GIRLY CUSHION

My beautiful little niece who has just turned 18 months old, is being christened this weekend and I wanted to make her a personalised cushion to remember the day.

The cushion is based on one made by Dont Look Now called Flower Garden Pillow.  I decided to do a rectangle shape rather than the normal square pillow.

The flowers, stems and butterfly are all appliqued using blanket stitch while Sophia's name is embroidered.

 



PLAYING WITH THE LAYOUT

I went to a class last week at wonderful Kate's and we learnt how to put a zipper in. Perfect for my cushion and of course as soon as I learn something, I want to do it again and again.

 



TOP ALL QUILTED


 

 
I chose a simple Stipple design for the quilting and a perfectly pink piping to finish off the border.

What do you think?    Hope she likes it xoxoxo

FNWF - Stripping !!!!

Pattern Link:  http://www.handmadebyalissa.com/placemat-pattern/


Dont be shocked by the title, but yes while the rest of you were busy sewing and quilting, I was in my sewing room -stripping.   No not what immediately springs to mind, I spent my Friday night measuring and cutting strips for my next project.

Sometimes when I am in the middle of a long process of making a quilt, I need to busy myself with small projects, so when my DD mentioned she needed new placemats, I immediately began searching the net and found an easy pattern that she approved of.  

I have finished one and now need to go ahead and finish the remaining 5.

Hope you all enjoyed your FNWF as much as I did - see you next month or before if you would like to pop in and see how the placemats are progressing.

STAR CROSSING TABLE RUNNER

Thought I'd make a start on Mothers Day, so I have whipped up a beautiful table runner in the colours of mums dining room just for her.

The internet is such a wonderful resource and once again, I found a great easy pattern called Star Crossing Table Runner from  http://benandcharlyscorner.blogspot.com.au

Aren't these colours so pleasing, I think just about everyone loves these colour combinations and when I think about it, this table runner would look good in my house, my daughters house, my daughters mother-in-laws house, my mother-in-laws house....the list goes on!!  We must all have similar tastes.

Even the quilting was easy - simply put on the walking foot and sew around various lines to form a pretty pattern on the back.  I did have to stipple the centre of the star as I felt it wasnt laying flat enough for me.  This made a pretty highlight on the reverse side.

 

 

 

I am sure mum will love it and I think this pattern would also make a great secret gift for my next Girls Sewing Retreat - now all I have to do is pick more colours !!

 

 

CHRISTMAS STOCKING - BUCILLA

I know its months until Christmas but I found these wonderful Christmas Stockings whilst searching other blogs and I just had to have one.

 

They are made by Bucilla and there are many different designs.  I didnt have to many to chose from as there was only one on Ebay.  I havent been able to source them in Australia as yet but I will keep looking as I intend everyone in the family to have their very own.

 

Its all hand sewing which has been good for me as I can watch the Olympics and sew at the same time.  They are not hard but its time consuming with embroidery and sequins to go on as well as stuffing them to give the 3D effect.

 

I am tickled pink on how he  is coming up........ 

 

Hat and Face - 1st Stage

The kit comes complete with all the felt printed on sheets so all you need to do is cut them out and assemble according to the instruction sheet. Each piece is then appliqued to the base shape and everything is built up bit by bit.






Taking Shape

Santa so far......

 

Hopefully by Christmas I can have a couple of Stockings done for the children and then I can start on Stockings for the adults, cos everyone loves a Christmas surprise.


 

BELLA GARDEN - WISTERIA BLOCK

I have almost caught up with my Bella Garden's second block 'Wisteria'.  I thought that by the amount of work and time it took me to do the first block, I would fall way behind with all the others, but the second block came together much quicker.  I like to think it was because I knew what I was doing :)

Anyway here is the block so far......I can't do all the Wisteria flowers as some of them overhang onto the border pieces and I need to attach them before I can finish the applique.  I will have to wait until Block 6 before I can start to assembly the whole quilt and there will be more applique to finish then.

Woops, I may have spoken to soon, these wisteria flowers are driving me crazy, the large part of the flower was fine, but the smaller round petals are very difficult to attach, I have had to resort to my free motion foot and do a circular motion around the edge about 3 times.  It actually looks like fabric painting now.  I'll keep at it and you can see the result soon.

A QUICK THANK-YOU

Just wanted to pop a quick post out to say thanks to Lorna at Sew Fresh Quilts for thinking of the Lets Bee Social post.

I am a newbie when it comes to blogging and I was finding it hard to get people to check out my blog - then along came Lorna and viola..... People are stopping by to comment :)

I'm very happy although my husband is wondering what has overtaken me, staying up half the night checking my emails and replying,  he just doesn't understand haha

Anyway, thanks for stopping by and let me know if I'm doing alright at blogging and I promise to write back.....who knows where it will lead.

