Wednesday 30 March 2011

A Blogging Giveaway #8

I'm back at home with another sick boy, this time No 2 son has a high temperature...
And I found a lovely blog page called The Vintage Sheet Blog and they're having not one but several different giveaways! Well you know how I love giveaways!

Their 3 Scrap Pack Giveaway is sponsored by Amanda of Modern Marigold, she makes lovely clothing from vintage sheets. She is generously giving away 3 different Scrap packs to 3 lucky winners.


This giveaway is open to everyone!! Through April 5th, winner will be announced April 6th.

WIP Wednesday

I can't believe it's Wednesday again already! Where is the time going?

Finishes this week:
Fruitilicious Baby Quilt

A set of placemats using half square triangles

And a couple of minky taggies commissioned by friends

In Progress
Lily's Quilt Along, Dresden block

Stalled (awaiting help from friend due to size!)
Quilting and Binding King Size Black and White Bed Quilt

Stats
Finishes 2011:
Quilts 1
Quilted Items 6
Sewn Items 8
In Progress 2

In linking up with Freshly Pieced for this WIP Wednesday, don't forget to hop over there and see what everyone else is doing too!

My First Quilt Finish!!!

I have completely finished my first ever quilt! Yay!
The Fruitilicious Baby quilt

Made in the colorbrick style using lots of colourful, juicy, fruity fabrics and backed with bright red strawberries...yum!


The finished quilt measures 27" x 28"


It's going to a charity sale on Saturday in aid of the RNLI

How much should I ask for it or what would you be prepared to pay? I'd love to hear what you think.

Monday 28 March 2011

One Thing, One Week Challenge #7

I've been procrastinating... starting too many new projects and not finishing any! I love the piecing but am intimidated by the quilting and binding parts, so I linked up with Amy's One Thing, One Week Challenge to prompt me to get into gear. If you post your project, then a week later post your finished work you get entered into a giveaway... well you know how much I love giveaways!

Remember the placemats I was playing with made from blue and white half sqaure triangles?
Well my challenge was to quilt and bind at least one of them, and here's the pinwheels one all finished. Although the binding is atrocious! It's machine done and the stitch does not go in the ditch by any stretch of the imagination, so I may have to unpick and start again, but for now I'm using it as it is!

I just can't hand sew at all. To write, I'm left handed but my brain cannot compute certain things in the left hand so I use scissors, rotary cutter, knife and fork, mouse etc all with the right hand but sewing just doesn't seem to happen in any hand at all!!! So no hand binding for me at this stage.

For the next placemat, chevrons, I'm trying a different binding method where you cut your backing fabric bigger than you need, do the quilting, then fold the backing fabric over and bind that to the front of your project. Very handy for small projects like mug rugs and placemats apparently! I thought I had saved the page to refer to, but now I'm looking for it for a link and I can't find it...DOH! I remembered it was from one of the March Mug Rug Madness tutorials, see Knitty Bitties. How hard can it be right?

Wish me luck!

Sunday 27 March 2011

Sunday Sewing Space #1

I love looking at other peoples spaces, seeing their eye for colour or design, and seeing as my sewing space is fast becoming the place I spend the most time I thought I would look around for posts on other peoples sewing spaces (or rooms if you're really lucky) just to get ideas for design and storage of course (!?!) and look what I found...


Over at 13 Woodhouse Road there was a whole series of blog posts dedicated to exactly this subject! Sadly it's over now and I just haven't got enough of looking in other peoples drawers! So I thought I would share mine with you and if anyone else would like to participate you could send me all the details of your space and I'll blog it on a Sunday...

So here I am, going first... brace yourselves! I'm a very untidy, hoarding, clutterbug of a Cancerian!

Here is my sewing (dining?) table.
I have piles of fabric on the table, under the table, on chairs...

Two thirds of the table are taken up with my machine, fabrics and work in progress, leaving the far left for cutting.


Leading off from our dining room is the conservatory which has been filled up with clutter over the wintertime in the hope of doing a car boot sale. Can you see what's nestled there...my singer sewing machine table.

