sailing away...

guess what? i made another cushion! they're just so 'quick' and fun to make in the middle of big quilt-y projects! when i saw jessies amazing quilt i knew i had to make the block, but i didn't want to make a big quilt, so a cushion was the obvious answer.

i went to my fabric closet and pulled all the navy fabrics i had, it such a good colour, it might even be replacing my favourite aqua colour! i paired them with a small blue pin-dot on white, which was actually surprisingly hard to find, i think it just adds to the cuteness factor.

the block is mostly made up of HST's (half square triangles) and i found that i don't totally hate trimming them, dare i say i found it quite enjoyable while *singing* loudly along with frozen! the four blocks themselves didn't quite make my cushion cover big enough, so i added borders in the most prettiest heather bailey check/plaid-type fabric (along with navy, plaid is quickly becoming a favourite)

*i love sunspots* a bit of loop quilting (to look like waves) and a linen envelope back and ta-dah! it's finished! i have to say i'm soo happy with it!!

this cushion is for sale and listed in my etsy shop

you can find the cushion cover here

navy and white nautical cushion cover

linking up with fabric tuesday at quilt story

rachael x

the sunday night feeling

last week was one of those weeks, the type where you just want to switch your clock off and hide and that is exactly what i did. the whole week had the 'sunday night feeling' and was all just 'blah!' i took the week off school college, because to be honest i just couldn't face it! sooo i sewed, i couldn't settle on one thing so i just sewed 'ideas' and listened to this

i went through my scrap bag and just started pulling out random fabrics, cut them into 2.5inch squares, sewed them up to become mini patchwork, which then became...

sweet dreams sleeping teddy, i don't know if i love him but i think he looks cute all snuggled up in his little patchwork quilt! after making him i thought he needed a 'matching' cushion so introducing...

mr. teddy in blue and white striped pyjamas along with his teddy bear! can you tell that 'sleep' was on my mind? i think they are really cute as a pair and they are available in my etsy shop

after the cushions i wanted something a bit different, something that involved maths and really hard thinking, enter the fabric box

now i know there are lots and lots and lotttss of tutorials and patterns out there for fabric boxes but i wanted to come up with my own pattern/way of doing it, i will say it involved many prototypes and even more tears, but i am so so happy with the result and so happy that i did it by myself :)

also last week a lovely customer asked if i could make her some cushions and one of my quilts, i love cushions! so of course i couldn't say no, want to see?

it is absolutely delightful to work with voile, it is just soo soft, i finished the cushions of with some perle cotton hand quilting, i think we might need a pair for our house!

oh i also indulged in a little bit of fabric purchasing in the #greatukfabricdestash on instagram (boy! was that fun!) and i got a cotton blossom jelly roll by bonnie and camille, i am beyond excited!!

heres to a good week!

rachael x

finish-a-long quarter 1

sooo i'm sure you've all heard about the finish-a-long, well this year katy over at the littlest thistle is hosting it and i've never linked up before (and i'm just sneaking in at the last minute as today is the last day to linkup), so i thought i might as well give it a whirl...

number 1 on my list:

my low volume, pink quilt, i have had this half quilted f-o-r-e-v-e-r!! and i really want to get it finished, i just need to finish quilting and bind, not that hard, right?

number 2 on my list:

when i was tidying my 'sewing room' i found this panel i cut out ages ago, to make a cushion for my brother (he's 22) and now since he is moving to england it seems like a good excuse to actually finish it!

number 3 on my list:

i started this quilt just before christmas as i wanted some 'me' sewing time, it just needs pieced, basted, quilted and bound, simples :) i really want to get this one finished, cause i have a flannel backing waiting, perfect for all the cold weather...

hmm it's a very short list, but i thought i should ease myself in gently in the first round haha, so let's see if i can complete my 3 items before april. have you linked up??

rachael x

pinch, punch emm second of the month

it' recap time! 2013 is over! and can i just say thank god it is! it was not a good year, but i think that's because it was an ODD number year! it was a mix of good and bad, quitting my job = bad, starting blogging and the floral suitcase = good and i just wanna say the blogg-y/quilt-y world is so wonderful :) so last year was swings and round-a-bouts.

