Last week in pictures

As promised here is the insane amount of sewing I got done last week!

Excuse the instagram photos (whoops, I forgot to mention, I fell for instagram! You can find me @lovestrawberrypatch)

From top to bottom there is:

1. Fractured Oakshott Finished
2. Christmas Table Runner Sample for Workshop finished
3. 2 patchwork chair pads for the girls made
4. EPP Rose Star Cushion made as sample in preparation for teaching epp class at LQS
5. Same cushion but used as a table mat/mini quilt
6. Liberty Mini Finished
7. Another rose star block made (that's 7 now)
8. Bruce the Buck phone case made
9. More + and x blocks made
10. Infinity scarf made from my Melody Miller I won from Kelly back in May (finally!)

I am embarrassed to say there was more but I just didn't take photos (these were bad enough, there are only so many naff pictures I want to clutter my blog with ;-)

This week seems to be heading the same way...I 'may' have just started a swoon quilt on a whim whilst Mary was here for a sewing day on Monday, ahem. Well I have finished a few wip's so I figured I was entitled to start another (technically two as I've been sewing up all of the hst cut offs to use at the same time).

I've just got the log burner fired up so I think a cuppa and a biscuit are in order before braving the Arctic conditions in the sewing room again!

I am a very bad blogger......

I just can't find the time at the moment, plenty of sewing happening but just not the inclination to post about it, as I've said before I am sure something happening in September could resolve this! Hopefully I will catch up soon with all the things I've made that I've yet to show you.

I went away for a few days this week with the girls to my in-laws. That meant no sewing machine and lots of mummy-daughter time. Not that I didn't have a lovely time, I did, but I was in desperate need of some me-time with my machine when we got back!

So yesterday I pulled out my hoarded liberty scraps and some old salvaged curtain lining and set to work on this weeks Zakka project.

I love this pillow so much, it makes me wish I was little again and could have one of my very own. I am not and I can't but the reaction it received from Juliette more than made up for that!

I used some salvaged cotton jersey for the ted, it made him so soft and cuddly. The liberty scraps were a mixture of lawn and silk, a bit fiddly to work with sewing all those diamonds up and my points are far from lined up in places!

I can see her big sister putting in a request for one of these and I know I will definitely be using this as a present go-to in future, although perhaps without the diamonds!

Whilst I was away I did get a little hand sewing done, infact I finished it so quickly I wished I had taken more!

The lovely Boris pattern from Jo at Bearpaw. Jo gave away this pattern a while back and I printed it off immediately. I am so glad I finally got around to doing it, I even learnt a new stitch. I am putting the other woodland portraits on my to-stitch list! Now I just need to find a home/purpose for Boris....at the moment I am thinking simple, in a wooden hoop.

Right, I am off to catch up on a weeks blog reading, wish me luck! If I don't manage to comment, please forgive me :-)

I've lost one

Whoops, where did you go?! I know it doesn't really matter but today I noticed I have lost a follower, sorry to see you go, perhaps I have bored you! Well, here is what you are missing!

Zakka Style Sew Along Week 6 - Quilt Magnets

What only 3 you say?! Um, yes, I like the little bit of sanity I have left and I have more important things to do (see below!) than make microscopic pieces of fabric into mini quilty magnets. That said they are SO CUTE I may just find the will to make the other 3 over the weekend. I have a great tip for sourcing the magnets, I brought magnetic photo 'paper'. It is actually like thick card, and it cost me just £1 for 2 A4 sheets in the local 'pound' shop (where oddly enough not many things are a pound!). So I actually have enough to make about a gazillion more if I wish.

Friendship Star

Pinwheel

Offset Log Cabin

I used some beautiful Liberty fabric, purchased here from Very Berry Fabrics, Ali's new venture. I brought a pack of 20 4" charms and used less than one charm for these magnets, very economical. Postage was free and the selection of prints are all beautiful. They sell out quickly though so keep an eye out for when Ali lists them and be quick!

A good friend of ours is moving to a new home tomorrow, it is a big new start for him and in between making quilt blocks for the borrowers I found a spare hour to whizz up a new home gift for him. I wanted to make something that not only made the new house a home but also reflected his personality and most importantly wasn't too girly! Not too hard a brief then!

