WIP

Here's my latest WIP, it's the birthday present quilt for a friend, and here are the blocks all sewup, threads trimmed and pressed.....


Next came laying them out to plan the quilt layout...

Then came the ginger possum destruction unit, and this is the aftermath!


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Another beach ball and a new project

We're back from a little holiday to Bali, which was fabulous, for the trip I made Possum a little beach ball with some of my prized Far Far Away fabrics, she seems to love it which is pleasing!

And now my next project...... a 1st Birthday present for a friend's daughter. I order some fabrics from afabricoutlet on Etsy, and I pulled together this bunch of fabrics for it, what do you think?

Now I think I will pre-wash these - that must be the worst bit of making a quilts! Then the cutting up, then my favourite bit sewing the first few pieces together. Although I think the bestest bit of making a quilt is that last seem which finishes the top - what's your favourite part of the quilt making process?

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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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