Pack Patch Mini QAL with Quarter Inch Mark

Last weekend I needed a little indulgence, a bit of selfish impromptu sewing. Then the lovely Chase from Quarter Inch Mark came up in my Instagram feed with her delightful Pack Patch Mini qal.

Image from Quarter Inch Mark

It was so sweet and charming I just had to join in. Of course I didn't really qal with Chase and the other ladies because I had come in right at the end. But I did still work through the directions for each week in order, interpreting the themes that Chase had set. I must say it made for the most interesting way of selecting fabrics, with different themes like Cheddar, Country Mouse and Town mouse and many more!

So I set to work with my scrap basket, making myself limited to just using these scraps made the challenge more fun!

In an afternoon I had all my mini blocks made! Fresh on Sunday morning I set to work sashing and had a finished mini quilt top by elevenses!




Sashing only needed 1/2 yard but I don't really keep any solids on hand over a fq. So I used an old cotton denim shirt, donated by my mother in law for my scrap/recycling basket. I think the soft denim colour gives it a lovely country feel. I arranged all my blocks in the order of weeks 1-10, just as chase did. I like how it looks, despite the fact that at no point did I give any thought to whether the mini would look cohesive overall, I just concentrated on each little block in isolation.

All that remains is quilting and binding. Very handily I am giving a class on machine quilting this Saturday at Social Fabric, so the Pack Patch Mini will be used for demonstrating some fmq to my class. Then it will come home to go up on my studio wall!

Indulgent sewing is certainly good for the soul! I hope you all enjoy a little selfish sewing time this weekend!

Footstool Make Over - Or where I patchwork anything that stands still in our house!

Yep, that's right, stay still too long in this house and I will patchwork it!

I brought a second hand foot stool last year. It is lovely and big and comfortable. Great for resting legs on whilst watching movies and useful extra seating when lots of visitors arrive. I really liked it, the price of £15 helped with that too! Only trouble is I wasn't so keen on the twee Laura Ashley style fabric

Perfect for my Mum perhaps but us not so much, the fabric was loose too and irritatingly sloppy on the sides. I knew I would re-cover it, toyed with the idea of using some precious stashed Echino, the idea being I could gaze upon it and enjoy it daily, rather than it being hidden in the cupboard.

Then last week I made up my January bee blocks for Lucy in the Bee a Brit Stingy. Me being stingy managed to make my strip piece go a long way and got 5 feather units out of it by joining up all the cut offs and so on. Two were sent to Lucy and the other 3 got some rather special treatment.

I have wanted to make a feather quilt for ages, I loved Charlotte's and was a bit jealous when Lucy chose them for her month (I am next months queen) so I was chuffed to have some of my own but knew I couldn't face making a whole quilt of them. Then I stumbled across this amazing cushion by Amanda of A Crafty Fox

Isn't it just gorgeous! I would give my kidneys for a cushion like that, I just love everything about it. They say imitation is the sincerest form of flattery and I really hope Amanda agrees because I just knew this was what I had to do to my footstool and those spare feathers.

So with a lot of careful cutting of very precious fabrics and some meticulous sewing - random can be so difficult and time consuming when you are trying to to waste even a fraction of special fabrics - I had a pieced top to fit the footstool. I then free motion quilted it in a wood grain effect (just like Amanda, eeek I am such a copy cat, but I loved it so much I couldn't help myself!) best seen from the back

Not great, but not hideous which is great considering it will be on display for all to see in the lounge. I then did a little pearle hand quilting around the feathers and wonky star I had added to help them stand out, sewed the corners up, stapled it to the footstool top and hey presto!

I have the worlds swankiest most amazingest footstool EVER!

I was really very brave and cut into some of my treasured Heather Ross along with text fabrics and hand printed fabric from friends. It was scary (I bet a lot of you know how that feels!) but I am so glad I did. Yes I might not have as much stashed as I did and yes I can't get any more BUT I see it every single day rather than occasionally stoking it and putting it away again.

I hope you like my makeover too, I'm off to see what else I can cover in patchwork....don't tell the husband ;-)

Whoops missed my blogversairy!

Oh dear, whoops! Little bit of an anti-climax was my blogversairy, so busy working on VIP's (very important projects) was I that I completely missed it! Still, sewing had to be the best way to celebrate it!

Hmm, a little disappointed nobody sent cake ;-)

For anyone who is interested it all started a year ago on the 17th June with this post. I am amazed daily by the kindness and support of the online quilting community and so honoured to call some of these wonderful people my friends *grin*. Had you told me a year ago that I would be going to London for a weekend of sewing with these talented bloggers I would never have believed you!

