Happy Half Term

I'm off work this week for half term and I am enjoying every minute of it.  Half term means three things to me: lie ins, catching up with friends, plenty of sewing.  All three make me a happier person.

The mad patchwork quilt with lots of small squares is getting close to completion.  I have used 546 squares in total and there are very many different fabrics included.  Somehow I think it works.

I have loved pulling so many different fabrics from stash and putting them together in this crazy way.  I think these sorts of quilts are such a good way to use up bits of fabric, but are also rich for the recipient because you can play games with them; I spy, pairs, same but different, how many?  I now know who will end up with this quilt and I am sure they would use the quilt in that way and not only to keep their little one warm.

For the quilting I am doing tram tracks to create a lovely chequered look on the back.  This is going to take a while to quilt, and some bits are better than others because of my piecing.  But overall it seems to be alright and I know all that quilting will give it a lovely texture.

I raided my stash for the backing and found this fabric I bought at the NEC last August.  It's a lovely fabric by Creative Thursday.  There is a lot of white on the front so I am glad this has plenty of white but also has a saturated green background for contrast.

I now just have to choose the binding and the quilt will be soon finished.  I am sure I can see a Friday Finish coming on.

Happy stitching!

Oops!...I did it again!

Another blog post and another couple of zipped pouches.  I just cannot help myself at the moment.  I just love making these quick and cute gifts for people.  And as people love to receive them, I'm sure I will be making more in the future.

First up we have eight year old Clara's rainbow pencil case.  I loved picking the rainbow colours for this pencil case and I am pleased with my choice of zip which matches the interior perfectly.

In return Clara made me a gorgeous thank you card and a rainbow loom band bracelet.  I was thrilled!  She'll definitely be receiving more stitch gifts in the future!

Next up we have Elena's Russian pencil case.  Elena is a Russian work colleague, who's had a tough week.  I was stitching this last night at about eleven o'clock because I was desperate to complete it.  She was really pleased with it this morning and it was nice to see her smile.

The interior is a fabric I purchased at the weekend.  It was bad of me to buy it when I am meant to be stash-busting, but I just had to buy two fat quarters (one in the white, one in the blue) of these Holly Hobbie fabrics.  I think I can already justify these purchases as I've already used them in two projects and have made a big dent into them both.

It's been a while since I worked on a quilt.  This week I decided that had to change and that I would work on a crazy quilt which uses lots of different fabrics.  Some of these fabrics I've had for a while, some are recent purchases.  I'm not being precious about what I use and how they are put together.  The aim is just to get a quilt made using lots of different fabrics and to see how it looks at the end!

My stash has plenty of "critter" fabrics and I am pleased to have included many of them here.  All the squares are 2½" and I've been working hard to get good piecing.  The piece is 21 squares across, but I haven't decided upon the final length yet.

It has been great to use up plenty of scraps in this quilt.  I always feel virtuous doing that.  I have a nice backing fabric in stash and enough wadding, so this does feel like a stash-busting project.  So many novelty fabrics make it a great quilt for playing "I spy".  I don't know who will receive this quilt in the end but I am certainly having fun stitching it together.

Have a lovely stitching weekend!

Happy scrappy projects

Whenever I buy fabric I find myself going to my existing stash and using that before touching the new fabric.  I think I must be subconsciously justifying my new purchases by using up stash.  Or maybe it's so I can make space for the new stuff.  Whichever it is, since my visit to The Village Haberdashery I have used nothing but stash and scraps.  It makes me feel angelic (yeah right!)

Guess what?  I made another zippy pouch, and this one is for me.  I love it!  Turquoise is one of my favourite colours and I put the fabrics together beautifully.  I haven't decided what to use it for yet, but in the meantime I am happy just to let it stay on my chest of drawers where I can admire it.

In last month's Love Patchwork and Quilting there were some lovely quilt as you go cushions which I wanted to have a go at.  I've seen a few people making them on Instagram which inspired me to hit my stash and make my own.

I had never tried quilt as you go before but it was a lot of fun and very satisfying.  This is a good pattern for using up scraps.  This is only the front but it won't take me long to sew the back of the cushion.  I hope to make a couple more to match this one.

