Sneaking in under the wire

I had planned to write this post last week, stuff happened yada yada blah blah blah, you don't want to read a load of waffle. Neither do I want to type it. Not when I have the most stunning of stunning quilts to share with you.

Of course you may think, she's being rather conceited about her own quilt, but its not my skill that has added anything to this quilt, nay a mere child could have prit-sticked this quilt together and it would still be a looker. All because of the fabric and one lady, Heather Ross.

HR hoarders the world over will know exactly where I am coming from. If you love this fabric I really think you can do no wrong with it. Which is why I decided to make this quilt as simple as I could, by having no plan other than using as much of my precious stash as I could in the most economical way so as not to waste any of 'my precious'.

 

These fabrics have been secreted away, slowly added to by little splurges here and there and furtive swaps with good friends that at times felt akin to a drug deal, such was the rarity of the goods I was trying to get my hands on.

I took each piece of HR fabric, trimmed it to be square if it was not, removing only the bare minimum and then set to work framing each piece with random sized strips of other favourite designers until I reached a 12" block. Perhaps that is why I love this quilt so much. It might be simple with no plan other than to use my very favourite fabrics of all. It was painful at times to cut into fabrics held onto for so long. But the pain is worth the immense pleasure I now have of seeing them all together all the time, not hidden in a shoe box for 'one day'.



It seemed only fitting to finish this one off with some hand quilting action! Size finished is 72"x84" and I used a new to me wadding, eco cloud, a 70/30 blend from The Fabric Guild and I really liked it.



I have decided to make this quilt my very first entry into the Bloggers Quilt Fesitval because just perhaps if I love it someone else may too! So I have entered it into the large quilt category and i'm looking forward to joining in!

Screen Printing With Jane Foster

Last week I treated myself to an incredibly indulgent day....a full day workshop with the amazing Jane Foster, she of the screen printing talent!

I was so excited, I never really do anything like this, too busy teaching people myself and trying to earn money to be a pupil, but boy was it fun!

I went armed with pages of ideas and inspiration but I knew from the off what I really wanted to print.



Well it seemed only apporpriate, especially as I own several of them!

I added a little more detail, ate more cake and got set to printing.

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And I just kept going, it was addictive!



I went along with my very good friend Nicola and I think we both had the best time we've had in ages.



Jane was so lovely! Really inspiring and full of ideas and great tips and I really felt that when I left at the end of the day I was almost an expert ;-)

The workshop space was amazing, bright and roomy with bucket loads of inspiration and Janes makes covering every surface.  Honestly, I asked if I could move in! She has done a little write up on our workshop over on her blog.

Of course I couldn't leave without a copy of Jane's book, its brilliant!

Overall a very happy Emily went home that day! I do have a few pieces from the day for sale, if you are interested it is for a VERY good cause ;-)

I am have been working my little socks off for months, saving like a demon for a new sewing machine so I have better capacity on the quilting frame, I'm even not going to FQR in an effort to save (boohooo). I am really close to having enough.

So it seems only appropriate that I should sell sewing machine printed goodies to fund a new sewing machine!

I have two white tote bags and one pink bag for £6 each plus postage. I also have one panel left (the one pictured in the second photo below, £6 (which includes postage). If you would like anything just send me an email to emilylevey@yahoo.co.uk or comment below.

clearing a backlog

I have a problem, its a common complaint, with constant minor irritating symptoms, its called WIP.

I hate WIP, which for a quilter is quite a difficulty! I've been swamped under with work recently (not complaining) and very had little time to sew (much complaining). So with the bank holiday looming and a heck of a lot of planning and paperwork working done for a few days at least I am going to be pulling my finger out and cracking on with as much as I can!

First up is my Heather Ross quilt. I am so excited to get this done and be able to use it. After years spent collecting, stashing, swapping, secreting away in special hidden places, and ahem, begging, I am not prepared to wait any longer to use this quilt.




So I loaded it onto the frame last night and I have started to hand quilt it.




With very large crosses through each of the 12" blocks, I am calling it naive quilting, because honestly it just sound better than 'quilted in a hurried slapdash manner so I could use it quicker'. But also because I want a nice soft drapey squishy quilt when its all done.



So with a little masking tape to keep me straightish and a huge ball of cotton perle I shall have this quilt done by the end of the bank holiday! There is also the small matter of binding it, the second sleeve I want to knit to finish my cardigan on the needles and a little treat that's going to keep me busy tomorrow!

Hope you all have a productive and happy bank holiday weekend, I'll see you on the other side! Who knows I may actually find time to take real photos with a real camera instead of using grainy instagram ones!

This is NOT a Tesco Tabbard!

But a victorious Victoria Blazer!

I finally jumped on the Victoria bandwagon and stitched myself up a snazzy blazer. As the blog post title suggests I had a little wobble during the early construction stages when it strongly resembled an old Tesco uniform I had worn many moons ago.

