Friday, December 31, 2010

James with his Santa sack



Pickledish Block Finished!

I finished off the pickledish block for my bedroom cushion last night.  Dave is horrified that we are having "patchwork" in our bedroom... he'll get over it I'm sure :)  It's so pretty:


Not entirely certain how to finish off the cushion cover... I would love to hand quilt the block using some embroidery thread in matching colours and then add some piping around it with a plain grey zippered back.

It was a fun block to make... if I make it again though, I would like to make the scrappy pieces all the same size and evenly spaced around the curve.  But that's probably just the accountant coming out in me!

Monday, December 20, 2010

More Christmas...

I saw this Santa sack a couple of weeks ago and decided to make one for James out of a Kate Spain: 12 Days of Christmas charm pack that I had.


The original only had squares on the front, but I sewed up 40 charm squares into an 8 x 5 rectangle and then joined it together into a sack.  I wasn't sure how to do the tie, but after deciding it would be ridiculous to spend $20 on two taxi fares just to get to Spotlight and back to buy a couple of metres of cord, I opted to make a cord out of some Amy Butler: Love fabric that I had. The Santa sack is fully lined with some spotty fabric.


It's a little smaller than the one I saw, but oh. so. much. cheaper!!

I love it... so bright and cheery!  And I love how its all tied together with a little bit of "Love"!!!

Tuesday, November 30, 2010

Christmas Decorations

Now that we have James, Christmases are gonna be fun all over again!  My plan is to make a few handmade decorations each year.



I saw this snowflake design in Doodle Stitching and thought it would work well for Christmas.  I had the red hexies left over from the hexie cushion that never got made... and backed it with some fabric from a Kate Spain's 12 Days of Christmas charm pack.



Feeling pretty happy that I've started Christmas and its not even December yet!

Sunday, October 31, 2010

Pickledish Progress

I decided to keep my project small seeing as I don't get a lot of sewing time now.  I'm making one pickledish block into a cushion for our bedroom.


I've sewn 5 of the 8 strips so far.  The fabric is a Bliss charm pack with coal Kona solid for the background.

We have grey and white bed linen so it will add a bit of colour to the room.

Saturday, October 2, 2010

Pickledish...

I came across this quiltalong today and absolutely positively have to join in... I've always loved the look of this pattern.  It's always looked too hard to make but after seeing how it's done I think I should be able to do it OK. 

But what to make??  What colour to make it??  What size to make it??  Ah, something to dream about tonight!!

Look how cute it is here with the stitching in the middle of the block:   http://comfortstitching.typepad.co.uk/comfortstitching/2010/09/pickledishand-a-possible-quilt-a-long.html

I'm gonna have to set up a flickr account now so I can add my photos and see all the other pickledish loveliness.

Ooh, too excited lol :)

Button

Thursday, September 30, 2010

September

Wow, another month has just flown by!  Baby James is 2 months old already.  And my sewing machine cover project is over 4 months old!!!!  It's almost finished... I'm just stitching on the binding.


And here's a pic of another project I'm working on.  My plan is to make placemats... not sure how many will get hand stitched together like this - they may all end up being different patterns :)


I went to a needleturn applique class a couple of Fridays ago with some girls from quilt group.  The second class is tomorrow, so I'm looking forward to that.  It's also our 5th wedding anniversary tomorrow and my birthday on Saturday... so I'm looking forward to a couple of nice dinners and a relaxing weekend!

Tuesday, August 31, 2010

More James

A whole month of no sewing... (except for making a green screen for my husband's office... he basically stood over me until I finished it lol).

I'm a little preoccupied...


Monday, August 30, 2010

James

The last month has flown!!  All my time is occupied by this little cutie :)

James was born 26 July.



Sunday, July 25, 2010

I started another quilt cos I got sick of waiting for the baby...

OK... here's a sneak peek at the next quilt I've started... and yes, of course its a baby quilt!  The fabric is called Wheels.


The end result won't be as green... and I'm not using all that orange either.  I think you'll be surprised at the colouring once you see the finished design. 

Will finish it once I get home from the hospital... soon!!!