Actually, I was rather excited about making something a bit different, I am a bit of a style schizophrenic and like all sorts. But I did have to keep this simple as I was really restricted on time.

Ah dear, I think this will be a wrestle to give away, I LOVE it!

So does a certain Little Miss, who INSISTED on being in the photo this morning (spot the vintage sheet pj's!)

I really enjoyed making these, I a secretly really proud of the 'Bang Bang' Gun and I'm thinking of a way to re-make this for myself, perhaps a notebook cover. I hope they find a good place in his new home!

Finally I have spent the rest of today cleaning, hoovering and I am about to commence a mammoth pizza making session. All because I have my wonderful girlfriends coming over tonight for a pizza and pamper night! WhooooooooooHooooo for pampering! There will be 6 of us, LOADS of pizza and pringles and nibbles, a great chick flick (that we will of course talk through), a beautician coming to give us all manicures,  two foot spas, a load of face masks and these:

Sugar Mama Body Scrub, using this tutorial, for my lovely lovely friends. We all met when we had just had our babies, over 2 years later we have had lots of fun, tears and laughter and each one is a Sweet Mama in my mind!

Hope you all have a wonderful weekend!

Sewing for Siblings with Mary (and the pillow weekend)

Today I went to Mary's house to sew, with a basted quilt, a 2 year old and a bag full of snacks, toys and vintage sheets for bartering swapping.

I left a few hours later after lots of lovely chatting, some tea, delicious home made soup and bread for lunch, a fair bit of sewing along with a nice new pile of vintage fq's from Mary's stash having watched our little ones play adorably.

Photo taken from Mary's blog, we were too busy sewing to remember to take any! And yes that is a rattle on the table, not some new-fangled sewing tool!

I was on a roll and when I arrived home after picking up the other small one from school I managed to finish the last few lines of quilting, attach the binding and get the Siblings Together quilt in the wash. It is now dry and waiting for some sunshine (pah!) to photograph it tomorrow. I am very pleased to go from a messy looking un-trimmed top yesterday to a completed quilt today.

I must give a HUGE public thank you to Sarah, for she sent me the wadding that enabled this quilt to become a finished article. Such kindness, thank you Sarah.

This weekend I popped into my LQS as the lovely owner had offered me some fabric for backing the siblings together quilts. Whilst there I couldn't help but notice a bolt of Michael Miller fabric, plaidsportation, it stuck out like a sore thumb in all the 'traditional fabrics' mostly stocked there. I quickly raced over and grabbed a fq. Now I know I have a little girl but she is very much into cars and diggers and anything automated!

I used almost the full fq to run up a new pillowcase for her toddler sized pillow, adding just a little piece of flannel to make it up to the required size.

She had great fun spotting all her favourite types of vehicle!

And snuggling up with it almost as soon as it was finished!

Not wanting to leave big sister out, I came across the tumblers Mary cut me using her Go Baby last time we got together. Feeling slightly guilty that they had been lingering at the back of the cupboard for almost 3 months I thought it was time I used them!

Made with tumblers cut from vintage sheets and bound in vintage sheet too, I bordered it using fabric from an old pillowcase. This old pillowcase is quite special. It belonged to a friend who we once took Eloise to stay with when she was very little. I have a beautiful picture of my husband and Eloise snuggled up on this pillow. Recently my friend had a clear out and gave it to me, I am so glad she did, there are such memories in this new pillow already!

I love how it matches in with her giant star quilt, even Pudsey seems pleased with the new addition!

A simple envelope back but this time I bound the edge and I am pleased I made the effort!

My two favourite prints, love those anemones.

So, we won't run out of places to rest out heads for a while, I now have the small matter of a FQ retreat name badge to nail and get in the post asap and another Siblings Together quilt top to plan/cut....good job I like being busy!

Germs should not be shared....

I am a great believer in instilling good manners and behaviour in my children, sharing is one of these.