Thankfully I think it is looking ever so slightly more trendy now it is finished!



Despite being a little hard to track down as it is awaiting a reprint, the pattern was purchased from Trixie Lixie online and came the next day. I love the packaging and everything about the pattern, well worth the money.




The main shell fabric is a deliciously soft pin dot cotton flannel with just the perfect amount of drape.



And it is lined in a very quilty inspired cotton lawn (how could I not!) both from Heathcoat Fabrics in Tiverton, Devon. A large fabric shop that is well worth a visit if you are local.




I managed to stitch this up in one 4 hour sewing session, luckily the clear instructions that accompany the pattern along with the fantastic sew along posts from the By Hand girls make for a very smooth process.

 

Much smoother than taking photos with the help of 9 and 4 year old children!

Playing Hookey

I've been playing away.

These days it seems I have more and more obligatory sewing that must be done. And don't get me wrong, I still am madly truly deeply in love with sewing, but when it becomes work, work can sometimes be a chore and its nice to have a break from that.

So I taught myself to crochet. Again.

I had learnt to crochet right back in the days when Mollie Makes first came on the scene. I didn't however really get the hang of it and after making an apple cosy promptly forgot the bare grasp I had on the skill.

Then inspired on instagram by the likes of Bonnie from Pink Stitches I decided it was high time I picked up my hook again!

I started with a blanket, made from old balls of wool I had from before either of my children were born! It is a squircle granny square with a large spike stitch border (I used a tutorial for the border but I can't remember where from, sorry!)

I had hoped to make it bigger, but ran out of the white yarn. And in all honesty for a first blanket it was a good size to attempt, any larger and I would have lost interest. Crochet takes way longer than quilting, fact. The kids certainly love it and its always in use. 

Then I decided time for something for me

A lovely big squishy crochet shawl, using the Nordic Shawl pattern from My Rose Valley. I  love the simple style and the most fun was playing around with which colours to use.

Next, my local yarn shop, Social Fabric, asked if I would help them get a kit together for a granny square blanket. They gave me a lovely bundle of soft DK yarn and I set to work turning it into piles of granny squares for a shop sample.

Then, back to something for the children. I saw this amazing doll on Instagram and just had to track down where it came from and make one.

You can find the instructions for this doll over at Annaboos house in the cal. I adapted the pattern to have a slightly longer body and stripey tights. I am pleased to say coconut (as my children affectionately called her during her bald pre-hair period) is all finished. 

A second doll had been promised to my older daughter, but in the meantime I can be found making a batch of animal ear headbands, I've been asked for purple hippo ears and brown bears too!

Aneela Anthology Spiderwebs - A Finish

I started this quilt last year, well actually thanks to the accountability of instgram I know that I made just two blocks back in January 2013. I can't really say why I stopped at two, I was all excited, rushing out to buy a whole load of white solid yardage to make up the quilt. But then they sat on my wall, taunting me all year. They are pretty time consuming with all those little strips, and if I am honest I think I was finding it hard to cut up the last of my scraps!

Until I went on retreat in March with the best sewing friends a girl could ask for, Jo did a pretty good job at blogging about it (I was too exhausted from all the stitching when I came back!). I packed up all my precut and premarked white squares and a shoe box full of Aneela scraps along with my sewing machine and several bags of snacks and treats! We didn't leave the cottage for the whole weekend and stitched until our eyes were sore!

 

In the space of two days I managed to make enough blocks to get a fair sized quilt and put the top together too. All that remained when I got home was to quilt it, in a simple loopy fmq, and bind it. It is much smaller than I would usually make, but I had started to run out of scraps and it is still big enough to go across the bottom of a single bed nicely.

I really have loved every single line that Aneela has done so it is wonderful to have them all together in this quilt. It is backed with a vintage pink floral sheet that used to belong to my Nan, which makes it extra special. I started the quilt so long ago that Hello Petal has since been released so that's not included in the quilt. I guess I will have to make another one then!

 

If you are interested in making your own spiderweb quilt, I used the great tutorial by Heather over at House of A La Mode

I'll leave you with a thank you to my daughter who helped me take these photos (because I have a migraine AGAIN!) and a huge hug and a thank you to anyone who sent me any Aneela scraps all those moons ago to make my Aneela Sampler quilt, this quilt only exists because I couldn't bare to waste a single precious scrap of it! Thank you xxxxx

A new tutorial - circular knitting needle case

I've teamed up with the wonderful Village Haberdashery again to bring you a new tutorial. This time I am showing you how to make a handy case for your circular knitting needles. Obviously not all of you knit, but these make amazing original gifts for knitters in your life too!

You can find the full tutorial over at the Daily Stitch Blog and of course all of the great fabrics I've used are available at The Village Haberdashery. Look out for a linked giveaway coming soon too!