Monday, July 19, 2010

Ring Stacker Toy

Well, my due date has come and gone and still no baby!!!!  Lazy lazy boy :)

I've finished 5 of the 9 Monsters Quilt squares so far.  Its a slow process though because all I'm doing is sewing around and around in circles!!

Another project I've wanted to start is the Heather Bailey Ring Stacker Toys.  Aren't they cute!


I was planning on using the left over fabric from the green and brown baby quilt I've just made, but after cutting out the pattern and looking at the fabric, I realised I don't have anywhere near enough large fabric pieces left over :(

Not sure which fabric I'll use now. And I'm in no fit state to think about it either.  So therefore... the ring stackers have been put on hold until inspiration strikes me!

Maybe I'll just go and sit on the couch and watch some tv... and wait patiently for this baby!!

Thursday, July 15, 2010

2 Finishes!!

It didn't take long to finish off the baby quilt, and since then I've made another WHOLE baby quilt in just a few days!!!  Gotta love working with charm packs... so quick and easy to piece together.


Here is my first finished quilt for the year (and first ever finished quilt... unless you count that crappy one I did in year 7 lol)!  I love the binding around it... learnt how to do that through the quilt group I go to (thanks Kate!).



I made the second quilt by cutting up 25 charm squares and then string-piecing them together like this:


And here is the finished quilt:



I had a few squares left over from the Tweet Tweet charm pack, so did a little strip across the back incorporating the border fabric from the front.  I did a wider binding this time, but it was a lot harder to do the corners... I prefer the thin binding.

Now - I'm working on the Monsters quilt that I started back in March.  Baby is due in 3 days... so I think it will be a "put-on-hold" project for a couple of weeks.  I'm finding it uncomfortable to sit and concentrate for too long... but if he comes late, you never know how much of it I'll get done!

Monday, June 28, 2010

Baby quilt

Over 37 weeks pregnant now so I'm finally starting to spend more time at home.  Which is great because it means more time for sewing!

I've finally made some progress on the baby quilt that I started making back in March.  I opted for a very simple quilting technique... straight lines!!!  I love the way it looks... here's a sneak peak:


And a close up of the stitching (a 1/4" each side of the seams):


I was rapt when I discovered that my machine came with an even-feed quilting foot... yay!!

I can't wait to get the quilting finished now and start on the binding.  Will definitely* get this one finished before the baby arrives :)

*not a guarantee lol

Glasses case

I'm having so much fun going to my quilt group each week!  We're making a charity quilt using the disappearing 9 patch and each of us have made about 5 blocks to get it started.  I was a little worried about how to make all my seams match up well enough, so one of the ladies invited me around to help sew the squares using a string-piecing technique.  Unfortunately I forgot to take photos of the blocks :(

I was really inspired by some of the projects she was working on.  I collected up my fabric scraps and found that I mainly had greens and browns.  I made a quilted glasses case using the technique found here.  I used 1.5" squares, so they were 1" by the time they were sewn together.  Here are some pics:





This is a great technique for small scrappy squares.  Very quick and easy for a beginner!  I definitely plan to make some more of these once my scrap stash builds up!!!

Saturday, June 26, 2010

New cushions

The sewing machine arrived in late May and I busily started working on some cushions for the couch.  After ditching the hexagon idea, I opted for this beautiful range of cotton fabrics called Rouenneries by French General for Moda.


In between house guests and dinner guests and some other small sewing projects, I've only just managed to finish them!
 

Kitty thought she would test them out... although she decided that sitting directly on one was a little cramped for her and she chose to spread out next to the cushions instead :)



Don't look too closely... I still have about an inch of hand stitching to go on each cushion just where I inserted the zip.  Must add that to my sewing-to-do list!

Thursday, May 13, 2010

Some Current Projects

Still waiting on my sewing machine (one more week I believe!!).  In the meantime I've been working on some new projects.

The paper pieced hexagon cushions I mentioned last month weren't working for me... so I picked out just the brownish fabrics and decided to start making a table set - trivets and placemats.  I've hand pieced together two trivets and have them basted up ready for quilting.