Thanks to each and every single one of you for reading my ramblings, giving kind and encouraging words and telling me off and giving me a kick when I need it, ahem Nicky ;-) I actually love you all, you make me a better, stronger more adventurous person and I wouldn't be where I am now without you (although my husband may have something to say to you about the amount of time I spend in my studio now!!)

Anyway, what have I been so busy on? Well killing two birds with one stone (there is a pun there, honest, you'll get it in a while!) I have been working on the last two outstanding items on my FAL list. My mother in laws birthday is this weekend and I wanted to make her something VERY special because she is special. Without her help I wouldn't have been able to come to London and I love her so much. BUT I can't show you for fear she will see it, you will have to wait until next week!

So the other item on the list was to do  my Birdie Stitches block for July. You may have read before now that I have a love/hate relationship with these birdies (read as hate!) So I decided I was going to do something about these annoying little blighter's, see the pun now??!!

Yep that's right I decided to get rid of these winged creatures of torture by finishing the quilt top! I still hate it AND with over a years build up to the quilting I.AM.DREADING.IT! Not least because I managed to make the quilt grow in size a good several inches by adding what is becoming my signature scrappy and white boarders. I also have a very sneaking suspicion that in my haste to get it done and over the top is now less than flat and is going to be a b***er to baste and quilt without getting puckers. Oh listen to me, what a whiner! 

I think deep down I do love it really, this was the first big project/qal I joined in with when I started blogging, I was also the third ever quilt I started making (it is all Cindy's fault btw, I saw her sewing along and had to join in!)

In other news, seeing as the big day is passed I can show you what I made my Dad for fathers day. I used up a remnant from Juliette's old blackout blind, an odd shoelace and a toggle (hehe for presents from rubbish!) to make him a shoe bag for his running shoes. 

I printed off a line drawing of some running shoes, transferred it onto the material and free machine embroidered it. I am still having trouble with the heat transfer pencil, it did work a little here, but I couldn't hold the iron on any longer or the fabric would have melted! And due to the waterproof/blackout coating I couldn't put it upto a light source and trace it. Still, I think they do look like running shoes. Dad was pleased with it at least, he sent me a comment on facebook hahaha ;-)

As for my husband, I didn't make him anything, not because I am mean but because we have enough handmade stuff around the house and I didn't think he'd like a zippy pouch or cushion lol! So I made him a very special lunch instead. A day out on Dartmoor with banger sandwiches cooked al fresco, we had a wonderful day indeed :-)

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!

Mug Rug and Goodies

I've been indulging in quite a bit of selfish sewing of late, those germs I thought I had turned out to be Glandular Fever :( So I've been very tired and the thought of trying to wrestle with my Across the Sea quilt just makes me sleepy so the quilting will have to wait a little longer there.

I have been working on small projects because I simply cant NOT sew, I am sure that would me me even more poorly haha! So getting my mug rugs done for my swap partners seemed like the prefect idea.

This being my first swap, I spent quite some time researching their tastes, stalking through their blogs and flikr profiles. Partner 1 gave me some interesting colour choices (mainly because my stash was virtually devoid of all of the colours she mentioned!) This is what I came up with.

There is a sneaky clue as to who it may be for with the initial on the rug, hope it doesn't give too much away! I really enjoyed planning this out and love the texture of the quilting. I cant stop stroking it but I guess I will have to as it needs to leave me soon and wing its way to its new home. As for the goodie to go with it, my partner popped a picture of a Needle book and a pincushion on her like mosaic, so instead of picking one to make I decided to make both! Well after all they go together don't they?!

For the pincushion I just used eight 2" squares and a couple of vintage buttons. You'd be amazed at home much wadding went in there though! (Apologies to the wee yellow birdies for being stabbed with pins!)

For the needle book I used this tutorial from Kelly Rachel, its really straightforward and easy to follow. Here is the back, how cute??!



And the inside, there are 2 pieces of felt, giving you four 'leaves' to pop your needles onto. The tutorial used one piece of fabric for the inside, I decided to piece mine so I was able to incorporate a couple of my partners colour choices. All I did was divide the pattern piece into 4 and add a 1/4 inch seam allowance into the edges of the pattern I had cut along, then cut the fabric using my new pattern pieces and joined the seams.

I think my partner will love them, judging from the feedback in the flikr group. If you want to see lots more goodies and rugs, have a look at the group here.

I'm off to finish up sewing the binding on Partner 2's rug whilst Baby J is still sleeping, I'll leave you with some pictures of my rainbow scrappy quilt that Ive promised for a while!

Scrappy Rainbow Quilt

August 2011

2" scrappy squares and log cabin border.

