Sewing 2014 year in review...

Well, 2014 is nearly over so this is my sewing round up for the year - first up are the big quilts...

 Mini quilts...

Quite a few bags...including 9 Super Totes, and a Weekender Bag.

 Some pouches...

A few blocks for the Aus Mod Bee, and also some #hashtag blocks which were sent for the #sewing for Sydney quilts.

And some random items -  a fabric basket, table runner, a crochet hook roll up, sleep pants, pillows, Social Tote and a paper pieced elephant.

So I think I had a pretty good year sewing wise.  I am currently having a bit of a break from sewing over the summer holidays, but have already signed up for a few swaps due next year so once school goes back I will make a start on those projects.

Kirsten.

#igmini swap received!

 A fun swap I participated in recently was the #igminiswap, and a few weeks ago I received a lovely package from my swap partner, Julie Schloemer who blogs over at "Thats Sew Julie"

Julie made a stunning paper pieced mini in solids which I just love.

And her quilting is pretty cool too!

The cute Two-in-one Zipper pouch was made in Bonnie and Camille prints and filled with lots of goodies - some of which were a bit worse for wear after travelling all the way from the USA to Australia in the heat, but they were fine (and delicious) after being put in the fridge for while.

This was the parcel I mailed off to my secret partner Bonnie which she has now also received. 

 I made her a "Dwell" mini which was one of the items in her inspiration mosaic, and because I was making for Bonnie, I couldn't resist using  Bonnie &Camille fabrics:)

This was such a fun swap that I have now signed up for the #igminiswap oz ...just need to finish off the extra items for the Sew Sew Modern 6 swap first!
Kirsten.

WiP Wednesday: Sew Sew Modern 6 swap

One of the swaps I love is the Sew Sew Modern swap which is now up to round 6, and this time I decided to join in again.

This is the mosaic I posted to the group - I now have my partner info for this swap and have  started some sewing.

This was my initial fabric pull - a few colourful bundles of Anna Maria Horner fabrics.

I have now narrowed it down to this rainbow selection which I think will work well in the design I have decided on.

And I am now up to the quilting stage...

 Linking up with WIP Wednesday at Freshly Pieced.

Kirsten.

Super totes for Christmas!

I have spent quite a bit of time over the past few weeks sewing up some Noodlehead Super totes for some friends who are wanting to gift them for Christmas presents.

And I have finished doing the top stitching on the last of the bags so now they are ready to send off.

I was able to choose the fabrics myself so wanted to try out a few of the fabric combinations I had been playing around with recently.

The Juliana Horner fabrics are one of my favourites.

 I chose the camera print for the front pocket of this one as it is for a scrapbooker!

Really love the orange and grey together.

And some Martha Negley mustard feathers with Cloud 9 Koi canvas.

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday @ Quiltstory.

And these bags were also on my Q4 FAL list with the Finish - along hosted by Katy @ The Littlest Thistle.
Kirsten.

SMS Giveaway Winner!!

The winner of the Sew Mama Sew giveaway is comment #98...

Which belongs to Zura who blogs over at Sew Retro Chic! Congratulations Zura - I have just sent you an email:)

Thank you all so much for entering - I enjoyed seeing who your favourite designer/s were!

Kirsten.

Sew Mama Sew Giveaway Day!

Note: Comments now closed at 184 - winner announced shortly.

Hi and welcome if you are visiting my blog for the first time! 

Sew Mama Sew is holding their bi-annual giveaway again and this time around I have a FQ bundle of some Prints Charming fabrics.

 Prints Charming are an Aussie based team and I just love their bright and colourful designs! 

I am more than happy to post internationally too, so please leave a comment below. If you like, let me know who your favourite designer is. I really like Denyse Schmidt - here are a few things I have made from her lovely fabrics!

1. AMB AMH Chicopee feathers quilt, 2. Denyse Schmidt Plus (D+) quilt, 3. DS String star, 4. Denyse Schmidt Tripalong quilt, 5. Amy Butler Weekender Bag, 6. Daisy Mae Swoon, 7. SSM large item done!, 8. Kitchen mixer mini quilt - 9.5 x 10", 9. Swoon scraps pillow

• This competition closes at 5pm on Friday December 12 2014 PST which I think according to the time converter is 12pm Saturday 13th December 2014 here in Australia AEST. 
• The winner will be drawn randomly later on December 13th and contacted via email so if you think you may be a "no-reply" blogger then please leave an email address in your comment so that I can get in touch with you.
• And I usually try to reply to comments but it gets a bit crazy with the Giveaway Days so I may not get back to everyone, but please know that I read and appreciate all of your comments. Good luck!!

Kirsten.

"Chicopee" Weekender bag

I went away last weekend and got to use my Amy Butler Weekender Travel bag for the first time! I actually finished this bag a little while ago but just realised I hadn't blogged about it all.

The bag was made mainly from my Chicopee scraps leftover from my feathers quilt -  I even used the off cuts from the back of the quilt for the zip panel.

I made a smaller feather from the Anna Maria Horner pattern for the front pocket and used one of the fabulous panels from Cat and Vee for the other side

I made these small plus blocks to use as the pockets for my Weekender Bag, using the measurements by Rachael (Wooden Spoon) on flickr.

The only modification I made to the Weekender bag was to make the straps longer so they were about 60" (which was the WOF of the denim) rather than the 48" in the pattern. This was my first time making piping and it wasn't nearly as tricky as I thought it would be...

But I did manage to go use up a whole pack of denim needles sewing up this bag as there are quite a few layers to get through!

As well as the Weekender bag support group on flickr, there are plenty of great tips in the Weekender sew-along hosted by Love by Hand,  Modern Handcraft  and Chrissy at Sew Lux (who BTW made the fabulous version Camille had on her trip out here to Australia recently).

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday @ Quiltstory.
And this project was also on my Q4 FAL list with the Finish - along hosted by Katy @ The Littlest Thistle.
Kirsten.

"Leo" Super tote

Ok, so we are in December now and I have only just finished my mum's birthday bag using the fabulous Super Tote pattern by Anna @ Noodlehead.

Her starsign is "Leo" so that is an indication of how late this birthday present is!!!

But I so wanted to use some Cotton and Steel "August" prints for her bag and had to wait until my order for these beautiful fabrics came in.

I used the Hide & Seek in Green for the pocket along with the Diamondback in Teal for the front of the tote.

And teamed the August "Lion"  with some Cloud 9 organic Koi waves smiles in plum for the back and the recessed zipper panels.

This bag is quite deep so I lined the bag with a natural seeded cotton homespun so it is easier to see down to the bottom of it.

Hoping she enjoys using this belated birthday pressie! 

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday @ Quiltstory.

And this project was also on my Q4 FAL list with the Finish - along hosted by Katy @ The Littlest Thistle.
Kirsten.