Spicing up the kitchen……

It seems like I have a constant stream of sewing commitments that I need to finish off at the moment. I’m such a glutton signing up for all these quilting bees and swaps but I really do enjoy taking part in the groups, coming up with new ideas to make plus of course its fab when you receive a fabulous item from someone else.

This weekends challenge is to make my items for the Spicing up the kitchen swap. In this swap I need to make a sewn item for someone elses kitchen. I bought some fabric for the swap weeks ago but with everything else I have on I hadn’t really got very far with turning it into anything for my partner.

I’ve been studying my partners likes, dislikes etc and decided that I would make a fabric and linen table topper. I could see that my partner likes the scrappy patchwork look so I went for it! I cut up all the fabrics in my Just Wing It charm pack and pieced them together to make a simple patchwork middle and borders (removig some colours that my partner said she didn’t like).

I added some of the fab teal linen I bought from Seamstar a few weeks ago…..

Today I spent the morning straight line quilting the table topper…..

Before you know it I had a finished table topper.

The proportions aren’t perfect. I should probably have gone for something a bit thinner in width but at least with this size there is plenty of space for putting out the items in the middle of the table.

I used the same jade green plain fabric on the back and for the binding as it coordinated really well with the top.

 

I may make some other smaller bits to go with this but I really hope my partner likes this…if she doesn’t I’ll have it!!

Brit Quilt finished and a new skill learned

It’s been a busy weekend here at the Palace whilst I’ve been trying to finish off my Brit quilt. You may recall from last weekend that I had appliqued the top and added a scrappy border but I still needed to decide whether to do add another linen border and how to quilt it.

During the week I had feedback on here and flickr which led to my decision to indeed add another border of linen….I may have made the linen border a little larger than I should have but I think on reflection it was the right decision – so thank you everyone who made the suggestion.

For the quilting I had in mind to do some pebble quilting after watching a demo on Handmade by Alissa. I was also pointed to some other blogs with demos/instructions which made me think that I could have a try. On Friday I took some scraps from the quilt and made a couple of little samples. It was actually easier than I thought it would be to get a reasonable looking pebble effect – I’m sure the experts out there would see plenty of flaws but I was happy enough with what I managed to do.

Needless to say using the technique on the actual quilt turned out to be more challenging as you have to manoeuvre the quilt in a circular motion…….however I did enjoy doing it even if it left me with some rather sore shoulders.

It did take me a couple of hours but I was really pleased with the final effect. The quilting made the applique pieces stand out and also added some rigidity to the quilt.

There were only two final pieces needed then - firstly some quilting for the border…….straight lining quilting seemed the most appropriate.

Secondly a scrappy binding. The binding itself was fine but I was extremely irritated as the corners just wouldn’t go right. I’m normally really good at the corners but these were a bit of a disaster…I think because I made the binding a bit wider than normal I didn’t leave enough room to turn the binding around the corner properly. It was passable and I left it on but didn’t meet with my own personal standards!! I did try to undo some of it but I realised I was going to make it worse and risk spoiling the quilt top.

So what do you think of the finished quilt?

I’m really pleased with how its come out and I just hope my partner loves it as much as I do. I have learnt a number of new techniques whilst working on this so I feel like I have pushed my quilting boundaries.

I may have to make another one of these for my own house as I have a feeling it would look perfect up above my mantlepiece – I will have to include an inquisitive little bird like this one as it reminds me of the cheeky little birds pecking in our vegetable patch!!

A summer owl snuggle rug…..

I’ve been quiet for the past couple of weeks. This wasn’t because I have been having a break from sewing but is in fact because I haven’t had access to write any posts because of being away working plus visiting my husband’s family in Edinburgh. Time for a catch up……

I received a fabulous package of fabrics from Fabric Rehab a couple of weeks ago which included a piece of the Anna Kell Urban Zoologie owl fabric in the green/blue colour option. I had intended to make some bags with the fabric but the minute Cupcake Princess spotted the owls she wanted them. She really loves owls and turquoise blue is her favourite colour.

I searched through my box of fabrics and found some other fabrics which coordinated with the owls and set to work on making a new snuggle rug for CP She has the flannel snuggle rug I made for her last year but now it’s getting warmer it is a bit too hot for her so a lighter weight one seemed like a good idea.

I could have put together some intricately pieced top but in reality she loves the owls as a strip of fabric and would be just as a happy with a simple pattern. I’m not one to make work myself so simple sounded good to me……let the fabrics do the work rather than me!

I quickly pieced together the top, quilted it and partially attached the binding….before taking it in the car for our long journey to Edinburgh so that I had something to keep me busy for all those hours!

