Sew Cute Tuesday - Back To My Regular Schedule

As I gently re-enter my regular routine, I've returned to gift sewing.  You see, I worked my proverbial butt off over January, doing what we call "sleepover shifts" during the school holidays, so I could be home with the kids.  Once the kids headed back to school, I had a glorious ten days off work to get this house, and my sewing, back in to order!  So today, I'm sharing a few goodies I managed to get sorted.....

A few weeks ago, I got myself one of these fabulous Moda Modern Building Blocks sets.  I've seen some amazing quilts being made on Instagram (check out the hashtags #modabuildingblocks & #modamodernbuildingblocks) and was looking forward to making my own version.

When it came to making January's Handmade Birthday Club gift for Leonie, I pulled out my handy-dandy-block-set and found myself stopping at block number 7!  It's an 18" block, so the perfect size for a quilted cushion cover....

One of Leonie's many favourite fabric designers is Tula Pink.  So I rummaged through my stash and found some Acacia to pair with the most divine Deer print from her Moonshine range.  I was incredibly happy with the way the colours played together, and love the way one block can look many different ways....

I used the gorgeous Dove Aurifil in 40wt for the quilting, and did a 1/4" version of matchstick quilting.  The textural finish is awesome.  Leonie received her gift yesterday and thankfully loved it!

Once I'd ticked that pressie off my to-do list, I moved on to something for me!  I have been in need of a new purse for a little while, but was baulking at spending a small fortune on something that wasn't perfect.  So I reached out to some of my crafting friends, and asked for a pattern recommendation.  It was a resounding response - the Necessary Clutch Wallet!  I would be lying if I told you I wasn't scared to death about tackling this pattern, but it was worth the fear.....

Because at the end of a day and a half of cutting, reading pattern, ironing, reading the pattern again and again and again, and sewing - I had these two divine purses!  Now, if you've been around these digs for a while, you will know I DON'T DO FIDDLY.  Until now.  Yes, they were a tad bit fiddly.  And yes, I had to be incredibly patient.  Especially with the installation of the clasp hardware.  But I got there in the end.

As you can see - there is plenty of space for cards, money, receipts etc - and there's a great amount of space in the centre section there, you could pop a phone or some lippy in too!  So my beautiful purse now lives in its co-ordinating handbag.  And the second one was grabbed up a friend who asked if she could purchase it. Win, win!

This little make up purse is for a family member as requested.  I'm being very brave of late, and am cracking open my Tokyo fabric purchases frequently.  This Enchino print is just so darn cute with its geometrics and the zebra!

Another family member's request - this time from my youngest son..... When in class last week, he announced to his teacher he needed a pencil case, said teacher asked him why didn't he ask his Mum?  (Said teacher received a pencil case from me for Christmas!)

I whipped this pencil case up on Sunday, after a couple of days of him asking if I'd made it.  This is literally only the second time in history Cadyn has asked me to make him something!  His quilt was made a couple of years ago, so I thought I best strike whilst the iron was hot!  He very proudly took it to school on Monday and has his pencils stashed safely.

And that, my friends, is my past week of sewing....  What have you been up to this past week?

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#f*cktober - A Cushion For Eden

**Potty Mouth Alert**

A couple of weeks ago, Beth from Babymac wrote a beautiful blog post for her friend Eden.  Eden and Beth are REAL life friends - meeting through their blogging world, but becoming face to face friends instantly.  I don't know either of them in real life, but feel like I've gotten to know them somewhat through years of reading their blogs.  Especially Eden's.  Eden writes like there is no tomorrow.  Sometimes, literally.  I have commented on her blog hundreds of times over the years, especially last year when I was going through a rather turbulent time with a family member and her battle with mental illness.  Reading Eden's blogs - her feelings, her perspective, helped me infinitely in trying to understand what my family member was going through.  I would tell them this, tell them I was trying to understand and trying to help and that I felt like Eden was helping me too.  Through her words.

Sooooo, when Beth put out the call to help Eden get through a really shitty October, I was very quick to answer the call!  Beth re-named this month #fucktober.  With a hashtag - cos everything needs a hashtag!  Now obviously, I was going to make something.  But what?  This is what I came up with.....

