What a week!!

Last weekend I entered my first ever quilt show. The show was my local Agricultural show in Milton on the South Coast of NSW.

I was very very nervous being that I've only been quilting for 5 years, but I was excited too. I have worked so hard on my quilts and it was my first opportunity to have my quilts judged. So after finally finishing the hand quilting on one of my quilts the night before, I entered my quilts and waited patiently for Friday morning when I woke up bright and early and dragged my whole family up to Milton to see my quilts hanging.

As I entered the pavillion I was greeted by one of the white glove ladies who had recognised me from the shop I work at and was chatting away whilst trying to look at my quilt. I was in shock to see that my Tummy Time quilt was hanging right at the front next to the Best in Show Quilt! A stunning quilt with some perfect stars which was machine pieced to perfection!

I was still oblivious to the fact that there in front of my eyes was a certificate with the number 1 on it.  

I was looking right at this certificate and I didn't notice the number 1 until it was pointed out to me! I started giggling like a school girl :)

 I just can't seem to get a decent photo of this quilt. It really is so much cuter in person.

Anyway, then we went searching for my 2nd quilt and guess what, I got another certificate, this time a number 2 was on it :) 

I was so proud of this quilt and was a bit disappointed when I saw it hanging. It looked like it needed a good iron, but I was rapt to receive a second place ribbon.

 This quilt, called 'Reflections' was made in a class with Sheena Chapman. The circles were made with out pins and was totally free formed. I then traponto'd (no idea how to spell that tehe) the circles and then hand quilted circles all over the quilt. Its the most unique quilt I've ever made and probably the most fun I've ever had too.

Anyway, something else pretty big happened this week. My gorgeous baby Niece finally made her appearance into the world! Of my 4 Nieces and Nephews, this is the first time I have ever seen one of them when they were so little. I have always lived so far away, they are usually walking before I get to meet them. Here is the gorgeous Miss Heidi.

 This is my 2 neices together, Leah and Heidi. Aren't they just adorable!

I made a special project for this gorgous girl and as soon as I get my cover version finished I will show you some pics :) But for now I'm going to cuddle my gorgeous girl, who just seems to have grown so big, practically overnight!

I hope you had a good week too!

Hugs Paula

My 2 new patterns available soon and a giveaway!

I'm so ridiculously excited :) I have finally finished my next two patterns and they are being printed as I type. Yeah!

As you may have guessed I'm a huge fan of the Sweetwater girls, I love love love their fabrics and purely out of coincidence I have made up my first new pattern using 2 of their ranges. 'Pure and Sunkissed'

This is my first quilt pattern and I'm so proud of it! It is call the 'Love is all around' Quilt. This quilt is designed for every mum or grandmother who I have heard say "They just grow so quick!" I wanted to design a quilt that was fun and cute for a baby, but was still suitable for a toddler, teen and even adult, so this was what I came up with.

 This is the boy version and is a cot quilt size, but is easily 'upsized' by increasing the size of the blocks! I used 2 Charm packs for this quilt, but you could easily make it with 2 layer cakes for a huge quilt!

I also designed a girl version and decided to make this one in just 2 colours, I really love how this one came out and as we backed it with flannel this quilt is soooo cuddly!

The 'Love is all around quilt pattern' will be available from Pattern Press and your favourite quilt shops in the next week, depending on the volcanos and how it affects distribution.

My second new pattern is just so much fun! My kids love to count down to everything! They countdown to Christmas of course, Easter and birthdays, so I decided to design some toys that make counting down so much fun!
So here it is, the 'How Many Sleeps - Countdown Cubes' Pattern.

 First up of course who doesn't count how many sleeps there is until their Birthday? ;)

 And of course Christmas,

 Heres the Easter block with a cute little egg with bunny ears!

 I love the Halloween block, but for those of us who are very patriotic, I'll be putting up a free design for Australia Day soon, so if you don't celebrate Halloween you can just replace this block with the free Australia Day block.

