfectly fine.

And then my dad helped me out to the car, my mum followed us out and stood by the gate as we’d all left her inside, and then it all happened, I’m not sure what it was but she couldn’t move and just stood there, everyone panicked and a look of panic and helplessness came over her face. She looked so lost, I will never ever forget looking back from the car to see her there. Everyone rushed around and held her up, slowly took her to the car and my dad took her straight to the hospital. I cried the whole way home.

So she’s in hospital for a while till they can do another mri and see her specialist this week. Cancer is one of those things you think (and pray) will never happen to you or your loved ones. But it does. It happens far too often these days. And all I can do is pray and be grateful that I have my faith and my family at times like these. I came home from church tonight to a ‘reminder’ I hadn’t drawn my fabric giveaway. So please bear with me this week…if you’re waiting for an email, the giveaway to be drawn, a response from me……..I promise to get there but just know that my thoughts are elsewhere. My cross is kind of heavy tonght…….

Filed Under: cancer, my beautiful mum

my saturday

January 22, 2011 By corrie 23 Comments

I think saturday could quite possibly be my favourite day of the week. It’s the first day I get an extra pair of hands helping me out all day, the fridge gets topped up, we go out for dinner or grab some takeaway, I get my hair done (well, not every saturday). Don’t you love the girl’s expression! I love that time to myself to catch up on magazines, chat to my lovely hairdresser and leave with lovely blonde, straight hair.

there is also plenty of time to spend with elodie and soak up her cuteness. Honestly, I lose count of how many times I kiss that little forehead of hers. She just keeps getting cuter, her hair keeps growing upwards, her thighs are growing exponentially and she has the cutest giggle in the world!

and saturday nights are a great time to go into my sewing room and stay in there until my eyes are practically closing on me. Last night I called it a night at 1.50am and finished a quilt top that I am just in love with it. I can’t wait to write it up as it was a really fun thing to do with a honey bun and will make a beautiful quilt to throw over my couch…….

and now it’s sunday morning, retro daddy is about to leave for the office for the day to catch up on work (don’t even go there, I’m cranky about it too) and I have everyone at home on my own, laundry to catch up on, toys to put away, a house to tidy and mass on my own tonight because as much as I love my children (and I do!) I just can’t do church with them on my own. It’s my worst nightmare while they’re at this age.

Hope you had a great saturday too………….

Filed Under: free motion quilting, hair, moda, parenting, saturday

chubby is cute

January 22, 2011 By corrie Leave a Comment

When you’re a baby, chubby is very cute. When you’re 34, chubby is not cute. So thankfully one of us is looking very cute right now. I mean just look at that little face…………everything about her is cute. And I’m not even going to tell you how many times a day I kiss that sweet head of hers. It’s just too many to count. And the hair…..that is au naturale, no styling or product in there thank you very much.

smiling eyes

Little miss is now 3 months old, fascinated by the car roof, her little pram toys that play music, her brother and sisters, her musical mobile and everything going on around her. She is not impressed with waiting for her next meal, pooey nappies, walking away from her when she is looking at you and when her mummy falls asleep on the couch. Oh no wait, that’s me. I would like to stop falling asleep on the couch.

Filed Under: baby

free motion questions answered!

January 21, 2011 By corrie 15 Comments

well I’m glad you enjoyed my video, I still can’t bear to keep the sound on and think I need elocution lessons, but it seems some of my international friends enjoyed it! And quite a few of you had questions so here we go. Remember, I’m no expert! I am kicking myself that I didn’t get more practise in with Kellie came to teach. I was so busy organising and fussing around I didn’t get a lot of time on the machine under her guidance! Ok here goes:

Celia asked what needle/foot am I using?

I use a quilting needle, Shmetz brand. Just look for quilting needles on the pack. The foot came with my machine and is an open toe foot. You can also get feet which are similar but enclosed. Just look for an open toe/darning foot. You will find these at sewing machine stores, quilting stores and of course old faithful Spotlight and Lincraft. Going from left to right is my 1/4 inch foot for piecing, walking foot for straight line quilting and attachng my binding (also great for polar fleece, cloth nappies etc), open toe foot, and a fancy foot that came with my machine for circles.

Emma asked what happens if I stuff up in the middle and start and end in the middle?

I would probably unpick it if I wasn’t happy with the stitches. If you need to finish up then I make a little curve going in and a spiral and finish there. You don’t have to end your stitching on the edges of your quilt but I find it’s a great way to leave your threads over there on the side, sort of like parking them there and you don’t need to worry about them. You can practice your design by doodling on paper but it’s just to get the feel of what you are doing. I don’t do it before I start quilting each time but it’s good practice for a beginner.

Yardage Girl (real name Nic) asked how do I manage larger quilts?

Well I’ve quilted single bed quilts on a smaller machine. I don’t roll up my quilts under the arm of my machine like some people do. I actually stuff it through as I find it’s easier. I put the bulk of the quilt to the left of me with the bunched up bit under the arm of my machine and go. Some may be in my lap but you don’t want it weighing down on your work so you want the bulk on your table so as to not drag your work as you are quilting. Next video, how about me quilting a proper quilt.