Another plus, I get to check out the wonderful blogs out there and even catch pictures of snow which we don't get over here, it's so beautiful 

JAKE'S COT QUILT

 

Jake is 3 and a half months now and almost ready to go into his cot from the bassinet.  Just in time, I've finished his quilt.  His room is navy blue and white so I went with the nautical theme and found a pattern on the internet which I changed around slightly.

   The pattern was on the website for Allquilts, but when I check recently, the link was removed.   Luckily I had printed out the pattern a while ago.

What a change different colours make !!

Instead of the small boats pieced together, I opted for just a square of nautical print.

Rather than the second row of stars, I thought Jakes name made it more personal, just for him. 
       I usually use the iron-on batting for my creations but as this is for a baby, I went for the wool batting. This of course meant that I had to use safety pins when I quilted. Down on my hands and knees on the bathroom floor and I used 1.5 boxes of pins. Probably over-kill but there was no way this quilt was going to move!

Too many pins????

The quilting took much longer than I thought and I kept it quite simple as it was my first real attempt at quilting.   Its hard to take the plunge and do free motion on a finished top, but eventually I had to do it.....I admit its not perfect but I really did have to start somewhere.  The swirls around the boat came up quite well as did the waves underneath. I felt a bit more comfortable doing the stippling around his name as I had done this before.

Swirls

Free motion Waves

After the swirls and waves, I didnt want to push my luck with any more free motion, so I changed over to the walking foot.  A simple double line inside each block and a diamond pattern along the border completed the look.

Diamond Border

Now my biggest fear (apart from the free motion) is when I wash the quilt.  I really really hope that these colours dont run and spoil everything.  I have bought some Colour Catchers in the hope that they can grab any floating colour before they do any damage......wish me luck. 

 

MCKENNA RYAN QUILT - BELLA GARDEN - BLOCK ONE - GARDEN PARTY

Santa has left me a beautiful BOM kit subscription to put together over the next few months.  It a McKenna Ryan Quilt called 'Bella Garden' and its gorgeous !!

 

Full Quilt Pattern

The kit comes complete with all the materials, patterns and instructions and I was very excited to receive the first one in the post.  After reading and re-reading the instructions, I  set about tracing, cutting and fusing onto the background material.  Thats easy, I thought.

BLOCK ONE



Some of the threads I purchaed to match the vibrant materials.

Then a girlfriend mentioned about the raw edge applique that I needed to do (blank look on my face) ...sure...no problems.  That was until I found out that every little bitty petal, flower bud, stem, butterfly wing, the list goes on, needed stitching and in different colours to boot !!  

Block One all fused and ready for sewing, oops one butterfly to add

How did I miss that instruction.  I thought that the fusing would be enough to hold everything together forever (how naive am I ??)

No point feeling sorry, I picked myself up off the floor and set to it.  I got into a rhythm and got my first leaf done, and as long as you dont look too close, its passable.  I have chosen to use the open-toe foot and a small stitch length,  rather than free-motion as I have more control this way. 

First flower stitched.....many more to go!

 

 

The best part of this whole exercise, is that I found people just like me who have started a McKenna Ryan Blog and now I'm part of the group.  We can all go through this life changing experience together and hopefully come through it with a heirloom masterpiece.

I'll keep you posted on each block but I'm not looking forward to the Wisteria in the second block, there must be at least 50 individual petals that will need applique! Phew thats a lot of eye-strain.

KNEE QUILT

Material :  Moda Chic Charm Squares

Pattern :  Leesa Chandler 

Don't you just love those precut Charm Squares that you can buy in all colors and patterns.  I picked up a Moda Chic pack on my last holiday to West Australia and was just waiting for something to make.  I always think that having the material already matched is half the job done not to mention having them already cut, what a bonus !

My husbands Aunt is now confined to a wheelchair and as we often take her on outings, I felt she needed a lap quilt to cover her legs and keep her warm.  I looked around and found a pattern that would suit perfectly.  It was on Leesa Chandlers website (same designer as my Buckle Bag) and another bonus -it's free.

The top came together quite easily and then came the dreaded quilting arghhhh.  I have been practising my Free Motion but didn't feel it was good enough to use on a quilt yet, so I opted to use my walking foot.  

I chose to do double argyle lines so I set to drawing lines across the top of the quilt with my erasable pen ( I am fussy with distance and accuracy)  The only advice I would offer, is to gently push the material back against the action of the walking foot otherwise you will get a pleat when two lines meet.