I didn’t have a chance to take a picture of the finished quilt until yesterday……I’m really pleased with how it came out. It’s really bright and summery. It also has a sense of being a childs quilt but isn’t childish (if that makes sense).

I really love the owl fabric…..you have to look for the evil looking owls that are dotted about.

Dont you just love those owls!

Cupcake Princess has already started to use the quilt and it came in handy last night when we had a barbeque and it started getting a bit breezy.

Spring has sprung….in the form of a quilt!

Last week I gave you some sneak peeks of a new quilt that I was working on. As you know I am taking part in the doll quilt swap. I finished the quilt that was my initial idea weeks ago but I’m not convinced my partner is going to like it. I really thought it would be just right when I was working on it but I have had increasing feelings of uncertainty ever since.

A few days ago I had the sudden urge to try making something completely different and see whether it took me to a better place. I used fabrics from Amy Butlers Soul Blossom range  plus coordinating pink plains. I love some of the individual fabrics from the range but upto now hadn’t actually used it to make anything but I thought it would be perfect for a spring quilt. Following a few hours of contemplation and flicking through magazines/books I decided to go for a really scrappy look and made a large wonky log cabin type block. Once pieced I hand quilted it following the outline of the squares in a kind of spiral.

I’m really pleased with how it came out as it has such a bright spring feel about it.

When I added the binding I also attached some of my new Patchwork Queen ribbon to the back - I am more than happy to put my name to the project!

So the big question now is which quilt should I send to my partner…..the zig zag or the soul blossom? Decisions…decisions…..

A new project has started…

I am on holiday this week to spend some time with the children during the half term holidays but yesterday I had the day to myself. As well as doing some very boring housework jobs I was finally able to start work on using a charm pack of Anna Maria Horner Innocent Crush that I bought a few weeks ago. I have also got a double jelly roll (5 inch strips) of the fabric to play with but it’s still rolled up until I decide how to use it.

I’ve started off by using the charm pack and some bella grey solid to make a centre for the quilt - rows of triangles.

I love the way that it looks so different depending on the angle you look at it….

I’m sure there is a specific name for the blocks depending on their orientation but I’m never very good with knowing what they are called. I love it both ways and I think the fabric looks really great against the grey.

Anyway, I am trying to look at how I am going to use my strip roll to make borders etc. I think I may go for a border of grey and then a border of scrappy pieced small strips of the innocent crush followed by more grey. Hopefully I will get a chance to work on it again at the weekend when I come home from a trip to Norfolk to visit my mum!

Moving out of my quilting comfort zone!

Anyone who has followed my blog has probably noticed that I’m not very good at improvising and that I have a natural desire for order. Whenever I try to do something wonky or if I try to combine fabrics I seem to subconsciously take the safe option.

This weekend I decided to have a go at making some of the mosaic blocks that I keep seeing on flickr and other blogs. I always think that they look really good but wasn’t certain if I could pull it off.

The first stumbling block was the fabrics. I decided to make four blocks – yellow, orange, pink and red but to do that I needed lots of coordinating fabric scraps. At first this seemed easy as I have a whole chest full of fabric but in reality I had to go through my whole chest plus my scrap box to be able to find enough and even then I only just had enough.

Next I cut some strips of white fabric and started the piecing. In reality it didn’t take long to piece the blocks together but of course the natural order of my mind meant that they are much more ordered than other people’s. I had a giggle to myself when I looked at them as despite all my improvising it was still in straight strips. I did intentionally include a full strip of fabric down one side of each block so I could create a windmill effect around the middle which I think works well.

I joined the squares together with more white strips in between them to keep some consistency and added a thicker white border around the outside.

Unfortunately I didn’t have a big enough piece of white batting so I had to use my environmentally friendly green batting made from recycled pop bottles. This meant that the seams were more easily seen through the top but I figured that the quilting would help disguise this.

For the quilting I continued with my efforts to go outside of my comfort zone and quilted it all over with evenly spaced straight lines. You may think the order of this would appeal to me but I have a real fear when quilting all over that I will ruin perfectly good blocks. After a couple of lines I thought it was going to be a complete failure but I persevered and have to admit I really like the outcome.

I even like the back.

The final decision was how to bind it….I tried lots of fabrics out but decided to go with a yellow dotted fabric which I think works well.

Overall I think it was a successful project and I may just try making something bigger adding some bright green and turquoise blocks to the mix.

I recommend going outside your comfort zone!!

Zig Zag crazy!!

For the past couple of weeks I have been trying to work on my doll quilt for the doll quilt swap. There are so many amazing quilters in the group that it is very intimidating. Every day someone seems to post a quilt which is just out of this world – I dont know where they find the time, ideas or energy but they do. The group is really friendly and its great being able to chat with everyone. Hopefully some of their energy and creativity will rub off on me!!