Taylor Made asked can you do this on an older machine?

Absolutely! If you can lower your feed dogs – the little metal teeth under the needle on your machine then you can do free motion. You’ll just need the right foot attachment and you’re off. STOP! Apparently I am wrong, just ask Julie my friendly sister in law…..read her post here

Trish asked how to choose what colour thread to use?

I’m a 111 kind of girl. Guttermann 111 to be exact which is a neutral/creamy colour and works well with everything. I don’t match up to the colours of the fabric because I use a variety of colours and the neutral colour shows off your stitching and also looks nice if you have white/light colour sashing. If I was making an all white quilt or a quilt with lots of white sashing and a white back then I’d think about white all over. I don’t use a different colour for the underneath either. I buy mine in 1000m spools and buy 3 or 4 at a time and pop them in a little straw basket so I never run out of thread! Some people use 100% cotton thread for their quilting but I love the guttermann and am happy with the results.

Kristina asked where to buy batting?

There are lots of different types of batting. I started out many years ago using a 100% polyester which was nice and cheap for starting out but quickly moved to 100% cotton. It has a slight smell and a little tendencey to go a big flat after a while. When Kellie came up I had to buy 30m of wool/poly and really enjoy using it as it hasn’t gone flat on me when quilted and is really lovely to work with so that is what I’m using now. Now spotlight sell the stuff in big bags or by the metre in their quilting section but if my local store is anything to go by the ladies at the counter are flat chat. If you’re a beginner, I’d say pop into your nearest quilting store and ask for 2m of batting and see what they have. You’ll get more help in there – trust me! I did sell batting for a while but it’s just too big and bulky to be carting to the post office on a regular basis with little children.

Jenny at Red House asked what machine I use?

I’m using a Brother QC 1000 and yes it is quite the business. I love her. She does everything and more and auto tension, needle threader and trimmer are the biggest timesavers in my life. Because it is a quilting machine it comes with all the feet you need (1/4 inch, walking foot, a few free motion feet) and also an extension table. There are less expensive Brother innovis models too but if you’re starting out you don’t need anything too flashy.

Oh and I picked up my baby 2nd hand on ebay from a reputable dealer for $1000- I love the touch screen too! For any option you can press the help button and it gives you instructions/explanation of what to use that stitch for – perfect for dummies like me!

So I hope that helps some of you! One of my goals for this year was to make more quilts and in keeping with that goal I’m turning a Moda honeybun into something quite cute…..to share with you. Elodie is now ‘almost’ sleeping through the night which means I get some quilting time but don’t think it’s all smooth sailing – just because she is down for the night doesn’t mean the other 3 are.

my jazzy ironing board cover!

Righto, gotta run. Hair appointment this morning because short hair may be low maintenance on a day to day basis but you do need regular trims (and a colour)! But I love the break and especially since my hairdresser has ipads with the magazines on them! Just another reason I love my hairdresser!

Filed Under: free motion, free motion quilting, hair, quilting

free motion quilting

January 20, 2011 By corrie 40 Comments

Ok, well here is my first little video for my blog. Oh dear, can we fire the voice over lady because her voice is sooooo a.n.n.o.y.i.n.g. Why do we sound so terrible on video? I’ll also warn you that I sniff a grand total of 3 times during this movie which I am terribly sorry about. We did this first thing this morning when my allergies play up and I had no idea. We did do a few tries last night but the lighting was really bad. So go easy on me. And my favourite part of the video – oh it just has to be when I say and ‘and that is mow I do my free motion quilting’. Goodness me, don’t quit your day job retro mummy!

I’ve gone nice and slowly for you, I tend to go faster when I’m doing my quilts to get my stitches the right length but I hope you can see what I’m doing. Everyone has a different technique and this is just mine. I am no expert. But to sum it up, you are using your hands to move the fabric around and not letting the machine’s feed dogs guide the fabric for you. You lower the feed dogs on your machine (those little metal teeth under your needle), grip the fabric with your fingertips which is why gloves are so handy (you can pick up gloves similar to the ones I’m using at the supermarket) and then you get going.

Now for a bit of troubleshooting, if your stitches are coming out too long it means you could be moving your fabric too fast so slow down a bit as you are stitching and aim for even stitches. If your stitches are too tiny then you need to move your fabric a bit more as you go. You are spending too long in the one spot so get moving. Also, check the underneath of your work, the stitches should look like the stitches on the top and you might need to fiddle with tension to get it looking right. You might also want to check you have lowered your feed dogs as once I was quilting, turned it over to see a big mess and then realised my feed dogs weren’t down, derrrr.