recap time means collages! i can hear you all whooping! i know everybody says this but it really has been fun to look at my quilt-y makes from the past year, i sew-ed a lot more than i thought i had, like 11 quilts - that made me smile :)

2013 was the year i started craft fairs, boy was that fun! (that's not sarcasm, honest) as i've said before i really have learnt a lot, i'm thinking of doing a series of post for anybody thinking of doing a craft fair and want to know some more about it :)

... and i think we can all agree that it was the year of the cushion! (these aren't even all of them) cushions are a great way to get all the creative ideas bouncing around your head out in a quick, fun way and aren't as time consuming as a big quilt.

so it's a new year which means resolutions, here are a few of mine:

- blog my progress and finished quilt-y items more 

- to carry a sketchbook and doodle all my little ideas

- be more adventurous in my quilts and fabric choices

- take better photos

- learn to use photoshop and illustrator

i think that's enough to be getting on with this year, what are your resolutions? are you making any?

HAPPY NEW YEAR

and here's hoping for a great EVEN number year!

rachael x

a wall jumped out behind my car

yay! its monday and i have no college!! and it's (kinda) sunny! double yay!!

i may have got a bit carried away with the a beautiful mess app

you may have noticed at the top of my blog that a new little button has appeared, yes i have opened an etsy shop! see i would like 'the floral suitcase' to be my business, it's like soo scary putting that out there, but i'm slowly learning not to be scared anymore. i also have a facebook business page, i don't use normal facebook but it is soo fun for business purposes.

i regularly attend craft fairs to sell all my handmade items and i have to say i love doing craft fairs you meet soo many great people and they also get your 'business' out there. when most people see my stall they either think i didn't make all the items or i'm just doing this as a hobby, which makes me feel kind of stupid. by telling you all this i'm hoping it will give me the courage to tell people that no it is not just a hobby but that it is my business!

my most popular items are my animal cushions and these aren't even all of them, i have loved making each one and making them all a little bit unique. I have been running my business for a few months now and i love everyday of it, some days are harder than others but it's worth it to be working at something that i am passionate about and want to do, i'm still in the early, learning stages but each day i ;earn something new and have so many great people helping, and supporting me through it all :)

probably my most favourite cushion ever!!

rachael x

p.s this post took me 3 hours to write

penelope the dinosaur

another craft fair finished and i have to say i LOVED it, it really was a brilliant day!! i just love the whole craft fair experience!
this was a new market the fine and dandy market and it will be held in the crescent arts centre on the last sunday of each month. it was run by the amazing kelli, she was just fantastic and created such a lovely fair.
everyone you meet is so wonderful at craft fairs, it's not even about selling (well it is haha) but that's only half of it, it's about the other crafters that you get to talk with and to learn new stuff.
actually that's not entirely true the absolute best thing about doing a craft fair is all the items you get to buy when you're there.

pretty fabric!

first up is my absolutely, totally fan-dabby-dosey picture from Smudge Illustrations i fell in love with her work in st. georges market in belfast and i just had to commission an original, you should go and visit Ciara at st. georges to see how brilliant her work is!! i even think i'll have to buy another original  :)

and penelope the dinosaur from the lovely Pictureofgrace. now i'm 21 and don't really need a purple dinosaur but she was just too cute to not come home with me. penelope is my sewing room buddy and you'll find her wandering around all the fabric :)

i also had the nicest vanilla cupcakes from the little cupcakery ni i didn't get a picture of them because they were so delicious i just had to eat them straight away!!

i'll be back at the fine and dandy market next month too! yaaayyy!!

rachael x

i have a hole in my sock

i was planning on 'blogging' on something else today and then the post came!! aahh the post came :)

i always forget that in a swap you get something, does that make sense? well anyway my pillow arrived from my PTS10 swap partner and aahhh!! i'm so lucky, wanna see??

it' soo pretty!! and soo me!! thank-you, thank-you thank-you to jessica from a little gray thank- yoouuuuu :) i really love it, it's so perfect!!

just look at the itty-bitty piecing and appliqued circles and the quilting!!

this is the back of the cushion, i said i loved pink and wow is this pink, it's totally amazing, i'm so in love with the whole cushion :) :)

along with my oh-so amazing cushion jessica also sent a few wee extras, a really cool circular pot holder, it's so cool, it's circular!! and some lovely fabric which is always a bonus.