You may have noticed that the two previous projects include cat fabrics.  I love cats!  But at the moment I am remembering this time last year when my beloved ginger boy, Granby, became ill and we had to say goodbye to him.  I still miss him, though I do love the new boys we have adopted since.  In homage to Granby and now Brutus and Jackson I have made some patchwork cats which are on the wall of my sewing room.  I am pleased with this project, though I wonder if I need to remake Jackson because the dark purple doesn't show up his tabby fur.  

I am especially pleased with how Brutus turned out because I think I managed to capture his look quite accurately.  Wouldn't you agree?

Thanks for visiting.

Long time no blog

It really has been too long since I posted a blog.  I've not fallen out with sewing or blogging, just time seems to be such a precious commodity at the moment and I've not had enough time for either.  As April ends and May approaches I was determined to write a post and I have some nice things to show off.

As I've been short on time small projects have been just the ticket.  I've made three zipped bags recently.  The first is for a friend who loves the colour blue.  We met up on Friday and she was pleased with her gift.

The second is for a cool and kooky friend who wears amazing clothes.  She has a dress made from this fabric with a black background.  I need to put it in the post tomorrow.  She has just started work at a new school and I think she will appreciate having a pencil case to match one of her outfits.

Next up we have another patchwork pouch made from mainly blue prints.  This was made for a Liberty fan.  She didn't get it for any particular reason other than I wanted to make it for her.  She was thrilled with it and I loved making it.

I have had a fantastic weekend in London as my husband was running the Marathon.  I enjoyed watching the race and looking for him on Sunday but Saturday was very much "my day" and I got to visit some really cool shops.  I'm a big fan of The Village Haberdashery's website and their blog.  I've had two tutorials on their blog and am about to have another on soon, but I had never visited the shop in person.  On Saturday this was put right and I feel it will be a pilgrimage whenever I go to London!  The shop is amazing - all (and I am not exaggerating here) the fabric is amazing.  It is just so cool, modern and fresh and it was just so lovely to meet Annie and Caroline.

My stashbusting went right out of the window on Saturday as I made a few purchases.  I think I showed incredible self-restraint as there was just so much temptation there.

First up are some fabrics from Lighthearted by Kokka.  I've long loved this range and was relieved that some of the food print was still left in the shop.  They had only 3 fat quarters of it so I snapped them all up.  The shop carries all the Kona Cotton Solids and I had such fun matching the colours to the prints.  I don't know what these are going to be, but I expect it will be for the dining room and I am sure to enjoy myself!

I picked out my favourite fabrics from Jessica Hogarth's Street Life, though the whole range is adorable and I might end up adding to it later.  I think being in London affected my choice here because I went for the fabrics which were so identifiably British and London.

I ummed and ahhed about these next fabrics.  I think these are the start of a rainbow style quilt, but I will add more prints and colours to them later.  I picked out three fabrics from Riley Blake's Mini Quatrefoil and three from Alison Glass' Sun Print Mercury.  I think they go wonderfully together, so bright and happy.

My favourite (and most unexpected) purchase is this corduroy Oh my darling Clementine by Rae Hoekstra.  I've never sewn with cord before and I have no idea what I will make, but there was no way I was going home without a metre of this amazing fabric.  I'll have to get looking for something but this fabric has to be for me.

I hope you approve of my purchases.  Not much really...

Saturday Strip Club

As it's the last day of March I thought I should write a post and get back into the blogging habit.  I have a few bits and pieces to show off, and I must also confess to making some fabric purchases.  That wasn't part of the plan this year, so maybe that's why I have not been here recently.

 At the weekend I attended a sewing class at Craft Den.  It had the dubious title of "Saturday Strip Club" because we were learning different techniques to use with the strips of fabric you get in a jelly roll.  There was certainly a lively atmosphere so the name was a good title.  I chose to work with Lewis and Irene fabrics and I love the first lot of blocks we made:

Next we learned how to make a friendship plait.  I love this technique and the way it looks, and with the right tool it is a doddle!  So easy, so effective, so pretty!  I am glad I bought the special ruler and know this will appear in plenty of my future quilts.

It was at Craft Den that I made a significant fabric purchase.  I was facing such beautiful fabrics all Saturday and I think the fabric fumes worked their magic on me.  In typical fashion these are by Lewis and Irene and are from their Spring Hare range.  There were almost fisticuffs in the shop because I thought the last of the white hare fabric had been purchased by a friend, but thankfully Lynne managed to find a little bit for me.  Friendships are still in tact as a result!  I have no idea what these fabrics will become but I know the result will be lovely.  The fabric is just so special.  They are just perfect for this time of year.