I have been stalking my partner, who is a very talented sewer/quilter , and came up with the idea of making a zig zag quilt. Although a simple design the focus would be on the piecing of very small blocks and the use of some amazing fabrics.

To make my practice quilt I used Joel Dewberry’s modern meadow fabrics teamed with plain white.

I hand quilted the zig zags in complimentary threads.

Finally I decided to bind it in the navy fabric which I think worked well although I would try harder to ensure the pattern was the same all the way round if I did it again.

I think it is a really eye catching block so I have started making the real dolls quilt using fabrics from Anna Maria Horners Good Folks range and Kaffe Fassett shot cottons…check in later in the week to see how it’s going!!

2011 sewing has started……scrappy mug rugs

The start of this year involved far, far too much work which left me no time at all for sewing. I did however do some late night surfing and signed myself up for some more great swaps so that I had plenty to do when the sewing machine came back out.

The first of these swaps was Scrappy Mug Rug Swap 3. I have seen so many people posting photos of the amazing mug rugs that they were making for the previous 2 rounds of the swap and I thought it would be a good to get in with the crowd!!! Take a look…http://www.flickr.com/groups/1533394@N22/

I have been rather poorly for the past few days with a cold/flu so as I was off work lying in my bed I had some time to think of ideas. We each have a secret partner and we are provided with their likes/dislikes and links to their flickr photostream and blog. This enables you to look around and get an idea of what they might like. There are also lots of discussions going on within the group that give you an insight into what they like.

I thought that as I was in bed and getting rather bored it might be good to have something that I could do while in bed. First I made a really simple block using some fabrics in my stash – including some precious good folk fabric from Anna Maria Horner. (I popped downstairs for half an hour to do this but the sewing machine set off my headache again. I had to dose up on nurofen and go back to bed for a couple of hours - that is payback for not listening to my family and staying in bed!!). 

This morning I lay on the sofa and added some hand quilting and embellishments – which wasn’t particularly taxing on the brain. I did get the sewing machine back out to add the binding but it was only for 10 minutes and there have been no ill effects yet!

I am really pleased with the finished mug rug. I think it is really pretty but of course it isn’t for me so I just hope my partner likes it. I added a button in the middle as I think it enhances the embroidery but my partner can snip it off if they don’t like it.

Finished mug rug

I may make some more as I quite enjoy making these little projects – it will depend on what time I have.

Now I just have to try and guess which mug rug in the group is for me – I’m so looking forward to getting mine! I made an inspiration gallery with lots of cake themed pictures:  http://www.flickr.com/photos/49053002@N02/5341840523/

I thought it would be good to look at lots of lovely cakes when I’m sitting at my desk – I just need to see what my partner comes up with.

New Year Catch Up 2

Before Christmas I mentioned that Cupcake Princes and myself were making gifts for my niece and nephew but I didn’t get a chance to share the finished items. Unfortunately I also didn’t manage to get good photos of the finished items before giving them as gifts so instead I am sharing photos of the finished items with their new owners!!

First of all you may recall that I made a Russian doll wall hanging for my niece. The wall hanging was made using a drawing that Cupcake Princess did plus fabrics that she chose……thankfully her cousin loved it!

Russian Doll wall hanging delivered to its new owner

Our second gift was a pirate game for my nephew. We bought some pirate fabric a few months ago which we turned into a pirate board game with matching game pieces and bags for storage. Cupcake Princess wrote out all the game rules and game cards so it was a big project!!

Pirate game board

Bags for the game board and pieces

We played it over New Year and had great fun going around the board and falling foul of the pirate tricks!!

Playing the pirate game.....

The children had a great time with all their gifts as you would expect BUT they also had great fun helping me make mince pies. It’s amazing how enthusiastically children throw themselves into cooking activities. We had a great little production line of cutters, fillers, brushers and snippers. What’s even better is they all tasted delicious at the end.

The mince pie makers.......

You better not pout…

I’ve finally managed to finish the first of last years unfinished Christmas wall hangings. Earlier in the week I finished appliqueing all the pieces in place, attached the borders and added some free motion quilting on the night sky which wasn’t in the pattern but I thought was needed. On Friday night I started adding all the words…finished them last night, added some embellishments and added the binding. Phew…all finished!!

You better not pout.....

You may recall the pattern for the wall hanging is by Nancy Halvorsen and comes from her pattern book Santa’s Coming.

I’m really pleased with how it’s come out and I think it will look really good when I put it up nearer to Christmas.

Centre panel

Santa's sleigh

Rudolphs pulling the sleigh.....

Close up of wording