September Round Up......Late As Usual!

As these school holidays limp to an end (TWO MORE SLEEPS!!!), I've accepted that I've been a little lack lustre in terms of getting things done when they're supposed to be!  BUT - they do get done - eventually.  Like my September round up!

I've managed to finish a few quilty projects - World Tour Patio quilt, which was a customer order; My Artist's trading cards, which I'm still yet to do a complete blog post about, as we are still waiting for one of our recipients to receive hers; Refractatorium wall hanging quilt; Polaroid bee block for QCA Bee#5.

I also got back in to the swing of things, dressmaking wise.  Whipped up these three little frocks, and about six more not photographed!  All for customers - which makes my heart sing!

And that's all folks!  October is already shaping up to be a big one!

I'm linking up with Fresh Sewing Day - You can too!

Fresh Sewing Day - August Round Up!

I think this is only the third time I've done a monthly round up, and I must say - it's really great to do!  I look back at all I've sewn and try to work out how on earth I did it????  But - I did!  August - Oh what a month.....

I had both of these quilt tops finished end of July, but received my SWOON back from the quilter and finished quilting and binding the CIRCA!  I'm still in love with both of them.  The Swoon sits happily on the end of my bed and the Circa is still for sale on my FB Page.

The PINK POSY cot quilt will be up for sale at The Handmade Library's Pretty In Pink Showcase on the 11th of September.  And the Wonky Star cot quilt will be hand delivered to my gorgeous BFF on Thursday - Ssshhhhhhh......

This darling T CUSHION was gifted to a very dear little seven year old.  The big One Direction fan was over the moon!

An iPad cover for my beloved - which was too small because of the hard case he has attached to it.  My first ever mug rug for the Mother In Law was received happily and August's Wombat Stew Queen Alyce will have the two Kimono blocks very soon!

I made a spur of the moment fabric purchase (Ummmm, hello - aren't all fabric purchases done that way?) and bought five yards of Ghastlies (as you do).  Ms Chelsea was thrilled with her dress and thankfully my customers were too!  I've just finished a second one today, and have another two orders to get through.

August was a frock kind of month!  These four were all for gifts.

And this darling Spring frock is for sale in the Spring Fling Showcase, which ends tomorrow night.  If it hasn't sold by then, I'll pop it up on my page.  I think Ms Chloe is quietly hoping it doesn't, so she can steal it!

Soooo, what did you get up to in August?  Are you as exhausted as I am?

I'm linking up (late) with Fresh Sewing Day - You can too!

Fresh Sewing Day - July Round Up!

It would be fair to say that I've had a pretty big month!  In fact, it's the biggest July I have EVER had in my life!  Apart from all the interesting side stories happening, I managed to sew up an absolute storm hurricane.  It truly is amazing how much you can get done when you put your mind to it AND desperately use sewing as therapy!  Here's a little old round up for you......

Clockwise from top left: My first Fat Quarter Shop Mystery Block of The Month - I forgot to post about this one!  Admittedly, it is not my usual style at all - but I'm going to stick with it, and at the end will have a lovely little semi-traditional quilt to give to someone!

My 9 Patch Mash Up Cushion - boredom with a block got the better of me, so I tried something different, and showed you a little tutorial of sorts.

Goldilocks & The Three Bears paper pieced block - for Gina's month in our Wombat Stew Bee.

A sweet little Field Study Pinnafore ordered by a friend for a gift.  I love it when my customers see something someone else has ordered, and have to have one themselves!  I now have two more of these beauties to make - in the blue colour way.

I somehow managed to start AND finish my Swoon quilt!  I'm still wondering where and how that happened?  I think someone must have slipped me something in my cereal for a few weeks??  I am VERY pleased to say that this humungous quilt arrived back on my doorstep this morning, from Jeanette, who did the quilting for me!  Come back tomorrow and you will see the completely finished quilt!  Eeeek!

And just because I bought new fabric and had to sew with it - I also started and finished this divine Circa quilt top!  The quilting was completed yesterday, and today I did the binding.  Another big reveal for tomorrow!

I also snuck in plenty of repairs and alterations for work - the only people I will willingly do that for!  And made a couple of gorgeous dresses for my girls.  It's certainly been a productive month!

Hello August!

I'm linking up with Fresh Sewing Day over at Lily's Quilts - You can too!

A Fresh Sewing Day Debut

After weeks of procrastination, I pulled out some fabric on Saturday to start on a gift for a very close friend of mine.  And then I changed my mind - a million times over.  So I cleaned the house.  And then when I was ready to think about starting again, the teenager called to say he'd stacked his BMX and had cut himself open!  I relinquished the thought of getting anything done for the rest of the weekend as I sat watching him get stitches whilst he played on his phone.  Yep, times have changed.

Anyway, today I pulled out the wonky star pieces I had managed to cut out, scrapped the other bits I'd started putting together, and used the KISS method (keep it simple stupid).  

Because I'm hoping this cushion will give some comfort to the recipients, I made it European size - approximately 23" square. So it's a big mumma!  The best part about that is there was LOTS of room for creativity on the free motion front.  And this is how it turned out.....

I decided on swirls, and added four small stars to represent family members.  I really enjoy this kind of pattern, it's quite cathartic, and for me - very unplanned and fluid.

I love the way the silver/grey Aurifil thread shines off the navy blue fabric.  Yes, it does show up any "imperfections" in the quilting, but the shine makes up for that!

My next dilemma came with the backing fabric choice.  I had originally chosen a navy and white chevron, but then found this Michael Miller that's been sitting on the shelf for a year or so.  I put it out to my IG friends, and the lovely Alyce voted for this - so that it was!  I'm soooo glad I went with it!  It's also bound in the same print.

I've never been nervous as such about gifting my handiwork, but this is a really special gift, for a really special person (which for obvious reasons I can't go in to now, in case they're reading this post!).  And I really am just hoping it's okay.

So this is day one of the school holidays - and I managed to get this done.  Hooray for play dates and quiet children.

Today I'm linking up with Lily's Quilts - Fresh Sewing Day - for the first time!  If you're new to my blog, have a look around and feel free to leave me some feedback!