A new start (hopefully) I will try and keep this updated regularly.

Once again a long time between postings, I am really sorry.
I can't blame the fact that I have too much quilting because at the moment I haven't got any !!!

Yes I am still making and selling teddy bears and I just made my first rabbit in time for Easter,

 This is Cookie and is 15" in height with a lovely nature.

Bridget says "I Love You" she is a lovely mohair bear.

Edward also says "I Love You" and is in a lovely traditional plush.

If you want any information on any of my bears feel free to phone me o 03-9728-4070

I have also updated our website so just Google Make It Original -machine quilting and you'll find me on there.

Enough for now, I hope you all have a great Easter and keep well.

Eileen

"ABOUT TEDDIES" A bit of a change from Quilting.

Hi All,

As I said in my last blog quilting is slowing down.
I haven't stopped, quilts are coming in but not enough to keep me as busy as I was before.

However I don't like to have time on my hands and am still designing and making OOAK Artist Teddy Bears.
As I taught bear making in 1992 I am now using a lot of my specialised mohair and bear fabrics that I still have on hand.

So "MIO Bears by Make It Original" has been re-established and is doing quite well.

I have drawn up some new patterns as I love to see how each bear develops.

Bears have a mind of their own (as do some quilts), so you don't know exactly how they are going to turn out but usually quite successfully and are happy bears.

Here are some that I have made recently that are still on hand and a couple that have been adopted.

Professor Bumble.

Always on time as he has his watch.

                         Made from lovely Golden Wavy Mohair and German Glass eyes with eye whites.

He has suede pads and is $50.

Peter Bumble is the Professors son, you can see the resemblance !!! 

  He is so full after eating his "Hunny" that he is falling asleep.

The bumble bee on his paw doesn't worry him. He is also $50.SOLD

BREWSTER.    ADOPTED.

                     

Willow is cute made from a dense fur with mink tips.                         

 She has German glass eyes and eye whites and Ultrasuede pads.

You can see her little pink tongue. She is $45    SOLD

                                            Benjamin comes with his own quilt and has been in the family for a while,                                                  now ready to be adopted and step out on his own. He is $40                                                                                                                                                 

Oscar comes with his friend. 

                    He has a lovely soft dense coat, German black eyes with eye whites

. Has a very enquiring disposition. He costs $40.SOLD

Here is Claudette, wearing her favourite bows.

 She is made of lovely dense fur with dark mint tips.

 She has an open mouth so you can see her pink tongue.

 She has Ultrasuede paws and is $60. SOLD

harlotte is very young.

Made from a lovely dense white fur with German glass eyes, eye whites and Ultrsuede paws.

She has a lovely personality and costs $40. SOLD

Finally here is Joe the Apprentice Gardener.

 He only measures 4" but keeps himself very busy.

. Made from sculpted bristle mohair and has German brown glass eyes and eye whites.

 Comes with his wheelbarrow.  $30   SOLD

                   If you have any questions about the MIO family, such as size and availability etc. you can contact me on     mioquilt@iimetro.com.au  or phone on 03 9728 4070.

Hope you are all keeping well and active.

Eileen

BACK AGAIN AFTER A LONG BREAK

Hi All,

Sorry it's taken me such a long time to write this but I appear to have been busy ???

I have made a couple of new quilts I made two almost identical "I Spy" quilt for our 2 year old Great Grandson.

At the top is one of the quilts , only the quilt top. Below is Harvey with the finished quilt on his knee.
He loves it and can find all his favourite pictures. At the moment I think he's in love with racing cars.
He has one at home and the other is with his Nana, our daughter.

Apart from the quilts I have been making Teddy Bears as I have not had any quilting coming in.

Here are some of the bears.

ADOPTED

ADOPTED

                                                                  

ADOPTED

ADOPTED

STILL WAITING TO BE 

                                                                             ADOPTED

                                                                            "MISHKA"  $40

ADOPTED

They are all hand made and come with their own Birth Certificate.

The Panda Ching Lee has already been adopted and has happily moved in with a new family.

Well that's about all for now. I hope you are all having a great 2018.