 

One of the most divine cushions I've ever made of course.  Eden has a "thing" for feathers.  So I printed out one of Quiet Play's arrow patterns and then turned to my fabric for help.  After half an hour of trying to work out colours, it hit me - WORDS!  So out came all of my text fabrics....

 

And with painstaking patience, I fussy paper pieced words in to the pattern.  Not just any words, but ones which have power and meaning.

 

I used this sensational Essex yarn dyed linen and pulled out some spools of 12wt and 28wt Aurifil I was sent.  Experimenting with the denser threads was really good fun, and I'm happy to report that it worked beautifully in my sewing machine, with a 40wt thread in the bobbin!  The texture in the cushion cover is amazing.

I was also very happy to discover that I had enough of this divine feather print for the backing.  I think it's perfect.

So, I sent this little present off on its way last week with a little note for Eden - Words are weapons.  Eden uses hers for good.  I have no idea if you have received it Eden, or if you even read my blog hahahah.  But I really hope you like it and that it puts a smile on your dial.

If you'd like to send something to Eden for #fucktober, you can head over to Beth's blog post HERE for all the details.  I don't think Eden's local post office will know what's hit them!

Sew Cute Tuesday - Handmade Swaps

I've been remarkably busy this past week, and amongst the busy-ness, I've managed to get quite a few sewing projects finished!  I am in a number of handmade swaps and keep trying to come up with new projects I haven't made before so that not only am I learning something new, but my swap partner/gift recipient is receiving something original!

Last Friday's finish is this gorgeous little cushion.....

It WAS going to be a pin cushion, but even though I reduced the size of the pattern by 50%, 7" was still a bit big for a pin cushion!  So it became a gorgeous little mini cushion.  I used the Repository pattern from Good Golly Ginger.  I've had it downloaded for some time, and printed out regular size, but thought it would be cute in miniature - and I was right!  Lots of bright scraps used for the rainbow theme, and mixed with some Peppered Cotton

I used one of my beloved Black and White text prints for the backing with an exposed zip - my favourite kind of zip finish at present!

For my second trick, I made a trip to Spotlight this morning for some Insulbrite.  Insul-what?  The crinkly stuff you put in projects to make them heat proof.  You see, when I read Make Modern Magazine last week, I was very excited to see that Gina from Party of Eight had done a tutorial for her fabulous pot holder and tea towel sets!  (yes, I am easily excited some may say!)

I was lucky enough to receive one of these sets from Gina for my birthday in April, and was keen to make a set myself.  So I did....

And I am pretty damn pleased with myself!  I pulled out a bunch of Anna Maria Horner prints and some dark linen, then went to town!  You can find all the details of how to make this set, and the printable paper piecing pattern in this month's issue of Make Modern.

Now Gina is fabulous at hand sewing.  Me?  Not so much.  I prefer to use my machine for everything I can possibly get away with.  Which meant I used my FMQ to embroider "friendship" on the tea towel.  I used a 40wt Aurifil thread in the most divine shade of red.  You can't see in this photo, but there was a bit of pulling/tension in the fabric after I'd finished, so I think next time (yeh, guess what everyone's getting for Christmas??) I'll use some tear-away/stabilizer on the back.

I cut out some little hexagon templates and cut one in each size, with a little bit of fussy cutting happening!  Vlisoflex and Blanket stitching on the machine holds in all in place.

I love how the pot holder has turned out!  It was a little bulky to quilt, but definitely do-able!

And that, my friends, is a Sew Cute Tuesday wrap!  That's two handmade swaps out of the way, only five gazillion to go!

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T.G.I.F.F. - This And That

I have achieved quite a lot this week.  I finished off my quilt top for the Sew Kind Of Wonderful Blog Hop (you will have to be patient and wait until my stop on the hop next Friday), got all my bee blocks for QCA Bee #5 up to date, and am now a month ahead AND today whipped up this gorgeous cushion cover for an upcoming showcase at Tilda & Birdie on FB.

When I saw there was a Heather Ross Showcase coming up, I had to put my hand up.  I've been collecting HR for a little while now, and like a good showcase to make me think outside the box.  Well, clearly not too far out of the box - given it's another cushion cover - but colour palette wise, this is different for me!  I cut a gorgeous little charm of Sleeping Beauty from my original Far Far Away linen blend and then worked my way outwards.  I used my 9" Economy Block tutorial for the centre, and then added a couple more borders to bring it up to size.