So to practice, I just made a little sandwich and didn’t baste it. You can cut out pieces of your practice to make coasters, placemats, bags etc. I also like to have some scrap sandwiches on hand so that before I sit down to quilt each time, I do a little practice to check everything is right. It can save a lot of unpicking. So what are you waiting for, go and get quilting! And of course if you have any questions, fire away! I’ll answer the questions tmrw in another blog post with another little video (if I can bear to hear my voice again!)

Filed Under: free motion, quilting, youtube

I love quilt tutorials

January 18, 2011 By corrie 22 Comments

Well the first big email for Quilts for Queensland went out last night to over 80 ladies, wow, no wonder I was so flat chat trying to email everyone who was contacting me. I have a few more ladies to add to the list and if you didn’t receive the email and want to help just leave a comment with your email address and I’ll add you on. It is one mother of an email list! And can I just say that I am loving the quilts and blocks on our flickr page so don’t forget to join in over there. I still get a bit emotional when I think about who these quilts are going to.

And I know we have some beginner quilters out there which is just so great! Teaching yourself to quilt will have you hooked in no time. And since I’m a self taught quilter, youtube is my go-to place. A place where you can do a search on a technique or block and find a great tutorial in no time. Here are my favourites and I hope they provide some inspiration and help to you. Pinwheels anyone?

Another great tutorial I love is this one for a quilt as you go quilt. She is making a table runner but I would use a jelly roll or strips as wide as the fabric (generally 112cm/115cm) and you are sewing through your backing and batting as well as piecing at the same time. This method is called quilt as you go and is speedy! I think this one is for people dying to make a whole lap quilt but not sure where to start or wanting something quick and satisfying. I’m going to give this method a go………….

If you love precuts and jelly rolls, then this is a really pretty one. I would just cut strips of white quilters muslin/homespun instead of a white jelly roll as that is what I have at home but if you can get your hands on the white jelly roll then of course use that.

So there you have it! I could seriously spend all day watching the Missouri Quilt Co. tutorials. I hope these help you! If you have great tutorials on your blog or someone else’s just let me know and I’ll add them to this blog post to help our budding quilters out there.

Filed Under: quilting, quilts for queensland

quilts for queensland on flickr

January 18, 2011 By corrie 13 Comments

Wow, thank you everyone for a great response to Quilts for Queensland. I’ve had emails from europe, the states, new zealand, england and all over Australia. I am still working through all of the emails and comments and adding them to my spreadsheet (remember I was an accountant in my former life) so I don’t miss anyone off – when I’m done I’ll send out an email with a few things. We’ve also had a few offers from long arm quilters too (thank you, thank you) so if you have a quilt top you’d like to donate we’ll gladly accept it and if you have some backing fabric to go with it…..even better! And will you look at Joy’s block…..I love it! I love pinwheels!

amazing quilt block by joy

And then I had a brainwave while I was on the treadmill yesterday…..a flickr group! Then I was thinking how lovely would it be to have photos of people holding up their quilt block or quilt and I’ll make a huge mosaic of all of the happy quilters. A way of showing all of the hands and love that went into the quilts…..and what if I turned that into a postcard to go with the quilt………..at this point I had to stop my brain thinking as I could keep going and going getting more extravagent with what I was going to do…………………but at least it did make my time exercising go faster!

nothing beats a nice pile of folded quilts!

And you might need to pop a kleenex or two in with your quilts and blocks because I was a bit overcome when 3 quilts arrived on my doorstep this morning. Thank you to these lovely ladies – Lisa Oliver and Judy Newman who popped these in the post to me. The colours and quilts are just beautiful. You’ve set a high standard for the rest of us with these babies. I’ll be photographing them all beautifully and adding them to our flickr group too!

these are just perfect!

Don’t forget you can join in at any time, there are no strict rules or cut off dates for lovely people to join in and hopefully tonight I’ll finish my spreadsheet and get an email out………..so if you haven’t already emailed me or left a comment with your email address just drop me a quick email to corrie_sebire@hotmail.com and I’ll add you to my spreadsheet!

this is her serious, ‘I’m looking at you’ face!

And if you’re waiting for an email from me please just hang on a little longer, I’ll get there – there are only so many crackers and snackies I can give to keep my little ones happy plus I am Elodie’s cuddle machine and can’t keep her waiting too long!

Filed Under: quilting, quilts for queensland

the auctions are up

January 17, 2011 By corrie 4 Comments

Got a spare hour or three? Well you’ll need it to check out the huger than huge big list of auctions organised by Toni for the Queensland Flood appeal…you’ll find it here. And will you just look at Lisa’s auction……..new sewing machine anyone???????

yes, Lisa let me put the picture on my blog!

So, I’m waiting until the little people are in bed tonight, making myself a nice big cup of coffee and settling down to start bidding and buy raffle tickets. You’ll find my two auctions in there too……here and here. What a great response and thank you for your bids so far! I can’t wait to hear how much has been raised as a whole!

and if you’re waiting for an email or reply from me it’s coming! My inbox is bursting at the seams so I’m going to go through it tonight and get some more details out about Quilts for Queensland.

Filed Under: queensland floods