Eileen

ONLY TOOK 10 YEARS TO FINISH

Finally my "Vintage Moments Quilt is off the machine.
I must admit that I still have to bind it ( I really don't enjoy binding ), and it does measure 90" x 90" which is a big quilt.
I started this at least 10 years ago with the Lemoyne Stars, all done by hand, but worth the effort.
Then I made the centre of the quilt, that sat on my design wall FOREVER !!!!
But I was still looking at it. The ladies in my class really made me look again so I decide that this year was the time to finish it.

There are 7 different methods in this quilt, it started with hand piecing, it has over 250 half square triangles in the borders as well as the ones on the Feathered Star in the centre.
I always said that if I was to make a Feathered Star this would be the one.
It has paper piecing, machine piecing, hand applique, bias strip piecing plus as I said hand piecing.
Not to mention the pieced borders etc, etc.
A real challenge. Once started for the second time it didn't take long to come together.
I won't say it was easy, but it was worth all the effort.

What really made me finish it was the night I was sitting looking at my huge quilting machine and thinking "I won't have this machine forever" !!!
Not that I am considering stopping quilting, I am doing more custom quilts than ever and always edge to edge, I like the way the quilt really comes to life after it has been quilted. I love seeing my customers face light up when they see the finished product.
After all that here are a few photos of "VINTAGE MOMENTS".

I hope you like the finished result

I am pleased with it, now for the binding !!!

Enjoy your patchwork everyone.

Eileen 

BACK DOING CUSTOM QUILTING

Hi all,
Happy to say that I am now back to doing custom quilting as well as our happy favourite "Edge to Edge".

Yes it has been a while but my shoulder has improved enough to go back to what I had to give up all that time ago.

Here is a picture of my first custom quilting job after all that time.

It is called "Bullerswood" made with William Morris reproduction fabrics. Yes it did take a while to quilt, a lot longer than "edge to edge" and needed a lot more experience and patience.

However it is now finished and waiting to be collected. I am more than happy with the result.

I think that's enough for today as this is my second job on the computer. My first was to update our webpage. Here is a link if you would like to know more about us.Make It Original Studio.

This year has flown by much too quickly, we'll soon be talking about Christmas, after all it is only just around the corner.

So happy quilting to all of you.

Eileen

FINALLY BACK AGAIN

Sorry as usual it has take me so long to get back to my blog. I suddenly realised how long when our new great grandson is now just about 9 months old. The last time I wrote he was only 4 months, how time flies.
Am still enjoying the de-stash site and finding lots of things in my store room and around the house that I had forgotten about and no longer use.
I am still enjoying quilting by machine and I took a photo of the latest one so here it is.

I was really pleased with the pattern on this one as it really enhances the quilt top.

As it doesn't get picked up until tomorrow I am waiting for her reaction when she sees it, I'm positive she will be happy.

Our helicopter flying grandson is now married and living in USA, however he is returning in November to be ready for the fire season here. So it will be nice to see him and I feel a lot better when I know he's looking after all of us in the Dandenongs and surrounding areas and helping our great firefighters.

My class ladies are getting on well and some are now designing their own quilts which is fabulous. I love to see their confidence build from week to week.

Well that's about it for today, so hope you all keep well and happy.

Enjoy your patchwork and quilting.

Eileen

Back again, lots of news

Finally got back to writing as I have been very busy de-stashing.

Pleased to tell you that we have sold a lot of our antique quilts and tops, all have gone to good homes where they will be appreciated and looked after. So that makes me happy.

Also a ton of books, which is very gratifying, I have learnt a lot of lessons from the books that I am now selling, so it is good that other patchworkers and quilters can do the same.

All of the books are in as new condition except that my name and phone number is in the front, which doesn't appear to worry any of the purchasers.
I do believe in looking after books they are after all, a mine of information.

I have made new friends on the de-stash site, one lives just around the corner from me, literally !!!
We didn't know each other existed.

I feel that I have made a life long friend in the wilds of Queensland. We are so much alike it is jaw dropping. Of course she is younger than I am, but really, who isn't.
Age does not form a barrier in friendships it actually enhances them.

Our new great grandson, now 5 months old is in Paris and has visited Harrods in London. He looks fabulous. I am glad that he will have many photos to look at as he gets old enough to do so. He certainly won't remember it, except perhaps as the place he first learnt to finally roll from his back to his front.

 Learnt a new move here in front of the Eiffel Tower.

