The Nieces' Christmas Quilts

All three are finally finished, have borders and are waiting quilting - so that is FIVE, yes FIVE quilts to be finished. EEK!
I am going to concentrate on getting the three Girl's Quilts done first - my two boys may have to wait till the New Year for theirs. lol

Can't believe that I finished the first one in September! Since then I dropped and broke my poor 40+ yr old machine. Thank goodness for ebay! We have also had all the usual childhood coughs and colds (and lack of sleep that goes with) that you get at this time of the year.

The first Post is here.

All the quilts use the same fabric and the patterns are from the Jelly Roll Inspirations book (with a few minor changes)

This one is "Pandora's Box"
For the centre squares I used my scrapes so each square is made up of 4 fabrics - not 2 as in the book. The border is some lovely shiny, lightweight denim/chambray that I bought from FabricLand with the intention of making myself a dress with. Luckily I accidently bought too much (looked at the yardage not the meterage) So I had just enough spare!

I forgot to take some close ups - but in a couple of the centre squares, There are some squares with the initial "B" on. I used some handkerchiefs that I picked up at a car boot back in the summer.

This one is on my earlier blog post
This one is called friendship braid in the book, but I actually used these instructions from The Moda Bakeshop. It isn't very clear in the photo, but I alternated colours in the rows. Purple/pink one side and Blue/Green/yellow on the other. I really tried to make sure that the strips were random but still managed to get clusters of the same fabrics together lol!. See if you can spot them!
This would be a great beginners first quilt - you literally are just sewing two strips together, like you would with a normal patchwork, but the results are much more forgiving! It doesn't show if you sewing is wonky or if your patches don't match up properly.


The middle border is made up of all my left overs. I had some wonky blocks from the other quilts so I cut them up too (that is why there are some diagonal strips).

I really want to have a go at free-motion quilting with these. Some nice Heart, Butterfly or swirls. But I am abit nervous about getting started now!

I ordered my wadding (decided on cotton in the end) from ASDing, as they sold extra wide (120 inch width) wadding by the metre. I can fit two quilts in the width, so need a lot less than if I bought the standard 90inch. I am very impressed with them. I ordered on the weekend, had an email Monday to say my order had been dispatched and despite the snowy weather, it arrived Wednesday!!!

So now I have no excuse for not cracking on! If you con't hear from me for a while - you know where I am lol!

The Little Man's Quilt

I would of liked to have left this alone - with no borders but the finished size was too small.

I had been umming & urring over what to do with it, trying various fabrics that I had to hand. Then I found this lovely car border fabric in my local quilting shop. (I had only gone in to buy some thread as it is the only place locally that I can still buy Guttermans since JL stopped selling it)

I think it finishes it off a treat! It was quite expensive - so I just bought enough to go along the longer sides so I couldn't mitre the corners. I have some other wider pieces with a landscape print on them left over. I may use them to make some pillowcases/cushions. I have got a plain red cotton for the binding on this one (and possibly The Little Fella's).

To quilt this one, I am going to "echo quilt" along the zig-zags, possibly in yellow thread, maybe red.

I have posted about this quilt earlier on my blog

The Little Fella's Quilt

This is the quilt I started on my Beginners Quilting Class at Tikki London. You can find my earlier post HERE. It finally has borders and is waiting to be quilted. I think I will quilt this one on the diagonal.

Hmm I am rubbish at the technical stuff -my photo is upside down and portrait.

Finally an update - but where to start!

OK lets start with this - a little gift I made for a friend in Germany.
It is a Nappy (Diaper) Pouch. I used the tutorial from the Noodlehead Blog. The only thing I changed was the strap. On the Blog she uses tape for the fastening strap, I didnt have any so made one from fabric. The fabric is from the Emergancy Bundles I bought from Fabric Rehab back in the summer.

I filled it with a wipes case and lots of little sachets and tester size bottles of baby toiletries. I hope it got there, as they haven't emailed me to say it arrived yet!

Hello peeps...

I am still here! Just been a bit busy lately.

The boys have bad coughs & colds. Although they always go down at night with no problems, one or the other has woken themselves up with their coughing. So then I have to go in & try to settle them before the other boy is woken up. That is usally when I am in the middle of my sewing! The Little Fella has been really suffering in particular and not sleeping well at all so I am often up a couple of times in the night. So some nights I have just vegged out in front of the TV with The Husband.