I love the back of the cushion.  This Briar Rose print is one of the cutest ever!  And I even managed to match the print so well it doesn't look like it has been cut!  There IS a zipper in there :)

I kept the quilting simple.  Nice little straight lines of Aurifil #2024 on the white sections - giving it a gorgeous texture.  The pink print has a little buzzy bee meandering pattern.

And just because it's TGIFF, here are those bee blocks, care of my IG feed.....

Simple little butterfly blocks.

This not-so-simple maze block!  It did my head in for a little bit, but I do love the end result - even if it is rather "busy".  You can find the tutorial for it HERE.

And a very late night pic of the solids block for Carlie.  I'm not a solids kind of girl, and the only two solids I have in my stash that I really actually like were the pink and gold Art Gallery fabrics.  Carlie requested a sampler block.  So I browsed Pinterest and came up with nothing I really loved.  Instead, I started out with Quilt Jane's Nested Churndash, making it up to the 8.5" size, and then added a couple of borders to bring it up to 12.5".  A friend called it a "framed churndash".  Sounds good to me!

Anyway, that's it for this week.  Another busy week ahead.  I hope you all have a lovely weekend!

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Anything Goes Monday!

Whilst I haven't been blogging a whole lot lately, I have been incredibly busy here!  I've been working very hard on a couple of secret squirrel projects, as well as some not so secret ones.  Like these.....

My youngest, Chloe, turned six a week ago, and so began a Mermaid-fest!  My heart melted when I asked her what she would like for her birthday, and she replied "a mermaid doll and I want you to make me something, like a cushion or clothes or a blanket".  Bless.  So, this is what she got!

I adore her mermaid cushion!  Kristy from Quiet Play has done it again with another wonderful pattern.  I had loads of fun choosing fabrics, and I actually took it to my first ever sit and sew with a bunch of crafty bloggers - and gave a few of them a paper-piecing lesson! They all loved the choice for her hair, which is a scrap that was sent from one of my Wombat Stew buddies.

I loved quilting it too.  Lots of swirly wind amongst the clouds, gentle waves on the ocean and some scales on her tail.  All done with my beloved Aurifil.

Chloe is one very lucky girl!  This is what her bed looks like now!  The back two cushions and the purple one are all made by her Grandma - who is an amazing machine embroidery whizz!  And the Mermaid doll at the front is from Jacaranda Handmade.  Isn't she fabulous???

And this my friends, is Mr Fox!  I whipped this baby up for one of my daughter's friends.  Chelsea put in a request about a month ago, and I forgot.  She just happened to remind me a few days before said friend's birthday!  You can find the pattern by Shape Moth HERE.

This lovely bright paper-pieced star is for Alyce's month as Queen Bee for Wombat Stew.  She had very specific colours in mind, which always makes fabric pulls fun!  Loving how it turned out!

And this was a big surprise for Chloe the afternoon before her birthday!  I haven't made clothing for quite some time, so thoroughly enjoyed getting out my Ainslee Fox Disco Dress pattern, and making it mermaid special.

Double joy for Chloe on her birthday - it was "free dress day" as a fundraiser for cancer.  The theme was pink!  Winning!

Phew.  So that's a little bit of catch up from me.  There's loads more to come over the next couple of weeks, so make sure you keep up!

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Sea Breeze Mini QAL - It's My Turn!

If I'm to be honest, a mini quilt QAL was the last thing I had in my sights a few months ago, but who was I to knock back a spot on Gnome Angel's list??   I procrastinated for quite some time after buying the pattern, because I was trying desperately to figure out how I could make this little mini in to something that reflected my own style and my own "vision"??  Ok, does that sound stooooopid?  Anyway.....  After before-mentioned procrastination, I finally had that vision, and was grateful to one of the QAL peeps for producing a little colouring in platform for me.  Next thing, I found myself happily colouring in which lead to this little picture......

Doesn't really look like the Sea Breeze does it?  The next step after the colouring in was fabric selection.  This mini was never going to be for me - you see, I have a grand plan that my sewing room walls will eventually be filled with others minis, not my own!  So with the recipient in mind, I set out finding the fabric I would use......