 Watching the soldiers on parade

The smallest jetsetter

Well that's about it for this time, as usual I hope to get back faster next time I write this blog.

 

Happy sewing everyone.

 

Eileen

Happy New Year

Hi All,

I hope you all had a wonderful Christmas and are looking forward to the coming year.

We had a fabulous Christmas present, our new great grandson, he arrived on December 22nd.
mother Kelly and baby Harvey are both doing well.

I have joined a new Aussie De-Stash group so will be selling fabrics and quilts plus other quilt related things on there, they don't do as well on e-Bay as they do on the new site.

Everyone on there is a quilter both buying and selling. They are very friendly and it is a lot easier to load up things for sale that it is on e-Bay.

Plus lovely people appreciate what we are selling and it's nice to be told that we are remembered by people who came to our quilt displays so many years ago. It's certainly made our New Year a lot easier.
I did say, ages ago that I would put up a photo of one of the quilts that I recently quilted, this one is being picked up this afternoon and I remembered to photograph it.

Here it is, the person who made it did a brilliant job, it is show quality, we chose an edge to edge feather pattern and it looks great.

Well that's it for now.
Eileen

Back from hospital

Hi All, 

I really didn't think that I would be this long publishing my next blog.

However things happen that we really don't need !!
Yes, I should have gone to hospital earlier but who ever thinks that they are not going to get better without all that palaver, also upsetting people, mainly your own family.

Anyway, having been carted off by ambulance and shut in a private room because you may be infectious until they know what they are dealing with.
Now that is a big shock to the system !!

The specialists are still doing blood cultures and I have to have a colonoscopy in early January, but at least I can get back to mixing with people. Secure in the knowledge that nobody can be infected by me.
Just as well, we have our new great grandson due December 30th.

I was lying in bed thinking of all the bibs and burpies waiting to be finished at home, well they are now all done, quilts and baby blankets also,including nappy bag, have all been done and dusted, some are already in the nursery.
I know the nappy bag ( which, by the way, is a Kalbarri Bag ), is going into hospital with the new Mum.

Now about all the Liberty of London fabric that you have all received and told me how happy you are. I am really pleased.
It has made you happy and made some space for me in my Liberty stash to see exactly what I have left to use.
Which by the way, is plenty. 

I'm wishing all of you all the best for the coming season, hoping the New Year comes in with everybody happy and healthy.
Hope you all get what you wished for from Santa.

Till next time.
Eileen

Final Sale - Liberty of London Tana Lawn

Now we have some really happy ladies who have bought their Liberty of London fabric from my collection.
I have now just listed the last of Liberty that I intend to sell for now.
When I finally get around to making my shirts (I am still quilting and teaching), I MAY have some more left over.
If that happens I will list whatever I have but don't hold your breath, it takes me longer to settle down to make shirts than it does to make a quilt.

I think once we've given up sewing for ourselves and started quilting we look askance at doing thing like tailoring as that now appears harder.

There was a day, a long time ago when I thought nothing of making a suit or a dress, I mean what's hard about it ?
I now think twice.

However here are the links for the Liberty of London Tana Lawn.

http://tinyurl.com/odkc2ms

http://tinyurl.com/oj49g6b

http://tinyurl.com/q26macb

http://tinyurl.com/ne4ve6t

http://tinyurl.com/o7z6sqc

http://tinyurl.com/oeuqf57

http://tinyurl.com/pwqsqnp

Happy shopping,
Eileen

 

Just in case you missed it !!

Hi All,

Just in case you missed the price reduction and because fabrics have been relisted here are the new links to very cheap Liberty of London Tana Lawn on eBay.

Happy shopping.

http://tinyurl.com/nzrlcpr

http://tinyurl.com/nj64n77

http://tinyurl.com/oxzd4r3

http://tinyurl.com/pws5blv

http://tinyurl.com/pcx8o8c

http://tinyurl.com/nnxfhlm

http://tinyurl.com/o3g754u

http://tinyurl.com/orsr9mg

http://tinyurl.com/odol3bp

 Eileen.

 

Firefighting from above.

                                                         

Hi all,
I just received some great photographs of one of the firefighting helicopters so I thought I'd share them with you.

Taken by another helicopter, it shows exactly how the fires are dealt with, we thought these were brilliant.

Yes it is our grandson, James, which is how we managed to get the photos.