I have almost finished one more quilt however and have started another one. I am using two more patterns from my Jelly Roll quilts, "Pandora's Box" and "Friendship Braid" in the same fabrics as my last one.

I have also been job hunting so have had my CV to do as well as various searches online & applications. There is just not much out there for me at the moment. I have joined an agency and I am now just waiting for all my checks and references. So should be working again soon.

Hope your Christmas projects are coming along nicely!

My Best make so far...

Whilst browsing (avoiding the housework lol) through some of my favourite blogs, I came across a sew-a-long that Noodlehead was taking part in on The Train To Crazy Blog. The Little Cap Pattern looked perfect for my two little boys, so I ordered up the pdf from Etsy seller Leila & Ben.

The Little Man wanted an orange Giraffe on his so I used some orange from my FabricRehab emergency bundle. I then bought some cheap cord in Fabricland and used an (CB) Ikea quilt cover for the lining, which had an animal print on cotton flannel, so it will be nice & warm.

It came together so easily and from start to finish it took me around 2 hrs to make!!!!

The giraffe was my first attempt at raw-edge applique and was much easier than anticipated to do.
I am really pleased with how he turned out, but the Little Man complained that the Giraffe should be on the front of the hat and not the side!!! Luckily for him the hat is a bit small so The Little Fella will be wearing it. And I can make him another, slightly bigger one with the giraffe on the front lol!!!!

Where is the love????

First Christmas pressie (nearly) finished! Just waiting for my quilting class at Tikki London, this Saturday. Then I might actually get the three quilt tops that I have now completed, quilted up!

I set myself a budget of £30 for all the fabric and extras that I would need for three quilts. For the backing I managed to buy 2 double sized flat flannel sheets and a duvet cover at a car boot for £4 the lot.
The fabric for the quilt has come from some bundles that I bought from here, some vintage pillowcases and fabric pieces from the carboot and a couple of cottons from Fabricland. The fabric I have used for the border was my best ever bargain - I must of got around 6-7 meters of good quality 100% cotton fabric for only £1!!!!! Just have the wadding to buy now (ebay me thinks??)I used a pattern from this book called "Garden Trellis" This is the example from the book,
The instructions were easy to follow and the pattern was fairly straightforward and quick to put together.

However,
I found it very hard to seperate my random fabrics into lights & darks.
I was meant to make 8 blocks with every 4 strips but I often only cut 7 - not sure if it was my fabric or my cutting??
All my blocks turned out wonky - I dont know if it was my cutting, stitching, pressing or a combination of all them lol!!!! I was tempted to trim them, but then decided to work with them as the strips were cut on the diagonal they were quite stretchy.
When it came to putting the blocks together, I did not like how the quilt looked. So I put the blocks into pairs and that worked much better.
It took me ages to decide on the final layout- I had to avoid the same fabrics touching & spread out the dominant colours. I finally decided on a layout but couldn't find the camera, so left the blocks laid out on the front room floor for the night. In the morning I got up before the kids, and relaid the blocks out on my bed, thinking that they would be safe. However, whilst sorting breakfast out, I got that hmmm feeling when all is too quite, and found the little fella on the middle of my bed with patchwork blocks strewn all over the floor!!!!

So I have not found this quilt as much fun as the others and still not sure if I like it or not! but it is finished!!!!!!

My Little Man is 3!!!!

Where has the time gone???????

The Little Man was adament that he wanted a chocolate nee-nor cake, like Red on his favourite DVD Cars!
I normally do a basic Victoria sponge with buttercream and jam filling and a melted bar of cadburys on top but not this time!I used the WHOLE pot of red colouring paste! My hands were even dyed red, so was everything else that came into contact with the icing lol! But hey lots of happy (hyper) kids - mine included!

What on earth will he be wanting next year??? lol

Summer is over....

I spent most of the Summer in Hurley with the boys at Nanny's or Auntie's caravans so havent got much sewing done!

I started a pillowcase for The Little Man using some Disney cars fabric but I didn't manage to get it finished before he turned three last week :(I am also attempting to make some sort of storage bag for his BIG Mack and collection of cars as i am fed up of treading on them and tidying them away at the end of the day. I have some road map fabric that I bought a while back on ebay. I want the bag to open up into a playmat but I am making it up as I go along, hence it taking forever!

