Snuggy

I've been meaning to make Possum a snuggly/security blanket type thing for a while now, and here's what I came up with....

I used some Heather Ross Far Far Away double gauze for the front, and Princess and the Pea panel, surrounded by little snails. And on the back is leftover pink fleece. I sewed some ribbon loops into the seam on the front panel for some interest and something for little hands to explore, and I bound the whole thing with peach coloured satin blanket binding (not easy to work with!) I hand quilted a loopy line around the border, kind of like a snail trail, and I quilted Possum's name down one side.

So far she has quite liked it, and it's been everywhere with her (my choice rather than hers!), I hope she really takes to it - I still get a warm fuzzy feeling when I think of my Bowie (my baby blanket which I had until I was 11!) and I hope Possum feels the same about her snuggy.

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Oh Fransson's pincushion organiser.

Introducing my latest sewing project.......

It's the pincushion organiser from this tutorial by Elizabeth from Oh Fransson on Sew Mama Sew. It was really easy to make and the instructions were al very clear. The little bag for scraps and threads is very useful. I used some Erin McMorris Wild Wood, and some cool batik-y type fabric from Quilts n Calicoes.

Spot the mistake? I cut the piece to make the organser section the wrong way round, so the trees grow sideways - never mind!

Definitely a tutorial I recommend - I'll be making my mum one of these for Christmas - and speaking of Christmas - flights back to Blighty book - YAY!!!!!

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Handmade presents

One of mine and Possum's bessie mates is moving back home tomorrow and we had to say goodbye today : (

As a little token departing gift I made Possum's buddy this little fabric beach ball using this tutorial from Purl Bee. I used some Amy Butler Full Moon Dots, some Jay McCaroll's Wood Maze, some cute birdie fabric and some orange solid. It was really easy to make, except the circles on the ends, the tutorial says to cut out the circles and iron the the fabric in a little, but this was waaaaaay too hard for me, so I used this tutorial for circles, and they turned out pretty well I think!
And for my buddy I made the "Poopy Clutch" from this tutorial. A few things went a bit worng but I gave it to her anyway as I thought she'd see the wonky bits and think of me!

I'll definitely be making more of the beach balls, they're fab!

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A leson learnt.....

I'm fairly new to the quilting world, and I'm learning all the time.



I've recently learned a great lesson in pre-washing fabric, well I had a pre-washing incident and I am yet to assess exactly what I have learnt.....



These are my lovely owl and mushrooms Alexander Henry prints, and I pre-washed them along with the other fabrics inteded for my next project all together. I bought the other fabrics from Spotlight and they were a poly/cotton blend. I suspect the culprit of the above and below pictured grievous assault was the red!



The pictures don't look toooooo bad, but in real life the fabrics now look murky and horrible, luckily I only prewash half of what I had of each fabric so I'll use the other half in the quilt. Do you think some of that dye-gone type stuff will work to get the fabrics back to their pre-pre-washing beautiful state?

And do I take from this to.....

a. not pre-wash fabrics?

b. pre-wash dark colours separately?

c. don't buy cheap poly/cotton blends?

d. to pre-wash fabric on a very cool wash?

There we have it, still so much to learn!

But the fabrics are intended for an outdoor play quilt - here are all the fabrics together.

I want this quilt to be used and so I want to back the quilt in something hardwearing - any ideas anyone?

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Another bag

I've made myself another bag - my Heather Ross Weekend Sewing Hold Everything Tote actually holds too much! So I looked around the good old "t'internet" for a bag tutorial. I knew what kind of shape and size I wanted but didn't know how to make one without some guidance. I stumble across this tutorial, and it was brilliant as I could alter the pattern to fit my needs.



I made the strap shorter and wider, and I made the bag bigger all around. I also lined the pockets and made the fastening from velcro. Big lesson learnt here - when pressing a project involving velcro avoid the velcro! I managed to melt the loops! I made it using canvas from Ikea which I bought to make Possum some curtains, and lined it with some orange fabric I have. Here the bag in use - carrying toys!





I'm well chuffed with it! It's just what I wanted! And I loe the super-bright colours. It could maybe be an inch bigger - but I'll just have to make another one with some amendments!

I've also signed up for a Friendship Bag Swap over at the Quilting Gallery - should be good fun, check it out. It'll be my first ever swap - how exciting!


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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