I'd like to bring it in and put it here

All the clutter on the floor in that corner has not been looked at for months so I reckon it can be liberated! And then I could replace the fabric covered chair for a fabric covered Singer table!

My table has a white marble top rather than the traditional wooden one and my Singer machine was only just given to me this Christmas, so they are not a true pair although the machine does date back to 1895, around the same time for this design of cast iron table frame. I've nestled the machine in the window for the time being so that it's out of the way of prying little people, but it also gives me a focus other than my neighbours fence!


My works in progress hang from a light fitting, in between wedding and baby pictures and above the drying washing! Although hopefully the washing will be dried outside now the weather is changing for the better.

Sorry you'll have to crick your neck for this one! (I can't seem to get the photo to load the right way round) I also share the room with the scalextric track, a dresser unit and the dog cage! And now you can see all the clutter in the conservatory - I should be ashamed!!!

Perhaps this post could be a 'before' post and I should make a concerted effort to declutter, tidy, organise etc and then do another 'after' post of the new and improved sewing space?

Saturday 26 March 2011

Show n Tell Saturday

I've pretty much missed a whole week of posting (and quilting!) whilst nursing No 1 son through his latest bug, but as my parcels started arriving from my naughty spending earlier in the week I decided to have a Saturday Sew-In and hopefully Sunday too!

I cut all my fabric for Lily's QAL and managed to sew it all together in a circle really quickly! Yay me! This is it laid out on a piece of white fabric.


Then I started auditioning the fabrics for the centre circle...

1. A, 2. B, 3. C, 4. D, 5. E, 6. My Kate Spain fabric choices.

I don't know about you but I prefer the white. If I turn this dresden into a baby quilt later I can applique a name or letter in the centre on the white...

Please feel free to comment (vote for) A, B, C, D, E OR WHITE if you'd like to! I'd love to know what you think.

Tuesday 22 March 2011

A Blogging Giveaway #7

Another stay at home with a poorly boy day... and woo hoo, more blogger giveaways!

Samelia's Mum is having a 'share the love' giveaway where you can choose between these two fabulous fabric bundles as your prize should you win.



I have opted for bundle 2...what would you choose?

Naughty Step for me!

Uh oh! Being at home nursing a poorly 5 year old with only the internet for company is not good for my bank balance!!!!

I was umming and ahhing about joining Lily's Quilt Along, although I brought one of the dresden plates last week I am nervous that it's a bit beyond my novice capabilities... So I have decided to join but only commit to making one block and see how I go.
Lily's Quilts QAL

I'm struggling to find places to buy the kinds of fabric I like, but ebay came up trumps with this Kate Spain Central Park fat quarter bundle! So this will be used for the QAL.

The same seller also had this fabulous monaluna sew happy bundle... and I have been looking for some fabric to make the weighted pincushion organiser!

I also popped this little FQ in while I was there, I've had a request for a pot holder in this material.

I was also very naughty on ETSY too... I stumbled across a lady having a destash and before I knew it I had the following in my cart;
Red Polka Dot Quilters Cotton: Malibu Monkies from Moda,
Alexander Henry - Maxfield - Modern Floral Fat Quarter,
Tools of the Trade Fat Quarter - Black and White x2 different designs,
Black and White Wavy Stripes Fat Quarter,
New Traditions Daisies Fabric - Modern Fat Quarter x2, yellow and aqua,
and Alexander Henry "Under the Sea" Fat Quarter! Ooopss!

Add that to orders placed for more wadding, stuffing and fusible interfacing and my husband will definately be putting me on the naughty step!

Monday 21 March 2011

March Mug Rug Madness & A Blogging Giveaway #6

There's not alot more than blog reading going on in my house today, unfortunately I'm nursing a 5 yr old with a very high temperature...

But... good news! March Mug Rug Madness has started!! As a quilting beginner I'm very excited about this as Mug Rugs give me a chance to learn new quilting skills without committing to a big quilt project.

The first Mug Rug Tutorial can be found at a cuppa and a catch up blog, here is a sneak preview!

And for a chance to win the featured mug rug go to twomoreseconds blog.

There's also a great giveaway going on over at OCD: Obsessive Crafting Disorder - great blog name! This fabulous FQ bundle of Kate Spain Fandango is up for grabs so get over there and enter!