HOWEVER....I have finished the half-square quilt top for The Little Man - just have to add a border then quilt it.
I found some lovely bright yellow flannel sheets for the backing at a car boot, but will wait till I have done my "finishing" course at tikki london before I attempt quilting it.

I also still have The Little Fellas quilt still to finish that I blogged about earlier.
my inspiration for this quilt was from Red Pepper Quilts, if you scroll down it is the last quilt on the page.

To make my HST (half-square triangles) I used this tutorial

I used a variety of car themed fat quarters that I had been saving up. I measured and then divided the smallest fat quarter into 4 equal squares, then used this as my template. I only used half of each fat quarter in the end (around 8 FQ) so I have some fabric left to use in either a border or maybe some crayon rolls for gifts.

I LOVE the way it looks but the blue background was a twill from Fabricland that I chose for the colour but it stated "fabric content unknown". I don't like the texture of it at all! - a bit synthetic but hopefully once backed with flannel the quilt should still be lovely and cozy!

Woo Hoo!!! The Sailboat Top is finally finished!

And here it is being modelled by The Little Fella!

It is made from a man's extra large linen shirt bought at the car boot for 50p. The stitching details and buttons are in navy blue. I cheated and used a popper on the shoulders and just sewed the buttons on for decoration.
I had such trouble with the sleeves - which I didnt have last time I made this top. I used french seams for the first time ever, (using a book from the library for instuctions) and i also had to use bias binding around the shoulder seams (just dont look as it is not a pretty sight lol)

I made the top in size 18 months to 2 yrs, even though The Little Fella is only 13 months. From experience, if you are not using a stretchy fabric, you need to go a bit bigger for ease of getting it on/off. Also I wanted to play safe with the seam allowance for the french seams.

I am very pleased with it! (although I have no idea if it will survive washing lol)

GRRR

Just needed a place to vent!

I haven't had much luck with my sewing this week. I have been struggling with attaching the sleeves on The Little Fellas linen Oliver & S Sailboat shirt.

My Nan always said that you couldn't bake when you were ill or not in a good mood because it comes out in your baking & you end up with a disaster! Well I think the same can be said for sewing this week. I thought a bit of sewing would help me unwind but I have never had to do so much unpicking! Not great when you are working with linen.

The reason...
On Monday I left my School after 9 years service (although in the last three years, I have spent two on Maternity leave) and all I got was a bunch of flowers, that I am pretty certain someone drove to Tescos to buy at lunchtime. My head didn't even have the grace to present them to me, or speak to me at all on my final day! He is not a great people person & has his favs, I have certainly never been one of them. As I have only been working two days a week - Monday & Friday, I am pretty certain that they forgot Monday was my last day, as the school was breaking up Thursday.

I don't yet have a job for September. The Husband is stressing and not happy that I gave in my notice without having a new position, but this just confirms that I did the right thing.

This months car booty...

On MSE this week a few ladies had some lovely sewing boxes that they had found at carboots/ebay. This is mine. It cost me a whopping £1.
I was quite excited when I lifted the lid & saw a vintage 1950's pattern and some threads but I was dissapointed when I lifted off the top shelf. I was expecting to find some more goodies but it was just full of old birthday cards. I am going to sand it down & paint it. How fab is that pattern?Although hidden at the bottom was this box of old embroidery transfers which got me thinking...

... I often see old embroidered linen at car boots - tray cloths, handkies, table cloths etc. No one uses them anymore, so what about recycling them into a patchwork? So this week i looked out and managed to find this little lot...

An old 70's retro duvet cover for £1 and a pile of hankies & other linens which cost me £3 for the lot. The duvet I am going to (eventually someday) use to make myself a summer dress.

The linen???? Hmm.... not sure now if I am brave enough to chop it up -

look closely at the minute stitches. I love the tiny blue blanket stitched hem and red initials. How to I preserve this if I made it into a patchwork? I thought maybe using what they use for applique? Bondaweb is it??? Otherwise The Husband will not be impressed by another "collection" of mine! lol!

My next project????????