 Its always fun to count down to holiday time,

 And finally the ultimate countdown is to the New Year!

As well as being fun, these blocks are really educational, teaching kids number recognition and how to count backwards.
I'm also really excited about the 'How many sleeps - Countdown Cubes' because they are my first pattern that will include iron on transfers of the embroidery designs. How cool is that!!

To celebrate I think we need to have a giveway!, So if you would like to win a copy of either of my new patterns, just leave me a message on this post and I will draw a winner when I get back from the Trade show in Sydney next friday the 24th of June at 9am. Don't forget to tell your friends! If we get lots of entries I might give away some of my other patterns too! So tell everyone you know :)

A huge thanks goes to my Mum, Lesley! Without her, neither of these patterns would have been finished! She is so amazing, her embroidery skills are out of this world, and is always quick to offer her 'unpicking skills' when I make a boo boo ;)
She also helped piece the quilts and did a fantastic job of quilting them too. So Thank you Nan, Your the best! Check out her ebay shop for gorgeous Batiks!

I hope you love my new designs as much as I do!! Remember to ask your favourite quilt or fabric shop to order in my patterns from Pattern Press.

Hugs Paula

A sneek peak and the kids workshop project

I have been working away and have almost finished my next pattern, YEAH!!!

So I thought I'd give you a little sneek peak.

Huge Thanks goes out to Nan (my mum) for doing the amazing embroidery!! She is so incredibly talented!

I've also been working on the kids workshop projects, this is what the 11 and ups will be working on.

I made this gorgeous little cushion with the amazing Sweetwater range from Moda. I am so addicted to this range and I think I really need to make a quilt for my bed with this range, it is just so stunning.

Anyway if you or your kids are interested in joining in a workshop on the school holidays give Val a call at the shop on 02 4455 4087.

Hugs Paula

PS. I'm looking for some test sewers of my next pattern. If you have young kids (0 - 2) could you please email me or leave a comment on this post with the age and gender of your kids and I will get back to you soon with the details. paula.storm@gmail.com

My Babys 5th Birthday Hello Kitty Cake.

One of my gorgeous baby girls celebrated her 5th birthday today, She just adores Hello Kitty, so I had a bit of a google search and found a cake that I liked, I changed it a bit and this is what happened.

 Emma adored the Fairy bread :) 

 Chloe and her 15 friends yes 15, had an awesome day! 

The cake didn't last long though, isn't it always the way, you spend hours and hours decorating and in minutes its gone.

Happy Mothers Day to all the mummys out there, I hope you had a more relaxing day than I did :)

Hugs Paula

Sewing and spending :)

It's been a long while since I last posted, but it's because I have been extremely busy. What has kept me the most busy is my new job at Val's shop in Milton NSW, called My Patch Fabrics, (also on Facebook) I absolutely loooove that I can grab a pattern and some fabric and just get sewing with no designing decision pressure!

One of my favourite patterns at the moment is from 'One Red Robin', the Baby Chibi dolls are just too cute!! I've been wanting to make them since the day the shop opened and I finally got to them this week, what do you think?

 I love the little lady bug buttons in the shop so I added one to the flower on my girl Chibi.

What else is going on, well my Mum who I told you about a few weeks ago is now selling Baby Gap clothes on Ebay as well as the hand embroidered t-shirts. This embroidered Owl shirt is one of my favourites!! The stitching is very very well done, what you expect from Baby Gap and at just $12.50 its a bargain! Luckily I get mates rates :)

 My sister also has an ebay shop with stacks of Baby Gap Pyjamas and clothes, she has also just gotten in some wall stichers, We had a birthday in my house yesterday and my 2nd born was very pleased with 2 gorgeous pairs of pj's and some gorgeous heart stickers for her bedroom!
The love bird jammies are my favourite!

Jack looks sooo cute in this outfit! It has a really nice weight to it, with the shirt over the top of the suit (they are attatched), just beautiful quality and they look adorable with jeans!