Kind of bright yes?  And then it was translating the drawing and fabric in to an actual quilt top......

It was about here that I may or may not have done a little fist pump!

And here she is - in all her glory - my Sea Breeze Mini Quilt!

You like?  I LOVE!  Not only does it look unique because of the fabric layout, the quilting then changed the look of it also.

 

I used a number of Aurifil threads - #2605 for swirls in the grey negative space, #2810 for a little matchstick and pebble action on the turquoise and #2530 straight-lining around the pink "ribbons".

 

There are a couple of intersecting hst's that are not perfect, and I keep picking on them, but I really am very happy with how relatively straight it all is!

 

And just because there is a use for almost everything in this world - I've made this big mini in to a cushion cover!  I've found a neat way of making an exposed zipper look pretty, and am wrapt with the end result.

So - what do you think?  Did I take the secondary or third pattern within the pattern and make it work?  I think so!  Lesson of the day:  A pattern doesn't always have to be ONE pattern.  You can ALWAYS find a few others within.

If you're yet to get on board with the QAL - there's still plenty of time to grab your pattern and get moving.  This really is a one day project if you're focused and have nothing else to do!  Pop over to Gnome Angel and get the low-down!  You'll find the whole schedule of action and will be able to drool over everyone's creations!  Go!

There's also a progress linky right here, right now, so go ahead and link on up!

An InLinkz Link-up

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Making It Work - A Lesson In Patience

I've been channelling Tim Gunn this past few days (Project Runway for those of you scratching your head), and have babbled "make it work" on more than a few occasions.  You see, my darling Bernina came very close to being thrown through my wall on Friday, after repeatedly snapping threads and just being an all round biatch of a machine.  After the 542nd thread snap, I snapped.  And turned to my IG friends, asking for advice......  Which lead to Gemma texting me instructions to do this......

 

After holding my breath for a while, I managed to gently dust the machinery and dislodge a little thread in the uptake thingamajig, then put it back together again.......  It worked for a whole five minutes then 

SNAP!!!!

I called the dealer I bought her from (in Tasmania) and walked through some trouble shooting, and she gave me the bad news that I'd need to take her somewhere to be looked at.  Thinking tension discs or a burr on the bobbin case.  Sigh......

Anyway, I picked up my bottom lip and rang my Mum.  Drove around there and picked up this......

 

Good old faithful!  I used this for quite some time before buying my own Bernina, and it's an absolute work horse.  HOWEVER....  it has no quilting extension table thingy, nor a walking foot, nor a zipper foot.  Hence, I have had to make it work.

 

My to do list this week is literally packed.  And I was so depressed about my missing baby, I couldn't bring myself to sew.  Kicked myself up the bum this morning and got out my big extension table and just sort of sat it there.  Worked out how to drop the feed dogs and whacked on the fmq foot and just gave it a crack.

 

And ta-daaaaa!  Look, it's far from perfect, but given there's no needle down function, the fmq foot is not actually genuinely made for this machine and the dodgy way I had the extension table set up - it's pretty damn good!  I had this cushion cover top finished a few days ago - it's a birthday gift for one of my youngest daughter's friends.  M is for Mitchell!  I pulled out a bag of scraps leftover from my SON's QUILT, which I knew eventually would come in handy!  The letter M is from Quietplay's alphabet patterns, and is super easy.

 

I literally started in the middle of the cushion and worked my way outwards.  There's some wonk in those "organic" straight lines!  But I am actually very impressed with the consistent stitch length - that's one tick!  I used my go to thread - Aurifil #2024.

Once I got the the white space, I tried a little pattern I've seen around, and just love it!  I can see myself using it on a bigger scale on quilts.

I'm not even showing you the back!  Let's just say that inserting a zipper without a zipper foot is not my forte!  But hey - six year old boys are not likely to criticise?  I hope?

All in all, it has been a very interesting experience.  I have learnt patience in my quilting.  After I'd finished this cushion, I kept going and finished off two other cushion cover tops for Collaborate For A Cause.  And the quilting is actually incredibly neat and as I said before, the stitch length is perfect.  So there's a lot to be said for quilting with anxiety!  I am however looking forward to a phone call from the service guy telling me I can pick up my baby!

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