again jessica thank-you, thank-you, thank-you i completely adore my cushion :)

rachael x

p.s i was hoping this one was mine :)

rachael stop eating buns!

i have to say i am shocked at how many people have entered my giveaway, i thought maybe like 10 people would, but wow! oh and thank you to my new followers i seriously giggle every time the number goes up :)

after finishing my last class with the very talented judith i just had to sign up for anoter one, this time foundation piecing so over the past 5 weeks i think i have finally got the hang of it after much time spent with my seam ripper.

here is my flying geeses pillow all foundation pieced by me! i'm so happy with it, i really didn't think i could do it

it's quite easy when you get the hang of it and figure out how to think backwards. ooh the dots, i love polka dots and the geese seem to suit them. along with foundation piecing i learnt something else as well, wanna see?

it has a zipped back!! i've been scared of zippers for eons, but not anymore, my fear is gone, im even going to try zippered pouches, yay!!

now to find the perfect spot so i can smile at it everyday.

rachael x

linking up with crazy mom quilts

heffalumps and woozles

what do you do when you've lost your seam ripper in the green sofa of doom?

you go searching for it and find bondaweb instead and completely forget about the seam ripper and just accept that it is gone forever!!

bondaweb is always fun to play with, but it first has to give me a headache trying to remember how to use it, i can't work backwards.

have you read the suitcase kid by jacqueline wilson? there was a toy rabbit called raddish in it and this was the inspiration for my cushion cover.

the border fabric is the new anna maria horner linen, its great to work with. i embroidered little clouds to add to the cuteness factor.

while the bondaweb was out i decided to make another and you can't go wrong with a 'home sweet home' cushion

sketchy applique is so fun i really like the 'primitive-ness' of it. so two more to add to the craft fair pile, which is fast approaching and i've still got loads to do, eek!!

rachael x

linking up with crazy mom quilts 

liberty

it's kinda fun not sleeping you get to a point where everything just becomes 'squirly' its interesting and did i mention fun!! on one of my sleepless nights i decided to pull out my liberty fabric and some linen and see what happened, with no real plan i started cutting i ended up with log cabins, my sleepy brain thought was quite surprised

i hardly ever use my liberty fabric it really is so soft and perfect paired with the linen (if i do say so my self) i ended up cutting enough for two cushions, so i made another one

very similar only on this one i switched the order. i did minimal quilting just stitched in the ditch (hey that rhymes) so as to go with the simple design, they both are about 19 inches a good size to be super comfy (that's if they're allowed to be sat on)

another tick off my list and they're all ready to go to the craft fair, all my sewing is craft fair sewing at the mo so prepare yourselves for lots and lots of pictures :) yaayy!!

oh aren't they pretty together??

linking up with crazy mom quilts

rachael x

*oh and i've decided that my titles will have absolutely nothing to do with the post, for instance todays title is a brand of yoghurt...

cut. pin. sew. repeat.

i am a procrastinator or maybe i'm just easily distracted, because this week i have done anything but sew. For instance i know now that i have 118 pins, that i want to redecorate my 'sewing room' in the colours aqua and white with splashes of pink (i love pink) but who knows if i'll ever do it without being distracted, i also found fabric which i had no idea i had, which makes me think i buy to much fabric haha.
so today i sat down at my sewing machine and sewed and i didn't get distracted, yay!!

my second cushion from judiths class. on this one i used satin stitch to sew around the letters, its harder than it looks, i'll not show you a close up because my stitches are just a teeny bit crooked. again i had to do the 'sketchy' writing its just too much fun not to do it, but boy did it take me forever to come with what to write, its says cut, pin sew repeat. these cushions are slightly addicting i have another one just sitting to be sewn up. 

i have a thing for checks, i love me a good checked fabric and navy polka dots, match made in heaven. my mum took my last cushion, so this one will be for me it sits happily in my room. i have 4 quilt tops that are waiting patiently to be quilted, my plan this weekend is to get this one finished (unless i get distracted)

these are the colours i'm going to quilt it in, i think they're very eastery, good for easter weekend. can you tell i edited it in picmonkey? i could seriously spend hours playing around with all the different filters, so fun.

so are you easily distracted/ a procrastinator? 

rachael x

linking up with crazy mom quilts