 

I intend to sew ties onto the back so we can secure it to the wheel chair for our next outing. Hope she 

likes it, I do :) 

 

BUCKLE BAG

You know how it is when you get something new and you want to do everything at once, and gradually you slow down and concentrate on perfecting your craft.  Well I am still in the first stage of trying to sew everything I see, so it was inevitable that I should attempt a bag!

I came across a lovely pattern by Leesa Chandler whilst I was visiting Western Australia on our latest holiday.  I studied the pattern and thought, yep,  I can do this!

I purchased some co-ordinating fabric from my local supplier (after changing my mind quite a few times, as usual!) and viola.....my finished bag

I kept the quilting to a simple criss-cross design that I used my Walking Foot on, and purchased the buckle and handles from a patchwork/craft shop.

Very practical with pockets on the inside for my phone any what-nots, plus a huge pocket on the back.  I could even use this as a computer bag as it large enough to carry papers plus a laptop.  My preference is a beach tote as a towel, book, sunglasses and sun cream fit perfectly.  All ready for the Australian summer about to hit us.......bring on the sunshine. :)

JAKE HAS ARRIVED

Well, just a week early, our first Grandchild arrived.  Jake Shane was born on Saturday 5th October 2013 at 10:38am.  I was present for his birth and it was quite awesome.  What a gorgeous little baby boy, but then I might be a little biased.

EMBROIDERED CHAIR CADDIE

This coming weekend, I am going on my first Sewing Weekend Away with Kates Sewing Class girls.

Speaking to others who have been on the weekends before, it sounds like a lot of work but heaps of fun. We take our sewing machines and a list of supplies and  Kate has organised a heap of sewing projects to make.  I can't wait.  Our theme this year is Halloween so for the Saturday night dinner, we need to dress up and supply a little gift that we can all swap around.

 

As this is my first weekend away, I was a litle unsure about the gift that had to be handmade (no food items).  I thought long and hard about what to take and I decided anyone who likes to sew could always do with a Chair Caddie to hang next to them whilst watching TV and sewing.

Chair Caddie with embroidery

I found the shape of one from Pinterest and using plain homespun, quilted the main piece in diamonds.  Then I wanted to do something special, so I downloaded some embroidery patterns from www.needlecrafters.com and shrunk them to the size I needed.  My embroidery skills aren't great but I do think they came up quite nice with the matching blue edging.

Its true what they say - you learn something every day because initally I tried to bind using a normal strip of material.....big mistake - there was no way it was going to lay down flat so, thanks to google, I realised that I needed to use Bias Binding on curves and viola.....it worked :)

Hopefully the person who receives my gift will enjoy it as much as I did making it.  Now I need to do one for myself!!!



Small posy on centre pin cushion.



 

Bird on fountain



Bluebirds on branch

DRUNKARDS PATH TABLE RUNNER

Pattern:  http://www.modabakeshop.com/2012/12/120-minute-gift-drunkards-path-table.html#more
Material: Moda Charm Pack (Sorry forgot designer oops)


Hasn't the internet opened up the world of quilting - its so easy to pass the time by searching on Pinterest, blogs or web sites for an enormous number of ideas.  I found the Moda Bake Shop to be excellent for trying out patterns and thought I would give this Drunkards Table Runner a go

I went shopping for a Charm Pack and some co-ordinating material and even though it says 120-minute gift (which I am sure some people are able to do), I took my time and spread it over a few weekends. 

WIP GRANDMA'S QUILT

Pattern: Babies by Amy Bradley  http://www.amybradleydesigns.com/baqupa.html
Material:  Own Choice

I haven't as yet, mentioned my sewing inspiration and that is Kate and her staff at Kates Sewing Center in Bundoora.  Lucky for me, I was able to get into a Patchwork Class called Grandma's Quilt back in February this year and this has seen me off and running with all my Patchwork inspirations.

The Grandma's Quilt class is only once a month and as it is August now,  most of the blocks are finished and waiting to be all sewn together.  This is my first attempt at not only applique work but also free motion quilting!!!!

As you can see, we opted to do a Quilt-As-You-Go for this project so we could do the free-motion without too much of a struggle on a large size quilt.  The pattern was from Amy Bradley Designs.

BABY IN PRAM - My favourite block - I did paisley free motion on the background.

 

BABY IN CAR - This one has what I call 'Lollipops' in the background because they reminded me of Stop Signs and I thought that was appropriate.

 

 

 BABY IN BOAT - The quilting on the background really stands out on the plain fabric.

 

 BABY IN PUSHER - This free motion was a variation on stippling with flowers thrown in.

 

 BABY IN WAGON - Loved the brickwork on the background, it really suited the fabric colours

 

 BABY IN SWING - Free motion on this one was a continuous spiral .

 

 

 

There is one more block to come and then I begin to assemble all the blocks into one fantastic looking cot quilt !!