Last Finish for 2014

I started this project in October when staying with my parents for a few weeks on holidays. I used Mum's 25 year old Janome and it was super awesome, I was so impressed I upgraded to a Janome myself when my Viking blew up in December.

Comprising Umbrella Prints fabrics and Navy linen in a colour palette I am not used to using. I totally loved how the yellow and green popped against the black and navy contrast. I think I will be using these colour combinations more often.

After a little hand stitching to give some definition and add a new technique to this mini quilt. 

It was backed and bound in more Umbrella Prints fabrics. 

I just love these elephants!

And the sun was shining, which is great as the monsoon has now arrived, bringing much needed rain and cooler temperatures, but not so great for photographing completed projects!

A little look back at Christmas Projects 2014

I didn't get nearly as much Christmas sewing done this year as I have in the past, must start earlier in 2015.

But I did get a lovely small quilted wall hanging done, based on a pattern by Crazy Mom Quilts.

Hello 2015 - New Year Blog Refresh

Happy New Year!

And welcome to the first post under the new blog name of the Equilateral Donkey. The new name was inspired by Jack my 4 year old, who likes to "help" from time to time. After a session of cutting up some equilateral triangles and an interesting chat about what shapes have equal sides, he came out with the statement that donkeys don't have equal sides, except for equilateral donkeys. Can't fault that logic!

Quilting not so straight lines.

Apparently I am about 2 years behind the wavy line variation of straight line quilting lol. But I am glad I stumbled upon this technique as its lots of fun!

A special handmade Christmas Swap

I am part of a small online group of women who all met through a good old Google Group (remember them?) as we sought support from like-minded women through the start of our parenting journey. These women have become some of my closest support even though they now all live thousands of kilometres away. They hold my hand and spirit in theirs through the good and not so good days.

Most of these lovely girls are also incredibly talented artisans and twice a year we do a handmade swap.

Here is a sneak peak of my work in progress for my swappee. I am pretty sure I have matched this riot of colour perfectly to her personality!

Totes Awesome!

Finally got around to finishing a project that has been sitting on my to do list for months a Totes Ma Tote by Emmaline Bags.

This project started its life as a quilt block in a BOM that ended up being the only block I sewed and into the UFO pile. I think Cappucino is judging my lack of application here!

So to reduce the UFO pile I needed a pattern that would showcase this beautiful block. And the Totes Ma Tote fit the bill perfectly.

I made one adjustment to the pattern and added braided handles instead of buckled handles. I was able to use leftover fabrics from the quilt block which I think really add a lovely pop of colour whilst not detracting from the star attraction.

The Serendipity Hip - Pattern Review

Recently I was asked by the lovely Christine of Chris W Designs to test her latest Pattern the Serendipity Hip Bag. You can find the pattern here

Of course I jumped at the chance as I am a big fan of Christine's patterns and also being time poor lately means that the promise of a quick sew was a good one. And true to her promise, the Serendipity Hip is a lovely bag that I was able to sew up on a interruption free afternoon - big winner!

As with all Chris W patterns there are lots of storage options and pockets, which I love in a smaller bag (heck I love lots of pockets in any sized bag) and as always the pattern is written in lots of detail with Christine walking you through each step with lots of photos and helpful hints to making your end result look fabulous and professional.

Don't you just love top contrast top stitching. I sure do.

A little bag bling from Emmaline Bags really takes a bag from homemade to handcrafted.

And its the perfect bag for throwing a few essentials in and heading out for some fun - like a social bike ride.

If you are looking for a fun cross body bag with storage options I highly recommend this pattern. And its lots of fun to sew too.