I bought this fabric from a carboot a few weeks back for £1.50. I think it must be sari fabric as it has a border, top & bottom. As soon as I saw it, I thought that it would make a great maxi dress, only I couldn't find a pattern without a zip. (I dont have a zip foot or a clue about doing zips) I have now found Burda 7555, which is meant to be made in a knit but I am just going to make a size bigger & add some shirring to the back bodice. Fingers crossed!

Buttercup bag

I made this from a tutorial from http://www.made-by-rae.com/

but I increased the pattern from A4 to A3. I couldnt work out what to do with the handle so I unpicked the sides, poked it in & then topstiched it in place. I also used heavy interfacing on the lining (calico) as the bag fabric is very thin. Also the handle is quilted. I added a couple of inside pockets, but they are a bit small for any real purpose other than to hold my car park ticket/Oyster card LOL!

I LOVE this bag. I use it most days as it holds my purse, phone & keys and even a bottle of water, yet still fits comfortably under my arm.

Beginners patchwork couse - Tikki London

I spent a great day (4hrs) at Tikki London, learning how to rotary cut, strip piece and machine piece and came away with a completed 16 square block.
It then took me only another 2 evenings to finish off my quilt top!


The course requirements were 5 fat quarters & a metre of background fabric... I had brought along with me some seaside themed fat quarters that I bought on ebay for 99p (plus postage) Together they clashed badly but the lovely shop owner helped me to chose the deckchair stripe, red & yellow dots and blue batik which draws all the colours together. (and I ended up with 6 fabrics instead of 5) I am really pleased with the final result.

I quilted my first quilt "In the ditch" but I am debating whether to quilt this one myself or wait till the next machine quilting class (at either Tikki or Creative quilting)

This one is for The Little Fella (my 1 yr old) I already have some car theme fat quarters to make one for The Little Man (2.9 months)

Oliver & S Sailboat Top

I used an old bed sheet that I bought at a carboot a few years ago for 50p. It was fairly straight forward to sew. I found gathering the sleeves tricky and my first attempt at button holes was very frustrating! (that is my blood from a finger prick by the button holes BTW). Also had to interface the facings as when I zig-zag stitched the raw edges, they went all out of shape.
.

However, I really don't like the stripes - Wished I had made it with the stripes horizontal but both The Mother & The Husband said vertical. Sadly it reminds me of a concentration camp uniform. Think I will dye it & take the sleeves up for The Little Fella as it is a bit tight to get on The Little Man. Oliver & S have a fantastic website with forums for their patterns & a few others have mentioned this, I think in a knit it would be fine but if you fancy making this pattern then I would go a size up if using a non-stretch fabric.

I have already cut it out for The Little Fella using an upcycled man's linen shirt. (50p carboot) and I have some fab retro cowboy fabric from ebay to make another one for The Little Man.

Finally - some sewing...

My first project

I made this from 2 flannel/brushed cotton "jelly rolls" from http://www.creativequilting.co.uk/ An old white flannel crib sheet and the green is a lovely fleecy/minky type material that started off as a fitted pram sheet that I bought at a carboot & then never used as the Little Fella was born in June and it was so hot he needed cotton. I backed it with a beige flannel cot sheet that was reduced to 97p for a pack of 2 in Mr T's. It was the perfect size. I followed http://www.crazymomquilts.blogspot.com/ tutorial for the binding instructions, but hadnt realised just how much fabric is lost when you join two pieces together so had scrape every last scrap to have enough!

It also folds into this cushion - its called a "Quillow".

I used the instructions in "Magic Pillows, Hidden quilts" by Karin Hellaby. Which is not really the best title for this book as it is BRILLIANT for beginner quilters. It has lots of simple instructions for putting blocks together quickly & easily. All the blocks are the same finished size so can be used together and there are lots of photos & drawings to give you ideas.

Some of my Cards...


I love polka - dots

Red

Gemstones

These are my only cards made by stamping - I saw the stamp in a magazine and HAD to have it. I think it is by Rubber Romance and is called something like Paige has a Present. I also have a second one...

My first ever post!!!!!!!!!!

Well here goes - my first step into blogworld!

I have just spent the last week trying to design my blog after spending hours reading the blogs of the lovely ladies from The Sewing Room at MSE! I noticed most of them had a "shabbyblog" so I copied! It was all a complete trial and error though!

I am going to attempt to upload some photos now...

These are some of my handmade cards, as I dont have any of my sewing just yet!