Tessa Basket

Now that all of my sewing for swaps is done, I managed to do a bit of sewing just for me - this is also known as #selfishsewing:)

 

First up is a Tessa basket using the pattern by Green Letter Day.

I cut out into my Cotton and Steel stash to make up some patchwork panels...

And have quilted them in straight lines as I loved how this looked when I made the Noodlehead 241 bag earlier this year for the Aussie bag swap.

This is such a cute basket and it will be the perfect storage place for my C&S stash. 

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday @ Quiltstory. 

This was on my FAL Q2 list for this year so linking up with Adrianne @ On The Windy Side.

Kirsten.

Sublime - my "MisDirection" quilt

Jess from The Elven Garden recently designed another stunning quilt named "MisDirection" which featured in the Quilt Con 2015 magazine.

And as Jess was wanting to release the pattern, I volunteered to be one of her team of pattern testers.

The fabrics I used were inspired by a bundle I won from my LQS Rainbow Patchwork - these prints are from Erin McMorris "Astrid" range (which BTW always makes me think of the Cold Chisel song "Goodbye (Astrid Goodbye").

So I chose a selection of B&W and lime prints all from my stash and used low volume/tone on tone fabrics for the remainder of the pattern. 

The HRT's are in a made in a similar way to HST's so the whole quilt came together quite quickly.

I quilted this by doing quilting in straight lines on my domestic sewing machine echoing the main design which gives the quilt such a great texture!

And bound the quilt in some groovy lime binding before taking this quilt out to do a quick little photoshoot in our town.

I spotted this arty wall a few weeks ago and thought the VW combi was the perfect backdrop for photos.

The "MisDirection" pattern can be found in the Quiltcon 2015 magazine and Jess will officially be releasing the pattern in March next year.

This was on my FAL Q2 list for this year so linking up with Adrianne @ On The Windy Side.

Also linking up with Fabric Tuesday @ Quiltstory.

Kirsten.

Fantastic Mr Fox pillow

The theme for the last X-factor swap on flickr was to use the classic English fabrics "Liberty". 

I decided to make a  Fancy Fox pillow using the pattern by Elizabeth Hartman as she originally used Liberty fabrics to make her Foxes.

I used some of the Liberty "Stile" prints which I was fortunate to win from Annabella a few years ago, along with some chambray for the pillow..

The Stile collection is based on Art Nouveau designs and the  Scottish designer Charles Rennie Mackintosh.

This pillow was quilted in a cross hatch design which is also a favourite of mine, and backed in some very British looking moustaches and top hat fabric.

I named this pillow Fantastic Mr Fox after the book of the same name which was written by the British author Roald Dahl as it was a favourite of mine when I was at school.

I have now sent this pillow off to its new home but I think I may have to make another one soon:)

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday @ Quiltstory. 

Kirsten.

Le Challenge - Single

The challenge theme last month at Le Challenge was "single" so I decided to make a "single" block using a "single" range of fabric.

I am planning on making a full size Norway quilt soon so when I saw this Norway mini made by Meredith (@mgrknits on IG) the other day I really wanted to give it a try.

I used similar fabrics to Meredith for this mini -  Elizabeth Olwens' Wildwood fabrics by Cloud 9 as the colours fitted the original design well.

Then quilted it in a dense cross hatch pattern with the mini finishing at almost 13". 

In hindsight, I probably should have left the block just as it was here though as I have totally mucked up the borders - I did use a 1/4 inch foot on my machine so not sure where I have gone wrong but as I was running out of time I didn't have a chance to go back and fix it:(

I only started sewing this on Saturday and inbetween going shopping with my daughter and watching my sons play soccer and doing some driving hours with them, I managed to finish this off on Sunday night. 

Linking up with Le Challenge.

And also linking up with Fabric Tuesday @ Quiltstory. 

Kirsten.

Cotton & Steel Mini Quilt Swap

For the Cotton and Steel mini quilt swap, I used a pattern called "True North"  by Peta @ She Quilts A  Lot. I met Peta this time last year when we did a workshop with Camille Roskelly of Thimbleblossoms when we were sitting at the same table together.

I thought the True North mini quilt pattern was perfect to fussy cut some of the prints from the C&S fabrics but I have slightly changed the original design to use a single piece of fabric for the points.

I quilted the mini in a simple cross hatch design through the Irish Chain elements of the quilt.

Another version of the block I made was used in a little zip pouch...

 ...with a mini Fancy Fox on the other side. I used one of the typewriters from the new C&S B&W collection for the label.

Just need to add in a few little extras and package this off to my partner.

Linking up with Fabric Tuesday @ Quiltstory. 

This was on my FAL Q2 list for this year so linking up with Adrianne @ On The Windy Side.

Kirsten.

Zoo animals - Giraffe

Kristy @ Quiet Play designs the most amazing paper piecing patterns, and each month she releases a new design as part of the Zoo animals collection. 

So far she has done a Polar Bear, Penguin, a Walrus, and a Pink Flamingo, and this is the giraffe I made based on the pattern for May. I used a yellow giraffe patterned fabric for the main part of the giraffe - still not sure if he needs a black felt nostril...?. 

Linking up with Kristy's blog and also with Fabric Tuesday @ Quiltstory

Kirsten.