The neutral colours blend in nicely with the timber and the seat fabric.  My plan is to piece together vertical strips for the placemats in varying widths.

After running across this cushion the other day, I instantly knew what I wanted to put on the dust cover for my sewing machine.  I just love the Cherish Nature charm pack I bought a couple of weeks ago... here is the start of "Cherish Nature Project No 2 - Sewing Machine Cover"!


I need to applique the pieces and stitch some beaks, eyes and legs.  Still trying to decide whether to use sewing cotton or something heavier like cross stitch thread.

The last two weeks I've been going to a quilt group.  It's great to meet some more people living locally and its also very inspirational to see their projects and flick through the different pattern books that they're using.  They are a very talented group of quilters and I'm definitely looking forward to learning more and asking their advice on my own projects as I slowly work through them :)

Sunday, May 2, 2010

New Fabrics :)

I think my sewing machine is still sitting on the docks in Melbourne... so in the meantime I've been amusing myself by buying fabrics!  I reckon I spent nearly a whole day browsing the online shops... and certainly found some beautiful fabrics to order.  They only took a few days to get here from Texas :)


I was so pleased with the fabrics... I ordered some fabric for more baby quilts which I'll post photos of later once I start making them (hurry up sewing machine!!), and I also bought a couple of charm packs.  One is Cherish Nature by Moda...


I fell in love with the colours... and decided I'll use them to make a dust cover for my sewing machine and a couple of other sewing accessories. First up I was inspired by Heather Bailey's pattern for her Square Deal Pincushion.






Can you believe I hand stitched this!!!  I thought I hated hand sewing... but I managed to get this done in one night.  It was actually quite relaxing and extremely rewarding.

The other charm pack is Tweet Tweet by Moda... I'm playing with the idea of doing a baby quilt with 4 large disappearing nine patches on the front.  I spread them out on the floor and played around with the order of the fabrics for quite a while until I was happy with them.  Then... disaster... I saw her coming... I grabbed the camera to try and capture the pattern before it was lost forever...



I managed it just in time!  Kitty is such a girl... she loves shoes, bracelets, and fabrics!!!

Wednesday, April 21, 2010

Singapore!

It seemed to take forever to get packed in Australia, and now it seems like we've been here in Singapore for ages!  Arrived about 10 days ago and have been busy getting settled in, buying furniture, and finding our local hangouts.

Kitty arrived safely last week and has settled in well :)


One of the furniture shops up here was having a huge clearout sale so we managed to buy our couch (and everything else) off the floor at a heavily discounted price... we only ended up going about 3 days without furniture in the end.

And of course... new furniture needs accessorising!!!



I'm working on some paper pieced hexes for cushion fronts.  Not sure if I'll use all of the fabrics yet.  Its been difficult finding a good supply of fabrics here, so I may need to start searching for an online shop.

Hmmm... and online shopping will be much easier once the baby's born too :)

Saturday, April 3, 2010

Procrastinating again...

Packing just seems to be taking forever... and its no fun.  I've been packing my craft things today and have finally made the decision that its time to pack the sewing machine away in preparation for the move.  It's something I'd been thinking about for a couple of days but didn't want to do!!!  It now means I won't be able to work on the quilts for a couple of months (??) until it all turns up again in Singapore.

So I was thinking about what I could do once I get to Singapore and have to wait...


Luckily, I found another bag of goodies in my stash :) 
How cute are these little guys!!  And here are the wools I'm using to make them.


I knitted up one of the toys a couple of months ago.  The pattern uses 3.00mm needles and the toy turned out really really small... way too small for a newborn to safely play with unfortunately.  So, I tried again using 4.50mm needles.  Here are the results...


Maxamillian the tadpole!  The button eyes on the cover of the book are sooo cute, but again - not safe for a newborn. 

I'm still not loving the end result... the knitting on the little toy is really tight and you can't see through it.  On the bigger one, I can see the stuffing through the knitting... the stitch is a lot looser.

Not sure what to do next (maybe double the wool up), but I will keep persevering until I'm happy.  And then I can make a whole family of cute little knitted toys!