Hand embroidered cushion designs...

Just added to my Etsy shop are these hand-embroidered cushion designs that I've been working on for a couple of weeks now in between other bigger projects. The front one is my favourite with the two "lovebird" centred flowers plus I love the colour combination of aqua blue and grey. It looks quite at home on this chair too ;-)

 I've had a bundle of Kaffe Fassett prints in my stash for a while now waiting patiently for that perfect project to use them in.  Each print is so unique, colourful and bold, that I decided to just add some simple hand-quilting in a variety of colours using some Perle cotton threads to compliment the colours in the prints.

A simple wave pattern was added to this bold tropical flower print which I think is enough to add texture but not too much to take your eye away from the print. While the hand-quilting does take a little more time and effort it does give me something to do at nights while watching TV :-)

Each cushion has a handmade button and loop enclosure on the back using some of the featured print from the cushion fronts.

These cushions are now available for sale here in my Etsy shop

New additions.....

 Now that the school holidays are over I've been keeping busy designing and sewing new items for my shop. I added these 3 writing/journalling compendiums last week made with some more of those vibrant Bali batiks that I am constantly drawn to work with.

The covers of each one are made up of small pieces sewn together 'improv' style then embellished with various machine embroidery stitches which all takes a bit of time but is one of my favourite steps of making these compendiums up.

Yesterday I received a custom order for one of these compendiums in the colour combo of red/orange/yellow and in an A4 size. I rummaged through my stash and came to the sad conclusion that I did not have enough of those colours in my stash so of course a shopping trip was called for. It just so happens that there is a shop about an hours drive away that stock a wonderful range of true Balinese batiks and at reasonable prices. The shop is called "Wrights fabrics" in Morrinsville and has been around for years and the owners are really friendly and helpful. One of the fabrics that I had chosen had a cut in the middle of it so they gave me extra to compensate along with a further extra piece that had been cut previously but tucked into the roll. Once paid for my fabrics were not stuffed into the usual generic plastic bag but carefully wrapped in good old fashioned brown paper. Love that :-) And now my stash of batiks is much more colour balanced :-)

A surprise parcel !!!!

About 2 years ago or maybe a bit less I came across a blog called "Xue's Originals". I think actually Xue found me as she left a comment on my blog on a giveaway post and then I checked out her blog as you do. I'm pretty sure that's how our friendship started and we have been corresponding ever since. Xue, also known as 'Lily' lived in Tokyo at the time with her husband and 2 children but has since moved to Dubai. We have very much in common, and I think she is a very talented but modest artist. Last Friday I received the most amazing surprise package from her filled with all sorts of crafty goodness.

 

The package was so full it had actually ripped slightly at the top but luckily everything remained intact. It was like a mini Christmas and I was quite overwhelmed with her generosity and could just imagine the fun she and her daughter had had, putting this all together just for us. To my girls delight they included stickers, window decals, pencils and fans to paint, especially for them. I left it all on our dining table and for the rest of the day kept admiring everything and smiling to myself when I thought of everything I had received.  

 

This is the front of the package, beautifully decorated with her own handmade stamps along with stickers and tape.

Included in the package was this beautiful bag designed and made especially for me with a selection of pretty Japanese fabrics, machine embroidered with a variety of stitches and embellished with tags, buttons and charms. If you look at the charms above the tag can you see that it actually says "I love Sewing"!

The other side of the bag with more pretty fabrics and stitches, pretty little buttons and a tag that says "Sewing is my cuddly time".

 

I just love this little handmade owl, it is only about 2 inches high and now keeps me company in my 'sewing attic' although I might have to share it with Caitlin ;-) Here it is sitting on a bag full of the prettiest handmade covered buttons. They will be put aside to adorn something pretty or I might be talked into making a hair tie or two for the girls.

And last but not least is some of the fabrics she included. All are from her stash which she bought with her from Tokyo to Dubai. I love them all but am very grateful that she generously shared some of her precious Echino prints with me. (The one with the birds :-)) Xue's most recent post is all about her sewing studio in her home in Dubai where she shares photos of her amazing stash of fabrics and sewing machine prettily decorated with cherry blossoms decals.  Xue I can't thank you enough!

It's in the details...

Okay just one finish this week but I'm pretty pleased with this one. My original plan was to have some little yo-yo's in the centre but they just didn't look right. Too much pattern I think no matter what I did with them and then I remembered a 3D fabric pinwheel I had leftover from this fabric wreath I made.

I think it looks quite perfect framed with some pale aqua ric-rac that I found in my  ric-rac stash. It is quilted  in diagonal lines with some variegated thread.

 

This is the back which I love as much as the front. I used this tutorial that I had pinned ages ago. I love it when I actually use ideas that I've pinned. Makes me feel that all that time that I spend on Pinterest is not completely wasted.

The fabric covered buttons are totally handmade. I was going to purchase a covered button kit but my local craft shop only had one size stocked and of course it wasn't the size I wanted. Luckily I knew how to make my own thanks to the very clever Michele. Here's a link to the tutorial here!

These buttons do take a bit longer to make but are worth the extra effort just to get that satisfying feeling of having made some entirely from scratch.

I've added this cushion to my shop even though I'm sure I could find a home for it in one of my daughters rooms.

Wishing everyone a lovely weekend!

I've been making..........

....little handmade buttons from Michelle's tutorial except instead of a ribbon shank I made a loop with the embroidery threads then stitched over the loop with a blanket stitch.

The buttons were made for these bright and fresh cushions that were inspired by the cushion I made for Deb here. I had some left over half square triangles which I added to, then played around with some designs and ended up with 2 cushions.

