I wish I had a studio........

Amanda Jean at Crazy Mom Quilts, has posted about her studio, and asked commenters to show her their creative spaces. Well this is mine........




It may be my space where I create but it is certainly not creative! It's the end of the dining table! When you live in a three bed 1100sq foot apartment - there is nowhere to claim as my "creative" space : (



Maybe one day I'll have my own little room..................... a girl can dream can't she?

x

Whirlygiggles finished!

Yay! Quilt No. 2 is finished! I started it way back here in May. It's destined for my niece in England as a Christening present - unfortunately I won't be able to deliver it myself, but it will be on a jet plane across the continents in September.



I used this tutorial as a starting point, but modified the angle of the trapezoid/trapezium (big words!) to fit the size of the blocks and also to make it look the way I wanted. I also added on the seam allowance to the measurements and used the rotary cutter instead of making a template and cutting out all the shapes.


Here's how I did it..... my finished blocks are 6.5 " so I cut my fabric into 4.5" x 4" rectangles, I then I marked 1/2" up from the centre line on one side, and 1/2" down from the centre line on the other side, stacked a bunch of rectangles together and rotary cut from the marking on one side to the marking on the other - hey presto a load of trapezium/trapezoid ready to be sewn into Whirlygiggles. More whirlygiggle quilts can be seen here and here. And if you're into paper piecing - here's a tutorial on paper piecing a whirlygiggle.


The fabrics, are left overs from this quilt with a couple of extras added in. I know my SIL is not such a big fan of pink - and she loves orange, so I added in the Amy Butler's Ripple Stripe in Orange, to try to de-pink the overall look, I also added the orange border in linen which I just love! Orange is a very happy colour!

I tried something a bit different on this quilt, I used a fleece blanket as the batting AND the backing, I think it works quite well, it's made the quilt a nice weight for a toddler quilt. And in keeping with the current economic downturn - the fleece was a bargain! I just wish I had put a layer of white fabric between the top and the fleece as the pink shows through a little - but hey you live and you learn.

My lovely sewing machine was purchased half-way through the making of this quilt so it is half hand pieced and half machine pieced. All the blocks were hand pieced and then the whole thing was assembled using the machine. I still really enjoy hand piecing, but I love how quickly things come together with the machine.

For the quilting, I hand quilted a quarter inch in on all the cream bits, and then did parallel lines around the linen border - I think that may be my trademark in borders as I really like how it looks.

This is the first quilt I've labelled properly - the other's are on my to do list! I hand embroidered the label as inspired by this.


I here's my little possum - who generously agreed to model for me!


I hope my little niece treasures this quilt for years to come.

Next project - a quilt for her baby brother or sister who is currently a bun in the oven!!

x

More stash building

I've been indulging myself in a little more stash building, this time from Quilts n Calicoes .

These are some more black and white prints for the picture quilt intended for the grandparents Christmas present. I need to find more greys as at the moment the quilts is very black, and I don't want the stark contrast which too much black and white will give - oh no that means more fabric buying - shame!


These two are kind of intended for the quilt for our bed based around the Heather Ross Matryoshka fabric - but I'll have to wait and see if they go.


And now I definitely need to find a better place to keep my fabric stash than this Canele bag!

Whirlygiggle update

Here's the "Whirlygiggle quilt so far.....



I just need to finish off the hand quilting, including quilting in the recipient's name, machine quilt the border (eek, this will be my first machine quilting adventure!) sew on the binding, and make and sew on a label, oh yes and then wash and dry and wrap up! Phew that sounds like lot of work - I had best get on with it!

x

Things to make.....

I'm so inspired whilst trawling around blogland, I find so many fabulous tutorials out there, and I want to make them all!!

Here's what I really want to make. (I'm not really sure what the etiquette is for using pictures, but I hope all the people who's work I refer to don't mind me using their photos)

This gorgeous Felt Garland from Anna Maria Horner's blog, this one will definitely be on the tree come Christmas (that's how long it takes me to get my proverbial ahem into gear!)