Do you fancy an Accuquilt Go Baby? There's a giveaway going on over at Sunshower Quilts, so hop on over there too!

Friday 18 March 2011

A Blogging Giveaway #5

Don't you just love giveaways! I do!

Hop on over to from the blue chair



for a chance to win a lovely stack of about 75 charms


There are up to 4 chances to win so get over there quick!

Wednesday 16 March 2011

WIP Wednesday

My WIP Wednesday is actually a 'completed on Wednesday' - YAY!

I made a lovely baby taggie blanket for one of the mum's at school who has just had a bouncing baby boy.


The minky fabrics are soooooo soft and snuggly that I want one of these for myself!

This one is fronted in Whale Watching Tiffany Violet and backed in blue camo print


but I also have...


Urban Zoologie Owls in Bermuda! I've died and gone to minky heaven!!! It's so lovely I don't want to cut it!!!

See all the WIP Wednesday links here on the Freshly Pieced blog.

Wow! I have generous friends!

My lovely friend Ali's husband is an upholsterer and knowing that I'm seriously getting into this sewing lark she has raided his shop for me!


She turned up on my doorstep with a HUGE pile of gorgeous fabrics.


Including some great LIBERTY childrens fabric (the blue one below) which I might make a big laundry bag from.


I thought I'd make some cushion covers with some of the material and a purse from the GENUINE (!!!) pink suede, although I'll have to try on a not so valuable piece of material first!

Thanks so much Ali and Dale, you're so kind to me!

Tuesday 15 March 2011

A blogging Giveaway

Want to win fabric before it is in stores??
Well you are in luck today!!! Head over to Jaybird Quilts blog right now!

Treasures & Tidbits is the next fabric collection by Piece O' Cake Designs


It'll be shipping to stores this July... but you have the chance to win some now!!!




Three winners will each get a charm pack as well as one of Julie's new patterns.

You have till midnight EST on Thursday the 17th to enter!
Winner will be selected by True Random Number Generator
Giveaway sponsored by Robert Kaufman

Monday 14 March 2011

Manic Mondays #2

What a busy weekend! Practically no time for quilting at all, boo hoo! Kids swimming lessons, parties with balloon blowing magicians, unexpected family visitors...

On Friday I was learning about half square triangles and I'm now officially in love! They're so versatile and I only did them in one colour combination so far!

I was playing around with some designs for table mats

The pinwheels are definately my favourite so far


My eldest son (age 5) loves this chevron type design as it reminds him of road signs and he's car mad!


I wanted everyone to have a different design on their mat


I'm not overly keen on the diamonds but it's sewn together now...


I saw a lovely mug rug in a zig zag design and tried to have a go but once it was sewn together it was pretty wonky...perhaps too advanced for my beginner status???

And while the camera was out he wanted to take a picture of his latest trafic jam!

Friday 11 March 2011

Friday Finds on Flikr #3 - Mug Rug Madness!

Erin over at Two More Seconds is going to be hosting March Mug Rug Madness from 21-31 March, this is great news for me as a beginner because I can practice so many quilting tecniques without having to make a full size quilt. The 10 days will be full of tips, tutorials and giveaways!

I have posted her button on the right hand side of my blog if you'd like to link up.

In preparation for all this madness I've been looking at mug rugs on Flikr and here are some that caught my eye...


1. Mug Rug for quilthappie, 2. fini!, 3. Scrappy Mug Rug 3 Received, 4. Mug Rug Swap, 5. thanksgiving potholders/mug rugs, 6. My Star Mug Rug!!!, 7. Mug Rug Up Close, 8. Mug Rugs received from FlossieBlossoms, 9. Mid Mod Mug Rug, 10. Birdie Swirl Mug Rug , 11. Mug Rug Swap Round 2 for Emedoodle, 12. Mug Rug Swap - 1

Thursday 10 March 2011

A Blogging Giveaway

There's a great giveaway going on over at the Spun Sugar Quilts Blog. It's sponsored by The Fat Quarter Shop and you can win one of 3 $50 gift certificates!


Head on over there quick for upto 2 chances to win.
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