Quilted with rainbow lines and bubble quilting on border.

Hobbs Heirloom 80/20 Wadding.

Mmmm yummy, thank you postie ;)

Yay what a wonderful morning I had, not one but 2 packets of fabricy goodness!

Some bargain half meters from the Simply Soilds Sale, above is Moda's 3 Sisters Oasis - Floral Turquoise and Dainty Mud Mask. Below is 3 Sisters Ditsy Mud Mask and Moda's Basic Grey Max & Whiskers - Patches. All a bargain at only £2.50 per half meter! Hop on over there whilst there's some going.

 Also in my Simply Solids parcel were 2 Moda Farmyard charm packs, destined to be used for the Across the Sea quilt along with Fairyface Designs

My other packet was from the lovely Handmade By Mary, a little pile of grey fabrics for my rainbow scrap quilt, I'm not going to show you these as I want to wait until the quilt is finished. Huge thanks to Mary for stepping in where my scrap supply ran out (well in grey anyway!)

Here is a little update on the quilt top so far

I have some more log cabins to do, the border and then onto quilting and binding, I'm off fabric shopping soon hopefully to get the rest of the supplies (which obviously means its not really a scrap quilt as I am buying for it but we wont tell anyone will we!)

I also have a new Maxi Dress made with MORE bargain Simply Solids sale fabric (thank you Mandy!) from a pattern I drafted to show you but I only have horrendous photos taken by me in the mirror (far to embarrassing to share). So lets hope we have some lovely weather at the weekend and my husband can take awesome pictures of me in it skipping around in the corn field out back, well maybe we'll forget the skipping part!

Cant stop staring

I just cant stop sneaking in the studio and staring at my progress on the rainbow quilt top, I have to join the rows (I'm sure I will stare at it even more after this) and then decide what to border it with, I think I want a solid border, then blocks around the edge and then another small solid border. Just cant decide which colour, I love it so much I don't want to spoil it! Any suggestions?

Festival of Quilts and Jap Swap Happiness!

Wow!

what a week :) Towards the end of last week, feeling fired up by the prospect of heading to FoQ I delved into my Japanese Fabric Swap Charm stash. Huge thanks to Cindy of Fluffy Sheep Quilting for organising the swap. You can see the Jap fabric in more detail in the Flikr group. I made these little beauties

This adorable little bag is for J and I'm hoping she will enjoy playing eye-spy with the little characters on the charms, I used Pink Penguins Reversible Patchwork Bag Tutorial. I did add a little band along to bottom of the bag to give it more depth and room for dolly to travel in!

Then another Pink Penguins Tute - the Fabric Basket, this time I followed it to the letter and I love this darling little basket. As the squares on this one are only 2" I was left with some 1" strips from my swap square's. What to do with them...???

Well I just couldn't bear to waste any of the scraps and knew if I put them into my scrap basket they would disappear forever, so, I made my first mug rug! It was a bit of an experiment, randomly piecing it and I'm not sure I am happy with the border (an old Topshop top) but I don't care, I LOVE my mug rug! I think they may become an addiction :)

Now, a quick pic of my haul from the FoQ

Not the best photo but the drive to Birmingham and back in a day, coupled with about 6 hours of walking around the NEC, the mind blowing quality of quilts and shopping has all left me a little weary!

In the top of the picture is my new ruler and rotary cutter that Ive been waiting to get for a while and will make my life so much easier. There is a value bundle of batting, destined to become cosy sleeping bags for E & J's dollies using Flossie Teacakes pattern Three Bears Sleeping Bag

Then there is a meter of a lovely sunny Makower floral print, which will likely be a clothing make for J. There is a half meter of both red polka dot and a natural star print cotton both for Christmas makes. Then a bargain Boden cotton flannel check which was only £4 a meter,  I am going to make myself a little jacket from this, also a lovely fresh pink floral, Boden too at £4 a meter!

I thought I'd had some good bargains until we wondered back past Simply Solids and nearly fell over ourselves for the amazing Swoon collection by Melissa Averinos, pictured on the bottom row, which Mandy was practically giving away for £2/meter! I snatched up a 6 FQ bundle of the green colourway for only £3! Then a half meter of the blue colourways (plus some extra not shown for some clothing makes for me) I tell you I was super super excited and still cant believe my luck! Its not a fabric line I would usually go for but I am so glad I did, the more I look, the more I love :)

Finally, I couldn't resist starting ANOTHER new project! Feeling inspired by the beauties at the FoQ I have started a rainbow scrappy quilt, here's a peek at the squares I have cut so far (again apologies for the poor picture quality!) Hope you are all feeling as inspired as me :)