He said what they are dropping is a mixture of water and chemical fire retardant foam.
Eileen.

More Liberty as promised.

Hi All,

Back to everyday de-cluttering, am really trying to clear out and have uploaded the following Liberty of London Tana Lawn prints for sale.....

 

http://tinyurl.com/p7ew6ba

http://tinyurl.com/qhwv6dc

http://tinyurl.com/q7yhkao

http://tinyurl.com/opvbmh7                                         

 http://tinyurl.com/nu7v8u8 

 

http://tinyurl.com/p3aab86                                                                                                                                

http://tinyurl.com/nqnmb7p                                                                                

http://tinyurl.com/pyyhvo6                                               

http://tinyurl.com/olow9rw

http://tinyurl.com/oa32uoc

 

Also if you are looking for books here is a link to my books for sale page on my web site

 

.http://tinyurl.com/mwn5enl

 

Have been to visit one of my ladies who is in hospital with a knee replacement.

She was well prepared for sewing with 5 quilts to bind, however stitching is not easy when you are on pain meds and in a hospital bed.

So a friend and I took her in some magazines so she can dream about her next project instead of getting crooked stitches in the binding.

As she only lives a short distance away I can always pop in if necessary.

 

Have just finished quilting a queen sized quilt that now looks like a Moroccan market, I promise next time I will take a photo so that I can show you on here.

I get carried away and am so thrilled when my customer loves the quilt that I forget to take a photo to show you.

I had to ask Teah my granddaughter-in-law to take a photo of my quilt with houses on it that she now has in USA, I didn't know I didn't have a photo until it was gone.

I'm sure I took some when it was on display but I think my programme somehow swallows them whenever I upload new stuff

Well that's it for now.

 

Hope you are all keeping well.

Cheers,

Eileen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

THANKS TO ALL THE FIRE FIGHTERS.

Hi All,

I did say that our grandson was flying one of the helicopters that was fighting the fires, I finally, with a lot of effort managed to get a photo of the helicopter that he was flying.
I saw him a lot on the news but until I got the photo I did not know which helicopter  he was in.

Apparently based in Kyneton he was helping to put out the Lancefield fire.
Here he is below, we are very proud of him.
Thank you to all the firefighters they did a brilliant job with a lot of risk to themselves.

 

Next time I post  hopefully it will be to add more Liberty fabrics which have been very popular, thank you to the ladies who sent me such great comments.
Till next time,
Eileen

 

JUST A LITTLE HAPPY NEWS.

Hi All,

We just had a visit from our eldest grandson James and his American wife Teah, it was lovely to see them both again.
James will be flying one of the fire helicopters based in Olinda for the coming fire season here in Australia.
Then moving to USA and doing the same thing over there for their fire season, so he is kept busy.

They chose another quilt to take home to USA and decided to pick the quilt with all the houses on it.
It is one I designed and has the Donnelly Pub on it and also a Make It Original Quilting shop whose owner is Eileen Donnelly.
As it has a hanging sleeve already on the back and yes I did label this one, I usually remember.

However I did see my Japanese quilt is still not labelled so have to do that one.

Glad you are all enjoying your Liberty fabric, I do have quite a stash and will put more on later down the track. I have pinned the pattern on one lot for a nice classic shirt in Liberty, I also have 2 more lots to use for long sleeved shirts and about 3 for short sleeves.

In the previous blog there are still some pieces of Liberty for sale, if you are interested, I think there are about 7 pieces remaining.
However if you wish to wait there will be some new patterns when I get more time and also the older pieces will still be listed until they sell.

The weather is looking a lot better now so we might even get in a walk now and again.

Hope you are all keeping well.

Cheers,
Eileen.

More LIberty Fabric as Promised

Hi All

Well I did promise to have a look at my Liberty of London Tana Lawn prints and have added another 6 different prints to my list.

All my Tana Lawn prints have been purchased and I'm glad you liked them.

So here are the 6 new prints :

http://tinyurl.com/pfsmbnd

http://tinyurl.com/p4snnjf

http://tinyurl.com/nd623j7

http://tinyurl.com/qem36zg

http://tinyurl.com/phfkd4b

http://tinyurl.com/onx6osx

 

 

Hope that you like them as much as the others.