The Kidlet Wall Pocket/Tidy Tote - from JC Handmade this one is way down the "to do" list - not because I don't love it, but because I think it's a bit much to ask of a 7 month old to tidy up after themselves! But I can just see these on all the doors and hanging on hooks in bedrooms in out beautiful house in England - oh how I miss my house : (

This fab Play Microphone - from Blueprints which is again way down the list until Possum is a bit older.

These groovy Soft Trees - from Little Birds Handmade, I'll have to find somewhere for these to go come Chirstmas time, but I also thing they make cool ornaments any time of year - don't you?

I just lurve these little Love Birds - from Molly Chicken
I'll be making six of these to send to my nearest and dearest six best buddies back in blighty.

This well used tutorial for Fabric Baskets by Pink Penguin, is there anyone in blogland who hasn't made one (well me - but I will make one soon!)

Another one for when Possum is older but this Tutu tutorialfrom Plumtickled has got Possum's name ALLLLLLL over it!

The Poopy Clutch - from IS.LY I'll be making one of these for me and many other ladies and ther adorable babies!It's great fits a few nappies/diapers and a packet of baby wipes, and hey presto purse magically turns into a nappy/diaper bag without morphing into some horrendous monstrosity!

This Toy gathering basket - from Sew Mama Sew posted by Kristen, is a great idea, it's a toy in itself with all the little toys in the side pockets, I think it's great to encourage kids to tidy up.

And these Baby Cloth Shoes - from Stardust Shoes, Possum doesn't really wear shoes at the moment, but when she starts walking/cruising she'll need some (and I don't think that will be long the rate she's going!)

Well those are all the projects I want to make, plus a whole load from the extremely talented Elizabeth from Oh Fransson. I made the laptop pouch for a friend but forgot to take a pic before I gave it away - doh!

Now I just need to decide which one to make first.....................

Inspiration

This super cool and groovy art installation stands in the foyer of the National Museum of Singapore. I love the contrast of something so hard and associated with violence and war - turned pink and girly. All the shades of pink together make me want to make a pink quilt! And the batik banners on the walls are just yummy.


And here's a pic of the the Chinese New Year decorations at the Paragon, I love the red and black, with the bright white light shining out - this makes me want to make a Chinese inspired quilt.


But I've made a rule for myself - one quilt at a time! And until the Whirlygiggle quilt is finished I MUST NOT start another! I'm just over halfway through handquilting the blocks, then I'm going to brave some machine quilting in the border (only straight lines!) - watch this space for an update!

x

My first sewing project

Here is my first sewing project from Heather Ross' Weekend Sewing.

The raw materials.......

Et voila - the finished article


It's the Everything Tote. I'm pretty pleased with how it turned out, I'm using it as my combo handbag/diaper bag, and it's pretty roomy so it fits LOADS in. I used red ticking for the body and green ticking for the binding and handles, and the coolest camo print with hearts for the lining.

Of course I made a few amendments to the bag in the book. Firstly my tote is smaller - but still huge. The book calls for 1/2 yard of inner and 1/2 yard of outer fabric to make the tote. However this is way off the mark, I couldn't even cut the bag pattern piece from my half metre, never mind cutting the handles and binding on the bias! So I had to trundle off to Spotlight and get more fabric halfway through! In all I used 1.1 metres of ticking to make the bag and it's about 3 inches smallr in width.

I also used the suggestions from this post on AlewivesGirl to change the instructions to make more sense. I only folded the binding and the handles once, and I even left the straps open so that you can see the lining underneath and so that the straps are wider and stay on my shoulder better.

All in all, I'm pretty chuffed with my first sewing project (since I was at school) and I think the bag looks pretty special! (By the way I think I "forgot"to mention that my sewing afficianado mum was here for two weeks and oversaw the whole project!)

I already have my cogs whirring on making more bags!

x

Christmas in July

Look what the hubbie bought me!.......



Now I have my trusty stead I shall be whipping up projects left right and centre!

First thing - finish off the whirlygig quilt. All the blocks are finished (sewn by hand), but now I can zoom them all toghether and get the borders on in no time! Yay!!

I'm so excited, there are so many gorgeous things out there in blogland and crafty books which I am raring to make.

x