This outfit though is my absolute favourite!!! My little supermodel looks so rediculously gorgeous in this Carter's outfit! I'll try and get a picture of her in it, just adorable!

Anyway, back to the sewing room for me, I have so many projects on the go, I just need to finish one and I'll be happy :) wishful thinking I think hehe.We are working on some new patterns for kids sewing classes at the shop, got to get to them early ;)

Hugs Paula

To market we will go

So I decided that this little sewing habit of mine might actually be able to help pay for christmas :) With that in mind my gorgeous mum and I got busy and made up a heap of things to take to our local markets. Heres a few pics....and heres some of the other bits and pieces. I will also be listing some stuff on etsy, heres some of the bits I have at the moment. As a christmas special, check out my facebook page for a discount code to use in my etsy shop.

This is Lionel Lizard, the Camo Gecko :)

I love his little feet!
These little cuties are my Babys favourite toy! She can easily grab their legs and necks and just loves giving them a big chomp! :) She's a piranha! hehe

These are Dee Dee the Dolphins, Of course designed by Melly and Me. The green ones are made using Minky, soooo soft and yummy, My girls keep saying they hope they don't sell, so they can keep them. lol little do they know, mummy has some stashed away for christmas ;)

Have a great week :)

Hugs Paula xxx

Leahs Apron

Well hello again, it has been too long since my last post, but with 4 kids including a 3 month old and a very boisterous 2 year old, my blog was put in the too hard basket for a few months. Sorry about that :)

Anyway, I have been busy sewing too and have been making some new designs to hopefully take to our local markets and make my fortune! hahaha maybe some pocket money :)

Hopefully some of these little cuties will sell well. This is one of my kids size hand puppets. Sorry about the quality of the pics, but as usual my computer is playing up and so I had to take these pictures on my phone, upload them to facebook and then copy them over here using my mums computer. arrrg Computers and me not fun sometimes. But then I wouldn't be without them :)

Anyway, do you like her dimple :)

My neice is having her 4th birthday tommorow and she was telling me that "In my dreams I got a pretty pink apron" how precious! So of course I had to make that dream come true. A Frilly Pretty pink apron covered in unicorns, perfect for a precious 4 year old. This is my Chloe modelling the apron.Would you be interested in a pattern?

And finally today these are some cubes I made to display some smaller cubes that I hope to sell at the markets. I just love the pink and brown fabric!I will try to get some better pictures soon I promise :)

And finally I will end with a question, do you think I should list my puppets on Etsy or sell them from my blog? I was planing on charging $15 for the small ones that are perfect for 4 to 16 year olds and $20 for the adult size ones. I would love some feedback... Enjoy your weekend!

Hugs Paula xxx

Make it Perfect's Uptown girl Jacket

I haven't really had a huge amount of time to sew lately, but I did get my girls jackets finished! Here's my little miss in her jacket, It is made with some super cute denim fabric that had the flowers already embroidered on it! I love it! I also made one for Molly, but she threw a tantrum when we were trying it on her so it went in the cupboard for a few days as punishment hahaha. I hope this lasts, that they love the clothes that I make them so much they can be used as leverage hehe.
Sorry about the pic, my camera battery is flat and so I took it on my new phone and copied it from my facebook page! Ahh technology, don't you love it! :) Please excuse the rediculously messy sewing room in the background, thank goodness you can only see the bookshelf :)

Sean's Pics

I have been a little bit busy lately so have only done a little bit of sewing and I've started a punch needle project but I haven't had the chance to take any pictures, so I thought I would take the opportunity to show off my extremely talented nephews awesome photography.

Sean is my eldest nephew, he just turned 16 and has a passion and an eye for photography. He has recently started a blog so if you would like to see more of his pics, head on over here. Just keep in mind he is 16 and the odd swear word slips out :)

Sean is a surf junkie and most of his pictures are of the surf and his friends, some of whom are quite well known in the surfing world. Occassionally though he takes pictures of other things, this is one of my favourites:

Sean also likes taking portraits of his little cousins, here are all my babys:

MollyChloeJackAnd Emma

What a lucky mummy I am!