A zig-zag design....

and this one with alternate colours. They are both simply machine quilted with straight lines echoing the patchwork design.

I used up some scraps for the backs which I like as the fronts.

Although I'm sure I could find a place for them in my home they are up for sale in my etsy shop here.

Caitlin's quilt revisited......for the bloggers quilt festival

Since this is one of my favourite quilts I thought I'd bring it out again and re-introduce it. Before I go on I just want to welcome anyone who is a first time visitor and I hope you enjoy what you see here and are getting inspired by all the other wonderful quilts showcased in this bloggers quilt festival.

This quilt was made for my youngest daughter Caitlin when she was about 8 years I think and she is now 11. When I asked what she wanted on her quilt she wasn't totally sure but flowers and lots of hearts are 2 things she did want. So I put my thinking cap on and decided to make a sampler type quilt and sketched a few ideas and pulled out favourite patterns  that I'd always wanted to try. I had no idea how the final layout was going to look like but just kept making blocks as the ideas emerged. I included a few of Caitlin's favourite things and also some scraps of fabrics from dresses and skirts etc.. I had made her. It took me 6 months to complete including lots of freehand handquilting of mostly swirls and of course lots of hearts. I enjoyed every moment of designing and making this quilt even the recall of my maths skills when I had to figure out the final layout of the blocks.

Here are some close-up photos of some of my favourite parts of the quilt:

A mother and baby bird with covered button detail on their feathers.......

The house block with yo-yo flowers and beaded centres. This block is taken from a Piecemakers Calender and I had always wanted to make it.

Caitlin loved the Felicity Wishes books at the time so here is Felicity and her blue bird. I added beads to her wings to give them a little sparkle.

Caitlin's friends as she likes to have a lot of friends around her.

Another bird with little stuffed hearts. She's an animal lover so birds seemed appropriate and I had always wanted to do this block which is also from a Piecemakers calender.

I think I made this block when I was trying to work out the layout and needed something to fill in a space plus I had these little flowers leftover from the other garden blocks. The green gingham fabric has served me well as it started off as a pair of dungarees then when they got too small I made it into a pinafore dress and now bits of it are gracing her quilt.

Another block from a Piecemakers calender and one that stretched my skills as I had to hand applique it and I don't really enjoy hand applique but I love how this block turned out. Lots of echo handquilting which makes these pretty butterflies puff and stand out.

At one stage of making this quilt I raided my Mother's button tin and had fun making these precious old buttons into flowers with a little beading.  And I couldn't resist adding the little beaded spider.

And finished off with the perfect coloured striped bias binding. I hope you enjoyed seeing one of my favourite quilts and don't forget you can get more quilting inspiration over here at Amy's Creative side.

Some green goodness.....

I can finally reveal the cushion I created specially for Renee who was the second winner of my giveaway a while back. Renee is a young Mum of Charlotte (nearly 2!) and is a kiwi living in Australia. Looking around her blog I decided that she might like something with a bit of a modern twist to it. My starting point was the green floral square I had received in a scrap swap earlier in the year and I decided it deserved to be framed but slightly off centre.

Included in the random log pattern are a couple of Heather Bailey fabrics from her Pop Garden and Bijoux range.

The back is made up of the scraps from the front and I've also done some straight line quilting with the same blue/green/yellow variegated thread I used on the front. It was the perfect colours to match all the different fabrics and just happened to be in my thread stash, perfect! Oh and of course I added my favourite covered buttons.

And doesn't it look good with my circle cushion on our green sofa! Really didn't want to give  this one away but it has gone to a good home.

Snippets of life.........

Have just finished making this pear pincushion for a blogging friend. Its made using a Heather Bailey pattern and I have had it cut out ready to put together for a few months now but didn't really have a reason to make it...until now. I hope the recipient likes it.

And this is another gift I've been working on but can't show you any more till it reaches its destination.

We're in the middle of the school holidays here and have been just hanging out at home doing stuff like baking double chocolate brownie....... it's all gone now....

trying to complete this jigsaw....

Enjoying the spring sunshine and having picnics, oh and painting those toenails in the photo neon orange!



Walking deep into the bush to see waterfalls and ....

.............tranquil streams with moss covered rocks. So nice to get away from it and enjoy the tranquility of these local bush walks which are literally on our doorstep.

Also wanted to let you know that Georgie of All things Crafty is giving away a lovely cross-stitch book to one lucky reader so go on over and say "hello"!!

Hunky Dory Cushions!

Well we've had some really wild weather here over the last few days, lots of heavy rain and gale force winds which resulted in our town losing its power for a few hours a couple of times. Each time it went off I was just about to do this post about my latest cushions. The plus side of losing the power though is that I now have a lovely clean and organised kitchen! One of those things I had been meaning to do for a while but it never seemed to be the right time. Anyway now that the wind has died down here are the two cushions that I made out of my Hunky Dory fabrics that I bought that I bought at my new LQS.

I decided to go with a simple log cabin design and frame the large scale print in the middle. The blue dot fabric is a Michael Miller print.

Then I just did some straight line quilting down each log echoing the frames. This pink one also includes some pink 'Swirly buds' by Heather Bailey and a print from Sandi Henderson's 'Ginger Blossom'.

The prints on the back of the pink cushion are by Anna Griffin (butterflies) and Lila Tueller.

This striped fabric was a great find at Spotlight which seems to go with a lot of other prints I have.

And although I'm tempted to keep these myself I have them up for sale in my shop!