 For those of you still visiting, thank you!  I hope to do some lovely sewing over the Easter holidays.  Happy Easter to you!

Plenty of Work in Progress

It's been a while since I blogged.  I've been very busy sewing but my progress has felt slow and un-blog-worthy.  There are no finishes to show off but I can share three works in progress.  I'll introduce them chronologically.

First up is my Mariner's Compass block.  Once a month I attend a Block a Month group where we learn different techniques and get what we term "skilled up".  We started off making a sampler quilt but in recent months our focus has changed somewhat and we haven't worked on the blocks for a while.  I can illustrate how far we have deviated from our blocks by sharing with you that last month we worked on Nativity bunting.  That's right - Christmas preparation in February!

I've decided I want to get my sampler quilt finished this year and I am going to make the blocks up in my sampler fabrics.  I love the fabrics and colours I've used in this, though I did have to purchase the green dot outer fabric, but I bought very little and everything else is from stash.  I made good progress but I need to finish it off.  Hopefully I will be able to show it finished shortly.

I cannot get enough of heart cushions at the moment.  I loved going through my stash and putting these fabrics together.  I love the cat print by Cotton and Steel.  I think the cat resembles one of my puss cats, Jackson.  I am going to finish this soon and give it to my niece, Sienna.  She loves all things pink and handmade gifts.

Now I have to make a confession - I made a couple of fabric purchases this week.  Eek!  I know that goes against the Sew my Stash mantra but the fabric had a particular purpose and I was using the scraps.  There is a great British company making waves in the fabric world.  They are Lewis and Irene and their fabric is amazing!  The rainbow quilt I made in January is in their fabric and I am now a devotee.  I bought only two prints; Dancing Hares on Aqua from their Spring Hare collection and  Balloons on Blue from their April Showers range.  I think I did well only to buy two fabrics, though I would wish to buy it all.  (Speaking of wishes, look at their Make a Wish range, it's adorable!)  I am totally in love with their Coastal collection and I am sure I will end up buying plenty of it.  It's that good I am willing to break my fabric fast for it!

Last night these two fabrics were burning a hole on my sewing table (does that metaphor work?) and I just wanted to get using them.  I decided to turn them into a little cushion and I liked a mini quilt from this month's edition of Love Patchwork and Quilting magazine, so that decision was easily made.

To make this a stash busting project I used scraps of pink and grey fabric from stash and I think they work a treat!  This will be pieced in no time and turned into a cushion soon after.

I may not have finished a project in a while but I am doing plenty of sewing and enjoying myself.  I hope you are all having an equally nice time with your fabrics!  

Wee Wander quilt: a finished quilt top

The word and concept "mindfulness" keeps cropping up in my life.  I see it mentioned on line, people mention it to me, I've seen books in bookshops with it in the title.  I've no clear sense of what it means and I've certainly not read up on it, but I think this quilt with its foundation piecing may have been an exercise in mindfulness for me.

I've made six of these foundation pieced stars in total and I got into a real rhythm; drawing the templates, cutting the fabrics, piecing, ironing, trimming, piecing, ironing a bit more.  This is my favourite fabric range, so it has been wonderful that I have enjoyed the process of sewing with it so enjoyable and meditative.  

When the six stars were finished I then cut simple squares from the rest of the Wee Wander range to create a form of sashing.  Some of the fabrics were just perfect for fussy cutting.  I thoroughly enjoyed placing the fabrics for the sashing in the right order.  I wanted to balance out the pinks and blues and have them work nicely with the low fabric prints.

My fear that I would not have much fabric left at the end of this project seems ridiculous.  I have metres of the fabric left.  I can clearly make many quilts with this range and I am sure that is what I am going to do.

Now I have to decide what to back and bind the quilt with.  This is where my Sew My Stash 2015 challenge falls down a bit because I don't think I have the right fabric in the right quantity to back this quilt.  I know I have lots of the front fabrics left, but I don't want them hiding on the back.  I'll have to think about what to do next and see if I can justify a purchase (eek!)  More mindfulness for me!

Happy stitching!