I will try to take pictures tommorow of the gorgeous bag I made for Chloes' first day at "little big school" (she is starting at the preschool tommorrow which is located at her sisters big school hehe). It is the mushroom bag from the Melly and Me book 'Kaleidoscope'. I think I have a thing for mushrooms hehehe. I absolutely Love the book and have made more things out of it, than any of my other books. I made Melvin the Moose, Bubbles the Unicorn and Bella the Bunny. There is pictures here and here, anyway, While I was looking for the web address for Melly and Me, to get the link, I found that Melanie has just made up a pattern by 'Make it Perfect', it just so happens that I just bought a pattern from them the other day to make a jacket for my girls, I really should get onto that before winter is over :).

My newest creation!

She has finally made her entry into this big world.

Emma was born last Friday a perfect 6 pound 12 oz. She is of course absolutely gorgeous and dispite a little time spent under lights for jaundice, everything went really well.We are finally home and although very tired, as is of course to be expected, we couldn't be happier! Thanks everyone for all your beautiful messages!

Hugs Paula xxx

It's Baby Time!

Well tommorow is the day! I'm so excited, but a little apprehensive as well. Anytime you go under the knife its a little scary, but the thought of holding my little bundle of joy in my arms will make the last 9 months well and truly worth it!

There's nothing like leaving things till the last minute and that was me today. I still needed to make a new nappy bag for my little girl and I had been looking at pretty much every single bag tutorial on the internet and ended up going with this amazing tutorial! It is one of the best tut's I have ever used and would have been more than happy to pay for the pleasure of using this awesome tut!

I only made a few little changes, I decided that I didn't want velcro on the pockets because it just gets in the way sometimes. I also decided not to divide one of the inside pockets (the back one) into 3 sections because I find sometimes you just need a big pocket.

I think the only other things I would do next time is put a heavier interfacing like timetex in the base, so it stands up better on its own, and I would put interfacing on the inside back panel as the zipper tends to weigh it down and it droops when its not full. Other than that I am just soooo happy with my bag! It even goes with my Amy butler Weekender bag that I use for my never ending hospital trips

I'd love to know what you think!

With that I will sign off for a little while and will be back in webland next week!

Hugs Paula xxx

More Baby fun!

I have been having such fun in my new sewing room!

Its an incredible mess with stuff everywhere, but I can wheel myself around and get to everything that I need. It's so great to be able to just walk in or out whenever inspiration strikes.

Thats what happened this morning, being 38 weeks pregnant I haven't been sleeping much and so when I was lying there trying to sleep this morning I decided that I wanted to add some applique to the white t-shirts that I bought for baby Emma. I also decided that I needed some pants to go with it. So when I got up, this is what happened.....

I am soooooo happy with them! It is the first time I have made my own pattern and have it be successful. Yeah!!

The pants are simple elastic waist pants and I'll have to wait till Baby Emmas arrival to see how they fit, but they measured up to a 000-00 next to some of the 'store bought' pants we have.
I sent a picture of them off to Victoria Thorpe the editor of my favourite magazine 'Handmade Magazine' and she loves them and wants to publish them in the Kids Issue thats coming up in a few months time! How exciting!!

I made some little sandals to go with them, but I'm not too sure about them. They are pretty cute, but need a bit of refining I think. (I'm not game to show you a pic yet :)

On the baby front, Emma may be making an earlier appearance than expected. I went for a check up yesterday and for some reason my blood pressure was through the roof (147 / 98). I had pre-eclampsia with both my other girls so she may have to be born earlier than next Friday. Another check up tonight will see the Dr make a decition. So If I'm a little quiet in the next little while, I'm sure you'll understand why :)