However, germs are the exception. On this occasion I will not be praising my daughter for sharing her germs with me! I have been up for 4 hours and used up two whole toilet rolls and half a box of tissues (emergency shop run purchase!)  on my nose already!

Today's post will be short, full of photos, snot and self pity!

Tuesday - Another pleated boxes pillow for my Mum for mothers day. Sew-Along instructions can be found here.

Tuesday - A Black Apple Doll for Eloise, a get well dolly from Mummy to daughter, it seemed to do the trick except now I have to make another for Juliette!

March 1st - My Bordered Star block for the March Queen in the Stash Bee (posted out today which reminded me I hadn't blogged it!

 I loved trying out this great block, I hope it sits well in the quilt for Cindy. I used fabric I won in the Fugly Fabric Party from Kelli at Small Town Stitcher. I love the thought that fabric I won from the US came to the UK to be made into a block to go back to the US to be part of a QOV! It was also a big leap into paper piecing for me, I can't wait to try more now.

Wednesday - Started a Mini Eye-Spy quilt for my new baby nephew.

Juliette had a lovely time testing it out before I had even finished making the top. I had the top sewn up in less than an hour and the quilting done in 2 hours last night, I must have known these germs were coming to me! Binding will have to wait, I have a new order to snot work on.

Finally, great news - the final charms arrived for round 2 of the rainbow charm swap, they will be out in the post in the next few days, check the flikr group for more information. I'll get a photo as soon as I can put the tissue down!

Sick Day Sewing

Yesterday big daughter was off school poorly, cue lots of running about fetching drinks, quilts, snacks and reading books.

I did get the chance to sneak off to the sewing room whilst little daughter had a nap and big daughter lounged on the sofa. Spurred on by a bit of blog reading this is what I whizzed up

My friend Mary made an amazing pillow with her vintage sheet scraps, it was so beautiful it filled me with a need to sew!

I love the pops of colour and the fresh white together and while I didn't have enough vintage sheet scraps of my own I did have a little pile of re-cycled fabric I got from Flaming Nora recently that needed a purpose.

Using the pattern from here I managed to run through this in the 2 hours that little girl slept. At one point I started to feel that the fabrics we're looking awful! But thankfully I fell in love with them again, it had found the perfect place on my new 'old' kitchen bench.

I am hoping to sew up another one today for a mothers day present but it's not looking hopeful, big daughter is worse if anything. Nurse Emily to the rescue! 

Warming up for a pillow fight!

I'm super stoked tonight because I got my partner through for the Brit Quilt Pillow Fight. She's one cool and sassy lady although I'm not allowed to reveal who she is, I hope I can make her something she will love.

This week I've been practicing pillows, having only ever made cushions before harhar - I actually picked one up to show my husband when he came home and said do you like my new pillow? He looked at me like I was crazy, it is a cushion!

I decided that I should try HST having not done them before, of course why stop at one new thing when you can try two at once?!

Here is my first ever go with HST, using Moda's farmyard charm pack to match my table runner and inspired by the fall pillow over at Little Miss Shabby.

I'm really glad I took the extra time to quilt all those straight lines, I think it really makes the pillow.

And I'm a sucker for a well mitred corner, is that too big headed? I just get super proud when I do something well!



I wimped out on the back and used some of my 'ugly' fabric from my stash and some ribbon ties. I will try harder on my pillow fight swap pillow!

Spurred on by my first success with HST and to make sure it wasn't a fluke I dived straight in and made this today. I couldn't sleep last night and dreamt up the design in bed, I couldn't wait to get going today. I also tried another first and popped in a little hand quilting.

I'm pretty proud of those point too (head growing warning!) but don't worry - it didn't all go well....

Hmm, I think I need to practice zippered closures! It was fine until I put the pillow form in! I think find a good tutorial and follow it to the letter is the way to go rather than my approach - make it up as you go along lol!

It seems I used up all my good charm on the pillow fronts today and I then went and put petrol in our new diesel car. This is so un-me and I was mortified to have to call my husband and tell him. So that's me housebound for a few days until it is (hopefully easily) fixed. Lucky my husband works in a garage! Oh well, I suppose I can pass the days with more sewing!