Thanks for looking,
Have a happy day,

Eileen

Liberty Fabrics

Hi All,

Thank you to the ladies who bought the Liberty fabrics that I posted on my last blog.

An even bigger thank you to the people who left me positive feedback and said how delighted they were when they received their Liberty in the mail, I really appreciated that.

I still have 1 lot of Liberty still available, this is 2 vintage prints still Liberty but fine cotton instead of Tana Lawn.

Here is the one remaining.

http://tinyurl.com/oqpymmp

Plus some more scissors

http://tinyurl.com/nnz2br9

 http://tinyurl.com/ntoahy9

 

I will add more when I get time after working on my machine to quilt a large quilt that was just delivered. I don't like to keep customers waiting.
 

Yes I am still quilting, though I think it isn't generally known, I had a break for the holidays and have caught up on  all outstanding orders.

Plus I am also kept busy quilting for the ladies in my class who are very prolific, they love what they do so our classes are full of laughs, which keeps us uplifted for at least a week !!

Also thank you to the ladies who purchased the scissors, I'm glad I took a look at my old stock so at least you got some bargains and are now happily using them.

 

Back later.

Eileen

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Clearing out with a vengeance !!

Hi all,

Just got out my stash of Liberty of London fabrics and decided I didn't need all of them.

Glad to say I have enough of at least 4 to make shirts ( that's if I ever get back to sewing for myself, apart from evening tops and skirts).

I have uploaded the first 8 pieces on eBay, am selling 2 pieces together in one instance as I discovered I had some rare Umritza Prints that are reproduced from the late 1800's.

Here is a quote from my research into those two fabrics.

“Liberty also began producing his own range of silks from 1878. Another popular product was Umritza Cashmere produced in 1879.”

Liberty first produced the Umritza Cashmere so he could emulate the Paisley shawls that were such a rage in those days, but were very costly
This fabric is very slightly heavier than the Liberty Tana Lawn, but still feels silky, a nice texture.

Well here are the sites to see the Liberty Fabrics.

http://tinyurl.com/ofrybmd 

 http://tinyurl.com/q6cx7uw

 http://tinyurl.com/qbbfczk

 http://tinyurl.com/o93ezve 

http://tinyurl.com/q7jb5dx

 http://tinyurl.com/orweu4e

http://tinyurl.com/oddpulj

http://tinyurl.com/p2kpkun

http://tinyurl.com/oltj2nr

Happy shopping,
Eileen

Happy family things to share.

Hi All,

Today let me share some lovely things that have happened plus some up and coming events.

Firstly our eldest grandson got married to a lovely American girl, we all love her and she loves quilts.
I was happily surprised when James (the grandson) asked if I had a quilt that he could give Teah (his future wife) for her birthday.
Up to now he has enjoyed the quilts I have made for him but had never shown any interest in any others.
Here is the quilt he chose from the few I had that were large enough.

This one is called Jewel Box and I made it about 2002, I'm glad he chose that as it is one of my favourites.

The second episode I have already mentioned previously, the up and coming birth of our great grandson.
James sister Kelly, our eldest granddaughter is the mum to be.
I have already made her a Kalbarri Bag for her nappy bag, this is the bag I make for all our babies.
So here is a photo of the one for Kelly.

I love the colours and fabrics in this one.

A long time ago when Kelly was studying in Germany she bought me a Gund Classic Pooh Bear.

It is so cuddly and perfect for a baby, so when it's had a good wash it will be given back to her with a lot of love. Here he is below.

Isn't he just gorgeous ?

Well that's the news for now, hope you enjoy the photos as much as I do.

 

Eileen

Back to business, well over the holidays.

Hi All

Well it certainly doesn't take long to get over a great holiday and back to normal life.

I have just looked into my stash, am still de-cluttering and these things for sale are from when I used to have large classes.

Going through my stock drawers I found quite a treasure trove of scissors, so if you are at all interested I have some Ginghers and also a beautiful set of Klasse scissors for sale.

The sites below will take you straight to my eBay pages, I hope you find something that would suit you,

Each site has a different type of scissors so happy shopping.

Eileen

http://tinyurl.com/prtueyj       

 http://tinyurl.com/p2c9kmn  

  http://tinyurl.com/o2b5jwk
 

http://tinyurl.com/oep5r7b

http://tinyurl.com/qekts7l